Section: Movies

Jeremy Bulloch, Boba Fett in Star Wars, Dies at 75

BY Ramya Ashok Kumar On

Jeremy Bulloch, who played Boba Fett in the original Star Wars trilogy, died in a hospital in London on Thursday, following complications from Parkinson’s disease. He was 75.

Jeremy Bulloch played Boba Fett, a bounty hunter in the original Star Wars films, The Empire Strikes Back in 1980 and the Return of the Jedi in 1983. Bulloch had been suffering from Parkinson’s disease for some time.

Bulloch’s agent, Browns, Simcocks & Andrews, issued a statement saying, “We are very sad to announce the death of actor Jeremy Bulloch earlier today. He died peacefully, in hospital, surrounded by his family.” News of Bulloch’s death was posted on his Facebook page as well.

Jeremy Bulloch was born in Market Harborough, Leicestershire, England, and became an actor at an early age. From acting in commercials, Bulloch made his way to television shows and then to films. He acted in several classic 70s and 80s shows, including in Doctor Who: The Space Museum as Tor the Xenon rebel and in Doctor Who: The Time Warrior as Hal the archer.

Bulloch was, however, best known for his role as Boba Fett in the original Star Wars films.

According to the Star Wars official website, Bulloch once said about his character, “I thought of Boba Fett as Clint Eastwood in a suit of armour.”

Bulloch also played the role of an Imperial officer escorting Princess Leia Organa through the Cloud City in The Empire Strikes Back. In The Revenge of the Sith, Bulloch played the role of Captain Colton, the pilot of the Sundered Heart.

In 2002, actor Daniel Logan was cast as Boba Fett in Star Wars: The Attack of the Clones. Logan paid tribute to the late actor on his social media and wrote, “Conventions won’t be the same without you. May the force be with you always.”

 

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Star Wars director and creator George Lucas said, “Jeremy brought the perfect combination of mystery and menace to his performance of Boba Fett, which is just what I wanted the character to convey. In addition, Jeremy was a true gentleman who was very supportive of Star Wars and its fans, and I’m very grateful for his contributions to the saga and its legacy.”

Co-actor Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker, the protagonist of the original Star Wars trilogy and the Jedi nemesis of Boba Fett, called Bulloch “the quintessential English gentleman”.

The official Star Wars Twitter wrote, “He will be remembered not only for his iconic portrayal of the legendary character, but also for his warmth and generous spirit which have become an enduring part of his rich legacy.”

Billy Dee Williams, who played Lando Calrissian in Star Wars, wrote, “Today we lost the best bounty hunter in the galaxy.”

Bulloch is survived by his wife Maureen, three sons, and ten grandchildren. His wife and two sons, Jamie and Robbie, were with him during his last days.

The Gray Man: Dhanush to Star in Russo Brothers’ Next Venture Along With Chris Evans, Ryan Gosling and Ana de Armas

BY Namrata Ganguly On

Dhanush, the Tamil actor, has joined the cast of The Russo Brother’s upcoming Netflix film The Gray Man, along with Chris Evans, Ryan Gosling and Ana de Armas. Netflix announced the ensemble cast on Thursday.

Dhanush is the only Indian actor to have joined the cast of the action thriller. The film also features Jessica Henwick, Wagner Moura, and Julia Butters.The Gray Man marks Dhanush’s second international film, after the 2018 French adventure comedy The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir directed by Ken Scott.

Dhanush also made the announcement on Twitter on Friday and wrote that he was elated to join the project.

Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo (Avengers: Endgame, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War), the Netflix original is a crime thriller based on the debut novel in American author Mark Greaney’s The Gray Man series. The novel, published in 2009 and titled The Gray Man, revolves around a former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operative and freelance assassin Court Gentry. In the film adaptation, the freelance assasin will be played by Gosling, who is being hunted down a former cohort at the CIA, Lloyd Hansen, played by Evans, Deadline reported. The Gray Man is expected to be “the biggest-budget film in Netflix’s history on the feature side”.

The film’s script has been written by the Russo Brothers, along with Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely.

Besides directing and scriptwriting, the Russo Brothers will also co-produce the film with Mike Larocca under their production banner, AGBO, along with Joe Roth, Jeff Kirschenbaum and Chris Castaldi under their banner of Roth Kirschenbaum Films.

According to a Deadline report, the film will be shot in Los Angeles in January 2021, followed by a few international locations. No official announcement has been made on the release date yet.

The Gray Man marks the Russo Brothers’ first big-budget film since superhero action film Avengers: Endgame, that released in 2019 and set an all-time global box-office record. Incidentally, the film’s promotion was kickstarted in India, with Joe Russo visiting India to release a special theme song composed by AR Rahman. Russo also said that he chose India as their first stop for their film’s press tour because he was “overwhelmed” with “the incredible response to Infinity War” (the 2018 American superhero film Avengers: Infinity War).

This is not the first venture of the Russo Brothers to star an Indian actor. Extraction, a Netflix original action thriller film co-produced by Anthony and Joe Russo and written by Joe Russo, starred Indian actors Randeep Hooda, Pankaj Tripathi, Priyanshu Painyuli, and Rudhraksh Jaiswal alongside Chris Hemsworth. The film that has made its way into Google’s list of top 10 most trending movies in 2020. The film was shot in Ahmedabad and Mumbai in November 2018.

The Russo Brothers have also collaborated with Indian director duo Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK (The Family Man) for an upcoming drama series titled Citadel, starring Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Richard Madden in the lead.

Katteri Trailer Starring Vaibhav, Varalakshmi Sarathkumar, Sonam Bajwa, Aathmika

Starcast: Vaibhav, Varalakshmi Sarathkumar, Sonam Bajwa, Aathmika, Ponnambalam, Ravi Mariya, Karunakaran, John Vijay, Mime Gopi, Kutty Gopi, Manali Rathod, Jangiri Madhumitha
Written and Directed by: Deekay
DOP: Vignesh Vasu
Editor: Praveen K L
Music : Prasad S N
Lyrics: Srikanth Varadan
Singers: Jonita Gandhi, Maria Roe Vincent, Sathya Prakash, Nadisha Thomas, Neeti Mohan, Gaythri. SG, Anusha Prasad
Art Director: Senthil Raghavan
Stunts: Don Ashok
Teaser: T Shivanandeeswaran
Trailer: San Lokesh
Chief Make up: Vinoth Sukumaran
Costume designer: Khushbu Banerjee
Designs: Venky
Stills: Narendran D
Subtitles: Rekhs
DI: QLAB
Executive Producer: C.P. Jai
Executive Producer: K. Mathen Kumar
Production executive: Sai Saravanaji
S-Fx: Sync Cinema
VFX: Gemini FX
PRO: Yuvaraj
Producer: K.E.Gnanavelraja
Direction team: Bhargavi Kalidas, Aravind Kathiresan, SSR, Pragadeeswaran Muthukumar, Vivek Das, Bremkumar Gandhi
Production Banner: Studio Green
Audio Label: Think Music

Nikkhil Advani Interview: ‘Apartment’ was Written Keeping in Mind Depression and Friendship During Lockdown

BY Ramya Ashok Kumar On

Nikkhil Advani, the Hindi film director and producer, is gearing up for several releases, with the most recent outing being the Amazon Prime Video original anthology film Unpaused. Advani is part of four other directors, including Raj & DK, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Avinash Arun, and Nitya Mehra, in Unpaused. The short films delve into themes of friendship, love, hope, second chances, and new beginnings.

