New Delhi: 17 new faces including BJP leaders S S Ahluwalia, and M J Akbar and allies Anupriya Patel of Apna Dal and Ramdas Athawale of RPI were today inducted along with two old hands Vijay Goel and Faggan Kulaste into the Modi government in expansion and reshuffle in which five were dropped and Environment Minister Prakash Javedekar was elevated to the Cabinet.

The second exercise by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in little more than two years since he took over in May 2014 saw a number a dalit and OBC leaders being given ministerial positions done apparently with an eye on assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand next year and Gujarat later.

Javadekar, who held independent charge of Environment, was the lone minister to be promoted to the cabinet rank while all new inductees took oath as Ministers of State. Earlier, there was speculation that Power Minister Piyush Goel and Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will be elevated to the Cabinet.

Ajay Tamta (Uttarakhand), Arjun Ram Meghwal (Rajasthan), Krishna Raj (UP), Athawale (Maharashtra), Ramesh C Jigajinagi (Karnataka) were among the dalit MPs administered the oath of Office and Secrecy by President Pranab Mukherjee at a ceremony in Rashtrapati Bhawan attended by Vice-President Hamid Ansari, Modi, his cabinet colleagues, BJP President Amit Shah and leaders allied parties among others. No Congress leader was present.

Others who were inducted included P P Chaudhary, C R Chaudhary (Rajasthan), A M Dave, Faggan Singh Kulaste (Madhya Pradesh), Mahendra Nath Pandey (UP), Purshotam Rupala, J Bhabhor and Mansukhbhai Mandaviya (Gujarat), Rajen Gohain (Assam) and S R Bhamre (Maharashtra).

Akbar was elected recently to Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh while Goel represents Rajasthan in the Upper House. Ahluwalia was elected to Lok Sabha from Darjling while Anupriya Patel was elected from Mirzapur in UP.

Those dropped from the ministry are Nihalchand, Ram Shankar Katheria, Sanwar Lal Jat, Manuskhbhai D Vasava and M K Kundariya. All barring Goel and Faggan Kulaste are new faces while a few have been ministers in BJP-ruled state governments.

After the dropping of five ministers, today’s expansion took the total strength of the Council of Ministers to 78, four below the Constitutional bar of 82. The Council of Ministers can have a maximum of 15 per cent of the total strength of the Lok Sabha, which has 542 members.

Official sources said the exercise was aimed at infusing more “experience, expertise and energy” into the government.

The choices also underscore BJP’s attempts to strengthen its vote base among dalits and other backward castes, party sources said, adding that states, where it has done well in the Lok Sabha polls and also where it faces state polls, have also now got ample representation. The saffron party has been trying to woo the weaker sections ahead of the crucial UP polls.

(Agencies)

Salim Diwan, born in a Doctor’s family in Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan, has come a long way and the path has not been a cake walk. After finishing his studies he landed up in Mumbai to spearhead his family’s Pharma business but the actor in him was searching for an avenue to open up.

Already a veteran at plays during his college days he was keen to work in Bollywood and was selected for a film. Director K D Satyam, after 2 screen tests and a strict regime, wherein Salim Diwan had to lose weight, agreed to cast him in the role of Rohit in Bollywood Diaries. Salim plays Rohit, a call centre executive, and is a key protagonists in the film reflecting the madness of Bollywood that all aspiring actors landing up in Mumbai have. He goes through an identity crisis living a normal life with a normal job but at the same time carrying on the suppressed passion of making it big in Bollywood. His co – stars Ashish Vidyarthi, as a retired man & Raima Sen, a prostitute too portray the same ambitions.

Salim has undergone professional training under veteran Kishor Namit Kapoor and later on with Atul Mathur. His passion for acting & learning was such that even when his shots were not being filmed he would visit the sets to watch other co – actors. Salim Diwan averred, “As an actor you should be able to effectively portray the role you are playing. I learnt a lot from Ashish Vidyarthiji during the shooting of this film”, said Salim Diwan.

Back in 2005 – 2006 he had participated in Star TV’s reality programme Get Set Go and won an IIFA award for the same. There he happened to meet stalwarts like Karan Johar, J P Dutta and the urge to become an actor and making it to Bollywood only got stronger.

The actor, who has also been part of an episode on television further averred, “The role I am looking for should be convincing & relate to the audience”. His film Bollywood Dairies has recently been awarded the Special Jury Mention Award
(Critics Choice) by The Dadasaheb Phalke Film Foundation Award for the year 2016. The award was recently presented to him at Delhi at the hands of the President of India.

Salman Khan’s two and a half decade’s Bollywoodian journey has been very chequered and eventful one. When he had made his debut with Biwi ho Toh Aisi he was very raw. But then film after film his growth as an actor and later on even as a star has been phenomenal. So much so that 25 years later he has been gifted by an unbelievable, unimaginable & unthinkable star power which is all due to his millions of global fans. A power that has enabled him to fulfil his wishes of keeping himself cherishable in his fans good books.

