KAUFMAN - "Or cramming in sex, or car chases, or guns. Or characters learning profound life lessons. Or characters growing or characters changing or characters learning to like each other or characters overcoming obstacles to succeed in the end. Y'know ? Movie shit."
Kaufman is sweating like crazy now. Valerie is quiet for a moment - from "Adaptation".
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Prashant Bhargava’s debut feature Patang has been doing the rounds of international film festivals since last year and the latest one was the prestigious Ebertfest.
It stars Seema Biswas, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sugandha Garg and Aakash Mahayera, and has been shot by Shanker Raman.
The film will be finally in US theatres from June 15th. And here’s a new trailer of the film.
And here’s the synopsis..
A family saga set against the colorful spectacle of the Uttarayan, India’s largest kite festival, The Kite is a kaleidoscopic whirlwind of energy, romance, and turmoil. A businessman arrives in Ahmedabad for a surprise visit to his once grand family home, bringing with him his daughter and some unexpected news for the family’s future. Amongst the flurry of preparations and the energy of the festival itself, the transformative and intersecting tales of six characters unfold.
Ah, finally. The way Viacom18, the producer of Gangs of Wasseypur, was reluctant to share even on location images of the film after the Cannes announcement, we were thinking if they were going to lay some golden eggs.
The trailer, poster and the official synopsis of the film is finally out. Let’s go one by one. First, the trailer.
Loot, coal mines, volatile people in volatile land, zindagi ka ek-e maksad – badla, jail, chop shop, Tishu, Bihar ke lala, cuss words, Richa attacking the same man who has been killing everyone, sex, goggles-wala-pyaar, dhoom-dhaam, more cuss words, more earthy and punchy dialogues, more abuses and some more dhaam-dhaam. And everything is inherited! E toh poora ka poora dabang hai – abki badke Kashyap ki baari.
But why is the text font so bland? Bad font always bores me.
As far as the trailer goes, this is as mainstream as it can be. But i think the trailer serves more masala than the film will offer. Might be wrong. But Kashyap without his indulgences? Jiyo o Bihar ke lala. The trailer doesn’t tell you much about the film but it gives the ambiance and the mood of the film and tells you what to expect – you connect the dots. And if you can’t, scroll down for the synopsis.
My fav bit – Pankaj Tripathy. Bahut-e kamaal ke actor hai. Agle Yashpal Sharma hai jo hame bahut-ey pasand hai.
Now, the poster.
Superb art work. Like the colours and the treatment. But why such a bad finish? The film posters on the right and left hand side looks so weird. As if at the last moment they asked some intern to put two posters. Just doesn’t gel with the rest.
And now the official synopsis…
Towards the end of colonial India, Shahid Khan loots the British trains, impersonating the legendary Sultana Daku. Now outcast, Shahid becomes a worker at Ramadhir Singh’s colliery, only to spur a revenge battle that passes on to generations. At the turn of the decade, Shahid’s son, the philandering Sardar Khan vows to get his father’s honor back, becoming the most feared man of Wasseypur. In contemporary times, the weed addicted grandson, Faizal Khan, wakes up to this vengeance that his family has inherited. Staying true to its real life influences, the film explores this revenge saga through the socio-political dynamic in erstwhile Bihar (North India), in the coal and scrap trade mafia of Wasseypur, through the imprudence of a place obsessed with mainstream ‘Bollywood’ cinema.
The film stars Manoj Bajpai, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Jaideep Ahlawat, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Aditya Kumar, Reemma Sen, Richa Chadda, Huma Qureshi, Piyush Mishra and Syed Zeeshan Qadri.
It’s raining good news and how! After Miss Lovely and Peddlers, the latest one to join the Cannes club is Anurag Kashyap’s two-parter Gangs of Wasseypur.
The film will be screened in the Directors’ Fortnight Section. Produced by Viacom18, it stars Manoj Bajpayee, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Richa Chaddha.
Interestingly, Peddlers is also produced by Anurag Kashyap Films. So Peddlers and two-parter Gangs of Wasseypur in the same year. That’s a hattrick! And if you count Udaan, then Un Certain Regard, Critics Week and Directors Fortnight has been cracked. Now AKFPL just need to crack the competition!
