Meet Bros Bags The prestigious “Dada Saheb Phalke International Film Festival Award 2018”

The renowned music composers namely Meet Bros recently bagged the most prestigious “Dada Saheb Phalke International Film Festival Award 2018”. Yes! Ace Bollywood music composers & singer duo Manmeet Singh & Harmeet Singh aka Meet Bros recently bagged the most prestigious “Dada Saheb Phalke International Film Festival Award 2018” in the “Best Live Performers 2018” category.

The most prestigious “Dada Saheb Phalke International Film Festival Award 2018” was a starry affair and Meet Bros bagged the award for best performers live on stage.

Speaking on this achievement, Meet Bros namely Manmeet Singh & Harmeet Singh averred, “It is an auspicious occasion to receive the most prestigious “Dada Saheb Phalke International Film Festival Award 2018”. We stand proud tonight with this award, humbled & honored at the same time. We couldn’t be more grateful to our family, friends, fraternity & the most important family of fans.”

The emotional brothers Harmeet Singh & Manmeet Singh, who attended the ceremony thanked their parents & fans in a brief acceptance speech.

At the ceremony, other eminent personalities from the musical entertainment industry were also honored for their outstanding contribution towards the growth & the development of the Indian Cinema & also the small screen.

Incidentally Speaking the Meet bros are power packed performers in the industry as well as globally who seem to debunk every musical rule in the film industry.

They are also known for their hit numbers like “Chitiya Kalaiya”, “High Heels”, “Babydoll” and many, many more.

In conclusion they averred in unison, “We have always been known for our party songs in movies and bagging this award only shows our other side to our audiences which is fun filled, engaging & entertaining one. We are the best versions when we are on stage. Quipped the brothers.

(IANS) Superstar Salman Khan and producer Ramesh Taurani, who are currently busy here with the shoot of the third instalment of the “Race” franchise, met Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti.

Salman and the film’s team reached the picturesque Sonamarg hill station in the state for a two-day shooting schedule of Remo D’Souza directed movie “Race 3”.

A photograph of their meeting was shared by Taurani on his Twitter account.

“We thank Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti for welcoming us in Kashmir for the final lap of ‘Race 3’ with Salman Khan,” Taurani tweeted with the image, in which he has posed with Mufti, Salman and the actor’s bodyguard Shera.

Besides Salman, “Race 3” will also feature Anil Kapoor, Bobby Deol, Jacqueline Fernandez, Daisy Shah and Saqib Saleem. The film scheduled to be released coinciding with the Eid festival on June 15.

He wove a film, “Unfreedom”, with lovemaking scenes, depicting lesbian relationships, Islamophobia and religious fundamentalism, and it was banned by the Indian censor board in 2015. Indian-American filmmaker Raj Amit Kumar is appalled by the lack of freedom filmmakers have in India and wonders how much self-censorship they have to do in the face of the industry’s “moral police”.

The censor board’s reason for keeping “Unfreedom” away from the big screen was the fear that the film would “ignite unnatural passions and incite rapes and communal violence in India”. However, now the movie has an avenue to reach audiences on online streaming giant Netflix.

When the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), then led by Pahlaj Nihalani, banned the film, the first thought that came to Kumar’s mind was: “How will I make my cinema in India?”

“It hit me hard: How much of self-censorship Indian filmmakers must be involved in so they do not have to face this. We do not even have a basic human right to freedom of speech and expression in India when it comes to cinema!

“Is that how we should keep making films in India — that we should first think what the censor board will approve and our films should be limited to those boundaries? It became very clear how subservient Indian filmmakers have been to the moral police of Indian cinema for seven decades,” he added.

Last year, the film was under review by CBFC, which wanted Kumar to cut crucial elements from the movie in order to be shown to the Indian public.

Later, Kumar appealed to the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT), which too banned the film.

A campaign was also run by the makers for a year during which they did around 100 screenings of the film in India and in the US, among other countries. Following this, the film was released internationally by Netflix.

After Nihalani was replaced by Prasoon Joshi as CBFC Chairman, did Kumar try to get a censor certificate again?

“No, I did not,” said Kumar.

He believes that the idea that a new jury or a new chair will bring any change to censorship in India is “only laughable”.

