Archives for 2016

Producers: Sanjay Chhabria and Avinash Jog
Director: Sameer Vidhwans
Star Cast: Sagar Deshmukh, Akshay Tanksale, Sai Tamhankar, Mukta Barve and Parn Pethe
Genre: Drama
Rating***

Gajanan (Sagar Deshmukh) is a thirty plus old fashioned Professor and one of his young student named Batees (Akshay Tanksale) is carefree and very modern in his outlook and attitude. Batees teaches Gajanan a lot of things concerning attitude. A Professor then becomes a student and then starts the journey of Gajanan on the crossroads of love where he encounters three girls namely Parnrekha (Sai Tamhankar), Antara (Parn Pethe) and Sayali (Mukta Barve).

Director Sameer Vidhwans has crafted a very thought provoking and feel good movie like YZ. The special highlight is the climax and its witty dialogues all throughout. But the film drags a lot in the second half. Some of the technicians deserve full marks. As for the performance YZ has all the seasoned artistes giving off their best as per the requisites of their respective roles.

The title of YZ is not just a slang word but a hip new attitude, in fact YZ focusses more on a fresh and new perspective on life. No doubt YZ is all about discovering our own real, mad and bold YZ version.

All in all YZ is a really an enjoyable movie.

Once upon a time, a few aeons ago, there was an actor named Dheeraj Kumar and one of his film was Raton Ka Raja. A film which had instantly gained him a limelighted recognition. To the extent that it made him an overnight star in his own right. There after he did a lot of films and then he once again gained stardom by working in as many as 21 superhit Punjabi Films. This phase of Dheeraj Kumar as the most sought after actor happened to span the era of the 70’s & the 80’s. And before he could be bracketed in the league of Kahan Gaye Woh Log stars, Dheeraj Kumar had bounced back as a small screen producer by floating his own concern Creative Eye Limited with his better half Zuby Kochhar. And ironically the 1st ever small screen serial they produced was named Kahan Gaye Woh Log!!! for DD National Channel. And now Creative Eye Limited’s new on – air serial is named Y. A. R. O. Ka Tashan which is being aired on SAB TV Channel from 26th Jul, 2016 in the time slot of 7.30 pm from Mon – Fri.

On reflecting back tell us how & what do you feel about your chequered journey as an actor on the Big Screen Movies to the producer of the Small Screen Serials?

My chequered & noteworthy journey from Big Screen Movies as an actor to the Small Screen Serials as a producer was indeed very pleasant & excellent and that includes the phase of my journey as a leading man of 21 Punjabi films. And my journey as a Small Screen Serial producer is still ongoing under my own home production banner Creative Eye Limited and my wife is also an equal partner. Besides our latest on air serial is Y. A. R. O. Ka Tashan which is being aired on SAB Tv Channel from Mon to Fri in the time slot of 7.30 pm.

Why did you prefer this particular time slot and not the Prime Time Slot to air Y. A. R. O. Ka Tashan?

We are very well aware that a Prime Time Slotting is very important for a new serial to garner more than expected TRP ratings. But than one thing should be kept in mind that Y. A. R. O. Ka Tashan will be primarily liked by kids of all ages especially those dwelling in the interiors of India and for them and even the housewives this particular time slotting is perfect as I believe that they go to bed early. While the rest of the audiences can catch up with Y. A. R. O. Ka Tashan in the next day’s repeat telecast at 12 noon.
Fine! So tell us in a nutshell what is the concept of Y. A. R. O. Ka Tashan all about?
Actually speaking YARO is a scientifically created robot by Professor Agarwal, who is basically a scientist himself. Since Professor Agarwal does not have a son or a daughter he made or rather assembled YARO and even treats him as his own son. Moreover he made YARO especially to make his wife Beena Agarwal happy who was craving for a baby since ages. But after sometime things start changing when YARO meets his new neighbours Shilpi, Prem & Amar. Initially the trio of them are unable to understand why this guy has been named as YARO and above all why does he behave or rather always act as a robot. Later on this neighbouring trio of friends are very happy on learning that YARO is actually a robot but his heart is as pure as a gold and totally filled with innocence. Now YARO and the trio becomes the best of friends and the trio’s flat becomes their den of naughty activities.

