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Movie Review: 'Poltergeist' is a shocking scary fare

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Poltergeist-2015

Producer: Roy Lee, Sam Raimi and Robert G. Tapert
Director: Gil Kenan
Star Cast: Sam Rockwell, Rosemarie DeWitt, Jarred Harris, Jane Adams, Saxon Sharbino, Kyle Ketlett, Kennedi Clements, Nicholas Braun, Susan Heyward & Soma Bhatia
Genre: Fantasy Horror
Verdict: Good

There are some directors who stick to one particular genre of filmmaking and Gil Kenan happens to be one of them. Amongst the scores of horror movies that he has churned out. The most talked about one was an animated horror movie named Monster House. And his present directorial venture is Poltergiest which in itself is the 1982 remake of the same name.

Plot: It is the contemporized classic tale about a family whose suburban home is haunted by evil forces. When the terrifying apparitions escalate their attacks and hold the youngest daughter captive, the family must come together to rescue her before she disappears forever.

Aces: The shockingly scary scenes in the haunted house which are really spine chilling.

Minuses: The current Poltergiest movie does not exactly lives up to the reputation of the earlier version.

Last Word: Go watch Poltergiest if you are a diehard fans of horror movies.

Movie Review: 'Tomorrowland' is a crazy rollercoster ride

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Tomorrowland

Producer: Brad Bird, Damon Lindelof and Jeffrey Chemov
Director: Brad Bird
Star Cast: George Clooney, Thomas Robinson, Hugh Laurie, Britt Robertson, Raffey Cassidy Tim McGraw, Kathryn Hahn, Keegan – Micheal Key, Chris Baur, Pierce Gagnon Mathew Maccaull, Judy Greer & Gary Chalk
Genre: Sci-Fi
Verdict: Blockbuster

Director Brad Bird, basically an animator, has tackled a science fiction genre heavily diluted with pure fantasy, in his latest offering Tommorrowland. No doubt it ultimately turns out to be a rivetingly mysterious adventure that keeps the viewers spell bound from start to finish.

Plot: Bound by a shared destiny, a former boy genius Frank (Clooney), jaded by disillusionment, and Casey (Britt Robertson), a bright, optimistic teen bursting with scientific curiosity, embarks on a danger filled mission to unearth the secrets of an enigmatic place somewhere in time and space known only as “Tomorrowland.” What they must do there changes the world and them forever.

Aces: Its subtle humour, exciting thrills and visual delights

Minuses: The performances of most of the actors are routine barring George Clooney, Thomas Robinson and Britt Robertson

Last Word: Don’t miss this theme park based movie, maybe a finale summer treat for kids.

Movie Review: 'Big Game' is an exciting thriller

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BIG GAME

Producer: Will Clarke, Petri Jokiranta, Andy Mayson and Jens Meurer
Director: Jalmari Helander
Star Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Onni Tommila, Felicity Huffman, Victor Garber, Ted Levine, Jim Broadbent, Ray Stevenson, Mehmet Kurtuluş and Jaymes Butler
Genre: Action Adventure
Verdict: Very Good

Jalmari Halender is more famous for his popular movies like Rare Exports series. Safety Instructions and A Christmas Tale. In his latest offering ‘Big Game’ he has come up with an interesting premise of how a thirteen year old boy saves the life of the President of the United States of America.

Plot: In the rugged countryside of Finland, a young thirteen year old boy Oskari (Onni Tommila) embarks on a traditional quest to prove himself by spending 24 hours alone in the wild, armed with only a bow and arrow. And then he lands up a big catch, a big game that of the President of the United States of America (Samuel L. Jackson) and then how Oskari saves the President forms the crux of the narrative.

Aces: Jalmari Helander’s excellent directional skills topped with a par excellence performances of Onni Tommila (Oskari) and Samuel L. Jackson (President).

Minusses: A picture perfect flawless movie.

Last Word: A good summer end treat for parents and kids.

Bollywood Newswatch

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Aishwaryas-Jazbaa

Disney India’s Media Networks Bags 8 Awards

Disney India’s Media Networks recently bagged 8 Awards, 2 gold & 6 silver awards at the prestigious Promax BDA 2015. The Media Networks Team at Disney India proudly took away 2 Gold & 6 silver trophies at the Promax BDA 2015 function held recently in Mumbai. Popular channels from Disney India’s Media Network: Bindass, Disney Channel, Hungama TV and the recently launched Bindass Play secured wins across multiple categories at the coveted awards. The wins are in the following categories Gold for ‘Most Outstanding Station Image Campaign’ : Disney Channel brand films, ‘Beach-Proposal-Airport’ And another Gold, for the ‘Most Innovative Marketing Idea’-Disney Channel’s’ Kahani Masters’. Silver for ‘Most Innovative Marketing Idea’ Bindass’ Dreamstarts, Silver for ‘Best Holiday-Seasonal Event Spot’-Disney Channel’s ‘Kahani Masters’. Silver for ‘Best On-Air Branding Design-Bindass PLAY packaging, Silver for ‘Best children’s program promo’: Hungama TV’s Pokemon classroom promo

Actor Prashantt Guptha honoured

Actor Prashantt Guptha has been appointed as Key Indian Advisor & Festival Ambassador of San Francisco Global Film Festival and has signed a 3 film deal with a California based Producer. Last year, Prashantt Guptha’s film ‘Identity Card’ won “Best Film” award and he bagged the “Best Supporting Actor” at the SF Global Fest.