According to its official release, the Directors’ Fortnight is distinguished by its independent-mindedness, its non-competitive nature and its concern to cater to non-professional Cannes audiences. Striving to be eclectic and receptive to all forms of cinematic expression, the Directors’ Fortnight pays particular attention to the annual production of fiction features, short films and documentaries, to the emergence of independent fringe filmmaking, and even to contemporary popular genres, provided these films are the expression of an individual talent and an original directorial style.
Click here to read Kashyap interview on Gangs of Wasseypur.
(PS – To know more about the Directors’ Fortnight section and selection, click here.)
Sorry to flood the blog with so many back to back posts on Ashim Ahluwalia’s Miss Lovely. But two reasons – Cannes doesn’t happen everyday. Nor do Indian films qualify there regularly. Also, the information is coming out bit by bit.
First came the news of its selection at Cannes in the Un Certain Regard section. Then, the official synopsis and stills (Click here). And now the teasers of the film.
What we know – Ashim Ahluwalia’s debut feature Miss Lovely is going to Cannes in Un Certain Regard section this year. The film is set in Bombay’s B/C grade film industry and it stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Niharika Singh and Anil George.
What we don’t know – what does the film look like? No stills/clips/trailer available on the net so far. What’s it all about?
And so we have got it all. The official synopsis and some stills from the film.
OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS
Bombay, 1988. Vicky and Sonu are brothers and partners in crime. They produce “C” grade films in the lower depths of Bollywood – lurid horror films, erotic bandit pictures, sleazy social dramas. From a humid one-hour hotel, amidst spilled whisky and bouts of womanizing, Vicky churns out illicit titles like “Dolly Darling” and “Lady James Bond” for India’s small-town picture houses. He leaves the donkey-work to Sonu, his withdrawn, dim-witted younger sibling, who often cleans up after him.
Returning exhausted from a sales trip peddling erotic reels in the hinterland, Sonu encounters a mysterious girl on the train and is drawn to her fragile beauty. She’s only just arrived in Bombay and her vulnerability soothes his own sense of despair. Her name is Pinky and she appears to be a struggling actress.
Vicky dismisses the girl as a gullible piece of flesh but Sonu is desperate, bewitched by Pinky’s silent radiance. He knows that only she can save him; make his emptiness disappear.
As the seasons change, Sonu begins to resent his hard-edged brother. He no longer wants toslave for Vicky’s lawless operation and decides to make a film of his own, with Pinky in the lead. A double debut – producer and star. It’s a reckless, nihilistic venture with no story and no crew in place. But he has a title – the film will be called ‘Miss Lovely’ and Sonu will do whatever it takes to make it.
But nothing is what it seems in this garish underworld of shifting alliances, double dealing, and quivering flesh. Out on the streets three years later, Sonu realizes that his whole world has turned upside down.
A baroque tale of betrayal and doomed love, the animal instincts of the struggling actress prove to be the most cutthroat of all. As paranoia and violence spiral out of control, brother turns on brother, and blood spills like water. Sonu, now alone and abandoned, aimlessly wanders the streets, junkyards and film studios, aching for one last glimpse of Pinky.
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Click here to read an interview of Ashim on the making of Miss Lovely.
Bedabrata Pain’s directorial debut Chittagong is finally ready for release. The film will have its world premier at IFFLA fest. The makers have just released a new poster of the film. And it looks good.
And here’s the synopsis according to the official release…
To say that 14-year-old Jhunka Roy’s life was about to change would be an understatement. Set against the beautiful forests and villages of Chittagong, a youth movement was underway, leading up to a drastic revolution. Based on true events in British occupied India of the 1930s, a group of untrained school youth handed the British their first military defeat. Led by a schoolteacher, local villagers and school children showed the power of mass resistance over colonial oppression.
Bedabrata Pain’s directorial debut is a coming-of-age tale of triumph, sacrifice and love, as a young boy’s determination sets the course for an entire nation’s freedom. This progression is what would later spark the first mass peasant movement in India, with the help of Jhunka Roy.
