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Censor Board refuses to give reasons why it rejected the documentary on Modi elections

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the-battle-for-banaras

40 days after the censor board declared to the media that they have refused to give a censor certificate to Kamal Swaroop’s documentary THE BATTLE FOR BANARAS, the censor board is yet to officially communicate to the producer the reason for the rejection of the film.

The documentary was officially invited to play at the 17th Jio Mami Mumbai Film Festival but the invitation was withdrawn in the absence of clarity on the censor certificate. “This lack of clarity & communication from the censor board is irresponsible,” says Manu Kumaran (BOMBAY BOYS, YELLOW, STORAGE 24) the producer of the film. “It’s outrageous that the censor board chief Pahalaj Nihalani has the time to run down the film in the media but has no time to do his duty of communicating officially the reason for the rejection of the film,” says Kumaran.

Director Kamal Swaroop adds, “It is an attempt to understand the crowd phenomenon, anthropologically, without getting into voter politics,” he argues, pointing out that people are talking not just about Arvind Kejriwal & Narendra Modi in the film but also about 40 other candidates across political parties. “Of course the main face – off is between Modi & Kejriwal with the latter having a slight edge till the polarisation happened. Then, the Muslim votes went to him while Modi swept the Hindu votes, including the Dalits.”

The film was screened for the censor board on 27th Aug, 2015. “We contest each & every claim made by Mr Nihalani in the media. The film is neither pro Kejriwal or against any politician. It is not a political satire. Kamal Swaroop has only documented what happened in the general election,” said Kumaran. “We will fight this unjust ruling of the censor board. But this can happen if instead of talking to the media, they officially issue a letter stating the reasons for rejection. This delay tactic by the censor is both unwanted & unprecedented,” says Kumaran.

Inspired by Nobel laureate Elias Canetti’s book, “Crowds And Power”, the documentary, THE BATTLE FOR BANARAS captures the excitement, the madness & the noise behind the high – octane poll battle in the holy city of Banaras, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s parliamentary constituency.

And in the process, for the 1st time lays bare the equation & the politics of democracy called India. Produced by Manu Kumaran & Mediente International Films, the documentary was shot in 4K, over a 44 – day schedule in Banaras during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

Movie Review: ‘Biker’s Adda’ is an interesting film and definitely worth a watch

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Biker's Adda

Producer: Pramod Maruti Lokhande & Veejay Haria
Director: Rajesh Latkar
Star Cast: Santosh Juvekar, Prarthana Behere, Shrikant Moghe, Shrikant Wattamvar, Rahulraj Dongare, Tanvie Kishore, Hrishikesh Mandke, Jai Aditya Giri, Anuradha Harrip, Devendra Bhagat & Nishi Rajshirke
Genre: Action
Verdict: Good

Hats off to producer Pramod Maruti Lokhande, Veejay Haria and director Rajesh Latkar for making a daringly different film like Biker’s Adda and not falling for the temptation to make the same old clichéd Marathi films which had almost became a staple diet of Marathi cine goers.

Plot: The story line of this movie is all about being the passionate bikers who are looking forward to pursue their career in no other field than biking and hereby biking is promoted as a sport. These are adult bike riders and cops believe that the rules for them are same too that focuses drug usage. Multiple stunts are performed in the entire movie by these riders and they race with an urge to only WIN no matter what the situation is.

Aces: Rajesh Latkar’s direction, the daredevil biking stunts and of course the performances of the principal cast.

Minuses: The clichéd inclusion of the drugs & the mafia racket and some of the routine action sequences.

Last Word: How one wishes that Biker’s Adda was just a pure adventurous sports film. Yet Biker’s Adda is worth a watch for one & all.