Abhay & Omi To Attend Asian American Heritage Festival

Abhay Deol & Omi Vaidya will be attending the Asian American Heritage Festival, which is being presented by Ultimate Media & Sony Entertainment Television Asia. The 2 actors will also be interacting with the audiences at the festival, which is being held on 31st May, 2015 at the New Jersey Expo & Convention Center in Edison, New Jersey. The event marks the celebration of the Asian American Heritage month of May in the US. The highlights of the Festival are as follows: Dance performances by top dance academies from the area, over 20 corporate sponsors & 100 vendors showcasing their products & services, a focus on the real estate market featuring builders from India & US, realtors, brokers & mortgage lenders. The Asian Realtors Association of America (AREAA), the trade organization that promotes home ownership opportunities within the Asian American community, is one of the Festival’s sponsors.

Aishwarya Unveiled 1st L Of ‘Jazbaa’ At Cannes

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has been associated with Cannes for over a decade. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, who will be seen as the protagonist in the upcoming Sanjay Gupta directorial ‘Jazbaa’, used Cannes as a platform to unveil the 1st look of this film. The 1st look of ‘Jazbaa’ was launched in a closed door discussion with United Nations panel on 16th May, 2015, after which, there was a media event scheduled on 19th May, 2015. The said panel included a list of some elite celebrities like Salma Hayek, Adele Exarchopoulos along with the producers of the film ‘Carol’, that is, Christine Vachone & Elizabeth Kushel. The trailer was also launched at the event amidst the presence of producer Essel Vision’s business head Akash Chawla & director & co-producer Sanjay Gupta. The film unlike any other ‘solo hero’ film has Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Irrfan Khan & Shabana Azmi occupying a prominent presence.
‘Jazbaa’ also starring Chandan Roy Sanyal, Anupam Kher and it is slated to release on 9th Oct, 2015.

SRK Summoned For Forex Violation

Shah Rukh Khan is heading into troubled waters. While on one hand the actor’s Indian Premier League (IPL) team the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) has been playing well on the field, on the other hand the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned King Khan to appear before it in connection with forex violations. Apparently, the ED has summoned Shah Rukh Khan after shares of his IPL team KKR were undervalued in a transaction. Interestingly, this was not the 1st time when the actor was examined in such a case. He was questioned 4 years ago in Mumbai.

Mallika Sherawat’s Cannes Mission

Mallika Sherawat is a woman on mission in Cannes Mission. Mallika Sherawat, who’s always proved to be quite a head-turner in the Cannes Film Festival. She is readying to dazzle on the red carpet yet again as she recently went to attend the 68th Cannes Film festival that got kickstarted on 13th May, 2015. And this time around, she is on a mission. Mallika was invited to be on the discussion panel of “Co-Produce in India” by FICCI on behalf of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India, on 14, May 2015.

FWICE Press Meet

The representatives of FWICE & Producer bodies recently met up at Sun N Sand hotel on the eve of the impending strike and amicably arrived at the following settlement after which the strike was called off. Workers, producers, artistes, technicians & broadcasters all heaved a sigh of relief as the deadlock was broken and the strike called off. The mutual settlement were immediate Wage hike on daily wages and base rate of contractual workers as follows 1st Year 13%, 2nd year 11%, 3rd year 11%, 4th Year 11% & 5th Year 12%. All payments to be issued within 30 days of work or raising of invoice, Appropriate safety & sanitary provisions on set (Joint committee for inspection), group insurance for all workers & technicians (compulsory), Letter of engagement to be issued to all workers clearly stating terms of engagement on commencement of work, proper rules & regulations of individual associations to be followed & implemented, defaulters on both sides to be identified & remedied & members to be paid as per the defined rates. The final MOU has been committed by both parties to be signed latest by 20th Jun, 2015.

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal Watches ‘Gabbar Is Back’

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal rently watches ‘Gabbar Is Back’ and Akshay Kumar was quite excited for his film ‘Gabbar Is Back’ as he reunited with his old pal Shabinaa Khan & Sanjay Leela Bhansali after ‘Rowdy Rathore’, ‘Gabbar Is a realistic film and has been relatable by every Indian citizen regardless of background caste & class. The film was a reflection of the current immoral ongoings of today’s modern society and how one should not sit back anymore and wait for the change to happen. With Akshay Kumar as Gabbar, this high octane action film is an entertainer with substance. An aam aadmi denied justice created Gabbar, a man who sets out on a fierce & ruthless path to fight corruption. Just recently Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal watched ‘Gabbar Is Back’ and he posted on the social networking site, “Watched ‘Gabbar is back”. An amazing movie. U must watch. Produced by Viacom18 Motion Pictures, Sanjay Leela Bhansali & co-produced by Shabinaa Khan,

