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Movie Review: 'Detective Byomkesh Bakshi' is superb, mesmerizing, riveting, intriguing sans entertainment quotient

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Detective-Byomkesh-Bakshy

Banner: Yash Raj Films & Dibakar Banerjee Productions
Producer: Aditya Chopra & Dibakar Banerjee
Director: Dibakar Banerjee
Cast: Sushant Singh Rajput, Anand Tiwari, Swastika Mukherjee, Divya Menon, Neeraj Kabi, Meiyang Chang, Aryann Bhowmik, Moumita Chakraborty, Mark Bennington, Arindol Bagchi, Manoshi Nath, Anindya Banerjee, Tirtha Mallick, Prasun Gayen, Peter Wong, Prashant Kumar, Dr. Kaushik Ghosh, Takanori Kikuchi, Piyali Ray, Pradipto Kumar Chakraborty, Sandip Bhattacharya, Shivam, Nishant Kumar, Shaktipada Dey & Lauren Gottlieb
Music: Various Artists
Cinematographer: Nikos Andritsakis
Editor: Manas Mittal & Namrata Rao
Pro: Spice

Director Dibakar Bannerjee in his latest offering namely ‘Detective Byomkesh Bakshi’ has knowingly treaded on a dark & mysterious genre. But was it necessary to take the plot, shrouded in deepening mystery, to the extreme level of confusion confounded. Seriously speaking it ultimately bores you to death to the point of no return. Incidentally speaking the film is based on the fictional character of a detective named Byomkesh Bakshi which has been created by the famed Bengali writer Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay.

The scenario of ‘Detective Byomkesh Bakshi’ opens in Calcutta, present day Kolkatta, in a British-ruled India, where a student Byomkesh Bakshi (Sushant Singh Rajput) is approached by Ajit Bandyopadhyay (Anand Tiwari) whose father Bhuvan Banerjee has been missing for more than 2 months. Byomkesh firmly & strongly believes that he has been killed and his dead body has been kept hidden somewhere. And he was so right as they discover Bhuvan’s corpse in a broiler of an abandoned chemical factory. During the investigations, he finds that Bhuvan Banerjee’s murder is part of a bigger mystery involving the local Political leaders, the Chinese drug smugglers & the Japanese army, fighting the war against the British in South-East Asia.

Director Dibakar Bannerjee has aptly presented the war torn Calcutta of 1943 with a backdrop of a mystery & a Detective. In fact ‘Detective Byomkesh Bakshy’ is entirely based on the early exploits of India’s 1st ever true-blue detective, created by Bengali bestseller writer Saradindu Bandyopadhyay. Dibakar Banerjee, has set the film in the 2nd World War torn Calcutta during the 1940s and follows the 1st adventure of Byomkesh Bakshy, fresh out of college, as he pits himself against an evil genius who is out to destroy the world. Using his wits against the most villainous arch criminal the world has ever seen, in a world of murder, international political intrigue & seduction. The director deserves full marks topped with brownie points as far as the minutest periodic detailing, of the war torn Calcutta of the 1940’s, is concerned but only to be bogged down by his own script in lieu with Urmi Juvekar. Hats off to Aditya Chopra and his Yash Raj Films banner for backing such an offbeat subject strewn together in a most clichéd manner, not to forget the sleep walking editors Manas Mittal &
Namrata Rao. And lastly a special well deserving mention goes to cinematographer Nikos Andritsakis for his brilliant presentation of such a dark & mysterious war torn Calcutta of the 1940s era.