Shot completely during the Covid-19 pandemic, Unpaused captures what life has become since March,  when the ‘Janta curfew’ was implemented. According to Advani, shooting for Apartment, his short film from Unpaused starring Richa Chadha, Sumeet Vyas and Ishwak Singh, is exactly the way he has always wanted to shoot – with a small crew.

Unpaused will premiere on Amazon Prime Video on December 18.

Advani says that he was deeply affected by the loneliness and depression that people felt as they were stuck inside their homes for months and the love they received from others they never imagined from. These emotions led him to direct Apartment.

In a conversation with Silverscreen India, Advani shares his comfort in shooting a film during the pandemic, the emotions that evoked the creative process behind Apartment and his attachment towards making films based on real-life incidents.

Can you share your experience shooting for Unpaused amidst the Covid-19 pandemic?

I think that it is very interesting and also it is exactly the way I always want to shoot, which is with a very contained crew. When Amazon Prime and Aparna (Aparna Purohit, the head of India Originals, Amazon Prime Video) called me up and told me that it has to be done in a particular way – three days of shoot and so many days of post-production and only 10 people can be allowed on the sets which includes the actors – I know it sounds very difficult to do but is exactly what I want to do with the films and shows that I make. I don’t like having so many people around me and I don’t like having so much socia. I totally enjoyed the experience and the ability to tell the story without any kind of thought for what the box office outcome is going to be is very liberating.

Why did you choose to tell the story of Apartment as a short film?

Because A, the story itself does not lend itself to a longer format. It’s a short story. Secondly, for me, two to three things evoked some kind of emotion during the lockdown – loneliness and depression that people were feeling and the other was the friendship and love from quarters and avenues that they have not even reached out to. The story was written keeping both those things in mind. It is very dire and it is very dark and there doesn’t seem to be any end to this lockdown. But should there not be a light to the tunnel? It is important what Aparna did with all of us filmmakers. She rallied us around to make sure that there will be some kind of hope at the end of the dark tunnel.

How was it different from directing a full-length feature film?

I think the moment you’ve written the script and if the script is working on paper and if the scenes are working on paper, directing a short or a feature-length film or even a streaming show, it is not very different. Once we know that you don’t have to linger so much on the particular theme, we have said what we need to say in that theme. There are moments in the Apartment which are just about silence and being alone. It was a bit tricky but I have done a short before called Guddu Engineer. It was not really an anthology – it was six Indian filmmakers and six Pakistani filmmakers. I enjoyed the short film format a lot.

Ishwak Singh from Apartment, a short film featured in Unpaused.

There have been a lot of anthology films to hit OTT platforms in recent times. Why do you think this is happening and how is Unpaused different?

It’s not. Unpaused is part of a bouquet of films which have been conceived by Amazon Prime and Aparna. The filmmakers are people that I think Amazon Prime has a past relationship with and they are very comfortable with and who they have built a relationship with. There are a lot of anthologies coming, because I think it is very interesting to show the perspective or emotions from a variety of people. All the heavy lifting was done by Aparna and her team. They had to possibly rally what Raj & DK, Nitya, Tannishtha and Avinash were doing and somewhere they had to bring it all together into the Unpaused anthology.

Films that deal with sensitive topics get slammed on social media these days by some group or the other. What do you think about such social media backlash, does it hinder creative freedom?

We get backlash even if we don’t do anything. It doesn’t affect us. Unfortunately, we have developed thick skins. I have had my ups and downs. I have had hit films and flop films, some blockbuster films like Kal Ho Naa Ho and flops like Chandni Chowk to China. Very early in my career I realised that the Friday morning creative work ceases to be mine, it becomes the audiences. I can’t determine in which mood that particular person bought a ticket is going to absorb my creative work. I can’t determine whether he is in a good mood or a bad mood, whether he has come to like it or diss it. So I don’t tend to watch anything that I don’t need to. I have decided personally as a filmmaker that I only want to make things that somewhere or the other believe in, in terms of storytelling or in terms of an emotion I feel that needs to be captured.

It is even more sensitive when it comes to telling stories about real life incidents. How do you think you had to deal with that?

I have done Airlift as a producer, I have done Batla House as a producer and a director. Even when we do Mumbai Diaries or P.O.W. – Bandi Yuddh Ke, which was adapted from an Israeli drama but was based in Kargil. I like to do that and I tend to gravitate towards things like that. D-Day also was about bringing back Dawood Ibrahim. That’s what makes me comfortable. Of course it comes with its fair share of issues and possible risks. Maybe I am a sucker for it. I like the ability to tell a story which somewhere or the other has been germinated from a real life incident or real life person.

Mumbai Diaries 26/11 will release on Amazon Prime Video in March 2021.

Why do you think this liking towards real-life incidents come and what do you think is necessary to make a film about real-life incidents?

Responsibility. They have their families existing and we have to be responsible and we have to make sure when they watch it they applaud us for what we are doing. Similarly, in Mumbai Diaries 26/11, all the characters are fictional but the event is real. The characters may be fictional but they exist in every government hospital of the country. They are the first responders who we take for granted. When we eventually have to go to hospitals and we don’t for once look at the person looking after us, whether it is the doctor, ward boy or the nurse. That’s what Mumbai Diaries is about. Somewhere or the other, they are fictional characters but you will hopefully identify with each and every one of them.

What is your dream movie? What kind of movie would you like to make?

I am already living my dream in making the Apartment with Richa Chaddha, Ishwak, Sumeet the way I wanted to make it or making Mumbai Diaries the way I wanted to make it. Taking a break or making Batla House after four years but making it the way I wanted to make it. I standby all my work. Chandni Chowk to China even though it did not work, I really loved the fact that the first half was great and the second half had problems. You will never find me looking back and thinking that this was not my fault. All the faults are mine. Hopefully I have learnt from them. There is no dream film that I want to make. There is a film that I am hoping to make next which is something I have never done and it will allow me to possibly work with one of my big heroes. I have worked with Rishi Kapoor and I have worked with Irfan Khan and Shah Rukh Khan. So this will allow me to work with an actor that I have wanted to work with for the past 25 years.

Why did you opt for a theatrical release for Indoo Ki Jawaani?

The theatres are suffering. Why did we push to be one of the first production companies to take on this whole Covid protocol and the expenses that were going to be incurred and get into shooting with all our shows and films? Because the daily wage workers were suffering and we are at the end of the day a film production company. Also, when Indoo Ki Jawaani started last year it was meant to be for a theatrical release. We don’t see ourselves as a production company that is going to use the streaming platform as an alternative to feature films. We have specific divisions. We have a sole division for OTT streaming platforms and this is feature films. We are doing that now when we have several shows as well as films.

A still from the Kiara Advani-starrer Indoo Ki Jawani.

You have been working during the pandemic. What drove you forward despite the threat of getting infected?

I totally took to the whole online Zoom chatting and meeting, work from home kind of situations. When I worked during the pandemic, I made sure all the hard drives were correct and all the editors could get in touch with me and we could edit online. The directors were able to talk to the editors when needed as well as the prod team were able to plan so that when the pandemic was lifted they could go to the places. What we decided as a production company was not to get paused. We decided to keep moving. We enhanced the writing team that works in our production company. We brought more people into it. We developed more shows. Some of which you will see on Amazon.

What are you more confident about today that you felt apprehensive about in the early stages of your career?

Just to do the thing that I want to do, make the films which I believe in I just feel that today from March the lockdown happened, we have no control over it or for that matter nobody has control over Covid. As filmmakers, we are constantly putting the one film that you want to make as a next one because you want to work with a particular actor or you are chasing a hundred crore club. With D-Day and Mumbai Diaries, Apartment, Delhi Safari I have experienced what it takes to make the film that you want to make and the kind of satisfaction you get when you do that is undeniable. That is what I am going to concentrate doing on.