Movie Review: ‘The Walk’ is a daringly crafted different movie

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The Walk

Producer: Tom Rothman, Steve Starkey, Jack Rapke & Robert Zemeckis
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Star Cast: Joseph Gordon – Levitt, Ben Kingsley, Charlotte Le Bon, James Badge Dale & Ben Schwartz
Genre: Drama
Verdict: Very Good

Robert Zemeckis is known more for his films like Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Forest Gump etc. In his latest offering The Walk, a real life adventure drama based on the life & memoirs of a French Live Wire artist Philippe Petit, he has gone that extra mile to craft that edge of the seat drama.

Plot: As a boy, Philippe Petit dreams of performing daring feats for dazzled crowds. As an adult (Joseph Gordon – Levitt), his life’s ambition comes true when he becomes a high – wire artist who stares death in the face with every step. Under the guidance of mentor Papa Rudy (Ben Kingsley), the daredevil devises a plan to walk on a tightrope attached to the north & the south towers of the World Trade Center. With help from his team and against all odds, Petit attempts the seemingly impossible stunt on 7th Aug, 1974.

Aces: The film clearly belongs to Joseph Gordon – Levitt as the main protagonist Philippe Petit who has delivered an unbelievably daring & outstanding performance. Another marvellous performance comes from Ben Schwartz. Not to forget the remarkable directional skills of Robert Zemeckis barring the fact that he has heavily depended on digitalised techniques.

Minuses: The only hindrance of the movie The Walk is its exceedingly slow space which sometimes gets on your nerves.

Last word: If you are a lover of real life adventure drama, then the movie The Walk is just up your alley.

Karnataka: Two men raping woman isn’t gang-rape, says George, then apologises

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KJ George

Bengaluru: Karnataka Home Minister KJ George on Friday stirred a controversy by making an irresponsible statement that two men raping a woman is not gangrape.

George said, “How can you call it a gangrape? A gangrape is when four-five people are involved. We should condemn the people who did such an act.”

However, Mr George chose to apologize and said that his statement should not be misunderstood by people and media.

The controversial remarks came after media sought a response from George in alleged gangrape of a 22-year-old call centre employee by two men at knife point in their moving van after they offered to ferry her home.

The woman was waiting to hail a bus to return to her PG home and boarded the van which stopped by offering her a drop, City Police NS Megharikh said.

The woman, who hails from Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh, was allegedly gangraped on the night of October 3 by the vehicle driver and the cleaner, Megharikh said, adding the victim was taken to a deserted spot before she was dropped in Madiwala area here.

Police said for nearly three hours, the two men drove around deserted places of the Madivala area and raped the woman.

Condemning the statement, National Commission of Women Chairperson Lalita Kumarmangalam said, “Karnataka Minister is another example of someone not understanding issue of violence against women yet commenting on the matter thoughtlessly. Leaders in public life, especially those from political parties should think before talking. We will send him a suo moto, let’s see how he replies.”

The incident has come as a grim reminder of the 2012 gangrape of a paramedical student in Delhi, who later died, triggering a massive outrage across the nation.

Earlier, Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh had blamed girls for being raped. “First girls develop friendship with boys. They when differences occur, they level rape charges. Boys will be boys, they commit mistakes. Will they be hanged for rape,” he had said.

In another controversial statement, the SP chief had remarked that “four boys cannot rape a girl. It is impossible. One commits rape and then four more are named.”

(Agencies)

Kejriwal sacks food minister for ‘corruption’

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Asim Ahmed Khan

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday sacked Food Minister Asim Ahmed Khan on charges of demanding a bribe from a builder.

Announcing the sacking at a press conference where he played a recorded tape of a conversation purportedly between Khan and the builder, Kejriwal said the case was being referred to the CBI.

“We won’t tolerate any corruption, even if it is our minister or legislator,” the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader said.

“Till the CBI completes the investigation, he (Khan) will not be a minister,” he said. The food portfolio will go to AAP legislator Imran Hussain, he said.

(Agencies)

Indian maid’s hand chopped off by employer in Saudi Arabia

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Kashturi Munirathinam

Chennai: The family of a 55-year-old Indian woman, working as a domestic help in Saudi Arabia, has alleged her right hand was chopped off by her employer when she tried to escape harassment and torture.