Performance wise all the actors can be analyzed in just one word for instance Sushant Singh Rajput as & in an author backed title role of Detective Byomkesh Bakshy: a young Bengali private detective is “Perfect”, Anand Tiwari as Ajit Bandyopadhyay: the sidekick of Byomkesh Bakshy, also an author is “Charming”, débutante Swastika Mukherjee as Anguri Devi: a dancer & a spy looks “Confusing”, Divya Menon as Satyawati: the silent love interest of Byomkesh Bakshy is “Disappointing”, Neeraj Kabi as Dr. Anukul Guha is “Excellent”, Meiyang Chang as Kanai Dao alias Chang Lee is “Interesting” and then Aryann Bhowmik as Clinic Boy, Moumita Chakraborty as Leela, Mark Bennington as Deputy Commissioner Wilkie, Arindol Bagchi as Ashwini Babu, Manoshi Nath as Ruby, Anindya Banerjee as Prafulla Ray, Tirtha Mallick as Atanu Chandra Sen, Prasun Gayen as a scribe, Peter Wong as the Underboss, Prashant Kumar as Factory Watchmen, Dr. Kaushik Ghosh as Gajanan Sikdar, Takanori Kikuchi as Dr. Watanabe, Piyali Ray as Watanabe’s Receptionist, Pradipto Kumar Chakraborty as Puntiram, Sandip Bhattacharya as Officer in Charge, Shivam as Sukumar, Nishant Kumar as Factory Watchmen, Shaktipada Dey as Nibaran Da & Lauren Gottlieb in a special appearance in the song titled “Calcutta Kiss” are all “Adequate” and they all try their level best to carry the “Snail’s Space” almost dragging storyline forward.

Tail Piece: ‘Detective Byomkesh Bakshi’ may be a hardcore critics & multiplexes elite cine goer’s delight but on the contrary it will be hardly appealing for a film goer who frequents a single theatre.

Movie Review: 'Paisa Ho Paisa' is a non – stop laugh riot, a roller coaster joyride

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PAISA HO PAISA

Banner: Mayaa Creations
Producer: Muktha Sunder
Executive Producer: V. Vishwanath
Director: Muktha Sunder
Cast: Dhruv Bhandari, Madalasa Sharma, Vivek, Kanishka Soni, Antony et al
Music: K. S. Manoj, G. D. Prasad & Nirojan
Cinematographer: Rajkumar
Editor: Suchit Kumar
Pro: Shaheen Raaj

Director Muktha Sundar happens to be a well – Known Tamil filmmaker. His recent Tamil movie ‘Pathayeram Kodi’ (’10 Crores’) has already been declared as a runaway super hit movie. Incidentally speaking Muktha Sundar’s latest Hindi directorial offering ‘Paisa Ho Paisa’ happens to be a remake of ‘Pathayiram Kodi’. So ‘Paisa Ho Paisa’ happens to be moulded in a whacky albeit a romantic comedy genre with an unlimited destinated stopovers in tandem with roller coaster joyrides across the length & the breadth of the Indian roads. So ‘Paisa Ho Paisa’ also happens to be a road with a difference.

The plotted scenario of Mayaa Creations ”Paisa Ho Paisa’ showcases the antics of bungling cops & buffoonery gangsters chasing invisible people armed with their loot, from a princess, being carried off in an invisible car. The non – stop interesting & the fun oriented chase continues from Pondicherry to Shani Shinganur via 4 state borders touching the exotic locales of Karwar, Goa, Mercara, Pune, Ahmednagar, Mahabaleshwara,  Panchagani et al. The prequel of the wholesome comic dramedy is as follows: Ashwin (Dhuv Bhandari) an engineering college student meets a beautiful girl Bhoomika (Madalasa Shah) in the 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 using an invisible chemical (A chemical when it is sprayed on anything or anyone the object or the person becomes invisible). Now making use of this invisible spray Ashwin, Bhoomika and their coterie of friends loot a Princess Maya (Kanishka Soni). However they are forced to be on the run after being chased by a CBI officer (Vivek) and his foolhardy gang of cops. Then starts the the wild goose chase with ruthless & buffoonery gangsters, comic cops, bungling CBI officer and the hero and his friends playing all kinds of pranks.

Welcome Mr. Muktha Sundar in the Bollywoodian directional arena but if only you had treaded more carefully. But indeed you can be compared to director David Dhawan and his kind of films in which the cine goers come with their families including their kids to witness the David Dhawan brand of comedy, leaving their brains behind, with full time pass attitude. And they indeed enjoy a lot until they walk out of the auditorium. And of course a special mention must be made of ‘Paisa Ho Paisa’s close to 30 minutes of computer graphics work which happens to be an extremely watchable and kids lovable highlight of ‘Paisa Ho Paisa’. If only this movie was mounted on a grand scale with top notch actors then it would have chartered an altogether different albeit commercially successful box office history.

Performance wise Dhruv Bhandari as Ashwin is ok but he has miles to go before reaching his histrionics destination, Madalasa Shah as Bhoomika succeeds in lending the right factor of oomph & glamor, Kanishka Soni as the princess living in a palatial mansion has done justice to her role, Vivek as a bungling CBI officer is perfect & Antony as Ashwin & Bhoomika’s friend adds himself to the ever growing list of hamming actors.

