Director P Virumandi, who is currently working on a Tamil biopic starring director and actor M Sasikumar, lashed out at this reporter when asked why he thought it was appropriate to collaborate with Vairamuthu, the lyricist who multiple women have accused of harassment.
On Tuesday, following a social media announcement about his next movie, this reporter contacted the director to ask him for details. Virumandi was planning to retain most of his crew from his previous film, the Tamil drama Ka Pae Ranasingam, including Vairamuthu as the lyricist and Ghibran as the music composer.
During a follow up call on Wednesday, Virumandi was asked about working with the same crew, and he said, “I am in a comfortable zone working with the same team. We can continue to improve on things that we missed out during our last outing. Be it Vairamuthu or Ghibran or Ekambaram (the editor), they will be more comfortable working with me again as well.”
This reporter then asks Virumandi about working Vairamuthu after the MeToo accusations against him.
Virumandi sneezes, then asks her to repeat the question, and then corrects her, “Call him Kavignar (poet) Vairamuthu.”
When the question was repeated, Virumandi said, “I don’t understand.” And when the question was repeated again, he said, “What is the connection between me and the MeToo movement? What kind of question is this? What is this practice of asking me wrong questions? In what way am I linked to MeToo, and what is the connection between Virumandi’s movie and Vairamuthu’s MeToo. Ask me about my movie, my crew… but why are you asking me these wrong questions?”
He continued, “Another reporter asked me this question too. Tell me which magazine you work for? What does your magazine gain by this, and what do you gain from asking these questions? A woman asking these questions is wrong. A woman asks these questions and that leads to repeated twisted behavior… (tails off) Oru penn indha maadhiri kelvi kettu adhu thirumba thirumba vakkiramathai… “
“Why are you all like this, he said, “En ipdi irukkeenga Ellarum? Sister, no reporter should ask this question. Please don’t ask any director this question. Avar migachirantha kavignar. He is a great lyricist. I only see him as a poet. There is no lyricist like him in Tamil. And his writing is important to me, just as you are important to me as a reporter. ”
Silverscreen India also tried to reach composer Ghibran, but he was unavailable.
Shraddha Srinath, the actor whose last release was Amazon Prime Video’s Tamil drama Maara, began shooting for the upcoming Tamil horror-thriller Kaliyugam in Chennai on Wednesday. Speaking to Silverscreen India about the movie – which is set in the year 2050 – Srinath said she signed Kaliyugam as it was different from the roles she has done before.
She said that she wanted “to bring as much variety to the table as you can. I hate to be stereotyped and I hate picking (the) same kind of roles. That happens a lot in the industry – when they see you doing something, there will immediately be a flow of offers that will come knocking at your door and they will all be the same. I cannot do that, I am physically incapable of picking the same kind of scripts. The movie was different, the script was different. This was not a hero-heroine film, this is an all characters film. I think that is how cinema should be. We can not compartmentalize characters into boxes.”
Srinath said that she heard the script during the Covid-19 lockdown, and it excited her enough that she “immediately” stepped out of her house to start shooting despite the pandemic. “For me, it is a very different kind of genre. It is so futuristic and well written,” she added.
In a press release issued yesterday, the filmmakers called the movie “futuristic.” During an earlier interview with Silverscreen India, Srinath had said “The film is set in 2050, which should give you an idea of what the character should be like. The society will not be the way we see it now, it will be a lot harder and a lot more complicated and some of the things that we take for granted now will be scarce then. It is a dark kind of a vision of the future and my character is someone who is adapting to that kind of a life,” she said. She watched a few ‘futuristic’ movies while preparing for the role.
Kaliyugam, directed by debutant director Pramod Sundar, is produced by KS Ramakrishna of Prime Cinemas under the RK International banner. Srinath praised the director for having “thought of the script in great detail.”
The press release also confirmed the rest of the crew. Sakthi Venkat Raj will handle art direction. Ramcharan, a former assistant of cinematographer PC Sreeram is the cinematographer, with editing by Nimal Nazeer.
Shooting for the movie began on Wednesday with a pooja in Chennai. Srinath will be shooting for 20 days at a stretch, and the release date will be finalised once the shoot is completed.
The Delhi High Court on Thursday refused to stay the release The White Tiger, the Netflix film starring Priyanka Chopra, Rajkumar Rao and Adarsh Gourav, in the alleged copyright violation petition filed by American producer John Hart Jr.
A day before the film’s release, Justice C Harishankar held an urgent hearing for the last-minute injunction against the streaming of the film.
“There is no material on record to justify the plaintiffs approaching this court less than 24 hours prior to release seeking stay.. Any party approaching court at the end hour, seeking interlocutory indirection against the release of cinematographic film, is disentitled to any such relief,” the court’s order stated.
However, the court asked the makers of the film to keep an account of the film’s earnings so that it can provide a compensation to the petitioner, if needed, in future.
Reacting to the court’s decision, Hart’s lawyer Kapil Sankhla told Silverscreen India that it was high time that courts take cognisance of the fact that there was a significant delay in hearing cases filed by foreigners in India.
The White Tiger is based on Arvind Adiga’s Man Booker Prize-winning debut novel of the same name that was published in 2008. The film is directed by Ramin Bahrani and produced by Mukul Deora and Prem Akkaraju.
Hart, along with producer Sonia Mudbhatkal, claimed that since he had already purchased the book’s copyrights, Bahrani’s film was a case of copyright infringement.
“My right in the movie and the adaptation is absolute. For them it’s merely a commercial venture, but for me it’s a grand dream. I will never be able to make the movie the way I envisaged it. When I purchased the rights, this was the second highest selling Man Booker prize winner,” said Sankhla to the court as reported by the Live Law.
