(Attn Editors: Ravi Subramanian’s “Don’t Tell The Governor”, a novel set against the backdrop of demonetisation, arrives on the stands on Tuesday. Below is an exclusive excerpt from the book)

Harsha Ranjan was standing on the balcony of his first-floor bedroom, smoking a cigarette. The official RBI Governor’s residence, a two-storeyed heritage bungalow just off Mumbai’s Carmichael Road, had been his home for the last three years. Parked right under the balcony were the two cars that had been provided by the government for his use.

He sighed as he blew out smoke and glanced at his watch. He was in a pensive mood. The monetary policy announcement was scheduled for that morning, A few unpopular decisions were about to be announced; steps which had been mandated by the state of the economy.

However, what worried him was the government’s reaction to what he was about to unveil. It was no secret that his relationship with the Finance Minister was a strained one. Most of it was a consequence of Harsha trying to chart his own course when the government would have liked him to be subservient. The never-ending battle between the Finance Ministry and the RBI had taken its toll on him.

The Finance Minister had called him the previous night. ‘Remember, Harsha, we have to bring down the interest rates. RBI needs to help the government,’ he cautioned.

‘I cannot commit to anything, sir,’ Harsha responded.

‘Do you remember our conversation that night when we had met with Khosla? We had discussed it that day and you had agreed,’ Pande reminded him.

‘With due respect, sir, I had not agreed. I had only said that I would consider it,’ Harsha argued. But his response hadn’t gone down well with the FM, who had blown his top. This was not the first time the FM had reacted the way he did and it would not be the last.

But Harsha knew that he was nearing the end of his tenure as RBI chief and the government could make make his last days miserable, turning him into the fall guy for their failed economic policies. The risk he was taking and the repercussion it could have on his reputation worried him.

Ever since Independence, the autonomy of the RBI had been a contentious issue. What was the amount of influence the government would, rather ‘should’, wield on the RBI was often a topic of heated debate in the corridors of North Block. At the heart of this conflict were the interest rates prevalent in the economy.

A higher interest rate controls inflation, whereas a lower one fuels it. The Reserve Bank of India controls inflation using one tool — the repo rate. Very simply put, the repo rate, which the RBI decides, is the interest rate at which banks borrow money from the RBI. The RBI announces its stance on the economy and supports it directionally by announcing the repo rate in the monetary policy, which is released bi-monthly. Whenever the RBI lowers or increases the repo rate as a part of its monetary policy, the banks follow suit.

When RBI raises the repo rates, the banks end up paying higher interest to the RBI on the monies they borrow. As a consequence, to make up for that, they charge more from the customers they loan money to, thereby making loans costly. Costlier loans dissuade consumers from taking then.

Even companies avoid taking high-interest loans from banks and reduce their borrowings. This reduces the consumer’s ability to spend. For companies, reduction in borrowing leads to lesser availability of money, lesser investment and consequently, a drop in production. The combined effect of all this is that the economic growth rate slows down and consequently reduces inflation.

In simple terms, high interest rates lead to reduced inflation, but also slow economic growth. Low interest rates lead to growth in the economy, but also inflation. Growth and controlling inflation are often seen as two deliverables at diametrically opposite ends of the same line.

That was where Harsha Ranjan’s conflict with the government lay. The Finance Minister wanted a higher economic growth rate and had asked Harsha to support the government’s cause by lowering the interest rates. Harsha was reluctant to do so because falling interest rates would have made money cheaper, loans easier and hence, fuelled consumption. And increased consumption would fuel inflationary growth. The rising prices would make life difficult for the poor.

Therefore, he was not in favour of dropping interest rates. And it wasn’t like the RBI was an outlier. Central banks the world over are paranoid about inflation and don’t drive the interest rates down just to cater to the whims of the central government. Most of them strongly feel that driving growth in an economy is the government’s agenda and deliverable, not theirs.

Given his stance, Harsha’s new monetary policy was on expected lines. Much against public sentiment and government persuasion, the interest rates were not lowered by the RBI. To add to the government woes, the RBI also brought out an official statement saying that the economy was overheated and it expected inflation to rise. Hence, as a conservative monetary policy measure, it would not reduce the interest rates.

IANS

National Award-winning film editor Sreekar Prasad, known for his contribution to popular films like “Dil Chahta Hai”, “O Kadhal Kanmani” and “The Ghazi Attack”, says there are no ready takers for serious cinema as buyers or theatres focus more on box-office earnings which come with “established actors”.

