what we are reading – EightandHalf
Who said monologues are boring ? May be not, when its George Clooney! The first look of George Clooney’s new film Up In The Air is out. Check it out!
Also posting a clip from the film and an early review by popular blogging site slashfilm. The film is directed by Jason Reitman ( Juno & Thank You For Smoking).
And click here for review.
WTF!!! Yes, that was our first reaction when we heard about it! We know that Ashutosh Gowariker cant make films less than 3 hours and he got it right in his last three films – Jodha Akbar, Swades and Lagaan. All three films were longer than 3 hours.
But, Harman Baweja is not Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan or Hrithik Roshan! Also, there is no A R Rahman this time! The songs are fuckall, atleast we didnt like a single song in the What’s Your Raashee album. And this must be the longest romcom in the history of cinema! We are praying and how!
If gossipmongers are to be believed Ashutosh Gowariker is not happy with 3hrs 20 mins, he wants to keep it at 3hrs 40mins! Is he planning a filmy version of Mujhe Iss Film Se Bachao!
The promos look bad, the songs suck, Harman is horrible but we still want to see the film. Because we trust the director and 12 avtaars of Priyanka seems interesting idea! Very few actors get to do something like this! Sincerly hoping that Gowariker hasnt lost it like many others!
The National Film Awards list is finally out. Earlier we confirmed few winners including Prakash Raj For Best Actor on this post. And like always, we were right. Check out the other winners.
Best Actor – Prakash Raj( Kanchivaram )
Best Actress – Uma Shree ( Gulabi Talkies )
Best Film – Kanchivaram
Best Director – Adoor Gopalakrishnan ( Naalu Pennungal – Four Women )
Best Child Actor – Sharad Goyekar ( Marathi film Tingya )
Best Supporting Actor – Darshan Zariwalla ( Gandhi My Father )
Best Supporting Actress – Shefali Shah (The Last Lear)
Best Lyrics – Prasoon Joshi ( Taare Zameen Par)
Best Playback Singer(Male) – Shankar Mahadevan ( Taare Zameen Par )
Best Playback Singer (Female) – Shreya Ghoshal
Best Film on National Integration – Dharam
Best Film On Family Welfare – Taare Zameen Par
Best Film For Overall Entertaintment – Chak De India
Best Screenplay – Feroze Abbas Khan ( Gandhi My Father)
Best Music – Ousepacham for Ore Kadal
Best Film (Hindi) – 1971
Best Film (English ) – The Last Lear
Best Special Effects – Sivaji
Best Art Direction – Om Shanti Om
Best Choreography – Ye Ishq Hai (Jab We Met)
Best Cinematography – Frozen ( Shanker Raman)
Best Audiography – 1971
Best Editing – Naalu Pennungal ( Malyalam)
Best Film on Social Issues – Antardwanda ( Dir – Sushil Rajpal )
Special Jury Award – Gandhi My Father
Indira Gandhi Award for Best First Film – Shivajee Chandrabhushan for Frozen
Best Book on Cinema – From Raj To Swaraj : The Non Fiction Film In India by B D Garga
Best Film Critic – V K Joseph ( Malyalam )
In the non-feature/short films category, mentioning only those few which am aware of (read friends or friends’ friend) –
Best Educational/Motivational/Instructional Film – Prarambha (Santosh Sivan)
Short Fiction Film – Udhed Bun ( Siddharth Singh)
Best Cinematography – Kramasha ( Savita Singh )
Best Audiography – Kramasha ( Ajit Singh Rathore )
Best Music Direction – Echoes of Silence ( English/ Khasi – Zubin Garg)
For the full list of entries and winners click here.
The jury was headed by Sai Paranjpe and members included Ashok Viswanathan and Namita Gokhale. About 102 films and 106 non-feature films were considered.
Yes, its confirmed. The rumours have been floating around for since last few hours. And its all true.