The court said that Hart had failed to make a case fit for a grant despite the fact that “the cause of action had arisen as far back as 1.5 years ago” while he waited till the last moment to move court for the alleged “infringement” suit without any “justifiable” reason.
Sankhla told the court that Hart was unaware of the film releasing on OTT platform due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Responding to this, the court asked him not to “blame Covid-19 for everything”. The court observed that a film, which might be “dream” for him that he couldn’t achieve, will be a serious financial loss for many people, including the actors, stakeholders and film makers, whose ventures were at stake.
Despite the refusal on the stay of the release, Sankhla said to Silverscreen India that it is “extremely magnanimous” on the court’s side to have arranged for the last moment hearing and “it is a win for us” with the financial protection that the court granted.
The films are adaptations of Ian Fleming’s books by the same name.
Directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, the film has seen several delays since 2019. While the film was supposed to release in November 2019, filmmaker Danny Boyle’s exit from the project stalled it with the Covid-19 pandemic worsening the situation. Boyle was supposed to direct and co-write the screenplay with John Hodge.
Earlier, the film was scheduled to release on April 2, 2021. This was later postponed after there was a sudden spurt in the number of Covid-19 cases in the USA. No Time To Die is among several films whose release dates have been postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. According to Variety, the release dates of Universal Studios’ Nobody, Peter Rabbit 2, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, and Cinderella have also been pushed.
The film, that was announced in 2016, features actors Lea Seydoux, Naomie Harris, Ben Whishaw, Ralph Fiennes, Rory Kinnear, and Christoph Waltz reprising their roles. Lashana Lynch, Billy Magnussen, Jeffrey Wright and Rami Malek, who plays the antagonist, will be additions to the cast.
Fukunaga, along with Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, have written the story while Phoebe Waller-Bridge has written the screenplay along with the trio.
Made on a budget of over $200 million, No Time to Die is the most expensive James Bond film made so far. The film is produced by Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli.
No Time To Die will be distributed in North America by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, while Universal Studios holds the international rights.
Spectre, directed by Sam Mendes, was the last James Bond film to release in 2015.
The trial of the case of the abduction and sexual assault of a female Malayalam actor, that is being heard at the Additional Special Sessions Court in Ernakulam in Kerala, came to a halt on Thursday after accused-turned-approver Vipin Lal failed to turn up at court.
Vipin, who was earlier the tenth accused in the case, had turned approver in 2017 and gave a confidential statement to the magistrate against actor Dileep, who is the eighth accused in the case. Vipin was released from the Central Prison in Viyyur in 2018 after he turned approver.
Dileep filed a petition challenging the release of Vipin without securing a bail. Dileep, in his plea, alleged that Vipin was a witness planted by the investigating agency to adduce evidence against him. Dileep requested the court to not examine Vipin without sending him back to prison as his release was against the norms.
The court on Wednesday ordered that Vipin be taken in custody. The court observed that if he was arrested, he should be produced in court on Thursday. The police have been unable to trace him.
The court reissued an arrest warrant against Vipin, which is to be executed on or before Saturday.
Vishnu seeks to turn approver
Vishnu, who is presently the tenth accused in the case, on Thursday sought to turn approver. He offered to admit his role in the case and reveal all the details he knows.
Vishnu was accused of smuggling a mobile phone inside the jail to Pulsar Suni, the first accused. According to the prosecution, he also conspired with the other accused to extort money from Dileep.
The court will examine Vishnu’s application on Friday.
Court dismisses bail pleas of three accused
The court on Tuesday dismissed the bail pleas filed by three accused persons – Pulsar Suni, Manikandan and Vijeesh. The three, who have been in custody for over four years, had filed individual bail petitions claiming that the examination of 80 witnesses was over and that no allegations, of them trying to influence the witnesses, had been raised against them.
However, the court dismissed the pleas and stressed on the importance of the presence of the accused during the trial.
The case so far
The case began in February 17, 2017, when a female Mayalam actor was abducted while she was travelling from Kochi to Thrissur in Kerala. She was sexually assaulted and then dropped near the residence of director Lal. Soon after the incident, the first accused in the abduction case, Pulsar Suni, the driver of the vehicle she was assaulted in, was arrested. In June 2017, Pulsar Suni said that actor Dileep had conspired in the assault.
On July 20, 2017, Dileep was arrested as the eighth accused in the case. He was granted bail in October 2017. Ever since he was let out, the prosecution counsel has alleged that the trial proceedings were constantly being delayed.
In October 2020, both the survivor and the prosecution moved the Kerala High Court to transfer the trial from Ernakulam claiming bias on the part of the judge. However, the high court dismissed the pleas after observing that there was no sustainable grounds to transfer the case. The prosecution later moved the Supreme Court. However, the Supreme Court also rejected the state’s plea and upheld the decision of the Kerala High Court.
The teaser of Abhijaan, the Bengali biopic based on legendary actor Soumitra Chatterjee, was released on Tuesday on the occasion of the thespian’s 86th birthday.
Actor and director Parambrata Chattopadhyay, the film’s director, shared the film’s teaser on social media. The film stars Chatterjee, playing himself, while Jisshu Sengupta plays his younger version.
In an email interaction with Silverscreen India, Chattopadhyay said that he missed Chatterjee “quite a bit”.
“I wanted him to see how I’ve understood and manifested his worldview on screen,” he said.
The film is the brainchild of Shubhendu Sen, an oncologist based in New Jersey.
