what we are reading – EightandHalf
After writing more than a dozen shitty films, Milap Zaveri has turned director with Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai. The film is produced by Nikhil Advani & Mukesh Talreja, presented by Warner Brothers and stars Ritesh Desmukh and Jacqueline Fernandez. Aladin again ? Ritesh looks, acts and talks the same! Straight from Aladin and his co-star is again the same. Baki kahani trailer me.
After the teasers and the song promos, the theatrical trailer of Farhan Akhtar-Deepika Padukone starrer Karthik Calling Karthik is out. Its directed by debutant Vijay Lalwani.
Such a long wait! All you Hrithik Roshan fans, enjoy! The theatrical trailer of the film Kites is finally out. So far we have seen only bits and pieces of the film footage which got leaked out from the Cannes market. But now here is the complete trailer. And this one seems to be different from the earlier one.
The film is directed by Anurag Basu, produced by Rakesh Roshan and stars Hrithik Roshan, Barbara Mori and Kangana Ranaut. It has been ready for quite sometime but nobody was willing to buy it because the price was damn high. But seems its ready to roll out soon.
The first few seconds of the trailer really scared us. It looks like Blue part 2. And then its Lost in Translation with sea, sun, sex, stunts, bikes, babes, barbara, action and more!
And if you want to know more about Kites, click here to read how it scored big zero at the Cannes Film Festival. For Kites synopsis/story/plot click here and for pics, clips, promo & website details, you can click here and here. And if you are looking for Barbara Mori & her kissing scenes click here.
This is the first still of Ashutosh Gowariker’s new film Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey, which has tweeted by Abhishek Bachchan. It also stars Deepika Padukone and Sikander Kher. The film is produced by PVR Pictures and is almost complete.
The film is based on journalist Manini Chatterjee’s book Do and Die on Chittagong uprising. Its pitched as a period thriller in which Abhishek plays the title role of revolutionary Surjya Sen, popularly known as Masterda.
Click here and here to read two reviews of the book Do and Die. The first one was published in Outlook and the second is from The Sunday Tribune. The Outlook review is copy-pasted here also. Just scroll down. The review follows….
Our history texts hardly have place today for the Chittagong armoury raids, then described by a British bureaucrat as having “no parallel in Bengal since the Mutiny of 1857”. This well researched book was thus necessary. Chatterjee has tracked down masses of documents relating to the raids and met surviving members of Surjya Sen’s (Masterda) army, to produce a gripping narrative. The book’s signal triumph is that it never tries to hide the fact that this entire amateurish adventure was a series of tragic blunders.
Sen’s men took control of the armoury, but found only arms, no ammunition; they didn’t know that arms and ammunition are never stored together. A young revolutionary forgot a simple truth – that you don’t light a matchstick while standing in a pool of petrol – and threw the entire field plan into disarray, something from which it never recovered. One of the leaders, Ananta Singh, was emotionally unstable. Another, Pritilata Waddadar, was driven by a death wish. And finally, Masterda was leading a bunch of schoolboys – the youngest was only 13 – into war against the British Army.These boys never lost faith. On Jalalabad’s hills they fought Gurkha machine-gunners with muskets. The British threw their bodies into a pit and mass-burnt them. Gandhi had not a word to say about them, reserving his commiserations for the mother of Vithaldas, who, as part of Gandhi’s anti-liquor campaign, tried chopping a toddy tree and fatally wounded himself. Chatterjee captures the injustice in one reverberating sentence: “Even martyrdom, it would seem, lies in the ideology of the bestower.”
You could call these people suicidal fools, but their courage shines through every page of this valuable book. Only two complaints: towards the end, Chatterjee can’t keep her political biases out, and she omits the survivor’s later lives (some had very chequered careers). But overlook that. Read this book and give it to your children, so they know about these misguided warriors who briefly halted the British empire in its tracks.
At 75, he is still going strong! After his last delightful small film Welcome To Sajjanpur, Shyam Benegal is ready with his new film titled Well Done Abba.
The film is produced by Reliance Big Picturs and stars Boman Irani in double role along with Minissha Lamba and Sammir Dattani. Its written by Ashok Mishra and is based on two short stories – ‘Narsaiyyan Ki Bavdi’ by Jeelani Bano and ‘Phulwa Ka Pul’ by Sanjeev. The first trailer of the film is out. Have a look. Seems like its in the same space as Sajjanpur.
And here is the official synopsis of the film…
Armaan Ali, played by comic hero Boman Irani, is a middle aged driver for a city executive. He takes a month’s leave and, when he arrives back at work three months later, his boss, understandably, threatens to sack him. To save his job, charming Armaan spins a fabulous story of why he was delayed in getting his daughter married.
Fable or truth, the boss isn’t quite sure, but the story revolves around a central question – how a well, once dug, can be stolen? Unearthed in Benegal’s part comedy, part political satire, is a hilarious and poignant depiction of the double dealing and corrupt middle men intrinsic to Indian rural politics. Meanwhile, at the heart of the story is a delightful romance between Armaan’s daughter and a young, honest mechanic who saves the day.
