Star Trek: Discovery actor Anthony Rapp recently went on record to recount the time actor Kevin Spacey made sexual advances towards him. Deadline reports that the House of Cards actor allegedly made a pass at Rapp in 1986 when the two were working together on the Broadway play, Precious Sons. Spacey was 26 and Rapp was 14 years old at the time.
The incident took place at an after party at Spacey’s apartment, when the latter put Rapp on bed and climbed on top of him.“I was aware that he was trying to get with me sexually,” he said.
Rapp, now 46, told Buzzfeed News in an exclusive interview about how he felt anger and frustration towards Spacey especially since he flourished in his career with Tony and Oscar awards to his credit. “I still to this day can’t wrap my head around so many aspects of it. It’s just deeply confusing to me,” he said.
Anthony Rapp Credits: Star Trek.com
Rapp said he felt compelled to come forward after several victims started opening up about their abuse.
Spacey responds
Meanwhile, Kevin Spacey responded to Rapp’s allegation with an apology. While he said that he didn’t remember the incident, he claimed to use this revelation as an encouragement to change things about himself. He also openly declared himself as a gay man and vowed to examine his life.
Amidst Spacey’s note, Rapp took to Twitter about not sharing any further comments on the matter.
I came forward with my story, standing on the shoulders of the many courageous women and men who have been speaking out 1/3
A quick look at everything making news in the world of cinema today!
Sign On
Suriya’s next will go on floors from January 2018
Newsworthy
Vishal has donated Rs 10 lakhs to the Harvard Tamil chair
Adam Sandler is facing criticism for touching Claire Foy’s knee on Graham Norton’s talk show
Dhanush has reportedly signed Kannada actor Rishi for a new film
Spotlight
Aditi Rao Hydari says that her role in Padmavati will leave a mark. “It’s not a major role. When I signed on for Padmavati, I knew very well it was going to be a small part. But, Sanjay Leela Bhansali sir presents all his women so well,” she said.
“In Goliyon Ki Raasleela – Ram-Leela, Richa Chadha had a brief role, but she made an impact. I am sure I will leave some impact in Padmavati. No one who works with Sanjay sir comes away without benefiting from the association.
“I want to be happy in what I do. I don’t want to work with people who spread negative vibes,” she added.
Let them eat cake!
Actor Dalip Tahil, singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya, director KV Anand will all turn a year older today!
The Malayalam film Chunkzz, released in August this year, is all set to get remade in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. Director Omar Lulu might direct the film in these three languages too.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, the director of the adult comedy said that established actors from each of the film industry will be roped in for the remake.
The film, recognised as comedy campus film, is about four friends Romario (Balu Varghese), Riyas (Ganapathi S Poduval), Yudas (Vishak Nair ), Athmaram (Dharmajan Bolgatty). The story takes a new turn when Romario’s childhood friend Riya (Honey Rose) joins their college, with each of the boys vying for her attention.
Music was by Gopi Sunder, and produced by Vaishak Rajan. The film made a decent amount of Rs 15.3 crores at the box-office, with mixed reviews.
Last week’s releases were quite cold, with Mohanlal’s Villain being the biggest release. Despite four new movies releasing, it’s Mersal which continues to make news in terms of box office report.
Mersal, starring Vijay, has crossed the Rs 100 crore gross mark in Tamil Nadu. In North America, the film has grossed $1,636,334. And in the UK, the film has earned beyond half a million pounds.
#Mersal crosses Half a Million Pounds in #UK.. 11 Days Gross – £508,459 [₹ 4.3 Cr] – Phenomenal Achievement..
Starring Vijay in triple roles, the film has a star cast of Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kajal Aggarwal, Nithya Menen, Vadivelu, and S J Suryah. The film opened to a record-breaking box-office collection in Tamil Nadu. According to a report in Forbes, first day collection was approximately Rs 31.3 crore. In fact, it’s on its way to earning Rs 2oo crores at the box office.
Another film released on the same day as Mersal, Rohit Shetty’s multi-starrer Golmaal Again continues to rage at the box office. As of this weekend, trade analyst Taran Adarsh says that the film has earned Rs 153.94 in India alone.
#GolmaalAgain is in no mood to slow down… Is a RAGE at the BO… [Week 2] Fri 7.25 cr, Sat 10.61 cr. Total: ₹ 153.94 cr. India biz.
Villain directed by B Unnikrishnan, and has stars like Mohanlal, Vishal, Srikanth, Hansika Motwani and Raashi Khanna in important roles. Mohanlal plays the lead, as a retired police officer in this investigative thriller. The film reportedly opened to a fairly good number – Rs. 4.91 crore to become the all-time highest Malayalam opener at the Kerala Box Office. Release on October 27, the film was screened in 253 theatres across the Kerala.
Hindi film Jia Aur Jia, starring Kalki Koechlin and Richa Chadda, was all set to be the girls-only travel film about friendship and discovery. However, the film, directed by Howard Rosemeyer, was critically panned and has managed to collect a meager Rs 12,50,000 all over India, an amount that is usually declared a flop.
Other releases such as Kalathur Gramam and Kadaisi Bench Karthi‘s box office reports are yet to be disclosed.
Padayappa is a super hit Rajinikanth film. It sets up a powerful woman – Nilambari, played by Ramya Krishnan, against Padayappa, a powerful man, played by Rajinikanth. A particularly important scene from the movie sees Nilambari and Padayappa at the former’s house, where a demure Vasundhara played by Soundarya – Nilambari’s domestic help, serves tea. Vasundhara accidentally drops a cup, at which Nilambari rises up in anger to slap her.