Credits include –
Director: Bedabrata Pain. Producer: Bedabrata Pain Screenwriter: Bedabrata Pain, Shonali Bose Cinematographer: Eric Zimmerman Editor: Aldo Velasco Music Composer: Shankar Mahadevan, Eshaan Noorani, Loy Mendoza Cast: Manoj Bajpai, Vega Tamotia, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Barry John and Dibyendu Bhattacharya.
It’s raining trailers and how! The theatrical trailer of Sujoy Ghosh’s Kahaani is finally out. Have a look.
Balan seems to be on Bull run and in this one she doesn’t even have a hero opposite her.
The film stars Vidya Balan, Parambrata Chattopadhyay and Nawazuddin Siddiqui. And the writing credits include Sujoy Ghosh (story/screenplay/dialogues), Advaita Kala (story), Suresh Nair/Nikhil Vyas (Additional screenplay), Ritesh Shah (Dialogues) and Sutapa Sikdar (Dialogues) . The film has music by Vishal-Shekhar.
Here’s the official synopsis..
Vidya Bagchi arrives in Kolkata from London to find her missing husband. Seven month pregnant and alone in a festive city, she begins a relentless search for her husband. With nothing to rely on except fragment from her memories about him, all clues seem to reach a dead end when everyone tries to convince Vidya that her husband does not exist. She slowly realizes that nothing is what it seems. In a city soaked in lies, Vidya is determined to unravel the truth about her husband – for herself and her unborn child even at the cost her own life.
Bedabrata Pain’s Chittagong has been in the making for quite sometime. And now, the first poster of the film has been released. We are guessing the film should be releasing soon.
The poster is simple and effective, reminds you of Raavan’s first look. Two issues – too much text in such small space. And who uses so many exclamation marks!!!
Written by Bedabrata Pain & Shonali Bose, it stars Manoj Bajpayee, Raj Kumar Yadav, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Barry John and Dibyendu Bhattacharya. To read the official synopsis and see the trailer of the film, click here.
The Dirty Picture is still going strong on buzz-o-meter. And here’s the latest trailer, the animated version. Best animated bit – 00:25 – 00:32.
There was Ashutosh Gowariker’s dud Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey, and now there’s Chhitagong by Bedabrata Pain. Both the films are based on the same incident. Written by Bedabrata Pain & Shonali Bose, it stars Manoj Bajpayee, Raj Kumar Yadav, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Barry John and Dibyendu Bhattacharya.
Here’s the first look. It doesn’t look like official trailer though. Too long to be a trailer, must be showreel for distributors or something like that.
And here’s the official synopsis…
Set against the backdrop of a little known saga in 1930s British-occupied India – where a group of schoolboys and young women, led by a schoolteacher, Masterda Surya Sen (Manoj Bajpai) dared to take on the Empire – CHITTAGONG is the story of a diffident 14 year old boy, Jhunku (Delzad Hiwale). Swept up into this seemingly impossible mission, the reluctant teenager battles with his own self-doubts to achieve an improbable triumph.
The film is a riveting action-drama, made more so by the fact that it is true.
Patang – The debut feature of Prashant Bhargava will have its North American premiere at the 10th Tribeca Film Festival. It will be shown in the World Narrative Feature Competition and will compete with 11 other films for the Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature, Best New Narrative Director, Best Actor and Actress, Best Screenplay, and Best Cinematography.
The film was also shown at this year’s Berlin Film Festival in the International Forum of New Cinema. It stars Seema Biswas, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sugandha Garg and Aakash Mahayera, and has been shot by Shanker Raman.
Click on the play button to check out its goregous preview trailer…
To quote from Tribeca’s official release..
A family saga set against the colorful spectacle of the Uttarayan, India’s largest kite festival, The Kite is a kaleidoscopic whirlwind of energy, romance, and turmoil. A businessman arrives in Ahmedabad for a surprise visit to his once grand family home, bringing with him his daughter and some unexpected news for the family’s future. Amongst the flurry of preparations and the energy of the festival itself, the transformative and intersecting tales of six characters unfold.
To know more about the film, click here. To read more about the other films selected for Tribeca Fest, click here.
You can also watch Prashant Bhargava’s short film Sangam at www.mubi.com. The film premiered at Sundance Film Festival in 2004.
F.i.g.h.t C.l.u.b 