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Exclusive interview with writer-producer-director Mukhta Sundar of Paisa Ho Paisa

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“My Film ‘Paisa Ho Paisa’ Is A Road Movie, A Romantic Comedy Imbibed With A Roller Coaster Joyride And A Jolly Good Movie.” – Muktha Sundar

ShaheenRaaj, MukthaSundar, JyothiVenkatesh, Vishwanathan, KanishkaSoni,IndermohanPannu, Shaami Irfan, Divya, Siraj Syedn Rohan

by Shaheen Raaj

Muktha Sundar, hailing from Chennai, is a reputed South Indian writer-director-producer having made almost half a dozen films out there including his latest comedy hit film ‘Pathayeram Kodi’, which means “10 Thousand Crores”. And now he is all set to make his bow into the Hindi film firmament with yet again a comedy film named ‘Paisa Ho Paisa’, whose impending release is just round the corner.

Tell us briefly about your film background

I hail from a filmic family of South India. Till this date my family production house has produced more than a golden jubilee films helmed by my father Muktha Srinivasan, who had a penchant for making comedy films. And as far as I m concerned I think even my forte is making comedy films. You see Mr. Shaheen Raaj even I was interested in cinema since I was that high. So after completing my academic qualifications and before venturing into filmmaking I took a formal training in filmmaking by doing my Masters from the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. Till this date I have written, produced & directed 7 films. ‘Pathayeram Kodi’ in Tamil is my latest hit film. And now I am all set to enter Bollywood with my latest film in Hindi namely ‘Paisa Ho Paisa’ which I would describe as a semi sci-fi thriller comedy which is going to be released very soon.

IMG-20141211-WA049

So what is your film ‘Paisa Ho Paisa’ all about?

My latest film ‘Paisa Ho Paisa’ in Hindi is all about an engineering college student named Ashwin who meets a beautiful girl named Bhoomika in the college campus. After a few playful encounters, they fall in love. Ashwin hails from a lower middle class family and all the time he thinks of making big money in a very short time. When Bhoomika stumbles upon something big, she consults Ashwin and his friends and together they strike it rich in a very big way by using an invisible chemical (A chemical when it is sprayed on anything or anyone the object or the person becomes invisible). However they are forced to be on the run after being chased by the cops. Now starts the wild goose chase with ruthless & buffoonery gangsters, comic cops, bungling CBI officer and the hero and his friends playing all kinds of pranks. The chase & the laugh riot continues all the way from Pondicherry to Sani Singhnapur crossing 4 state borders with innumerable comic situations.

What are the highlights of ‘Paisa Ho Paisa’?

The climax of ‘Paisa Ho Paisa’ has been shot inside Sani Singhnapur Temple. Besides it has also been shot in the exotic locations of Karwar, Goa, Mercara, Pune, Ahmednagar, Mahabaleshwar & Panchagani. The movie has a running time of 1 hour & 45 minutes with 4 songs. Close to 30 minutes of computer graphics work has also been done in the movie. It is a road movie, a romantic comedy imbibed with a roller coaster joyride and a jolly good movie without any boring moments. I shot the film in 65 days but its computergraphics work alone took us almost 85 days in India itself. And let me clear one point that it is certainly not based or inspired by a Bollywood film namely ‘Mr. India’.

Give us some info about the cast & crew of ‘Paisa Ho Paisa’

‘Paisa Ho Paisa’ has been written, produced & directed by me under the banner of Maayaa Creation’s. Besides the other credits of the film are executive producer is V. Vishwanathan, cinematography by Rajkumar, art direction by Vijayanand & music by Manoj, G. D. Prasad & Nirojan. The starcast of the movie comprises of Dhruv Bhandari, Madalasa Shah, Kanishka Soni, Vivek, Antony et al.

It seems that your lead cast namely Dhruv Bhansari & Madalasa Shah played traunt during the promotions of ‘Paisa Ho Paisa’. Comment.