Padayappa intervenes, restrains Nilambari’s hand and delivers a long speech about the character of women. Women ought not be angry, ought to be meek, ought to be this, ought to be that… it’s a long speech filled with instructions and codes of behaviour, and ends with a final punch line: A man who desires in excess, and an overly angry woman do not live well.
This scene, and the lines delivered by Rajinikanth was repeated ad nauseum by everybody, for the next few years. It became somewhat of a canon, and comes at the end of a long series of similar dialogues by Rajinikanth, and indeed, every other Tamil cinema hero. Tamil cinema attempts repeatedly to “tame” the “wild horse” woman, and make her a “pure” Tamil woman.
When people are asked about sexism in cinema, invariably these lines and similar scenes are pointed out.
And that’s true. These scenes do point to a deep underlying sexism and misogyny in society. We have strict codes of behaviour for women, and loose guidelines for men. Society and institutions have been designed, and have evolved over the years to benefit men and hinder women. One of which is what, and how, women express emotions. Women can cry, or laugh, or feel sad. No woman can lust, no woman can desire. No woman can be angry or loud. No woman can express ambition and hope. Unless it is the hope to get married to a nice, good, man chosen by the family, and hope for nice, good, children.
Sexism is rampant. Misogyny is ubiquitous. And cinema exhibits it and reflects it. But the Padayappa scene, and others, are just one aspect of it. We see it on screen, and depending on our personal beliefs, locations, and situations, we either applaud it or decry it.
A deeper form of sexism exists in how cinema is made, and that is not immediately seen on-screen. This is a more insidious, more damaging form of sexism, and is merely the extension of what is prevalent in larger society.
A team of researchers from IBM India, IIIT Delhi, and DTU-Delhi, undertook a study of sexism in Hindi cinema – popularly referred to as Bollywood. The researchers analysed over 4,000 films released since 1970, and arrived at their conclusions.
In their study, the researchers looked at Bollywood movie plots, published scripts of films, trailers, posters, and other visual depictions of movies, to look at how sexism and bias is reflected.
The team studied the following aspects:
I) Occupations and Gender Stereotypes – How are males portrayed in their jobs vs females? How are these levels different? How does it correlate to gender bias and stereotype?
II) Appearance and Description – How are males and females described on the basis of their appearance? How do the descriptions differ in both of them? How does that indicate gender stereotyping?
III) Centrality of Male and Female Characters – What is the role of males and females in movie plots? How does the amount of male being central or female being central differ? How does it present a male or female bias?
IV) Mentions (Image vs Plot) – How many males and females are the faces of the promotional posters? How does this correlate to them being mentioned in the plot? What results are conveyed on the combined analysis?
V) Dialogues – How do the number of dialogues differ between a male cast and a female cast in official movie script?
VI) Singers – Does the same bias occur in movie songs? How does the distribution of singers with gender vary over a period of time for different movies?
VII) Female-centric Movies – Are the movie stories and portrayal of females evolving? Have we seen female-centric movies in the recent past?
VIII) Screen Time – Which gender, if any, has a greater screen time in movie trailers?
IX) Emotions of Males and Females – Which emotions are most commonly displayed by males and females in a movie trailer? Does this correspond with the gender stereotypes which exist in society?
The study, published recently, concluded (in agreement with what many, many, many, many women have been saying for years now) that sexism is displayed at an “intra-sentence” level, at a “inter-sentence” level, in these 4000 Bollywood films, and takes the form of how women are named, what words describe them, their relationships and positions in the film, what professions and aspirations they express in the films, how they are depicted on posters vs. how they are depicted within the movie, how much screen time they have, how much dialogue per film they get, and what emotions they can exhibit.
Take, for instance, this finding by the Indian research team.
Gender study 05
In mainstream films, such as Haider, Maqbool, Kaminey and others, released within the last few years, men on an average spoke for more than 65 percent of the movie. Even a film, touted as a feminist masterpiece, and one which made all the headlines for being progressive and spoke for and on behalf of women, literally spoke over the women. Men spoke for more than 75 percent of the time in Pink.
Only films like Queen, Nil Battey Sannata, Neerja, and Highway, which were “women-oriented” films, did the women have anything to say.
As we earlier saw, a group consisting of only 17 percent women, is seen as equally distributed between the two mainstream genders, and a group with 33 percent women is seen as “women dominated”.
While “women oriented” films are on the rise, and more women have more, well defined roles in cinema these days (it took someone with the power and influence of Jyothika to push for Magalir Mattum) they are clearly exceptions. Your average film – Kapoor and Sons, Raman Raghav, and here in the south, films like Mersal, Muthuramalingam, Meesaya Murukku, and more, routinely get away with showing women in relation to the other men, not as living beings with their own wishes and hopes, and motives, in other words, with agency of their own. A woman in your average Bollywood film is either a man’s daughter or a lover, and is written into the script, and described in the plot, and shown on screen, as nothing more than that.
The research team opens their report with an example of that:
Movies are a reflection of the society. They mirror (with creative liberties) the problems, issues, thinking & perception of the contemporary society. Therefore, we believe movies could act as the proxy to understand how prevalent gender bias and stereotypes are in any society. In this paper, we leverage NLP and image understanding techniques to quantitatively study this bias. To further motivate the problem we pick a small section from the plot of a blockbuster movie.
“Rohit is an aspiring singer who works as a salesman in a car showroom, run by Malik (Dalip Tahil). One day he meets Sonia Saxena (Ameesha Patel), daughter of Mr. Saxena (Anupam Kher), when he goes to deliver a car to her home as her birthday present.”
This piece of text is taken from the plot of Bollywood movie Kaho Na Pyaar Hai. This simple two line plot showcases the issue in following fashion:
1. Male (Rohit) is portrayed with a profession & an aspiration. 2. Male (Malik) is a business owner.
In contrast, the female role is introduced with no profession or aspiration. The introduction, itself, is dependent upon another male character ”daughter of”!
