Archive for the ‘News’ Category

Katha Centre for Film Studies’ Curatorial Project Film Festival – Screening details

Posted: February 20, 2012 by moifightclub in cinema, Film Festival, News
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Katha Centre for Film Studies : Curatorial Project Film Festival (Weekend Screenings from 18th Feb to 17th March)

Curatorial Project Film Festival is a part of the workshops on Film Curatorial Practices organized by Katha Centre for Film Studies and supported by India Foundation for the Arts.

– All film screenings are followed by discussions around films and the curatorial idea. The film screenings and discussions are open to all. No registration, no tickets required – just reach the venue and join us!

Schedule:

1. A bit of I, A bit of Me –  Curated by Afrah Shafiq.

Date : 24th and 25th Feb, 2012

Location : Edward Theatre, Kalbadevi and Whistling Woods International, Film City, Goregaon East, respectively

The programme includes a collection of documentary work that is in one way or the other a cinematic rendition of the self. These subjective truths with generous doses of reality, explore the practice where the filmmaker chooses to face the camera and implicate themselves in their own work and the teller becomes inseparable from what is being told.

Desperately Seeking Helen (Eisha Marjara, 81min, Canada)-  3:15pm, 24 Feb, Edward Theatre| 3:45pm, 25 Feb, Whistling Woods International

The Beaches of Agnes (Agnes Vards, 110min, France) – 5:00pm, 24 Feb, Edward Theatre| 10:15am, 25 Feb, Whistling Woods International

Summer in my veins (Nish Saran, 41min, India) 7pm, 24 Feb, Edward Theatre| 5:30pm, 25 Feb, Whistling Woods International

Unlimited Girls (Paromita Vohra, 94min, India) – 12:15pm, 25 Feb, Whistling Woods International

2. Emerging Voices of Indian Cinema – Curated by Manjeet Singh.

Unreleased Independent Feature films / Short films / Animation films. An attempt to probe into the challenges and delights of filmmaking

Date – 3rd March, 2012

Venue – Whistling Woods International, Film City, Goregaon East

Alms of a blind horse (Gurvinder Singh, 90min, India) – 10:15am

VideoKaran (Jagannathan Krishnan, 73min, India) – 12:00 noon

Hawa Anne De (Partho Sen Gupta, 93min, India) – 3:00pm

Carnival (Madhuja Mukherjee, 61min, India) – 4:45pm

3. Sonic Silences, Soundscape and Cinema – Curated by Geetha B.

The programme explores varied ways in which silence is used in films and the complexity of silence both in a philosophical and acoustic sense.

Date : 10th Mar, 2012

Venue : Whistling Woods International, Film City, Goregaon East

2001 A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 142min, USA ) – 10:30am

In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar Wai, 98min, Hong Kong) – 1:45pm

Satantango  (Bela Tarr, 60min, Hungary) – Selections from the film – 3:30pm

Siddheshwari (Mani Kaul, 123min, India) – 5:15pm

4. Food and Cinema –  Curated by Atika Chohan.

The programme looks at the centrality of food as  recurrent film theme and how imperative a tool it is to explore society, culture, tradition, race, displacement, immigration, current socio-economic concerns and politics; and further, since food-films marry cinematics and rhetoric so engagingly that it finds an instant  receptivity amongst both the lay and initiated audience.

Date : 17th March, 2012

Venue : Whistling Woods International, Film City, Goregaon East

The Cook the Thief his Wife her lover  (Peter Greenaway, 95min, France-UK)  –  10:15am

Silence of the Lambs (Jonathan Demme, 118min, USA) – 12:00 noon

My Dinner with Andre (Louis Malle, 110min, USA) – 3:15pm

Eat Drink Man Woman (Ang Lee, 124min, Taiwan) – 5:15pm

– In case of any query, tweet to @kathaCFS or @svetlana25 or you can write to  katha.film@gmail.com

– **Please note that screening times are subject to change in case of certain unavoidable situations.

VOTD : Gulzar remembers Jagjit Singh – Ek Bauchhaar Tha Woh

Posted: February 15, 2012 by moifightclub in music, News, video, VOTD
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Gulzar Pays tribute to legendary singer, Jagjit Singh, with a nazm that is included in the new album, Tera Bayaan Ghalib. The album features letters of Mirza Ghalib recited/enacted by Gulzar and Ghalib nazms in the voice of Jagjit Singh.

एक बौछार था वो शख्स
बिना बरसे
किसी अब्र की सहमी सी नमी से
जो भिगो देता था

एक बौछार ही था वो
जो कभी धूप की अफ़शां भर के दूर तक
सुनते हुए चेहरों पे छिड़क देता था…
नीम तारीक से हॉल में आँखें चमक उठती थीं

सिर हिलाता था कभी झूम के टहनी की तरह
लगता था झोंका हवा का है
कोई छेड़ गया है..

गुनगुनाता था तो खुलते हुए बादल की तरह
मुस्कुराहट में कई तर्बों की झनकार छुपी थी

गली क़ासिम से चली एक ग़ज़ल की झनाकर था वो
एक अवाज़ की बौछार था वो

And here’s a look at the booklet that comes with the album.