And then as a return gift, Salman Khan brewed up a formula to work in films only based on his own terms & conditions and one of the condition was that he will sign on the dotted line of a film’s contract only when a producer allows him to plan the release of his film coinciding with the Ramzan Eid festival which would be a beautiful return gift for all his global fans in general and as a special return gift for all his Muslim brethren in particular.

And Salman Khan’s return gift process started with the release of his Prabhudheva directed film namely Wanted which was released exactly on 18th Sept, 2009 coinciding with Ramzan Eid festival of that particular year and of course Wanted was declared as super duper hit garnering a Box Office collection amounting to the tune of Rupees 61 crores. And Salman Khan believes that it was all because of his fans blessings & unconditional love for him.

And since then all of Salman Khan’s films which were released coinciding with Ramzan Eid festival proved too be runaway hits always notching up 100 crore mark, barring once when Salman Khan’s loss proved to be Shah Rukh Khan’s gain. So Salman Khan miss the boat in that particular year’s Ramzan Eid festival and in that particular Ramzan Eid festival it was Shah Rukh Khan’s film Chennai Express which had won the race at the box office turnstiles.

Since that particular year’s mishap Salman Khan has always been meticulously planning his Ramzan Eid releases. So as of now even before the release of Yash Raj Films Sultan, Salman Khan has already gone ahead and announced the release of his forthcoming films namely Partner 2 & Kabir Khan’s next film on Eid 2017, perhaps he will have 2 releases in 2017 in Ramzan Eid week itself. Then again 2 of his films may release in 2017 namely Mahesh Manjrekar’s Next & Raj Kumar Santoshi’s Next. That apart Dabangg 3, No Entry Mein Entry & Shuddhi which may release in 2018 thereby literally forming a hat trick of Ramzan Eid releases. As all this films too will coincide with the Ramzan Eid festival of the respective years of 2017 & 2018.

Well! Releasing one film during each Ramzan Eid festival, like Wanted, Ready, Kick, Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Prem Ratan Dhan Payo et al may have proved to be a cake walk for Salman Khan but will he succeed in recreating the magic of releasing 2 or 3 films simultaneously on Ramzan Eid festival falling in those particular years? Now that entirely remains to be seen.

And coming to his latest Ramzan Eid release namely Yash Raj Films Sultan. No doubt he has really worked hard on his role of a wrestler as is evident in the promos. Or when one had visited him on the sets of Sultan during its making.

As per Salman Khan’s own honest confession, “I have really worked hard on my role as a wrestler in Sultan. Frankly speaking I have never undergone so much of intense & gruelling training session for any of my role in my entire career. I was feeling really very exhausted everytime I used to finish my extensive training session and subsequently shooting for the same film. Once again I could pass through this test all because of my fans blessings & die hard love for me.”

Be that as it may be one really hopes Sultan works wonders for him at the Box Office turnstiles.

Ms. Mrunalini happens to be a Bollywood producer. She also happens to be a doctor by profession. Ms. Mrunalini nay Dr. Mrunalini also happens to be a wife of a small time Bollywood actor Amitabh Dayal who had made his debut as an actor with a film called Kagaar which was of course produced by his wife Dr. Mrunalini. Incidentally speaking Dr. Mrunalini is separated from her husband Amitabh Dayal since the last 7 years. Dr. Mrunalini is staying alone & away from her husband Amitabh Dayal since then. Just last week Dr. Mrunalini had called for an urgent press conference for an important issue to be revealed to the print media as well as the electronic media. The press conference was held at Raheja Classic Club on 27th Jun, 2016 at pm. It was organised by Dr. Mrunalini’s PR Manager Mr. Raju Kariya. Present herewith is the gist of the press conference as revealed to both the print media & the electronic media in a first person account of Dr. Mrunalini hereself. A xerex copy of Dr. Mrunali’s complaint letter to the police against her husband was also handed over to the media at the end of the press conference.

“Actually speaking I had no intention to wash the so called dirty linen in public but now I am helpless and I have come here to reveal to the media that I have a complaint against my husband Amitabh Dayal who has been mentally and physically torturing me and asking me for extortion, blackmailing and even resorting to physically abuse. He is also threatening to defame me and kill me. He is even luring my mentally troubled daughter to defame in the media. I have all the proof with me to prove my point.”
“I am married to Amitabh Dayal since the year 2000. On the day of our wedding reception itself in Bilaspur he drank, abused, spit on me and even beat me up in front of his relatives. Finally his cousin brother Ajay Najat came to the hotel and threatened him to be given to police. Next day he said sorry in front of the whole family and I forgave him and came back to Mumbai. Things were normal for some day.”