Tail Piece: ‘Paisa Ho Paisa’ can be a good Summer Treat for your kids in tow with your family & friends.

PM meets 'leaders' of Muslim community

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leaders-Muslim-modi

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday met senior leaders of the Muslim community who apprised him of their concerns, including the increasing radicalisation and emerging threat of terrorism.

“While expressing apprehensions about the trend of increased radicalisation and emerging threat of terrorism, the leaders underlined the need for greater unity and collective efforts to meet the challenge,” an official release said.

The leaders brought to the notice of the prime minister issues relating to properties of Muslim shrines, mosques and madrassas.

They also sought the government’s support in providing better facilities to Muslim youth, particularly in the field of education.

Modi gave a patient hearing to the delegation and assured them of his full support in meeting the grievances of all sections of the Muslim society.

He emphasised the need to empower Muslim youth to enable them to play a larger role in nation-building.

Modi specifically assured the leaders that he will look into their grievances on shrines, mosques and madrassas.

The prime minister further promised his complete assistance in ameliorating their social conditions and addressing their educational requirements.

The Muslim leaders reiterated full support of the community to the prime minister in meeting his objectives of ensuring speedy economic growth, promoting communal harmony and peace and strengthening national security.

The leaders included Syed Sultan-ul-Hasan Chishti Misbahi from Ajmer Sharif, Hazrat Ghulam Yasin Sahib from Varanasi, Sheikh Wasim Ashrafi from Mumbai, and Allama Tasleem Raaza Sahib from Dargah Barelvi Sharif in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh.

(IANS)

Mirza-Hingis win Miami Open doubles title

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sania-mirza-martina-hingis

Miami: Sania Mirza claimed her 25th Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) doubles title and second partnering Martina Hingis by winning the Miami Open trophy 7-5 6-1 against the Russian pair of Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina here.

The No.2-seeded Makarova and Vesnina came out strong, storming out to a 5-2 lead, but the No.1-seeded Hingis and Mirza came alive from there, reeling off eight games in a row – even staving off a set point – to surge ahead, 7-5, 3-0. They barely looked back to close out the match on Sunday.

“The most important thing is that we never stopped believing we’re a great team,” Hingis said of the early deficit after winning on Sunday.

“They played a great set to get us to that position, 5-2 down. Then we just tried to stay in there and get our chances. We just built on every point, which is what we did well last week too.”

The Swiss-Indian duo talked about how an on-court coaching visit helped them turn it around.

“Today the coaching really turned it around – your dad came on court,” Hingis said to Mirza.

“We just tried to keep telling each other to enjoy the struggle,” Mirza said. “Last week everything came very, very easily to us – we didn’t lose more than four games in a set. Over here we were down, and we were panicking. It was like, ‘Oh my God, we’re not playing well.’ We just weren’t used to that.

But it’s good to fight through those matches and believe, and come out now and be like, ‘At 5-3 I was gutsy to hit a big serve,’ or she made a huge move at 5-4, if that makes sense. So it’s good,” Hingis added.

Mirza and Hingis have now won their opening two tournaments they have played together.

Hingis now has 43 WTA doubles titles to her name, which matches the 43 WTA singles titles she’s won in her career. Meanwhile, Mirza took home the milestone 25th WTA doubles title of her career.

The Mirza-Hingis pair will now jump from ninth to third position in the WTA rankings as a result of the victory.

(IANS)

DK Ravi suicide: No time limit can be fixed for probe, says CBI

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ias-dk-ravi

Bengaluru: CBI has turned down the request of Karnataka Government seeking a time-bound probe in the alleged suicide of IAS officer D K Ravi, saying there is no provision in law to complete investigations in a given period.

CBI sources said that a communication has been sent to Department of Personnel and Training requesting for a fresh notification to takeover probe in Ravi’s death.

They said once fresh notification is received, the agency will examine the matter whether to takeover probe or not in the controversial death which has snowballed into a major political controversy in Karnataka.

The sources said the notification received from the DoPT has come with a request to complete to the probe within three months which was not according to law.

They said state government handing over probe to CBI cannot give time limit for concluding the probe, hence a fresh notification has been sought from the state government.