“It is ridiculous to frame censorship in India like that and hope for ‘improvements’ (when people in the board change)… It is all ridiculous and a sham that is against our basic human right of freedom of expression,” he said.

Kumar believes that, at this point, the very existence of the censor board needs to be addressed.

“Not that the people in it should be changed, but the censor board (as an) institution needs to be abolished and thrown in the garbage. How can you expect someone to be put in the job of censoring, and them not doing that job? The existence of that job itself is wrong, no matter who does it and at what levels of leniency,” he added.

Can platforms like Netflix, which are devoid of censorship, be called a boon for the cinema lover?

“By boon, if you simply mean helpful, then yes. Something is better than nothing. But by boon, if you mean a Godsend, a blessing, an alternative, then no,” said Kumar.

“Regardless of people being able to see it online, the key question is still that we should not see anything as an alternative to freedom of expression. It’s the most basic human right that we need to have, and we should not divert our attention from that,” he added.

“You can’t come and say, hey look, you have freedom of expression on Netflix but not in cinema theatres”.

Besides the critically lauded actor Adil Hussain, the film also features veteran actor Victor Bannerjee, Bhavani Lee, Preeti Gupta and Bhanu Uday.

Indian Performing Rights Society (IPRS) Distributed Royalty Worth Rs. 13 Crores

The Indian Performing Rights Society (IPRS) recently distributed music royalty worth Rs. 13 Crores in 1 day amongst the Bollywood music composers & The lyricists.

Javed Akhtar, the Chairman of Indian Performing Right Society (IPRS) especially arrived to distribute Rs. 13 Crores received for TV synchronization between the entire author & the composer members at The Club, Andheri (W) Mumbai.

Rs.10,000 was distributed to the authors & the composers having 10 or less than 10 works registered with Indian performing Rights Society (IPRS) and the balance royalty was distributed equally to all the remaining authors & the composers which was Rs. 53,000.

This TV Synchronization royalty was paid by PPL on behalf of Saregama, Sony Music, Tips, Universal Music, Venus & Aditya Music.

On this eve Rakesh Nigam, the CEO of the Indian Performing rights Society (IPRS) averred, “We are happy to distribute the royalty cheques to all the authors & the composers of our music society. After all it’s all hard work & effort put in by them”.

Raju Singh, Sudhakar Sharma, Shravan Rathod, Harmeet, A M Turaaz, Prashant Ingole, Jatin Pandit, Sanjeev Darshan, Dilip Sen – Sameer Sen, Shibani Kashyap and many,, many more came to collect their royalty cheques.

The entire fraternity of the Indian Performing Rights Society (IPRS) thanked Javed Akhtar for his hard work & effort put in by him.

Kalank Goes On The Floors.

A day after it got announced, Abhishek Varman directorial & Karan Johar – Sajid Nadiadwala production goes on the floors. The film has done the unimaginable; it has got Madhuri Dixit Nene & Sanjay Dutt back on screen after almost 2 and a half decade. The movie also stars Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt, Sonakshi Sinha & Aditya Roy Kapur. Kalank is slated to release exactly a year from now on i.e. on 19th Apr, 2019.
Bhavesh Joshi Superhero Trailer Out

After releasing the 1st look posters for Bhavesh Joshi Superhero recently, Phantom Films have now dropped a full – blown teaser for Harshvardhan Kapoor starrer. Helmed by Vikramaditya Motwane, Bhavesh Joshi Superhero hits the theatres on 25th May, 2018. Though viewers never meet face-to-face with Harshvardhan in the one-and-a-half minute long video, his heroic avatar does leave an impression on your mind. While filmmaker Vikramaditya Motwane is directing Bhavesh Joshi Superhero, it is being produced by Eros International, Reliance Entertainment, Vikas Bahl, Madhu Mantena & Anurag Kashyap.

Hindi Medium Crosses 200 Crores In China

It will be interesting to see whether Irrfan Khan Starrer Hindi Medium which surpassed the opening day collection of Salman Khan’s Bajrangi Bhaijaan in the Chinese market will leave its lifetime collection behind too or not. 2 weeks after releasing in the Chinese theatre, Irrfan Khan & Saba Qamar starrer Hindi Medium has entered the Rs 200 crores club. The film hit the Chinese screens on 4th Apr, 2018 and earned Rs 22.06 crores on the 1st day of its release. Though the film had a slow start in comparison to the Aamir Khan starrer Secret Superstar & Salman Khan’s Bajrangi Bhaijaan, it gained foothold in the coming weeks. And on Thurs, the film, a satirical take on the Indian education system, achieved the milestone of Rs 200 crores. It has earned a total of Rs 205.21 crores in China.

