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Bollywood’s Musical Round Up

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Salman Khan meets Mehbooba Mufti in Kashmir

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

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

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

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

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

Filmmakers in India at mercy of moral police: Indian American filmmaker

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“No, I did not,” said Kumar.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

India investing: Art of connecting the macro to the micro

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Author H. Jackson Brown Jr once remarked: “Opportunity dances with those already on the dance floor.” For global investors and businesses, India in the 21st century is that very dance floor — but we must hasten to add that the investment opportunities here come with a unique set of challenges.

Creating a business out of an opportunity that appears attractive at the macro level may be beset with challenges at a micro-level. Essentially, the country’s large market size in any sector presents a compelling investment opportunity, and yet the average return available per user may challenge the viability of the business model.

With rising incomes, immense growth opportunities will emerge in the coming decades across telecom, aviation and other such infrastructure sectors. The consumption of goods and services is expected to rise to levels approximating those of more developed markets such as China and the US.

Take, as examples, the case of optical fibre cable and airline seats per capita. The optical fibre cable (much needed for 5G technology deployment) kilometres per capita in India is currently at 0.09 vis-a-vis China’s 0.87 (as per CRU). In 2014, the annual airline domestic seats per capita in India stood at 0.08 vis-a-vis 2.59 in the US (as per the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, or CAPA).

Bridging of the gaps in these infrastructure sectors is the opportunity investors must set their eyes on. Despite the low airline domestic seats per capita, CAPA maintains that, in terms of tickets sold, India is the third-largest and fastest-growing domestic aviation market in the world. This gives one an idea of the business opportunity. With the expected increases in incomes in the foreseeable future, these opportunities will only become more attractive.

Despite a large aggregate market size, the lower per capita income in India leads to a low revenue per user. This phenomenon poses a challenge for prospective businesses. Vodafone presents an interesting case in this regard. In fiscal 2016-17, of its total global subscriber base of 341.7 million, 209 million were in India (about 61 per cent). Yet, revenue earned here was 6.16 billion euros, or just 12.9 percent of its total global revenue of 47.6 billion euros.

In a business such as telecom that requires significant capital expenditure, a low average revenue per user is a real challenge. The fact that the large subscriber base can deliver value in the future as the average revenue per user grows cannot compensate for the fact that sustaining businesses in the short to medium term can be confounding.

This apparent paradox of an attractive business from a macro perspective beset with challenges at the micro level, is not unique to just the telecom sector in India. This is a challenge that businesses in general face in a country that has a large aggregate economy, but low per capita income.

The key to success for business in India is determined by the ability of an investor to circumvent the divide between an opportunity at a macro level and the ground-level challenges. Strategies to succeed should revolve around both sides of the balance sheet. From an asset perspective, businesses need to potentially bundle services and products so that customers are willing to give the company a larger share of their wallet.

For example, for a telecom business this could mean offering connectivity and entertainment as a package, a trend that is currently emerging. A second strategy could be to acquire the assets of or merge one’s assets with another similar company to create economies of scale, a strategy Vodafone has adopted.

On the liability side of the balance sheet, businesses can innovate through prudent capital structure management to generate access to relatively inexpensive debt. Global interest rates are still at historic lows despite the recent rate hikes in the US. The global financial investor base is awash with liquidity and hence willing to provide high quality businesses attractive borrowing terms. A high-quality company in India can create a moat around its business by borrowing for the long term at relatively low interest rates and reap long-run benefits.

India does present a unique set of opportunities and challenges for global investors and businesses. That said, it is a major economy and in the years to come is projected to have one of the highest growth rates globally. One estimate is that the India’s will be the third-largest economy globally by 2050. A global business searching for growth will need to have significant market presence in India. We would advise patience and a differentiated strategy for success.

(Ians)

Cine Music Round Up

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Instead Caste and Religious Divisions, Our Democratic Journey Reflects Silent Revolution

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As the Indian Republic turns 70, Tufail Ahmad begins a journey through the country to examine the working of democracy at the grassroots level. Inspired by the French author Alexis de Tocqueville, who toured America and wrote Democracy in America, the author — a former BBC journalist and now senior fellow at the Washington-based Middle East Media Research Institute — will examine how sociological realities of India and the promise of democracy interact with each other in shaping the lives of the Indian citizen. This report is the sixth in a series called “Democracy in India”.

Ajmer: On this trip to examine the workings of democracy in India, I met three senior citizens who are in their 70s-80s: Ram Bhuwan Singh Kushwah in Bhopal, Suryadev Bareth of Kishangarh-Bas near Alwar in Mewat region and Om Prakash Sharma in Ajmer. All of them have witnessed the inter-generational journey of democracy in India.

Kushwah has forty years of experience in journalism and was part of the anti-Emergency struggle. Bareth is a highly learned person, was awarded Padam Shri in 1971 and has served as pradhan (panchayat head). Professor Sharma has taught political science for three decades at the DAV College in Ajmer.

Since all three are well placed by the factor of their experience and age to comment on India’s democratic journey, I asked them to comment on what distinguishes the early decades of our democracy from the recent decades. The first change seems to be the political parties opening wings in the name of minorities, Scheduled Castes & Tribes, and later women and Other Backward Classes (OBCs).

Representational image. ReutersRepresentational image. Reuters
Kushwah says that in the first few decades since the Constitution came into force in 1950, there were no wings in political parties, but by the 1970s, non-Congress parties began forming morchas (fronts) in the name of caste and religion.

Kushwah, now associated with the Swami Vivekananda Kendra, recalls that in the 1970s when the Jan Sangh formed caste-based morchas, its members opposed this move, but today even the BJP, the successor to Jan Sangh, has established such morchas as a permanent part of the party structure.