Seeking help to bring Kashturi Munirathinam back from Saudi Arabia, her family has sent representations to the state and central governments. DMK MP Kanimozhi has also sent a letter to external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj seeking her help.

“When she tried to escape harassment and torture, her right hand was chopped off by the woman employer. She fell down and sustained serious spinal injuries,” S Vijayakumari, sister of Munirathinam said.

She said Munirathinam had gone to Saudi Arabia to work as a domestic help only three months ago.

“Kasturi’s employer was angered after she apprised local officials about the harassment she was facing there, she was not even provided food,” she said.

Asked how the family learnt about the incident, Vijayakumari said it was “through agents who sent her to Saudi.”

The attack occurred on the intervening night of September 29-30, she said.

“She has now been hospitalised in Riyadh and is in a serious condition, our appeal is please bring her back home immediately and help in her treatment,” she said.

While Munirathinam’s sister lives in Chennai, her family is in Moongilarei village of Vellore district in Tamil Nadu.

In her letter to Swaraj, Kanimozhi said Munirathinam’s condition was deteriorating and sought help to bring her back to Tamil Nadu.

“Steps should be taken to bring home Kasturi as soon as possible, I appeal on behalf of the victim’s family,” she wrote.

(Agencies)

Dadri lynching: Meat in Akhlaq’s fridge not beef, but mutton

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Akhlaq's daughter and sister at his residence in Bisara village, in Dadri. (Photo: IE by Gajendra Yadav)

Akhlaq’s daughter and sister at his residence in Bisara village, in Dadri. (Photo: IE by Gajendra Yadav)

New Delhi: A forensic test has proved that the meat which was found in Akhlaq’s fridge was mutton, and not beef.

Police had sent a sample of the meat from Akhlaq’s fridge for forensic testing.

Initial tests had suggested that it was mutton. However, the police had further sent the sample to another lab for a conclusive report.

The conclusive tests also showed that it was mutton and not beef, official sources said.

The police, however, is being criticized for sending the meat sample for a forensic test because whether it was mutton or beef had little bearing on the crime.

On September 28, Akhlaq was allegedly beaten to death and his son left injured by a 200-strong mob following a rumour that his family was involved in cow slaughter.

(Agencies)

60-year-old man beheads wife, walks streets with her head in hand

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Ramu Chavan

Pune: Residents of Pune were shocked on Friday morning by the sight of a 60-year-old man walking the streets of the city with the severed head of his wife, whom he allegedly beheaded with an axe.

Ramu Chavan, who works as a watchman in a housing complex in Katraj area, allegedly killed his 45-year-old wife because he suspected her of infidelity, police said.

Dramatic footage aired on television channels showed Chavan, clad in a white kurta and dhoti, nonchalantly walking on the street with the severed head in one hand and the axe in the other as two policemen tried to reason with him.

The footage showed several passers-by and motorists looking on as the policemen led Chavan away.

Chavan was taken into custody by police. According to the FIR filed by police, he killed his wife Sonubai because he suspected she was having an affair with her son-in-law.

He was booked under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, which relates to murder.

(Agencies)

Svetlana Alexievich wins Nobel Literature prize

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Belarusian Svetlana Alexievich's writing is critical of her home country's government

Belarusian Svetlana Alexievich’s writing is critical of her home country’s government

by BBC

Belarusian writer and journalist Svetlana Alexievich has won the 2015 Nobel Prize for literature.

Announcing the prize in Stockholm, the chair of the Swedish Academy, Sara Danius, called her writing “a monument to courage and suffering in our time”.

The award, presented to a living writer, is worth 8m kronor (£691,000).

Previous winners include literary heavyweights Rudyard Kipling and Ernest Hemingway. French historical author Patrick Modiano won in 2014.