IMAX Signs 9 Screens Deal With Cinepolis & Inox.

IMAX Corp has reached agreements to bring 9 new large-screen theatres to India, expanding its reach in a market where the company is pursuing significant growth in the coming years, Chief Executive Richard Gelfond said. The new theaters will boost the total number of IMAX locations in the country to 40. And 15 have already opened and 25 are under contract, including the 9 new locations announced on Thurs. IMAX will partner with INOX Leisure Ltd on 5 of the theaters, and with Cinepolis India on the other 4, according to statements from the companies. IMAX’s 1st ever large-format screen in India opened in 2001 but the company found it tough to expand. That changed recently, Gelfond said, as the Government has become more open to facilitating commercial development, including the building of malls & Western-style multiplexes. In Feb, 2018, IMAX announced a deal to add 5 cinemas in India through a partnership with PVR Ltd, the largest theatre chain in India. 65% of IMAX’s revenue in 2017 came from outside the United States & Canada, which is the world’s biggest film market. India ranks as the world’s 4th largest box office turnstiles market, according to data from the Motion Picture Association Of Anerica.
Emraan Hashmi’s CHEAT INDIA Begins Pre-Production.

Emraan Hashmi’s birthday gift arrived a day early. The actor signed the agreement for his 1st ever recently announced home production, Cheat India, with T-Series & Ellipsis Entertainment a day prior to his birthday. Producer Atul Kasbekar took to Instagram and shared a picture of the team Cheat India. Shooting starts in Jul, 2018 and the release has been slated for 25th Jan, 2019. It will be directed by Soumik Sen.

Karan Johar To Be The 1st ever Indian Filmmaker To Have A Wax Statue At Madame Tussaud’s

Karan Johar’s wax figure will head out on tour across Asia. The wax statue will be launched later this year. Karan Johar reportedly met the creative directors from the museum in last week. He will get a wax statue at Madame Tussauds London. He will be Bollywood’s 1st ever filmmaker to get a wax figure at the museum. Additionally, his wax figure will not just be launched in 1 city but will simultaneously head out on tour across Asia to give his many fans across the world a chance to experience him being waxed,” read a statement. The wax statue will be launched later this year.

Salman Khan Began Shooting Of His Next Movie Bharat

Salman Khan began shooting of his next movie Bharat on Mon in Mumbai. Directed by Ali Abbas Zafar, Bharat is an official adaptation of the 2014 South Korean film Ode To My Father. Salman has been paired opposite Priyanka Chopra in the film. Director Ali Abbas Zafar shared Salman’s picture from the sets and tweeted, “And it begins “Bharat” @BeingSalmanKhan. A journey of a man & a nation together. Eid 2019.”

‘Walking With The Wind’ Bags 3 National Awards

Praveen Morchhale’s Walking With The Wind has recently bagged 3 national awards under the category of “Best Film” (Ladakhi), “Best Sound Design” (Sanal George) & “Best Re-Recording” (Justin K Jose) at the 65th National Awards. The film is set in a small Ladakhi village where life is harsh but achingly simple. Earlier, Praveen has directed Barefoot To Goa. Walking With The Wind is a charming Ladakhi tale, inspired by & and dedicated to the Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami and borrows its title from a book of his poem. The film has been selected in prestigious film festivals around the world – 41 Sao Paulo International Film Festival, Oct. 2017, CAMERIMAGE (International Film Festival of The Art of Cinematography), Mumbai Film Festival, International Competition, Fribourg International Film Festival, March Switzerland 2018 & bagged a prize at Tertio Millennio Film Festival, Nov 2017, Rome (Italy).

Sunil Grover Roped In

Popular comedian & television host Sunil Grover, has been roped in to play the male lead in National Award winning filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj’s upcoming comedy drama, titled Chhuriyaan. Sunil Grover is not paired opposite the 2 lead actresses Sanya Malhotra & Radhika Madam, the makers are currently on the lookout for 2 actors to play their husbands. Acclaimed actor Vijay Raaz who was last seen working with Vishal Bhardwaj in Dedh Ishqiya (2014), will now be seen as father of the female leads in Chhuriyaan.

