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July 31

One of the most talked about film of the year, Kuselan (Kuselan in Tamil, Kathanayakudu in telugu) is releasing today.. The film makers and distributors are eyeing at a bumper opening as Pyramid Saimira has already bought theatrical rights for more than 60 crores. What makes Kuselan an extravagant affair is just one name Rajanikanth. The film is remake of last year’s critically acclaimed Malayalam film Katha Parayumbol and though Rajanikanth is just doing a Guest appearance of a Super Star (played by Mammootty in original), the film is customised to cash on each and every frame that Rajani appears in.. (Check out the trailer which confirms this). The film is produced by K Balachandar and being directed by P Vasu, a Rajani Regular.. The biggest superstar of India though is just playing a guest role, …

Hi Folks,

Attended the press conference of the promotion for Singh Is King, by it’s producer and lead actor, Akshay Kumar, on Friday, July 25th at the Universal City Hilton. Here is the text of the press conference. Questions were asked by the various journos in attendance. Mine are in bold. (Have not published a couple of real dh–uh..questions)
Q) How do you intend that a film which is titled “Singh is King” is going to appeal to the Non Sikhs/Non-Punjabis?
 
AK) Akshay pointing to the cross that he wearing. I don’t believe this film is only for a certain segment or sect, it is a film about a person from Ludhiana and it is about his positive attitude. What …

iView Author:Gajendra S Shrotriya
(Jaipur, India)
EMAIL:gshrotriya[at] yahoo [dot] com

Title: Gulaal � the last shot canned

Today 9th July 2008, place Jawahar Kala Kendra (JKK) in Jaipur. Since Sunday, I got occupied so much with my work that could not visit the Gulaal sets.

Tuesday evening, I checked with Vasan if the shooting was over for the day. If yes, what would be the location tomorrow? I immediately got the reply that it was already pack up for the day and tomorrow, the last day would be at JKK auditorium.

The day began with incessant drizzling. At around 3 �O Clock in the afternoon, I could go to the location. An indoor shot was being filmed on Raja. I could only hear some sounds which helped me understand that Dileep (Raja) was being ragged by his …

iView Author:Gajendra S Shrotriya
(Jaipur, India)
EMAIL:gshrotriya[at] yahoo [dot] com

Title: Gulaal � moves into the final leg of production

2 days ago I had missed to catch the making of Gulaal at Chomu Palace.

I had reached there at Chomu Palace but to be told that the unit packed off around 4�O clock in the morning. All through the way I was excited about meeting Vasan and AK. Excitement was more for the reason that I would get to see these people at work.

A similar excitement I had when I was driving to Hotel Clark�s Amer in Jaipur around twenty years back.
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It was our BE Third year at MNIT. We used to organize an All India Basketball Tournament in which national teams participated. I was in the organizing committee. That day we were planning who to …

Just returned back from the sets of Gulal.. For more than a week, I was so heavily occupied in the work, the I could not manage to visit the location (currently filming at Chaumu Palace, about 40 kms from Jaipur city).. and then came July 4th, the Independence day of US, became a day of freedom for me as most of my clients were busy spending time at a holiday… So I left early (9.30PM) from the office and directed my car on to the highway. It was an adventurous ride to the location.. I was so heavily engaged in my projects in last few days, that I forgot Vasan told me its Chaumu Palace and I took it for Chaksu (Near Chokhi Dhani, I remember Chokhi Dhani reference in the film so I did not even cared to confirm back) and I set off in a wrong …

At IFFLA this year, PFC finally got the chance to meet the director of two films that were highly appreciated by the critics and the audience alike. The films being OFFICE TIGERS & SHOT in BOMBAY and the director Liz Mermin.

OFFICE TIGERS was featured in 2007 and it was shown to a packed house. A docu-feature about a call-center in Chennai, the challenges, the management and people evoked very sharp and enthusiastic response so much so that the CEO of OFFICE TIGER invited for the QnA became an instant celebrity.

Mainak already did a through analysis of Shot in Bombay here and to add to it, the movie makes an instant reaction impossible to curtail through lucid story telling and attractive tit-bits into the unglamorous world behind the camera.

The following interview was conducted by TEAM PFC at the Portico of Arch Lights, LA. A big THANKS to Saurabh Dixit, the cameraman …

The wonder that was that Victory.

Victory and defeat, both are the parts of the life of any human being. One goes to surmount the whole world and he may be defeated by a small and simple thing produced before him by the nature. It is said that most difficult task in the world is to win the hearts of the people. It can only be done by the love and love is a phenomenon which happens on its own. Love can not be forced.

