Entertainment Archive

Mumbai, Nov 3 – Meghalaya Chief Minister D.D. Lapang has agreed to come on board the Mumbai Academy of the Moving Image (MAMI) so that his state becomes the next Bollywood destination for shooting films.

Manoj Rastogi, managing director and chief executive officer of Television Media and Communications and event associate of the 11th Mumbai Film Festival, had taken the initiative to approach Lapang.

‘This initiative was taken during the ongoing 11th Mumbai Film Festival (MFF) to promote the underutilised location of Meghalaya as worldwide film tourism,’ Rastogi told IANS.

Rastogi explained that Meghalaya was not exploited by the film industry as there wasn’t proper infrastructure in the state.

‘This place remained untouched by the industry as there wasn’t proper infrastructure or communication system. Now the infrastructure has improved manifold so instead of shooting in foreign destinations, they can use the virgin beauty of India as their shooting destination,’ said Rastogi.

Lapang is planning to build a committee or task force, keeping some renowned names from the industry as its members. He mentioned that this task force is essential as it is not easy to get into Meghalaya and shoot films.

The chief minister also aims to open an office in Mumbai so that any production house interested in shooting a film in Meghalaya can approach them.

‘I am looking forward to make Meghalaya the next Bollywood destination. I am not directly involved though, Manoj and Anish Gandhi (advisors to chief minister) are in talking terms with renowned celebrities of Bollywood,’ said Lapang.

When asked to name whom he thinks fits best as the committee member, he said: ‘I have Yash Chopra and Shabana Azmi in my mind, but I couldn’t speak to them in my last visit to Mumbai. Once the committee is formed I will sit with them in Meghalaya.’

Mumbai Nov 3 – Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Limited’s (ABCL) debut Marathi production ‘Vihir’ (The Well) was screened at the 11th Mumbai Film Festival here Tuesday.

‘Jaya Bachchan was my senior in Film and Television Institute of India (FFTII) and when I approached her with my script, she liked it and agreed to produce the film,’ said its director Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni.

The film narrates the story of an boy whose cousin dies and how he reacts to the first death he has seen in his life.

Madan Deodhar, Alok Deodhar, Renuka Daftardar, Mohan Agashe, Jyoti Subhash, Sulbha Deshpande, Girish Kulkarni, Amruta Subhash and Ashwini Giri play important roles in the film.

‘This is an autobiographical story and I was very keen to make a film on it. I have of course added some fictional elements in it,’ Kulkarni said.

When asked on how he thought the public might react to the film, he said: ‘The success of the film is not on how many people watch the film, rather on how deep a impression it makes.’

The world premier of ‘Vihir’ was held at the Pusan International Film Festival 2009.

‘I am lucky to have got a chance to show the film at Pusan,’ Kulkarni said.

Kulkarni’s first film was ‘Valu’ (The Wild Bear) in 2008.

When Mohan Agashe was asked about his role in ‘Vihir’, he said: ‘My character shows how a dominating approach can be oppressive for family members.’

Mumbai, Nov 3 – Bollywood veteran and politician Shatrughan Sinha, who has maintained his moustache throughout his 36-year-old film career, has now got rid of it for Ram Gopal Varma’s ‘Rakta Charitra’.

According to a unit source, it wasn’t easy for the actor to make up his mind to shave off his moustache as many of his family members, friends and associates were against the idea. But keeping in mind the look of his character, Shatrughan decided on the fresh look.

The Hindi-Telugu biopic is based on the life of the alleged outlaw Paritala Ravi and Shatrughan essays a pivotal role based on superstar-turned-politician N.T. Rama Rao, former Andhra Pradesh chief minister.

Actor Vivek Oberoi plays the lead in the movie and he will sport a moustache unlike in his real life.

Mumbai, Nov 3 – Veteran actress Sharmila Tagore has starred with her daughter Soha Ali Khan for the first time in ‘Life Goes On’, a film on British Indians that was screened at the ongoing 11th Mumbai Film Festival.

‘This is the first time Sharmila Tagore and Soha are sharing screen space. I have known Sharmila Tagore for a long time and from the very beginning I have imagined her in the character she is playing,’ said Sangeeta Datta, who has made her directorial debut with the film.

‘I have worked with Soha while I was associate director in Rituparno Ghosh’s ‘Antar Mahal’,’ said London-based Datta.

The story of ‘Life Goes On’ revolves around the cultural conflict between a father and his youngest daughter, with different sub-plots shown in flashback.