MAMI’s Collaboration With Carnival Cinemas Kicked Off

MAMI’s collaboration with Carnival Cinemas kicked off recently with the premiere of Beyond The Clouds at Matterden Carnival Cinemas under MAMI’s Year Round Programme. Present on the occasion were Director Majid Majidi, Actors Ishaan Khatter, Malavika Mohanan & guests RJ Malishka, Sayani Gupta, Sheetal Menon, Bejoy Nambiar, Tanuja Chandra et al. After the film, the crew celebrated Majid Majidi’s birthday as well.

Fryday To Release On 25th May 2018

Director Abhishek Dogra is all set for his next venture FryDay scheduled to release on 25th May, 2018 starring the all time favorite entertainer Govinda along with Varun Sharma. The makers of the film launched the quirky 2nd poster of the film recently. Presented by Inbox Pictures Pvt Ltd, Produced by Sajid Qureshi, Fry Day is directed by Abhishek Dogra.

Vidyut & Shruti Start Shooting For Mahesh Manjrekar’s Next Movie

Vidyut Jammwal & Shruti Haasan have already begun shooting for Mahesh Manjrekar’s next movie produced by Vijay Galani. The movie is an action drama of a gangster. The shooting of the same has commenced in Mumbai recently. Written & directed by Mahesh Manjrekar, the movie is produced by Vijay Galani & Pratik Galani under their banner Galani Entertainments.

Astro Acquires Rights For ‘Mukti Bhavan’ Aka ‘Hotel Salvation’

The multiple award winning Indian drama film Mukti Bhawan aka Hotel Salvation’ distributed by Cinestaan International Sales (CIS) has been sold in over 30 International territories including UK, Ireland, USA, Canada, Germany, Middle East, Japan, Taiwan, Germany, France, Spain, South Africa, Portugal, South Korea, Italy amongst others. In a recent move, Astro has acquired rights for the film in 12 South East Asian territories including Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines & Indonesia. Written & directed by Shubhashish Bhutiani, Mukti Bhavan aka Hotel Salvation follows a son faced with his father’s untimely demand to go and die in the holy city of Varanasi & attain salvation. The film stars Adil Hussain, Lalit Behl, Geetanjali Ku!karni & Palomi Ghosh. It has won 25 international awards including the Grand Prix Enrico Fulchignoni & UNESCO Gandhi Medal during its premiere at Venice.

Jung Siyasat Ke Releasing On 4th May, 2018

Hero Bhai Entertainment’s Jung Siyasat Ke will be releasing on 4th May, 2018 in UP – Delhi at many prominent cinemas. The film is being produced by Shriprakash Jaiswal, directed by Haro Bhai Team, co-produced by Prem Prakash Jaiswal, written by Nandu Saini “Nirmohi”, music by Chhote Baba, lyrics by Sachidanand “Kawach” & Munna Dubey, choreography by Santosh Sarvadarshi & Kedar Subba, action by Satish Anna, editing by Shankar Regar, cinematography by Gifty Mehra, executive produced by Vishwakarma Prasad & production management by Naresh Thakur. The film stars, Shriprakash Jaiswal, Prem Prakash Jaiswal, Deep Raj Dwivedi, Innushree, Mahi Singh, Illa Pandey, C. P. Bhatt, Vaibhav Rai, Sahil Sheikh, Rajeev Kumar, Babloo Singh, Anjani Banerjee, Santosh Shrivastava, Ram Mishra, Sunil Chaudhary, Neelam Pandey, Sunita Singh, Pratibha Mishra, Chandrakant, Vikas Pandit, Ashish Kumar, Unnu Pandey, Raju Jaiswal, Baleshwar Singh, Sanjay Pandey, Glory Mohanta & Pratibha Pandey.