“My producer Navratan Jhawar and his friend Shubhendu Sen had first come up with the idea [of the film]. They approached me with it and I accepted,” said Chattopadhyay, adding that he has co-written the script along with Padmanabha Dasgupta and Dr Sen .
Chatterjee was part of the film even before Chattopadhyay came on board and the film’s takes would have to be approved by the legendary actor, he said.
“I was a little skeptical. The narrative approach doesn’t only portray him as a hero, but also tries to look at his different shades as a human being. I believe that’s the way a person and an artist should be looked at. But he was appreciative [about the script],” Chattopadhyay said.
Talking about Sengupta, who plays the younger version of Chatterjee, Chattopadhyay said that he wasn’t on board from the beginning due to unavailability of dates. “We somehow made it work out, and ever since, he was spot on.”
Chatterjee was known for his successful collaboration with the master filmmaker Satyajit Ray and was also considered to be Ray’s muse. Not only did the actor make his debut in Ray’s directorial Apur Sansar in 1959, he went on to act in 14 of Ray’s films spanning three decades. In Abhijaan, director Qaushik Mukherjee, popularly known as Q, plays the role of Ray.
“Q was supposed to play Ray in some other film a few years ago, which didn’t take off. My costume designer, Shaborni Das, was working on that film too. She had shown me pictures from that film’s look test. I was sold immediately. His is one casting which is closest in terms of physical resemblance,” Chattopadhyay said.
Chatterjee, who died on November 15, 2020, was unwell during the shooting of Abhijaan, said Chattopadhyay. He said that while the shooting was completed before Chatterjee died, the late actor couldn’t dub his lines.
“I’ve enjoyed meeting him every week for three months, that was my progress in understanding him. That’s really the best part. The shooting was a bit hectic because he would shoot only five hours a day due to health reasons,” he said.
Sushant Singh Rajput, the actor who died by suicide in 2020, was commemorated on Thursday on the occasion of his 35th birthday with a road being named in his memory.
A road in south Delhi will soon be named after the late actor, reported ANI. According to the report, a proposal to rename a street in the Andrews Ganj area was approved by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC).
“Six months ago I received a request to rename a street in Andrews Ganj area after Sushant Singh Rajput. The proposal has finally been approved,” Abhishek Dutt, SDMC councillor, told ANI. “We will soon be inaugurating this street. It is very important to give him the respect he deserves,” he added.
In July 2020, the municipal corporation of Rajput’s hometown, Purnea in Bihar, renamed a road and a famous roundabout in his memory.
Meanwhile, Rajput’s sister, Shweta Singh Kirti, announced on Twitter a special scholarship fund for students aspiring to study astrophysics at the University of California, Berkeley.
“I am happy to announce that on 35th Birthday of Bhai, a step has been taken towards fulfilling one of his dreams. The Sushant Singh Rajput Memorial Fund of $35,000 has been set up in UC Berkeley. #SushantDay,” she wrote.
“The Sushant Singh Rajput Memorial Fund in Physics provides graduate student support in the Department of Physics at the University of California, Berkeley with a preference for students studying Astrophysics. Sushant Singh Rajput was born in India and passed on in June 2020. Alongside being a noted actor in mainstream Indian movies, he was a National Physics Olympiad winner and held a lifelong passion for astronomy and astrophysics,” the official website of UC Berkeley stated.
On June 14, 2020, Rajput’s body was found in his home in Bandra, Mumbai. Besides acting, the Dil Bechara actor was passionate about astrophysics, and reading books.
Vichithiran, the upcoming Tamil film starring actor-producer RK Suresh and a remake of the 2018 Malayalam film crime thriller Joseph, is caught in a legal tussle over the film’s title.
Produced by filmmaker Bala under his banner B Studios, the film is helmed by M Padmakumar, who has also directed Joseph. The film is expected to release in February.
Sathish Kumar, a producer and owner of CSK Productions, claimed that he had registered the title Vichithiran in 2015. Sathish is currently working on his film, also titled Vichithiran, which has completed the pre-production stage. He said he was planning to begin shooting when the issue over the title came up.
Speaking to Silverscreen India, Sathish said that he had registered his script in February 2020.
“I had registered the title Vichithiran in 2015 with the Film and Television Producer Guild of South India and since then, I have been paying fees every year to retain the title,” Sathish said.
The payment for the title had been renewed till March, Sathish said and added that he had submitted receipts of fee payments of the title registration as evidence in the case.
“I came to know that filmmakers of the other film registered the same title with the Tamil Film Producers Council [TFPC] in 2018,” Sathish said.
Advocate Kathiresan, who is representing CSK Productions, said that Sathish had sent a letter to the Guild on September 26, 2020, a few days after the first look of Bala’s Vichithiran was released, stating that they had used his registered title. After Bala failed to respond, he sent a mail on October 5, 2020, as a reminder to the Guild. After the teaser of Bala’s Vichithiran released, Sathish filed a suit on January 11, 2021.
The case was being heard at the City Civil Court in Chennai on Tuesday. During the hearing, the court asked four parties- Suresh, Bala’s B Studios, TFPC, and the Guild- to reply.
“Despite being a member of the Guild and requesting them to take up the case, I have not received any update. I have been looking into this issue ever since the first look poster was released,” said Sathish.
The next date of hearing has been scheduled for January 25.
Advocate VV Giridhar, who is representing Sathish, told Silverscreen India: “We had already registered it [the film’s title] in 2015 and there was an understanding between both the film bodies’ that they will not use the titles registered by the other body. There will be confusion if two films by the same name release at the same time.”