‘Kajarya’ & ‘Goatspeak’ Showcased In 68th Cannes Film Festival

Two films ‘Kajarya’ & ‘Goatspeak’ were were recently showcased in the 68th Cannes Film Festival. The critically acclaimed feature film ‘Kajarya’, directed by Award winning director Madhureeta Anand & ‘Goatspeak’ (Khashi Katha), directed by Judhajit Sarkar, were are recently premiered at the Marche Du Film at the 68th Cannes Film Festival. Madhureeta Anand’s ‘Kajarya’, starring Meenu Hooda, Ridhima Sud & Kuldeep Ruhil, has found critical appreciation internationally and has also been selected by the Forbes India magazine as the #1 in the Top 5 Indian Films. It deals with sex selection in India and consequent violence against women. ‘Kajarya’ has been co-produced by Odd Joint & Ekaa Films. Judhajit Sarkar’s ‘Goatspeak’ (Khashi Katha) is a tragic-comic tale narrated by a talking goat starring Naseeruddin Shah, Anindita Basu & Prasun Gyne and Ladoo the goat. It is a blend of fantasy & reality alongside incisive social & political statements.

Sanjay Juimani To Sell Bollywood Films

Sanjay Jumani of Sunstone Entertainment is in Cannes Film Festival to sell Bollywood Films. Besides he will also be acquiring the rights of Hollywood Films for the Indian market.

‘Nachom-ia Kumpasar’ Bags 3 National Awards

‘Nachom-ia Kumpasar’ recently bagged 3 National Awards. The film won 2 awards in general category and also the “Best Film” in Konkani. Nachom-ia Kumpasar, a Konkani musical film made as a tribute to the unsung musicians of Goa, bagged 3 honours at the 62nd National Film Awards with 2 awards and one special mention.
The film ‘l’ received the award for “Best Production Design” for recreating spaces from a different era and with minute attention to detail. It was also awarded the “Best Konkani Film” for its nostalgic recovery of a distinctive musical legacy, as told through the roller coaster lives of its practitioners that has remained unsung despite its influence on Bombay cinema.

‘Mohenjo Daro’ Release Date Announced

The release date of ‘Mohenjo Daro’ was announced recently. Hrithik Roshan’s upcoming film ‘Mohenjo Daro’s release date has been announced recently.
Disney & Ashutosh Gowariker Production Pvt Ltd (AGPPL) announced the release of ‘Mohenjo Daro’ on 12th Aug, 2016. Directed by Ashutosh Gowarikar, ‘Mohenjo Daro’ is an epic love story, set during the Indus Valley Civilization. The film marks the debut of Pooja Hegde in Bollywood, who stars opposite Hrithik.

Om Puri & Prashantt Guptha Honored At Rajasthan International Film Festival

The 1st Rajasthan International Film Festival at Jaipur saw veteran actor Om Puri & young talent Prashantt Guptha being felicitated with top honors. With the central theme of the festival being ‘The Common Man of Indian Cinema,” the festival highlighted the achievements of Om Puri for his contribution to Indian cinema with its equivalent of The Lifetime Achievement Award. Prashantt Guptha, being a Jaipur native who made his foray into Hindi cinema and showed immense progress over the last couple of years as the handsome villain in Pen India/Shailesh Singh’s ‘Issaq’, followed by 2 releases in 2014, ‘Identity Card’ & ‘6-5=2’ was bestowed upon the “Pride Of Rajasthan” Award. This award follows Prashantt Guptha’s awards at the San Francisco Festival and the National Awards for Excellence among others this year. Amongst several international, Hindi & regional films, the young actor’s critically acclaimed film ‘Identity Card’ was given “Best Feature Film” award at the hands of Padmini Kolhapure.

MPA APSA Academy Film Fund To Help Aspiring Filmmakers

The Motion Picture Association (MPA) & the Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) gives an opportunity to aspiring filmmakers with the MPA APSA Academy Film Fund. MPA APSA Academy Film Funds is a unique initiative which has aided aspiring film makers in a lot of development in new film projects. A panel discussion was hosted at the 13th Pune International film festival on 10th Jan, 2015, to create awarness about the Asia Pacific Screen Awards & MPA APSA Academy Film Funds . The panelist for the discussion comprised of celebrated actor, Atul Kulkarni & Lohita Sujith, Director, Corporate Communications, Motion Picture Dist. Association (India) Pvt Ltd. Panelists also discussed how upcoming filmmakers/professionals can benefit from the MPA APSA Academy Film Fund worth USD 100,000. MPA APSA Academy Film Fund has been a hugely successful initiative taking the number of successful projects funded to a total of 20 feature films over the last 6 years. The projects now count amongst them winners of an Academy Award®, APSAs and an International Emmy Award. Grants have been awarded to projects from. India, Bangaldesh, Republic of Korea, People’s Republic of China, Iraq, Kazakhastan, Israel and the Islamic Republic of Iran. In 2014, over 100 submissions were received for the film fund. 4 grants were awarded to 2 documentary film projects from Israel & Denmark and 2 film projects from Bangladesh and the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Southern Movies Round Up

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Paayum Puli

Paayum Puli

As compared to films produced in Bollywoodian & Hollywoodian Cinema arena, South Indian Cinema is rapidly & regularly progressing by churning out its own brand of gems of milestone movies in all the 4 languages namely Kannada, Malyalam, Telugu & Tamil. In an exclusive Nasheman.In, Shaheen Raaj will present a sneak preview of the productional happenings of Southern Cinema every fortnight. Time to stay tuned in.

