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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 …

RAMCHAND PAKISTANI-another from new age Pakistani cinema

After Khuda Kay liye, Pakistani films seem to be more interesting. In next few days, there is another gem “Ramchand Pakistani” is coming.

The movie is about a dalit hindu family living in border area of Pakistan. During the time of kargil war; a man and his son from this family; accidentally cross the border and goes to India, where they are captured by army as supposed to be Jasoos of Pakistan. And then there are consequences due to India Pakistan relations at that time. Story is also focused on status of a woman whose husband and son is captured in India. Wife’s character is played by talented Indian actress “Nandita Das”. Other actors Rashid Farooqui, Syed Fazal etc. are not much known to us.

I have not seen this film so I can’t say much. Gujarati daily Gujarat Samachar has published an article …

The Trailer is out!
I caught it along during Indy and it looks EPIC (kindly overlook the malnourished, pale Kidman if u wish)
its Baz’s AUSTRALIA. Enough said! Take a look

AUSTRALIA is an epic and romantic action adventure, set in that country on the explosive brink of World War II. In it, an English aristocrat (Nicole Kidman) travels to the faraway continent, where she meets a rough-hewn local (Hugh Jackman) and reluctantly agrees to join forces with him to save the land she inherited. Together, they embark upon a transforming journey across hundreds of miles of the world’s most beautiful yet unforgiving terrain, only to still face the bombing of the city of Darwin by the Japanese forces that attacked Pearl Harbor. With his new film, Luhrmann is painting on …

Aziz Mirza is back. Okay, Chalte Chalte was a damp squib- but that shouldn’t stop us from looking forward to his next release after quite some time. The first look of Kismat Konnection is out, and hey, it doesn’t look bad at all.

Thankfully, neither does its lead actress, the gorgeous but sartorially-challenged Vidya Balan, who after much flak for her wardrobe on and off-screen, manages to look quite pretty here. There’s no drastic ‘makeover’ as such, but Shabina Khan’s (who replaced Aki Narula after he had differences with Vidya) styling seems to have worked well, even if it isn’t absolutely stunning. One can safely say that you can finally get over the shock of seeing her dressed as a 70’s vamp at a jewellery store launch and as a Christmas tree at the Filmfare Awards.

Okay, enough about Vidya Balan- forgive my exaggerated concern about her costumes, but I think her …

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.

Say we’re playing word association, and say one of us says “David Fincher.”

The odds are 10 to 9 in favor of the other person going “FIGHT CLUB!”

That’s the reputation of the guy and the movie that made him immortal in our minds (in my mind at least).

So, why wouldn’t I be curious when I hear that the auteur and the actor are getting together again.

And curiouser when I come to know that the movie is an adaptation of Scott Fitzgearld’s flash fiction “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”.

Okay, it is not going to be a Palahniuk’s black comedy, but still… Fincher is known for his painfully meticulous (and not meticulously painful) adaptations - Zodiac is the case in point.

And the theme is fantastic.

The protagonist Benjamin Button is born as an eighty years old feeble man, and keeps aging in reverse until he becomes a baby at the …

Abbas-Mustan’s Race is scheduled to release this week. The film stars Saif Ali Khan, Aksahye Khanna and Anil Kapoor. The film also has Bipasha Basu, Katrina Kaif and Sameera Reddy to do the requisite dance numbers during fillers. As usual, this Abbas-Mustan flick is touted as a thriller. And as usual, ever since Ajnabee happened, I look at an Abbas-Mustan film with trepidation.
In a recent interview, the brothers have this to say about the movie:

The story was small earlier; we had been working on it since early 2006. Initially, the story ended at the interval. The basic story is the rift between two brothers and the race to compete, outsmart and outwit each other — the race of life towards success where one falls prey to greed.

Initially it was a small movie. Ok, so did they …

For sometime now, Indian films are having regular commercial releases in Pakistan – as far as I understand, on a case-by-case consideration. And after the initial euphoria of at last getting to watch Indian films legally on the big screen after all these years of watching grainy, pirated DVDs, the Pakistanis, I am told by some of my Pakistani friends from the film world, are starting to treat Indian films with the respect or contempt that they deserve.