“But again in the month of Jun that year when we went for our honeymoon, he drank again when we were in Delhi. Here too he beat me, abused me and even kicked me in my stomach. Once again he said sorry, but he was drunk.”

“After marriage he started physically torturing me and asked me to make a film for him. So to avoid family quarrels I formed a film company called Amruta Films Pvt Ltd and produced a film called Kagaar, I am still paying the debts of this film. I did this to calm him, thinking now he will stop torturing me.”

“But the physical violence & mental torture continued. He was even admitted in Holycross Hospital’s physchiatry ward under Dr. Rajan Prabhu and was treated for maniac depression with paranoia and also chronic alchohol deaddiction.”

There were dozens of other incidents mentioned in the press statement but I am now presenting the current situation in Dr. Mrunalini life.

“The same situation continued for years on end so much so that even his own relatives namely his nephew Gaurav Henry and others friends too, told me time and again that he was a big womaniser and a chronic alchoholic. They cautioned me to be aware of him and keep my daughter away from him. So finally 7 years ago I decided to stay away from him and severed all ties with him like his own relatives.”

“But as of now he has lured my teenage daughter and making her meet the media mainly to defame me. He is also exposing her to a lot of unmentionable things. Finally she ran away from home on 9th May, 2016 and her father brought her back on 16th May, 2016. But her attitude towards me had changed by now and she walked out again with bag and baggage on 29th May, 2016 and he is once again using her against me to defame my name in the media. As I mentioned earlier my daughter is a mentally troubled child and she needs at least 2 years of extensive therapy session to cure her, but her father is refraining her from doing so. I am only worried about my daughter’s well being. So as a last resort I will be going straight to a magistrate to seek her judicial custody and the police officials have also assured me that they will take a due course of action and will also file a proper FIR against my husband Amitabh Dayal. A point to be noted here is that we are still not legally divorced but I was ready to grant him a mutual divorce on grounds of 7 years of separation.

Salman Khan is endowed with an enigmatic persona. He may showcase his toughness on the exterior but “Being Human” he is also warm & a soft hearted person. There is that tender spot within him which is still craving for a lot of love, caring & soothing. Of late on the professional front, as per his own recent confession especially after finishing his work on Sultan, he really feels exhausted time & again. But he is not Salman Khan for nothing to give up so easily. To say that he has already carved a niche for himself by now would be an understatement. Actually speaking Salman Khan has undoubtedly cast his magical spell over his fans, that too in the last 2 and a half decade and they still seem to be under his magical influence. Yet carrying his bachlorhood on his lapel is the only thing that has started bothering him lately. And the thing that bothers the media a lot is Salman Khan’s elusiveness with them. But when he finally meets them he is a sheer delight which was evident last time during the promotional event of Rajshri Productions Prem Ratan Dhan Payo and this time during the promotional event of Yash Raj Films Sultan. Both the events were coincidentally held at the same venue namely Mehboob Studio at a stone’s throw distance from his abode.

Sultan has been the most talked about film of Yash Raj Films ever since it was launched. Comment!

I know what you are hinting at. And maybe that’s mainly because of the similarity of the subjects between my film Sultan & Aamir Khan’s film Dangal.

So Sutan wins the race as it is coming first and Aamir Khan’s film is coming only by the end of the year. What say?

Let’s not be judgemental as every film has its own destiny as to which film will be accepted by cine goers and which film will be rejected by them. Even otherwise there was no decision of winning the race. We were rushing up Sultan only to make it a Ramzan Eid release as I am very keen to release at least one film coinciding with every Ramzan Eid for everyone and as a special Ramzan Eid gift for all my Muslim fans, and Aamir Khan is working at a leisurely pace as he always tries to release his film during christmas.

You succeeded in avoiding the clash with Aamir Khan’s Dangal but the clash with Shah Rukh Khan’s Raees was avoided in the nick of time. Right?

Yes! You can say that. But then Shah Rukh Khan himslf bowed out at the last minute only because his film Raees was not completely ready to be released. Just imagine what would have happened in case the alter ego of our producers had clashed. Naturally we both would have ended up making a dent in our individual box office collections at the turnstiles. In fact we both would have had no choice but to share the collections and be at a loss. As was evident when both Ranveer Kapoor’s Bajirao Mastani & Shah Rukh Khan’s Dilwale were released on the same day and in the same week. Even otherwise the days of Aamir Khan’s Dil & Sunny Deol’s Ghayal hitting the marquee on the same day qnd in the same week and yet being declared super hits all over are definately over.

Ok! So let’s move on to the the topic of Sultan which is on the verge of release on the D – Day of Ramzan Eid. So tell us what is Sultan all about?

Sultan is basically about the sport of wrestling and I enact the role of a sports person to be specific a wrestler who starts from the village level akhada to the mat based ring and then into the MMA arena. And giving me company was Anushka Sharma who has her own aspirations as a sportswoman nay a women wrestler.

