'Aiyyaa' | First Look

BOLLYWOOD POSTERS | A dead art form

Bollywood previously employed over three hundred local artists to paint temporary art for the cinema. Now only one remains. Here is their story.

Videokaaran | Indie Movie

Videokaaran ( 73 mins )

Dir- Jagannathan Krishnan
Edit- Pallavi Singhal
Sound- Jayadevan Chakkadath

Cinema can help you better your life, film stars can give you moral
and spiritual messages that can uplift you. Sagai believes this. Sagai
is a film buff and his idol is South Indian Superstar Rajnikanth.
He grew up watching films in a semi legal video parlor in the mumbai
slums. When he came of age he started working in the same place as did
his father before him. The video theatre no longer exists. In a
charming, eloquent and often politically incorrect street speak, he
shares the story of his video theatre alongside his trip with films.

KARMA IS A BITCH | song from Shor in the City

DUM MARO DUM | First Look

7 Khoon Maaf | First Look

This Valentine, John Abraham, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Naseeruddin Shah, Irrfan Khan, Anu Kapoor, Vivaan Shah and Aleksandr Dyachenko will lose their heart and fall prey to Priyanka Chopra's lethal charm in Vishal Bharadwaj's & UTV Motion Picture's much awaited thriller, 7 Khoon Maaf! Here's the first look. The film releases on 18th February, 2011.

Tees Maar Khan | First Look

MASI thinks this definitely is the ITEM SONG OF THE YEAR.
Let's give it to Sheila and her jawaani (rising young age).

Film - Tees Maar Khan
Release Date - 24th December 2010
Song - Sheila Ki Jawani

No One Killed Jessica | First Look

New Delhi, 1999. The guns at Kargil are still blazing when another one goes off, this time in the nation's capital. Jessica, a young attractive model trying her hand at bartending, is shot dead at a celebrity party. Her crime - refusing to serve a drink after closing hours! The culprit Manish, son of a prominent politician, inebriated by a deadly cocktail of alcohol and a sense of entitlement, pulls the trigger in a fit of rage. With 300 of Delhi's swish set present at the party, many of whom are witnesses to the murder, Manish looks all set to go to the gallows. Except, that it doesn't quite turn out that way! Now two women, Jessica's sister, Sabrina and the feisty TV reporter, Meera will have to drum up every resource at their disposal to outwit Manish at his own game, if the truth is to have any chance of prevailing over money and political clout.
No One Killed Jessica, a dramatic new thriller from UTV Motion Pictures is inspired by real life events that followed the shocking murder of Jessica Lal in 1999. Directed by Raj Kumar Gupta, the film stars Vidya Balan and Rani Mukherjee and will release on 7th January 2011.

Guzaarish | First Look

Watch Sanjay Leela Bhansali create magic yet again along with the most mystical pair in Bollywoood - Hrithik Roshan & Aishwariya Rai Bachchan, in his upcoming film - Guzaarish. The Film releases on November 19th 2010.

Azeem-O-Shaan Shahenshah | Performed by Molee & Nathan

First Look: ISHQIYA | इश्किया

Abhishek Chaubey, writer & assistant of Vishal Bhardwaj, makes his directorial debut with Ishqiya. It stars Naseeruddin Shah, Arshad Warsi and Vidya Balan.

And if you havent seen the controversial promo of the year, do check out the video as well. Packed with some of the best lines….tumhara ishq ishq aur hamara ishq sex!

3 Idiots | By Aseem Chhabra

True Take on the much hyped movie 3 Idiots!