The death of Ravi, who took on land mafia and realtors, spiralled into a major controversy after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah initially refused to seek a CBI probe in the case. The case was being probed by Karnataka CID.

Opposition parties and activists then mounted pressure on the state government demanding that the investigation in the case be handed over to CBI.

The decision to transfer the probe to CBI come after Congress president Sonia Gandhi wrote in March to Ravi’s wife promising a fair and transparent probe into the incident.

This came after Ravi’s mother reportedly wrote an open letter to her seeking an impartial probe.

Siddaramaiah had said there had never been a case where an incident had straightaway been referred to CBI immediately after its occurrence.

With the federal set-up in the country, the Centre could not refer a case suo motu to CBI and could do so based on a state’s request, he had said.

The state government had maintained that Ravi’s death prima facie seemed to be a case of suicide, but the opposition parties and the family of the IAS officer have refused to accept the theory.

Ravi’s family had raised doubts over the police claim that he committed suicide, saying that he was under “political pressure”.

(Agencies)

Kannada actors among hundreds of farmers arrested for anti-Modi protest

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Photo Caption

Bengaluru: Veteran Kannada actor Leelavathi and her son, Vinod Raj, were arrested and later released by the city police as they tried to march with protesting farmers towards the hotel where Prime Minister Narendra Modi was put up for the BJP national executive in the city.

The farmers, led by Kodihalli Chandrashekar, had been on an indefinite fast for three days protesting against the ordinance passed by the Union government on the Land Bill Nine farmers have reported ill and are being treated at Bowring Hospital.

Ms. Leelavathi said that she had chosen to be a farmer and was appalled at the ordinance, which she termed “anti-farmer”, which prompted her to support the farmer’s agitation.

Mr. Vinod Raj said that in their village — Soladevanahalli, the Forest Department had been trying to evict farmers claiming the land belonged to it.

“We have been seeing the plight of the farmers for possession of their land; their lifeline has been threatened. So we have come to the streets to protest the new ordinance,” he said.

Along with them, hundreds of farmers were arrested and later released. Mr. Chandrashekar was critical that Mr. Modi did not meet any farmer delegation from the State.

(Agencies)

Accept India as pluralistic nation, says Azim Premji at RSS event

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azim-premji

New Delhi: Wipro Chairman and philanthropist Azim Premji on Sunday addressed a convention of nearly 800 RSS-backed organisations and gave a call for accepting India as a great pluralistic nation.

“The test of our social commitment and humanity is how we treat the most powerless of our fellow citizens, the respect we accord to our fellow human beings. That is what reveals our true culture. As a great pluralistic nation, we must accept our differences. It is vital we accept them and find a common ground to work together. Negative people only focus on differences,” he said.

Addressing the event in the presence of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, Premji said some had been apprehensive about his participation in the function. “They felt I would be seen as endorsing the ideology of the Sangh by addressing a forum like this. I did not follow their advice because, firstly, I am not a political person. I am, however, deeply interested in and concerned about my country. So I see no issue in speaking at an occasion where people have gathered to discuss how to contribute to the country,” he said.

“Also, I believe that merely speaking at a particular forum does not in any way mean one endorses all, or any, of the views that might be expressed at the forum, or held by the organisers,” he added.

He said it was an “honour” to have been invited by the RSS chief to speak at the Rashtriya Sewa Sangam, amongst people who were not only dreaming of a “better India” but actually dedicating their lives to it.

“While I may not know many of you here, some of my colleagues do know some of you, and, more importantly, are acquainted with the good work being done by many present here for the genuine betterment of our country, and I did not want to miss this opportunity of speaking with you,” he said.

“And most importantly, having met Bhagwat, I realised how many people like you all over India are dedicating your lives to the genuine uplift of our country. And I thought, all those working towards a better India should attempt to join hands where they can,” he added.

(Agencies)

 

Cabinet expansion after talks with Sonia, says Siddaramaiah

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Photo: IE

Photo: IE

Bengaluru: The Congress government, headed by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, which would complete two years in office next month, is expected to expand the Cabinet after consultations with Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

Mr. Siddaramaiah, who was in Delhi to attend a conference of Chief Ministers of States and Chief Justices of High Courts on Sunday, told presspersons that the decision on the Cabinet expansion and reshuffle would be taken after consultations with Ms. Gandhi.

The Chief Minister is expected to meet her on Monday. However, he declined to fix deadlines on the Cabinet expansion or reshuffle.

