Phantom is about changing mind set - DAY 648

Kabir Khan likhi directed Phantom 26/11 ko Mumbai par kiye gaye terror attacks ki dastaan dohrrati hain. Saat saal baad, jab Taj Hotel aur CST Station ki tooti imaratein aur sheshe phir se jod diye gayein hain Mumbai shehar ka zakhmi dil ab bhi ghayal hain... Phantom Mumbai ke wo dard aur desh ne sahi zillat ki dava hain. Author Hussain Rizvi ki kitab Mumbai Avengers par adharit aur Parveez Sheikh-Kausar Munir ke shabdon mein sajji, ye kahanai hai expelled army officer Daniyal/ Saif Ali Khan ke khoye swabhiman ki. Film ka plus: Alag continents ke refreshing locations, realistic characters aur film ki script aur location detailing. Film ka minus: Film ki dull storytelling aur inconsistent pacing. Katrina Kaif sundar hai aur Saif Ali Khan sincere. Film ka best performance Raw Agent Alok yaane Rajesh Teilang ka hai. Agar se bhi kuch behtar hai, toh director Kabir Khan ka hausla..! Kabul Express aur NewYork ke baad Phantom Kabir ki teesri terror vishay par film hain aur iss baar, Khan Bajrangi Bhaijaan ki tarha dushman se dosti ka haath nahi, zulm ka muh tod jawab dete hain..!! Mana ki Phantom Kabir ki peechli filmon jaisi emotional ya effective nahi, magar zyaada mushkil aur bahdur hai. Bachpan mein hum sabne Phantom Comics padhi thi – aur kabhi na kabhi uss bahdur hasti ko milna chaha tha. Director Kabir Khan hume apne andar ke Phnatom se milate hain. Phantom koi hasti nahi, ek soch hai…Jisse badalne ka ab samay aa gaya hai! Phantom ko iss nek irade ke liye Big Entertainment Ratings milte hai 3.5 stars. Bhawana Somaaya/ @bhawanasomaaya

Revisiting Black & White cinema - DAY 647

Jackie Shroff is in good times. After Brothers the handsome actor looks forward to Chehre written and directed by Rohit Kaushik. The film captures the journey of cinema from silent films to Talkies captured in both Black & White and color. It is a psychological thriller set in 1952 in England and plays upon interpersonal relationships of the various protagonists. Meant to be a musical thriller Chehre will unmask many secrets on Friday says the director.

Bhawana Somaaya/ @bhawanasomaaya

Waheeda Rehman as Photographer - DAY 646

Few people are aware that Waheeda Rehman is an avid wild life photographer and is a regular on safaris both in India and abroad with her son Sohel Rekhy. Her pictures have never been published and Rehman has never talked about her passion in any interview or public platform. Tigerland India Film Festival is the first occasion to highlight her other side of artist in a public space and Bhopal is privileged to host this memorable exhibition which Rehman describes as a mere hobby.

Take a look at the pictures and decide if this is hobby or amazing talent.

Bhawana Somaaya/ @bhawanasomaaya

Tigerland India Film Festival - DAY 645

In a grand function held at Samanvay Bhawan, legendary actress Waheeda Rehman attended the Tigerland India Film Festival 2015 as Guest of Honour.

Other dignitaries present were: PCCF Madhya Pradesh Narendra Kumar as Chief Guest; Ashwani Lohani (now CMD Air India), Ravi Srivastava (Chief Wildlife Warden- MP), Suhas Kumar (Member-NVDA), Animesh Shukla (MD, MP State Minor Forest Produce Fed.), Vinay Varman (CEO, MPEDB), and Pramod Verma (DG, MPCOST).

The event began with lamp lighting followed by a devotional dance by students of Aasha Niketan H.S. School for the Deaf. Films screened under Panorama section and under Competitive category were: Revenge of the Tiger by Shri Nalla Muthu; Birds of Narsinh Talav; Wetlands: Question Mark and In Deep Coma all engaging films.

 

The awards were given under four different categories and judged by a seven member diverse panel of judges consisting of experts from the fields of wildlife, media, films and art.

A TIFF 2015 edited by Abhinandan Shukla was released on this occasion and

Waheeda Rehman who is a great lover of wild life was honoured by a memento. 