You see making a film in Tamil is quite different from making a film in Hindi. Hindi films have wider reach of audiences all over and they are more colourful. Down South film industry is more organized & more disciplined which is sadly missing in Hindi film arena. And the actors are not much interested in promoting their own films. But of couse there are exceptions to the rule yey certainly not in case of the actors of my film.

So what are the next film on your agenda?

Close on the heels of the release of ‘Paisa Ho Paisa’ I will immediately announce my next Hindi film. That apart I am also busy in making my next Tamil film named ‘Sivappu’ starring Raj Kiran in the title role albeit this time I am making an artistic and not a commercial film.

‘Paisa Ho Paisa’ is all set to release on 13th Mar 2015. It has story, screenplay, dialogues & direction by Muktha Sunder. The other credits of the movie are executive producer is Vishwanathan, cinematography by Rajkumar, art direction by Vijayanand & music by Manoj, G. D. Prasad & Nirojan. The starcast of the movie comprises of Dhruv Bhandari, Madalasa Shah, Kanishka Soni, Vivek, Antony et al.

West Indies beat Pakistan by 150 runs

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West Indies reduced Pakistan to 1-4 as they secured a crushing 150-run victory and their first win of the World Cup.

jason_holder

by BBC Sport

Jerome Taylor dismissed three batsmen for ducks and captain Jason Holder also struck in Pakistan’s first 19 balls.

It was the worst start to an innings in World Cup history and Pakistan were all out for 160 in 39 overs in Christchurch, with Taylor taking 3-15.

Andre Russell smashed 42 not out off 13 balls as West Indies hit 115 from the final 10 overs to finish on 310-6.

After such an entertaining display of big hitting at Hagley Oval, few would have expected the drama that followed.

Shahid Afridi drops a catch – one of five that Pakistan failed to take

Fast bowler Taylor dismissed Nasir Jamshed with the second ball of the innings, Younus Khan with the sixth and Haris Sohail with the 18th in a devastating spell of three wickets for one run that left Pakistan’s hopes in disarray.

Holder added to Pakistan’s misery by removing Ahmed Shehzad – the only Pakistan player to have scored a run – next ball.

Russell soon sent Misbah-ul-Haq on his way for seven before Sohaib Maqsood (50) and Umar Akmal (59) stopped the collapse.

Sammy ended their stand of 80 and wickets continued to fall before Pakistan were all out with 11 overs remaining.

“It was a wonderful performance,” said West Indies skipper Holder. “We batted really well.

“Russell, Lendl Simmons and Darren Sammy added impetus at the end of the innings, then Taylor was excellent with the new ball.”

The defeat leaves 1992 champions Pakistan, who face Zimbabwe on 1 March in their next match, bottom of Pool B after two emphatic defeats.

“It was a tough day, especially after we won the toss,” said Pakistan skipper Misbah. “The guys batting up front have been struggling a bit, and that made it very difficult for us, especially on a pitch like that, with the ball seaming a bit. We just have to pick ourselves up.”

West Indies will go into their next game on Tuesday, also against Zimbabwe, on a high having eradicated the memories of their humiliating defeat by Ireland.

The only downside to their victory was an injury to Darren Bravo, who had to retire hurt on 49 after tearing a hamstring.

Denesh Ramdin (51) and Lendl Simmons (50) picked up the pace after Bravo was helped off, with Simmons striking his team’s first six in the 37th over.

Ramdin departed at the end of the 40th over with the score 195-4 but Simmons and Sammy (30) pressed the accelerator, helped by Mohammed Irfan dropping a fifth catch of the innings.

Russell only started his incredible innings in the 48th over but hit his first ball for four and fired three massive sixes in the next over.

Another mighty six came in the final over to bring up the 300 and, although Simmons was run out off the final ball, West Indies had seized the initiative.

Sangh Parivar trying to destabilize Congress govt by spreading violence: PFI

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(Representative image)

(Representative image)

Mangaluru: Rejecting the allegations made by Sangh Parivar and pro-Sangh Parivar media that pro-Pakistan slogans were raised during a rally in Shivamogga as a ‘pack of lies’, the Popular Front of India has demanded a thorough probe into the violence that caused widespread damages.

