At the first-of-its kind Masterclass helmed by maestro Ilaiyaraaja in Goa, the audience got a chance to interact with the man himself.
In the audience was national award winning filmmaker Aditya Dhar, who made Uri: The Surgical Strike. Dhar spoke to Balki (who was moderating the event) and Raja at the event. “A year back I was in the post production of my film. And the sound design and sound recording was happening at Rajkamal in Mumbai. My sound designer was Bishwadeep Chatterjee and my music director was Shashwat. I said that when I was a six-year-old kid I watched a film called Shiva, which was made by Ram Gopal Varma, and you (Ilaiyaraaja) had done the music for it. I said that it impacted me so strongly, the background score, that I want to create that kind of sound for my film. That was my exact reference. I made them listen to the entire background score of Shiva. My film released on January 11, 2019. My background music and my sound designer both won national award. I just wanted to thank you.”
Ilaiyaraaja graciously congratulated the filmmaker and Balki joked that Aditya should transfer some money. Ilaiyaraaja chipped in laughing, “Royalty.”
Dhar requested for Aye Zindagi (Sadma) which he said was one of the biggest influences in his life. “If you could just play a few notes of that it would make my day,” he asked. The maestro obliged. Balki asked Dhar to sing along, but he was shy to sing alone. Balki then asked the audience and they responded with a resounding “Yes.” Balki said, “Ok, full besur. Come on.” The entire hall sang in unison.
“Almost 40 years old,” Raja said as the timeless tune concluded.
Following the Ilaiyaraaja Masterclass held as part of the 50th IFFI (International Film Festival Of India), the corridor, canteen and portico of Panjim’s Kala Academy, the chief venue of the festival, echoed with ecstatic attendees humming tunes from Tamil cinema of the 80s and 90s. The maestro spent close to 90 minutes on stage, answering and sometimes evading questions about his music, performing some of his classic numbers with his an eight-member orchestra, and live-composing a piece of background score for a narrative situation suggested by filmmaker R Balki who moderated the session.
Engaging with a crowd isn’t exactly an area the 76-year-old Raja excels in, but on Wednesday afternoon he looked perfectly at ease. He was witty and spontaneous. He made the audience laugh, and sing along with him songs such as “Thendral Vandhu“, “En Iniya Pon Nilaave” and “Aye Zindagi“. When some members of the audience couldn’t contain their adulation, he gently reprimanded them, “Kathaathaiyya!” (Don’t shout, please!). Without playing modest, he talked of his power to turn a plain close-up shot of a hero who can’t emote to save his life into a great moment using his music. “I can make it look like he’s thinking of his mother, his childhood or his lover. I can even inform you the details of the space and time he is in.”
Further, he gave us this curious trivia. He has seen Amadeus (1984), the American period biographical drama about Mozart, over 27 times. “Do you know a dialogue in the film (Go Back to Sleep!) was written as a counterpoint to the music played in the scene? They placed this famous symphony here, and wrote the dialogue accordingly. In fact, I’d used this technique several times before 1984, using music as a counterpoint to the dialogue. No one knows I did that. Not the film’s director, not my assistants.”
The maestro also gave the audience a generous peek into his working style. He animatedly directed his violinist with the notes in the beginning of the the iconic Mella Mella Ennai Thottu, and the audience erupted into a thunderous applause. When Balki gave him a task, to compose a background score piece for a scene where a son is approaching his father to murder him, Raja got down to work immediately. In three minutes, he was ready. Sheets of paper with musical notes were passed among band members as the auditorium waited in absolute silence. The stunning final version was a poignant lullaby, adding several layers of emotions to the simple one-line scenario.
Raja’s effortless prolificacy shouldn’t come as a surprise. In the late 80s, he worked in over 55 films each year. Balki, who worked with him in three movies, recounted how Raja would come to the studio in the morning, watch the reel once and compose the perfect background score in a few hours. “You might wonder what’s going on, because he would seem so relaxed, cracking jokes and laughing with his orchestra team. But by 3 pm, he would be ready with the score!” Apparently, the musical notations of all songs in Shamitabh were jotted down on pieces of tissue paper at a lobby of a five star hotel where he was with Balki. “I was talking to him about the scenes, and he didn’t look like he was paying any attention. Only he understands that process (of creating music)!”
When the director sought to know his secret, Raja sang a line from Ajantha (2012), “Engai Irundha Isaiye” – where were you until now, song – to emphasise on the inexplicability of his process. A question about the use of scores diametrically opposite to the mood of situations – a Western guitar in a rustic scene in a Tamil movie – got a cheeky response, “Don’t I deserve to have some fun? Sometimes when there is nothing in the film, I will have to step up and do something quirky to keep it engaging.”
Also, Balki played the perfect moderator and dodged some bullets. When a person from the audience shot a potentially volatile question about the issue of copyrights, Balki intervened. “Raja sir is only asking for what’s rightfully his.”