What are the specialities of YARO?

Frankly speaking YARO is extremely emotional and he tries his best to immitate human beings which ultimately creates trouble for him as well as for others too. YARO also misinterprets human emotion sometimes which leads to the most funny situations. But otherwise he always has good intentions and tries to help everyone in his own unusual ways which creates more & more funny situations and above all a unique twists & turn in his life. YARO then starts learning things about life, love and above all humanity and here starts the real journey of YARO with the trio of his friends, thus kick – starting the real Y. A. R. O. Ka Tashan.

How is the SAB Tv Channel helping in the marketing of Y. A. R. O. Ka Tashan?

SAB Tv Channel has recently formed an alliance with Twitter to create a Twitter BOT for promoting Y. A. R. O. Ka Tashan. SAB Tv in partnership with Twitter has recently launched a very innovative and the 1st of its kind social initiative on Twitter for Y. A. R. O Ka Tashan. A 1st ever in the Entertainment Industry in India. SAB Tv in collaboration with Twitter has created a unique Twitter BOT representing the Humanoid – Y. A. R. O, a lead character in its new show Y. A. R. O. Ka Tashan.. The BOT replicates the characteristics of Y. A. R. O by answering all kind of questions thrown at it. The show which centres on the protagonist Y. A. R. O, a humanoid, focuses on the relationship with friends & family, importance of love & humanity. In line with the new age concept of the show, the channel has also implemented this idea for its online & on ground marketing promotions.

To round it off tell us about the credits & the cast of Y. A. R. O. Ka Tashan.

Y. A. R. O. Ka Tashan is being made under the banner of Creative Eye Limited, produced by Dheeraj Kumar & Zuby Kochar, directed by Heman Chauhan, art by Rajat Poddar & cinematography by Kunal Kadam and above all Y. A. R. O. Ka Tashan stars Anirudh Dave as YARO, Rakesh Bedi as Professor Agarwal, Malini Kapoor as Beena Agarwal & Mahira Sharma as Shilpi – Shivam Sharma as Prem – Dheeraj Gumbar as Amar as the trio of friends. Besides them Umesh Bajpai as Chaturvedi Uncle, Jayshree Soni as Dolly & Apurva Bit as Gogi. That’s it.

Producers: Ravi Agarwal, Mahesh Balekundri, Rajat Manjunath and Ajay Chabria
Director: Rajeev Jhaveri
Star Cast: Rajeev Khandelwal, Gauhar Khan and Victor Bannerjee along with debutantes Ankita Makwana, Gemma Atkinson and Caterina Murino.
Genre: Suspense Thriller

Armin Salem (Rajeev Khandelwal) looses his memory after he is pushed out of a car in the snow clad valley of Switzerland
and then begins his search for self identification. He then meets varied woman masquerading around like Pooja (Gauhar Khan), Grace (Ankita Makwana), Rhea (Gemma Atkinson) and Caterina Murino and the mystery of Armin’s life starts getting more and more complicated. One memory flashbak reveals that in reality he is a contract killer who has lost his memory in an accident.

Director Rajeev Jhaveri seems totally confused and he starts swinging like a pendulum between facts and fiction, past and present. And the least said about his directorial capabilities the better. The only enjoyable factor of Fever is the presence of a seasoned actor like Rajeev Khandelwal and the capturing of beautiful locale like Switzerland. The first half of Fever drags along but it is the second half that really gets going and holds the viewer’s attention. In fact Fever mirrors a picture which tries to blur the thin line between facts and fiction.

Performance wise Rajeev Khandelwal is superb in his new avatar (Read Looks). He has plunged himself deeply into his character to the extent of shedding all his inhibitions has performed all the bold bedroom scenes with elan. Gauhar Khan is not at all impressive besides she appears atrocious with her garish make – up. That apart the three debutant actresses are good having given a good account of themselves.

