Archive for October, 2006

  • 4
    A Businessperson or an Artist?
    Hi Folks, So in my limited time with this group I take it that most people, at least who air their views in this forum, consider Yash Raj and Karan as business people first and artist second. I respect their views and also totally disagree. Films in my view are about mass communications (no surprise that it is taught in that department in most universities) so see no problem...
    by Vivek Kumar at October 31st, 2006 at 02:10 pm
  • 8
    Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero
    Directed by: Shyam Benegal Actors: Sachin Khedekar, Rajpal Yadav Year: 2005 Running Time: 222 minutes Apun Indian hain magar apne ko apni hee ithiaas ke baare mein kuch nahi maloom. So I was a bit skeptical about watching ‘Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero’, as I would not know what part is the fact and what part is fictitious. And I think, I should...
    by Honhaar Goonda at October 31st, 2006 at 12:10 pm
  • 41
    Role of Critics !
    Every Friday new films are released and few people, named as film critics, try to seal the fate of these new films through their review writings. Film critic has to earn bread and butter so s/he has to write about the films. No wonder some of the criticisms are sponsored also as a part of promotion of the films and some times there are well planned efforts to sabotage...
    by Rk at October 31st, 2006 at 06:10 am
  • 40
    A Brief History Of Rajini…
    Wearing a shabby looking coat and trousers, un-tucked shirt and loosened tie, one man opened a gate and entered into Tamil cinema’s collective consciousness. The fact that his on-screen entry in Apoorva Ragangal was accompanied by dissonance, has since become irrelevant given that his 30 year sojourn since then has been anything but that. Born Shivaji Rao Gaekwad in...
    by PROJEKT iVIEW at October 30th, 2006 at 06:10 pm
  • 13
    Is Piracy Overrated?
    Hi Folks, Another in my series of articles which I expect some strong responses against. I hear all this hue and cry about piracy, but then I go to Variety.com and under box office collections I see the following: American Desi — $1.5 million Monsoon Wedding — $23 million Bend It —- $60 million ABCD —– $120K (K= thousand) Green Card ——-...
    by Vivek Kumar at October 30th, 2006 at 06:10 pm
  • 32
    Monday Monologues… the first of many more..?
    I discussed this idea with oz, and he was all up for it, so I figured what better outlet? I got into acting during my final semester at Virginia Tech in 2001, where I took an intro course as an elective to satisfy my requirements for graduation. I had no desire to get into acting before this, and I looked at this class as an easy A. I finished the class with a B. But...
    by striker at October 30th, 2006 at 01:10 pm
  • 20
    Shift in main stream Bollywood towards realistic Cinema
    Considering the commercial success of recent films (starting from late 90s) Satya, Lagaan, Company, Dil Chahta hai, Sarkar, Black, Rang de Basanti, Omkara, Lage Raho Munnabhai etc. Even the relative success of the small budget films without Star cast at the box office eg. Page 3, Iqbal, Corporate, Hazaron Kwashian aisi, Khosla ka Ghosla, Dor, etc is a clear signal of people...
    by Manjeet Singh at October 30th, 2006 at 11:10 am
  • 40
    The ‘Guru’ is Back
    Guru is a very important film in the career of Manirathnam. Through this post, I do not wish to give out the already heard multiple grapevines about the film, I would just like to share my observations on the man the industry affectionately and respectfully calls Mani Sir, and assess what to expect from his latest venture. I have grown respecting his cinema more and more...
    by Tushar at October 30th, 2006 at 08:10 am
  • 10
    Engineering Bollywood
    I was reading Sumeet’s post on filmmaker Sekhar Kammula and what amazed me was the flurry of people in filmmaking with a background in engineering and the eagerness of lot many more to join the world of cinema. With whatever info I have I can tell Bollywood in particular has a lot of people with an engineering background. Be it the directors — Ram Gopal Varma, Nagesh...
    by PROJEKT iVIEW at October 29th, 2006 at 11:10 pm
  • 0
    To Play Up To Media Or Not!!