Bhawana Somaaya/ @bhawanasomaaya

Lara Dutta plays translator in Singh is Bling - DAY 644

Lara Dutta who is returning to the silver screen with Singh is Bliing will be seen  in a quirky and geeky avatar. Her character Emily creates trouble in Akshay Kumar and Amy Jackson’s love story in the film.

Lara says, “I play Emily aka Imli, a Goan, who is hired by Singh (Akshay Kumar) and his friends to be a translator for them to be able to communicate with Sara (Amy). It’s funny but also quirky. I had to make an effort to look geeky and frumpy. My look was decided upon between the director, the producer and me and was executed by the film’s stylist Arun.”

Producer Ashwini Yardi says, “Lara plays a key role in Akshay’s and Amy’s love story. She’s responsible for the chaos in their lives.”

Bhawana Somaaya/ @bhawanasomaaya

SMART Year - DAY 643

SMART (Strategic Management in the Art of Theatre) - aims to build knowledge, skills and expertise about arts management within the theatre community itself - enabling practitioners to develop strategic management systems for aspects of theatre that lie outside the direct creative process. Conceived, designed and developed by experts from different fields it address the direct need for effective arts management in our country.

Their vision and motive is to impact much more than just the theatre community and they begin with celebrating first batch of 17 SMART graduates. This is the beginning of a new India.

Bhawana Somaaya/ @bhawanasomaaya

SMART graduates. This is the beginning of a new India.

Bhawana Somaaya/ @bhawanasomaaya

Manjhi is noble and All is Well is clean entertainer - DAY 642

Ketan Mehta directed Manjhi Bihar ke chotte gaon ki kahani hain.

Saal 1947 mein desh toh azaad ho gaya, magar Gehlour gaon ab bhi garibi aur badhua

 mazdoor ka shikaar hain. Gehlaur mein kraanti laata hain Dasrath Manjhi aur ye kraanti ki wajah hai, pyaar! Dasrath ki patni Phagunia har roz pahad chadkar uske  liye khaana laati thi.

Ek din,  Phaguniya pahad se girkar mar jaati hai aur Dasrath pahad todkar rasta bana ne ki than leta hai.

Din- raat – hafte- manine- saal- dashak – balke do dashak takDasrath akela pahad todta rehta hai jab tak ke sadak nahi ban jaati.

Jiss saadgi se Dasrath Manjhi apni zindagi jeete hain, wohi saadgi se director Ketan Mehta apne kirdaar ko pesh karte hai.

Jis sachai se Dasrath apni ladai ladte hai, wohi sachai se Nawazudin Siddiqui bhi apne kirdaar ko nibhate hai.

Aisi film mein, kya aur kyun choot gaya, ya kum pad gaya, mayne nahi rakhta…

Manjhi dekhni chahiye, neyat aur sandesh ke liye, dilchasp climax ke liye, aur sabse badhka, ek gairmamuli insaan ke liye.

Manjhi ko Big Entertainment Ratings milte hain 3 stars.

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Umesh Shukla likhi directed  All is Well kahani hai ek bichde, bikhre pariwar ki.

 Maa/Supriya Pathak ashram mein hain, baap/Rishi Kapoor karz mein duba hai aur beta/Abhishek Bachchan pardes mein hai. Sanjog kuch aise bante hain, ki iss ladte jhagadte pariwar ko ek saath aana padta hain aur lamba safar bhi tayy karna padta hain. Safar ke dauran pata chalta hai ki jo dikhta hai aisa hota nahi aur jo hota hai use aksar chupaya jaata hai. Film ka plus: film ka sangit, saare actors ke beech chemistry, Road-Romance-Family ka mishran aur saaf suthri kahani.Film ka minus, agar isse minus kaha jaye toh,  ki kahani taam jhaam se zyaada sandesh ko mahatva deti  hain.

All is Well dekhni chahiye, ek naye baap bête ki jodi yaane Rishi Kapoor -Abhishek Bachchan ke liye.

All is Well ko Big Entertainment Ratings milte hain 3 stars.