In a press statement issued here, the PFI held Sangh Parivar fully responsible for the communal violence that erupted in Shivamogga on Thursday during a unity march organized by the PFI.

The release stated that even though the PFI had decided to organize unity march on February 17 in Shivamogga, later it was decided to postpone to February 19 as mark of respect towards Hindus, who were celebrating Mahashivaratri on February 17.

It said that a group of miscreants attacked and assaulted PFI activists during the peaceful rally. Several PFI cadres were brutally assaulted and injured. In the violence that ensued, several shops and vehicles were also torched by the mob.

It further states that few communal forces unable to stand the empowerment of minorities, Dalits and other oppressed classes in the country, were trying to taint the name of the organisation since a long time.

The recent Nandita suicide case in Thirthahalli is proof that these communal forces are trying to spark communal violence in several parts of Karnataka as a means of attempting to destabilize the Congress government in the state. Having failed at this, these forces are repeatedly targeting minorities and minority organisations, states the release.

The PFI has also demanded a separate investigation into the murder of Vishwanath (32) on the outskirts of city of Shivamogga in the aftermath of the clash.

It said that stringent action should be taken against the culprits who made a deliberate attempt to disrupt peace in the society by carrying out an attack on PFI rally.

(Agencies)

Kejriwal to Delhi Police: Target top beneficiaries of document leak

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Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi: Complimenting the Delhi Police for unearthing the corporate espionage racket, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said it should now target the “top people” benefitting from the leak.

“Compliments (to the) Delhi Police for busting espionage racket. During interrogation, police should try to reach top people, who would benefit from leaked info,” Mr. Kejriwal tweeted.

Five senior executives from top energy firms and two consultants are among those arrested in the sensational corporate espionage scandal, in which classified documents, including an input for upcoming Finance Minister’s budget speech were allegedly leaked.

The AAP on Friday demanded setting up of a commission to probe the matter in a time-bound manner.

(PTI)

Hoax bomb threat call at CM Siddaramaiah's home, accused arrested

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Photo: The New Indian Express

Photo: The New Indian Express

Bengaluru: Police here arrested the person who made a bomb hoax call to the control room, stating that a bomb had been planted at the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s residence in the city and that it would go off in half an hour.

Lakshmikanth Urs, a resident of Vivek Nagar, had called up the control room twice on Wednesday at 7.35 pm and 7.55 pm, which was received by a constable, sources said.

Urs had threatened that he had come from Pakistan and had placed a bomb near the chief minister’s official residence ‘Cauvery,’ and that the bomb would explode in 30 minutes, he had said and had hung up.

“A special team was formed to nab the accused. The call was traced to a mobile tower on Cunnigham Road and soon the cops cracked down on the person behind it. The motive behind the act is being ascertained and his background is being verified,” the source said.

The accused is booked under Section 507 (Criminal intimidation by an anonymous communication) and investigation is on.

Prakash Karat calls for broad platform against communal forces

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Prakash Karat

Alappuzha: CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat Friday said a broad platform should be formed against communal forces in the country.

Addressing the opening session of the 21st state conference of the CPI(M) here, Karat dubbed the Narendra Modi government as a joint enterprise of the RSS and BJP.

He also accused the Centre of launching a ‘right wing offensive” in the country to serve the interests of corporates and Hindutva forces.

“The Modi government with bypassing Parliament by bringing in a spate of ordinances and hiding from the people the details of the defence framework agreement with the United States,” he said.

He also expressed concern over the attacks on minorities and growing intolerance towards freedom of expression in the realms of art and culture.

“Within the short period of nine months of the Modi Government it is clear that our country is witnessing a right wing offensive. This right wing offensive is driven by two major forces. One, the corporates and big business groups and the other RSS-led Hindutva.”

