Atif Aslam Gets A Special Visa Clearance
Atif Aslam, of late, was the only Pakistani artiste to get a special visa clearance for peace anthem. While other Pakistani artistes find it extremely difficult to get a visa clearance into India, Atif Aslam who has been recording most, if not all of his Bollywood numbers from outside India, flew in specially for a motivational youth number that the singer sang & danced to with Tiger Shroff. Apparently, special permission was requested for the singer to be physically present for the video in Mumbai. Choreographer Ahmed Khan who has shot the video says it was essential to get Atif over. The whole video for a song called “Aa Raha Hoon Main” was planned with Tiger & Atif. It’s a motivational song for students and was shot on a real educational campus, Subhash Ghai’s Whistling Woods. The idea is to show students that learning & education need not be bookish & boring. Ahmed admits Atif’s presence in Mumbai was not easy. “We had to make a special request. But we’re glad that Atif could make it.”
‘Baby’s Screenplay Shortlisted
‘Baby’s Screenplay Shortlisted for the Core Collection at the Oscars Academy Library. While ‘Baby’ has been one of the blockbusters of 2015, there is some more news for the makers to rejoice. The Neeraj Pandey directed film has been approached by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (the institution behind ‘Oscars’) for inclusion of its screenplay in the Core Collection of the Academy’s library. The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences has requested for ‘Baby’s screenplay for its collection which will reside at the Margaret Herrick Library. Following this honour, the Oscar library will add the screenplay to its collection, which is accessible to students, filmmakers, writers, actors and others from the field of cinema, for the purpose of research & development. The Library is considered as a reservoir of some of the best work in cinema across the world and each year only a chosen few films make it to this elite collection.
‘Baby’ produced by Bhushan Kumar, Shital Bhatia & Vikram Malhotra, starring Akshay Kumar, Anupam Kher, Rana Daggubati, released on January 23, 2015.
‘Masaan’ Goes To Cannes
Richa Chadda’s film ‘Masaan’ goes to Cannes. Richa Chadda had last attended Cannes along with her co-stars during the screening of ‘Gangs Of Wasseypur’ (GOW) and received a lot of accolades for the same. In fact, they even popularized the trend of ‘ghamchas’ (men scarf) when they walked the red carpet of the prestigious film festival way back in 2012. Now, it is surely a moment of nostalgia for the actress who will once again attend the Cannes Film Festival for her film ‘Masaan’. ‘Masaan’, produced by Phantom Productions (Anurag Kashyap along with Vikramaditya Motwane, Vikas Bahl & Madhu Mantena) is a tale that explores several emotions from love to sexuality. The film will be screened at the ‘Un Certain Regard’ section of the film festival. She is happy about the fact that many of her ‘Gangs Of Wasseypur’ team members will be accompanying her during the fest. While Anurag Kashyap, director of GOW is a producer of ‘Masaan’, the director of the film Neeraj Ghaywan and her co-star Vicky Kaushal were assistant directors for the previous film.
‘All is Well’ To Release on 21st Aug, 2015
Umesh Shukla’s ‘All is Well’ is all set for release on 21st Aug, 2015. In fact Umesh Shukla is all set to release his next, ‘All Is Well’, produced by T-Series & Alchemy Productions starring Abhishek Bachchan, Rishi Kapoor, Asin & Supriya Pathak Shah on 21st Aug, 2015.With the film shoot almost over, Rishi Kapoor & Abhishek Bachchan who have shared screen space before will play father – son duo for the 1st time ever whereas Supriya Pathak Shah plays Abhishek’s mother and Asin his love interest. The major portions of the film were reshot in Mumbai & Nashik recently with the entire star cast. This family drama is Umesh Shukla’s 2nd directorial venture produced by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Shyam Bajaj & Varun Bajaj.
Mukesh New Chairperson Of Children Film Society, India.
Mukesh Khanna, of ‘Shaktimaan’ fame, actor & producer has recently became the new chairman of Children Film Society, India. The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has appointed Mukesh Khanna as the Chairman of Children’s Film Society, India. Mukesh Khanna who is better known as Shaktiman is very happy and is flooded with smses & letters from his fans. Somebody told him that now something will happen as the seat is given now to the right candidate who truly belongs to children and who sincerely thinks for the welfare of the children of the world.