Other aspects of the research focused on stereotypes of occupation, emotions, and the like. For instance, most women are shown as either school/college teachers, or as secretaries. It’s rare that a woman character is shown as a police officer or the head of a large business. Further, even in such depictions of teacher or doctor, the women will invariable need to be “rescued” from the evil villain, by the powerful hero. At much destruction to public property, the man will have saved the day, and the woman will have fallen in love with her ‘knight in shining armour’.
Gender study 03
Men, on the other hand, are often shown in positions of power and authority, or as angry young men, rebels who change the corrupt system single-handedly.
Gender study 01
Sexism in cinema isn’t just about the roles women play or the relationships they are permitted to have. After all, it is the rare Hindi or Tamil cinema that passes the Bechdel-Wallace test. It is also literally about how often they are seen on screen.
Take the film Mersal, for instance. Yes, there are strict parameters of what a masala, mass film can be. The man, the hero, is the only reason for that film. Everybody else exist to prop the hero up. But even within those parameters, some films manage to show women as being central to the plot – either a sister or a mother, or a lover. Motta Siva Ketta Siva, one of my favourite masala films, actually centralises a woman – especially a disabled woman who builds her own family of choice – and it is her death that the hero avenges. And in that revenge, in the action, a transgender woman becomes an important character, and the hero vows to protect her. However in Mersal, the women are entirely incidental, and entirely unnecessary to the film. Between the four actresses, they share a total screen time of about 25-30 percent.
As the researchers discovered during their study:
1. Screen-On Time – The figure below shows the percentage distribution of screen-on time for males and female characters in movie trailers. We see a consistent trend across the 10 years where mean screen-on time for females is only a meagre 31.5 percent compared to 68.5 percent of the time for male characters.
Gender study 08
The screen time women have is further complicated because women are rarely mentioned in the plot synopsis, or named in the script. A woman, unless she is a lover of the hero, is not mentioned by name.
Joss Whedon’s original script for the Wonder Woman film was called out, particularly, for its treatment and its sexism. The script initially was written around Steve Trevor the airplane pilot and Diana’s love interest, and the first mention of the pronoun “she” was used for an airplane, and not for any of the Amazon women.
Thanking the entire universe for not allowing the sexist & terrible Joss Whedon Wonder Woman to ever get made. pic.twitter.com/xZrBsjmVY4
Even “progressive”, “feminist” films such as Pink, Dangal, Irudhi Sutru/Saala Khadoos are really man-as-saviour films disguised as feminist statements. The man – lawyer, father, coach – are the ultimate authority figures and the women become their willing dependents, slaves, students, in a larger battle the man has, against the other man.
The study however holds out hope. It shows that the gender bias and sexism in Bollywood is slowly changing and more films are written with and for women. But till then:
After analysing 4,000 films, researchers confirm that Bollywood movies are still crazy sexist https://t.co/CfVgUFXR94 via @qzindia
One of the Bigg Boss Hindi contestants, Hina Khan, made a comment on the show that she turned down two south films because the directors wanted her to be fat. This comment did not go down well.
Hina spoke of how she said ‘no’ to two south films as the director wanted her to put on weight to look ‘bulgy’ in the saree. “They pay a lot but I turned down the offers,” she said on record.
Actress Hansika slammed Hina Khan in a series of tweets saying she is very proud to be a part of south film industry.
Doesn’t she know a lot of Bollywood actors hv worked & are working in the our south industry ! Shame on you #hinakhan for trying 2demean us https://t.co/6ByNcYt8yI
As an actress from the south industry, I would like to say I’m very proud be from our south industry and whatever #hinakhan is saying (cont) https://t.co/6ByNcYt8yI
Vikram Vedha, starring Madhavan and Vijay Sethupathi will be screened at 30th Tokyo International Film Festival(TIFF) at Toho Cinemas, Roppongi in Tokyo at 8.10 pm (Tokyo time).
Director Gayathri, who is in Tokyo for the screening tweeted:
The film directed by Pushkar and Gayathri, was bankrolled by Y Not studios. The film, which opened to tremendous response, was critically acclaimed as well. The film is now being remade in Telugu with Rana Daggubati and Venkatesh.
TIFF, which started in 1985, is one of the biggest film festivals in Asia.
Kannan Rangaswamy, director of the thriller film Dhayam, died today at a hospital in Sriperumbudur. He was 29. The director had suffered a heart attack recently.
Satish Selvam, music director of Dhayam and also a close friend of Kannan, told Silverscreen, “He was admitted in the hospital last month due to a sudden heart attack. That was his first ever attack. For the past 40 days he was in the hospital for the treatment. Last 15 days he went into a coma and died this morning at 5 AM in the hospital. I’m shattered as I have lost my very dear friend and a good human being. He was so young and wasn’t so old to die this early.”
Kannan hailed from Pondicherry and Dhayam was his first film, which was released in March this year.
Actor-filmmaker Prabhudheva has choreographed Amitabh Bachchan for a song and the actor seems to have had a tough time shaking a leg at age 75.
Amitabh shared a throwback image of himself on Twitter on Sunday and wrote:
T 2695 – At 75 made to dance .. and accomplish that, which Prabhudeva, the genius directs ..? happy you are home instead of an asylum ?? pic.twitter.com/PiFtvL3QMv
Amitabh Bachchan didn’t share any details about the project.
The Piku actor, currently seen as a host on popular game show Kaun Banega Crorepati, has films like 102 Not Out and Thugs of Hindostan in his kitty.