Victory and Defeat
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Every moment
Life plays the
game of check and mate,

But
By having a mate
one becomes a looser for a few moments only,
Life …

I arrived at the location a full 37 minutes after the witching hour, figuring I’ll still be the first. IST and all. But no, Badmash and Evelyn were standing outside the bar. From their unbridled disappointment at seeing me, I figured they were PFC.

We air kissed our hellos (Not), got a round of drinks and headed to the patio, It was Evelyn’s wedding anniversary, yet she said husband can wait. A PFC Meetup is more important, and hung out with us for most of the evening, while waiting on her husband to pick her up.

It was a small and intimate group and PFC author Shripriya put in a cameo.

I would be lying if I said that I was disappointed with the turn out. Not the folks that came(they were fun, and charming) …

Beginning …..

When you get a chance of a weekend where you get to watch an anticipated movie release on night and an opportunity to meet and reminiscence more on movies with fellow cinephiles, you don’t blink.

So I packed my bags and drove to an undisclosed location that Striker had passed on to me MI style braving the thunderstorm on my way. My hope was on the movie of the night and offcourse the afternoon to follow. Once there I got the glimpse of the striker and that was strike 1. After a Mexican dinner we were off to the theatre to watch Kamal’s 10 avatars.

What followed was something of calamitous proportions as far as movie watching is concerned. After the movie, there were two angry young( taking a bit of liberty) men freaking out at the keyboards. With Catharsis complete, curtains fell on day 1.

Day …

So it finally happened! When I’d first chhedofied the idea of a meet-up it was quite tentatively. You see, this was my first official Pfc meet (well, so it was for Pfc as well, hehehe) and till then I had met only Karthik Krishnan who is as scary in person as he sounds on the site so was wondering how would it be meeting others who just might be like him. Jokes apart, well, it was cool! Quite cool infact. :) And the others ain’t like him!

Prastut hain ek vistrit report apki samvaadaata Fatema Kagalwala se.

15th June, 5 pm Juhu Mocha it was and Karthik, Phoenixnu, Vasan, Kenny and yours truly kicked off the historic meet-up with cheering over glasses of water, well, in our hearts and minds. (I did. And guys, if you didn’t, then shame on you!) And we also did something that we kept doing …

It’s impromptu… It’s crazy… It’s never gonna make sense… It’s always a roller coaster ride. And hence for the first time, those private, secret PFC author meets are being blown open to all of you.

The first PFC Meetup for all readers (yes all and that includes you Oh Shy One) is on

June 15th 5pm at Mumbai.

Venue: Juhu Mocha ( map )

That’s the place where some of the PFC Authors frequent to catch up on what each one is doing. Ooopsss… sorry I’ve let the secret hideout of the Mumbai authors… but they won’t mind.

And I’m jealous of the place. Juhu Mocha looks a swell place to meet and chat cinema over a few drinks (tea, coffee or anything else).

…

iView Author: DT (Mumbai, India)
EMAIL:
withheld
10th Osian�s Cinefan Mumbai film festival��

The next edition of Osian�s 10 day Delhi-based Cinefan festival, begins with its 2 day Mumbai edition at the National Centre for Performing Arts in Mumbai.

The event will be held on the 13th and 14th of June, with a felicitation of Shammi Kapoor as its centrepiece. The helmer shall be honoured at the Grand Finale after a screening of Shakti Samantha ’s Kashmir Ki Kali.

The 2 day preview shall also witness the screening of some of the highlights of the upcoming 10 day Cinefan in Delhi, to be held between the 10th and 20th of July. Selections include new works by Hou Hsiao Hsien, …

In 2006, filmmaker Jehane Noujaim was awarded the TED Prize. Each TED Prize winner is allowed to ask for one wish and TED will leverage the power of the attendees to make the wish come true (pretty cool, huh?)

Jehane’s wish - “I wish to bring the world together for one day a year through the power of film.” Ta da - Pangea Day was born.

This Saturday, May 10, 24 short films selected from thousands of submissions will be broadcast globally. The films range in length from 2 to 15 minutes (most of them around 5). In addition to the films, a dozen powerful three-minute talks from scientists, film-makers, story-tellers and global visionaries will be featured. These talks will cover the latest ideas in anthropology, psychology and technology.

In addition to the main locations of Cairo, …

FULMARXX-Short films’ festival- 2nd day, 2nd session.

I thought somebody would cover this event. I waited but nothing happened. So here i am giving some details on fulmarxx. Friends, I am not a journalist so I have no experience of covering events. I am giving some details and my random thoughts on Fulmarxx- short films festival organized by MICA-EDC on 26-27th april, 2007 at Ahmedabad. This post is as per viewer's eye.