Prakash Raj has bagged the National Award for Best Actor for his performance in Priyadarshan’s film Kanchivaram. Atleast this one should be non controversial. Its a truly deserving one. I remember watching it at the Mumbai premeire of the film. And since then, I cant remember anything so powerful and so moving. Its just stunning!
In the film, Prakash Raj plays the role of a weaver who dreams about a silk saree for his daughter’s marriage. What looks like a simple dream is much more complex than one can imagine. Money, politics, unions, the problems never end.
The acting is so powerful that the young and the old Prakash Raj seem to be two different actors. If you havent seen it yet, do watch. If for nothing else, just for the acting! Happy to hear this news about Prakash Raj, his third National Award! More power to actors like him!
BTW, rumours doing the round suggests that Priyadarshan has also bagged the National Award for Best Director and the film Kanchivaram will get it for Best Film.
Update : Gandhi My Father has also bagged three awars. Best Film ( Prdoucer – Anil Kapoor. Am guessing this one is the hindi language category), Feroze Abbas Khan ( Best Screenplay) and Darshan Zariwalla (Best Supporting Actor).
Its filmy friday! And this week again there are some half dozen releases. Aage Se Right, Fox, Bachelor Party, Mohandas, Three – Love Lies Betrayal and some more. Our pick of the week is Rishi Kapoor starrer Chintu ji, directed by Ranjit Kapoor. We earlier wrote a post on Chintuji here (A riddle called Chintuji and bollywood’s oldest debutant). And here are some early reviews.
Anupama Chopra (NDTV) – Chintu ji is an unassuming and delightful film that will keep you smiling long after you’ve left the theatre – 3.5/5
Taran Adarsh (Indiafm) – Here’s a request to all cine lovers and also multiplexes, from this writer. Give this film a chance. Let’s nurture it well, so that genuine efforts like CHINTUJI don’t go unnoticed – 3.5/5
Anand Vaishnav (Buzz18) – Despite some inconsistencies, Chintuji brings a huge smile on your face. It’s a heart warming, feel good film – 3/5
Avijit Ghosh (TOI) – Hats off to Rishi Kapoor, though, for agreeing to play Chintuji, a self-seeking, egoistic and unscrupulous character with his own pet name. The star may have faded away but the actor is blooming in early autumn – 2/5
Rajeev Masand (CNN IBN) – Despite its flaws however, it’s warm and engaging in the end, and far superior to the similarly themed Billu Barber. Watch it because good films are hard to come by – 3/5
Shubhra Gupta ( Indian Express) – Keeping Rishi company are co-stars Priyanshu and the bright-eyed Kulraj, and Sophiya, shaking her stuff in one of the most hilariously inventive item numbers we’ve seen : worth, on its own, the price of an admission ticket – 3/5
Will update when more reviews are out.
LSD ? Yes, thats Love Sex Aur Dhokha. Dibakar Banerjee’s new film. In an industry where a filmmaker’s success is measured by the budget he can manage, Dibakar is in reverse gear. After Khosla Ka Ghosla and Oye Lucky Lucky Oye, Dibakar is going digital, low budget and Adult! Just 2 crore film. We caught up with Dibakar to know more. Read on.
Peep show : The film is about voyeurism. This film is essentially about how we have become a generation of voyeurs and flashers simulatenously. This film is about keyhole. On one side of the keyhole is a guy who is peeping in and on other side, there is a person who is hoping that someone io peeping in, and then its us, who are seeing all this. And it is adding bizzare subtext to our society. On television, newspapers, other media, we are obsessed with the most meaningless trivia of what other people are doing about their life. Thats one part of the film.
Loveology : The other part of the film is how we see love. I fall in love with a person. And I fall in love with a person in contempoprary India. Those two situations are completely different. Because today when I fall in love with somebody I have a history of 80 years of cinematic love to tell me what love should be, how a person in love behaves, what is the outcome of love, what happens when you are in love and how love conquers all. But when we try and take that route in real life, we realise that what the film shows and what life shows us are two differnt things. And am very excited about that difference.