What are you currently working on and what are your future projects?

We have several things. We have a separate film division and so we are going to be announcing several films. We are doing a couple of shows that are in development and in casting. You will hear about those also.

Director Krish Jagarlamudi to Open Up About Fallout with Actor Kangana Ranaut over ‘Manikarnika’ on Talk Show

BY Anindita Banerjee On

Krish Jagarlamudi, the director who had a fallout with Hindi film actor Kangana Ranaut over the 2019 film Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi, spoke for “one last time” about the controversy on Samantha Akinneni‘s talk show, Sam Jam.

Addressing the controversy in a promo video released ahead of the release of the episode, Krish said that he feared that he might remain unknown to the world.

“I want to speak for one last time. Kangana and her team watched the film and I got a call after two days. My only fear was that I might remain unknown to the world. As artists, we can only show our potential to the world when we get the right opportunities,” Krish said.

Actor Rakul Preet Singh is also seen in the promo video joining the director on the guests’ couch.

In 2019, when Ranaut claimed that she directed 70% of Manikarnika, Krish stated that the actor was lying. The director, in an interview with Bollywood Hungama, said he was replaced in the credits by the actress when the film was released.

“The first poster of the movie came out on August 15. I was the director then. The teaser that came out on October 1st saw my screen name ‘Krish’ being changed to Radha Krishna Jagarlamudi – my real name. The trailer that released in December showed Kangana Ranaut’s name alongside mine as a director. When the movie eventually came out, it credited her as the sole director and my name came way into the credits,” he said in the interview.

He also took to Twitter and posted several WhatsApp screenshots of his messages with the people who worked with him on Manikarnika as well. Sharing the editor’s chat he tweeted, “This is from the editor who edited and later replaced.. the question is not about who shot how much., but its about proceess which everything has been done with ulterior motive n with a poor taste. Pls realise ur lies r making things worse. (sic)”

This led to a Twitter feud between Ranaut’s sister Rangoli Chandel and Krish.

Earlier, Ranaut had been involved in a tussle over credits when Simran writer Apurva Asrani claimed that she took over the authorship of the 2017 film. Ranaut was credited with “additional screenplay and dialogue” for the Hansal Mehta directorial, in which she also played the lead. The actor had claimed that Asrani’s script did not match her vision of her character, which finally forced her to intervene. While Asrani was more than happy with her taking the additional dialogue credits, he didn’t want to share the writing credits with her.

Asrani even spoke up against Ranaut during the Manikarnika controversy, taking the director’s side.

The episode of Sam Jam with Krish and Rakul Preet Singh will premiere on Friday on Telugu OTT platform Aha.

Sundance Film Festival To Screen Two Indian Films – ‘Fire in the Mountains’ & ‘Writing with Fire’

BY Shrija Ganguly On

The Sundance Film Festival 2021 will have two Indian films in its line-up – Ajitpal Singh‘s Fire In The Mountains and Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh’s Writing With Fire. 

Fire in the Mountains, competing in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition, is the story of a mother’s struggle to save enough money so she can take her wheelchair-bound son for physiotherapy. Meanwhile, her husband steals her savings so he can pay for an expensive religious ritual, that he believes would be a better remedy. Set in a Himalayan village, the film has been produced by JAR Pictures (Liars’ Dice, Gangs of Wassepur).

Director Ajitpal Singh, who is a self-taught filmmaker, said in a press note that the film was a “dream since 2012 when my first script was selected for Sundance Mumbai Mantra Script lab”. Further, “The idea of Fire In The Mountains came from a personal tragedy, when my cousin sister Amarjeet Kaur died because her husband didn’t take her to the hospital thinking she was possessed by a ghost.”

Photo Credit- https://www.facebook.com/FireInTheMountainsthefilm/photos/a.105712264245734/230042741812685/?type=3&theater

Fire in the Mountains

Photo Credit- Fire in the Mountain

He said, “The film is about the clash of two worldviews- traditional and modern, with a strong woman at the heart of it and I hope my film will make people ask some relevant questions about their blind faiths.”

Fire in the Mountains has won two awards, namely, ‘Prasad Lab DI’ and ‘Moviebuff Appreciation’ at 2019 Film Bazaar’s Work-In-Progress Lab.

The other Indian contender, Writing with Fire, has been directed by Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh of Black Ticket Films. It will compete in the World Cinema Documentary category. The film revolves around a team of Dalit women reporters who launch India’s sole Dalit women-run newspaper in a news landscape dominated by men. Chief reporter Meera and her team break tradition to redefine what it means to be powerful, on the news frontlines and in their own homes.

Photo Credit- Writing with Fire https://www.tfiny.org/films/detail/writing_with_fire

Writing with Fire

Photo Credit- Writing with Fire

Thomas and Ghosh are known for their unique style of documentary filmmaking, with a focus on making documentaries “look good” while telling stories that have social impact.  In one interview, Thomas said that in India “It wasn’t cool to watch documentaries.” But, she said, “If a 30-second TV commercial can tell us that we want something, then why can’t we apply the same principles and aesthetics to telling stories, beautiful stories, about real people? That’s the idea behind Black Ticket Films.”

The duo won the National Award in the Environment film category in 2013 for Timbaktu, a film that explored the intimate relationship between farmers and the land. Their earlier work includes films on themes of environment, public health, women’s rights, and sustainable resilience of local communities towards climate change, among others.

The number of submissions for the Sundance festival this year saw a slump from 15,100 submissions last year to 3,500 this year. Representing 29 countries, the festival will screen 72 feature films, 50 shorts, 4 indie series, and 14 new frontier projects from January 28 through to February 3 across US cities.

“Of course, the pandemic year demanded adaptation,” said Keri Putnam, Sundance Institute’s Executive Director, in a statement. “On a deeper level, we also recognize the urgency of supporting independent storytellers at a time of great upheaval in the film and media fields. We’re proud this edition of the Festival is fiercely independent, and will reach people everywhere, celebrating both the theatrical experience at our Satellite Screens and streaming on our platform.”

For the Special Screenings section, the festival will screen Life in a Day (2020), which captures life on one day during the Covid-19 year – 25 July, 2020. The film is compiled from 15,000 hours of footage submitted by people from across 192 countries.

The Sundance festival is curated by the non-profit Sundance Institute that works towards creating a space for artists in film, theatre, film composing, and digital media to create and thrive. Founded in 1981 by Robert Redford, the Institute’s signature Labs, granting, and mentorship programs, dedicated to developing new work, take place throughout the year in the U.S. and internationally.

The Sundance Institute announced its final line-up of films on Tuesday, and also said that due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the edition will go beyond its traditional screening at Park City, in Utah, and resort to satellite screenings at independent theatres and drive-ins across the United States.

Bagheera: Srii Murali to Star in Hombale Films’ Next Production

BY Anusha Sundar On

Bagheera, an upcoming Kannada film starring Srii Murali, was announced by Kannada film production banner Hombale Films on the occasion of the actor’s birthday on Thursday.

The production company also released a poster of the film on social media.

The film will be produced by the founder of Hombale Films Vijay Kiragandur. While the story of the film is penned by Prashanth Neel, the screenplay and direction will be helmed by DR Suri. The details on the rest of the cast and crew are yet to be announced.

Prashanth, who has written the script for the film wrote on social media that the story will revolve around the theme of ‘valor’. Srii Murali has previously worked with Prashanth in the latter’s directorial debut in the 2014 action thriller film Ugramm.