Tip – Pavan Jha

Jameson Empire DISS Winners – Fight Club & Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind

Posted: February 13, 2012 by moifightclub in Awards, Contests, film, News, short film, songs & videos, video
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Jameson Empire had announced a contest for shorts – remake any cult film in just 1 minute. It’s called DISS (Done In Sixty Seconds) and Anurag Kashyap was on the jury.  They have just announced the two films which will compete with films from across the world at the the Jameson Empire Award in London.

The two winners are Mayank Shethiya’s Fight Club and Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind by the team of Zain Matcheswalla, Vidyut Singh Jaiswal, Arati Kadav and Zenish Mehta. Click on the play button and have a look.

First Look : Tigmanshu Dhulia’s Paan Singh Tomar (Trailer + Synopsis)

Posted: February 10, 2012 by moifightclub in cast & crew, film, first look, News, Story / Plot / Synopsis, Trailer
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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.

First Look : Rajan Khosa’s Gattu (Trailer & official synopsis)

Posted: February 9, 2012 by moifightclub in cast & crew, cinema, Film Festival, first look, News, songs & videos, Trailer, video
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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.

First Look : Musa Syeed’s Valley Of Saints (Trailer)

Posted: February 2, 2012 by moifightclub in Awards, cinema, Film Festival, first look, Indie, News, Trailer, video
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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.

Reema Kagti’s Talaash (Trailer & Poster) – what’s your bet?

Posted: January 26, 2012 by moifightclub in Aao guess karein, bollywood, cast & crew, film, first look, News, Poster, Trailer, video
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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.

VOTD : Ashvin Kumar’s Inshallah, Kashmir : Living Terror. ONLINE for 24 hours.

Posted: January 26, 2012 by moifightclub in cinema, Documentary, film, Indie, News, video, VOTD
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Earlier this week Ashvin Kumar released the 7min preview of his new film Inshallah, Kashmir : Living Terror. And now he has released the full film online. The film is available for viewing for 24 hours. Watch it NOW.

After he faced problems with the Censor Board for his last film, the idea is to bypass the Censor Board and reach out to the audience directly with this one. Click here to read a Tehelka article on the film.

You can also click here and have a better view on the Vimeo page.

DISCLAIMER :  This is a compilation of live interviews. The statements of the interviewee are completely their own. The explicit nature of the content may affect the viewer’s sensibility and therefore viewer discretion is advised. Please proceed to click only if you wish to watch the contents. The viewer shall be fully responsible for the access to and viewing this content.

We apologize for the low resolution of the video – it has been impossible to upload larger files. We’ll continue trying.

Where is Agent Vinod heading to?

Posted: January 26, 2012 by moifightclub in bollywood, cinema, film, first look, News, Poster, Trailer, video
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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.

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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.)

The Ghanta Awards are here – Celebrating the Worst of Bollywood

Posted: January 23, 2012 by moifightclub in Awards, bollywood, News, WTF
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Without expecting anything, we attended last year’s Ghanta Awards’ final event at Tian, Juhu. And it was a laugh riot.  We were there to cheer for a friend who was doing a stand-up act at the event but by the end, we almost had a heart attack. Nobody was spared, nothing was sacred and they didn’t crack any potty/farty jokes. So we have been eagerly looking forward to this year’s Ghanta Awards. Read on to know more about the Awards and the nominations of this year. From the press release…

The Ghantas celebrates and rewards the worst of Bollywood every year. The 2nd Annual Ghanta Awards will reward the Worst of Bollywood for 2011.

Every year, Bollywood takes our hard earned money and countless hours of life only to leave us feeling older, poorer and supremely frustrated. The Ghanta Award was created as a means to give back to these films, to give back to these film makers – to make them understand that they needed to try harder…

Such films and film makers deserve an award, and the Ghanta is that award.

The public vote for the Ghantas 2012 is now open. The ceremony will be in Mumbai in February 2012.

Why Ghantas?

The Ghantas were started by Prashant Rajkhowa and Karan Anshuman in 2011.

Lack of a refund mechanism in place in Bollywood. While there are good movies produced every year, there are several just want us to tear our hair out and dance naked at the Producer’s house demanding refunds. There are more than a dozen film awards to reward the good films but how many to reward the worst of Bollywood? Also, The Razzies are a glorious institution but unfortunately, even after 30 years, they don’t look at Bollywood at all. I think it is very unfair that the world’s most prolific film industry doesn’t get the recognition it deserves. So we decided to rectify the situation.

On what basis were the nominations decided?

Movies that made you want to kill yourself will obviously walk into the list. Also movies that made you want to gouge your eyeballs, slit your wrists, stab a puppy, shoot a dolphin. Movies that made you want to jump off a terrace – not so much, that’s not dramatic enough.

In order that there is a difference between “a bad movie” and simply “a movie I did not like,” we have a jury of film critics (newspaper writers, TV hosts and bloggers) to decide the nominees in each category. The final winners are then decided by a public vote.