Meanwhile, Amitabh has wished luck to Bengali actor Prosenjit Chatterjee for his upcoming movie Mayurakshi.
“Friend, superstar of Bengal, Prosenjit, his new film with legend Soumitra Chatterjee. Best wishes,” Amitabh tweeted alongside a trailer of Mayurakshi, which has been directed by Atanu Ghosh and will hit the screens on December 29.
Writer, film producer and former actress Twinkle Khanna on Sunday took a stand for her husband Akshay Kumar after he was slammed by comedienne Mallika Dua for a remark aimed at her during a shoot, saying that the actors humour was taken out of context.
“I would like to address the controversy on the sets of ‘The Great Indian Laughter Challenge’. The show has a bell which the judges ring after a contestant’s exceptional performance and (when) Dua went forward to ring the bell, Kumar said, ‘Mallika ji aap bell bajao main aap ko bajata hun (You ring the bell, I will bang you)’,” Twinkle wrote on Twitter.
“A pun on the words and actions related to ringing the bell. It’s a colloquial phrase that both men and women use – for instance, ‘I am going to bajao him/her’ or ‘I got bajaoed’, all without sexist connotations. Vinod Dua, Maliika Dua’s father, had written a post- it’s been taken down now – stating, ‘I am going to screw this cretin Akshay Kumar’. Should Mr Dua’s statement also be taken literally or interpreted in context? Words, especially humour has to be seen in its right context,” she added.
Twinkle also urged people to stop involving her in this debate.
“I have always stood up for the freedom within comedy including defending AIB’s (All India Bakchod’s) infamous roasts on numerous occasions in the past and that is my stance even today, so kindly stop tagging me in this debate,” she said.
Mallika, a former judge of the Star Plus show, and her father Vinod Dua – a journalist – raised concern regarding Akshay Kumar’s remark earlier this week by sharing a video over social media which was reportedly a leaked portion of an episode shoot held around a month ago, and it was never aired by the channel.
It showcases Mallika’s fellow judge Zakir Khan telling Akshay Kumar that they will also accompany him to “ring a bell” as a mark of appreciation for Rangeela for his act mimicking Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi.
That’s when Akshay Kumar says, “Mallikaji, ‘Aap bell bajao, main aap ko bajata hun‘ (You ring the bell, I will bang you).”
Padman, directed by R Balki, starring Akshay Kumar is set to hit the screens on Republic Day 2018. Akshay Kumar officially confirmed the release date on his Twitter page.
Akshay tweeted:
Not all superheroes come with capes! Bringing you the true story of a real superhero, #Padman this Republic Day – 26th January, 2018! pic.twitter.com/hcEcJPO6Up
Akshay plays, Lakshmikant Chauhan in this film, which is based on the life of entrepreneur Arunachalam Muruganantham, who invented low-cost sanitary pad-making machine. While Sonam Kapoor and Radhika Apte play the female leads, Amitabh Bachchan does a cameo appearance in this film, which also has Nivin Pauly in a key role.
Shankar’s 2.0 was scheduled to release in January next year. Now, as Padman’s release has been officially announced, there are speculations that the release of Shankar’s magnum opus starring Rajinikanth and Amy Jackson might get postponed to April.
Members of the religious outfit Hindu Makkal Katchi protested in front of Sathyam Theatre, Chennai this morning, demanding cuts on certain scenes from Mersal that hurt Hindu sentiments. However, the members were arrested on the spot for staging the protest.
Hindu Makkal Katchi’s leader Arjun Sampath had announced two days ago that they would protest in front of theatres for screening Mersal.
Kumaravel, one of the members, tells Silverscreen: “There is a scene in Mersal where Vijay says that we need to build hospitals instead of temples. How can he say only temples? Also, in a scene, Vijay walks with his slippers in the temple. We want these scenes to be removed as it hurts Hindu sentiments. Though we have been arrested now, we will stage protest in front of Vijay’s house next.”
The scene features Maaran, a character played by Vijay, announcing that he would build a temple in his village. But when a fire accident breaks out, two young girls die and the villagers fail to save the girls as there were no hospitals close by. So, after this incident, Maaran vows to build a hospital instead of a temple.
Last week, Hindu Makkal Katchi’s leader Arjun Sampath had announced that he will protest in front of theatres screening Mersal till scenes criticising GST were removed. Sampath and his followers condemned Atlee and the film’s star for criticising PM Modi.
Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein’s case was just the tip of the iceberg. Weinsteins exist all over the world – powerful men who prey on women, even as they cloak themselves in male privilege. The South Indian film industry, we found, was no different. The workplace is not designed to be comfortable for women, with a notable lack of basic facilities and a firmly established patriarchal setup.
Being a dance assistant in the film industry is no mean feat. An assistant speaks to Silverscreen about her life thus far, and the many ways by which FEFSI tries to protect the women members.
A couple of backup dancers, on the other hand, told us a whole different story about life in the industry. From inappropriate contact under the guise of coaching to lewd men who stand outside dressing rooms, their ‘awkward as hell’ life stories were at once pitiful and truly horrifying.
Indian cinema has for the most part done its female fans a huge disservice. Much of the films made over the past few decades are full of sexism and misogyny, according to a recent study.
With films like Arjun Reddy, Judwaa 2 dominating public discourse, it is clear that as far as Bollywood is concerned – activism is very much a matter of convenience.
David Fincher’s Mindhunter was another topic that occupied social media for much of last week. A crime thriller, the latest Netflix series offered a rare glimpse into America in the 70s.
Mersal and its many controversies continued to dominate social media. Political leaders and film stars rushed to offer support to the film and its male lead, Vijay. The movie, which opened to mixed reviews earlier this month, profited considerably from the controversies. It is on its way to the Rs 200 crore club, according to trade experts.
