Archive for the ‘News’ Category

Once upon a time there was a filmmaker called Nikhil Advani who directed Kal Ho Na Ho. And the rest, as they say, is all history. Salaam-e-Ishq, Chandni Chowk To China, Patiala House. And looking at his history, some say KHNH wasn’t that Advani but might have been that Johar. If that wasn’t enough, he has signed Akshay Kumar for one more film. And somewhere in between is the Delhi Safari.

It’s a 100 minute 3D animation feature which involves 7 main characters voiced by Govinda, Akshay Khanna, Urmila Matondkar, Boman Irani and Prem Chopra. And here’s a trailer of the film..

And if you are still curious about the film without thinking much about Rango, Rio or Kung Fu Panda2, here’s the synopsis of the film…

The animals of the national park in Bombay welcome a bright sunny morning, birds singing, animals running, Sultan the leopard and his young cub Yuvi, playing by the lakeside. The jungle has an air of joy and peace. Until, a distant thunder breaks the silence and a closer look reveals the jungle being raided by man and machine, destroying everything in its path. Sultan tries to fight a futile battle and ends up losing his life. A sign announcing a proposed apartment complex is hammered into the ground where Sultan has fallen.

That night, a group of frightened animals gather to discuss their fate. Yuvi, Sultan’s cub, tries to reason with the elders, urging them not to give up their homes. Asking them to do what his father would have wanted. The hot headed military monkey, Bajrangi, wants to declare a full scale war, but the anger management Guru, Bagga the bear, has a more civilized suggestions. He believes that all problems could be sorted out through peaceful discussions. Saying the best way to get back their homes is to have a dialogue with the humans and win their hearts. The only problem being that animals can’t speak to humans. Then, Air India, a pigeon with short term memory loss, remembers meeting a parrot who spoke human.

With hope in their hearts, Yuvi, Bajrangi, and Bagga set out and ultimately find Alex, the talking parrot, in his luxurious golden cage. However, their hope turns to despair as Alex is not interested in helping the barbaric animals with their cause, since this would mean leaving his life of luxury. Also Alex is sure that such issues would need to be addressed in the parliament at Delhi.

The motley crew manage to coerce Alex to join them and they begin their journey across the mountains and rivers of India, hitching rides in trains and trucks, to take their petition to the leader of the humans in Delhi. Along the way they discover that not only are their homes in jeopardy, but the homes and lives of thousands of other animals on the way. Their exciting journey becomes one where enemies become friends and an unlikely family comes together to fight for what rightfully belongs to them – A HOME.

Tip – Jhandubaba Chinchin

The 9th Annual Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) which takes place April 12-17 at ArcLight Hollywood has announced the 13 short films that will screen in the 2011 festival. The shorts were selected from over 350 submissions worldwide. The shorts will be presented in two programs each one screening twice throughout the six-day festival.

The IFFLA programming team includes Rani Breslow, Isaac Klausner, Sudeep Sharma, and Rachael Sevilla along with Executive Director Christina Marouda and Programming Consultant in Mumbai Uma Da Cunha.

Shorts Program 1

BEHOLDER (Director/Writer Nisha Ganatra)
USA/Los Angeles Premiere/English
Imagine a future where it is mandatory to alter the sexual orientation of an unborn child who doesn’t fit the heterosexual norm.

IDOL (Director/Writer Kranti Kanade)
India /Los Angeles Premiere/Marathi, English*
A father and son fight in defense of each of their idols, be it Lord Ganesh or soccer superstar Maradona

IN THAT MOMENT (Director/Writer Shripriya Mahesh)
USA /Los Angeles Premiere/Silent
A brief moment of tenderness in Central Park is enough to brighten a lonely man’s day.

THE RETURN ADDRESS (Director Abi Varghese Writers: Matt Grubb, Abi Varghese)
USA /Premiere/English
A young boy plays cupid in a small, sleepy town.