Speaking to Silverscreen India, Suresh, who is also the vice president of TFPC, said: “We had registered the title in the producers’ council. We are looking into it legally. CSK Productions has not produced any film so far and hence, we will have to raise a complaint in the council and take action against it. Since they [CSK Productions] have not made any film yet, it needs to be checked if they are misusing or intending malpractices by registering names of films that are not used by them.”
Suresh added that they will be initiating legal action soon.
Unnikrishnan Namboothiri, the veteran Malayalam actor who has played the role of a witty grandfather in several films, died at a private hospital in Kannur in Kerala on Wednesday. He was 98.
Namboothiri was initially diagnosed with pneumonia in December 2020 and was undergoing treatment at a hospital in Kannur. Soon, he tested positive for Covid-19 but was discharged from the hospital after he tested negative for the virus on January 17 and was recovering at his home.
The veteran actor’s son and Kerala High Court judge PV Kunhikrishnan had told Silverscreen India that his father had been infected with Covid-19 at the hospital where he was undergoing treatment for pneumonia.
“His health is better than mine. Yesterday night he was not able to sleep. The doctor suggested to check his blood for potassium and sodium levels. After we got the report, everything was normal,” Kunhikrishnan had said, adding that Namboothiri was suffering only from age-related ailments.
Born in Payyanur in Kerala, Namboothiri was married to Leela Antharjanam, who died in 2009.
Namboothiri had debuted with the 1996 National Award-winning film Desadanam, moving on to portraying important roles in several Malayalam films including Kalyanaraman, Mayamohini, Rappakal, Loudspeaker, Photographer, Pokkiri Raja, Madhuranombarakattu, Angene Oru Avadhikkalathu, Kaikudunna Nilavu and Kaliyattam.
He acted along with Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan and Ajith Kumar in some Tamil films like Kandukondain Kandukondain (2000), Pammal K. Sambandam (2002), and Chandramukhi (2005).
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan while identifying Namboothiri as a ‘brilliant actor” condoled his death on social media and wrote “He was always a left-leaning fellow compatriot who maintained a strong bond with the CPM. It is a huge loss for the world of cinema and for me personally.”
ഭാവാഭിനയ പ്രധാനമായ റോളുകളില് തിളങ്ങിയിരുന്ന നടനായിരുന്നു ഉണ്ണികൃഷ്ണന് നമ്പൂതിരി. എന്നും ഇടതുപക്ഷ സഹയാത്രികനായിരുന്ന അദ്ദേഹം സിപിഐ എമ്മിനോട് ആത്മബന്ധം പുലര്ത്തി. കലാലോകത്തിനു വലിയ നഷ്ടമാണ് ഈ വേര്പാട്. വ്യക്തിപരമായും ഇതൊരു നഷ്ടമാണ്. pic.twitter.com/ZmyqVfncBa
Ramesh Chennithala, leader of the opposition, Kerala Legislative Assembly paid tribute to the late actor through social media and wrote: “Condolences on the demise of senior Malayalam actor Unnikrishnan Namboothiri. His dedication at work even at his old age is a testimony for his passion towards cinema. He will be fondly remembered for his roles.”
Kamal Haasan, who had worked with Namboothiri in the 2002 Tamil film Pammal K. Sambandam, wrote about him as “a man of art” and how at the age of 73 he came into the cinema and “made Malayalees laugh for 18 years” as a “young grandfather”.
73ஆவது வயதில் நடிக்க வந்து 18 வருடங்களாக மலையாளிகளைச் சிரிக்கவைத்தவர் உன்னிகிருஷ்ணன் நம்பூதிரி. இளமை துள்ளும் தாத்தாவாகக் கலையுலகில் வளையவந்தவர். இன்னும் 2 ஆண்டுகளில் சதமடிக்கவேண்டியவர் இன்று நம்மை நீங்கியிருக்கிறார். நெஞ்சார்ந்த அஞ்சலிகள். pic.twitter.com/Dqz6uHzAJ4
Namboothiri is survived by two sons, Bhavadasan and Kunhikrishnanand, and two daughters, Devi and Yamuna. His grandson, Deepankuran, is a music director.
Pitta Kathalu, a four-part anthology film, will be Netflix’s first original Telugu film, the streaming giant announced on social media on Wednesday while releasing the film’s teaser.
The film will premiere on Netflix on February 19.
Director and writer Tharun Bhascker will be helming a segment called Ramula featuring actors Machu Lakshmi, Saanve Megghana, Naveen Kumar, while Meera by BV Nandini Reddy will be written by Radhika Anand and stars Jagapathi Babu, Amala Paul, Aswin Kakamanu. Another segment called xLife will be written and directed by filmmaker Nag Ashwin with Shruti Haasan, Sanjith Hegde, Sangeet Shobhan, Anish Kuruvilla, UKO, Dayanand Reddy, Thanmayi as the cast. The last part will be Pinky, directed and written by Sankalp Reddy and Emani Nanda Kishore respectively. Pinky will feature actors Satya Dev, Eesha Rebba, Srinivas Avasarala, Ashima Narwal.
Ronnie Screwvala’s RSVP Movies Ashi Dua Sara’s Flying Unicorn Entertainment, which had produced Netflix’s first Tamil anthology film Paava Kadhaigal that released in December 2020, will be producing the Telugu anthology film.
Speaking about her debut Netflix film, Nandini Reddy said in a press release that the film will bring forth “authentic human stories and differentiated take on relationships”.
Sankalp Reddy, whose debut film Ghazi (2017) won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu, said that the anthology will “explore unique themes”.
Nag Ashwin, who will be working with Amitabh Bachchan, Prabhas and Deepika Padukone in his next directorial, said that Pitta Kathalu is not restricted only for the Telugu-speaking audiences. He mentioned that he wanted to “push the boundaries of what people expect from the medium”.