Embargo on movie releases, copyright and issues with the censor board — Mersal faced it all in the past week alone. But the controversies did not stop even after the film’s release on Deepavali (October 18). It took a political turn when the Tamil Nadu unit of the BJP demanded cuts for the scenes pertaining to Goods and Services Tax (GST) and demonetisation. BJP’s national secretary H Raja raked up a new controversy accusing Vijay of having an anti-Hindu agenda.
Mersal, it seems, is controversy’s favourite new child.
Renowned filmmaker IV Sasi passed away earlier this week. A true blooded filmmaker of the masses, the man dominated Malayalam cinema in the 70s and was often hailed as a pathbreaking director.
In his youth, he made films relentlessly, one after another, at a pace no one can aspire for in these days. While it was Sasi’s films such as Devasuram, and Aavanazhi that established Mohanlal and Mammootty as the epitome of masculinity (an image the actors would excessively exploit in their later inferior films), the renowned director has also made many films where the two actors played flawed men who didn’t conform to the societal notions of heroism.
If there’s something that Lokesh Kumar, director of My Son Is Gay, had come to realise, it is the non-portrayal of the LGBTQ community on screen; the representations thus far, in regional cinema at least, have been truly terrible. But, My Son Is Gay just cannot be compared with the lot, for it not only tells the tale of a mother and son who are unable to come to terms with the latter’s sexuality, but also aims to educate the masses in a largely heteronormative society.
Silverscreen catches up with the team of My Son Is Gay – from the director and actors to the editor and cinematographer – and documents their individual sentiments about the film.
In the 90s, when independent artistes were slowly making their way into the music scene, one could listen to a piece of music that wasn’t actually a part of a film. It was the time of MTV and Channel V. It was the time of Baba Sehgal.
Art director Muthuraj is hot property right now. From Mersal to Rajinikanth’s 2.0, Muthuraj has worked on some of the biggest films this year. In our ‘Get To Know’ series, he talks to us about his work and why the advent of computer graphics is both a boon and a bane.
Known for infusing the patriotic fervour in videos like Vande Mataram and Jana Gana Mana, filmmaker Bharat Bala is now enthused about telling some “untold stories” about India to the world via a series of at least 100 short films.
The project is called India Film Collective, the Chennai-based filmmaker told IANS on the sidelines of the MTV India Music Summit.
“It’s kind of a legacy project. It’s an idea about covering untold stories of India as short films and narratives. These are short stories about people, music, traditions, rituals of the country, not like a documentary but in a way of telling a story.
“These engaging and well-crafted films are all under 10 minutes. The way they are produced, the music they have and the editing, I’m sure they will make for inspiring films which will be thrilling to watch,” said Bala.
He plans to go all out to give these films a digital release.
“I have already finished 47 films. Once we finish 100, then the whole platform will start getting launched,” the filmmaker said, adding that while he and his company are doing the research for the stories, they are engaging young talents like cinematographers and editors.
“They can bring something new so that young people can inspire youngsters.”
At the Summit, he gave a sneak peek into one story as part of the India Film Collective. It was called “Talam” — meaning rhythm — a musical film about boat racing.
Bala, who had also directed the music video of “Jiyo Utho Bado Jeeto”, the official song of the 2010 Commonwealth Games, also said that there was no government tie-up for the India-based shorts.
“It is by the people, for the people.”
Considering his projects have largely been India-inspired, what is his view of the changing political and social landscape in the country?
“I don’t care… The people haven’t changed. When you go to the interiors of the country, the people haven’t change. If you touch the people at an emotional level, they don’t change.
“If you touch the people at an economic level, they will react. But if you go and appeal to their heart, you see nothing has changed. The ‘sanskriti’ will remain.”
On the feature film front, Bala had started his journey with Dhanush-starrer Tamil movie Maryan back in 2013. He was to direct another film The 19th Step, which was shelved.
But now he wants to revive it.
“Now I am kicked about reviving it. I may make an announcement in two months’ time,” said the filmmaker, who was to work with Kamal Haasan in the movie.
Happy with the proliferation of cinema that appeals pan-India, Bala said it was a great time where credit needs to be given to the people who are absorbing good content irrespective of language or star value.
“If you have a good story, it doesn’t matter which language it is in, people will take it. Look back… How did Roja come… Nobody knew Rahman (A.R. Rahman) that time. It had melody. It touched.
“If there’s honesty, beauty in the creation, it will conquer. You can’t be thinking that you’ll make something big purely with advertising. Marketing is essential, but fundamentally, the content must be there.”
Oscar-nominated writer-director James Toback, who has been accused of sexual harassment by more than 300 women, has defended himself in an explicit rant.
In an interview to Rolling Stone on October 17, before accusations broke, Toback said he wanted ‘to spit’ in the ‘f**king face’ of anyone who accused him, reports dailymail.co.uk.
“The idea that I would offer a part to anyone for any other reason than that he or she was gonna be the best of anyone I could find is so disgusting to me,” Toback told Rolling Stone days before 38 women accused him of sexual assault.
“And anyone who says it is a lying c**ks*cker or c**t or both. Can I be any clearer than that? Anyone who says that, I just want to spit in his or her f**king face,” he added.
Toback was confronted with two allegations in the interview. Five days later, the LA Times reported that 38 women had accused him of sexual assault – a number that grew to more than 300 in the days that followed, reports dailymail.co.uk.
The first claim he was told of during the October 17 interview was that he humped the leg of actress Ambika Leigh until he ejaculated into his clothes under the premise of an ‘acting exercise’.
The second was that he told another actress Sari Kamin to undress in front of him, inspected her body, then again humped her while fully clothed.