    This is a post, I did in 2004, in another yahoogroup. Since I have warmed up to the media, but may make for some discussion—Vivek   Hi Folks, My own reaction with the press is shades of grey. An incident when I was 17 developed it all. I was in Mumbai near Mantralaya (the Central Secretariat) when I see this female journalist slap a cop on duty and the next day...
    by Vivek Kumar at October 29th, 2006 at 11:10 am
  • 11
    Nandanam (2002)
    I don’t understand Malayalam. It is to me as any other foreign language as Japanese, Spanish or any African language for that matter. But I have heard a lot of things about Malayalam cinema. Mathew is a malu. Sometimes when I went to his house, I would find the whole family watching Malayalam movies on Malayalam channels. Everybody would be so engrossed in the movie...
    by Full2Faltu at October 29th, 2006 at 06:10 am
  • 25
    Film Education V/S Film “Real Life”
    Hi Folks,   Now that I completed the intensive UCLA certificate in screenwriting with flying colors, it gets me rethnking about this whole debate in relation to the film industry (both US & India)- Is there a need for film education? Does it harm or help? Unfortunately no simple answer here, just pieces of the puzzle. For every three act structure taught by the UCLA/USC/NYU’s...
    by Vivek Kumar at October 28th, 2006 at 01:10 pm
  • 2
    Don: Where’s the Attitude?
    Went to watch Don a few days ago with some friends and one of them requested me not to write a review after the movie came to an end. I resisted the urge but the writing bug got the better of me and here I am writing about Don. I tried my best to leave the comparisons with the original Don aside and I felt that the movie was…umm…well…not bad. Let’s look at the...
    by FenderBender at October 28th, 2006 at 11:10 am
  • 13
    Akira kurosawa
    Akira kurosawa’s RAN : Waah-miyan- shake-sphere – his best Warning: This is a looong review … Spoilers and dialogues galore!!! There’s something about Shakespeare’s plays… his tragedies in particular which rivet you and grab your attention. Be it the two adaptations by Vishal bhardwaj (Omkara- Othello, Maqbool- Macbeth) or kurosawa’s Ran (King Lear) and...
    by kartik krishnan at October 28th, 2006 at 02:10 am
  • 5
    Babel – Ambitious, watchable, but falls short
    This evening I watched Alejandro Gonzales Iñarittu’s third installment of his fragmented narrative trilogy, “Babel”, in what I must say was quite an exceptional theater at the Paramount Studios in Hollywood. Sadly, the film didn’t quite live up to the exceptionality of the theater. That said, let me articulate that I am a HUGE fan of Iñarittu’s...
    by Vijay at October 28th, 2006 at 12:10 am
  • 17
    The Case For Yash Tonk !!!
    Yash who? Exactly !! Tonk is a supporting actor in Indian films with notable appearances in Ishq Vishq , he is the Rocky who keeps giving ill advise to the leading guys and also was seen in a grey role in Feroz Khan’s Jahnasheen as Celina’s brother. The point is that this write up celebrates guys like Yash Tonk and Malika Shekhawat (co incidently both Haryanvi...
    by Vivek Kumar at October 27th, 2006 at 11:10 pm
  • 50
    my obsession with ramu
    get your brickbats ready. i’m ready to take the beating. bring it on! but you won’t change my mind. i’m coming out of the closet (but not in that way). i’m obsessed with ramgopal varma, and i’m letting the world know about it. ok, so the “world” here is a bunch of cinema franatics (freak+fanatics) just like me whom i’ve...
    by striker at October 27th, 2006 at 01:10 pm
  • 44
    NO SMOKING-Finally begun..
    Finally shooting has begun..finally Ayesha Takia is locked in..finally major problems have begun..The day before the shoot, finally when K(john abraham)’s car arrived,,i really didn’t know what i had gotten myself into..Pajero from the fiat era..that looked like a beaten up safari..now how can my character who lives on the 35th floor in worli, signs cheques...
    by Anurag Kashyap at October 27th, 2006 at 06:10 am
  • 1
    The Great New Wonderful – Hollow
    I’ve had this DVD on my shelf for almost a month now. Finally couple of nights ago, I decided to give this lesser-known indie flick a chance. With an impressive ensemble cast consisting of Edie Falco, Tony Shaloub, Jim Colbert, and our very own Naseeruddin Shah (and Sharat Saxena), one could expect to see interesting, well developed characters. For a film dealing...
    by Vijay at October 26th, 2006 at 04:10 pm
  • 17
    Dastak (1970)
    Dastak (1970) Director: Rajinder Singh Bedi Cast: Sanjeev Kumar, Rehana Sultan “Hum hai mataye koocha bazaar ki tarah Uthti hai har nigaah kharidaar ki tarah” What happens that woman who with every knock on her door has a man propositioning her? Think about the mindset of the man who is her husband but is treated as her pimp? What about those moments of intimacy, which...