“Pitta Kathalu is a labour of love with every story in the anthology showcasing a beautiful landscape of the country and presenting women-led stories that will touch a chord with the audience,” said Tharun Bhascker.
Matthan, who is the chairperson of the Indian Panorama Jury at the 51st International Film Festival of India (IFFI), was in conversation with film journalist Faridoon Shahriyar during a virtual session Do You Have It? at the film festival.
“When I wrote the script, I looked at its criticism and kept it aside. After five to six months, I started writing it again and came across new potholes. This is the fifth script which was finalised. You need have good friends who are critical of you,” Matthan said.
While Sarfarosh dealt with cross-border terrorism, the sequel will be based on the internal security of India.
“It shows how India’s security stands strong in spite of various problems,” Matthan said. He said that he is dedicating the movie to the CRPF, who bear the brunt of these problems.
There has been no confirmation about the film and its cast.
Speaking about working on a film’s content, Matthan said, “I have travelled all over India in search of content for my films. It is important for any filmmaker to understand the elements of sociology and politics. I think a writer or director should be sensitive about the society. You can put across your point without being offensive to anyone.”
Matthan, who began his career as an assistant director in Sir Richard Attenborough’s directorial Gandhi, spoke about his experience as the jury chairman of IFFI’s Indian Panorama section. “I saw 180 films and realised how diverse we are. This is a country to be embraced and loved,” he said, adding that India is a bubbling active democracy.
The 51st edition of IFFI is currently being held in Goa and will conclude on Sunday.
Sarfarosh, which won the National Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment, was directed and produced by Matthan. He had also written the film’s story and screenplay.
P Virumandi, the director of the 2020 Tamil film Ka Pae Ranasingam, is working on a Tamil biopic starring director and actor M Sasikumar, the makers of the film announced on Monday.
The yet-to-be-titled film will be based on a true event that happened in 1975, the film’s makers announced on social media.
Speaking to Silverscreen India, Virumandi said: “Though I can’t reveal much, the film is based on an event that happened in the 70s. It focusses on one person because of whom the cinema industry is flourishing now and the Tamil film industry is successful.”
“The film is about a person who lived in a village, because of whom we are watching cinema today. I showed the story to him [on whom the biopic is based] and he was really happy with it and gave inputs for the script,” he said.
He said that working on real incidents was a “safe” way for his style of filmmaking and said that he manages to make a good film while working on real characters and events.
“I was supposed to have worked on this film before Ka Pae Ranasingam. I have around 10 scripts and all of them are based on true events. The reason I do such stories is that the viewers will be more connected while watching the films.”
Revealing that he has worked as an assistant for three years under the person on whom this film is based on, Virumandi said that the film is based on a common man, not a famous personality.
“The person on whom the story is based will be revealed sometime before the shooting starts,” Virumandi said.
The film will travel across timelines “until the recent OTT culture”, the director added.
While the film’s pre-production started in December 2020, it will go on floors in April and will be shot in Theni, Madurai, and Tenkasi in Tamil Nadu.
Virumandi said that the film will be releasing in theatres in September.
The makers are currently in the process of casting other characters. Virumandi said that the cast will comprise newcomers.
While the film will be produced by R Viswanathan under Bharathan Films banner, the director will be retaining his technical crew from his previous film. Vairamuthu will be penning the lyrics and Ghibran will be composing music. T Sivanatheeswaran and NK Ekambaram have been signed as the editor and cinematographer, respectively.
Richa Chadha, the actor who is awaiting the release of her Hindi film Madam Chief Minister, spoke about working with the film’s director Subhash Kapoor, who was accused of sexual misconduct during the #MeToo movement, and said that she doesn’t believe in media trials.
“We heard about all the cases. This is one that actually went to court. I saw in him [Subhash Kapoor] somebody who is willing to take the legal route. Having come out of a court case last year [defamation suit against Payal Ghosh] successfully, I wanted to honour his courage to go through that and be present for the trial,” Chadha said.
In an interview of the woman who had accused Kapoor of sexual harassment, she had said that she didn’t want Kapoor to get blacklisted and hoped he would continue working, Chadha said.
“I did my research and then decided to work on the film,” Chadha added.
In 2012, actor Geetika Tyagi had accused the Jolly LLB of molesting her. She had confronted Kapoor about the incident and recorded a video of the encounter. In 2014, Tyagi filed a case against him, after which he was arrested. Kapoor was later released on bail.
“Without casting any aspersions on anyone involved in this case, and without coming to any conclusions about these specific allegations, we have decided to step away from this film,” the statement read.
However, later in an interview with Hindustan Times, Khan had said that he had changed his mind and would be working on the project.
“At that time I felt that was the right step to take, so I took that. Today, I feel differently. I’m going with my heart. Perhaps some people will be critical of my decision. But I’ve to live with my own conscience. So, I’ve done what my heart and conscience feels is right,” he told the publication.
Recently, Kapoor and Chadha landed in a controversy when the poster of Madam Chief Minister drew criticisms for reinforcing stereotypes regarding Dalits. While Chadha issued an apology, Kapoor is yet to respond.
In her conversation with D’Souza, Chadha said that she had a conversation with Kapoor and he too felt that the depiction on the poster was a wrong decision.
Madam Chief Minister is set to release on January 22.
Adipurush, the upcoming multilingual period film starring Prabhas and Saif Ali Khan, went into early stages of production with the makers beginning work on its motion capture on Tuesday, director Om Raut announced on Twitter.