He said Leigh’s story was “a total lie”, adding: “I never heard that name before in my life. And believe me, I would remember it, because it’s a very unusual name.”
And on the subject of Kamin’s story, he said: “This is just too stupid. I mean, these are people I don’t know, and it’s things I never would have done. And it’s just not worth talking about. It’s idiotic.”
Toback tried to dismiss the claims as a conspiracy of liars, saying that the women “hear each other. And they gang up. People read things… it’s all, you know, me too, me too, me too, me too, me too”.
More than 300 women, including actresses Julianne Moore, Selma Blair, Rachel McAdams and Natalie Morales have now accused Toback for sexual harassment.
Writer, film producer and former actress Twinkle Khanna feels honoured to get the Popular Choice Award at the sixth edition of Bangalore Literature Festival for her book The Legend of Lakshmi Prasad.
The fest will take place in Bengaluru this weekend.
The Legend of Lakshmi Prasad is Twinkle’s second book which released this year. Her first book was Mrs Funnybones, released in 2015, which was an instant hit with readers looking for a light read.
On the film front, Twinkle has co-produced Akshay Kumar starrer Padman, also featuring Sonam Kapoor and Radhika Apte in lead roles.
The film tells a true story of Arunachalam Muruganantham’s journey to make affordable sanitary napkins.
A little over two months into his tenure as the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) Chairperson, writer-ad guru Prasoon Joshi is a tad disappointed at how the censor board is used as a springboard for controversies. It needs to stop, he says.
His comment comes amidst the row over Tamil film Mersal, after certain media reports indicated that the movie’s Telugu version was getting delayed due to the CBFC.
The movie itself has been embroiled in controversy after the Tamil Nadu unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) demanded the removal of certain dialogues which take a dig at the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and Digital India.
Joshi told IANS: “I am not upset, I’m a little disappointed that before you (people) make accusations and allegations, you should check, because such a (certification) process requires sensitivity from both ends. Let’s not use CBFC for some commercial reasons or for somebody’s political career. We should not try to use CBFC. It should be respected as much as one respects their own organisation.”
Over the recent years, several filmmakers have locked horns with the censor body over its diktats and demands for cuts, mutes and changes, leading to a brouhaha in the media.
Joshi, who was appointed CBFC chief in August and succeeded the rocky reign of Pahlaj Nihalani, said it’s time to move to “content from controversy”.
“It should be more about the content that drives a film. Why should CBFC be used for a controversy? It is an organisation that consists of people like any other organisation, so why should we be unfair to people who work in CBFC and completely unappreciate the efforts?” he asked.
As far as Mersal is concerned, he said it was an “unfair” assumption that the delay in the Telugu version was caused by the CBFC.
“The film fraternity knows that it will take a certain time and the time is clearly mentioned on the official website,” Joshi said, adding that it is disheartening for those in the CBFC who “work hard to ensure the certification process for films is as smooth and fast as possible”.
He also denied that the CBFC asked some changes in the Telugu version of Mersal.
“All I would say is that we are sensitive to the filmmakers. I come from the film fraternity, and I know the pain of making films and how much effort goes into making it. But on the other hand, we need to also understand that there are people in the certification process who are working hard. Not being appreciative of that and not being cognisant of their time, is also not fair. I think I was a little surprised at it.”
Joshi spoke to IANS on the sidelines of the ongoing MTV India Music Summit, where he is a mentor.
Stranger Things star Charlie Heaton has allegedly been denied entry to the US after being caught with cocaine at the airport.
According to The Sun, the British actor was flying to Los Angeles for the season two launch party when he is said to have been caught with the substance by sniffer dogs, reports dailymail.co.uk.
US border officials denied the 23-year-old entry to the country last Saturday and deported him back to London where he had flown from just hours before, claimed the report.
It meant that he was missing from the premiere of the Netflix-produced supernatural show on Thursday evening.
It is also now feared that Heaton could be barred from entering the US in future meaning he could struggle to take part in filming for Stranger Things.
A source claimed: “He was not arrested. He was held at the airport for a while and then put back on a plane to London that night. If you are a foreign national and it is a large amount of drugs you may be charged. But if it is personal use, the consequences are that you will not be allowed in to the country. US law is very strict on this.”
When we set out to launch the ‘Women, Cinema & Sexism’ series soon after the Harvey Weinstein scandal broke, we were hoping to collect stories from within the country. Good ones, bad ones, the ones that send shivers down your spine. Being a magazine with a feminist identity, we realised it was time we reached out to the (growing) number of women who worked in films; the actresses, the technicians, the dancers who sweat it out behind the leads, a fair sample representing the diverse profiles that the industry houses, and talk to them specifically about workplace harassment.
And what we found, over the course of the series, wasn’t something startling or surprising. Across the board, from top heroines and technicians to dancers who live by daily wages, the women reported uniform experiences – instances of harassment, sexual and otherwise, and in its absence, a work-life laced with internalised misogyny. They spoke of their fears, their misgivings; the difficult tales that needed to be heard. For some, it was an everyday affair, while for others it differed from project to project, director to director. Some were brave, choosing to call out those who had wronged them while the others chose to keep mum fearing repercussions. Either way, the women wanted their stories out there – and we documented them.
In one of the earliest stories, a veteran film PR, who has been around for 30 odd years, spoke of producers insisting that actresses visit them in hotel rooms for story discussions. He talked about creating a strict work environment that may even be construed as ‘stifling’ to keep the predators at bay. “I have seen too much already,” he told us, “even if I scratch the surface of the scandals, you will cringe.”