But all this time, there had not been a reciprocal release of Pakistani films commercially in India, barring the limited release of the Pakistani-French-German co-production Khamosh Pani (Silent Waters) directed by Sabiha Sumar. Come March 28, things will finally change. That is the day when Shoaib Mansoor’s Khuda Kay Liye (In the Name of God) – a huge hit in Pakistan – is releasing in India. And there could not have been a …

The film begins, with a Stasi (East German Security agency) lesson on interrogation, involving the psychology of the detainee. If he is lying or not. The focus soon shifts to a drama theatre, where spies are keeping a close watch on a set of people. Such is the beginning of the film that engrosses the viewer to observe, what is going on, made to think. A very mature way of story telling.
Soon the plot unravels. An artist couple, Christa-Maria Sieland (theatre actress) and Georg Dreyman(writer) are under surveillance of Stasi spy Gerd Wiesler for their suspected radical views. It’s set up in East Germany at a time, when freedom of speech, expression did not exist even for the renowned artists. Dreyman’s director Albert Jerska, who is blacklisted by the state is one of them. Wiesler wires Dreyman’s apartment, hearing everything that goes in there from the attic. …

When i first saw the promo of Black & White, I found it interesting, even though it is directed by none other than the showman Subhas Ghai. Now I am not a fan of Subhash Ghai - I have not liked any of his films that much. I find his films to be lame, over-the-top melodramatic and cheesy. What has he done? I prefer to stay away from those sort movies.

But yet, this above promo of Black & White made me a bit curious about the film; it intrigued me. I was very itchy to find more about the movie. The promo looked like a film that I would want to watch it. I could not find any dope on the movie, but then apni Smritiji comes up with the synopsis of …

The good news first: Sultan the Warrior is being readied for a release
by the year-end. And the bad news: we will still have to wait for a
lot many months before we get to watch the boss in action, though in
an animated version.

The release of the second trailor of the film was held at a press
conference in Chennai on Sunday, and the atmosphere at the Inox theatre
was nothing less than electrifying. It was almost as if those present
were waiting for the premiere or the “first day first show” of a
Rajnikanth movie.

Sultan the Warrior is being produced by Ocher Studios in association
with Adlabs. The movie is being directed by Soundarya, the 23-year-old
daughter of the superstar and the managing director of Ocher Studios.
The animators and others working on the movie at Ocher Studios were
out in strength to cheer their MD and also to see how mediapersons
would react to their work.

And the moment Soundarya …

Hanuman Returns, hopefully, to end the year 2007 with a bang and make sure that the year 2008 is going to be Ravan-free. The expectations on this film are very high - even though it is not a sequel of Hanuman. Well, I am really excited about this film. I am no’ little kid, but I like animation films. Will the film meet my expectations/excitement? Why aren’t people excited about the film as much as I am?

I watched Hanuman the other day - I still enjoyed the film - albeit the film having heaps of flaws. I did/do not like the narration - it is too quick - and if I remember correctly, the film was promoted as a movie about baby Hanuman - but the movie shows everything! Then the movie is not synced properly. Basically, there were so many technical flaws. I found The Jungle Book to be …

Amidst the myriad cacophony of visual media which is hurled at us from the minute we wake up, its very difficult to find a meaningful stretch of frames which makes one pause and ponder. So its a stroke of luck which brought me to this digital short on the Buzz18 site (i was trying to locate another video for a friend of mine).

Iraada didnt blow my mind, but certainly made me smile- the kind of smile you have after having an amazing meal at a dhaba in some no man’s land, which you discovered accidentally. The name of the guy who made it rang a bell, so did the guy on the screen. Fellow PFCites might know him from before.

I thought it might be a better idea to let you hear from the horse’s mouth than rant on myself. So without further a do - i present Iradaa and …

Oye Oye Oye… this could be a pleasant surprise. I’ll admit my hair stood out as I first watched this trailer on the big screen. I wasn’t expecting much, having labeled the movie in my head as a “costume drama”… but this seems to be heading way above my zero expectations from it.

Though a few weren’t excited, the trailer has had a magical effect on me at least. In short. I love it (and the background track gets my heart beats on bullet speed) . So will this be the next colossal opus from India?