Manisha Koirala Approached

Manisha Koirala has been approached to play a small role in actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan’s forthcoming Tamil thriller. Talks are going on with Manisha to play Kamal’s wife in the movie. It’s a small role. But nothing has been finalised yet. Manisha & Kamal were last seen in Shankar’s ‘Indian’ (1996).

Meanwhile, Kamal’s long-time associate Rajesh will wield the megaphone for the project, which is said to be a thriller that’ll unfold in a single night. The film, that features Trisha Krishnan in the lead role, is all set to go on the floors later this month.

The Battle Of Class Versus ‘Masss’

On 29th May, 2015 the most awaited summer release, Suriya’s ‘Masss’ is hitting the theatres and faces stiff challenge from the multiple National & International award winning ‘Kaaka Muttai’. ‘Masss’ has a lot going for it with perfectionist Suriya heading the cast, maverick director Venkat Prabhu at the helm and numero uno actress Nayanthara as heroine with a top notch supporting cast of Jayaram, Parthiban, Samuthirakani, Premgi, Karunaas, Sriman & Pranitha. The technical team comprises of the creme de la creme of the industry and with amazing CG work & riveting performance by Suriya are the main attractions of ‘Masss’ On the other hand ‘Kaaka Muttai’ is proving the saying ‘Small is Big’. This cute little film that tells the story of 2 underprivileged brothers Vignesh & Rajesh who crave to taste a pizza after watching a commercial ad and their angst filled journey towards their goal has garnered standing ovation all over the globe in film festivals. Dhanush & Vetrimaaran are the producers who have left no stone unturned to take ‘Kaaka Muttai’ and Manikandan along with the cast to the heights they deserve.

Vishal Salutes The True Hero Of ‘Paayum Puli’

On the eve of shooting the climax for ‘Paayum Puli’ actor Vishal has offered his salutations to the late Police Sub Inspector Alwin Sudhan on whose life the movie is based on. The SI who was known to oppose caste based riots was unarmed doing bandabost duties when he was murdered by an armed gang in Sivanganga district in the year 2012. He was awarded the Police Medal of Gallantry posthumously by the President of India. God – The Almighty bless his soul. ‘Paayum Puli’ is directed by Suseenthiran & produced by Vendhar Movies and has Vishal, Kajal Agarwal, Samuthirakani, Soori and a host of other stars in the cast. Music is by D.Imman, cinematography by Velraj & editing by Anthony.

Dileep

Dileep

Manjima To Make Her Telugu Debut

Naga Chaitanya might romance Manjima Mohan in his next film to be directed by Gautham Menon. Interstingly, the Malayalam actress is playing Simbu’s love interest in the Tamil version “Achcham Yenbadhu Madamaiyada’ and buzz is that she’ll be paired opposite Naga Chaitanya for the Telugu version too. Apparently, the 22 year-old actress has replaced Pallavi Subhash, who was originally picked for the leading lady role. Gautham was impressed with her work in the Malayalam film ‘Oru Vadakkan Selfie’ and decided to cast her in the film. More details are awaited.

Nara Rohit’s Next Inspire By Real life Incidents

Nara Rohit’s upcoming Telugu crime-drama ‘Appatlo Okkadundevadu’, is said to be based on true events that transpired in 1990. It’s inspired from true events that happened during this time period. Nara has fictionalised these events for the screen. It’s partly based on a crime biography. The film, which also features, Sri Vishnu as one of the leads and the leading ladies are yet to be finalized.

Ravi Teja Signs His Debut Commercial

Ravi Teja has finally got into the bandwagon of endorsements. The aging-actor will be the brand ambassador for Lunar footwear & sandals in 2 states namely AP & Telangana and shall push the brand’s reach amongst the people. The mass maharaja will be seen in TV commercials & print advertisements endorsing ‘Walkmate’, one of the brand of Lunar. Apart from awaiting the release of ‘Kick 2’, Ravi Teja is fast wrapping the shooting of ‘Bengal Tiger’, directed by Sampath Nandi.