His name has been long associated with Mani Ratnam’s movies and other films that create fireworks at the box-office. But Prasad is also known for working on indie films like Chezhiyan Ra’s directorial “To Let”.

Earlier this year, the Tamil film, which deals with house rental issues, won the National Film Award. It has also been screened at about 30 film festivals across the world. A few weeks ago, it bagged awards at the first edition of the Pondicherry International Film Festival.

“When ‘To Let’ was made, its target audience was the festival circuit and so every festival that it attends and an award it wins, is a vindication of the film. I am also happy as it has been selected for the Indian Panorama Film Section at International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2018,” Prasad, who had edited the Malayalam film “Olu” — the opening movie of the upcoming edition of IFFI, told IANS in an email interview.

Despite being a hit at film fests, “To Let” is yet to release in theatres.

“There are no ready buyers for serious cinema in the market as the buyers or theatres are looking for collections and numbers which come with established actors. These sort of films have to create a brand for themselves with various festivals and awards to create awareness about the film and subsequently, get somebody to back it and release it in theatres,” he said.

“It is a huge task no doubt but in this case, filmmakers are optimistic as it is a relatable story and I too believe it will have its audience in public exhibition too. I wish there are theatres to showcase all types of cinema and not only targeted cinema, even if it is on a smaller scale, Prasad added.

“Otherwise, we will see the demise of pure cinema and filmmakers.”

He doesn’t let a film’s budget “distract” him. “Kayamkulam Kochunni”, touted as Malayalam film industry’s most expensive movie, is one of his most recent works.

“‘…Kochunni’ was a very well-planned effort by the director (Rosshan Andrrews) and it had all the ingredients in it to appeal to the masses. We had a few discussions at the script level and once the shooting started… though it took a lot of time to shoot and execute and edit, I was sure it would sort of work well,” he said.

After making his debut in early 1980s, he worked on films in Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Assamese.

Coming from a Telugu-speaking family settled in Chennai, he did not have a plan or preference for editing films in any particular language.

“It was more about getting work to showcase my skills. Chennai was strategically the industry hub for south Indian films and also for the east and northeast part of India. So many filmmakers used to come to Chennai to do their post-production. During that period, I met a few filmmakers from other parts of the country and slowly, I started getting work in different languages,” he said.

His initial independent venture “Raakh”, which released in 1989, got him a National Film Award.

“So people noticed my capabilities, but the beauty of working in different languages, meeting people from different cultures and different types of stories have greatly contributed to my evolution as a film editor,” said Prasad.

But editing bilinguals or remakes is quite a task.

“Huge effort goes into them to maintain the same intensity as the one that was shot first but as time passes by, you get used to this pressure and we do it,” he said.

The last bilingual he made was “The Ghazi Attack” and he is in the middle of editing “Saaho”. “It has been an enjoyable experience,” he said.

IANS

Taapsee Pannu In Tamil & Telugu Film ‘Game Over’

The new intense poster of Taapsee Pannu’s next Game Over has been unveiled in Chennai. The film which will be in Tamil & Telugu went on the floors recently in Chennai. The film will be directed by Ashwin Saravana & co-written by Kaavya Ramkumar. Presented by Y Not Studios & Reliance Entertainment, the film is produced by S. Saskikanth with Chakravarthy Ramachandra, as its co-producer.

Music Video “Dil Zaffran” Crosses 13 Million Views!

Actor Shivin Narang is on cloud 9. His music video “Dil Zaffran” has been loved by his fans. In fact, the video crossed 13 million views in just 4 days. Now, that’s something! “I am so happy by the response of the music video. This song is very dear to me and I am so ecstatic that my fans love it. I am so grateful to them for supporting me and loving me. I am who I am today because of my fans and I will never forget that,” says Shivin. In fact, the actor even took to Instagram to post about the amazing success of the number, that has been sung by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. The actor, who is currently seen in Internet Wala Love, has been performing well in the show too.

Sanjay Dutt To Produce A Marathi Film

Sanjay Dutt is all set to join the bandwagon of Hindi actors who are stepping into the production of Marathi films. The actor is now ecstatic to announce his 1st ever venture into Marathi films which is yet untitled. Directed by Raj Gupta, the film will star Deepak Dobriyal, Nandita Dhuri, Abhijeet Khandkekar, Spruha Joshi, Chittaranjanh Giri and last but not the least Aryan Menghji. It may be remembered that his production banner Sanjay Dutt Productions is now making Hindi film called Prassthanam with Deva Katta as the director.

