what we are reading – EightandHalf
Finally! It’s been a long wait for Ashvin Kumar’s film, The Forest. It stars Jaaved Jaffery, Nandana Sen and Ankur Vikal and is all set to release on 4th May under PVR Directors’ Rare. The makers have just released a new poster for the film which is quite striking.
Sunny Deol will soon be seen in a new film titled Bhaiyyaji Superhitt and will be essaying a double role for the first time in his career.
Bombay Times “Exclusively Unveiled” the first look of the film on Monday. Have a look at this picture.
All good, right? Well, now take a look at this picture of Johnny Depp. It’s from GQ cover.
If you are smart, then photoshop can do wonders. But you don’t commit blunders like this. Nobody expects any great journalism from Bombay Times but the least you can do is to verify the pics and the info. You just don’t put Deol’s head on Depp’s body. As the popular contest goes, now spot the 10 differences in the next picture.
Have fun.
Pics and info courtesy – The Daily Honey
The theatrical trailer of Habib Faisal’s new film Ishaqzaade is out. It stars debutant Arjun Kapoor (Boney and Mona Kapoor’s son) and Parineeti Chopra. The credits include Hemant Chaturvedi (DoP), Amit Trivedi (Music), Kausar Munir (lyrics) and Aarti Bajaj (editor).
Aha, who would have thought that one day even Yashraj Films would step into such dusty terrain. And not chiffon-ed too like they did with Bunty Aur Babli. That’s a refreshing change. Plus the distinct sights and sounds of the land. The guy looks confident and the girl scored big in a small role in Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl. Now bring it on!
There’s no official synopsis yet but here’s what the official release says…
Rising from the ashes of hooliganism and small town clan wars, comes the love story of a passion ignited by hatred.
Of two people. Born to hate. Destined to love.
One kingdom. One throne. Two wild animals… unpredictable Parma… ferocious Zoya. A battle… deafened by sounds of hate, revenge, bullets and deceit.
A story… about two fiery bloods played by Arjun Kapoor and Parineeti Chopra, and their fight for power and supremacy.
A story about love brewing in a small town burning with hatred.
A story called ISHAQZAADE.
Govind Nihalani and animation film? Why not? And so there’s a film called Kamlu. We had read about it but had no clue that it’s already complete. It’s about a baby camel called Kamlu who wants to fly. The first theatrical trailer is out.
This looks like any other desi animation film – as good or bad. Will our animation films ever look like theirs? And at a time when we are used to Pixar, is there a space for anything substandard? I doubt. What do you think?
Tip – Gazal Dhaliwal
Tigmanshu Dhulia’s Paan Singh Tomar has been ready for quite sometime. And UTV has been sitting on it with no clue what to do with it. All kinds of reports were floating since a year or so. They sent it to few festivals abroad, intial reviews weren’t good, there was a plan to shelve it and then a direct-to-tv telecast. But with Saheb Biwi Ghulam’s success, it seems the film has got a new lease of life.
The problem is Tigmanshu Dhulia seems to be a completely unreliable filmmaker who can go any extreme – from a brilliant Haasil to a crapfest called Shagird and a SBG which is somewhere in between. If PST gets him back in the groove, we will be happy to be proved wrong.
The first look of Paan Singh Tomar is finally out. It stars Irrfan Khan and Mahie Gill. Have a look.
What’s wrong with the background music? There seems to be no sync between the visuals and the sound. What you don’t have in the visuals, you can’t compensate it with dhoom-dhaam-dhadaap. It looks tacky and nothing stays with you. Once over, you don’t feel like watching it again. Quite a disappointing trailer. If we still want to watch it, there’s only one reason – Irrfan Khan.
And here’s the official synopsis
Paan Singh Tomar is an untold true story of a simple farmer, a loyal soldier and a champion athlete who became one of India’s most dreaded dacoits!
Paan Singh was a small town lad who went on to win the steeplechase at the Indian National Games for 7 consecutive years! He broke the national record, a feat that was unsurpassed for 10 years! A series of life changing events however forced Paan Singh to give up athletics, pick up the gun and become the scourge of the infamous Chambal valley in central India. Filled with deep emotions and fateful twists, Paan Singh Tomar is a gritty, no holds barred action adventure set in the heart of India’s gangland, Chambal.
India doesn’t have anything to boast about at the ongoing Berlin Film Festival. Like any other cinema snob, if you don’t count Don2, Rajan Khosa’s Gattu is the only film in the official selection of Berlin. The film will be screened in the Generation section of the festival.
Since 1978, the Berlinale has devoted a section to children and young people: Generation. In two competitions, Generation Kplus and Generation 14plus, discoveries from state of the art world-cinema and on a par with young people are presented and the most outstanding of these are awarded the Crystal Bears. (from official release)
Gattu is produced by CFSI and the cast includes Mohammad Samad, Naresh Kumar and Bhura.
And here’s the official synopsis….