Now that you have made a mention of Anushka Sharma, tell us how apt was she as a woman wrestler and as your co – star too?

Anushka Sharma had come on board of Sultan at a much latter stage that too when I was rigorously training for my role in Sultan. But indeed she is a lovely girl and a good actress too. Its such a pity that I discovered this lovely girl only towards “The End” of Sultan. Even otherwise Sultan was a very demanding film physically. So we could only see our beds post pack- up. In fact it was unlike our other films where the colleagues from the same film hang around together at least during the breaks to get familiarised with each other.

Now tell us how tough was it to enact the toughest role of your career in Sultan?

It was toughest beyond my imagination. You need a perfect, appropriate & sufficient training like a wrestler in real life. In fact the intense & the gruelling training sessions that I underwent for Sultan and for that matter even Aamir Khan underwent for Dangal for reel life was similar or even a little more than what the real life wrestlers undergo in real life. Suppose if we both had not undergone such intense & gruelling training than perhaps we both would not be able to fight it out convincingly enough in the wrestling ring.

Would you like to describe in brief about your intense & gruelling training session that you underwent for Sultan?

I shot for Sultan for 6 hours every day and while shooting there would be so much of lifting and even thrusting on the ground involved and now this lifting & thrusting in itself was very tough for me because if I was lifting I would have to lift the same 120 kg guy at least 10 times for 10 different camera angles and for 10 differrent shots. And similarly I would get thrown down on the ground for the same number of times and this particular acts of lifting & throwing are not repeated that many times in real fights that are held in the real wrestling ring. Now coming to your first question of the training session part I would say or rather admit that it was the most toughest part of my career as an actor. I totally agree that you need solid training like the real life wrestlers if not more. So to cut the matter short I did undergo weight training in the first session. Then in the latter sessions I perfected my moves and in the subsequent sessions I used to spend at least 2 to 3 hours in a day for the intense & the gruelling training sessions. So in those training phase my daily routine was almost like eat and then head right back to the training session and than that would just not stop. And this was mainly because my director Ali Abbas Jaffar who knew nothing about the training part. So every 20 days or so he would need me to look different and have a different body type depending entirely on his whims & fancies on the sets. As a resultant effect sometimes I was bloating and then again going ahead and losing the excess weight only to pile it on again. The point is that I don’t think my director has ever seen the insides of a body building gym in his entire life. On the contrary I think it was more easier for Aamir Khan for his role in Dangal as he use to bulk up, shoot for Dangal and then relax for a longer period of time. Whereas in my case I just used to shoot, diet, eat, shoot, diet again and this used to just go on and on.

And now tell us how will both the films on wrestling namely Sultan & Dangal be beneficial in the long run to the sport of wrestling in general and the wrestlers in particular?

First of all I hope it changes the over all opinionated perception of all the concerned people including the concerned Government officials. That apart its like a blessing that the idea of scrapping the sport of wrestling off from the Olympics has been called off. I think in my opinion the wrestlers deserve much more respect than they get. Besides I believe that even the prize money they receive should be even more bigger for such a taxing sport. Moreover it is an expensive thing to maintain, I mean the body & the fight.

To wind it up tell us how important is it for an actor to hold on to his limelighted stardom at this age & stage of his career?

By the way was it necessary to rub salt on the wound. You see sir, stardom is not something like a game that you can keep holding on or keep playing on. Frankly speaking every actor wants to be in the limelight for as long as he or she can. Again honestly speaking everyone is scared of losing his or her limelighted stardom and I would be lying through my teeth if I say no. Besides its not just the stardom, its that love, its that respect of the fans that one keeps receiving and suddenly one fine day everything is over. That is specifically one thing, I mean one quality that you are working so hard for and all of a sudden something happens and you are not the liked person anymore and that particular aspect bothers and hurts everyone and then you need to be a strong man who can amicably adjust with that part of his life too.

Before parting I would like to make one more query. Can I?

Yes! You can. And I know that even you too would like to know about the latest on my matrimonial status. To tell you the truth I am desperately trying to get married. In fact main mara jaa raha hoon, But saamne wali ladki bhi toh raazi ho mujhse shaadi karnne ke liye. Boss it is no longer luck or destiny that works in case of one’s marriage but it is the girl power, and in my case it is the women power that will work. Let’s see ultimately who would agree to marry me. That’s it.

Producer: Shobha Kapoor, Ekta Kapoor, Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane, Aman Gill, Vikas Bahl & Sameer Nair
Director: Abhishek Chaubey
Star Cast: Shahid Kapur, Karina Kapoor Khan, Alia Bhatt, Diljit Dosanjh, Satish Kaushik et al
Music: Amit Trivedi, Benedict Taylor & Naren Chandavarkar

Director Abhishek Chaubey in his hat trick offering Udta Punjab has dealt with , a film belonging to the intensely dark & extremely serious genre, almost or more or less like his 1st outing (Ishqiya) & his 2nd outing (Dedh Ishqiya). Nevertheless the film Udta Punjab is mainly about the drugs abuse menace which is still existing in Punjab. But it looses its focus with varied sub – plots running parallel with the main plot. Besides the entire film sounds like a pure Punjabi film, because of the extensive use of the Punjabi lingo throughout the duration of the film.