Balakrishna’s 2nd Role In Lion Will Be  Interesting

Nandamuri Balakrishna’s ‘Lion’ was released 14th May, 2015. Balakrishna will be seen in 2 different roles, Bose & Godse, in this movie. He played a CBI officer in the movie. Producer of the film, ‘Rudrapati Ramanarao’, averred  that the 2nd role will be very interesting. The action episodes, choreographed by Ram-Laxman, are going to be very interesting. The interval bang, the tribal fight in the 2nd half and the climax are going to be the highlights. Trisha & Radhika Apte romanced Balayya in this film. Satya Deva, the director of the film, is very confident that the film will be a big hit. He praised Balakrishna’s hard work for the film.

Samantha’s New Look In Her New Film

Samantha is playing one of the leading ladies in Dhanush’s upcoming film, directed by Velraj of ‘Velai Illa Pattathari’ fame. This film, which is tentatively titled as ‘VIP 2’, has Amy Jackson as the other leading lady. Anirudh Ravichander is the music director of this film. Samantha averred that the role she is playing in this film is her best ever.

Dileep In & As ‘Apoorva G.V’

Dileep’s upcoming movie has been interestingly named ‘Apoorva G.V’. He plays a character named George Vadakkan (GV) who is the all in all of a club named Apoorva. This is how the title has come about, setting a quirky moniker – the strange one – if read together. The movie will be high on humour and will have actors like Aju Varghese, Neeraj Madhav, Chempan Vinod et al gracing the screen.

‘Apoorva GV’ is being directed by Biju Arookuty, who is also the movie’s scenarist. His earlier movie ‘3 Dots’ had done quite well. Dileep has a lot many movies lined up. He is currently shooting for ‘Love 24×7’ directed by Sreebala. His latest release, ‘Chandrettan Evideya’ is doing well at the box office. Dileep’s heroine in ‘Apoorva GV’ is yet to be finalised.

Anu Roped In

Anu Mol has essayed some bold roles in the past and the actress has been roped in to play a very different role in an upcoming movie titled ‘Jamna Pyari’. The movie will have the actress in a new avatar, about which she doesn’t want to reveal much. All she says is that it will be a character which will redefine the kind of image she has.

Anu Mol added that her choice of this role was deliberate, to change the misconception that she will only do certain kinds of roles. Her character in the movie is named Veena who helps Kunchako Boban’s character at a critical juncture. Débutante Gayathri Suresh plays the female lead in the movie. ‘Jamna Pyari’ is being directed by Thomas Sebastian.

Karunya Ram back

The actress with quite a few films like ’10th Class’, ‘Seena’, ‘Nishedagne’, ‘Mathondu Madvena’ Priyanka Chandra made a stint in other languages and returns back to Kannada from ‘Vajrakaya’. Of course, she is with a change in her comeback. She is Karunya Ram in ‘Vajrakaya’. She is one of the 3 heroines with Nabha Natesh & Shubra Ayyappa. In her comeback with a big film opposite Dr Shivarajakumar in ‘Vajrakaya’, Priyanka Chandra alias Karunya Ram has also bagged offers in ‘Kiragurina Gayyaligalu’, ‘Eradu Kanasu’ et al. Working in Dr Shivarajakumar film in talented Harsha’s direction is a boon in her career feels Karunya Ram. From ‘Kannakol’ Karunya Ram entered Tamil cinema industry. She got offers in ‘Pongudi Ningalum Unga Kadalam’. Karunya Ram hopes to enter Malayalam cinema industry in this year.

Radhika On Her Dancing

A fond admirer of dance, actress Radhika Kumarswamy is on a new platform for a complete dance film titled as ‘I Hate Dance’. This film likely to go on floor in Jun, 2015 soon after director Raghuram ‘Namagagi’ finish shooting. Director Raghuram is getting ready for a film of Radhika Kumaraswamy & Vijaya Raghavendra.

‘I Hate Dance’ a home production of Radhika Kumaraswamy after ‘Sweety’ is having big stars polling up in one of the important situations. The Hindi film actress known for her dance, romance & sentiment portion Madhuri Dixit is likely to take an important role. Director Raghuram does not confirm the name of Madhuri Dixit as the proposal has not yet been moved.

"Ishqedarriyaan is a complete family & romantic musical entertainer": Mahaakshay Chakraborty

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Mahaakshay Chakraborty

Mahaakshay Chakraborty aka Mimoh no doubt is a tall & handsome hunk. Besides he is the son of an illustriously talented parents namely Mithun Chakravorty & Yogita Bali. Mimoh had started off his filmic career in the year 2008 with film’s like ‘Jimmy’, ‘The Murderer’, ‘Haunted 3D’, ‘Hamilton Palace’, ‘Loot’, ‘Rocky’  ‘Enemy’ et al. But that magic word named “success” has kept eluding him till this date. But Mimoh is a determind & dedicated guy and just like his father he is also not the kind of guy to give up so easily. So this time round he is fully geared up for his 2nd smashing outing with his upcoming film ‘Ishqedarriyaan’.

First things first what is your upcoming film ‘Ishqedarryiaan’ all about?

Frankly speaking ‘Ishqedarriyaan is a story about love, sacrifice, family values & relationships. In fact rishteydarriyaan means relationships and ‘Ishqedarriyaan’ also signifies the relationship when you fall in love. In a way you can say that it is a triangular love story.