THE STITCHES SPEAK (Director Nina Sabnani)
India /Doc/USA Premiere/Gujurati, English, Kutchi*
In this animated documentary, Kutch artisans tell stories of finding both themselves and a home.

TUBELIGHT’S MOON (Director/Writer Shlok Sharma)
India/World Premiere/Hindi*
If you cannot go to the moon – make one!

WHEELING DREAMS (Director Hardik Mehta Writers: Bharat Parmar, Hardik Mehta)
India/USA Premiere/Hindi*
Beware of other men eyeing your wheels.

Shorts Program 2

JUST THAT SORT OF A DAY (Director/Writer Abhay Kumar)
India /Animated/USA Premiere/English
Disconnected characters each have one of those days that you really can’t put a finger on.

ALL IS WELL (Director/Writer Akshay Roy)
India/Los Angeles Premiere/Hindi, English*
A rich boy and a poor boy spend the night at a roadside tea stall.

FAÇADE (Director/Writer Iram Parveen Bilal)
Pakistan/Los Angeles Premiere/English,Urdu*
A dancer reflects on life and art.

JOY OF GIVING (Director/Writer Shlok Sharma)
India/World Premiere/Hindi*
Kindness is always rewarded, sometimes in the most unexpected way.

MUMBAIKER GANESH (Director Collin D’Cunha)
India/ Doc /USA Premiere/Hindi*
Hello World! Meet Ganesh from Mumbai!

THE ECLIPSE OF TAREGNA (Director/Writer Rakesh Chaudhary)
India/Los Angeles Premiere/Hindi*
An eclipse draws a man, his grandson, and their village closer together.

*Subtitled in English

Having seen Shripriya’s In That Moment and Shlok’s Tubelight’s Moon will recco both the shorts. Congrats!

BEHOLDER (Director/Writer Nisha Ganatra)
USA/Los Angeles Premiere/English
Imagine a future where it is mandatory to alter the sexual orientation of an unborn child who doesn’t fit the heterosexual norm.

IDOL (Director/Writer Kranti Kanade)
India /Los Angeles Premiere/Marathi, English*
A father and son fight in defense of each of their idols, be it Lord Ganesh or soccer superstar Maradona

IN THAT MOMENT (Director/Writer Shripriya Mahesh)
USA /Los Angeles Premiere/Silent
A brief moment of tenderness in Central Park is enough to brighten a lonely man’s day.

THE RETURN ADDRESS  (Director Abi Varghese Writers: Matt Grubb, Abi Varghese)
USA /Premiere/English
A young boy plays cupid in a small, sleepy town.

THE STITCHES SPEAK (Director Nina Sabnani)
India /Doc/USA Premiere/Gujurati, English, Kutchi*
In this animated documentary, Kutch artisans tell stories of finding both themselves and a home.

TUBELIGHT’S MOON  (Director/Writer Shlok Sharma)
India/World Premiere/Hindi*
If you cannot go to the moon – make one!

WHEELING DREAMS (Director Hardik Mehta Writers: Bharat Parmar, Hardik Mehta)
India/USA Premiere/Hindi*
Beware of other men eyeing your wheels.

SHORTS PROGRAM 2

…JUST THAT SORT OF A DAY (Director/Writer Abhay Kumar)
India /Animated/USA Premiere/English
Disconnected characters each have one of those days that you really can’t put a finger on.

ALL IS WELL (Director/Writer Akshay Roy)
India/Los Angeles Premiere/Hindi, English*
A rich boy and a poor boy spend the night at a roadside tea stall.

FAÇADE (Director/Writer Iram Parveen Bilal)
Pakistan/Los Angeles Premiere/English,Urdu*
A dancer reflects on life and art.

JOY OF GIVING  (Director/Writer Shlok Sharma)
India/World Premiere/Hindi*
Kindness is always rewarded, sometimes in the most unexpected way.

MUMBAIKER GANESH (Director Collin D’Cunha)
India/ Doc /USA Premiere/Hindi*
Hello World! Meet Ganesh from Mumbai!