Finally, when Balki gestured to the audience that the event had come to a close, the crowd protested and placed more song requests. And the maestro complied with a smile. He sat down at his harmonium once again, and performed a medley from En Iniya Pon Nilave and Ilayanila to Kanne Kalaimaane/Surmai Akhiyon Mein. The latter number fleetingly divided the crowd into Hindi and Tamil, but brought them to a fantastic unison in the “Aariraro” portion. There were whistles, goosebumps, laughter and tears of joy.
Atharvaa Murali and Anupama Parameswaran starrer Production No.3 directed and produced by R. Kannan is nearing completion. The crew is going to Azerbaijan for a 15-day schedule.
Speaking to the press before leaving for the next schedule, the film’s director Kannan said, “The 15-day schedule in Azerbaijan is the last leg of the shoot. We have been shooting in a huge set in OMR, Chennai, so far. “
Kannan also opened up about the experience itself, calling it “a different experience”. Adding, “Even though Atharvaa and I have recently forayed into the action and thriller genre, I really wanted to get back to my feel-good love story genre, from where I began my career.”
Even though the film’s shooting is still in progress, the director is already planning to release the first look of the film. Starring Atharvaa Murali and Anupama Parameswaran in the lead, the film also stars Amitash Pradhan, Aadukalam Naren, Kaali Venkat, Jagan, Vidyullekha Raman, RS Shivaji and others.
Kannan has also written the screenplay for this film, which has dialogues and lyrics penned by Kabilan Vairamuthu. N. Shanmuga Sundaram (aka) Shammy doing cinematography. The film is produced by R. Kannan for Masala Pix in association with M.K.R.P Productions.
In keeping with a long tradition, SPB has sung Chumma Kizhi for Rajinikanth’s upcoming, Darbar. It’s common knowledge now that fans and filmmakers prefer ‘thalaivar’ introduction songs to be sung by SPB. The hit combination has worked for decades now.
Vivek (Bigil) has penned the lyrics and Anirudh (Petta) has composed music. The lyric video is out now and also features a short cameo by the main man ‘Superstar’ himself.
Darbar, directed by AR Murugadoss, also stars Nayantara and is bankrolled by Lyca. The film will release for Pongal 2020. Rajinikanth who’s expected to launch his political party next year before the 2021 assembly elections in TN, also has a movie with director Siva. The Siva-Rajini project is being produced by Sun Pictures.
Excitement abounds as the team of Harish Kalyan starrer Dhanusu Raasi Neyargalae enjoy praise from the Superstar himself about the film’s teaser. Director Sanjay Bharathi says, “This is like a dream come true for me. I am a hardcore fan of Rajinikanth sir and I have never missed the first day first show of all his movies to date. Sir knows my father, however, to be in front of him as a filmmaker and have him appreciate my work is a priceless feeling.”
The director further adds, “He said that the title is unique and has the potential to attract audiences. He was sincere in his compliments to us and wanted to know all of our backgrounds, especially mine. He was happy to know that I had been an assistant of director Vijay.”
Reba Monica John and Digangana Suryavanshi are playing the female lead roles in this film. Renuka, Munishkanth, Yogi Babu and few more actors star in important roles.
The film has Ghibran in charge of music, PK Varma on cinematography, Kubendran doing the editing, Umesh J Kumar handling art, Viveka-Madhan Karky-Vignesh Shivan-Ku Karthik-Chandru penning the Lyrics, M.R. Pon Parthiban writing dialogues, and more.
Produced by Gokulam Gopalan for Sree Gokulam Movies, Dhanusu Raasi Neyargalae is scheduled for a world release on 5 December 2019. It marks the directorial debut of Sanjay Bharathi.
Filmfare announced the dates and venue of its annual awards ceremony on 27 November. The 65th Filmfare Awards will be held in Guwahati, Assam, in 2020. To cement this, an MoU was signed between the Assam Tourism Development Corporation (ATDC) and The Times Group, organisers of the event.
The news was shared with the media in the presence of dignitaries from the Northeastern State including the Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Minister for Tourism Mr. Chandan Brahma, Chairman of ATDC Mr. Jayanta Malla Baruah, Managing Director Bennet Coleman And Company Limited, Mr. Vineet Jain and several others.
Since its inception in 1954, this is the first time that the Filmfare Awards is being conducted outside Mumbai. The award, better known as “The Black Lady” sees the entire film fraternity gather to celebrate. Artistes from the fraternity, across languages and genres, are honoured for their contributions to cinema.
The CM of Assam, Sonowal expressed his happiness at being allowed the honour of hosting such a show. He mentioned that an event of such a scale will help to showcase Assam to the rest of the country as an attractive tourist destination to audiences in India and the world.