Wedding Bells Put Deepika Padukone & Ranveer Singh On Top Of Instagram Charts

Deepika Padukone & Ranveer Singh have had a record breaking run on Score Trends India popularity chart & post their marriage announcements have topped the instagram this week on Score Trends India chart. These statistics are authenticated & researched by US based media tech Score Trends India. As per the statistics, Deepika Padukone & Ranveer Singh achieved top position with 100 points courtesy the official announcement of their most speculated news of tying the knot. The data is collected from over 600 news sources across 14 languages in India to analyse the media. These include Facebook, Twitter, print publications, viral news on social media, broadcast & digital platforms. Varied sophisticated algorithms then help us them to process this massive amount of data & arrive at the scores & the rankings of Bollywood stars. Apart from Ranveer, Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Shah Rukh Khan & Aamir Khan with Priyanka Chopra, Anushka Sharma, Jacqueline Fernandez & Sonam Kapoor are consistent on top 5 on Score Trends India’s Instagram ranking.

‘Housefull 4’ Sets Cost Rs.20 Crore!

Akshay Kumar, along with entire cast of Housefull 4, Kriti Sanon, Bobby Deol, Riteish Deshmukh, Pooja Hegde & Kriti Kharbanda, have already completed 2 schedules of the film, 1 each in London & Rajasthan. The team kicked off their 3rd schedule in Mumbai a few days ago. The makers have spent a whopping amount to build the grand sets, where they will shoot the reincarnation scenes. Producer Sajid Nadiadwala is leaving no stone unturned to make Housefull 4 a visual delight. The 2 sets that have been erected at Chitrakoot Ground & Vrindavan Studio have cost him around `20 crore. The film’s overall budget is a sum total of the money that he spent on the other 3 movies in the franchise. Given that the period sequences, which involve a lot of VFX, are yet to be shot there, the art direction team has paid attention to the intricate details. “The set gives you a feel of the yesteryear era, which was seen in Baahubali franchise. There’s the king’s darbar which has pillars that are as high as 36 feet, long pathways & marble flooring. There are precious stones embedded on the throne & the pillars have fine detailing. Sajid gave a clear vision to production designers, Subrata Chakraborty & Amit Ray, who ensured that the sets depicted the period’s grandeur. The team has strict security measures in place. The makers don’t want the pictures to be leaked because they want to reveal it closer to the film’s promo launch. So, nobody is allowed to carry eve their phones on the sets, as a precautionary measure.

Namaste England

Namaste England Is An Extremely Poor Fare Don’t Waste Your Time Money & Energy

Banner: Pen India Limited, Namaste Production, Reliance Entertainment & Blockbuster Movie Entertainers

Producers: Vipul Amrutlal Shah, Dhaval Jayantilal Gada, Akkshay Jayantilal Gada, Reliance Entertainment, Aashin A Shah & Reshma Kadakia, Kushal Kantilal Gada, Firuzi Khan & Sameer Chopra

Director: Vipul Amrutlal Gada

Star Cast: Arjun Kapoor, Parniti Chopra, Aditya Seal, Alankrita Sahai, Anil Mange, Satish Kaushik, Mallika Dua, Shreya Mehta, Shivendra Mahal, Anjum Batra, Pratik Dixit, Hobby Dhaliwal & Vinod Nagpal

Music: Manan Shah, Badshah, Rishi Rich & Prasad Sashte

Times have really changed when it comes to women
Empowerment & gradually, the people on the whole are realizing that equal opportunities are a must for people of all the gender. Yet, a lot needs to be done especially in the places which are away from the mega cities. Namaste England, which marks the return of Vipul Shah as a director after 8 years, throws light on this aspect and also promises to be a beautiful love story. Moreover, it’s the 2nd film in the franchise, the 1st ever being the much loved Namastey London released in the year 2007, starring Akshay Kumar & Katrina Kaif.