Mera-Camera : These are the issues that this film is trying to deal with. And the reason to take completely new people is that voyeurism is specially effective when it is not constructed, when it is not fictional, when the camera is really candid. Even when I fake the camera into movement so that it looks like candid, but if you see someone like Abhay Deol or any other actor, you will know that its not really candid.
Kamre me Camera : This film cant be done if I dont go digital. If we shoot it in film ,this film wont be there. What we are trying to do with this film is actually totally new kind of filmmaking. We are trying to change the rules. We are making the film with real people. The people are given situations in which they are free to interpret and go forward with just a symbolic guideline from me. And people will be shooting the film themsleves often. And they will be shooting each other. And we will see a film which is not seen through my eyes, we will see a film which is seen through the eyes of people who are within that frame. That is essentially what voyeurism is all about. Thats what we are trying to do. The whole cast is made of people that we have not seen before. Trying to address the issue of reality show. I find this term very interesting – reality show. This is the oxymoron of oxymoron. This is the film all about. Its about reality, its about show, its about showing and peeping.
Imran-Abhay : The kind of subjects that I tackle and the kind of liberty that I want to take with my filmmaking, its fine with me to exist in the smaller bylanes of great big industry that bollywood is. I think huge biggie would kind of take it all away all and subvert me from what I am trying to do. So the next one is definitely not a biggie, its middly or smalley compare to other people’s budget. We are trying to address a very hard hitting social and politicallly issue that we face in our country. We are trying to bring together two actors whom we have not seen in a film yett. Its not done, we are trying. If it happens, people will see actors in that kind of role which we have not seen before.
And if you missed it last time, here is Dibakar Banerjee on love, life and cinema. Published in Outlook.
Its 50 years of Kamal Hassan, on screen! And these days he insists on playing atleast 50 roles in each film of his. They even say, to call him megalomaniac is an understatement! In an interview, when Naseerduddin Shah was asked about his reaction to Kamal Hasaan playing his part in the tamil remake of A Wednesday, he said – why my part ? He should play all the parts! 😉
Jokes apart, this one looks sane. The trailer of the tamil remake of A Wednesday is out. The film is titled Unnaipol Oruvan and stars Kamal Hassan ( In Naseeruddin Shah’s role) and Mohan Lal ( Anupam Kher’s role). We feel its looking better than the hindi one and hopefully they have cut out the dhoom-dhaam-dhadap camera, sound and edit pattern in this one.
BTW, Kamal’s daughters are also involved with the film. Shruti Hassan has composed the music for the film and Akshara has choreographed a promotional video. And Kamal has sung two songs in the film!
Its a strange situation in Goa. International Film Festival Of India is held in Goa, it get tourists from across the world. But Konkoni language doesnt seem to grow beyond the borders of Goa. But slowly, it seems to be changing. And here’s some good news.
Dil Bole Hadippa, Whats Your Raashee and Road, Movie are going to be screened at Toronto International Film Festival this year. The new addition to the list is Konkani film The Man Beyond the Bridge (Paltadacho Munis), produced by NFDC. The film is directed by Laxmikant Shetgaonkar, a filmmaker from Goa.
The film will be screened under the ‘Discovery’ section at this year’s TIFF which kicks off on 10th September. This section offers a window on contemporary international cinema. The movie will have a total of 5 screenings during the festival.
The script prior to its production also went under fine tuning in the Script Lab organized by NFDC in ‘Film Bazaar 2007’.
Synopsis : The Man Beyond the Bridge is a story about Vinayak, a forest guard, who lives a lonely life, with just the memories of his dead wife in a Government house in the dense forests of Goa-Karnataka border. His repeatedly rejected pleas for a transfer by his superiors in the Department of Forests have left him bitter. One night, he comes across a filthy, unkempt mentally challenged woman lying in the compound outside his house. He drives her away but she keeps returning. From his initial irritation with her filthy appearance and irate behavior, he slowly gets used to her daily visits looking for food and sleeping in the courtyard. With time, he begins to derive comfort from her presence.