“While the corporates were pushing for aggressively pursuing the neo-liberal policies, RSS and the Hindutva forces were pushing their communal agenda,” the CPI(M) leader said.

“We have a government which is a joint enterprise of the BJP and the RSS” and this had become amply clear with the formation of a co-ordination panel between the two.

“We have a situation where the RSS is not only running and guiding the BJP, but also providing directions and guidance to run the Government,” he said.

In a speech that targeted entirely the saffron outfits largely sparing Congress and other parties, Karat said the ordinances, including that pertaining to the land acquisition, promulgated by the government exposed its “right wing character.”

While calling for strengthening Left unity, Karat avoided mention of the the flare-up in the feud between the party’s state leadership and veteran leader V S Achuthanandan on the eve of the state conference.

However, the issue is expected to come up prominently during the deliberations during the conference, which will conclude on February 23.

For the CPI(M) state conference, held every three years, marks the culmination of an elaborate inner-party democratic exercise, staring from branch to the state level, ahead of the party Congress to be held in Vishakhapatnam in April.

Despite the wordy showdown between state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan and V S Achuthanandan, the latter hoisted the party flag marking the beginning of proceedings.

(Agencies)

Conflict in Sudan's Darfur displaces 41000 in two months: UN

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A Sudanese family takes shelter under their donkey cart at the Kalma refugee camp for internally displaced people, south of the Darfur town of Nyala, Sudan. (AP/UNAMID)

A Sudanese family takes shelter under their donkey cart at the Kalma refugee camp for internally displaced people, south of the Darfur town of Nyala, Sudan. (AP/UNAMID)

Fighting between Sudanese government forces and rebels in parts of Darfur has displaced more than 41,000 people from their homes since late December, the UN said on Thursday.

“Aid organizations have assessed and verified the needs of 41,304 people displaced” by violence in North Darfur state and the Jebel Marra areas in the war-torn region, the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its weekly bulletin.

The head of OCHA’s Sudan office said that the number of displaced people could be higher than the figures, which were collected between the last week of December and February 15.

“There are several localities, basically part of the Jebel Marra Massif, to which we don’t have access. We don’t know how many people have been affected” in those areas, Ivo Freijsen said.

Sudan’s military launched an offensive in Darfur in November in a bid to defeat insurgents who have been battling the government since 2003.

Jebel Marra is a hilly area in North Darfur where much of the fighting has taken place.

An army spokesman denied government troops carried out operations in the area in recent weeks.

“If there are any displacements, maybe it is as a result of previous fighting, more than one month ago. We ourselves never target civilians,” Colonel al-Sawarmy Khaled Saad said.

The Sudanese military launched its offensive — dubbed “Decisive Summer 2” — in November after the end of the rainy season that had rendered road in the region impassable.

Khartoum’s forces have also targeted insurgents in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan areas as part of the operation.

Insurgents in the western region of Darfur rebelled against the Khartoum government in 2003, complaining that they were being neglected and marginalized.

Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes in the region.

Bashir seized power in a 1989 coup, but won a 2010 election that was criticized by observers for failing to meet international standards and was marred by opposition boycotts.

Some 300,000 people have been killed in the conflict in Darfur, and the region is home to more than two million internally displaced persons, according to the UN.

Fighting between government and rebels in Central Darfur during the same period last year displaced around 14,000 people, OCHA said.

(AFP, Al-Akhbar)

80% of Anti-Muslim attacks in France against women, says report

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Kenza Drider, a French Muslim of North African descent, wears a niqab outside the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris April 11, 2011. GONZALO FUENTES/REUTERS

Kenza Drider, a French Muslim of North African descent, wears a niqab outside the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris April 11, 2011. GONZALO FUENTES/REUTERS

by Lucy Draper, Newsweek

80% of the anti-Muslim acts which occur in France are carried out against women a new report published today by Nils Muižnieks, the Council of Europe commissioner for human rights, has revealed.