The scripted scenario of Namaste England reveals that it is the story of a couple torn between love & their dreams. Param (Arjun Kapoor) & Jasmeet (Parineeti Chopra) reside in a tiny village in Punjab. Both fall for each other. Meanwhile, Jasmeet, who’s interested in jewellery designing, gets a job in Amritsar. She has to work there for 3 days a week. Jasmeet’s grandfather (Shivendra Mahal) is strictly against women working. So Jasmeet hides this bit from him but one day the truth comes out. Param at this point asks Jasmeet to get married to him and asserts that she can work then without any problem. Param’s family visits Jasmeet’s house to ask her hand in marriage. Jasmeet’s grandfather agrees but he has a condition, Jasmeet should not work once she ties the knot. Both ultimately get married and a year later, Jasmeet meets her friend Harpreet (Mallika Dua). She lives in UK with her husband and is very happy & settled. Seeing her, Jasmeet gets a desire to leave India and settle in England so that she can work there and have an independent life. Param is even ready to move there with her and his father also has no issue. The issue however is that Param can’t go out of India. On his wedding day, Param has an altercation with his friend Gurpreet (Anjum Batra), who’s well connected, and the latter vows that he’ll not let Param get a visa of Europe, where the couple was planning a honeymoon. Jasmeet hence devises a plan, she’ll move to UK alone at first and after securing residency, she’ll be entitled to let Param enter UK. Param is fine with the arrangement. However, Jasmeet hasn’t been completely truthful to him. What happens next forms the crux of the rest of the film.

Ritesh Shah & Suresh Nair’s story is very weak and silly and rests on a wafer thin plot. The story has too many flaws. Ritesh Shah & Suresh Nair’s screenplay is juvenile and does nothing to hide these glitches. It’s shocking that the duo is associated with some fine films of recent times like Airlift (2016), D-Day (2013), Raid (2018), Mardaani (2014) & even Namastey London and yet they collectively penned this apology of a script. Ritesh Shah & Suresh Nair’s dialogues are also terrible & outdated.

Vipul Amrutlal Shah’s direction is haywire and it seems like he has lost his touch. The scenes begin & end all of a sudden and he tries to incorporate a lot. He also tries to repeat the magic of Namastey London, be it during the intermission point or during the scene where Param delivers a patriotic speech. But while the latter sequence was powerful in Namastey London and is still remembered today, the one in Namaste England looks forced.

Namaste England has a bit of an awkward beginning. The lovers are shown meeting each other during varied seasons and it takes a while to understand that. At this point, Param forces his friend to marry a girl from Jasmeet’s group just so that he gets a chance to meet Jasmeet again! This scene itself gives viewers an idea that this film is not going to make any sense. The entire bit of Jasmeet’s grandfather refusing her to work even after marriage seems unconvincing but works nevertheless. But the scene that doesn’t work at all in this hour is Gurpreet’s drama at the wedding. Param-Jasmeet’s romance post marriage is cute and the scenes of Gurnaam (Satish Kaushik) help in keeping the interest going although the film has still not gone on a high. The intermission point comes across as a shocker but not for the right reasons. The 1st ever half comes across as disappointing while post interval, the film falls further. Param entering UK illegally is an engaging scene but doesn’t make any sense. Even worse is Param pretending to marry Alisha (Alankrita Sahai). These scenes, besides being nonsensical, are not even funny or moving. Also the film gives a very wrong message and tries to project that immigration is a bad idea and that’s certainly not true. Also, the film ends at an abrupt point and all the conflicts of the film don’t end even when the credits roll.
Mannan Shaah’s music is okay with some songs working while the others being a disappointment. “Dhoom Dhadakka” is very catchy & foot-tapping. “Tere Liye” comes next. Bhare Bazaar” doesn’t work and it’s abruptly cut into half. Prasad Sashte’s background score is over dramatic. Yiannis Manolopoulos’s cinematography is appropriate but nothing special. Sriram Kannan Iyengar & Sujeet Sawant’s production design looks superficial, especially the houses in Punjab village. Aki Narula, Sanjana Batra & Gayatri Thadani’s costumes are nothing special initially but the ones worn by Parineeti in England scenes are appealing. Amitabh Shukla’s editing is horrible.

Performance wise this isn’t Arjun Kapoor’s best act & his performance leaves a lot to be desired. He looks haggard & a bit overweight in some scenes. Parineeti Chopra is however better and puts up a great act. Sadly, she is letdown by terrible writing. Aditya Seal as Sam has a fine screen presence and makes an impact. Alankrita Sahai as Alisha, last seen in the recently-released web film Love Per Square Foot, looks sizzling and does fine. Satish Kaushik is over the top and the way he says “Darling” in every sentence is not funny. Same with Shreya Mehta as Mitthi who makes a sound at the end of each sentence, a la Nawazuddin Siddiqui in Kick (2014)! But she puts a confident act. Anil Mange as Iqbal Khan is decent.
On the whole: Namaste England is an extremely poor fare and is riddled with a terrible script & a juvenile screenplay.

Tail Piece: At the box office turnstiles, Namaste England will face a tough time and will not find favor with the audience.