While Bageera marks the first collaboration between Hombale Films and Srii Murali, it marks the fourth collaboration of the production house with Prasanth.

Hombale Films’ portfolio of productions includes Kannada films Masterpiece (2015), Raajakumara (2017). It also produced the hit film KGF: Chapter 1 (2018), helmed by Prashanth, starring Yash, Srinidhi Shetty, and Ananth Nag. The banner also recently announced two more films that are set to be directed by Prashanth- multilingual film Salaar starring actor Prabhas (who will be marking his debut in the Kannada film industry), which will be released in Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam, Tamil, and Hindi; and the second instalment of the KGF franchise, KGF: Chapter 2.

Srii Murali told Cinema Express that the project will commence from early 2021 and that “it is too early to reveal any other details about the film”.

Clap: Shoot Over, Actor Aadhi Says Only Ilayaraja Could Have Composed For The “Beautiful, Emotional” Sports Film

BY Anusha Sundar On

Clap, the upcoming Tamil-Telugu sports film starring actor Aadhi Pinisetty, wrapped up its shoot on Tuesday. Aadhi, who plays a 400 metres sprint runner in the film, told Silverscreen India that despite Covid-19-related interruptions in the shoot, he had trained hard for his role. He also said that Clap was a “beautiful emotional” film that only Ilayaraja could have composed for.

Aadhi will star alongside female leads Aakansha Singh and Krisha Kurup. The film also features Prakash Raj, Nasser, Mime Gopi, and Munishkanth in pivotal roles.

Directed by Prithvi Aditya, Clap is based on a 400 metres race. In a telephonic conversation with Silverscreen India, Aadhi talked about how he prepared for the role. He said, “The athletics part, I have never done anything like this before. I had to train along with athletes for almost two months. I trained under Melvin who was a national athlete.”

Speaking about how much his understanding of running had grown, he said, “It was really good because when you go into any subject in detail, you learn so many interesting facts. In the 400 metres sprint, the mindset and approach is unique. It is nothing like that of a marathon. Initially, the runners don’t use up all their energy. They conserve some of it, and then in the last 200 and 150 metres is where they push through.”

He said, “It’s the detail – their posture or the way they place their fingers when the ‘on your mark, get set, go’ is called, all these should be done the way a proper athlete would do it. Otherwise it will be just be someone trying to look like one.”

Handling the shooting interruption due to the pandemic was not easy. Aadhi said, “Athletes have a lean body and it is not a normal gym workout. The Covid-19 times were harsh because we started the shoot before Covid-19 broke out, and then there was a break of six months in-between. I had gained some weight which I lost once shooting began again. I hope it is reflected onscreen.”

Aadhi said that Clap director Prithvi Aditya had done a lot of research on the sport, which made his work as an actor much easier.

Speaking to Silverscreen India Prithvi Aditya said, “Aadhi sir plays the role of a 400-metre athlete in the story. The crux of the story is about the events that occur in his life as a sportsman. Clap focuses on politics in sports, the hardships and responsibilities faced by an athlete’s family members, and the hard work that goes behind someone becoming an inspirational sportsman. It is a film that compares the 400-metres race and life.”

The director also said the film was now in post-production, though the release date had not yet been finalised. He said, “We are in the process of making the decision keeping in mind that the film has to be released both in Tamil and Telugu on the same day.”

The film’s music will be composed by Ilayaraja.

Aadhi said, “Clap is a very emotional film with beautiful human emotions involved. Who else can give us a better background score than Ilayaraja sir? He is very organic and the film needs somebody who is very organic. It needs something that is not synthetic but pure music, because that is what the film is about.”

He added, “I have grown up listening to his songs and still do. He is a 100 percent value addition to the film.”

“So far the composition of four songs are completed and there are two more to go,” said Prithvi. He said it had been “a great pleasure working with Ilayaraja.” Further, “Music is an important part of the film. Ever since the scripting stage, the film has had an emotional drive. And to handle such sequences, I could not think of anyone better than Ilayaraja sir. Once the dubbing is over, we will start with the background score. It is exciting.”

Clap is produced by IB Karthikeyan of Big Print Pictures and co-produced by P Prabha Prem, Manoj, and Harsha. The film’s cinematography is by Praveen Kumar, and Ragul is handling the editing. The art director of Clap is Vairabalan.

Clap will have a theatrical release, the film’s publicity manager Rekha told Silverscreen India.

Seven Unmissable Documentary Films of 2020

BY Srishti Lakhotia On

During the content-consumption mania that 2020 has been, online streaming platforms have come up with deep and insightful documentary films- some topical, others gripping- to ensure that audiences get a take of a different reality.

Some of these documentaries, like The Social Dilemma, have jolted audiences and made them question their presence, the hours they spend and the content they post on social media. Others, like A Secret Love, have helped one grow more empathetic. 

To keep up with the year’s highlights, Silverscreen India lists out seven best documentaries that you can watch before the year ends.

1. The Social Dilemma

If you feel that your phone spies on you in its free time, then give this documentary a watch. Directed by Jeff Orlowski and streaming on Netflix, this documentary will tell you exactly how and why tech giants from the Silicon Valley manipulate users and further the addiction to smartphones. Its one-and-a-half hour run time includes interviews with top-level former employees of companies, like Facebook and Google, who speak on the process and deliberate activities of their ex employers to ensure one continues to pick up the phone and scroll through social media even when they don’t have to. This revelation is backed by a parallel fictional drama, which helps a layperson understand the technical implications of the expert reveal. 

The film had its fair share of controversy as it received a seven-page criticism by Facebook. In the document, Facebook called out the Netflix show as a conspiracy documentary which buries the subject in sensationalism. Ethics and addictions come alive in this documentary. 

2. Trial By Media

There have been many incidents when the final verdict by the judiciary of a country and formation of popular opinion has been manipulated based on the media attention given to the subject. Trial By Media, streaming on Netflix, gives a reality check to the ways in which stories get reported, broadcasted and coloured in the process by the media. This six-part series, directed by filmmakers Skye Borgman, Garrett Bradley, Yance Ford, Brain McGinn, Sierra Pettengill, and Tony Yacenda depicts cases in the US, where media involvement has led to change in the final verdict of a case. Audiences across the globe can relate to the crux of the story, the widespread perception of guilt or innocence before or after the verdict in the court of law.

It covers popular and controversial cases in the US, like the that of the Jenny Jones Show and the murder involvement, Bernard Goetz shooting four black teenagers on a New York City Subway in 1984, and an unarmed Amadou Diallo killed by 41 shots fired by four white policemen.   

3. A Secret Love

(credit- Netflix)

The documentary is a tear-jerker tale of two women- Pat Henschel and Terry Donahue- and their decade-long love secret. Directed by Chris Bolan, who is the great-grandnephew of Donahue, the documentary captures the 72 years of togetherness of this lesbian couple from Canada, who in their early 20s shifted to Chicago.

In the runtime of 1 hour 22 minutes, Henschel and Donahue’s life, hidden sexuality, coming out, and the history of discrimination against lesbian couples has been explored tidily, with myriad emotions attached to it. Taking the timeline from 1947 to the present, this documentary on Netflix shows the plight of lesbian community over the ages. It highlights the history of police raids in gay bars and arrests of women dressed in trousers and shirts. The pair in the documentary meet when Donahue is around 22 years-old and the catcher for the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, a pro organisation for women. It later shows the course of their love. Incidentally, the All American Girls Professional Baseball League inspired the 1992 popular Penny Marshall film, A League Of Their Own. 