Please elaborate your role in ‘Ishqedarriyaan’?

Well! In ‘Ishqedarriyaan’ I am enacting the role of a richie rich businessman. My character’s name is Aagam Deewan. I am totally in love with my profession until a teacher named Luvleen comes in my life.

Please continue

Luvleen comes to meet me to collect donation for her grandfather’s school. It may not exactly be a love at first sight kind of a love story but when we keep meeting we eventually fall in love but then…….!’

What happens then?

Then the villian enters no jokes apart Arjun the singer enters their life. And then there are many turns & twists which are seen to believed & enjoyed. ‘Ishqedarriyaan’ is a complete family & romantic musical entertainer.

What are your expectations from ‘Ishqedarriyan’?

‘Ishqedarriyaan’ is all set for release very soon. I am very excited and I am keeping my fingers, toes and everything crossed for its grand success. I may sound selfish but I want each & every indian & international audience to see it.

You seem to have a vary snail’s pace filmic career so far. So now are you vary of your 2nd outing in Bollywood?

Yes! I had a very slow start in my filmic career so far. But I blame myself for it. Putting the blame on the wrong choice of films is also not fair. In fact success has kept elluding me and lady luck has still not bestowed its lucky smile on me. No problem I am more determind and fully geared up now for my 2nd outing. I may be immature earlier on but now I am fully matured and I will definitely achieve my stardom status in my 2nd outing in Bollywood.

You are a starson. So maybe if Mithun da had launched you it would have a different ball game altogether. Right.

No I think it would not have made any  difference. As my father was not a starson,  he had achieved everything on his own steam. He had struggled really hard to achieve his success. And he always advises me to do the same and always be patient.

So what next is lined up in your professional career after ‘Ishqedarriyaan’?

Honestly speaking nothing is lined up in my professional career as of now. Just as a débutante actor waits with batted breath for the reactionary response of the audience to his film. So in my 2nd outing I am also waiting with batted breath for the reactionary positive response of the audience. Wish me luck!

"Over 50 countries to participate in San Francisco Global Movie Fest": Dr Romesh K Japra

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Romesh K Japra

Dr. Romesh K. Japra, Chairperson, President, Convener, Founder & world renowned Cardiologist has been leading the Festival of Globe-Silicon Valley for the past 22 Years as an initiative of Federation of Indo-Americans of Northern California. Dr. Romesh avers, “San Francisco Global Movie Fest comes as an integral part of our 22 year old Festival of Globe-Silicon Valley (FOG-SV, formerly known as Festival of India and powered by www.fiaonline.org celebrations.

FOG-SV is one of the oldest festivals in Bay area, CA, USA and this is the 2nd year of San Francisco Global Movie Fest. This year, audiences & participants will experience a 10 day jam packed screening of Narrative short films, Narrative Feature films, Documentaries, from Independent movie makers submitting these across the globe followed by a gala celebration, cultural activities on our award nights at SAP Center and concluding the festival with our traditional Festival of Globe & Parade. Each day of San Francisco Global Movie Fest -2015 is uniquely designed around experience with unique congregation of best cultural events, mixers, fashion, movies, panel discussions, workshops, ethnic dance performances, conclave with the Government, festive gala from participants with Indian, Latino; Chinese & Far East (Korean, Philippine, Vietnam & Japan) communities, Hollywood & Bollywood movie premieres, with an opportunity to meet host of celebrities from Bollywood, Hollywood, Latino World, Europe, China & Far East, top movie makers, independent movie producers & investors will be descending in to this technology capital from and around the globe. (FIA) (www.fiaonline.org), and with this year continues his vision of empowering & engaging the communities through our platform by pushing the limits and making it much bigger by inviting more Global Movies for this 10 day movie fest.” Present herewith is an interactive session with Dr. Japra on the SF Global Movie Fest and what to expect from this fiesta this year.

To set the ball rolling in your court. Tell us about the thought behind the San Francisco Global Movie Fest-2015.

We are excited about how our platforms-events has evolved and grown over the past 22 years. We take pride in being able to engage & contribute back to our communities every year. When we started San Francisco Global Movie Fest – 2015, we realized the very need of this format been asked by the immigrant communities besides Indians in USA. Movies are changing the way we understand our culture, society and the people we live with. It helps us include those learning in our day to day life. What else could be a better place and audience to do movie festival than the largest country of Immigrants USA.

What can the audiences expect this year?

romeshThis year our audiences & participants will experience a 10 day jam-packed screening of Narrative short films, Narrative Feature films, Documentaries, from Independent movie makers submitting these across the globe followed by a gala celebration, cultural activities on our award nights at SAP Center and concluding the festival with our traditional Festival of Globe & Parade.
Each day of our San Francisco Global Movie Fest -2015 is uniquely designed around experience with unique congregation of best cultural events, mixers, fashion, movies, panel discussions, workshops, ethnic dance performances, Conclave with the Government, festive gala from participants with Indian, Latino; Chinese and Far East (Korean, Philippine, Vietnam, and Japan) communities, Hollywood & Bollywood movies premiers, with an opportunity to meet host of celebrities from Bollywood, Hollywood, Latino World, Europe, China and Far East, top movie makers, independent movie producers & investors will be descending in to this technology capital from and around the globe.