If others are here, can Walt Disney be far behind! In a country where there are more than half a dozen tv channels for kids, it cant be bad. Walt Disney is ready with its debut desi production titled Zokkomon.
The film is directed by Satyajit Bhatkal, Aamir Khan’s good friend and director of Chalo Chalo, the documentary on making of Lagaan. The film stars Darsheel Safary, Manjhari Phadnis and Anupam Kher. And if our sources are to be believed, the budget of the film is 22 crores! Yes, debut director, Darsheel in the lead and 22 crores!
Check it out, the teaser looks dull and boring.
According to official release, Zokkomon is is a thrilling and heart-warming action packed adventure about an ordinary boy who rises to meet extraordinary challenges. Kunal, an orphaned boy, discovers how cruel life is when he is abandoned by his heartless uncle. Left to fend for himself, Kunal soon realizes the hero within and begins his epic journey of adventure and transformation to become Zokkomon. Ah, every formula of superhero is here!
Its all set to release on 7th May, 2010 to get its target audience during the summer vacation.
Update (29-07-2010) – The international trailer of Peepli Live is out. Pause at 1:06 and please let us know who is the culprit for such superb subtitling.
Update (26-01-2010) – The first review of Peepli Live is out. Click here to read the review.
Update (18-01-2010) – UTV Motion Pictures has blocked all the trailers/promos of the film. And this is not the first time. It happened recently with UTV’s other film Raajneeti also. There is something surely wrong with UTV! But praise the soul who did the good deed and uploaded it again. Click here to see the official Peepli Live channel on Youtube. Or scroll down here. The last three dialogue promos are working.
If 2009 belonged to actor Aamir Khan, then get ready to see him in producer’s avataar in 2010. Not one or two, but Aamir Khan Productions has three films up for release. And the first one is Peepli Live directed by debutant Anusha Rizvi. Here is the new trailer.
And the first few dialogue promos of the film are out too. Have a look.
The film has been selected for the Sundance Film Festival and will compete with 13 other films in the World Cinema Narrative Competition. The main cast includes Omkar Das Manikpuri, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Raghubir Yadav, Shalini Vatsa, Malaika Shenoy and Farukh Jaffer.
And here is the official synopsis of the film…
Natha a poor farmer from Peepli village in the heart of rural India is about to lose his plot of land due to an unpaid government loan. A quick fix to the problem is the very same government’s program that aids the families of indebted farmers who have committed suicide. As a means of survival Farmer Natha can choose to die!!! His brother is happy to push him towards this unique ‘honor’ but Natha is reluctant. Local elections are around the corner and what might’ve been another unnoticed event turns into a ‘cause celebré’ with everyone wanting a piece of the action. Political bigwigs, high-ranking bureaucrats, local henchmen and the ever-zealous media descend upon sleepy Peepli to stake their claim. The question on everyone’s lips – “Will he or Won’t he?” As the mania escalates what will be the fate of Farmer Natha; nobody seems to care how he really feels?
The official website of the film is also up and running. Click here to go the homepage.
Will the so called marketing monster Aamir Khan turn these small films big too ? If he can, then everyone else can shut up forever. If he cant, then we know that only mainstream formulas (Fanaa, Ghajini, 3 Idiots) can become big, and you dont need any genius to deliver that! For confirmation, ask Akshay Kumar.
Those of you who have been complaining that Konkona Sen is getting repetitive (Luck By Chance, Wake Up Sid), here is something different! Konkona in comic avatar, alongwith actor Ajay Devgan/Devgon and Paresh Rawal. All three national award winners! The film is directed by Ashwni Dhir and presented by Warner Brothers.
The trailer of Leena Yadav’s new film Teen Patti is finally out. Earlier Bachchan had put out the trailer on his blog and the makers were not too happy about it. More about the fiasco here.
The new promo is bit different from the old one. It seems Ben Kingsley is completely missing or may be, they think that Kingsleysaab doesnt have much charm on desi audience. The earlier trailer was for the international distributors.
Looks much similar to Kevin Spacey starrer 21 ?
The film also stars R Madhavan and newcomers include Dhruv Ganesh, Shraddha Kapoor (Shakti Kapoor’s daughter), Siddharth Kher, Vaibhav Talwar and Saira Mohan.
And if you are curious to know more about the film, click here to know the plot/story/synopsis.
Here it is. The multi-starrer of the year. Produced by UTV, Prakash Jha’s Raajneeti stars Ajay Devgan, Katrina Kaif, Ranbir Kapoor, Arjun Rampal, Vivek Oberoi, Nana Patekar and Manoj Bajpai. Check it out! WTF! why so much voiceover!!!!???? Guess few things will never change!
UPDATE – As soon as the promo was out today, Prakash Jha was furious. It seems he wasnt aware of it. The director doesnt know that his film’s first theatrical trailer is already out. Surprise! What’s more, it was out on UTV’s official channel on youtube. Talking about the head not knowing where the arm is! Few phone calls here and there and the promo was pulled out. But the good word had spread by then. And so here it is. We also had to replace the video. Jhaji, ek trailer ke liye, pehle VVC aur ab itni raajneeti ?
F.i.g.h.t C.l.u.b 