Aamir Khan Besotted By Katrina Kaif’s Scorching Beauty

Aamir Khan is besotted by Katrina Kaif’s scorching beauty. Katrina Kaif will cast her spell on Firangi (Aamir Khan) with her sizzling looks & hot dance moves in Thugs of Hindostan’s new song “Suraiyya”. The film promises to present Katrina Kaif in her hottest desi avatar to date as she plays the role of an outrageously beautiful performer named Suraiyya. She is the most gorgeous girl in British India who makes every man go weak in their knees.

Prabhudheva, who always sets a benchmark in innovative choreography, has worked tirelessly to design this song that combines old Indian dance forms with intricate contemporary moves. The song will see Aamir Khan, dressed as a British captain, having the guts to woo Katrina Kaif in front of a room filled with British officers. It is a peppy, humorous song which shows off their fun & teasing chemistry. The song has been composed by the renowned duo Ajay-Atul while Amitabh Bhattacharya has penned its lyrics. Shreya Ghoshal & Vishal Dadlani has sung this song that will surely become a chart-buster.

The director of Thugs of Hindostan, Vijay Krishna Acharya said, “Suraiyya is a song that gives a sneak peek into the flirtatious relationship between Firangi & Suraiyya. While she is Hindostan’s most famous performer of India, Firangi is an equally cunning man of the country whom Suraiyya doesn’t trust at all. They have a fun chemistry, they are an odd pair and they are both Thugs in their own right. Prabhudheva has done a sensational job in creating steps that only Katrina Kaif could pull off. I’m sure audiences will love it.”

Yash Raj Films Thugs of Hindostan is the biggest visual spectacle hitting the big screen this Diwali. It boasts of a larger than life, never seen before action extravaganza & an incredible casting coup that brings together 2 of the biggest legends of Indian cinema, Amitabh Bachchan & Aamir Khan on screen for the 1st time ever. It also stars Fatima Sana Shaikh in a pivotal role.

Thugs of Hindostan, is all set to release on 8th Nov, 2018, a national holiday, in Hindi, Tamil & Telugu.

Singer Atif Aslam’s Enthralling Performance Brings The 2nd Edition Of Singapore South Asian International Film Festival (Sg.Saiff) To A Close

Singer Atif Aslam’s enthralling performance brings the 2nd edition of Singapore South Asian International Film Festival (Sg.Saiff) to a close

The crowd of 1500 people was completely spellbound by the electrifying performance of Atif Aslam on the closing night held at glittering gala night at Resorts World Sentosa in Singapore on the night of 14th Oct, 2018.

The winners include Atanu Ghosh’s Mayurakshi which won “Best Feature Film Award”, Miransha Naik won “Best Director award for his debut feature, Juze, Syed Zaigham Imam won the award for “Emerging Filmmaker Of The Year”, Binodini won “Best Short Film”.

Singapore South Asian International Film Festival (Sg.Saiff) held was a 10 day extravaganza of sublime cinema which represented a diverse mix of feature films, short films & documentaries from India, Bangladesh, SriLanka, Pakistan, Nepal &Afghanistan. The festival was packed with multiple panel discussions, master classes, 1st ever edition of the South Asian Film Market (SAFM), red carpet opening & a grand closing ceremony had set the pulse of the Singapore cinephiles racing.

The winner filmmakers Atanu Ghosh director of Mayurkashi averred, “Rarely do you come across such eminent people comprising the jury board & I felt so honored & humbled to receive the awards. The ambience was electrifying & with such enthusiastic participation of filmmakers, I am sure this festival is fast shaping up as a very important platform for independent films from South Asia.”

Talking about this year’s edition Abhayanand Singh, Chairperson of SGSAIFF averred, “We are truly humbled by the overwhelming response to the 2nd edition of Sg.SAIFF. We had a sold-out opening & closing night but what was more heartening is the fact that cinephiles in Singapore came & watched a lot of films screening at our festival.”

He adds, “The filmmakers enjoyed themselves during the interaction with the audiences on multiple occasions & the festival has truly emerged as a strong platform for South Asian cinema in the region. The launch of South Asian Film Market (SAFM) was also a huge success with 11 filmmakers pitching to an esteemed jury panel & high net worth individuals and we are very sure that some of them will receive the financial support that they were seeking.”