Dil Dhadkela Kehu Ke Pyaar Mein Back From Locales Hunting

Producers & director of Eye Sight Entertainment & Sandhya Film Production’s Dil Dhadkela Kehu Ke Pyaar Mein has returned from locales haunting at Pakadi Vishnupuran, Maharajganj, Bindhwasini Park, Gorakhnath Mandir, Gorakhpur (UP). The film is being produced by Geeta Srivastava & Deenesh Gaud, written & directed by Santosh Pal, music by Pankaj Preetam, lyrics by S. K. Chauhan & Vikas Kumar, choreography by Pradeep Kumar & Kartik, action by Javed Shaikh, art by Kalicharan (Raju) & cinematography by Brijesh Pal & Rakesh Yadav & co-produced by Prakash Yadav. The film stars debutantes Shyam Srivastava, Kajal Bharti, Deepak Shrivastava, Deepali Ganjare, Krishna Kumar, Soni Patel, Manoj Kanojia, Vijay kumar, Jagdish Gaud & Gopal Rai. D. G. Films Entertainment presents the film.

Kahani Kashi Ki Trailer Launched On Youtube

The trailer of Subi Films Production’s Hindi venture Kahani Kashi Ki has been launched on YouTube by SRK Music recently. The film is being produced by Binita Kumar Kushwaha, directed by Rajesh Sinha, music by Nirmal Agastya, Vinod & Pritesh Pandey & singers are Indu Sonali, Mohan Rathod, Khushboo Jain, Mamta Raut, Rakesh Mishra, Satyam Prakash & Shanu Syed. The film stars Anand Dev Mishra, Koyal Banerjee, Sunil Bihari, Mithlesh Suman, Subhash Kumar, Anushka Verma, Ashok Akhouri et al.

HINDI FILM NEWS
“D.K.- An untouch Love Story” editing Nearing Completion
Editing of Om Tapeshwariye Films’ Hindi Venture “D.K.- An untouch Love Story” is nearing completion under the supervision of editor Guddu Jafri at Diamond Studio. The film is being produced by Lalan Lal Mohar Ram and directed by Devendra Kapoor from his own screenplay. It has music by Arvind R. Naik, lyrics by J.P. Mastana, dialogues by Pramod Mishra, choreography by Govind Anand, editing by Guddu Zafery and cinematography by Bapu Raut. Production Controller: Shiv Pujan. Production Manager : Amit Jaiswal. It stars Kamal Yadav, Taruna Singh, Mamta Shastri, Vipin Dubey, Azad Khan, Amit Jaiswal, Satish Sharma, Lakhan Bhardwaj, Alankar Shrivastav, Sanjay Dueby and item dancer Jyotika.

Jeevitha Sends Young Girls To Have Sex

A woman named Sandhya has accused that actress Jeevitha, has threatened many women to make them fall prey to the sexual desires of her husband doctor Rajasekhar. Controversial Telugu actress Sri Reddy has recently created a ruckus by accusing that offers for sex are prevalent in Tollywood. In such a scenario a meeting was held by a TV channel, during which a social activist named Sandhya spoke. During her speech, she said that Actor & producer Jeevitha Rajasekhar has often been involved in threatening young girls and sending them to her husband doctor Rajasekhar for satisfying his sexual thirst, and this talk from Sandhya shocked everyone. It should be noted that the couple has two daughters. She added that Jeevitha has targeted girls staying in hostels and sent them to Rajasekhar for his desires. She said that girls in Ameerpet were troubled and threatened by Jeevitha to have sex with Rajasekhar. Her remark that Jeevitha never saw women as women but only as an addiction and pleasure stuff has sent shockwaves across Tollywood.

Casting Couch Debate In Telugu Film Industry Gathers Steam
Telugu’s female film artistes shared their horrific experiences of sexual exploitation, being discriminated because of their color, and getting less pay, in a press conference held recently in Hyderabad. Several Telugu character artistes, women activists, NGOs, advocates & Tollywood actress Sri Reddy participated in the press conference. A junior artiste named Shruti said, “We are denied roles because we are dark skinned and fat, by the same men and coordinators who slept with us promising us a role in their movies.” Progressive Organization of Women (POW) state president Sandhya said, “The issues raised by Sri Reddy in the past few days echoed in discussion. There are sad stories behind each women artiste in the industry. The situation has to be changed. There is an urgent need to conduct a study about casting couch in the film industry. The Government should also set up a toll free number for women to make a complaint against casting couch”. An actress Apoorva said, “We are working in film industry due to lack of employment. No hero is coming in open to support us. Film industry shall positively come in support of this fight against the casting couch”. Several women said that they are being exploited by the film actors, producers & directors.