What is FIA and how is your FIA different from the other regions?

The Federation of Indo Americans of Northern California (FIA) is a Fremont based 501-C(3) umbrella organization (Profit Tax id #77-01-77823). The FIA is to provide a strong & effective voice for Americans of Indian origin in the cultural, social, political, academic & economic fields. It is an umbrella organization of over 50 Bay Area organizations representing over 100,000 Indian Americans. Over the last 22 years, The FIA has continued to work with its member organizations on various community base initiatives, and has emphasized that its members continue to remain engaged in every aspect of our community.

How do you feel this is different from other festivals, what inspired you and how will it further help that it is in the midst of Silicon Valley?

The effort behind Festival of Globe – Silicon Valley (FOG-SV), and San Francisco Global Movie Fest-2015 has been a result of meeting the demands of immigrants of USA . We are the only festival in the breed that aims to engage global views, participants, brands & audiences. By being in Silicon Valley technology capital of the globe, we aim to reduce gaps between global pool of talented movie makers & investors.

Who all are participating this year in San Francisco Global Movie Fest?

We are expecting movies to be submitted from over 50 countries. We will be joined by celebrities from Bollywood, Hollywood and others from across the globe. Our mixers, pre-post parties will feature some of the very renowned DJs who will rock the shows, and especially in SAP center the gala award ceremony of FOG-Awards, will be a night to remember in California, USA.

Movie Review: Bombay Velvet's boredom is at its peak of frustrating disappointment

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Bombay Velvet

Banner: Phantom Films & Fox Star Studios
Producer: Vikas Bahl & Vikramaditya Motwane
Director: Anurag Kashyap
Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, Karan Johar, Kay Kay Menon, Manish Choudhary, Siddhartha Basu, Remo Fernandes, Satyadeep Misra, Vivaan Shah, Mukesh Chhanbra, Raveena Tandon, Mrinmoy Goldar & Varun Grover
Music: Amit Trivedi

Director Anurag Kashyap needs no special introduction in Bollywoodian arena. He has given offbeat films, some of his films have proved milestones in Indian Cinema while some of his films garnered enough critical acclaim & some have even won awards galore on the home front as well as the National as well as International festival circuits but…….perhaps all this success has gone to his head as he has gone totally bonkers in his latest directorial offering namely ‘Bombay Velvet’, need I say anything more.

Bombay VelvetBalraj (Ranbir Kapoor) is a petty thief in Bombay, in the 1950s. Rosie (Anushka Sharma) has escaped her abusive teacher (Remo Fernandes), left Goa and come to the city of dreams to make a new beginning. Balraj is picked up by a gravelly-voiced smuggler in a fedora. Rosie meets a chap called Jimmy Mistry (Manish Chaudhary) while singing at a seedy bar. He’s rich, she gets into his car. Meanwhile, Balraj decides to rob a bank with his friend Chimman (Satyadeep Mishra). The only problem is that Balraj is planning to pull this caper off with a finger gun. Balraj picks as his target a coiffed dandy, Kaizad Khambatta (Karan Johar). Khambatta may be wearing a yellow coat, but he’s not completely senseless. He realises Balraj’s ploy, but is impressed by his bravado. Or maybe he just thinks Balraj is cute. Whatever the reason, Khambatta invites Balraj & Chimman to his office, offers them a job, then stares at Balraj’s crotch (Is he gay?) for a moment before declaring that henceforth Balraj will be called “Johnny”. So why does Khambatta need henchmen? Because he wants to befriend the mayor of Bombay (Siddharth Basu). Apparently, the best way to do this is by killing the mayor’s coterie so that when the mayor finds himself in need of company, Khambatta will appear at the mayor’s service. It sounds extreme to us now, but perhaps in the lawless 1950s, this was how people networked. So Johnny & Chimman go around kidnapping & killing people for Khambatta. Khambatta, when he isn’t thinking up unimaginative names for cute boys, owns a newspaper called Torrent, writes Page 1 articles for it, pimps his wife out and is also an entrepreneur looking to get into the construction business. It turns out that Mistry & Khambatta are childhood friends and present-day rivals. Mistry runs a paper called Glitz, which carries exposés that are actually conjecture & gossip. When Mistry realises that Khambatta has put Johnny in charge of a gentleman’s club called Bombay Velvet, where Khambatta entertains his contacts, Mistry sends Rosie to Johnny as a spy. Somehow, Mistry also learns that Johnny has in his possession a set of negatives that are being used to blackmail an honest minister into participating in a real estate scam. Rosie’s task is to get the job at Bombay Velvet, seduce Johnny, get the negatives and give them to Mistry.