Prasad Sutar, who is co-producing the film, said in a press release, “High-end visual effects combined with real-time technology is commonly used in international films and this always helps filmmakers narrate their story. To create the world of Adipurush and to tell the epic tale, we are bringing together the same.”
The film will release in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada. The film, which is an action drama, will be a 3D feature film and is based on the Sanskrit epic Ramayana. The film’s posters revealed that Prabhas will be essaying the role of Adipurush, based on Ram, while Khan will be playing the antagonist’s role of Lankesh, based on Ravan.
The filmmakers are yet to confirm who has been cast as Sita. According to reports, Kriti Sanon has been signed to play the role.
Talking about the film, Bhushan Kumar said in a press release that Raut and his team were “creating an entire world of Adipurush with the latest technology, commonly used in international cinema but will be explored in Indian filmmaking for the first time”.
Adipurush marks Prabhas and Bhushan Kumar’s third collaboration after Saaho andRadhe Shyam. While the film marks Raut’s first collaboration with Prabhas, the director has previously worked with Khan in Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior, the Hindi historical action film which released in 2020.
K Rajan, the Tamil film producer and director, raised questions on established actors like Nayanthara and Andrea Jeremiah spending producers’ money to hire assistants.
“Actors like Nayanthara are accompanied by five-six bodyguards. Are they threatened by terrorism or do they need protection from us? Only if you are a rowdy person would you be needing so many bodyguards. I don’t fear telling the truth. I heard that an actor called Andrea [Jeremiah], who cooperates well during filming, has got five assistants. Three of them, who are hairdressers and make up artists, have to come from Bombay. Are there no hairdressers and make up artists in Tamil Nadu?” Rajan said.
He was speaking at the audio launch of the upcoming Tamil film Vetti Pasanga on Sunday. The film is produced by M Chakravarthy and stars Sivabalan, also known as Appukutty.
Rajan said that when actors hire personal staff at exorbitant rates at the expense of producers, it inflates the film’s budget. This additional expense can be avoided by hiring local talent.
When Silverscreen India reached out to Jeremiah, her manager Aiyappan said, “I don’t think she will be interested in giving a response to this. As far as I know, I don’t think she has worked with him. She will not have anything to say since she does not have any involvement with respect to the audio launch or the person who spoke. If there is a valid or reasonable source this is coming from, she will be open to listen to it and give her comments. In this case, it makes no sense for her to respond to something that someone said.”
Rajan, who has earlier produced films like Brammacharigal (1983), Ninaikaada Naalillai (2001) has also directed films, including Namma Ooru Mariamma (1991), and Unarchigal (2005).
Talking about producers’ difficulties, Rajan said that debut actors should not be paid any remuneration since producers were taking a financial risk by launching them. He added that while an actor is important for a film, producers are seldom respected in the industry.
The motion poster of Ghani, the upcoming Telugu film starring Varun Tej, was unveiled on Tuesday.
The film’s writer and director, Kiran Korrapati, told Silverscreen India that he had Varun Tej on his mind while writing the sports drama film.
“The movie will have boxing as its backdrop,” the debutant director said.
“During the time Varun Tej and I were travelling for five years while I worked as a co-director on three of his films, he had told me that he would like to do a sports drama film in boxing. Then I made a story and narrated it to him, and it happened,” he said.
For his role in the film, Varun Tej trained under Olympic medal winner and former professional boxer Tony Jeffries. Ghani marks Tej’s 10th film and his first sports drama film.
Apart from Varun Tej, the film will feature actors such as Saiee Manjrekar, Upendra, Sunil Shetty, Naveen Chandra, and others. This will also be Shetty’s Telugu debut, who has predominantly worked in the Hindi film industry.
While Korrapati has worked as a co-director in Varun Tej’s films Tholi Prema and Antariksham 9000 KMPH, Ghani marks his first collaboration with the actor as a filmmaker.
“We started shooting for the film in February (2020). We did 15 days (of shooting) in Vizag and Covid happened. In November (2020), we shot for some 10 days. From February 15 (2021) till the film is completed, I will be shooting in one stretch,” Korrapati added.
Presented by Allu Aravind, the film will be produced by Sidhu Mudda of Renaissance Pictures and Allu Bobby under the banner Allu Bobby Company. Music will be composed by S Thaman while George C Williams and Marthand K Venkatesh will be in charge of cinematography and editing, respectively.
The makers of Ghani have confirmed that the film will have a theatrical release in July.
Unnikrishnan Namboothiri, the 98-year-old Malayalam actor who was diagnosed with Covid-19 in December 2020, has recovered from the virus and tested negative on Sunday.
The veteran actor was rushed to a private hospital in Kannur in Kerala three weeks ago after he was diagnosed with pneumonia, and was discharged upon recovery. However, after two days, Namboothiri had to be hospitalised again as he had developed a fever. It was then that he tested positive for Covid-19.
Speaking to Silverscreen India, PV Kunhikrishnan, Unnikrishnan’s son and a Kerala High Court judge said, “I think he was infected with Covid from the hospital.”
Unnikrishnan is currently recovering at Kunhikrishnan’s residence at their native place, Kunhikrishnan told Silverscreen India.
Being passionate about fitness from his youth, Unnikrishnan has been following a healthy lifestyle and does not have any lifestyle-related diseases, Kunhikrishnan said.
“His health is better than mine,” Kunhikrishnan said and added: “Yesterday night he was not able to sleep. The doctor suggested to check his blood for potassium and sodium levels. After we got the report, everything was normal. He has only got old-age problems.”
According to Kunhikrishnan, Unnikrishnan had no medical problems till the age of 94. “He even came to the high court for my swearing in ceremony,” he said.