Here is the complete list of winners: 1. “Emerging Filmmaker Of The Year – Syed Zaigham Imam. 2. “Best Feature Film” – Mayurakshi – Atanu Ghosh. 3. “Best Director” – Juze – Miransha Naik. 4. “Best Short Film” – Binodini – Mallika Subramanian (director). 5. Children Of White – Dulanka Devendra (director). 6. “Best Actor Female” – Dying Candle – Srijana Subba. 7. “Best Actor male” – Summer Of Miracles – Chandra Kiran GK. 8. “Best Cinematographer” – Dying Candle – Dipankar Sikder & Rabin Acharya. 9. “Best Editor” – Midnight Delhi – Rakesh Rawatmau

The Special Screenings of, Siddiq Barak’s Osama & O P Srivastava‘s Life In Metaphors. The Feature Films in Competition section, Prasad Namjoshi’s Video Parlour, Rakesh Rawat’s Midnight Delhi, Miransha Naik’s Juze, IndrashishAcharya’s Pupa, Sumathy Sivamohan’s Sons And Father, Naresh Kumar KC’s Dying Candle, Ektara Collective’s Turup & Prashanth Vijay’s Summer of Miracles (Athisayangalude Venal).

The SGSAIFF 2018 hosted World Premieres of Prasad Namjoshi’s Video Parlour, Murari M Rakshit’s Reunion, Pravin Tarde’s Mulshi Pattern, Rakesh Rawat’s Midnight Delhi & Zaigham Imam’s Nakkash which was launched at Cannes 2018. The Feature Film Showcase section included – Aparna Sen’s Sonata, Rima Das’ Village Rockstars, Fakhrul Areefen Khan‘s Bangladeshi film Bhuvan Majhi, C V Nandeeshwar’s Akkamma’s Fate, Murari M Rakshit’s Reunion, Praveen Tarde’s Mulshi Pattern, Kireet Khurana’s T For Tajmahal, Sumit Mishra’s Agam¸Zaigham Imam’s Nakkash & Atanu Ghosh’s Mayurakshi.

The Short Films in the Competitive Section included, Mallika Subramanian’s Binodini, Muhammad Belal Imran’s Just A Cup Of Tea, Harish Mohan’s Kalki, the Devendra’s Children Of White, Umang Vyas’ Majaal Hai¸ Akash Mihani’s Mum, AthithyaKanagarajan’s Dreams,
Vikrant Dhote’s Ajay & Syahrul Musa’s Glimpse. The Short Film Showcase featured 3 titles, Kabeer Khurana’s Religion For Dummies, Aditya Kelgaonkar’s Sound Proof & Prabhjit Dhamija’s Me (Asmad).

The Documentary Film Showcase section included UmeshKulkarni’s Kumbh, Manhoor Zaidi’s Dust To Dust, Upneet Kaur-Nagpal’s Singh In The Lion City, Aparajita Ghosh’s Dance Of Joy, Anirban Mitra & Tirtha Dasgupta’s Ray Of Light & Prasanna Ramaswamy’s Writer Ashokmitran.

SGSAIFF 2018 also conducted 2 interesting workshops during the course of the festival. The 1st was an Acting Workshop For Adults & Children. The 2nd was a Filmmaking Workshop For Children that focuses on making films using smartphones.

This year the festival launched the 1st ever edition of South Asian Film Market (SAFM) where Pankaj Kapur’s Aadi (The Beginning), Kartik Aryan & Adil Hussain’s Barasinghey, Abhay Deol’s JL50, Sanjay Mishra & Pankaj Tripathi’s 18 Not Out, Chandan Roy Sanyal’s So Sicily, Shreyas Talpade’s Khwaish, Prabhjit Dhamija’s Samir, Leela Manimekalai’s Maadathy, Rahat Kazmi’s Country Of Blind, Somnath Sen’s Charulata & Harish Vyas’s Hum Bhi Akele Tum Bhi Akele were the 11 projects chosen from a selection of over 100 entries.

Jalebi

This “Jalebi” Is Neither Sweet Nor Tasty

Banner: Vishesh Films

Producer: Mukesh Bhatt & Sakshi Bhatt

Director: Pushpdeep Bhardwaj

Star Cast: Varun Mitra, Rhea Chakraborty, Digangana Suryavanshi, Aanya Dureja, Poorti Arya, Pravina Deshpande, Mahesh Thakur, Priya Yadav, Sonali Sudan, Jashn Kohli, Shabnam Kapoor, Farida Dadi, Arjun Kanungo, Sanchay Goswami, Chayan Trivedi, Abhishek Khanna & Yusuf Hussain

Music: Jeet Ganguly & Tanishq Bagchi

Vishesh Films, headed by Mukesh Bhatt & Mahesh Bhatt, are known for their small-budget & high-concept films. They have given some memorable films & even chartbuster songs but since the last few years, their reputation has taken a beating. None of their films after the blockbuster Aashiqui 2 in the year 2013 have worked well. The number of films made by the banner has also reduced. Their last film, Begum Jaan was released in the year 2017, almost one and a half years ago. Now they are back with Jalebi, which promises to be a clean & romantic love story & also its miles away from the erotic & the horror films that had become their trademark.