The scripted scenario of Udta Punjab starts off with a scene at the India -Pakistan border wherein a Pakistani man throws a mysterious drug packet onto the Indian side. This is followed by a rocking introduction of rockstar Tommy “Gabru” Singh (Shahid Kapoor) and a glimpse into his addictive lifestyle. One day, Tommy Singh gets fired by his producers for delaying their recordings. If that wasn’t enough, Tommy Singh also gets arrested by the Punjab police amidst his birthday party, on grounds of drug abuse. When he gets released from jail, despite the jitters, he somehow manages to gear up to perform before an eagerly awaiting audience. Just before the performance, he does something extremely awkward that irks a handful of audience, who, then, run after him baying for his blood. On the other hand, Pinky Kumari aka Mary Jane (Alia Bhatt) migrates from Uttar Pradesh to Punjab. Her background reveals that, she was an exceptional hockey player, who, because of lack of financial support, landed up becoming a labourer. And since then, she is trying to find her place under the sun in Punjab. One day, when she finds a 3 kg drug packet, she tries to sell it off to make a fast buck. While doing so, for reasons best known to her, she dumps the whole 3 kg of drugs into a well, thus invoking the wrath of the drug peddlers, for whom, the entire packet meant heavy profits. Angered by her action, the peddlers not just end land up raping the helpless Pinky Kumari, but also keep her as captive with them. Repeated attempts to run away from their clutches, yields no results for Pinky. The 3rd angle to the story is that of Dr. Preet Sahani (Kareena Kapoor – Khan), under whom Balli Singh, the younger brother of Inspector Sartaj Singh (Diljit Dosanjh) is getting treated for being a victim of drug overdose. Amidst the course of Balli’s treatment, Sartaj Singh analyses & realises the harm that these banned substances cause to thevpeople. He, then, joins Preet Sahani in her crusade against drugs and exposing the drug mafias.

Director Abhishek Chaubey has picked up a very topical subject in Udta Punjab but mid – way he seems to have got totally confused by attempting to make amends with varied sub – plots thereby completely loosing his grip on the main plot of the substance abuse and in the process the film becomes too sluggish and just about moving with a snail’s pace. That apart his directorial skills are seriously let down by his entire technical team barring all the actors who have delivered a mind blowing performances.

Performance wise Shahid Kapoor leads the brigade with his brilliant act to say the least. And he is simply outstansding in his newest avatar of a rockstar. In fact Shahid Kapur & Satish Kaushik bring in a little bit of comic relief with their humorous banter in the film at regular intervals. Alia Bhatt is just superb in her de-glam avatar of a Bihari girl, she has surpassed her own role of Highway. The next in line restrained performance comes from Kareena Kapoor – Khan. That apart debutant Punjabi star Diljit Dosanjh steals the cine goers heart by delivering a very heart warming performance. Just watch out for his comfortably sterling act in his future Bollywood movies.

Tail Piece: Lack of entertainment value is the biggest drawback of Udta Punjab thereby stamping the film totally as an art house cinema which will indeed garner a lot of critical acclaim as well as rave reviews in the global film festival circuit.

Producer: Anuraag Kashyap, Vikas Bahl, Vikramaditya Motwane & Madhu Mantena
Director: Anurag Kashyap
Star Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Vicky Kaushal et al
Music: Ram Sampath

Director Anurag Kashyap has always been more popularly known for the dark genre of films that he has been often making and his latest offering Raman Raghav 2.0 is no exception to the rule. Not only this Raman Raghav 2.0 is full of gory, gruesome & mindless murder mayhem.

The scripted scenario of Raman Raghav 2.0 starts off with the introduction of a young IPS officer Raghav (Vicky Kaushal of Masaan fame) and a deadly introduction of Ramanna aka Sindhi Dalwaai aka Raman (Nawazuddin Siddiqui who needs no special introduction). Raghav who, despite being an IPS officer, is almost always high on drugs; in fact Raghav does not leave a single chance to indulge in substance abuse, even when he is on duty. The film, then, traces its roots with a series of flashback events that establish Raman’s character as a serial killer with a history of random & meaningless killings. As the film comes back to the present, Raman gets into a confessional mode and says that he kills people because he likes to kill them for no reason. He also goes onto proclaim that he is a “Godsent gift to mankind”, who has been sent by God to kill people after their job is done on earth. What follows from hereon are a series of merciless & inhuman murders. After a gap of 7 years, Raghav visits his sister’s place and ends up killing her as well as her innocent husband and her child too. Simultaneously, Raghav also kills his girlfriend. Amidst all this, Raman confesses to Raghav about his hidden connection with him, that really stuns the latter.