A few years ago a journalist friend questioned my appreciation of Bollywood films. He said that even though I admired works by the world’s greatest filmmakers, including Akira Kurosawa, Federico Fellini, Pedro Almodovar and Wong Kar-wai, I viewed Bollywood films with a different benchmark. I would like to believe that is not true. We have learnt to accept the weakness of a lot of Bollywood films by giving them the ‘time pass’ stamp We were arguing about Jodha Akbar. I had liked the film for its scale, visual imagery, songs, dramatic content and performances. My friend thought the film was a long drawn out melodrama and it did not measure up to world standards. I stuck to my position and, even today, I would recommend Ashutosh Gowariker’s grand drama. The issue has come up again. Last week, I wrote a review of Rajkumar Hirani’s 3 Idiots for another publication. My take on the film is that it holds a lot of promise, but ultimately, is very disappointing. Readers criticised me for not getting the film. If the masses have loved the film, then why would a critic like me write anything against it? This position does not bother me. A critic often has to live in a lonely place. It is a critic’s job to advise the viewers, but beyond that he/she has no control. A film like 3 Idiots, with all the trappings of a blockbuster – huge promotion, star cast, elements of comedy, melodrama – was bound to be a hit. But, now I feel I am arguing with friends on my take on 3 Idiots. A dancer friend in New York wrote on her Facebook status that she loved 3 Idiots, referring to it as a smart and a perfect feel-good holiday movie. When I questioned her statement, she responded by saying that I had been away from India too long and so had forgotten details about the country’s educational system and university life. So, now we were no longer discussing the strengths and weaknesses of 3 Idiots. The discussion had moved to how much of India I still remembered. Besides, why must a holiday movie have a ‘feel good’ sensibility? Lately, I have been hearing from a lot of people saying they would rather not see Precious – one of the best American films of 2009, because it is too depressing and bleak. I would like to believe holidays are a time to see good cinema and not just ‘feel good’ films. Another journalist friend also told me she enjoyed 3 Idiots. When I asked her to explain what she had liked about it, she said it was a perfect ‘time pass’ movie. This takes me back to my first friend’s comment. Why must we compromise our abilities and opportunities to appreciate good cinema by giving credibility to ‘time pass’ films? To me ‘time pass’ is a rather dangerous term. We have learnt to accept the weakness of a lot of Bollywood films by giving them the ‘time pass’ stamp. Instead, we should strive for a higher standard, the same benchmark that we use for the best of world cinema. Bollywood alone does not produce ‘time pass’ films. Hollywood is well known for its mediocre ‘time pass’ blockbusters, from 2012 and Independence Day, to the mindless teen horror films and more. But, Bollywood does produce an excessive amount of ‘time pass’ films and a lot of these films could be far better, if only the filmmakers would not sacrifice their artistic integrities. India has the most prolific film industry in the world. While we commend ourselves for the recognition that Bollywood blockbusters like Devdas and Om Shanti Om have received at major international festivals, we forget that these films rarely compete for awards and are mostly appreciated for the gloss, good-looking stars and over-the-top melodrama. Most of our popular Hindi language films still do not measure up to world standards. Maybe that is not always the aim of Bollywood filmmakers. 3 Idiots has broken box office records and, for the filmmakers, that would have been the ultimate goal. But, just imagine how much more exciting it would have been if 3 Idiots was not a flawed film.

A day in a life of performers | Bollywood Pre-Show Night

{SURE SHOTS} | Timeout Mumbai

Hindi movies are looking better than they ever have before. But is it mostly surface appeal with little substance? Nandini Ramnath surveys the scene. Also in this issue, Suhani Singh finds out if we’re ready to go digital,and cinematographers revisit their key films. Plus, we profile VK Murthy, Ashok Mehta and PC Sreeram.

They have state-of-the-art equipment at their disposal.

They get noticed in reviews and their names are often included in the publicity material. They are paid vastly more than they were a few years ago. So why do cinematographers complain so much about the state of camerawork in India’s largest film industry?

Projection facilities are often poor, especially outside big cities. The luminescence and colours of film prints that cinematographers see in a processing laboratory take on a different look if they aren’t projected properly.

Here’s a sample of what some of Hindi cinema’s leading cameramen have to say. KU Mohanan (Don, Aaja Nachle): “In Hindi films, even if you’re ill or dying, you have to look fantastic. We do what I call cosmetic lighting. The lighting is to cover up flaws. When you do that, the mood you want to create goes for a toss.

Several cinematographers confirmed that a big-ticket actor’s make-up, wardrobe and hairdo take precedence over the story’s requirements. “Often, costume designers start buying clothes as soon as they get an oral narration of the story idea,” Ravi K Chandran said. “They dress their actors according to the latest fashion trend. Costumes will be decided upon without consulting the art director or the DoP.”

Subrata Mitra, the acclaimed cinematographer who shot Satyajit Ray’s earlier films, once declared that only a handful of cinema halls in India projected films the way they were meant to be seen.

“When we shot a night-time battle scene in Lakshya, all we could see and hear on the screen was the sounds of guns and flashes of light,” said Farhan Akhtar, the director of Dil Chahta Hai, Lakshya and Don. “So the next time I’m doing a moonlit sequence, I will worry about the audience that is watching it in a single screen.”

Source: TimeOut Mumbai

Edited for blog: Abhinit Khanna

Full Story on timeoutmumbai.net

Rocket Singh | Salesman Of The Year

PAA | Starring Amitabh Bachchan

Yeh Mera Deewana Pan

Original
By Yahudi







Inspired
By Susheela Raman

Manjha

The Oscar winning director Danny Boyle will be releasing his film Slumdog Millionaire on Blu-ray soon. But he has surprised everyone by keeping a short called Manjha to be part of this Blu-ray DVD release. Manjha is directed by Rahi Anil Barve. The short film is about child sexual abuse and has won many awards. Rani Anil is currently busy preparing for his directorial debut with White Cloud Pictures. His forthcoming venture is titled Tumbad which is based on folk tales of Maharashtra with an underlay of horror.

Road Movie | सड़क फिल्म

Road, Movie Sneak Peek TIFF 09 from dev benegal on Vimeo.

Road, Movie directed by Dev Benegal and starring Tannishtha Chatterjee Satish Kaushik and Abhay Deol was India's first breakthrough feature at the acclaimed Toronto International Film Festival. The film was an official selection and had it's world premiere at The Winter Garden Theatre on September 18.

Daud | दौड़

Daud (Hindi: दौड़, meaning Run) is a 1997 Hindi movie by Ram Gopal Varma, starring Sanjay Dutt and Urmila Matondkar, with music composed by A. R. Rahman