THE ECLIPSE OF TAREGNA     (Director/Writer Rakesh Chaudhary)
India/Los Angeles Premiere/Hindi*
An eclipse draws a man, his grandson, and their village closer together.

*Subtitled in English

This is not going to end so soon. We started with this post, Varun wrote this one, and Subrat took the Mir route with this post.

And in this post we are putting out some of the interesting links that we read recently…VB, Ranjan Palit, 7KM, Ismat Chugtai, prosthetics and more.

 

Time Out’s Nandini Ramnath did an interview with 7 Khoon Maaf’s cinematographer Ranjan Palit. To quote…

In an interview with Time Out in 2009, Palit declared, “I wouldn’t do a Bollywood song and dance film even if I were paid a crore.” Famous last words, it seems.

Click here to read the interview.

Pratim Das Gupta of The Telegraph also interviewed Palit after the release, much longer and a better interview….what he shot, how he shot and why he shot it that way….To quote…

I had to try and make sure that the prosthetics couldn’t be seen. I think there were around seven-eight prosthetic parts stuck on her face in the aged avatar. She would be made up for four hours every day. So, I was asked to shoot in such a way that those parts were not seen. But you can do that in an interior night scene, what do you do during the daytime? We had decided that we would correct that with computer graphics but it’s hugely expensive and tough to spend so much money after the shooting is done….

…..You know what, I first saw a two-hour-45-minute version. It was then cut by 25 minutes for the final theatrical version. In that cutting, some of the finesse, some of the moments got lost. Maybe the rhythm has also slightly suffered. That director’s cut was beautifully paced….

….People in Mumbai have shown interest in working with me right from the time the 7 Khoon Maaf trailer came out. Boley na, jaatey uthey gechhi! But there’s no existing filmmaker apart from Vishal with whom I want to work. I am a snob that way. I appreciate what (Anurag) Kashyap does. bolley, hoyto korbo. I am not dying to work with anybody. I am dying to work with Vishal again.

Click here to read the full interview.

And if you are bored of the long and meandering reviews, then Nisha Susan of Tehelka has packed the Seven Course Meal in short  and sassy new way. To quote…

+7 FOR THE ISMAT CHUGHTAI moment when PC and Irrfan make an elephant under their lihaaf. 10 for naming the Russian Vronsky and Susanna reading Anna Karenina.

+8 TO NEIL NITIN MUKESH
for waving a phallic stump at Priyanka
. Minus 9 points to Neil for setting our teeth on edge a la Kangana whenever he speaks English.

The film scores 98 invaluable points and the point system follows no convention. Bring it on! Click here to read her piece, point-by-point.

If Tehelka is here, can Open be far behind ? Ajit Duara of Open has thrashed the film completely and rated it just 1 star. To quote…

What substitutes for motive is a dark lighting style;  as if to say that if you light a movie dimly enough, depth and hidden meaning will emerge. It never does, and 7 Khoon Maaf ends up as a hothouse of exotic spouses with names scratched off the catalogue at metronomic  intervals.

Click here to read the full review.

Open also has an interesting article titled – Inside the Mind of Vishal Bhardwaj.  His long time associate, co-writer, and the director of Ishqiya, Abhishek Chaubey describes the filmmaker, from his Makdee days to 7 Khoon Maaf. To quote..

After Makdee was made, Vishal called me to a theatre in Juhu. Gulzarsaab and his friend Shivam Nair were also there. Makdee had been made for the Children’s Film Society of India (CFSI). They had rejected it outright, claiming all sorts of problems with it—“Badly directed, badly shot.” He wanted us to see if that was really the case. We all thought their reaction was extreme.

Then Vishal did something courageous, given that he was just a music director then, and not the sort with 20 songs in the bank that he could give producers when they’d come to him. He had worked on very few films. As a producer, he was nobody. And yet, he decided to take the CFSI head on. He told them, “If you don’t like the film, I will buy it off you.” He must have paid Rs 20–30 lakh. He put everything at risk. We completed Makdee and went around town selling it…..