Bhawana Somaaya/ @bhawanasomaaya

Eros’ new Bengali venture is Prakatan - DAY 641

Post the success of the critically acclaimed, Belaseshe, marking Eros International’s foray into Bengali cinema, it once again joins hands with the award winning producer-director duo Nandita Roy and ShiboPrasad Mukherjee of Windows Film Productions for their next project, a love story titled Prakatan - Past meets present...and walk into a new future, starring Bengali superstars Prosenjit Chatterjee and Rituparna Sengupta.

The announcement comes on the occasion of 100 successful days of Belaseshe - In the Autumn of My Life that had veteran Bengali actors Soumitra Chatterjee and Swatilekha Sengupta in the lead roles.

Bhawana Somaaya/ @bhawanasomaaya

Akshay Kumar is grateful-DAY 640

While shooting his introductory song ‘Tung Tung Baje…’ from Singh is Bliing hero of the film Akshay Kumar almost caught fire while shooting for a stunt but rather than make any fuss about it he dusted his clothes and get on with the shooting. Perhaps that was the reason of coming so close to fire that Akshay Kumar stayed on longer than required to offer seva at a Gurudwara in Punjab while shooting for Singh is Bliing.

What we need to learn from Akshay are two lessons. Never take life and blessings from god for granted. He does not and it shows in his life and his career.

Bhawana Somaaya/ @bhawanasomaaya

Ab Rab Hawale - DAY 639

Inaamulhaq who was last seen playing a Pakistani in Nitin Kakkar’s Filmistaan had shot for a short film Ab Rab Havale directed by Ritika Bajaj Vijra and produced by Creative Canvas Entertainment was nominated in Los Angeles Independent Film Festival Awards (LAIFFA), The Cannes Short Film Corner, 2015 and Indie Fest USA has now released on YouTube.

Based on the story of partition, the night when India and Pakistan became two entities and where families got separated. Inaamulhaq who is playing a pivotal role in the short film says he is privileged to be a part of this film and is reminded of a dialogue from his film Filmistaan, ‘Film badi ho ya choti par dil se banni chahiye’ and Ritika has made this film ‘Dil Se’.

Inaamulhaq’s earlier two short films include Parchhaiyaan and The Search in 2004 and 2005 respectively. The Search was nominated for the Best Film Award in competition category at Berlin Asia-Pacific Film Festival 2006. “The problem with short films is that they are only viewed at festivals but no more, now we have an international audience sitting at home on the YouTube.”

Bhawana Somaaya/ @bhawanasomaaya

Bhishmotsav Festival-DAY 638

 In a first-of-its kind event Kapol Theatre will showcase the work of playwright, actor, director, Bhisham Sahni,a brainchild of Seema Bhargava Pahwa and Manoj Pahwa, now managed by their daughter Manukriti Pahwa, who has completed her Bachelors in Performing Arts (Dramatics) from M S University, Vadodara.

Having performed many of Bhishamji’s playwrights in the past, the latest being a presentation of Saag Meat at the Vice President’s office in Delhi, Seema Pahwa thought, the 8 August, Sahniji’s birthday to be the most appropriate day to celebrate the legend and his brilliance.

This event feature renowned theatre and film personalities, namely Naseeruddin Shah, Ratna Pathak Shah, Yashpal Sharma, Heeba Shah, Manoj Pahwa, Seema Bhargava Pahwa, Manukriti Pahwa and Mayank Pahwa performing and reciting five of Bhisham Sahniji’s famous stories.

Seema Bharagava Pahwa has directed and designed the event, ensuring an exquisite experience for everyone.

The event will also include a book stall showcasing all of Bhisham Sahni’s work, with an aim to educate the masses and NCPA organizing a special screening of Tamas and Mohan Joshi Hazir Ho.

Bhawana Somaaya/ @bhawanasomaaya

Brothers: Emotions mixed with Martial Arts-DAY637

Karan Malhotra directed Brothers saal 2011 ki Hollywood release Warrior ka official remake
hai.

Ye kahani hai street fighter Garry Fernandes/ Jackie Shroff aur unke do bête, David/ Akshay
Kumar aur Monty/ Siddharth Malhotra ki.

Film ke opening scene se nazar aata hai ki teeno ke beech tanav hai aur iske raaz dheere dheere
khulte hain...

Film ka first half emotionally engaging aur technically gripping hai…

Film ka second half jo Mixed Martial Arts ki training aur tournament par focused hai repetitive
aur behad violent hai.