4. Tiger King- Murder, Mayhem and Madness

Directed by Eric Goode and Rebecca Chaiklin, the seven-episode documentary series had netizens gripped and horrified ever since its release on Netflix. The series revolves around the life of Joe Maldonado-Passage, best known as Joe Exotic- now-imprisoned tiger breeder, serving 22-years prison sentence (murder-for-hire and killing five tigers under Endangered Species Act) and former owner of a private zoo in Oklahoma. Apart from his love for big cats, he made headlines during the 2016 US presidential elections and attempted to run for the position of Oklahoma’s Governor. 

While the crux of the story remained about Joe and Carole, the wife of Joe’s nemesis whom he had allegedly paid to be killed, the directors included an unbelievable cast of supporting characters like Doc Antle (owner of the Myrtle Beach Safari), Mario Tabraue (a former Florida drug kingpin), Jeff Lowe (Joe’s ex-business partner), and Kelci ‘Saff’ Saffery (Joe’s employee whose arm was bitten of by a tiger). The film raised eyebrows for being absolutely bizarre and showcasing a wild world where everyone is king.

5. Cursed Films

(credit- Geeks of Doom)

Scared of horror films but still watch it with one eye open? Binge-watching Cursed Films, directed by Jay Cheel, will complement the thrill of watching spooky movies while one holds on tightly to a blanket. The series can be watched on Amazon Prime Video. 

Taking the fear quotient to the next level, the five episodes series covers alleged curses that afflicted the production of notable horror films- The Exorcist (the 1973 film directed by William Friedkin), The Omen (the 1976 film directed by Richard Donner), Poltergeist (the 1982 film directed by Tobe Hooper), Brandon Lee’s death in The Crow (the 1994 film directed by Alex Proyas), and The Twilight Zone Accident in Twilight Zone: The Movie (the 1959 film created by Rod Serling). 

6. Carmel-Who Killed Maria Marta?

A murder in the lush, heavily-secured heaven away from the usual sites of crime and killing, the documentary of the case at the Carmel Bounty Club near Buenos Aires leaves viewers scratching their heads. This four-episodes long series is an investigation to Argentina’s most controversial murder cases. It is directed by Alejandro Hartmann.

The documentary showcases Maria Marta, a 50-year-old sociologist often appearing on her brother Horacio’s TV talk show. Who killed her? Was it the family, her friends or journalists? Was she innocent? The documentary is available on Netflix. 

7. Big Boy Billionaires

The release of Bad Boy Billionaires caused quite a stir in India and cases were filed against the show. The show instantly made it among the top 10 films in Netflix and retained its position for a while. The three-episode documentary shows journalists and experts bringing together the truth of the financial rise an fall of India’s four prominent businessmen- Vijay Mallya (of Kingfisher Airlines), Nirav Modi (of the Gitanjali Group), Subrata Roy (of Sahara India), and Ramalinga Raju (of Satyam Computers). Aside from their obvious opulence, the show dives into the world of corruption and fraud that these four businessmen have involved in. 

If you have not followed each of their stories individually and with a ritualistic inquisitiveness on the news everyday, this show will give you insights on some of the biggest real-life scam-masters and a rotting economic system.

Richa Chadha Interview: Shakeela & Why Bad Girl Stories Matter

BY Anindita Banerjee On

Richa Chadha (Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! and Gangs of Wasseypur), star of Amazon Prime Video’s anthology Unpaused and the Shakeela biopic, talks to Silverscreen India days ahead of the release of both her projects.

Shakeela is the star of 250-odd mostly-Malayalam adult films in the 90s and 2000s. Chadha explains why telling her story without sensationalising or over-the-top sentimentality, is important.

While scripts that tell the story of these “bad girls” (or as Chadha called their Indian counterpart, “bad examples”) may not be common in India, says Chadha, people are talking about them. Chadha says, “I think a lot is spoken about women notorious for being very free with their sexuality. Whether in India it is Silk Smitha or Shakeela, in the overseas if it’s Mae West, in Pakistan, it’s a book written about Qandeel Baloch.”

Chadha was referring to the murder of 26-year-old social media star Qandeel Baloch, who was killed by her own brother. The murder was motivated by comments (cited here) like “Your sister is singing and dancing in her knickers and you’re living a luxurious life with the money she earns”. Subsequently, Karachi-based journalist Sanam Maher wrote her story in A Woman Like Her, to “allow her to have a voice“, because “so many journalists got it wrong”. 

The last such film script in India was Dirty Picture, which was loosely based on actress Silk Smitha. Smitha, after a 17-year-long career in films, committed suicide at 36. Such was her marketability, that historian and colleague Randor Guy (cited here) once wrote, “Films that had lain in cans for years were sold by the simple addition of a Silk Smitha song.”

Chadha says, “There are lots of discussions but in different mediums about [such] women that we often use as bad examples.”

When people begin making films about women like them, who are not central characters in films, only then will these stories emerge, Chadha adds.

The trailer of Shakeela suggests that Shakeela will be portrayed in all her complexity – the love she received, the hatred directed at her, and the glamour and the ugliness of her life. Chadha agrees, “Shakeela is a cult figure who was both adored and hated.”

For Chadha, the film also offered a chance to work in a different industry. She says, “I thought it would be interesting to do something with a storyline that is familiar, and in an industry that is completely independent of the Hindi film industry.”

Although she’s the star in Shakeela, Chadha said that wasn’t what drew her to the film. She says, “Fukrey‘s cast was all four boys along with me and my screen time was lesser there. In Gangs of Wasseypur too, my screen time was significantly lesser than all the male actors. So I don’t think like that, I don’t think screen time is any measure of success or anything.”

Chadha’s next film, an Amazon Prime Video anthology titled Unpaused, is yet another film with a hard-hitting storyline. The film has five short stories set during the lockdown around the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

For Unpaused, Chadha stars in the story Apartment, in which she plays a woman who owns a successful online news magazine. After discovering her husband’s sexual indiscretions, she spirals into a cycle of self-blame and suicidal ideation.

She says, “It’s a story that empathises with the woman, and definitely not the husband. She is suffering from being in a relationship with someone who gaslights. Even though there are allegations against him, he keeps blaming her for not stopping him. That is the centre of this woman’s experience. So the entire time, she is made to believe that she is the guilty one.”

She adds, “And to top that, the lockdown’s mess is now coinciding with her personal mess.”

Chadha agrees that there is still stigma at the social level surrounding mental health.

She says, “At the social level, yes there is a lot of stigma surrounding this that will take a while to go. Hopefully, people will get more sensitised. We are a long way from that.”

Shakeela Trailer Starring Richa Chadha, Pankaj Tripathi

The film stars Richa Chadha, Pankaj Tripathi, Ester Noronha, Rajeev Pillai & Sheeva Rana.
Produced by Sammy Nanwani.
Associate Producer: Sundeep Malani,
Music by Meet Bros and Veer Samarth
DOP by Santosh Rai
Edited by Ballu Saluja
Its Sammys Magic Cinema Production.