The actor, however, underwent a surgery at the age of 94 after he suffered a fall at his house.
Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, Unnikrishnan, who has never missed voting for any election, could not cast his vote during the Kerala Local Body elections that took place on December 9, 2020.
Unnikrishnan has predominantly acted in Malayalam films. He debuted in the 1996 Malayalam film Desadanam. He is also known for his roles in many films, including Kalyanaraman, Pokkiriraja and Rappakal.
He has also starred in a few popular Tamil films like Kandukondein Kandukondein, Pammal K Sambandham and Chandramukhi.
The Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF), which will go virtual for the second time, has selected 29 projects for this year’s edition, including six Indian films. The shortlisted projects, including nine documentaries, were selected from 321 submissions from 80 countries and regions, HAF said on Monday.
Every year, HAF brings Asian filmmakers with upcoming film projects to Hong Kong for co-production ventures with top film financiers, producers, bankers, distributors, and buyers.
Returning to its regular March slot, HAF will take place online from March 15-17, 2021 coinciding with Filmart Online, which runs between March 15 to March 18. HAF and Filmart also took place virtually in August 2020 due to rising cases of Covid-19 in Hong Kong.
Birthmark, directed by Aditya Vikram Sengupta (Labour Of Love), and The Catch, Rishi Chandna’s first feature film, are among the six Indian projects chosen for this year’s HAF. The Sinking Island, directed by Sourav Sarangi, along with three more Indian films, has been shortlisted in the documentary section.
China is represented by eight films, including Splash by Cai Chengjie.
In 2020, the event was pushed from April to August and finally canceled due to increasing Covid-19 cases in Hong Kong. Thus a virtual screening of the program was held during the CineFest event.
A few of the selections in the documentary and fictional categories of HAF are as follows:
I Come From Ikotun(France, Hong Kong)
Dir: Wang Bing
Prod: Isabelle Glachant
Prod co: Chinese Shadows, Wil Productions
The Sinking Island(India)
Dir: Sourav Sarangi
Prods: Sourav Sarangi, George Kalomenopoulos, Riccardo Biadene
Prod co: Son et Lumiere
Vrindavan: City Of Widows (India, Canada, New Zealand)
Dir: Vikram Dasgupta
Prods: Alex Yoke-sun Lee, Marilyn McFadyen
Prod co: Yalla Media
FICTIONAL FEATURES:
108 Days (Indonesia)
Dir: Lucky Kuswandi
Prods: Muhammad Zaidy, Meiske Taurisia
Prod co: Palari Films
Beyond The Fog(Japan)
Dir: Murase Daichi
Prod: Kawase Naomi
Prod co: Nara International Film Festival
Birthmark (India)
Dir: Aditya Vikram Sengupta
Prods: Anshulika Dubey, Priyankar Patra
Prod co: For Films
Cangrejos (The Philippines)
Dir: Zurich Chan
Prod: Gale Osorio
Prod co: Binisaya Movement Inc, Southern Lantern Studios
Her Lullaby (Hong Kong)
Dir: Oliver Chan
Prod: Oliver Chan
Prod co: No Ceiling Film Production
Love To Bits* (Hong Kong)
Dir: Wong Wan-sze
Prod: Wong Wan-sze, LEUNG Kin-pong
Prod co: Electric Diamond Production
Sunfire (China)
Dir: Yang Rui
Prod: Fang Li
Prod co: Beijing Shu Shu Shu Screen Culture Co
The Catch (India)
Dir: Rishi Chandna
Prod: Dina Dattani
Prod co: Furaha Pictures
The Forgotten History (Afghanistan, Spain)
Dir: Roya Sadat
Prods: Alba Sottora Clua, Roya Sadat
Prod co: Roya Film House, Alba Sotorra Cinema Productions
Over 40 filmmakers, including Christopher Nolan, Asif Kapadia, Danny Boyle, and David Yates, wrote an open letter on Monday to Rishi Sunak, the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, seeking financial aid for cinemas in the UK, in a bid to rescue the film industry.
“All our careers have been built in large part on the benefits brought by the UK’s cinemas. But they are among the venues that have been hit hardest by Covid-19. They need further support if they are to survive,” stated the letter, which was published in The Sunday Times.
“Cinema going offers proven benefits in terms of jobs, high-street footfall and community cohesion as well as mental health benefits that are now more important than ever. This is all at risk. There is no doubt that if supported to survive, the sector will recover and once again thrive. But the need for direct financial support is pressing,” the letter said.
“We recognise the support the government has already provided, but fear it will not be enough. The challenges are most acute for large cinema operators that have not been eligible for tailored funding. Representing more than 80% of the market, they constitute its critical mass and help to drive the success of film distribution and production. Without them the future of the entire UK film industry would look extremely precarious,” the letter added, referring to the recent aid of 500 million pounds given to the cause of Film and TV Production Restart Scheme.
The scheme, that was launched on January 12, aims at covering Covid-19-related insurance costs for productions that are struggling to restart. Claims can be backdated to July 28, 2020. The deadline for productions to register for the scheme and restart shooting has been extended from December 2020 until 28 February, 2021 to help more productions to access the scheme. The funding is available to all productions made by companies where at least half of the production budget is spent in the UK, as per a press release by the UK’s finance ministry.
“UK cinema stands on the edge of an abyss. We urgently need targeted support to ensure that future generations can enjoy the magic of cinema,” the filmmakers’ letter said.
The UK is still under lockdown after a second strain of the Covid-19 was identified late in 2020.