Hollywood DOP For Allu Arjun’s Upcoming Movie
Stylish Star Allu Arjun is known for working with Bollywood technicians like cinematographers and music directors. Bollywood music composer duo Vishal-Shekhar is composing music for his upcoming film Naa Peru Surya and National Award winning Bollywood cinematographer Rajeev Ravi is handling the cinematography. Meanwhile, the Naa Peru Surya team has hired Hollywood cinematographer Joseph Labisi for “Lover Also Fighter Also” song from the same film. Joseph Labisi has handled the cinematography for pop songs & music albums in the past. He has also worked for Hollywood films. As Allu Arjun aka Bunny is known for his mercuric dance moves and stylish looks, Joseph Labisi’s cinematography will surely enhance the feel of the song for sure. The Naa Peru Surya team is confident that this song will be one of the major highlights of the film. Meanwhile, The movie is getting ready for release on 4th May, 2018.

Tollywood Beauties Caught In MMS Scandals

Whenever an MMS scandal breaks out in Bollywood, it creates a lot of furore, be it big stars like Kareena or Preity or a TV actress like Mona Singh. One would assume the conservative south would be free of such scandals but even Tollywood, over the last few years, has seen some really top names involved in such a sleazy affair. Whether these clips that go viral and bring infamy to the people concerned are true or morphed is open to debate but the fact is that even southern beauties are not immune to these controversies. Simbu and Nayanthara broke up a few years ago after the objectionable pictures of the two of them were leaked. The images showed the stars engaged in a liplock and they have resurfaced once again after reports emerged of them doing a movie together. Their intimate pics are all over the cyberspace. Naturally, it may have been quite an embarrassment to the stars but they have little or no control over it. Another actress who was caught in more than one MMS scandal is Trisha. First it was a clip that showed her (or someone like her) taking a shower while another one was a massage video allegedly taken during her modeling days. Trisha denied it was her in the videos but somehow they have come to be associated with her. Similarly another actress Jyothika (Nagma’s sister) was caught in a terribly embarrassing situation when a small MMS of her being groped in a crowd was leaked. What makes actresses particularly vulnerable is the fact that they command a huge fan following in South and any sleazy material spreads like wildfire. Fortunately, the stars have played it cool. For instance Nayanthara has remained mum about her recent on-screen reunion with Simbu (who incidentally has split with Hansika officially) and has remained tight-lipped about the pics that went viral.

Rajinikant’s New Film Has A Heavy Marathi Influence
The new Rajinikanth starrer Kaala which was to open on 27th Apr, 2018 has now once again being rescheduled. The movie Kaala has a very heavy Marathi influence. Not only does one of the characters take Rajinkanth’s original Marathi name, that is Shivaji Rao Gaekwad, Nana Patekar who plays the main antagonist is Maharashtrian in the film and speaks his lines in Marathi. The very talented Anjali Patil seen giving stellar performances in recent films like Newton in Hindi and the Marathi movie named The Silence, features in a prominent role as one of the Marathi characters. Says Anjali, “My character too takes her name after Rajini Sir’s real name. I am named Puyal Charumati Gaekwad. I play a feisty young Tamil-speaking Marathi girl born and brought up in Dharavi.” What Anjali found most interesting about the film was its heavy Marathi influence. One half of the film was shot in Maharashtra (Mumbai) and the other half in Tamil Nadu. It does have a strong Marathi element in the storytelling. Apparently Rajnikanth had the final say in the casting. It was he who thought Anjali suited the role of the feisty Marathi character.