Oru Pakka Kathai Trailer Starring Kalidas Jayaram, Megha Akash and Others

Movie: Oru Pakka Kathai
Producer: K.S. Srinivasan
Director: Balaji Tharaneetharan
Music: Govind Menon
Starring: Kalidas Jayaram, Megha Akash
Director Of Photography: C. Prem Kumar
Editor: Govindaraj Ranganathan
Production Designer: Vinoth Raj Kumar
Studio: Vasans Visual Ventures
Dubbing Engineer: Baskar
Sound Design: S.Alagia Koothan: Suren.G
Lyrics: Karthik Netha, Kathir Mozhi
Stills: ‘Stills’ Ravi
PRO: Nikkil
Designs: Gopi Prasannaa
DIT: Master Media Works
Direction Team: Maria, Malarmaran, Kathir Hassan, Navaneeth, Sidharth, Naresh
Production Executive: Mahesh
Music Label: A&P Groups
Audio Label: Think Music

Jersey: Hindi Actor Shahid Kapoor Wraps Up Filming, Calls it His Best Filmmaking Experience

BY Anindita Banerjee On

Shahid Kapoor, the Hindi actor, on Monday announced that he has wrapped up the shoot of his upcoming film Jersey. He posted a photo of himself looking at an empty stadium and penned a note calling it his “best filmmaking experience yet”.

Kapoor wrote that the team completed the shoot in about 47 days, with safety protocols in place. The final schedules were shot in Uttarakhand and Chandigarh

In his post, Kapoor thanked the crew “for coming to set every day, putting themselves at risk and doing what we all love doing”.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Shahid Kapoor (@shahidkapoor)

He also posted a story that showed him and the crew celebrating the film’s wrap by cutting a cake. “14th December 2019 to 14th December 2020 … This is my dream team. Each of them has my deepest gratitude,” he wrote along with the picture.

Credit – Shahid Kapoor Instagram

Directed by Gowtam Tinnanuri, the film’s shoot was halted in mid-March, owing to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and the resultant lockdown. Shooting was resumed after almost seven months.

“Jersey is a story that speaks of a Phoenix rising from the ashes. The triumph of an indomitable spirit. If there was ever a time I could connect with the underlying spirit of a film this was it,” Kapoor wrote.

Jersey is the official Hindi remake of the 2019 Telugu film of the same name, starring Nani in the lead. The story revolves around Arjun, a failed cricketer, who decides to make a comeback to fulfill his son’s wish to play for India.

The remake also stars Mrunal Thakur and Kapoor’s father and senior actor Pankaj Kapur in prominent roles. The film is produced by Allu Aravind, Aman Gill, and Dil Raju. While the film was initially slated to release on August 28, there has been no confirmation regarding the new release date.

Best Malayalam Films of 2020: A Clash of Male Egos, the Return of Shobana and a Screen-life Movie

BY Aswathy Gopalakrishnan On

Outside Thiruvananthapuram’s famed Kalabhavan theatre is a washed-out poster of Tovino Thomas’ Forensic, one of the last films that had a theatrical release in the state, reminding passersby of a dismal year without cinemas. A dismal year to make year-end movie lists.

The movie halls across the state pulled the shutters on March 11, two weeks before a nation-wide lockdown to contain Covid-19 began. They are yet to reopen and resume their business.

The year started with great promise. Anjaam Paathira, a crime-thriller directed by Midhun Manuel Thomas, released in January and went on to become a blockbuster. Sachy’s Ayyappanum Koshiyum, which used classic techniques of mass filmmaking repeated the success of Anjaam Paathira, garnering commercial and critical acclaim. Although Fahadh Faasil’s Trance, which came riding on a great hype, but bit the dust at the box-office, the actor’s performance earned praises.

As the industry is yet to warm up to exclusive digital premieres, only six movies released post-March. All except one ﹣Mahesh Narayanan’s C U Soon ﹣were met with lukewarm responses. Although it is yet uncertain if virtual releases would become a popular model of film distribution in the state in near future, its merits haven’t gone unnoticed. Debut director Mustafa’s Kappela was deemed a flop when it released in theatres in Kerala in March. However, when the film landed on Netflix, it instantly became a hit with the audience who appreciated the film’s naturalistic, low-key aesthetics and Anna Ben’s performance as the protagonist. The film, produced on a shoe-string budget, is now being remade in Telugu.

Here is a list of five best films out of the 47 Malayalam films that released in 2020 in theatres or virtually.

Ayyappanum Koshiyum

In 2019, director-writer Sachithanandan wrote Driving License, a comedy-drama starring Suraj Venjarammood and Prithviraj Sukumaran, where the central conflict arose from the bruised ego of a movie superstar who does everything in his capacity to destroy his rival, a lowly government officer. In his directorial, Ayyappanum Koshiyum, he takes the theme several notches up, placing the men’s conflict in a social context and adding more layers to the characterisations. Biju Menon plays Ayyappan, a police inspector in a police station in Attappadi tribal belt, who falls prey to a cruel revenge plan designed by Koshy, an ex-havildar, the son of a highland baron. The former sees in Koshy the reflection of the injustice heaped on his community by the feudal lords who came from the outside who exploited the land and its people. Koshy, desperate to prove his worth to his oppressive father, refuses to give in. A fantastic cast, dynamic yet impressively austere cinematography and compelling writing make Ayyappanum Koshiyum a film for ages.

C U Soon

Conceived before the pandemic and shot during the lockdown, C U Soon, a screen-life film set in UAE and Kochi, is the only Malayalam film to have found success after premiering on an OTT platform. Directed by Mahesh Narayanan and co-produced by and starring Fahadh Faasil, the film has its characters always restricted to the space around their computer, within the purview of their phone network, or under the radar of a surveillance device. Darshana Rajendran plays a young victim of human trafficking, held captive in a UAE apartment as a sex worker, and Fahadh Faasil plays an IT professional working in the field of cybersecurity. Despite the limitations imposed by the film’s visual style and the logical loopholes in the narrative, Mahesh Narayanan, who also handled the film’s editing and virtual cinematography, manages to engage the audience emotionally in the storytelling and identify with the characters’ situation.

Varane Avashyamundu

Excellent casting can do wonders. In Anoop Sathyan’s directorial debut Varane Aavashyamundu, the performance of a stellar cast﹣Shobana, Urvashi, Dulquer Salmaan, Suresh Gopi, Johnny Antony and Kalyani Priyadarshan﹣not only brings aboard immense charm but also cancels out the flimsiness of the film’s sit-com-like narrative. Centred on four characters in an apartment complex in Chennai, the film proceeds through delightful vignettes of routine life. Shobana plays a single mother who, in her fifties, begins a new career, finds love and fixes the blots in her relationship with her adult daughter. Anoop’s writing is witty and poised, dripping with memorable one-liners. The most memorable sequences in the film are where the lead characters recount their past. They are elegantly cut; drama is subtle and affecting.

Anjaam Paathira

Director Midhun Manuel Thomas’ crime-thriller is derivative and ridden with logical inconsistencies but there is no denying that it is a fascinating work for its technical finesse. At the centre of the film is a serial killer who carves his victims’ eyes and hearts out of their body to make a point. Cinematographer Khalid and composer Sushin Shyam create great atmospherics that elevates the cat and mouse chase between the killer and the city’s police force. They turn Kochi into a city of distress, devoid of humanity, ready to explode at the touch of a button. Kunchacko Boban plays criminologist Anwar Hussain, who doesn’t heroically solve the crime but becomes the sole witness to the truth that plays out in the film’s final moments. Kunchacko Boban takes his talent in underplaying to a new, interesting height in Anjaam Paathira. Hussain has a muted body-language and the face of a thinker.

Kappela

A young woman leaves her home in a mountain hamlet to meet her lover whom she has never met. At the end of the day, she returns home a changed person, disillusioned and with a new perspective about life. Kappela, directed by actor Mustafa, has Anna Ben, Roshan Mathew and Sreenath Bhasi playing the lead roles. The underlying message that the film sends across is cynical, that this is no world for the meek and the innocent. The woman at the centre of the film requires a male saviour. But the devices Mustafa uses to narrate this flawed and cliche-ridden story makes Kappela an interesting work. Jimshy Khalid’s low key cinematography and Anees Nadodi’s excellent art direction help him create a universally-relatable world to place this tale in. Anna Ben delivers a fine performance as Jessi, a timid girl living under the shadow of her strict Christian father.