Venus Forays Into Series Of Short Films
Basking on the glory of Film Production, Film Distribution & Presentation, Overseas & Satellite Distribution, Venus Worldwide Entertainment Pvt Ltd will soon plunge into the other arenas of the entertainment business by venturing into short films. 3 short films to be produced under Venus Worldwide Entertainment Pvt Ltd & directed by Nanndita Kothari are ‘Little Did She Know’- ‘Soul Mate’; featuring Ashish Chaudhary, Saloni Choujar & Shikha Tiwari, ‘Coffin’ – ‘Revenge From 6ft. Under’ featuring Anusha, Melane, Ankit et al & Don’t Talk To Strangers’ featuring Neha Thakur, Deepak Mudgal, Amit Dhavle, Dipendra et al.
NSFI Announces NERCT
The National Sports Forum of India, NSFI in association with the MUSC (Mumbai United Sports Club) has announced 2, 2 day cricket tournaments in Mumbai on 5th & 6th – 8th & 9th May. These 2, 2 day events are both charity events with the winning teams donating the prize money to the Nepal Earthquake Relief Support Fund. The NSFI will invite actors, celebrities & fashionistas to support & encourage the young & budding cricketers. A major highlight of the event will be an Under 16 boys versus Bollywood actors friendly cricket match to raise funds for the Nepal Earthquake victims.
NSFI & MUSC are All Set To Hold Camps
Sandhya Singh, spokesperson for the NSFI said, “We have currently announced 2, 2 day tournaments & 6 training camps and depending on the response from the youth, we will organize more training camps during May, 2015. Young boys & youth from 10 years to 25 years of age can enroll themselves as members of the MUSC and participate in the summer camps & tournaments.”
SRK Bags An Asian Award
Shah Rukh Khan has bagged the prestigious Outstanding Contribution to Cinema award at the 5th annual The Asian Awards at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel. Hosted by fashion icon, Gok Wan, The Asian Awards dazzled with an array of global celebrities, dignitaries and influencers, including Zayn Malik, Lydia Bright, Casey Batchelor, Ollie Locke,Sanjeev Bhaskar, Meera Syal, John Rocha, Michelle Collins, Nick Moran, Preeya Kalidas, Anna Williamson, Kelly Hoppen, Danielle Lineker, Anita Rani, Tasmin Lucia Khan, Colin Jackson, Cerys Matthews et al. Founded by Paul Sagoo, The Asian Awards celebrates the outstanding achievements of individuals born in or with direct origin from across Pan-Asia in all disciplines of life, from business & arts, to sports & public service. Previous winners in the cinema category include, Irrfan Khan, Anupam Kher & the Late Yash Chopra.
Picking up the award for Outstanding Contribution to Sport was Sri Lankan batsman Kumar Sangakkara, and the prize for Outstanding Achievement in Science & Technology went to Sir Tejinder Singh Virdee. The Outstanding Achievement in Television award went to comedian, actor & broadcaster, Sanjeev Bhaskar, while the Hinduja brothers were awarded as Business Leaders of the Year.Zayn Malik picked up the prize for Outstanding Contribution to Music. Previous winners at The Asian Awards include Sir Ben Kingsley, Jackie Chan, Sachin Tendulkar, Bruce Lee, Sir David Tang, Amitabh Bachchan, Freddie Mercury & Ahmed Kathrada who was jailed alongside Nelson Mandalaon Robben Island in the fight against apartheid. The panel of judges is made up of key business people, cultural leaders & eminent political figures, led by the prominent Asian entrepreneur Lord Bilimoria of Chelsea. Judges include, Michelle Mone OBE, Philip Bernie, BBC’s Head of Sport, Gurinder Chadha, Film Director and Matthew Freud, CEO Freud Communications. The Asian Awards were launched in 2010 as the brainchild of Paul Sagoo, entrepreneur & Founder of the Lemon Group.
‘Chauthi Koot’ Selected For Cannes
National award winning director Gurvinder Singh’s Punjabi film ‘Chauthi Koot’ (The fourth Direction) has been selected for the prestigious ‘Un Certain Regard’ section at Cannes Film Festival. An Indo-French co-production between Sunil Doshi, Catherine Dussard, Kartikeya Narayan Singh and supported by the NFDC, the film is based on Warvan Singh Sandhu’s collection of short stories of same name. The film delves into the fears of a community following Indira Gandhi’s assassination in 1984, the unspeakable brutalities it unleashed and the resistance movement it spawned. Shot in Amritsar & Ferozepur, the film does not feature any professional actors. The film’s score has been composed by French musician Marc Marder. Gurvinder Singh had earlier bagged 3 National awards for his debut film, Annhey Ghorrey Da Daan (Alms for a Blind Horse), which was also the 1st Punjabi film to be showcased at the Venice Film Festival.
‘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.