Director Anurag Kashyap clarifies right in the opening frame of the film that Raman Raghav 2.0 is not at all based on the serial killer Raman Raghav who used to mindlessly & senselessly kill people sleeping on the pavements by crushing their head with a stone. These real killings had taken place in the 60’s time frame. But all said & done Mr. Kashyap definately seems to be inspired by the same real tragic events of the 60’s period. The only saving grace of the film is the sinisterly chilling & haunting background score by Ram Sampath, the apt cinematography by Jay Oza & above all the outstanding performance by its 2 lead actors namely Nawazuddin Siddiqui (excellently enacted extraordinaire act) & Vicky Kaushal (perfect act).

Tail Piece: If you are an ardent fan of Nawazuddin Siddiqui then Raman Raghav 2.0 is meant for you. But this film is strictly not recommended for weak hearted persons.

The 7th Jagran Film Festival recently announced its international selection in the feature film category. In fact the Best of International Films are all set to compete with the Indian National & Regionals.

So the 7th Jagran Film Festival announced its international selection in the feature film category. The Festival is set to begin from 1st July in New Delhi and travel to 15 other cities thereafter.

To be screened under the section World Panorama, the Festival line up has Sievanevada (Romania) directed by Criti Puiu, Road To Istanbul (Algeria) directed by Rachid Bouchareb, The Patriarch ( New Zealand) by Lee Tamahori, The First, The Last (France – Belgium) by Bouli Lanners, The Plants (Chile) by Roberto Doveris, Discordia (Romania) by Ion Indolean, The Market ( Canada) by Bobby Del Rio, The Oedipus King (Argentina) by Javier Molo, Two Nights Till Morning (Finland) by Mikko Kuparinen, Yellow Flowers On Green Grass (Vietnam) by Victor Vu, Chatô – The King Of Brazil ( Brazil) by Guilherme Fontes, Thank You For Bombing (Austria) by Barbara Eder, The Surprise (Italy) by Ivan Polidoro, Wonderland (Switzerland), directed by 10 directors, The Sum Of Histories (Belgium) by Lukas Bossuyt, Pop Up (Australia) by Stuart McBratney, Hear The Silence (Germany) by Ed Ehrenberg, Farewell Analog (Iran) by Hiwa Aminejad, Eddie Reynolds And The Iron Angels (Mexico) by Gustavo Moheno, Zoe (Spain) by Ander Duque, Utopia, An Adult’s Fairytale ( Greece) by Nikos Kourou.

That apart Indian cinemas like Talvar, Sarbjit, Airlift, Nil Battey Sannata, Neerja and above all Maharashtra’s highest grocer Sairat too will be showcased. The best of old times movies will also be showed, to name a few, Do Ankhen Barah Haath, Geet Gaya Patharone, Shatranj Ke Khilari, Shakuntala and many, many more. The selection includes films that has been screened in major film festivals like Cannes 2016, Berlinale 2016 and many, many others but this year onwards the Jagran Festival has begun to pick up films that have not participated in any film festival. These films would be screened across sections Indian & International under the banner, “Jagran Discovery”.

The curtain rises on Saarthak Chitram’s newest small screen serial named SAABJI written – produced – directed by Siddharth Nagar, whose one more serial Shiksha – Ek Majboot Aadharshila is already on air on Doordarshan Kisan Channel in the 9.30 pm slot, on 17th Jun, 2016. SAABJI is an entertaining story on love & revenge. SAABJI will be aired on every Friday – Saturday – Sunday in the 7 pm slot. SAABJI’s crew comprises of co – producer: Harender Singh Verma & Jaya Bhattacharya, creative head: Archana Saikia, production head: Pravin Sorte, cinematographer: Mukesh Sharma, lyrics: Abhilash, music: Vivek Bakshi, singer: Pratiksha Vashishth, editor: Arun Pakal & Satish Sharma, art: Mahendra Raut, background score: Bhupesh Sharma. SAABJI stars Ayub Khan, Jaya Bhattacharya, Suhasini Mulay, Shruti Ulfat, Anupam Bhattacharya, Dinesh Kaushik, Pallavi, Raju Shreshtha, Farida Dadi, Varsha Manik, Amita Nangia, Jugnu, Mithlesh Chaturvedi & Shresth Kumar.