Check the trailer out and shoot in your opinion about it. Vote below on what you think about the trailer.

{democracy:23}

INT SATKAR BAR VIKHROLI, NIGHT

It was a nice get together with Surya whom I happened to meet after quite long time. He had been busy with the shooting of the latest film Horn Ok Please for which he is an associate director. Working in 9 to 9 schedules … Not even having the time/energy to FUEL himself up (For those who don’t know, FUEL is the brand of vodka we both prefer)

I was after his life urging him to kick start blogging about HOP. But he said in RGV style “I will talk you write!!! ”

I was like “Ok shoot!!!” (No Pun intended).

Over to Surya ….talking about Drinks .. Chicken .. films.. life… Horn Ok Please … and of course the most so called eccentric/loose cannon but supremely talented actor in bollywood called Nana Patekar

“
I’ve fallen in love with Nana. With the kind of ‘image’ that he has, …

Anurag Kashyap’s 4th feature ‘No Smoking’ opens with John Abraham’s K finding himself in an apartment in an unfamiliar environ of pristine blues & whites. There’s a Russian newsreader on TV, talking about a curfew that has marching soldiers ensuring upkeep. John looks out of the window – it is the same scene from TV, & he is in Siberia! This information he shares with the caller on the phone (Ayesha Takia) who John seems to know & asks for a cigarette while she reprimands him for his persistance with his craving for cigarettes. John puts-on a trench coat before stepping out for cigarettes, only he doesn’t know how to get out of this place. John breaks the French window & jumps out to land right into the hands of Russian soldiers whose army camp is based right here. John spots a bathtub in the far far distance lying all …

My novel, “that thing called Love” was launched in Mumbai on 25thSeptember last year. After the Mumbai launch, a Delhi reading took place on 1st November. Initial sales were pretty good, media reports were decent and most of the feedback I got from readers was positive.

It was in early March this year that I decided to do another event around the book. However I didn’t want it to be another reading session, which can get boring beyond a point. I woke up one morning visualizing a particular scene from the novel as it would appear on screen if the film, based on the book actually happens. And I knew what needed to be done.

I called up my friend, Manasvi and discussed the idea of shooting a short film based on the novel. He was pretty excited, especially as he had liked the book. However he suggested we shoot a teaser/promo …

Be the first to see a sneak preview trailer of The Forest, coming soon to theatres around the world. You can watch it on facebook or youtube…

The Forest is a grizzly thriller about human frailty articulated through man’s conflict with nature; our inadequacies when confronted by such forces and our frightening ignorance as to the effects of its disruption.

[youtube]D91xzHpUMqs[/youtube]

I’m not a huge fan of auditions, but when you’re past the point of remembering how many you’ve been to, you learn how to deal with them. Usually, the character description within the casting notices help me get into the right mindset for the role, but one too many times, I’ve fallen into the trap of over-preparing and end up losing the spontaneity and improvisation needed so badly at auditions. But when I saw a casting notice that PFC’s very own Shripriya had sent me, advertising a trailer shoot for Browntown, my eyes lit up!

Brownscape Productions, a small independent production company based in NYC, is seeking a Male Actor for the leading role for an upcoming feature film. We are currently casting for the trailer of the film; if you are the perfect choice, you may be chosen as the lead in the feature film as well. …

During the 5-day NY guerrilla shoot of Nishikanth’s “Mumbai Meri Jaan” and the location hunt for Nishi’s next, our Guide/Project Manager/Production Incharge was a creative genius called Vishal Bhandari and like many reading this, I never ever have heard of him.

A graduate of NY Film Academy, un-credited writer and production maverick of the NY shoot of Vettiyadu Veliyadu and a compelling film-maker in his own right Vishal is a person who speaks when he connects and gives you this look and feel of the film-making world that is miles apart from what you see, read and talk.

For 3 days I have been amazed by his hunger to tell stories the way he does, the kind of stories he wants to tell and the quality of the work he did. He has made 5 films to date – A Pocket Full of Dreams, Maaya, The Hang-Man, Kaalchakra and Bagh Dakhvun Hat …