Kangana Ranaut, the National Award-winning Hindi actor, was sent a legal notice by author Ashish Kaul for refusing to acknowledge his book, Didda: The Warrior Queen of Kashmir, while announcing her new film Manikarnika Returns: The Legend of Didda, which is based on Queen Didda.
According to Kaul, who is a descendant of the queen, his book is the only historical and non-fictional account on Queen Didda and Ranaut’s film draws facts from his book.
Photo Source- Screenshot of Ashish Kaul’s post
Kaul’s action comes not only as a claim over the narrative of his book, which released in 2019, but also a “rightful claim to preserve his family’s legacy as the descendants of the Kashmiri queen”.
“I was already working on Didda for the simple reason that Didda is the story of my family,” he told Silverscreen India.
“I have been working on the life and times of Queen Didda and 12 other women. So, overall, there are 13 women’s stories that I am working on and each woman has been forgotten by history. I was commissioned by the Indira Gandhi Centre for the Arts and Culture in Delhi (under the Information and Broadcasting Ministry) to do a research monograph and a documentary on these 13 women. This was in 2018,” he said.
Kaul directed a 60- minute long film, Streedesh, based on the life and times of Didda and the other 12 women. While it has already been approved by the Central Board of Film Certification, it will be released soon by the Indira Gandhi Centre for the Arts.
On January 14, Ranaut announced that she would be working on Manikarnika Returns with the story of the Kashmiri queen who “defeated Mahmud of Ghazni not once but twice”.
Ranaut’s previous film Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi (2019) was based on the life of the legendary Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi. The film, in which she played the titular role, courted controversy after its director Krish Jagarlamudi called out Ranaut for allegedly “hijacking” the film. Ranaut was credited as the the film’s director along with Jagarlamudi.
हमारा भारतवर्ष साक्षी रहा है झाँसी की रानी जैसे कई वीरांगनाओं की कहानी का. ऐसी ही एक और अनकही वीरगाथा है कश्मीर की एक रानी की, जिसने महमूद गजनवी को एक नहीं, दो बार हराया. ले कर आ रहे हैं @KamalJain_TheKJ और मैं, #ManikarnikaReturns: The Legend of Didda 🙏 pic.twitter.com/sgrqkqilj6
Kaul said, “She (Kangana) still does not understand that Didda is my family’s legacy. She says that it (Didda’a legend) is a historical fact. Now, this is the only grey area. Because there’s only one book in the whole world that mentions queen Didda- it is Rajatarangini– which holds the history of Kashmir.”
Kalhana’s Rajatarangini is a voluminous historical account of Kashmir, that dates back to a 1,000 years ago and is a compilation of 2,000 pages. Originally written in Sanskrit, the text was later translated to English by Aurel Stain.
“The text has two only pages mentioning Queen Didda, and a very sketchy mention of her. Now the same mention has been taken forward by various other historians,” Kaul said.
“This is where the problem begins. Those books which draw from Rajatarangini say that Didda was of immoral character, she was a characterless woman and had multiple sexual partners because she wanted to remain on the throne. And it goes on to say that Didda was a woman who killed her own son, Abhimanyu. She went on to kill three infant grandsons, such was her lust for the throne. At the age of 65 or 70, she had a 20-year-old shepherd boy as her lover. She was so sexually involved with him that she got him into the palace and where he began living and was later given a position in the army. Now this is the narrative that every other book has taken forward,” he said.
“Can you equate a franchise like Manikarnikawith a woman of such disastrous character? Kangana says that she is doing a story on the legend of Didda, the one who defeated Mahmud of Ghazni not once but twice. She fails to realise that this whole narrative is mine which she is using in the media. Where is the narrative which says that Didda was a great nationalist and fighter? It is there only in Didda: The Warrior Queen of Kashmir by Ashish Kaul,” he said.
Kangana Ranaut at the Launch of ‘Manikarnika–The Queen Of Jhansi’ Jewellery Collection
Kaul, who also authored the bestseller book Refugee Camp, said that he had been planning to make a film or webseries on Queen Didda.
Elaborating about his book on Queen Didda, he said, “I had always envisioned Didda as Ashtabhujadurga, who, despite being disabled, knew all the war forms and she could handle all the weapons that existed during those days. She was a statesman, a diplomat, above all, she was a great warrior.”
Kaul, who released the Hindi version of his book on Sunday, has now started working on the Marathi version.
Where it all began:
The elections are on, and the battle is set to ensue soon. Grab a piece of history before it begins.
Read more about Didda, Kashmir’s longest serving queen.
Kaul, along with his team and his associate, was looking for someone who could pen the foreword of the book.
“That was the time last year Kangana had exploded on the screen for the Maharashtra controversy and she had suddenly started talking about Kashmir and how she felt strongly about Kashmiri Pandits and all of that. So, suddenly we thought that we should ask her. So, throughout last year consistently, my team and one of my associates and myself, we continuously tweeted the press coverage that we have received and we tweeted them to Kangana as well. We sent her mails about the book and why we felt she was fit to write the foreword,” he said.
With time slipping and no reply from Ranaut, the author’s team decided to move on. The current book comes with a foreword by the Padma Shri awardee paralympian Deepa Malik.
In January 2021, Kaul, who was in talks with some production houses to make a film on Queen Didda, was informed of Ranaut announcing her film on the Kashmiri queen along with her producer Kamal Jain.
While Kaul is currently awaiting a response from Ranaut, he confirmed that a film will soon be announced on the warrior queen. It will be made in English, Hindi and other regional languages.
“Had the pandemic not been there, the film would have already gone on floors. I am still in talks with production houses and I might direct the film as well,” he added.