I wanted to catch whole event, but due to my personal and professional commitments; I watched only last session of fulmarxx short film festival. The Last session featured full shorts which had duration around 45 minutes.

1. Mid-shot (hindi)- It was about principles of Gandhiji and Nathuram Godsay and its relation to today's world. I liked it because of its pace, editing and music.

2. Kachra (hindi/telugu). The story is about street boys, a girl and child abusement. Concept …

Talking about Cannes, reminds me of Chetan Anand's Neecha Nagar, the Indian film which won the grand prize in the very first year of this film fest in 1946. Recently the film was screened in Mumbai. The print has its own story. A film personality found the print lying with the bhangarwala (junk dealer). He brought it for dirt. I guess there is no other print and doubt even our prestigious film archives have it. The person then telecined it and made a dvd, which was screened at the venue. I missed the screening. But few friends, who saw the film were raving about it. I so very much want to see the film. If anyone has it please let me know! It is ridiculous how poor we are at documenting our gems. Its not so easy to find films of masters our country has produced. The other winners I …

The carpet was green instead of red. Cause it’s the Green Earth Day. I look around the Arclight courtyard, the Mecca of movie fanatics in LA, and the buzz has started. The tents are put up. Volunteers trickling in. The short and swift meeting wraps up all that needs to be done. The press has setup their cameras, the opening night tickets shows a Sold Out ticker, I check my laces to make sure I do not trip over someone and get caught in a picture perfect moment, brush my jacket using my palms and the flight takes off…

It’s 3 am. And when I rewind the last 10 hours, I found myself to be quiet except the occasional bursts of energy. Unlike the young and hot and raring to go PFC authors, I like to drink in the scene and enjoy it. Age is catching up.

It was a subtle moment …

“I need 29 bags I need 29 bags”

There are six of us stuffing gift bags with various goodies for guests in the courtyard. Inside another twenty odd volunteers are busy getting gift bags ready for a different set of guests. The phone rings…

“Hi oz, this is Bipin…. Bipin Nadkarni”

My back hurts, my sinus headaches acting up in the chill flowing around AFI campus, I need my 29 bags for the event I’m managing, and in all that, the brain fails to register who is Bipin Nadkarni.

Mercifully the blank state of mind flows back into gear… darn that’s the brilliant director of Marathi Movies who’s movie has been selected for the festival.

Problem.

He’s at the airport.

Problem.

He’s trying to find his pickup… the volunteer sent to get him from the airport. Damn…

Pass the phone to Felicia.

Nitin, who handles the entire complex transport system for the festival, is off dialing the number of the …

We are happy to present the teaser for ‘PICNIC’ - a short film by our IView author Gajendra. He has deligently provided information about his short before and for the late comers amongst you you can catch the posts here - ‘Poster and Synopsis’ and here ‘A Short Thriller’.

iView Author:
Gajendra S Shrotriya
(Jaipur, India)

Email :
gshrotriya [at] yahoo [dot] com

PICNIC � The Teaser

Folks� finally the teaser is here. I am thankful to my production team to deliver this today. Let me have your feedback.

There has been discussions here before on Movies, their marketing and challenges we face in dealing with piracy - i say ‘we’ here for convenience sake (devlish-eheh). India Today organised a conclave with different entrepreneurs and main speakers Aamir Khan, Shekhar Kapur (moderator) and Ashok Amritraj recently (i believe they do it ever year) and aamirkhan.org has put up videos of the event on Youtube for all of us to see.

Aamir had this to say in an interview at the Conclave

Q: Taare Zameen Par touched many hearts. Do you think you have been successful in integrating commercial and art cinema?
Firstly, I don’t believe in the concept of art and commercial cinema. I have never distinguished them. For me, the main aim is make popular films which cater to the popular market, to the masses. To me, the audience is the one that decides. Cinema is an art form in itself. …

Its not everyday that a bunch of filmmakers I like, get together and converse on the medium. For such occasions I always had to depend on film festivals or even take a trip back in time during those glory days of DD. Most such occasion are fruitful when the moderator/interviewer is as well versed or at least someone who can hold his/her own amongst such august company.

Imagine, the thrill when Sudhir, presented the link to this gup-shup between Anurag, Navdeep, Rajat conducted by none other than Bharadwaj Rangan.

All about Old vs New Parallel Cinema - a lovely read this.

Excerpts

Nearly two decades after the demise of what was called Parallel Cinema, three filmmakers from a new age of non-mainstream cinema open up about then and now.

B Rangan: What is your personal opinion of the Parallel Cinema movement of the 1970s/80s?

Rajat Kapoor: I think great beginnings were made. There …