The scripted story of Jalebi reveals that it is the story of love & separation. Ayesha Pradhan (Rhea Chakraborty) is a depressed girl. She has written a bestselling novella but her troubled past is not allowing her to focus & write her next book. She is on her way from Mumbai to Delhi for a book reading session. In the train, her co-passenger is Anu (Digangana Suryavanshi) & her daughter Pulti (Aanya Dureja). Over the course of their conversation, Ayesha gets a jolt upon learning that Anu’s husband is none other than her ex–hubby Dev Mathur (Varun Mitra). The story goes back 7 to 8 years. Dev is from Purani Dilli where he does guided tours. He’s proud of his roots & proudly flaunts his locality & also his mansion, popularly known as Netaji Ki Haveli. Once, Ayesha takes this tour & falls for Dev, who in turn also develops feelings for her. In no time, they get married & that’s when cracks begin to develop in their relationship. Meanwhile, in the present day, the train halts at Bhusawal railway station & Dev enters their coach to give Anu a surprise. The ex-lovers, that is Dev & Ayesha, thus come face to face after all these years. What happens next forms the crux of the rest of the film.

Just like Begum Jaan, Jalebi is also a Bengali film remake of Prosenjit Chatterjee & Rituparna Sengupta starrer Praktan (2016), which was written by Nandita Roy & directed by Nandita Roy & Shiboprosad Mukherjee. Here in Hindi, Kausar Munir & Pushpdeep Bhardwaj’s story is disappointing & juvenile. There’s no head & no tail to the story & they end up doing total injustice to the original film. Kausar Munir, Pushpdeep Bhardwaj & Suhrita Sengupta’s screenplay is the biggest culprit. The film is bland & the trio has made no attempt to make situations exciting or novel. Kausar Munir, Pushpdeep Bhardwaj & Suhrita Sengupta’s dialogues are horrible to say the least. The manner in which the characters are talking to each other is laughable.

Pushpdeep Bhardwaj’s direction is amateur and he doesn’t even know the basics properly it seems. The way the film moves back & forth especially when Ayesha would hear a term or hear a song is so convenient & outdated. And the post-marriage problems are akin to a saas-bahu melodrama shown on television but even those daily soaps are more entertaining & even progressive than this film.

Jalebi is terrible from the word “Go”. The film begins with a loud cry of Ayesha on the black screen and hence, even before the 1st ever visual, the film gets unsettling! The beginning portion of Ayesha crying over abandoning her marriage is weird. Once the train portions begin, one hopes for the film to get a bit better. Also, there are 3 subplots involving varied passengers in the bogie. They seem interesting and you expect them to add to the film, in case the lead protagonists aren’t able to. Sadly, these 3 tracks are boring and contribute in no way to the film. The flashback portion begins well. Dev showing his house to the tourists is nicely done. Also the way Ayesha books the entire tour for herself just so that she can spend all the time with Dev is lovely. Once they get married, the film becomes routine & showcases problems beaten to death in films. The miscarriage portion is also poorly executed. The train portions aren’t that interesting, although few a developments are a bit unpredictable. If you expect the climax to at least lift the film to some extent, you’ll be dejected. The Kashmir sequence makes no sense and even more senseless is the justification given by Dev in the end.

Music also gets thumbs down, which is sad, since Vishesh Films was known for its songs. “Tum Se” is catchy but it’s not going to linger in one’s mind for long. “Tera Mera Rishta” is played during the courtship scenes, which as mentioned above, was the only good part of the film. The rest of the songs like “Mujhme”, “Pehle Ke Jaisa”, “Pal” & “Mera Pyaar Tera Pyaar” are nothing special. Raju Singh’s background score is bad. Same goes for Manoj Soni’s cinematography, few shots are taken from a very close range. The VFX is tacky and anyone can make out that the scenery seen from the window is fake. Sandeep Suvarna’s production design is alright and the set does look like an actual First AC bogie. But it’s funny to see the railway station being so empty in the end, and that too the busy Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station of Delhi. Devendra Murdeshwar’s editing is not good and even the film that’s just 112 minutes looked like a 3 hour plus film.