Vinayak’s growing relationship with the woman initially, attracts some comment but evokes a strong protest in the village only when she gets pregnant. The villagers question Vinayak’s right over mentally challenged and helpless woman. They maintain that his relationship is morally incorrect and should be ended. However, for Vinayak, the woman is his companion and the mother of his child and there is no dilemma in his mind over this. Thus begins a conflict between a society that refuses to take responsibility of such a woman and one man’s endeavour to integrate her in his life.
Remember those days of IN & AS! When the opening credits of the film would roll with the lead actor’s name and it would come with the title of the film.
When I heard about the film Chintuji (yes, thats the title), I thought the same. Rishi Kapoor IN & AS Chintuji! And yeah, it stars Rishi Kapoor. Am sure there are not many actors who have the luck to have a film by their name or nickname and then get to star in it too!
We love nicknames, or as well call ghar ka naam or kaccha naam. Some of us even have more then one ghar ka naam! Bollywood is no different and the names sound all weird and funny. Bebo, Chi Chi, Lolo, Guddu, Duggu, Chinki, Bonny, Faffy! But then, whats the point of a nickname if it doesnt sound funny and if you dont want to hide it from others! Ghaar ka naam bus ghar ke liye!
My all time favourite nicknames are Chenta and Penta. Chenta was a friend in school and his brother was called Penta. Poor souls, we used to harass them a lot. Though he tried his best and kept on denying that his name was Chenta. He said it was Chintoo and his brother was Pintoo. But who would listen ? And where is the fun in Chintoo-Pintoo ? The false one became a real name and Chenta-Penta had no choice but to accept it!
Nicknames dont have reason or logic. But it seems Chintuji’s nickname has a story behind it. When Rishi Kapoor was born, his brother Randhir Kapoor used to recite a riddle.
Chote se chintu miyaan, lambi si poonch,
jahan jaye chintoo miyaan, wahan jaye poonch! Bujho to jaano ?
Its a needle and thread. And because of this riddle, Rishi Kapoor was nicknamed Chintu. What a prick! Is that the reason why Rishi Kapoor can be so rude and can fire you for ringing him on his mobile – How can you call on my mobile ? Huh!
The film Chintuji is about Rishi Kapoor, an actor who loves Legs & Pegs and has political ambitions. Its directed by Ranjit Kapoor, writer of films like Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron (D), Kabhi Haan Kabhi Na (D), Bandit Queen (D), Mangal Pandey (D) and Halla Bol (D). ( D- Dialogues)
And here is the most interesting bit. If am not wrong, Ranjit Kapoor must be bollywood’s oldest debutant in recent times. We always joke about it, who will break the record! VBala, you listening ? The competition is getting tougher. First it was Pradeep Sarkar (Parineeta) at 52. Then Naseeruddin Shah’s directorial debut (Yun Hota To Kya Hota) at 56! And now its Ranjit Kapoor at 61!! Or may be as Dharam Paaji said, its not about age, its about mileage!
Click the play button to check out the theatrical trailer of Chintuji. Produced by Bobby Bedi, it releases this friday.
Well, thats the rumour doing the rounds.
It seems Danny Boyle will present Anurag Kashyap’s next film titled Bombay Velvet (BV). Its a period flick set in the early 1940’s Mumbai. According to this report in Mid-day, Aamir Khan has already heard the narration of the film but still to give his nod to the project.
What we know is that Bombay Velvet is planned as a triology and will be produced by Studio18.
The other casting news is about Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s next titled My Friend Pinto. The film will be produced by Bhansali and will star Prateik Babbar. It will be directed by debutant Raghav Dar who has assissted Mani Ratnam and Abbas Tyrewala.
You can read the full report here. And since this report is by Subhash K Jha, who is known to be close to Bhansali, you can trust this newsbit.
F.i.g.h.t C.l.u.b 