Do you really think that these awards will teach Bollywood a lesson and they would make good movies in the future?

Wouldn’t that be counter-productive? If there are no movies to give a Ghanta to, what would we do? All we’re ensuring with these awards is that the film makers know that people do care – if you make a bad film, we’re going to call it a bad film and we’re going to award you for making bad films!

The 2nd Annual Ghanta Awards Procedure

1. Bollywood films released between January 2011 and December 2011 are eligible

2. The nominees in each category will be decided by our jury.

3. The final winners will be decided by a public online vote.

4. People will be able to vote using their Facebook or Twitter accounts.

5. And it all comes down to one night in February 2012 where we present the Ghanta Awards to the deserving winners.

And we plan to broadcast the entire ceremony live online – after all ollywood has touched lives around the world and it’s only fair that the whole world is involved in the show.

The 2nd Annual Ghanta Awards Nominees

Worst Film  –  1. Ra.One  2. Bodyguard  3. Ready  4. Mausam

Worst Holier-Than-Thou Movie –  1. Dhobi Ghat  2. No One Killed Jessica 3. That Girl in Yellow Boots  4. Memories in March  5. Shaitan

Worst Actor – 1. Salman Khan – Bodyguard, Ready

2. Shah Rukh Khan – Ra.One, Don 2

3. Ajay Devgn – Rascals, Singham, Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji

4. Sanjay Dutt – Ra.One, Rascals, Chatur Singh 2 Star, Double Dhamaal, Desi Boyz

5. Vinay Pathak – Utt Patang, Tere Mere Phere, Chalo Dilli, Bheja Fry 2

Worst Actress – 1. Kangna Ranaut – Game, Miley Na Miley Hum, Double Dhamaal, Tanu Weds Manu, Ready, Rascals

2. Nargis Fakhri – Rockstar

3. Jacqueline Fernandez – Murder 2

4. Gul Panag – Turning 30

5. Bipasha Basu – Dum Maaro Dum

Worst Supporting Actor

1. Tusshar Kapoor – The Dirty Picture, Hum Tum Shabana, Shor in the City

2. Prateik Babbar – Dhobi Ghat, Aarakshan, Dum Maaro Dum, My Friend Pinto

3. Anupam Kher – Every other film

4. Om Puri – Don 2, Khap, Teen Thay Bhai, Bin Bulaye Baarati

5. Shreyas Talpade – Hum Tum Shabana, Teen Thay Bhai

Worst Supporting Actress

1. Hazel Keech in Bodyguard

2. Giselli Monteiro in Always Kabhi Kabhie

3. Mallika Sherawat in Double Dhamaal

4. Charmy Kaur in Bbuddah Hoga Tera Baap

5. Raveena Tandon in Bbuddah Hoga Tera Baap

Worst Breakthrough – 1. Chirag Paswan  2. Rana Daggubati 3. Zoa Morani  4. Sarah Jane-Dias 5. Nargis Fakhri

Worst Director– 1. Anubhav Sinha – Ra.One  2. Anees Bazmee – Thank You, Ready  3. Pankaj Kapur – Mausam  4. David Dhawan – Rascals  5. Rohit Dhawan – Desi Boyz

Worst Rip-Off – 1. Don 2 – every Hollywood action film 2. Murder 2 – The Chaser  3. Desi Boyz – Full Monty + all Adam Sandler films  4. FALTU – Accepted 5. Ragini MMS – Paranormal Activity

Worst Couple

1. Kangna Ranaut and Ajay Devgn in Rascals

2. Kangna Ranaut and Sanjay Dutt in Rascals

3. Kangna Ranaut and Chirag Paswan in Miley Naa Miley Hum

4. Ranbir Kapoor and Nargis Fakhri in Rockstar

5. Shahid Kapur and Sonam Kapoor in Mausam

Worst Song  – 1. Dhinka Chika 2. Jalebi Bai 3. Bodyguard title track 4. Dum Maaro Dum 5. Chammak Challo

WTF Was That

1. Akshay Kumar going to Oxford University in Desi Boyz

2. Ghost Rape in Haunted 3D

3. The unexplained science behind the science fiction part of Ra.One

4. Colourful holi song in the middle of a movie about Hitler & the holocaust in ‘Gandhi to Hitler’

5. How Sonam Kapoor & Shahid Kapoor don’t manage to exchange a measly phone number over 10 years in Mausam

Thats Anything But Sexy

1. 3 girls conned by Ranveer Singh’s looks and acting abilities

2. Ram Gopal Verma’s camera angles in Not A Love Story

3. Anything involving Kangana Ranaut in Rascals

4. Akshay Kumar as London’s most in-demand male escort in Desi Boyz

5. Any time Shahrukh Khan says “Junglee Billi” in Don 2

Click here, log in with your Facebook or Twitter and vote for The Ghantas. 

(Disclaimer – One of us was on the jury of the Ghanta this year and he honestly voted for all the worst things without watching single one of them. You might ask, what’s the point? Well, if Vishal Dadlani can get two nominations without even singing the song, why can’t we?

 

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