Tamil Nadu Theatre Owners Strike Called Off
Cinema owners in Tamil Nadu heaved a sigh of relief when the Kollywood strike was called off after 48 days. The stakeholders came to a positive agreement through the tripartite talks chaired by the State Government between the Tamil Film Producers’ Council (TFPC), exhibitors and digital service providers recently. And it was expected that the movies will start screening soon. When asked if Rajinikanth’s Kaala will release on 27th Apr, 2018 as announced earlier, Vishal, president of Tamil Film Producers’ Council (TFPC) and secretary of South Indian Artistes Association (SIAA), said, “Films will release based on a particular order. We will discuss with all the producers and announce it. More importantly, we have formed a release regulation committee to ensure that every week accommodates 3 releases without any trouble. Both big and small films will get a fair number of screens henceforth.” So while we haven’t heard anything about Rajinikanth’s next, reports about Avengers: Infinity War releasing in South India on 27th Apr, 2018holds true.
Kaala – Irumbu Thirai – Vishwaroopam 2 All Set To Release This Summer
After a long protest against the Digital Service Providers, the Tamil film industry has finally called off their strike and on Fri, 20thApr, 2018, the 1st Kollywood film got released in theatres after a very long time. With Prabhudeva’s Mercury having been already released across India and with Mahesh Babu’s Bharat Ane Nenu releasing last week, these two were the first ones to hit the silver screen in Tamil Nadu. But there was no clarity which films will follow suit! However, after a meeting with all the producers, a list of films that will release this Summer is as follows, starting from Apr, 2018 end to Jun, 2018 end. The line – up of Tamil films releasing this Summer includes Kamal Haasan’s Vishwaroopam 2, Rajinikanth’s Kaala, Samantha Akkineni’s Irumbu Thirai, Jayam Ravi’s Tik Tik Tik, amongst others. With no film being released over the past few weeks, the Tamil audience is eager to see a Kollywood movie. And hence, people will flock to the theaters to see these upcoming films. PostVishwaroopam 2, Kaala, Tik Tik Tik and Irumbu Thirai will be the biggest money spinners this Summer.

Acclaimed filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani, who is busy with the post-production of his upcoming film “Sanju”, featuring actor Ranbir Kapoor, has confirmed that the film’s teaser will be released on Tuesday morning.

Refuting news of its release during an IPL match on April 24, Hirani said: “It is not a correct news that it is going to be released during the Indian Premier League (IPL) match. As far as I understand, we are launching the teaser before that.

“It will be in the morning of April 24. In the evening, it will be shown during the IPL match.”

Hirani said this while interacting with the media on Friday, along with Subhash Ghai at the 5th Veda Session organised by Whistling Woods International Film Institute.

There were reports earlier that Hirani would release the first look of the biopic on Sanjay Dutt before the April 24 IPL clash and a teaser would be shown in the presence of Ranbir and Sanjay on the Cricket Live show on Star Sports.

When asked whether “Sanju” would help to re-establish Ranbir again, the “3 Idiots” and “PK” director said: “He was always a Superstar. He never went away.

“He is fantastic actor and I really enjoyed working with him and in future, I would love to work with him again on a film.”

Talking about the need of more film institutes in India, on the lines of Whistling Woods Institute, Hirani said: “I think we need more number of film institute’s as we have very less.

“There are channels, we are making so many films in a year. We are the largest producer of films in the world. There are television shows and now there is the digital platform as well, so, for all that, we need good technicians.

“I feel Subhash Ghai is doing a commendable work through his Whistling Woods Institute by imparting knowledge to film students. My son also studies here so it is inspiring to see the kind of work happening here.”

“Sanju” is a biographical drama, written and directed by Rajkumar Hirani and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. The film is based on the life of actor Sanjay Dutt, with Ranbir Kapoor portraying the role.

“Sanju” is set to be released on June 29.

(IANS)

Islam is about friendship, kindness and peace, and far from roughness and terrorism that it has been lately associated it, avers Majid Majidi, the globally acclaimed Iranian director who once attempted to change the “false” perception of the religion with the film “Muhammad: The Messenger of God”. But he realised that the path is full of thorns.

For Majidi, cinema has the power to bring people together.
“Cinema for me is a bridge between cultures. Cinema has great potential to bring different cultures together because cinema doesn’t have any borders. It can travel around the world and have a great effect on human beings around the world. Cinema can show different rituals, different cultures to different countries visually in the best way,” Majidi told IANS through a translator on phone from Mumbai.

“I made ‘Muhammad: The Messenger of God’ with this vision…. Because in these years some people have created a false face of Islam, a wrong interpretation of this religion. I wanted to show the truth of that,” Majidi said.

“Muhammad: The Messenger of God”, which traces the life of Prophet Muhammed, and was also Iran’s nomination for best foreign language Oscar in 2015, had music by Indian composer A.R. Rahman.