It has been half a century since a writer working primarily in non-fiction won the Nobel – and Alexievich is the first journalist to win the award.

Her best-known works in English translation include Voices From Chernobyl, an oral history of the 1986 nuclear catastrophe; and Boys In Zinc, a collection of first-hand accounts from the Soviet-Afghan war. The title refers to the zinc coffins in which the dead came home.

The book caused controversy and outrage when it was first published in Russia, where reviewers called it a “slanderous piece of fantasy” and part of a “hysterical chorus of malign attacks”.

Alexievich has also been critical of her home country’s government, leading to a period of persecution – in which her telephone was bugged and she was banned from making public appearances.

She spent 10 years in exile from 2000, living in Italy, France, Germany and Sweden, among other places, before moving back to Minsk.

Witness accounts

The author was born in 1948 in the Ukrainian town of Ivano-Frankivsk, then known as Stanislav,to a Belarusian father and Ukrainian mother.

The family moved to Belarus after her father completed his military service, and Alexievich studied journalism at the University of Minsk between 1967 and 1972.

Svetlana Alexievich’s works also won her the Swedish PEN prize

After graduation, she worked as a journalist for several years before publishing her first book, War’s Unwomanly Face, in 1985.

Based on interviews with hundreds of women who participated in the World War Two, it set a template for her future works, constructing narratives from witnesses to some the world’s most devastating events.

On her personal website, Alexievich explains her pursuit of journalism: “I chose a genre where human voices speak for themselves.”

She has previously won the Swedish PEN prize for her “courage and dignity as a writer”.

Ms Danius said the author had spent nearly 40 years studying the people of the former Soviet Union, but that her work was not only about history but “something eternal, a glimpse of eternity”.

“By means of her extraordinary method – a carefully composed collage of human voices – Alexievich deepens our comprehension of an entire era,” the Swedish Academy added.

Alexievich was the bookmakers’ favourite to win 2015 Nobel award, according to Ladbrokes.

She beat other hot favourites Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami and Kenyan novelist Ngugi Wa Thiong’o.

She is the 14th woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in its history.

A total of 112 individuals have won it between 1901 and 2015. The prize was suspended several times during the first and second world wars.

Love Jihad, killings don’t fit well with Modi’s emphasis on India rising: Rajan

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RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan

RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan

New Delhi: Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan on Wednesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s emphasis on India being an economy which is trying to get it right does not fit well with incidents like that of love jihad and killings.

“I think there are always issues on the fringe. I think the Finance Minister has said very clearly that these tend to distract rather than contribute. And clearly these are certainly worrisome features which have to be dealt with on the basis of law and order and so on.

“The emphasis that Prime Minister and Finance Minister have been putting on this being an economy which is trying to get it right and move forward on sustainable basis. I think that does not fit well with these kinds of incidents. And we need to figure out the way to reduce and certainly, I think, there is law and order issue there,” he told Karan Thapar on India Today channel.

He was asked whether India’s image was being impacted on incidents like love jihad, conversion, ghar vapsi and the recent killings, an apparent reference to the murder of a man in Dadri in Uttar Pradesh over rumours of eating beef.

Replying to questions on his relationship with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Rajan said it “has been of the highest order ever since he moved into the office that was when I first met him.” “It has been great. I think these reports of differences tend to exaggerate and sometime over-complicate what is essentially a very strong relationship,” he said.

He said the media tends to emphasise differences rather than the large areas of commonality under competitive pressure for news.

Asked if he was open to a second term after 11 months when his term comes to an end, he said it was a hypothetical question. “I have not been offered one. We will cross the bridge when we come to it.”

On his larger than expected 0.50% cut in interest rate last week, Rajan said it was part of the process of getting investment.

Asked if the rate cut was enough to boost growth rate, he said, “The real deficiency in our economy today is private investment is not picking up as it should at this stage of the cycle. The key concern of policy maker is how to get it started. How we get it going.”

(PTI)

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