IFFI 21024, 10: Five Indian films to compete for newly instituted DEBeaUTiful film award With an aim to promote new and young talent in the country, the 55th edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) has instituted a new award category: Best Debut Director of Indian Feature Film, which will showcase five remarkable debut films that highlight new perspectives, diverse narratives, and innovative cinematic styles, from across India. IFFI, scheduled to be held from November 20-28...

Bharateeyans-The New Blood, Review: Overboard, gored, bored Preminchukundam Raa, Premante Idera, Kalisundam Raa, Eeswar (2002 film), Lahiri Lahirilo, Sardukupodaam Randi, Nagaram Nidrapotunna Vela and Sakhiya. These are not the names of the characters or cast of Bharateeyans-The New Blood, but the names of films written by Deena Raj, collaborating with Dr. Shankar Naidu Adsumilli, a well-known surgeon based in the USA. Deena Raj teams with Naidu again for his directorial debut, at age 53, Bha...

Vijayanand, Review: All Vijay, No Anand You might be pardoned for mistaking the film to be a bio-pic on the genius Hindi film director, Vijay Anand (Guide, Jewel Thief, Johnny Mera Naam). But that can only arise out of ignorance, for if you have read anything about the film or seen a poster or video, you will be aware that this is nothing like a Vijay Anand bio-pic. It is, in fact, a docu-drama about a family in Karnataka that started with the printing industry and the next generation went in...

Trailer launch of 1st Marathi multilingual film Har Har Mahadev: 300 against 12,000 ZEE Studios' released the trailer of their upcoming film Har Har Mahadev on 10 October at the PVR Cinemas, Juhu, Mumbai. The film is the story of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (King Shivaji), from the point of view of Baji Prabhu Deshpande, who was initially an opponent, but joined ranks with Shivaji later on. The trailer is trending high in the Tamil and Telugu versions. Har Har Mahadev (a battle cry among ...

Chup: Revenge of the Artist, Review: Critickill analysis Film critics, run for cover! Better still, seek police protection. Take a cue from the one renowned film critic already has police protection, and comes to our press previews with an armed escort, in uniform. The reason for this shield is not known to me. But all the other reviewers are mere mortals, some senior, some junior and some newbies. Some of them are well paid, some are paid much less than what they deserve, some are well-to-do...

Trailer success meet and song launch of Major: Lookout, big fish, here comes the goldfish Three big, real BIG pictures are on the verge of release, simultaneously. Two are from the South, and one from Mumbai. Anybody who has been following release schedules will know that these three are Prithviraj from Yash Raj Films, KamalHaasan’s Vikram and a major film from Hyderabad, called, Major. I wonder whether the other two have been shown to anybody except the most selected of selective audie...

Sounds of The Kashmir Files: “Pray for all the oppressed people in the world” Royal Opera House was a surprising choice for the event. Once a landmark for big-budget film releases, it remained shut for about two decades, before it was revived, with plays and other events being held there, but no film shows. Makers of the film The Kashmir Files decided to kill two birds with one stone: reinforce their theme of oppression, persecution, brutal murders and more of Kashmiri Pandits in ...

Jersey, Review: Down and out, yet 300 not out A loser making it big in sports is the stuff that many films have been made on. This one tries to be different. Imagine a cricketer who quit the game years ago, is dead broke, and his government job has landed him under suspension. You can bet that he will make a comeback and reach a new zenith, however, it does not quite happen the way you might anticipate. Yes, his return to the game is a major twist, but the giant of a twist is reserved for the...

Operation Romeo, Review: Regaining consciousness and recharging consciences When Neeraj Pandey, of A Wednesday fame, is co-producing a film, and it is titled Operation Romeo, you expect a taut thriller of the terrorist/spy genre. But Operation Romeo takes the ‘Operation’ part of its title to mean a set of planned moves by an individual, bereft of any spy/terrorist inclinations, though there is a crime of sorts involved, and some scenes do go for your jugular. ‘Romeo’ i...

KGF Chapter 2: Cinépolis IMAX, Seawoods, Navi Mumbai to be launched with Yash-starrer One ‘crazy’ fan, a man apparently in his late twenties, stood outside the Seawoods Grand Central in Navi (New) Mumbai, belting out dialogue from KGF 1 and expressing his absolute devotion to the lead actor, Yash. He said he had travelled all the way from Varanasi, a distance of 1,500 kms, to meet the superstar, and would not go away until he got a chance to meet Yash. This was happening on...

Minnal Murali, Review: Two bolts from the blue Minnal Murali’s première at the Mumbai Film Festival, on 16 December, was a grand affair. The venue was the recently constructed Jio World Drive in Mumbai’s Bandra-Kurla Complex, and drinks and snacks were waiting for those who arrived early. The cast and crew were present too. Viewing the film came with an embargo that no reviews should be posted before December the 24th, the day of its release directly through the streaming p...

IFFI 51, Goa, January 16-24, 2021, 07: South Indian component of the Indian Panorama The glad tidings for the South Indian fans is that nine remarkable and appreciated South Indian films are selected to be featured at the Indian Panorama of IFFI, in which six feature, two mainstream cinema and one non-feature will be showcased. Here is a list of selected South Indian Movies FEATURED FILMS: Safe (Malayalam) Director – Pradeep Kalipurayath Synopsis – A social activist called Ar...

IFFI 50, XII: Rajinikanth to be Icon of Golden Jubilee Union (Central Government) Information & Broadcasting Minister, Prakash Javadekar, announced on November 02 that, “In recognition of his outstanding contribution to Indian cinema, during the past several decades, I am happy to announce that the award for the ‘Icon of the Golden Jubilee of IFFI 2019’ is being conferred on cine-star Shri. S. RajiniKanth”, said Javadekar. Carpenter-turned-porter-turned-bus conduc...

Prassthanam, Review: Loyalty, integrity and legacy, to see or not to see, that is the question When you have classics like the Mahabharat, Ramayan and Shakespeare’s works, why look elsewhere for inspiration? Update the setting and references but retain the blood and gore, conceit and deceit, loyalty and betrayal, vice and avarice, and above all, good and evil. You now have a story that every lover of mythology, every cinephile identifies with, and the figure could be well above a billio...

Badshaah Pahelwan, Review: There’s a brown wrestler in the boxing ring, tra la la la la When director of photography S. Krishna turned producer just over two years ago, vicariously, through his wife, Swapna, having directed two action genre films, he decided to make his third film in nine Indian languages. Down the line, he settled for five, with the original in his native Kannada, and dubbed versions in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam. Rather ambitious of Krishna, considering the fi...

Baaghi 2, Review: Do we still need an army? He’s an army-man and he’s angry, first at the stone-pelters in Kashmir, and then at the drug-peddlers in Goa. In the former case, he has a bee in his bonnet. Rather, he ties a local to the bonnet on his Jeep, using him as a human shield, and drives through, teaching the militants a lesson. This earns a serious reprimand from his superior officers and a strenuous survival punishment as well. In the latter case, he conducts a master class ...