….Vishal had the letter he got from the CFSI framed, and it is still on his wall. It’s right in front of where he sits. Not only was Makdee released, it also won an award at a children’s film festival in Chicago. ‘Courage’ is too goody-two-shoes a term for it. It takes balls.

Click here to read the full piece.

And the last link is a video. Click on the play button to hear Gulzar dissect his own words…the poetry in 7 Khoon Maaf.

Pic Courtesy – Time Out Mumbai

WHAT : The Venice International Film Festival (La Biennale di Venezia – Mostra Internazionale d’Arte Cinematografica) announces its Call for Entries in all categories for 2011.

Essentially a World Premiere Festival, it is open to films of any format and length that have been produced during the twelve months preceding the festival.

WHEN : The selection process will start from 1st March 2011 and will continue till the end of June 2011. Deepti DCunha will be leading the pre-selection process for the entries sent from India for the Venice International Film Festival, 2011.

The festival’s director Marco Mueller will be visiting India in mid-March for a first shortlisting of the Indian film entries.

DATE : The festival runs from Aug 31 to Sept 10, 2011.

FORMAT : DVDs/ Digi Beta tapes (duly subtitled in English)

REQUIREMENTS : Press kit or documentation including synopsis, cast and crew and other info about film’s content and filmmaker’s vision should be sent along with the film.

CONTACT : deepti.dcunha@gmail.com (from March onwards, also  deepti.dcunha@labiennale.org)

ADDRESS : All submissions (duly subtitled in English) should be sent to the contact details given below..

Deepti DCunha. 23, Gautam Niwas. 7 Bungalows, Andheri (West). Mumbai, 400 053

WEBSITE : For complete rules and regulations please visit the Festival website at http://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema

 

WHAT : The 1st Guwahati International Short Film Festival (Gisff) in inviting entries. The festival is  organized by Creovaent Productions in association with Shamiana.

BUT – Entries to the Competition are restricted ONLY to filmmakers from North-East Region of India in the first year.

AND entries from other parts of the country and world will be show in Non-competition section.

WHEN & WHERE : From April 4 to April 5, 2011 at Cinemax, Guwahati

HOW – Click here to download the application form.

– There is no entry fee in this edition of the festival.

– To know more about the festival, click here.

Not sure why and how, but Freida Pinto is surely going places. As if Danny Boyle, Julian Schnabel, Woody Allen, Tarsem Singh and the Apes movie weren’t big enough for her CV, now she also has Michael Winterbottom.

The film is titled Trishna and will also star Riz Ahmed (Four Lions). It’s based on Thomas Hardy’s novel Tess of the d’Urbervilles. We haven’t read it but according to IMDB, it’s “The story of the tragic relationship between the son of a property developer and the daughter of an auto rickshaw owner”. And a friend described it as “hopelessly depressing”.

The film will be shot all over Rajasthan and it’s a start to finish schedule. The shooting starts by end of February. Last time when Winterbottom shot A Mighty Heart in India, it was in news for all the wrong reasons. So this time its been kept as a hush-hush affair.

And this is not the first time that Thomas Hardy’s novel is getting adapted for the screen. Tess of the D’Urbervillies was also adapated as a four part mini-series for BBC and had Gemma Arterton in the lead role.

Rajasthan, Frieda Pinto, property developer, rickshaw owner – well, something tells us that it will again be desi exotica for the West. What’s missing ? Bollywood and naach-gaana ? Bet it’s there. Someone will move to Mumbai and dhen tedan! We can’t spill all the beans at one go.

Click here to read the Deadline.com report.

WHAT : Pitchfest is an opportunity for writers to ‘pitch’ their television ideas to Walkwater Media! It is an open call to writers all over India who want to write television content and have an interesting idea germinating in their mind.

QUALIFICATION : If you’re over 16 years of age and have an interesting idea for a TV show, you qualify! Pitchfest is open to new as well as experienced writers.