 

Suriya Launches Arun Vijay’s Son Arnav in Debut Film

BY Anindita Banerjee On

Suriya (Soorarai Pottru) will launch actor Arun Vijay’s nine-year-old son, Arnav, in his next production, a film focusing on the relationship between a young boy and his dog. Suriya’s production company, 2D Entertainment, made the announcement on Monday.

Shooting for the film also began on Monday. The film is being directed by debutant director, Sarov Shanmugam. The story is set in Ooty. As yet, the film has no title.

Rajsekar Karpoorasundarapandian, the CEO of 2D Entertainment, called the film a “family entertainer for audiences of all age groups” in a press release. He also said, “This script is close to my heart as it will showcase the emotional bonding between a boy and a dog and their love and affection for each other.”

2D Entertainment shared pictures from the set on Monday.

Arun Vijay, who was at the film’s puja ceremony, inaugurated the shoot, although he hasn’t yet disclosed his own role in the film.

Vijay had earlier announced that Suriya’s production house would back his son’s debut film.

The film’s other producers are Rajsekar Karpoorasundarapandian and SR Ramesh Babu of RB Films. Gopinath is the cinematographer of the film and music will be composed by Nivas K Prasanna.

According to a report in The New Indian Express, director Sarov Shanmugam has said that Arun Vijay and Vijay Kumar will play Arnav’s on-screen father and grandfather in the film.

Pikchar With Rita: Ruminations on Suffering in Hindi Film Songs and Ghazals

BY On

“We don’t meet men from outside the family, usse gairat hoti hai,” I was told this by women of pastoralist families in Kutch. Meeting men from ‘outside’ is prohibitive; it would mean perhaps both gazing and being gazed at by a non-legitimate member. So, what is the extent of the family, I wondered, but didn’t ask.

But the idea of gair and gairat have haunted me since. The noun gairat and the adjective gair signal not only the outsider, but the process of making an ‘outside’; a form of externality; not necessarily out of rejection but out of seeing its impossibility in your own realm. Defining one also helps define the other, or the other way round.

When Shakeel Badayuni and Naushad collaborate (in the 1954 film Amar) and produce through Lata Mangeshkar’s voice one of the most stunning ghazals in the history of Hindi cinema – Na milta gham toh barbadi ke afsaane kahaan jaate- it’s difficult not to think of an entire ecology it comes with.

My ruminations are about the ‘strange’ reveling in the idea of suffering that ghazals and Hindi films songs do.

Situated as we are in neo-liberal commitment to happiness, it is strange that someone should think there is something emancipatory in the idea of suffering. We may be hasty enough to brush it aside as usual melodrama and self-pity. So, let me come back to gair to show you the train of thought.

The second line of the opening couplet says, “Mubarak gair ko khushiyan, mujhe gham se mohabbat hai,” (Let others have happiness; but I have love for misery). I was struck by how that gairat had been made.

Na milta gham to barbadi ke afsaane kahaan jaate, agar duniya chaman hoti to viraane kahaan jaate (If we were not to receive unhappiness what would happen to tales of destruction, had the world been a beautiful garden what would happen to deserted lands).

Suffering finds its justification; it has to, for we must endure it with certain dignity. One way of doing it is to think of happiness outside our own realm; to see its gairat; its out sidedness from our world. This is almost to say that suffering is intimate; made your own but consummation and celebration are alien to this world of intimacy.

The next couplet says, Chalo acchha hua apnon mein koi gair to nikla, agar hote sabhi apne to begaane kahaan jaate (Thankfully, at least one person turned out to be gair from our own. If all were our own, where would outsiders go?)

The illegitimate outsider has suddenly been provided with a legitimate reason to exist. Where would our non-own go, where would strangers seek refuge; and deserts find appreciation, and tragedies noticed?

Duaaye do mohabbat, hamne mit kar tumko sikhlaa di na jalti shamaa mein to parvaane kahaan jaate (To the lover who has been jilted, the female voice says you need to thank me for teaching you how to love; had flames not annihilated themselves, where would the moths go?)

She follows it up by saying that even you need to be thanked for giving me this treasure of suffering; how would I have managed to go begging misery from all and sundry?

Tumhi ne gham ki daulat di badaa ahasaan farmaayaa zamaane bhar ke aage haath phailaane kahaan jaate (If you need to go begging for suffering from others; it also means that suffering is an important part of existence, we all need to have its share)

The ones we can’t share suffering with are gair, for they are the ones with happiness. Finally, the lover who has provided suffering is not the one to share suffering with. It is this that makes him an outsider, but he can’t cease to be completely an alien either. He stands therefore on the threshold – neither fully intimate nor fully an outsider.

The song therefore moves with both thoughts – of putting him outside but also accommodating him in a tragedy. Some place needs to be made in our stories for even those who did not become our own; and that is what lends the stories their tragic element. Upon a superficial reading, this song may appear as a strange masochism and almost a principled distance from pleasure. However, on closer look, it opens up an ecology in which suffering is made intimate; almost pleasurable, hence hamein gham se mohabbat hai (I’m in love with suffering).

This state of being-in-love-with-pain is familiar to us from a long-standing tradition of ghazals; and we know that the pain is also pleasure of being closer to the divine. We may choose the human or divine; but we might need to see that narratives that appear to be marked by melodrama may well be ones of immense fearlessness. Isn’t the biggest fear one of having to suffer?

Choreographer Remo D’Souza is Stable and Recovering, Say His Friends and Family

BY Anusha Sundar On

Remo D’Souza, the choreographer-turned-director who suffered a heart attack on Friday, is stable and recovering, his friends and family said on social media.

On Monday, his wife Lizelle D’Souza posted a short video of D’Souza tapping his legs to a song and thanked everyone for their support.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Liz (@lizelleremodsouza)

The 46-year-old choreographer had suffered a heart attack on December 11 and was rushed to the ICU of Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani hospital in Mumbai. He underwent angiography after doctors found a blockage in an artery. His condition was told stable and under observation on the same day.

A report by The Times of India quoted Ramesh Taurani, who produced the 2018 Hindi action thriller film Race 3 which is helmed by D’Souza, as saying, “I spoke to Remo’s wife. A stent (a metal mesh inserted in surgical procedures to make blood flow freely in blocked coronary arteries) has been put. He is stable now.” The report also quoted D’Souza’s friend Aamir Ali, who spoke to him over the phone, as saying, “Remo is much better now. He has always been a fit guy and I see him being as fit as before again very soon.”

On Sunday, veteran Hindi actor Amitabh Bachchan sent his wishes for a speedy recovery on Twitter along with a video clip of D’Souza saying he is a fan of Bachchan while judging a bunch of contestants during a dance reality show alongside actor Shilpa Shetty.

Apart from being a choreographer, D’Souza has directed several films based on dance, including the 2013 Indian 3D dance drama film ABCD: Any Body Can Dance (starring Prabhu Deva), its sequel in 2015, and the 2020 dance-drama Street Dancer 3D (starring Varun Dhawan, Shraddha Kapoor alongside Prabhu Deva).

He has also been a judge at dance reality shows like Dance India Dance, Dance Plus, and Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa.