Decision on Western Ghats

Dismissing the allegations that the Karnataka government was opposing the Kasturirangan committee report on Western Ghats under the pressure from the mining lobby, Siddaramaiah said that his government would not take any decision in a hurry.

“The State government will not take any decision, which harms the ecology of the State. The environmentalists need not worry about it”, he told reporters.

Siddaramaiah said his government was not under the pressure from sand mafia or quarrying lobby to oppose the report. Before finalising the state response, the government would keep in mind the suggestions made by environmentalists, he said.

The Kasturirangan Panel had recommended a ban on development activities in 60,000 sq km ecologically-sensitive area spread over six states of Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Goa, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

The report declared 1,580 villages in and around Western Ghats in Karnataka as ecologically sensitive areas, but the State Cabinet has decided to include only 850 villages by dropping rest.

Environmentalists have alleged that the government was dropping a number of villages under the pressure from the mining lobby. Instead of explaining about the benefits of the report, the State government was planning to drop many villages from the category of sensitive areas they alleged.

On setting up IIT in Karnataka, Siddaramaiah said that soon the State government would recommend some of the possible places to the Ministry of Human Resources Development and set up the institute in consultation with the Centre.

(Agencies)

Saina Nehwal loses top spot in rankings after Malaysia Open semifinals defeat to Li Xuerui

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Saina Nehwal lost her World No 1 ranking following her semifinal defeat against China’s Olympic champion Li Xuerui in the Malaysia Open Super Series Premier.

Saina Nehwal lost her World No 1 ranking following her semifinal defeat against China’s Olympic champion Li Xuerui in the Malaysia Open Super Series Premier.

Kuala Lumpur: Saina Nehwal lost her World No 1 ranking on Saturday following her semifinal defeat against China’s Olympic champion Li Xuerui in the USD 500,000 Malaysia Open Super Series Premier badminton tournament.

Li Xuerui beat Saina 13-21, 21-17, 22-20 to reach the final where she will face the winner of Carolina Marin vs Wang Shixian match.

Before her semifinal win over the Indian, the two-time World Championship silver medallist had defeated Saina eight times, while the Indian beat her twice — once during the 2010 Singapore Open and then at 2012 Indonesia Open.

Xuerui, who had withdrawn from the BWF World Super series last year due to an injury and also skipped India Super Series last week.

On Friday, Saina Nehwal edged out China’s Sun Yu to reach the women’s singles semifinals of the tournament.

The third seeded Indian eked out a 21-11 18-21 21-17 win over Sun in a quarterfinal battle that lasted an hour and 11 minutes at the Putra Stadium here.

The Olympic bronze medallist, who had a 2-1 record going into her quarterfinal match, stamped her authority right from the start as she didn’t give the Chinese any easy points.

Brimming with confidence after her India Open triumph and ascent to World No.1, Saina zoomed ahead to 12-4 with a eight-point burst and never looked back. He grabbed the first game rather comfortably.

The World No. 15 Sun, however, made a flying start in the second game, opening up a 7-1 lead early on but Saina soon caught up with the Chinese at 14-14. Sun then slowly started to distance herself from the Indian and made a successful return to the match.

A jolted Saina recovered in no time and surged to a 11-4 lead at the break in the decider. After the interval, Sun reeled off seven straight points from 8-14 to wrest a slender lead. The duo battled till 17-17 before the Indian slammed the door on the Chinese with four points on the trot.

Saina has been on a roll ever since winning the China Open last year. She clinched the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold, reached the finals of All England Championship, before winning the India Super Series last week.

(PTI)

Siddaramaiah rated fourth most popular Chief Minister in the country

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Siddharamaiah

Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddharamaiah has now been found to be the fourth most popular Chief Minister in the country.

A survey conducted by India Today group and Cicero has revealed Karnataka Chief Minister Siddharamaiah, with 38 per cent, is the fourth most popular Chief Minister in the country. His predecessor, S.M. Krishna, was ranked No. 1 among all the Chief Ministers in the country during his tenure.

The survey conducted on 12,621 samples at 519 places in the country covering 260 constituencies in 19 States reveals that Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik with 69 per cent is the most popular CM in the country followed by Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu and Delhi CM Aravind Kejriwal with 55 per cent each sharing the second and third slot.

(Agencies)

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