Life OK Channel’s Serial Savdhaan India Completes 4 Years Of Its Existence In The Satellite Arena

Life OK Channel’s, most watched, talked about & extremely likeable serial Savdhaan India has recently completed 4 years of its existence in the Satellite arena. Life OK’s one of the most popular show, Saavdhan India has indeed recently completed 4 years of being on air. In these 4 years it has not only become the most watched show on Indian TV but has also made a fundamental shift in creating awareness against Crime. To commemorate 4 years of fighting crime, Life OK Channel recently unveiled a Saavdhan India anthem urging people to be vigilant and take precautions to prevent crime in their life. The 2 minute anthem instantly created a sensation with over 2 million views within just 3 days. The anthem also set the twitter world ablaze trending both nationally & worldwide. The initiative struck a chord with celebrities who tweeted with their support.

Sony Pictures Recently Re-aligned Its Key Portfolios

Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) of late has re-aligned its key portfolios. Sony Pictures Networks (SPN) recently announced a re-alignment of its key management portfolios. SPN’s International business gets consolidated within the networks’ sales & syndication business whereas SPN’s Sports business gets more closely aligned to the distribution business. Consequently, Rohit Gupta’s role gets expanded from SPN, network sales president to SPN’s network sales & International business president.
SPN’s International business head Neeraj Arora will now report to Rohit Gupta.
Rajesh Kaul’s role gets expanded to SPN Distribution & Sports president and SPN sports business head Prasana Krishnan will now report into Rajesh Kaul. Rohit Gupta & Rajesh Kaul have been with SPN since 14 years & 8 years respectively.

Curtain Rises On Saarthak Chitram’s Saabji On 17th June 2016 On DD1 In 7 pm Slot

The curtain rises on Saarthak Chitram’s newest small screen serial named SAABJI written – produced – directed by Siddharth Nagar, whose one more serial Shiksha – Ek Majboot Aadharshila is already on air on Doordarshan Kisan Channel in the 9.30 pm slot, on 17th Jun, 2016. SAABJI is an entertaining story on love & revenge. SAABJI will be aired on every Friday – Saturday – Sunday in the 7 pm slot. SAABJI’s crew comprises of co – producer: Harender Singh Verma & Jaya Bhattacharya, creative head: Archana Saikia, production head: Pravin Sorte, cinematographer: Mukesh Sharma, lyrics: Abhilash, music: Vivek Bakshi, singer: Pratiksha Vashishth, editor: Arun Pakal & Satish Sharma, art: Mahendra Raut, background score: Bhupesh Sharma. SAABJI stars Ayub Khan, Jaya Bhattacharya, Suhasini Mulay, Shruti Ulfat, Anupam Bhattacharya, Dinesh Kaushik, Pallavi, Raju Shreshtha, Farida Dadi, Varsha Manik, Amita Nangia, Jugnu, Mithlesh Chaturvedi & Shresth Kumar.

Curtain Rises On Sab TV Channel’s Khidki From 28th Jun 2016

Curtain has risen on Sab TV Channel’s Khidki from 28th Jun, 2016. So start telling your funny story and relive it along with the world all over again on the small screen. Sony SAB will now give a sneak peek into the funny incidences of the lives of their viewers with its new show, Khidki. The show’s concept revolves around stories that have been sent in by viewers all over India. Some of these select stories are being adapted into mini – series of episodes for the small screen. Khidki is already on air from Tues, 28th Jun, 2016 every Mon to Fri @ 21:30 hours only on Sony SAB. The channel in partnership with producer J D Majethia & director Umesh Shukla of Oh! My God fame had called in for entries for the show in the month of Mar, 2016. Over 8000 entries have been received by the channel, of which, some of the shortlisted stories are now ready to be presented to the world. The show will have a set of recurring actors like Sarita Joshi, Rajeev Mehta, Lubna Salim, Aishwarya Sakhuja to name a few who will portray different characters in different stories, along with narration by JD Majethia, who is also the host of the show. Each story will be weaved into episodes designed to last for minimum of 3 to 8 episodes, depending on the length of each story.

Zoya Recently Signed As A Community Ambassador

Sony Le PLEX HD has recently signed Zoya Akhtar as its community ambassador. Sony Le PLEX HD has brought on board the very talented and acclaimed writer & director, Zoya Akhtar as it’s Community Ambassador. This will be the 1st time ever for Zoya Akhtar to be associated with a brand. Her cinema artistry and love for great movies make Zoya the right fit as the community ambassador. She will be seen as a representative of the community that appreciates quality cinema. The common passion for great cinema and storytelling brings Sony Le PLEX HD & Zoya Akhtar together in creating this premium hangout place for movie lovers to hangout, unwind & converse.

Sridhar Balakrishnan Signed By Star India
Star India has recently appointed Sridhar Balakrishnan as its head of distribution.
Star India has recently appointed former Marico chief operating officer for rest of South Asia, Middle East & Africa Sridhar Balakrishnan as its head of distribution.
Incidentally speaking Sridhar Balakrishnan replaces Krishnan Kutty, who has been made EVP & business head of the English cluster a few months back. In fact distribution has been a key priority for Star India organisation, and it has leveraged the growing penetration of TV to drive the reach of their channels across the width & the breadth of this country. As cable in India gets fully digitalised and consumers get access to an array of differentiated channels & services, the opportunity to unlock value in the distribution business is huge.

