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.
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.)
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.
Tip – Jahan Bakshi
Zimbly zouth remakes are not going to die anytime soon. First came the action movies, and now we are remaking the romantic films.
So here it is – the first look of Gautham Menon’s Ek Deewana Tha. The film stars Prateik, Amy Jackson and is remake of Menon’s own film Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa. Best part – music by A R Rahman. Loved the musical bits in the trailer.
But a perfect love story…a perfect romance? Huh!
Bollywood’s Men in White have made a career by copying every possible thriller from the west. Their new film is called Players and for a change, its not plagiarised. It’s the official remake of The Italian Job.
The first poster of Players released today and i felt a sense of deja-vu. Because when there is so much effort going on to get that stand-out look for every new film, Abbas-Mustan seems to be stuck in their old world, as far as the posters are concerned. Scroll down to see what i mean.
So basically all the actors will stand together, try to look cool and the poster is ready. You can replace any poster with the other one and it will not make any difference. This is for multi-starrers. Now let’s look at the film posters which has not more than three stars.
So what will be the poster of Race 2? Anyone wants to bet? Will they just replace few faces? Think so. Let’s see.
Concept is dead, design is dead, long live Abbas-Mustan!
Imtiaz Ali’s Rockstar starring Ranbir Kapoor is ready for release. The film’s theatrical trailer will come out with Salman Khan’s Bodygaurd. And the film’s first poster is just out. Some nice sketch work but a tacky font.
But is it real or fake? We are not sure yet but this one is currently online.
Anurag Kashyap’s next release That Girl In Yellow Boots finally gets an official poster. Not sure if it’s the same agency which has designed the posters of Dev D, Shaitan and now TGIYB but some design hangover seems to be there…similar elements, colours and that garish touch.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali is also ready with his next production, My Friend Pinto. Directed by debutant Raaghav Dar, it stars Prateik, Kalki Koechlin, Arjun Mathur, Divya Dutta, Raj Zutshi and Shruti Seth.
And the third one is Malegaon Ka Superman. This one comes from the cottage film industry of Malegaon. Do check out its tagline.
And it’s not even surprising because Bhatt Factory is known for plagiarising much more than just the posters. But to start with, here are the two posters of Murder 2 and the original ones….Korean to European, Kim Ki-Duk to Lars Von Trier, that’s quite a range!
Click here to see the other posters of Murder 2. We are sure that the 3rd and 4th poster from the top are not original too. Just can’t locate the source.
Tip – Aniruddha Chatterjee
We had no clue about this film. And we don’t know anyone associated with the film. Not even a friend’s friend. Between bouquets and brickbats, we got a mail from a stranger asking us if we can put a post on the film. Low-budget, indie and in black and white. Why not? So, here it is. The poster, trailer and official synopsis of the film. Do post your feedback in the comments section.
Kshay revolves around the personification of an obsession, fueled by nothing more than intangible desires. Chhaya is a simple housewife who has an artistic bent of mind and a seemingly happy life with her husband Arvind. Money trickles in every month and life goes on for an unassuming Chhaya, until her eyes catch hold of an unfinished sculpture of the Hindu Goddess, Lakshmi.
Her values and relationships as she knows them begin to decay day by day, surrendering to the clutches of an ugly obsession that feeds on her weaknesses and past disappointments. She must have the “Lakshmi”, as if to make up for all that she has yearned for in her life.
Kshay takes an unforgiving look at obsession; how it infects the frailty of our minds, corroding reasoning, reality and emotional fulfilment.
The film is written and directed by Karan Gour and has Rasika Dugal (No Smoking, Agyaat, Tahaan, Hijack) and Alekh Sangal (Summer of 2007) in the lead.
To know more about the film click here. And click here for the FB page of the film.
F.i.g.h.t C.l.u.b 