GENRE – Walkwater is open to ideas across various genres be it children’s content, daily soaps, crime thrillers, comedy, or any other genre for which you want to pitch! You can also turn in your ideas for non-fiction television content including reality TV!

HOW : You will need to upload your material, written in English or Hindi in the following format –

a. Logline – a 2-3 line brief about your idea.

b. Concept Note – not larger than 2 A4 size pages.

c. Character sketches of all important characters – not larger than 2 A4 size pages.

d. 5 episode story arc.

DATE : Entries open on February 1st 2011 and the competition closes on February 28th 2011.

CONTACT : If you have any questions, you can email at pitchfest@walkwater.in

WEBSITE : Click here to know more about it including the option fee and the assignment fee which the writers will be paid. And click here to know more about Walkwater Media.

– Don’t forget to check out the Terms & Conditions page. ( And yes, point No. 8 )

Happy writing & pitching!

And this one comes straight from the Sundance Film Festival where Fox Searchlight has bought the remake rights to The Bengali Detective.

For those of you who are not aware of The Bengali Detective, its a documentary and here is the official synopsis –

In response to police corruption, the private detective business has become increasingly common in India. The Bengali Detective follows the life of detective Rajesh Ji, who, along with his ragtag team of assistants, investigates cases ranging from counterfeit hair products to a brutal triple murder. When Rajesh is not sleuthing, he has big dreams of competing on a televised national talent show, so he and his detective gang form a dance troupe—which must be seen to be believed—and rehearse for their big audition.

Set in chaotic Kolkata, formerly known as Calcutta, the film is shot with atmosphere and immediacy, complementing the mystery and suspense of the investigations. Director Philip Cox finds a riveting subject in Rajesh. He’s all at once a showman, a dedicated husband, and a humanitarian. The Bengali Detective is a layered, wildly entertaining film: a poignant profile of a delightful character, a gripping detective narrative, and a detailed look at the middle class in contemporary India.

The film is directed by Philip Cox and produced by Giovanna Stopponi, Annie Sundberg and Himesh Kar and had its premiere at the Sundance.

But remake rights of a documentary film ? Not very usual and it got us bit confused. So, will it be a feature now ? Click here to read the Variety report though it doesn’t say much. And even the official press release doesn’t give a clear picture. Claudia Lewis (President of Production at Fox Searchlight) said : We adored this film and are delighted to have the chance to work with such entertaining, funny material. We were charmed by this story of a dedicated husband and self-made detective who dreams big.

Will update as soon as we get more details. And if you are still wondering about the header, well, that’s Mira Nair’s favourite quote and we endorse it too – If we don’t tell your stories, who will ? Seems not any more. We might end up losing what we never bothered to endorse! Remeber Slumdog Millionaire ? One of the best masala movies in recent times – aha, that’s also not by Farah Khan!

And that’s what you call a perfect timing! Dhobi Ghat, pitched as a first art house film from Aamir Khan Productions, released on Friday, and now the announcement that Aamir Khan will be one the jury of Berlin International Film festival 2011. It’s among the top five International film festivals worldwide and to be on the jury is quite an honour.

The seven-member jury will be headed by Italian-American actress Isabella Rossellini and the festival will run from 10th to 20th February, 2011. The other jury members include Australian film producer Jan Chapman, German actress Nina Hoss, Canadian film-maker Guy Maddin, British costume designer Sandy Powell and Iranian director Jafar Panahi.  But Panahi’s place on the jury will be left symbolically empty.

The competition section includes 22 films, 16 of which will be competing for the awards. In addition there will be two special screenings: In solidarity with the convicted Iranian director Jafar Panahi, his film Offside will be presented on February 11, the anniversary of the Iranian Revolution. Also, the European premiere of Werner Herzog’s 3D documentary Cave of Forgotten Dreams will be shown as a special screening in the Berlinale Palast.