Zee Cafe’s Next Season Of Gotham Starts From 23rd Jun 2016

Zee Cafe’s next season of Gotham starts from 23rd Jun, 2016. Zee Café brings for its viewers the Best of DC comics’ universe this year. After a remarkable Season 1, Zee Café is back with a more intriguing season of Gotham. So get ready to kick your mundane weekdays in to high gear – with the 2nd instalment of Gotham which has started airing from 23rd Jun, 2016 onwards on every Mon – Fri at 10 pm followed by a brand new show Supergirl the following month. The
winner of the most exciting new series category at the Critics’ Choice Television awards, Gotham 2 brings back the era of villains. Heading into Season 2, catch the rise of the biggest Super villains – The Joker, Penguin, Riddler, Catwoman, Poison Ivy, MR Freeze which eventually leads to the genesis of one of the most popular super heroes of our time – Batman. So this time, it’s darker, scarier and all about the rise of evil in Gotham.

Zeel Recently Tied Up With Dish & Sling TV

Zeel has recently tied up with Dish & Sling TV to expand its reach in US. Zeel has recently tied up with Dish & Sling TV to expand its reach in US. Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (Zeel) announced a landmark agreement with Dish & Sling TV to further strengthen its presence in the US Territory. As a part of the agreement, Dish & Sling TV will carry 27 new channels in addition to the existing 10 Zee channels, which will be available in varied languages like Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, Bhojpuri, Oriya, Rajasthani & Urdu. Post this alliance, the total number of Zee channels available in the US market will be 37 with a combined reach of 52 million or 5.2 crore homes (that includes English & Spanish HHs).

Prasar Bharati Is Not Opposed To Private Players’ Entry In DTT

Of late Prasar Bharati has issued a statement that it is not at all opposed to Private Players’ Entry In DTT. In fact
Prasar Bharati has always been in favour of opening up of the Digital Terrestrial Transmission (DTT) to private players, but of course it could not formalise the proposal owing to some internal pressure.
All said & done Prasar Bharti’s Chief Executive Officer Jawahar Sircar averred, “We had approved of DTT and allowing private players also to participate over a year back, but had faced resistance internally from certain quarters.” Besides the pubcaster was asked, by the Government, to prepare a base paper in this regard and draw up a business plan too. But this too, could not be done because of the unfamiliarity with market conditions.”

Star India Has Recently Dedicated 8 Channels

Star India has recently dedicated its 8 channels for a 24×7 coverage of Rio 2016. Living to its campaign tag line #issebadakuchnai, Star India will be pulling out non – stop coverage of the Rio 2016 Olympics games by dedicating 8 channels for the blockbuster event on a 24×7 basis. Beginning 5 Aug, 2016, the Brazil Olympics games will be broadcast in 2 languages namely English & Hindi.
Apart from the 8 channels, Star India will extensively cover the global multisport event on its OTT platform Hotstar. Together Star Sports & Hotstar will broadcast 3000 plus hours of the live content from the Olympics offering Indian sports fans every opportunity to catch every medal live. Star Sports HD channel cluster (Star Sports HD1, HD2, HD3, HD4) will mirror the SD one (Star Sports 1, 2,3, 4). Star Sports 1 & 4 and its corresponding HD feed will have the English language telecast & Star Sports 2 & 3 with the corresponding HD feed will telecast the Hindi coverage.

Zee TV Channel Recently Joined Weekend Ratings Battle with ‘Amma’ at 10.30pm time slot

Zee TV Channel has recently joined the Weekend ratings Battle with Amma in the 10.30pm time slot. Zee has joined the bandwagon in the race for the ratings amongst shows & slots. The Subhash Chandra led Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited premier Hindi GEC has pulled out its 1st 10.30 pm slot for an original fiction show. Zee has already airing its new finite series Amma in that slot from 25th Jun, 2016 every Sat & Sun. With this, Zee has joined Star Plus & Colors in the weekend ratings chase. Star Plus initiated the trend of airing fiction on weekends that was later followed by Colors which aired super hit shows such as 24 Season 1 in 2015 in the 10 pm slot on Fri & Sat. Colors added the just concluded Naagin in the 8 pm slot which has now been replaced by Kawach. The entrance of Zee in the 10.30 pm time slot will surely heat up the competition. There are other GEC’s too which are exploring weekend opportunities according to sources. Produced by Farhan P. Zamma, Amma is based on life of Jenabai Daaruwala, who is a well – known name in the Mumbai underworld mafia. The finite series will explore the journey of the rise of this female Don. The per episode production cost is approximately estimated from Rs 8 to Rs10 lakhs.