‘Truth with triumph in the end’ is the motto of the local school in the part of town where Gattu lives. But Gattu is too poor to go to school and he’s not always that truthful either. Gattu lives and works very hard at a scrap yard belonging to a man he simply calls ‘uncle’. Uncle bought him years ago from his sick father. Gattu is particularly inventive when it comes to thinking up excuses so he can slip away and indulge his passion for kite-flying. Day after day the children love to compete against each other with their kites. They’ve given the name Kali to one mysterious black kite that dominates the sky; strangely, nobody seems to know who owns it. If Gattu wants to win the next competition he’ll have to climb to the highest place in town. This is the school roof, of all places. Gattu manages to creep inside where he assumes command of a small but determined group of pupils. A dramatic battle of the skies ensues during which Gattu uses every trick in the book to claim the lead. But his greatest achievement is when, encouraged by his friendship with his new-found comrades, he decides to tell the truth.
Musa Syeed’s low-budget debut feature, Valley Of Saints recently premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and also bagged the World Cinema Audience Award for dramatic feature. It’s currently screening at the International Film festival Of Rotterdam.
To quote from the official synopsis, during a violent summer in the beautiful Kashmir Valley, a young boatman tries to escape. But then he finds a new love. It’s a story of conflict, but it’s also about the environmental destruction of the beautiful Dal Lake.
Do check out the trailer.
To know more about the film and the director, click here to read the DearCinema.com interview.
It’s raining trailers and how! The much awaited trailer of Aamir Khan’s new film Talaash is finally out. Have a look.
And here’s the so called digital poster of the film.
Directed by Reema Kagti, the film stars Aamir Khan, Rani Mukherji, Kareena Kapoor and Nawazuddin. Produced by Excel Entertainment, Aamir Khan and Reliance Entertainment, the writing credits include Reema Kagti and Zoya Akhtar, Farhan Akhtar (Dialogues) and Anurag Kashyap (Additional Dialogues). It has been shot by Mohanan.
So it’s a murder mystery. A cop chasing a murder case. A housewife, a prostitute and lot of tension. Well shot and creates the right mood.
And the mystery is the big punch? Seems so. The tagline says – The Answer Lies Within. So what’s your bet? Reminds me of that weird and stupid film called Kartik calling Kartik. Is it on same lines? Murder, murderer, memory, all mashed-up.
First things first. In Sriram Raghavan we trust.
So?
So far only two posters and a trailer has released. Isn’t it bit early to dissect the film? Well, not really when it’s one of the most anticipated films of the year. We have been reading, hearing, discussing, tweeting and have been waiting patiently for this one to release. Long shooting schedules. Saif even completed shooting another two films in between. Production fck ups. Lead actor is the producer. Girlfriend is the co-star. Release dates postponed again and again. But that’s nothing new. Such things happen. Shit happens.
So?
But the intial publicity stuff of Agent Vinod has seriously got us worried. Have a look at these two posters. Rewind. Look at the posters of Sriram’s previous two films – Ek Haseena Thi and Johnny Gaddar. All in the slideshow.
Isn’t there a big difference between these two and those three? Where is the quotient “cool”? Where is that rare thing called aesthetics? Bollywood rulebook says the bigger you go, the dumber you have to be. Is AV on that track? Hope not. But looks so. And now the trailer.
Let’s go one by one.
Text : The last thing. he will reveal is. his identity.
And the film’s title is Agent Vinod. That’s a masterstroke.
As everyone tries to find out his identity, Saif does the 70’s swing. Doffing the hat to the original Agent Vinod – Mahendra Sandhu, to Anthony Gonsalves to Vinod Khanna, he says it all. That’s wickedly funny. Much like another 70’s popular line – Tumhara naam kya hai, Basanti?
The music keeps up the momentum through out the trailer. If it’s Pritam, we sincerely hope that he is not back to his old trick. Because this one is too good to be Pritam’s. Can anyone confirm?
The problem. The rest (in order of appearance) – B and W, caught, gagged, jumps, taps, turns, glance, kick, punch, another punch, hide, Kareena in red light, Saif in red too, Illuminati Films, turn, chase – some Arab country, inside car, flight, Saif walking, Kareena walking, tram – London, Saif – Europe (?), Saif & Kareena in a party, a glance here/a look there – in slo-mo, RB 13, another chase, pulls out, Saif jumps and fires, Eros, car, train, gun, car, dhoom, dhaam, turn, bike, boom, flying kick, stunt, roll, Kareena, gun, cover the spycam, Sunil Lulla, cards, jump, gun, blast, dhickiyaaon, title, on floor, smile, captured, Sriram Raghavan, release date, credit plate.
Now, where have we seen it? Well, in any other spy/action films. And it’s as good or bad as Priyadarshan’s Tezz or Abbas-Mustan’s Players trailer. No stunt/action/chase stays with you after you have seen the trailer. It lowers down the bar of expectations drastically. And, may be, that’s a good thing in a way. But if we can’t expect from Sriram Raghavan, who else?
These are difficult and demanding times. Bourne has forced Bond and MI franchise to have a relook and change drastically. Style is Out. Stunt is In. Grab me by my balls. Give me that breathtaking high. Show me the thrill pill. And when the films release in India on the same day as in any other country, and sometimes even before them, the stakes are quite high. We have tasted blood. Being good in India is not the parameter any more.
When Bond and Bourne are here, the question is, where is Vinod heading to?
23rd March, 2012. We will not fade in. We will plunge in.
(PS – Click here to check out the trailer launch video of AV. Sriram at 00:38 – It’s fun, action film. And at the same time real film)
(PS1 – A friend who has read the script assured us that it’s all good. Spread all over, quite ambitious and quite a thrilling ride.)
F.i.g.h.t C.l.u.b 