To sum it up Fever may appear to be an interesting fare on Global Film Festival circuit but its prospects at the Box Office turnstiles are very bleak.

By: Shaheen Raaj
Producer:

Director: Rohit Dhawan

Star Cast: John Abraham, Jacqueline Fernandez, Varun Dhawan, Akshaye Khanna, Rahul Dev & Saaqib Salim and above all Nargis Fakhri, Parineeti Chopra and cricketers like Javed Miandad, Mohinder Amarnath & Atul Wasan in cameo roles.

Music: Abhijit Vaghani & Pritam

The varied scams of India and more specifically the match – fixing scam of the game of cricket has started attracting Bollywoodian film makers too. So in the not so long ago past we had a film like Jannat and just recently we had a film like Azhar based on the alleged match – fixing scam of cricketer Mohammed Azharuddin albeit which dealt more with his personal life’s love tangle, and now comes director Rohit Dhawan’s Dishoom based on the same game of cricket again albeit with a kidnapping angle attached to it.

The plotted scenario of Dishoom kick – starts with a well – planned kidnapping of Indian cricket team’s ace – cricketer Viraj Sharma (Saqib Salim) by the dreaded Altaf (Rahul Dev), at the behest of Wagah (Akshaye Khanna) during a cricket series in the Middle East. The reason for Wagah to kidnap Viraj Sharma is to bail himself out of the Rs. 400 crore worth of debts that he has got himself into because of his match – fixing deals going kaput. When the Indian Government gets to know that Viraj Sharma has been kidnapped and that too, just 36 hours before the crucial & the much awaited India – Pakistan match, they decide to put their best police officer Kabir Shergill (John Abraham) on the job. Fearing national unrest & tension, they instruct Kabir Shergill not to utter a word to anyone about Viraj Sharma’s kidnapping. When the news reaches the embassy of the Middle East, they immediately become ready to offer all kind of possible help to Kabir Shergill. That’s when Kabir Shergill chooses the “never – solved – any -case” police officer Junaid Ansari (Varun Dhawan), who is only way too happy to be chosen for the task of finding Viraj Sharma. And their parter in crime is Ishika (Jacqueline Fernandez) who is a petty thief.

Director Rohit Dhawan’s last outing was Desi Boyz which had really attracted attention towards his superb directorial treatment and with Dishoom he has indeed proved that he is a chip of the old block namely his father David Dhawan. Another plus point of Dishoom is the technical side comprising of screenplay by Tushar Hiranandani & Rohit Dhawan himself, action by Allan Amin & Stefan Richter, music by Abhijit Vaghani (Background Score) & Pritam (Songs – some of which have already proved to be runaway hits), cinematography by Ayananka Bose & editing by Nitin Rokade & Ritesh Soni.

Performance wise the film clearly belongs to John Abraham & Varun Dhawan and together with their superb chemistry and excellently well – matched comic timings will bring the house down and leave the audiences in spits to the extent that may even roll down in the darkened auditorium. But individually both John Abraham & Varun Dhawan are superb & outstanding respectively. In fact Varun Dhawan is improving his histrionic skills film by film and displays his emotional, comic, romantic & action abilities too. Next in line the same is the case with Jacqueline Fernandez and to top it she also adds the oomp & the glamour quotient in right proportion. That apart a seasoned actor like Akshaye Khanna makes his grand re – entry in Bollywood with Dishoom. In fact he is simply outstanding in his cameo role of a bad boy with gay/homosexual streaks omnipresent in him. On the other hand Saqib Salim as the kidnapped cricketer is perfect. And last but not in the least Rahul Dev succeeds in displaying the mean & evil streaks in in his villainous avatar.

Tail Piece: Dishoom has all the ingredients of a commercial potboiler to satisfy the cravings of a masala oriented cine goers hailing from all walks of life.