    by PROJEKT iVIEW at October 26th, 2006 at 12:10 pm
  • 10
    Don & Kurosawa
    I never really thought I would utter these two words in the same breath. This is something I have been thinking about for a while and discussing with friends, so just thought I’d put it out there for you guys to weigh in on as well. Chandra Barot & Salim-Javed’s “Don” and Akira Kurosawa’s epic masterpiece “Kagemusha” (The Shadow...
    by Vijay at October 26th, 2006 at 10:10 am
  • 15
    Babel – releases Friday
    Babel, directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu (for which he won the Best Director award at Cannes) and written by Guillermo Arriaga, has gotten press for the controversies surrounding the director and the screenwriter. But the focus should be on the film itself. The movie that completes the trilogy started by Amores Perros and 21 Grams, Babel intercuts between four...
    by Shripriya Mahesh at October 25th, 2006 at 11:10 pm
  • 117
    Sekhar Kammula: Passion for cinema?
    As the movie went over budget, Mr.Producer, i will not charge any re-muneration untill we cut even, and once we make profit give me anything you wish Yes this is a new generation director speaking. A director whose motive is not to make money, whose motives is not to slit open a producers wallet. His motive is to make qualitative cinema. Cinema which doesnt throw...
    by OM at October 25th, 2006 at 08:10 pm
  • 3
    Jaaneman – Fun Unlimited But Some Depth Too!!
    Hi Folks, Sajid “Jerry Bruckheimer of India” Nadiadwallah’s JAANEMAN hits the theater today. Caught a media screening of that last night. This film was shot almost entirely in NYC, had Anupam Kher playing the role of a midget, for which he had to act on his knees for approx a month, no mean task and finally it was the film which fetched the highest gross...
    by Vivek Kumar at October 25th, 2006 at 04:10 pm
  • 5
    The Last King of Scotland
    The Last King of Scotland A couple of days ago I finally found time to watch “The Last King of Scotland”, a thrilling film about a young Scottish doctor and his tryst with one of the most ruthless men in the history of mankind. Quite frankly, this one’s the best thrillers I’ve seen since “Syriana”. It’s quite brilliantly shot...
    by Vijay at October 25th, 2006 at 12:10 pm
  • 5
    Jaan-e-mann – Aadhi Dekho!
    “Music tera baap bajaayega kya?!” Shirish Kunder has a fetish for spoofs; and he has amply and ably used that to add a zing to the film. Given all the anomalies, you can’t deny his prowess at storytelling and sense of grandeur on all aspects of the film. A unique pacing, packaging, sequencing and satire dazzle the first half with laughter, surprise and amazement....
    by Tushar at October 25th, 2006 at 05:10 am
  • 18
    Can Ghai reinvent himself?
    Subhash Ghai, the man who gave Indian Film Industry a sense of pride in its opulence and grandeur, is a school of cinema by himself. He has defined and redefined the genre of song-and-dance with a governing authority time and again. His cinema celebrates Indian culture in a much questioned stereotypical manner, but no one can doubt his command over the medium of narration...
    by Tushar at October 25th, 2006 at 05:10 am
  • 15
    Have you seen Chhal?
    (Hi! My name is Tushar, and you will be seeing me often here, for reasons good and bad.) Chhal: See it if you haven’t Somewhere along the noisy mainstream shootouts, encounters, crime deals, narrative shockers, there comes a moment of human emotions that is brilliantly captured by a rather slick depiction, helped by the able talents of the lead pair(both pleasantly...
    by Tushar at October 25th, 2006 at 05:10 am
  • 20
    Assistant Directors in Hindi Cinema ! Are they paid enough to live with self respect?
    Rediff Link Chandra Barot- Director of Original “Don” was working as an Assisting Director with Manoj Kumar (at the salary of Rs 457 P.M for nine years). Even in those old years of 70s it was not a sufficient amount to survive in Bombay. These days a film is made with Crors and Directors usually have few Assistent directors. Stars charge a handsome amount and...
    by Rk at October 25th, 2006 at 02:10 am
  • 4
    Lady Vengeance : Chan-woo Park’s best
    The dozen odd men and women sit on the bench in the lonely hall of the house hidden far away in the hills. They all are wearing transparent raincoats, each going through a range of deep intense emotions. They all have small pieces of paper with a number on it. Lady Vengeance walks in the hall and hands the weapon to the person who holds the paper with the least digit...
    by oz at October 24th, 2006 at 01:10 pm
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