The commissioner, who produced the report after visiting France in September last year, warned of increasing attacks directed at homosexuals, Jews and Muslims and said that there should be more efforts to integrate and care for immigrants and asylum seekers.

Muižnieks recommends a national plan to promote and protect human rights as well as ratifying Protocol No. 12 to the European Convention on Human Rights on the general prohibition of discrimination in order to “further strengthen the legal framework.”

Attacks on Muslims have been on the rise in France since the Charlie Hebdo attacks in January. Earlier this month the French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM) published data that showed that between the Charlie Hebdo attacks on 7th January and the end of that month there were 147 ‘acts’ carried out against Muslims.

In the week following the attacks the CFCM reported that 26 separate mosques had been attacked across the country. In some cases the buildings were firebombed and in other grenades were thrown.

Fiyaz Mughal, the director of UK-based interfaith thinktank Faith Matters says that the term ‘acts’ covers a huge range of hostile actions. He says they have received complaints from Muslim women which include: “Spitting, general abuse, pulling and tearing at the niqab and the hijab, plus dog faeces being thrown at women, as well as bottles from passing cars and people shouting things like ‘Muslim whore’ ‘Muslim bitch’ or ‘Muzzie’.”

On why he believes Muslim women might face more abuse than their male counterparts, Mughal says: “All our data… shows that visible women are the ones that are targeted at a street level. This means that women who wear the hijab are the ones that are sometimes targeted for abuse and those who wear the niqab suffer more anti-Muslim hate incidents and more aggressive assaults.”

He also believes that there is a gender imbalance in terms of anti-Muslim hate at a street level, saying that victim data shows that perpetrators are usually male and aged between 15-35, while their victims are mostly women and aged between 15-45.

Sahar Aziz, a professor who teaches about Middle East law at the Texas A&M University School of Law wrote an article for American news site CNN in which she condemned the lack of response to these increased attacks from French feminists who had celebrated the 2011 ban on full face veils. “As Muslim women face threats to their safety in the anti-Muslim backlash, one cannot help but notice the deafening silence of French feminists,” Aziz writes.

Muižnieks’s report addresses a wide-range of problems in France including racism and discrimination against a variety of people including Roma, migrants and those with disabilities.

Although the commissioner commended France for combating the issues he raised in their courts and institutions, he went on to suggest that the country “include the fight against discrimination in a national plan to promote and protect human rights”.

“It is essential to put an end to such acts, including on the internet, and to punish those responsible,” he wrote.

Explosive New Snowden Doc: NSA/GCHQ stole vital cell phone encryption keys

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New reporting by The Intercept, based on documents leaked by whistleblower, reveals how spy agencies hacked world’s largest SIM card manufacturer

'One of the biggest Snowden stories yet,' says journalist Glenn Greenwald. (Image: The Intercept)

‘One of the biggest Snowden stories yet,’ says journalist Glenn Greenwald. (Image: The Intercept)

by Jon Queally, Common Dreams

Explosive new reporting by The Intercept published Thursday, based on documents obtained by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, reveals how the U.S. spy agency and their British counterpart, the GCHQ, worked together in order to hack into the computer systems of the world’s largest manufacturer of cell phone SIM cards – giving government spies access to highly-guarded encryption codes and unparalleled abilities to monitor the global communications of those with phones using the cards.

Following its publication, journalist Glenn Greenwald called it “one of the biggest Snowden stories yet.”

According to fellow journalists Jeremy Scahill and Josh Begley, who did the reporting on the top-secret documents and detail the implications of the program, the target of the government hacking operation was a company called Gemalto, based in the Netherlands, which makes SIM cards for some of the best known makers of cell phones and other portable electronic products, including AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, and hundreds of other global brands. The acronym SIM stands for “subscriber identity module” and is a small intergrated circuit within a phone that is used to authenticate users and relay key information to the network on which the phone is operating.