Perhaps the film’s director Anurag Kashyap has lost his marbles as he has created a spectacular mess, his more than 2 hours of torture is enough to give you an incurable headache. In short it is a periodic mess of a romance gone awry. Sorry guys sometimes it is hard to find a single flaw in a movie but in sharp contrast searching for one + point in ‘Bombay Velvet’ was like searching for a needle in a haystack and I failed in this mission too. Need I say anything more.

Performance wise Ranbir Kapoor is confusing, Anushka Sharma is intolerable, Karan Johar is irritatingly boring, Kay Kay Menon is looking lost in the entire milieu, Siddhartha Basu is over dramatic and as for the rest of the cast comprising of Manish Choudhary, Remo Fernandes, Satyadeep Misra, Vivaan Shah, Mukesh Chhabra, Raveena Tandon, Mrinmoy Goldar & Varun Grover have hammed their way throughout the film.

Tail Piece: Stay miles away from this ‘Bombay Velvet’ Club unless you wish to get lost in another boring time frame of 1950.

Movie Review: 'Mad Max: Fury Road' is a spell binding fare

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mad-max-fury-road

Producer: Doug Mitchell, George Miller & P. J. Voeten
Director: George Miller
Star Cast: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Hugh Keays Byrne, Rosie Huntington – Whiteley, Riley Keough, Zoe Kravitz, Abbey Lee, Courtney Eaten, Megan Gale, Josh Helman, Nathan Jones, John Howard, Richard Carter & Angus Sampson,
Genre: Action Adventure
Verdict: Very Good

Director George Miller is known more for Mad Max franchise than for his film Babe and Happy Feet series. This time around he has dished out another post apocalyptic action adventure in tandem with elements of realistic horror. It is the fourth outing in the Mad Max film series.

Plot: In the distant future the world is a desert wasteland and civilization has collapsed. Max (Tom Hardy), a survivor in Australia, is captured by the War Boys, the army of tyrannical cult leader King Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays – Byrne). Designated a universal blood donor, Max is imprisoned and used as a blood bag for the sick War Boy Nux (Nicholas Hoult). Meanwhile, Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) drives her heavily – armoured War Rig to collect gasoline. Furiosa begins driving off route, alerting Joe who realizes that his five wives, women specially selected for breeding, are gone. Joe leads his entire War Boy army in pursuit of Furiosa, calling on the aid of nearby Gas Town and the Bullet Farm.

Aces: The high octane performance of the principal cast namely Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Hugh Keays – Byrne, Rosie Huttington etc and the dare devilry oriented non – stop action sequences.

Minuses: Its clever but fake looking suspense

Last Word: A not to be missed dystopian movie.

"Both my debut short films 'In Search Of An Answer' & 'Vo Ladki' have garnered critical acclaim & awards": Sandeep Chatterjee

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Sandeep Chatterjee

Sandeep Chatterjee aka Sandy happens to be the latest Bong entrant in the filmy horizon but in the directional arena, holding a Directorial Diploma from Moving Images. Besides he is also the proud possessor of full time training course in acting from Barry John’s Imago School of acting, as well as a Certificate Course in linear Editing from Astute Media Vision and last but not the least Sandy has also acquired a Professional Training in Camera from a veteran cinematographer namely S. N. Dubey. All this apart Sandy, as he is more popularly known as, has also picked up directional skills under the tutelage of small screen director Surendra Mohan for the serial ‘Draupadi’ & above all small screen editor Vinay Mallu for the serial ‘Koi Apna Sa’ (443 episodes).

Having reeled out his academic & professional qualification & work experience till date, Sandy further elaborated about his debut 2 short films which have already won critical appreciation & awards galore in the festival circuits. Over to him. “Of late I have made 2 short films under my own home production banner namely Point Of View Cinema. The names of the 2 short films are aptly titled ‘In Search Of An Answer’ & ‘Vo Ladki’. Incidentally speaking both my debut short films ‘In Search Of An Answer’ & ‘Vo Ladki’ have not only garnered lots of critical acclaim but also awards galore In most of the film festival circuits. The 1st film ‘In Search Of An Answer’, which has a duration of 27 minutes was first selected as an official entry for the 5th Dada Saheb Phalke International Film Festival 2015, in which it received a “Certificate Of Excellence”. It has also participated in other film festivals of 2015 like NMIFF, KISFF & RISFF. In RISFF it was nominated in 3 categories namely “Best Actor Male”, “Best Actor Female” & “Best Editing” where it bagged the trophy for “Best Actor Male”. My 2nd film ‘Vo Ladki’, which has a duration of 10 minutes, has got 11 thousand hits in just a span of a year.”

Sandeep Chatterjee

And then concluding the interactive session Sandy revealed his future big screen directorial plan, “Right now I am in the midst of penning the script of my debut big screen feature film titled ‘Deltaposs’. The title is derived from 2 words Delta, which stands for graph showing either up or down and Poss which means positive. Frankly speaking the script is almost complete. It is targeted at today’s youth. It is a comedy & drama oriented film. My next step is to garner adequate funds for my film. So wish me luck. Period!

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