Saranya Ponvannan, who was a heroine in her ‘prime’, said that she would always have some rules in place. “I would only meet people at home, in the comfort of my space. I would never agree to meet them outside or in hotels or appear desperate to bag a role; that’s a dead giveaway, and will weaken your position in times of crisis.”
For some, the struggle was as basic as getting to work in an industry that openly preferred men, and which, till 2014, did not allow female make-up artistes to work in Bollywood. The law allowed for female hairstylists while make-up became the sole domain of the men. When Charu Khurana, in 2014, won a legal battle to allow women into the field, a few artistes were handed union membership cards. But, their troubles were far from over. Mitta Antony, who was also handed a card, said, “Recently, a stunt master verbally abused me on the set through a microphone. No one defended me. I was the only woman on the set, and the men behaved as if it was totally fine to misbehave and look down upon a colleague. Would they have dared to do that to a male make-up artiste of my experience?”
A background dancer who spoke to us on condition on anonymity said that she quit the industry after an experience with a Kannada cinematographer left her shattered. “It was a night shoot in a secluded part of the city. All of us had skin suits on, on top of which we wore provocative costumes. While going to the changing area (which is nothing but four sheets strung together to form a sort of partition), I noticed someone following me. But since it was a busy set, I didn’t do much about it. Only after I changed and came out of the area did I see the choreographer standing there. He was holding a cigarette in one hand, and it was clear that he had watched me change.” She’s sorting clothes at a Bengaluru retail now.
Cinematographer Fowzia Fathima too, admitted to us that the workplace harassment forced her to stay away from the industry for a while. Recalling an instance during the filming of the Ajith Kumar-starrer Mugavari, when she had to handle the camera in the absence of film’s DoP PC Sriram, Fowzia said the lead actor noticed her lighting up the shot and let the director know of his reservations. “The director was a newbie; he couldn’t protest,” Fowzia said. She then joined a film school, and took on the task of mentoring young girls.
Of course, these instances don’t absolutely represent every woman working in the industry out there, nor does it sound an end to the series. We are always looking for stories that need to be told; empowering, educative, revealing, honest stories of women who have fought against all odds – and also those who couldn’t. ‘Women, Cinema & Sexism’ will evolve over the course of time, and become a collection of experiences that would, if not make a huge impact, educate and bring to light the kind of challenges that women are up against at work every day.
Imagine you are home alone one night, and you start hearing strange voices outside; footsteps, whispers. A chill goes down your spine. You muster some courage and walk to the front door to see what’s going on, only to realise it is two naughty kids from the neighborhood pulling a prank on you. Won’t you feel cheated?
B Unnikrishnan’s Villain, a crime thriller starting Mohanlal, Manju Warrier and Vishal Krishna, evokes such sentiments. It aspires to be a dark psychological thriller, centred around a genius cop who beats the villains using mind games than physical strength. But there is only so much it can achieve with an inane plot and a sillier screenplay.
Villain is highly predictable for a crime thriller. There is no intrigue, and it offers nothing new to an audience which is familiar with far superior films such as David Fincher’s Seven, Mysskin’s Yuddham Sei and KG George’s Ee Kannikoodi. The weakest element in Villain’s plot is, by far, its antagonists who act like two rogue teenagers. A brief session of counselling or a even a slap in the face could bring them back to senses, and put an end to this murderous spree. Unnikrishnan tries to make up for the lack of genius in the writing with the lead characters who dress up suavely and throw in philosophical lines every now and then, sometimes irrespective of the situations.
The story unfolds in Kochi where the concept of winter clothes is unheard of, thanks to the year-long hot and humid weather. However, when you first see the film’s protagonist, Dr Mathews (Mohanlal), assistant deputy general of police, he is wearing a wool trench coat. He is in a dump yard, staring at a the scrap car, possibly damaged in a fatal accident. A tea-seller on a bicycle approaches him. After buying a cup of tea, Mathews, in a haze, hands over his credit card to the guy. In a more rational film, the presence of tea-seller in a dump yard would have raised questions, but in Villain, the trench coat and the tea-seller are natural elements in the absurd terrain that the film functions in.
Once a celebrated officer in the police department, Mathews is now preparing for an early retirement, thanks to a tragedy that happened in his personal life seven months ago. We know he is a gloomy man because he has a well-groomed beard and a perfectly set salt and pepper mane, the famous movie short-hands to portray a gloomy man. His superior officer, played by Siddique, asks him to take up one last assignment, a case of multiple murders in the city, before he hangs up his boots. Mathews is reluctant, yet he gives in to the request.
There are quite a few interesting moments that serve as testimonies to Mohanlal’s acting prowess. Even the most contrived dialogues and situations attain a certain finesse in the hands of Lal. The grief and heartbreak that Mathews is living appear organic. Same goes for Manju Warrier who plays Dr Neelima, Mathews’ wife. There is an affecting scene involving these two actors, set inside a hospital.
Mathews relies on coincidences, intuitions and wild guesses to solve the crime. In the final sequence, an angry villain asks Mathews to stop ‘playing mind games’ with him. This can leave you baffled because all you see is Mathews indulging in a rather dull conversation with two supposedly mighty criminals. The cop animatedly tells one of the killers, “Kid, there is enough time. Leave this maze of crime and go, live your life,” and you see that she has agreed to what he said. Where is the ingenious mind game we were promised of?
Villain is an addition to the list of cop stories where the protagonist’s spouse has to bear the brunt of her partner’s profession. In Gautham Menon’s Kaakka Kaakka, the woman dies a violent death in the hands of the villain. This repeats in Menon’s Vettaiyaadu Vilayaadu and later, in Ennai Arindhaal.In Jeethu Joseph’s Memories, which was a crime thriller that did well at the box-office, the protagonist, played by Prithviraj, was a brooding alcoholic living in grief after his wife and kid were killed by a criminal. Why do our filmmakers love to unleash violence on women, make them pawns in the cat and mouse game between the villain and the hero? Does being single and celibate make it easier for the men to be taken seriously? Does such a personal loss help them solve crimes? Logically, not. Women in our crime thrillers are either dead or waiting to be dead; victims or collateral damages, and this is a rather disturbing trope.