Jude Anthany Joseph: Ohm Shanthi Oshaana Inspired Anna Ben’s Role In Malyalam Movie “Sara’s”

BY Shrija Ganguly On

Anna Ben, who played a village girl in her last Malayalam film Kappela, is starring in Jude Anthany Joseph‘s upcoming film, Sara’s. She will play the role of an Associate Director whose dreams and decisions around motherhood define her journey, said Joseph to Silverscreen India.

According to Joseph Anna Ben’s character in Sara’s was inspired in part by a character from one of his other films, Ohm Shanthi Oshaana (2014). He said, “The movie (Sara‘s) is itself inspired from Ohm Shanthi Oshaana‘s character Pooja, played by Nazriya [Nazim Fahadh]. When we shot the film in Kozhikode Medical College, our producer saw it and later asked me if we could make a film on this character. So, I said okay and the script was ready in one month.”

According to Joseph, “Sara’s is about a girl named Sara who is working as an Associate Director in the film industry. It is about her dreams and her decisions related to motherhood that define her journey.”

Sunny Wayne (Kayamkulam Kochunni, Second Show) will also feature in the film.

Sara’s was shot in November 2020 with a crew capped at 50 members. A majority of the shots were taken outdoors, said the director. He said, “We have shot in almost all locations like the metro, roads, fire and police station, in hospital, etc. and it was like a normal shoot from pre-Covid times, but we had to follow the procedures and guidelines. It was difficult to shoot but we finished it.”

As the film was shot during the unlock phase, the entire crew stayed together in an apartment. The director further said that as a precaution, food and refreshments were handed out in individual packets.

Apart from keeping sanitisers and masks available across the sets, the cast and crew members’ body temperatures were checked every day. “We would inform the nearby health department and the police station at every location we shot at and we had maintained strict protocols,” he said.

On Sunday, Anna Ben shared the first look poster for Sara’s on Instagram.

Sara's First Look Poster
Sara’s First Look Poster

Sara’s is produced by P K Murali Dharan and Santha Murali, and is currently in post-production. According to Joseph, no decision on whether it would have a theatrical release had been taken as yet.

Tenet’s Strong Opening Helps Tamil Nadu Theatres Stay Afloat; Owners Cautious But Hopeful

BY Shrija Ganguly On

Tenet, the Christopher Nolan directed science-fiction action thriller, released in India on December 4 and collected ₹4.25 crore during its opening weekend. In fact, according to trade website Box Office India, despite being a niche film, Tenet (Elizabeth Debicki, Robert Pattinson, Dimple Kapadia) has been the best performer in India since cinemas reopened in October.

This strong showing brought some hope to theatre owners in Tamil Nadu, who talk to Silverscreen India about battling eight months of lockdown, the scarcity of good content, the piracy issues surrounding Tenet‘s release, and the problem of the big Tamil releases moving to OTT platforms.

OTT Platforms

From November 20, cinema halls began to reopen in Tamil Nadu after eight months of lockdown. In the first two weeks, they reported brisk business from Tamil releases like Biskoth and Irandam Kuththu, but there has not been enough good content to keep crowds interested.

However, several big Tamil releases had moved to OTT platforms. Jyothika’s Ponmagal Vandhal and Suriya’s Soorarai Pottru released on Amazon Prime Video, while Vijay Sethupati’s Ka Pae Ranasingam on Zee5, and Nayanthara’s Mookuthi Amman released on Disney+ Hotstar.

 

According to Royal Theatre Coimbatore owner G Rathnavel, the release of any one of those films in theatres “would have attracted large crowds as it has been eight long months since people went to theatres.”

“You will have to give a good product. And people are hasty in giving the nice pictures [films] to OTT. If those two or three pictures (Soorarai Pottru, Ka Pae Ranasingam,and Nayanthara’s Mookuthi Amman) had come to the big screen, things would have been much better,” he said.

Soorarai Pottru, a film directed by Sudha Kongara and based on the life of Captain Gopinath and the rise of Deccan Airlines, received flak from the Tamil Nadu Theatre and Multiplex Owners’ Association for opting for a digital release. Soorarai Pottru is the second film after Ponmagal Vandhal to have premiered online. Both are produced by actor Suriya under his banner 2D Entertainment.

Many theatre owners decided to simply keep their establishments closed until new big-budget Tamil movies were released in theatres during Pongal next year. This includes G Rathnavel, whose cinema has been shut for more than eight nine months now. He said, “We have kept the theatre closed. Most of the theatres are running very poorly. In Tamil Nadu there are a few theatres that have closed and are waiting for Pongal because we want the big pictures to come. Then only it will slowly start picking up. Otherwise, it is going to be like this.”

Tenet – Piracy 

Tenet, along with The New Mutants, was facing piracy issues during its worldwide release. So when it came to India, not every theatre owner was willing to screen it.

Ganesh, who runs Kamala Cinemas in Chennai, said, “I did not screen Tenet. Because it has already premiered on the OTT platforms. And there is a lot of leakage of content and everyone has seen it everywhere. And there is no point that we are going to play the movie which has already released anywhere again here.”

Tenet will be made available on DVDs and Blu-Ray from December 15. But pirated versions of the film were leaked in September itself, just around the time of its release. In India, its badly-recorded versions were available on various sites.

“When the content is released with 100% clarity on those OTT platforms, it will have leakage. People are not going to pay a new movie’s price to watch an old movie,” he added.

Piracy wasn’t the only issue for him. He added, “The content is not that strong. It is not like Master or Annaatthe. Soorarai Pottru had to be released only on the screens for the kind of movie that it is.”

Photo Credit- Silverscreen Media Library

master-third-look

Tenet – the Tamil Version

For some though, it was a no brainer to screen it.

Ruban, of GK Cinemas, said, “Big ticket Hollywood films generally do well in India. We saw Avengers, Fast and Furious franchise, The Jurassic World franchise, Wonder Woman, Batman, James Bond films, etc. all doing well here. So, definitely there is going to be an increase in occupancy in the case of Hollywood films.”

In fact, Tenet had become a major factor in keeping theatres afloat, say many owners. In its first week, most shows for Tenet were booked fully (within the new 50% occupancy model).

Speaking of Tenet‘s opening week, Ruban said, “The response was good. Initially, for the first three days, both the English and Tamil versions did good business. Since Monday, the Tamil version has been doing well. Even in its second weekend, it’s doing well.”

While the film had opened strongly, it was the Tamil version that was keeping the occupancy up.

Nikhilesh Surya of Rohini Theatre in Chennai said, “We have screened Tenet in both Tamil and English. For us, the Tamil version is doing better. Because I think they just wanted it to play across all national chains and IMAX chains. So, people preferred to watch it there and the Tamil version worked.”

In fact, the Tamil dubbed version has fared better than the Hindi version did in theatres in north India.

Seating Capacity

However, Tenet‘s footfall is nowhere near what theatre owners expect from major releases. Nikhilesh Surya said, “There is a mild increase in footfall [with Tenet] but the content is not enough to pull people in large numbers.”

Pongal 2021 is when a number of major films are set to release, including Karthi’s Sulthan, Silambarasan’s Eeswaran, and Vijay’s Master.  With that star-heavy line-up, a heavy footfall is guaranteed. The issue now for theatre owners is – how to increase the seating capacity, which currently stands at 50%.

“Right now we are looking forward to 100% occupancy flag-off, irrespective of when it comes. The expectation is, probably we will get a flag-off in Pongal. There has only been a request. However, there is no guarantee. We have no clue because we don’t know what the medical situation will be like in Tamil Nadu,” said Ganesh.

Tenet brought a ray of hope, but a cloud of uncertainty still persists, they say.