In reaction to the Jan Sangh, Congress too established SC/ST and minority wings, he says, adding that before this, such caste-based and religion-based “cells” used to exist only in the apparatus of government. It means that caste and minority, which were part of a constitutional mechanism to alleviate the backwardness of these marginalised communities, have spread from government institutions into the political culture of Indian democracy, and further into society.

Consequently, with the march of democracy in India, we are also witnessing the growing role of caste and religion in causing social fissures in our society. This might also be due to the fact that democracy is empowering certain marginalised communities while disempowering communities which have traditionally held a grip on power. Caste is a good example to explain this.

The 2 April Bharat Bandh organised by Dalit communities was met with a rival bandh on 10 April called by the upper, so-called general castes who demanded an end to the provision of reservation in jobs and legislatures. In this entire process, it is forgotten that caste has been effectively a system of reservation in Indian society for thousands of years. Nothing has changed this system, not even the quota offered under constitutional provisions.

Professor Sharma observes that caste was not a factor during the 1950s and 1960s, but it has entered our political system now. “Jativad (casteism) was started by Charan Singh from Uttar Pradesh,” he says, adding that it acquired deeper roots in Indian polity when VP Singh decided to implement the Mandal Commission report on the reservation for OBCs.

Sharma insists that while some groupism existed involving socialists and communists in our politics in the early decades of democracy, casteism did not. The third part of this series on the workings of democracy examined the turbulent cyclical relationship between caste and politics in India.

About the role of religion which divided India in 1947, Sharma notes that while the politics of religion was fostered by Muslim leaders, it was also used by Sikh leaders like Master Tara Singh who had initially demanded a separate country for Sikhs and later limited this demand for a province.

It is also the case that the Congress under Jawaharlal Nehru had been seeking the help of Imam Bukhari of Delhi’s Jama Masjid right from the 1950s to garner Muslim votes. So, current political parties wooing Islamic clerics for votes may not be something new to Indian democracy.

While the Congress held dominance over the Indian democratic system in early decades, several new political parties emerged subsequently. With the birth of regional parties in different states such as Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, the nature of Indian polity altered and a “multi-party system” began emerging.

Suryadev Bareth, former Pradhan of Kishangarh-Bas in Alwar district. Firstpost/Tufail AhmadSuryadev Bareth, former Pradhan of Kishangarh-Bas in Alwar district. Firstpost/Tufail Ahmad
“As the new parties came up, they began thinking of their own interests,” Sharma says, adding: “In the 1950s and 1960s, no one would even think so much of vote-banks as we think of now.” The focus of political parties subsequently turned, he says, to building and entrenching their long-term vote-banks.

Therefore, Indian democracy began changing fundamentally in the following respects: caste became a key factor in our politics; the use of religion in our politics continued despite the bloody experience of the partition; the proliferation of political parties led to the creation of vote-banks.

Suryadev Bareth is an optimistic person even in the face of worst criticism. He notes that political parties are in the process of Darwinian transformation. “Caste and religion are not something new. Parties are expressive of new realities,” he says, adding that India has made great strides given the fact the Islamic invasions and the British rule had created gaps between the rulers and the ruled.

“In the 1950s and 1960s, power was concentrated at the top, but with the march of democracy there is a big devolution of power to districts and villages,” Bareth says. He cites some achievements during past 70 years of Indian democracy: the gradual erosion of caste from social, if not political, life; spread of women’s education across India, independence of the judiciary, positive role of the Election Commission of India, and legislative measures such as the Right to Information Act and the Panchayati Raj system introduced by the 73rd Amendment. He is right.

As per the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, there are 2,48,752 elected councils at the village level, 6,307 at the intermediate level and 601 at the district level. There are 19 states which provide for 50 percent reservation of seats to women in Panchayati Raj institutions. Even though the elected women sarpanches are mostly represented by their husbands and sons in meetings, they are also learning along the way.

In 2016, out of 29,11,961 elected representatives, at least 13.45 lakhs were women. This might be a silent revolution taking place in India. Its fruits will be seen in next few decades as more educated women take charge of village councils.

As I took his leave, I asked Bareth: Should the new generation of Indians worry about the use of caste, religion and widespread corruption in Indian democracy? Bareth writes Urdu ghazals. He said he once met a poet in the town of Tonk in Rajasthan and asked him, why is it that Tonk produces many Urdu poets?

He got a reply: “Hamein daad dena aata hai (We the people of Tonk know how to praise poets).” He told me: “Logon ka savbhav hai ninda karna (people’s character is to criticise). We should learn to appreciate our achievements.”

Bollywood Films Round Up

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Kalank Goes On The Floors.

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

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


Hindi Medium Crosses 200 Crores In China

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

IMAX Signs 9 Screens Deal With Cinepolis & Inox.

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

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


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

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


Salman Khan Began Shooting Of His Next Movie Bharat

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


‘Walking With The Wind’ Bags 3 National Awards

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

Sunil Grover Roped In

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

MAMI’s Collaboration With Carnival Cinemas Kicked Off

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

Fryday To Release On 25th May 2018

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

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

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

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

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

BHOJPURI FILMS ROUND UP

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Jung Siyasat Ke Releasing On 4th May, 2018

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

Dil Dhadkela Kehu Ke Pyaar Mein Back From Locales Hunting

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


Kahani Kashi Ki Trailer Launched On Youtube

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

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

Southern Stars Round up

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Jeevitha Sends Young Girls To Have Sex

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

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

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

Tollywood Beauties Caught In MMS Scandals

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

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

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

‘Sanju’ teaser to release on April 24 morning

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(IANS)

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