Film ka sabse bahtareen performance Maria ki bhumika mein Shefali Shah aur uske baad, dard
bhare Jacki Shroff ka hai.

Akshay Kumar aur Siddharth Malhotra ne apne fighter role ke liye kadi mehnat ki hai jo nazar
atti hai.

Film ka plus film ki casting aur story telling, Film ka minus film ka second half aur predictable
climax.

Brothers ko Big Entertainment Ratings milte hain 3 stars.

Bhawana Somaaya/ @bhawanasomaaya

Gaur Hari Dastaan: Truth Triumphs- DAY637

Ananth Narayan Mahadevan directed aur Surendran likhi Gour Hari Dastaan ek freedom fighter
ki kahani hai.
Gour Hari Das yaane Vinay Pathak, Khadi Kraft mein kaam karte hai, aur apni patni Lakshmi/
Konkana Sen aur bête ke saath Mumbai mein rehte hain.

Ek din, jab unke bête ko, unki swatantrata ki ladai ka Taampatra na hone se, college mein
dakhila nahi milta, tab Gaur Hari Das ki zindagi astitva ki talash ban jaati hai.
Iss film ka hum kai tarha se varnan kar sakte hai…
Isse hum aazadi ka junoon keh sakte hai…Ya aazadi ki gairr zimmedaari bhi…

Isse hum satya ki shakti keh sakte hai….. ya bhrashtachar ka jashn bhi.. .

Film ka plus, film ka vishay, film ka sandesh, film ke muddein, saare performances, khaas taurpe
Vinay Pathak aur sab se badhkar, film ki neeyat.

Mee Sindhoo Tai ke baad, Ananth Mahadevan, ek baar phir, humare zameer ko tatolte hai.

Mana ki film dheemi hai, kuch sukhi hai aur kuch kadvi bhi, iske bawajood, Gour Hari Dastaan
dekhni chahiye, kyon ki ye vyaktigat hai, samajik hai aur rashtriya bhi!.

Gour Hari Dastaan ko Big Entertainment Ratings milte hai 3.5 stars.

Bhawana Somaaya/@bhawanasomaaya

Jaanisaar-Bangistan:No Show- DAY 636

Iss hafte do releases hain: Pehli, period film Muzzaphar Ali ki Jaanisaar. Doosri, naye director
Karan Anshuman ki comedy film Bangistaan.

Jaanisaar 1876 mein basse, ek raja aur tawaif ki prem kahani hai aur saath mein bagawat ki kahani bhi.

Bangistaan kalpanik duniyamein alag dharam aur dushman desh ke beech vichar vivaad hai.

Jaanisaar ka plus, uss daur ke khoobsurat costumes, classical nritya aur sangit aur khaas taurpe
nawabi tehzeeb.
Jaanisaar ka minus, film ki kahani jisme na jaan hai na sar aur usse bhi bada minus, film ke lead
performances.

Bangistaan ka plus Jaqualine Fernandes aur uss se bhi bada plus, Ritesh Deshmukh jo har film
aur har bhumika mein dependable hai.
Bangistaan ka minus, Ritesh Desmukh  aur Jaqueline Fernandes ke alava sab kuch!

Yakeen nahi aata, ki 80 ke dashak mein Umra O Jaan jaisi bahtareen film bana ne wale director Muzzaphar Ali, 2015 mein Jaanisaar jaisi bejaan film pesh kar sakte hain.

Yakeen nahai hota, ki Dil Dhadak  ne Do jaisi contemporary film  bana ne wale producer Reitesh
Sidhwani, Bangistaan jaisi film produce karne ki bhi sahas rakhte hain.

Dono film, Jaanisaar aur Bangistaan ko, Big Entertainment Ratings milte hain 2 stars.

Bhawana Somaaya/ @bhawanasomaaya

Calling AuthorsDAY 635

To recognize quality writing on cinema, Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival announces a new award category – the Book Award for Excellence in Writing on Cinema. The Award seeks entries that showcase nuanced and imaginative film writing and publishing in South Asia. Book-length works written by authors from the sub-continent and published by an Indian publishing house in print format between July 31, 2014 and June 30, 2015 are eligible for the Award.
The Award covers works of fiction, graphic novel, creative non-fiction, reportage, analysis and screenplay, written in English or translated into English. The Award carries a cash prize of Rs 5 lakhs. The last date of submission is Monday, August 10, 2015.