As Scahill and Begley report:

With these stolen encryption keys, intelligence agencies can monitor mobile communications without seeking or receiving approval from telecom companies and foreign governments. Possessing the keys also sidesteps the need to get a warrant or a wiretap, while leaving no trace on the wireless provider’s network that the communications were intercepted. Bulk key theft additionally enables the intelligence agencies to unlock any previously encrypted communications they had already intercepted, but did not yet have the ability to decrypt.

As part of the covert operations against Gemalto, spies from GCHQ — with support from the NSA — mined the private communications of unwitting engineers and other company employees in multiple countries.

In a series of tweets, both Scahill and Greenwald offered context for the latest reporting:

For its part, Gemalto told The Intercept it was totally unaware of the security breach or that the encryption keys to any of its cards had been compromised. In fact, after being reached for comment on the operation, Gemalto directed its own security team to investigate the situation, but told the journalists they could find no trace of the hack. However, according to the top-secret document detailing the program leaked by Snowden, an operative with the NSA boasted, “[We] believe we have their entire network.”

Technology experts who spoke with Scahill and Begley said the theft of the encryption keys was highly troubling. Christopher Soghoian, the principal technologist for the American Civil Liberties Union, said the idea that the NSA has stolen these encryption keys “will send a shock wave through the security community.”

Told about the program, Gerard Schouw, a member of the Dutch Parliament, said the revelation was “unbelievable.” And repeated: “Unbelievable.”

According to The Intercept:

Last November, the Dutch government amended its constitution to include explicit protection for the privacy of digital communications, including those made on mobile devices. “We have, in the Netherlands, a law on the [activities] of secret services. And hacking is not allowed,” he said. Under Dutch law, the interior minister would have to sign off on such operations by foreign governments’ intelligence agencies. “I don’t believe that he has given his permission for these kind of actions.”

The U.S. and British intelligence agencies pulled off the encryption key heist in great stealth, giving them the ability to intercept and decrypt communications without alerting the wireless network provider, the foreign government or the individual user that they have been targeted. “Gaining access to a database of keys is pretty much game over for cellular encryption,” says Matthew Green, a cryptography specialist at the Johns Hopkins Information Security Institute. The massive key theft is “bad news for phone security. Really bad news.”

UN hails progress on Ebola but warns against fatigue

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UN Ebola chief hails Liberia’s success in fight against the deadly virus but warns against “complacency”.

Thousands of people have died from Ebola in the outbreak of 2014. Reuters / Susana Vera

Thousands of people have died from Ebola in the outbreak of 2014. Reuters / Susana Vera

by Al Jazeera

The head of the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response has hailed Liberia’s success in the fight against the deadly virus, but warned against complacency now that the number of cases had dropped.

Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, speaking during a visit to Liberia, described the level of awareness as “high”, but said he was concerned about the risk of “fatigue”.

“We call it the bumpy road to zero,” he said, warning “the biggest enemy is complacency”.

Ebola has killed more than 3,800 people in Liberia and nearly 9,200 across Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone since the first Ebola deaths in rural Guinea in December 2013.

All three countries have weak health systems that were ill-prepared for such an epidemic.

Significant gains have been made against Ebola, and now only a small number of cases remain in Liberia.

‘Outbreak contained’

Meanwhile, students returned to schools on Monday after a six-month closure, though health officials warned that a single case could trigger a whole new cluster of infections.

Last week, the United States said it was also preparing to withdraw by the end of April nearly all of its 2,800 troops fighting the outbreak in West Africa.

In Sierra Leone, the Anti-Corruption Commission has released a list of people who must report to its offices as it investigates the spending of money meant to help fight Ebola.

A report by Sierra Leone’s Auditor General that emerged two weeks ago found that nearly one-third of the money received to fight Ebola, about $5.75m, was spent without saving the necessary receipts and invoices.

The list released on Tuesday included district medical doctors, the coordinator of the National Ebola Response Centre, a former permanent secretary in the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, other government officials, private contractors and business people.

More than 3,300 people have died from Ebola with nearly 11,000 cases over the past year in Sierra Leone, where transmission remains the highest.

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