The international jury will decide the following prizes –

– The Golden Bear for the Best Film (awarded to the film’s producer)

– The Jury Grand Prix (Silver Bear)

– The Award for Best Director (Silver Bear)

– The Award for Best Actress (Silver Bear)

– The Award for Best Actor (Silver Bear)

– The Award for Best Script (Silver Bear)

– The Award for an Outstanding Artistic Achievement in the categories camera, editing, score, costumes or set design (Silver Bear)

– The Alfred Bauer Prize – in memory of the festival founder – for a feature film that broadens the horizons of the art of filmmaking.

Berlin Fest will also have three films from India in Panorama section. To quote from the official release…

On a grand scale Vishal Bhardwaj tells of an intimidating female character who moves between the religions and their male proponents in 7 Khoon Maaf (7 Sins Forgiven), while young director Q has angry young men set out – unfiltered and raw – to find a place for themselves in the world in his film debut Gandu (Asshole): “Words are burning inside us. Rap is a way to say them.” British filmmaker Phil Cox lets viewers experience the city of Calcutta up close in The Bengali Detective: it takes you to the darkest corners of the metropolis with private detectives whose businesses are booming because the police can no longer be trusted.

Filmmaker Prashant Bhargava’s feature Patang (The Kite) has also been selected to be screened as part of the 41st Forum in this year’s Festival.

And Dear Aamir,

If you still haven’t been able to understand Memento, we are more than willing to offer our services. Do let us know. And we also hope that you don’t talk about Ghajini there. Be careful. Or you might end up getting caught, like it happened with Bipasha Basu recently.

Team FC

Mumbai Mantra, the film division of Mahindra Group, seems to be in a defunct state currently.  But it seems there is a genuine attempt to reinvent the division now and so they have tied up with the Sundance Film Institue.

It all sounds good but am bit skeptical about it. Earlier Mahindra tried to do the same here,  started a screenwriters lab and selected 12 scripts for mentoring.  Anjum rajabali, Sriram Raghavan and Anurag Kashyap were mentoring the scripts and one of us was part of the lab. They spent money on script development but didn’t venture out to shoot a single feature from the 12 final scripts. Well, the good thing is , they have returned the scripts to the writers now, and without any conditions attached or exercising any buy-back option. Hopefully this time it will work out in a better way. Read on for more deatils…

WHAT : The collaboration will see the establishment of the Mumbai Mantra|Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab which shall become an annual event in India, and the Sundance Institute|Mahindra Global Filmmaking Award will be awarded annually at the Sundance Film Festival. Sundance Screenwriters Lab has been mentoring scripts since last few years and many landmark films have come out of the lab.

HOW : Four filmmakers from around the world will receive a grant, attendance at the Sundance Film Festival for industry meetings, mentoring from Institute staff and creative advisors, participation in a Feature Film Program Lab, and year-round support. This initiative will extend over a three-year period, benefiting 12 awardees. Beginning in 2012, one out of the four directors will be an Indian.

WHEN : Recipients of the 2011 Sundance Institute | Mahindra Global Film Making Award will be announced January 25.

And there is more. From 2012, the inaugural Mumbai Mantra|Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab will provide an opportunity for six-to-eight filmmakers from India to develop their works under the guidance of accomplished Creative Advisors.

DATE : Hard copies of application materials must be post marked by June 1, 2011.

CRITERIA : 1. All Indian nationals as well as Indians, living overseas people of Indian origin and mixed Indian parentage are eligible to apply.

2. Only those who are working on their first or second feature film project shall be eligible. However, they may have worked on documentaries, shorts, advertising films in the past.

LANGUAGE : The screenplay can be for a film in any Indian language including English. However, the synopsis and the first 5 pages that you should send by June 1, 2011 must be translated in English.

Application Form: Click here for the official website of Mahindra’s Mumbai Mantra and you can download the application form from there.

he inaugural Mumbai Mantra|Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab will provide an opportunity for six-to-eight filmmakers from India to develop their works under the guidance of accomplished Creative Advisors in an environment that encourages storytelling at the highest level.