Leading Publisher & Editor, Arpita Das (Yoda Press), is curating the Award. Reflecting on the idea behind the Award, she said, “If we want more nuanced discussions around cinema in India, we need to have more writing on and around film. That is the belief which lies behind the Jio MAMI Book Award for Excellence in Writing on Cinema -- a recognition of the best writing on films in India in a way that more writers want to engage with cinema and make it their subject matter in their future.”

Anupama Chopra, Festival Director, Jio MAMI, said, “As a journalist and book author, it gives me immense pleasure to introduce the book award at Jio MAMI Mumbai film festival. We need to preserve, document, archive and analyze our rich and diverse cinema culture.

My hope is that this will help support and produce some stellar writing on our collective passion: Cinema."

Bhawana Somaaya/ @bhawanasomaaya

P for Pioneers-DAY 634

This is the story of a leading name in I.T. industry, Pioneers Office Automation. Born in 1997, it was a mere converter of books into CD-ROMs. Its objective was marketing of CD-ROMS of national/ international repute and collected over 1000 titles ranging from edutainment, games, general and professional.

Pioneers became a trendsetter of Retail outlets, Distributors, Institutions and Corporate with more than 5000 titles (Books and CDs) which includes Edutainment, Games, Pre – School books, Activity Books, Coloring, Art and Craft, Encyclopedia, Stories and many more.

That is not all. Their services include Studios publishing the software and animation movies, distribution and solutions for schools particularly for children from kindergarten to Class 10. Besides education Pioneers is into corporate deals and co-branding, in short has the perfect mantra for success.

Bhawana Somaaya/ @bhawanasomaaya

Revisiting Bhisham Sahani-DAY 633

Bhisham Sahni was one of the greatest writers of our country. He penned satirical short stories and some great novels such as Tamas, Madhvi, Basanti, Kadiaand many more. He has also played a vital role in spreading political awareness through his work with IPTA. Kapole Theatre will pay a tribute to Bhisham Sahni tribute staging a few of his short stories such as Oob, Sir Ka Sadka, Dholak, Yaddein, Samadhi Bhai Ramsingh, along with snippets of his life.

Performed by sterling actors like Naseeruddin Shah, Ratna Pathak Shah, Yashpal Sharma, Manoj Pahwa,Seema Bhargava Pahwa, Heeba Shah, Manukriti Pahwa and Mayank Pahwa. The play is designed and directed by Seema Bhargava Pahwa.

The premier is to be held at NCPA Mumbai Experimental Theatre on 8-9 August and Swatantryaveer Savarkar Rashtriya Smarak, Dadar on 14 August respectively.

Bhawana Somaaya/ @bhawanasomaaya

Dance in the Rain- DAY 632

The 25th Raindrops held a three day festival featuring varied classical styles of Indian dances, namely Bharatnatyam, Mohinattam, Odissi, Kathak and Manipuri. Held at Ravindra Natya Mandir it was exhilarating to watch different styles of art form come together.  Conceived by renowned Kathak exponent Uma Dogra, who heads the Sam Ved Society it is an annual event artistes look forward to during the monsoon season. Over the period of three days the audience was mesmerised  by Kathak performed by Rina Mehta, Vishal Krishna and Anuj Mishra. Namrata Gupta and Rajashri Praharaj danced Odissi, where as Suhani Dhanki and Mrinalini Biswas performed Bharatnatyum. There was also Radhika Nair dancing Mohiniattam and Shreya Ayyub dancing Manipuri.

In the august presence of classical dancers like Kanak Rele, Nilima Azim, Jhelum Paranjape, Darshana Jhaveri, was also renowned Ballroom and Latin dancer guru Sandip Soparrkar. His presence defined that dance is universal. Soparrkar was full of praise for Uma and said “Very few people in this world are like Uma Dogra who give platform to young dancers and do not differentiate between a western dancer and an Indian dancer."

Call it co-incidence that Raindrop held the festival amidst heavy rains in the city but Ravindra Natya Mandir
was house-full with dance lovers and clapping. An overwhelmed Uma Dogra said, “As long as art exists love
and peace will prevail.”

Bhawana Somaaya/ @bhawanasomaaya