Some radicals issued a “fatwa” against Majidi and Rahman in 2015 for the film, which was planned as a trilogy but there’s no update on it.

Majidi recalled that it was a project close to his heart and he gave seven years of his life to make it.

“ISIS and Taliban are wrong and completely lying about Islam… Western countries and Saudi Arabia are showing the wrong face of Islam. I gave seven years for research in filmmaking to show just a small part of real Islam.

“Islam is a religion of friendship, kindness and peace, which is completely far from this concept such as roughness and terrorism. I tried to open a small window to show what is real Islam.

“But radical Muslim groups, mostly from Saudi Arabia… were scared to show this real part of Islam; so they banned this film, calling it not to be shown in different countries.”

The Oscar-nominated filmmaker says he wanted to put focus on both parts of Islam — Shia and Sunni.

“After long research around both parts of Islam — Shia and Sunni — talking with the religious people of both… I tried to make a film to get unity between these two.”

But he was disappointed when his film was labelled as “haram” (forbidden).

“In different times and occasions, I asked all those religious leaders to come and watch the film because they called it “haram” and gave it a fatwa without watching the film.”

Majidi, known for masterpieces like “Children of Heaven”, “The Colour of Paradise” and “Baran”, is confident that “Muhammad: The Messenger of God” will find its “own way”.

But will he continue on his mission to change the perception about Islam?

“Working and filmmaking in this path is very difficult. I gave seven years of my life to this film. And what I did was open a path. The path is now open and I hope others will continue on it,” added the director, who says he is influenced by Indian legends like Satyajit Ray and Shyam Benegal.

As a director, Majidi says he wants to become the voice of the “lower class of society”.

“I always tried to show the issues of the lower class of society. I always want to be the voice of all those who have no power to voice their concerns.”

And he has done so in his own way via his maiden India-set project “Beyond The Clouds”, which explores the underbelly of Mumbai and introduces Ishaan Khatter and Malavika Mohanan.

The film is about how a brother and sister find happiness in separation and turbulent times. Produced by Zee Studios and Namah Pictures, it is set for release on Friday.

(IANS)

Film: “Truth and Dare”; Director: Jeff Wadlow; Cast: Lucy Hale, Violett Beane, Tyler Posey, Hayden Szeto, Landon Liboiron, Sophia Ali, Nolan Gerard Funk; Rating: **1/2

Director Jeff Wadlow’s “Truth or Dare” is more of a lukewarm, predictable thriller than a horror film.

It is about a group of friends who reluctantly get drawn into a web of danger while playing a harmless game of “Truth or Dare.”

The film takes a cliched route following Olivia (Lucy Hale) who is coaxed by her best friend Markie (Violett Beane) to join their group of closest friends on a trip to Mexico during their spring break before “life tears us apart”.

While the group is having fun at a bar lounge, Olivia meets a stranger — a hunky dude named Carter (Landon Liboiron) who convinces her and her friends to accompany him to an abandoned castle.

He draws them into playing the game of Truth or Dare. The rules are simple; “Tell the truth or you die. Do the dare or you die. If you refuse to play, you die.”

Horrified, the teens confront him, after which he admits to trapping them in some strange curse. He confesses to doing this because, “I’m okay with strangers dying so that I can live.”

Back in their college campus, the group, after bouts of hallucinations realise that the game has followed them back home through some kind of supernatural evil. They realise that both the truths and the dares are tailored to the players which are designed to ruin their relationships or kill them trying.

The commands of the game are delivered by familiar faces that contort into evil smiles, looking, as one character puts it, “like a messed up Snapchat filter”.

Soon, Lucy realises, “what you see is not real only the consequences are real”. They also realise that “we are not playing it, it is playing us.”

But, by the end of it, the entire process; by-the-numbers, of trying to save themselves from being killed becomes staid, foreseeable and unintentionally silly.

While the performances are perfunctory and lacklustre, the production values inclusive of the CGI effects, definitely reek of a low-budget film.

Overall, coming from the makers who gave us horror films like “Get Out”, “Insidious”, “The Purge”, “Split”, “Paranormal Activity” “Sinister” and “The Gift”, this one is a mediocre-fare and childish diversion, which does not seem original or exciting.

(IANS)