Performance wise Varun Mitra is disappointing. He looks weird in the scenes where he has to cry and even when he’s seen celebrating his wife’s pregnancy. In the beginning scenes, he does well. The actor has done well in the past, in Ishaan Nair’s unreleased film Kaash (2015). So, here, the fault could be of the director in failing to get better performance from him. Rhea Chakraborty is what makes the film bearable. She has done chirpy roles in the past and Jalebi is the 1st time ever that she is seen in a serious & mature role. She is the only one to benefit from this film as she proves that she can do a lot more than comic capers & special appearances. Digangana Suryavanshi is alright while Aanya Dureja is sweet. Arjun Kanungo (Arjun) is okay and his track makes no sense. Farida Dadi & Yusuf Hussain (the old couple in train) are fine but are letdown by the script. What exactly are they doing in the film one wonders! Poorti Arya (Renu; Dev’s sister) & the actor playing Dev’s mother are forgettable.

On the whole Jalebi will leave you with a bitter taste. It’s a film that has no plot or logic.

Tail Piece: At the box office, it will be a disaster. Just Skip it!

Mumbai, Oct 17 The irony in Bollywood is loud and clear. While films with women in strong and powerful portrayals are gaining success at the box office, a slew of women in the industry are coming up with accounts of facing sexual harassment in the industry. Actor-producer Saif Ali Khan says fraternity members should make sure that the place is safe for women to work.

“Some ridiculous and inhuman things have happened in the past few years and I know that new talents might fear to step into the industry after knowing those stories of victims. But as member of the fraternity, we have to make sure that women are treated with the utmost dignity and there is no abuse of power,” Saif told IANS in an interview here.

He will soon be seen in the film “Baazaar”, in which he essays a ruthless money-minded man.

Asked if his approach towards life and money is similar to the character he plays in the film, Saif said: “In a way, yes and no. My character in the movie wants money to protect his family and I as an individual believe that money is important to protect my family and to have a good life.

“But I do not think like him. He thinks that ‘Money is God’, and only money cannot give you happiness. That apart, there are differences between me and my character… I am a much more soft-spoken person.”

Sharing what keeps him satisfied and passionate about life, the actor said: “I like my creative job as an actor. Playing a part in a good film, building a character from the scratch for a story to perform… Such an opportunity is rare and a blessing.”

According to Saif, more than running after success, a life lived well with friends and family is important for him.

“I like small things in life — like reading a good book in the evening while sipping the best whiskey and eating some good Chinese food. After a long working schedule, I want to spend time with my best friends and family for dinner and a small trip. Money cannot give the bonding and affection I share with my family,” the 48-year-old said with a smile.

Coming back to “Baazaar”, Saif sports grey hair in it.

Asked if looking the character is the new vanity for the protagonist of a Bollywood film, Saif said: “Why not look older than your age? Of course I want to bend the idea of how the lead actor should look. I think our audience is ready to receive the change that breaks the stereotype.”

Having started his career in 1993, Saif has acted in films like “Main Khiladi Tu Anari”, “Hum Saath-Saath Hain”, “Dil Chahta Hai”, “Parineeta”, “Kal Ho Naa Ho”, “Omkara” and “Race”. He says over the years his approach towards his craft has changed.

“I’m reading books on acting too. Most of the time, I get it instinctively, but at times when I am stuck somewhere, the theory really helps to improve my craft. In ‘Baazaar’, I can see that my experience and understanding of craft is coming together as a performer.

“A good film director will direct his actor to the right direction but generally speaking, they cannot teach me how to act. They can give me some idea to execute my performance. I should know how to act. Having said that, I want to mention that discussing things with experienced people helped me to learn a lot about my craft,” he said.

As the son of iconic actress Sharmila Tagore, the learning started from home itself for Saif.

“Ammi taught me to treat the camera like an observant woman who captures every single move very carefully. So as an actor, I do not have to go over-the-top all the time… My subtleness came from that. Mahesh Bhatt told me to keep it simple when in doubt. Sooraj Barjatya advised to let the background music do the work if I am confused as a performer.

“Vikram (Vikramaditya Motwane) made me understand the energy of the character first as it would set the tone of my performance right.”

Just then, his son Taimur Ali Khan entered the room, grabbing everyone’s attention.

Addressing the little one as ‘Tam’, in no time the award-winning actor slipped into the role of an affectionate father when he said: “You see, the most famous man of my family has arrived. I am taking him to swim.”

(IANS)