The story, script and screenplay are by Datta and detail the prejudices and Islam-phobia still deep-rooted among certain sections of immigrant Indians in London. It is a contemporary adaptation of Shakespeare’s ‘King Lear’ but it has a hopeful ending.

‘The story is the contemporary adaptation of ‘King Lear’, though the ending is more hopeful. It shows that love can conquer,’ explained Datta.

Sharmila Tagore, Girish Karnad, Om Puri, Soha Ali Khan, Rez Kempton, Neerja Naik, Mukulika Banerjee, Christopher Hatherall, Stef Patten and Aria Gitanjali Banerjee Watts played the lead roles in the film.

Datta worked as an associate director in Rituparno Ghosh’s films ‘Chokher Bali’, ‘Raincoat’ and ‘Antar Mahal’.

When asked about their performance while sharing screen space, she said: ‘They were as good as expected. They gave an amazing performance while shooting an extremely difficult scene.’

She said Sharmila is a perfectionist and even guides co-actors. ‘Sharmila wants the shots to be perfect. She helps her co-stars whenever required,’ said Datta.

The director wanted to cast veteran Bengali actor Saumitra Chatterjee, but he was not keeping well, so Girish Karnad was chosen instead.

‘I was very keen to rope in Saumitra Chatterjee but he was not keeping well those days. Thankfully, Karnad agreed,’ said Datta.

Lyricist Javed Akhtar translated two Tagore songs into Urdu for the film. Datta says this is the first time any Rabindra Sangeet has been translated into Urdu.

‘Rabindra Sangeet itself has been used in films plenty of times, but this is the first time the lyrics of such a song have been translated into Urdu with the same tune,’ said Datta.

She would prefer to call ‘Life Goes On’ a British movie.

‘I am a British Bengali but still hold an Indian passport. As the story is about immigrant Indians in London and has been shot with a British crew, probably it would be considered a British movie,’ guessed Datta.

The Mumbai film fest started Oct 29 and will conclude Nov 5. The film will also be screened at the Mahindra Indo-American Arts Council (MIAAC) Film Festival in New York this month.

Mumbai, Nov 3 – A Kashmiri by origin, Tariq Tapa was tired of films being made on Kashmir that revolved around terrorism. Having studied filmmaking in the US, he finally made his directorial debut at the ongoing Mumbai Film Festival (MFF) with ‘Zero Bridge’ on life and people in state.

‘In recent times, every film on Kashmir has had some reference to terrorism. I wanted to make a film on the people and their life in Kashmir,’ Tariq told IANS.

‘Zero Bridge’, which was screened here Saturday, is about a boy Dilwara who stays in the outskirts of Srinagar with his uncle after he was abandoned by his adoptive mother. Rebellious by nature, Dilwara hates his current life and secretly plans to join his adoptive mother in Delhi.

‘Zero Bridge’ has been nominated for the international competition for debutant directors at the 11th Mumbai Film Festival Oct 29-Nov 5. The movie, which stars people who are not professional actors, was completed in nine months. Further, it had no proper crew as Tariq donned the roles of director, lightman, cameraman and editor.

‘The film is about the normal people of Kashmir; so I chose among them. I had a tight budget; so I did the lighting, camera, direction, editing and marketing almost single-handedly. My producer Hilal Ahmed and my lead actor Imran Tapa assisted me to some extent,’ Tariq said.

Kashmiri by origin, Tariq was born and brought up in New York and studied filmmaking in Houston. He has done extensive reserach on Kashmir and its people.

‘I was doing this research for years and finally when I decided to make a feature film, the plot was already in my mind,’ he said.

Interestingly, producer Hilal Ahmed is a travel agent by profession and it was he who did most of the translation from English to Urdu to make the actors understand their dialogues.

‘Most of the actors in the film are unschooled and illiterate so I translated the English dialogues into Urdu,’ Ahmed said, adding that 50 percent of the dialogues were scripted on the set.

‘There was a draft of the dialogues, but 50 percent of the final dialogue were written on set,’ he said.

Imran Tapa, the lead actor of ‘Zero Bridge’, is Tariq’s cousin and he never imagined that he would end up acting in a film.

‘I am a student and had planned to join our family business. I became an actor by chance,’ Imran said.

Asked if he would continue with acting and try his luck in Bollywood, he said: ‘I’m not sure. I won’t run around for a chance in Bollywood. If things come my way, I will surely accept.’