Villain isn’t a random superstar film made with little thought. Evidently, Unnikrishnan has done some homework, especially in etching out Mathew’s love for Neelima, and his resignation from life post her death. The background score by Sushin Shyam is great, and more importantly, aptly restrained. But it takes more than a few emotional moments and mood inducing music to pull off a fine crime thriller. When the film fails to interest you even in the crime, would solving those crimes be any edgy?
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The Villainreview is a Silverscreen original article. It was not paid for or commissioned by anyone associated with the movie. Silverscreen.in and its writers do not have any commercial relationship with movies that are reviewed on the site.
Kamal Haasan surveyed the damage caused to the Ennore Creek earlier this week. The actor, who has been accused of arm-chair activism by his critics, is perhaps hopeful that this visit will prove his intentions when it comes to the welfare of Tamil Nadu.
The actor took to social media yesterday to raise awareness about the damage caused to the Kosasthalaiyar River in North Chennai. Effluents and harmful sewage from a nearby thermal power plant has resulted in the loss of some varieties of fish. This has severely damaged the livelihood of the local fishermen community.
Kamal, in recent times, has upped his social activism. He has espoused several causes since the beginning of this year, leading many to believe that he’d actively join politics later this year. He confirmed this report and even asked his followers to get ready to ‘march to the fort’- a reference to Chennai’s St.George’s Fort – the seat of Tamil Nadu’s political power.
Contrary to reports, director duo Pushkar and Gayatri will not be directing Ajith Kumar’s next. Rumours swirled on social media recently, with some fans claiming that the Vikram Vedha filmmakers were in talks to direct Ajith in a thriller.
Setting things straight, Pushkar and Gayatri toldDeccan Chronicle that while they’d love to work with the actor, the rumours were simply not true.
“We are still in the process of finalising our script and after it gets ready, we would start pitching it to the actors. Though, our script would suit any lead star, the protagonist would be chosen depending on his availability and other factors.”
“But to be very honest, who would not like to collaborate with a star like Ajith sir?” Pushkar added.
The last release, Vikram Vedha, took the industry by storm, winning positive reviews from fans and critics alike.
Nadirshah is expected to direct the Tamil remake of Kattappanayille Rithwik Roshan. The Deccan Chronicle reports that the Tamil version could be titled Ajith From Aruppukottai, and will go on floors in 2018.
The original, featuring Vishnu Unnikrishnan and Prayaga Martin in the lead roles, was a comedy of errors about a former child artist who wants to make it big in the Malayalam film industry. The remake will feature a ‘popular television anchor’ as the male lead, the reportsays.
The makers are hoping to shoot the film in Pollachi, in order to retain the small town setting of the original film.
An official announcement regarding cast and crew is expected soon.
The audio launch of Rajinikanth’s 2.0 hadquite a few surprises in store. Chief among them was Shankar’s revelation that the film will not be a sequel to Enthiran. The film has its own story arc, and will not pick up where Enthiran ended.
The event featured performances by Amy Jackson, AR Rahman with onstage appearances from Dhanush, Rajinikanth and Akshay Kumar.
Karan Johar, Rana Daggubati and RJ Balaji took on hosting duties.
Johar asked Rajinikanth about the things he liked and hated in today’s generation. Rajini said, “What I like is that they are obliged and humble. What I don’t like is that the younger generation is slowly forgetting our own tradition and culture. That’s sad. They should not do this. They should enjoy it and should never forget our culture and tradition.”
Rajinikanth, who has been a pivotal part of the Indian entertainment industry for over four decades, said that he considers everything that he has achieved as “a gift from God”.
Akshay Kumar, who has been roped in to play the antagonist in the film, said that Bollywood could learn a thing or two from the South Indian film industry.
“I have done 130 films (in Bollywood). 2.0 was my 131st film. I can only say that during the making of those 130 films, I got to learn little from every film, but I was learning throughout the shooting of this film.”
“There’s a lot that we have to learn from South because the way they work, we have to understand a lot now. They work in unity and respect each other’s talent, we have to learn that,” he added.
He was also very eloquent in his praise of Rajinikanth and said that he’d never even imagined that he would get an opportunity to work with the actor.
Meanwhile, the songs of 2.0 were leaked hours before the commencement of the event on YouTube and other streaming platforms. Earlier, Rahman stated that the film will have three songs – of which two tracks, “Endhira Logathu Sundariye” and “Raajali” (“Mechanical Sundariye” and “Rakshassi”), were released on Friday.
Speaking at the event, Latha Rajinikanth said: “It’s a very big moment for me. I am very proud of my husband. I wish to salute him for his hard-work in 2.0. Also, I want to give my best wishes to Amy, Rahman, Shankar and all others who have made this project possible.”
In a bizarre twist, the Tamil Film Producers’ Council (TFPC), through an urgent press release, denied reports that they had formed a new technician’s union. This, despite an official statement from TFPC president Vishal Krishna’s spokesperson that he’d formed the outfit to look after the needs of technicians working in the Tamil film industry.
Through the latest statement, TFPC said that they’d merely handed over new identity cards to members of the Outdoor Unit Association. It was in no way the launch of a new technician union.
An earlier press statement had said that Vishal and the Outdoor Unit Association’s president Muthusamy had jointly launched an outfit to replace the older union.