The MoU signing event is the first milestone of this partnership. The minister for tourism, Mr. Chandan Brahma said that an event of such a scane, held in the State’s capital city, will really help to change the perception of Assam. He noted that Tourism would get a mega boost through the global exposure that this would bring.
Speaking to the press at the event Deepak Lamba, CEO, Worldwide Media said, “We are confident that the Black Lady’s journey to Assam in 2020 will chart new terriroty and provide bigger avenues to scale entertainment with innovation and creativity in the country.”
This edition of the awards ceremony is all set to take the awards show to one of the most beautiful parts of the country.
Actor Bala Singh, who has been a part of several plays and essayed supporting roles in various Tamil films passed away this morning after a heart attack. The actor was recently admitted to Vijaya Hospital, Vadapalani with mild fever. While he was to be discharged last night at around 11 pm, the actor suffered a heart attack and admitted to ICU. Just when everything seemed to be normal, the actor suffered another heart attack at 1 am and passed away.
The actor who began his career featuring in plays and was trained at the National School of Drama, made his debut in the industry with the Nasser–Revathi starrer Avathaaram, shot to fame with his ‘Anbu’ character in Pudhupettai and went on to take up significant roles in various films like Vettaikaaran, Osthe, Chennaiyil Oru Naal, Jigarthanda, Thaana Sendha Kootam. His last outings saw him play a politician — Magamuni starring Arya and Indhuja and NGK starring Surya and Sai Pallavi.
Kollywood took to Twitter to mourn the loss of the actor.
Shocked & feel sad to know the demise of one of the finest actors I liked #BalaSingh sir. With a powerful voice & refined acting, he stood out from others. #RIPBalaSingh sir🙏🙏🙏🙏 pic.twitter.com/lI8fzPmgUA
Sad to hear the demise of such a wonderful actor #BalaSingh sir. May his soul rest in peace.deepest condolences and prayers to his family and his closed ones. pic.twitter.com/uX21C0siY9
My deepest condolences to the family of #BalaSingh . He was a wonderful actor and a dear friend. Immensely saddened by his demise. Thoughts and prayers with his loved ones. Rest in peace my friend.
Actor-producer Udhayanidhi Stalin whose upcoming film with Mysskin, Psycho, is a thriller, has more often worked in the comedy genre. And his films have a surprisingly large number of good songs. Even if you haven’t seen them, chances are you’ve heard all of them on the radio, for they are buzzing with these numbers constantly. Here are six songs we’re humming along with, today, as the actor turns 42.
Adada Oru Dhevadhai, Oru Kal Oru Kannadi, 2012
Oru Kal Oru Kannadi marked the actor’s debut in the Tamil industry and also stars Santhanam, Saranya Ponvannan and Jangri Madhumitha. Almost all the songs from the film, composed by Harris Jayaraj were big hits, but this one especially so as it was deceptively simple.
This is a Santhosh Narayanan melody. Rendered by Pradeep and Priya Hemesh, this is a hugely underrated song of the composer. Manithan is a remake of the Hindi film Jolly LLB (2013), based on the 1999 hit-and-run case that happened in Delhi. It also stars Vivek, Prakash Raj, and Aishwarya Rajesh.
Kanne Kalaimaane primarily talks about emotions and relationships… and organic farming. It also stars Vadivukkarisi, Poo Ram and Vasundhara Kashyap.
Unna Nenachu, Psycho, 2019
The much awaited Psycho starring Udhayanidhi, Nithya Menen and Aditi Rao Hydari has music by the maestro Ilaiyaraaja. Unna Nenachu has Sid Sriram, the man of the moment singing for the first time for Raja. Psycho is reportedly based on the Buddhist fable of Anguli Mala.
Kolaambi, directed by TK Rajeev Kumar, is about expiry dates. At the centre of the film is an old couple (Renji Panikker and Rohini) who have tied their life into the nostalgia for a closed-down sound studio they used to run, which rented out Kolaambi – old-fashioned loud speakers which are no longer in use – for public and private events. Their home is a museum filled with music, books and people past their expiry dates.
A young high-flying artist (Nithya Menen) tells her lover in an intimate moment that she is scared of entering a marital relationship for “everything is destined to end at some point”. Eventually, the film comes to revolve around a graver subject of citizens without a country, whose relationship with one’s own soil and people expires when law decides to call it off.
Kolaambi has an impressive emotional narrative. For a long time you don’t get a great story around the old couple but scenes that bring you closer to them and their milieu, enough to feel the pang when fate threatens to break their little haven in the climactic portion. Panikker, Rohini and Suresh Kumar are good actors who exude an air of effortlessness on screen. The couple’s interactions with their friends from different walks of life, who have turned their home into a warm adda where coffee and music are served to anyone who walks in, are most natural. In the opening scene, she hands over a note of reminder from the bank to him, and he carefully places it on a table where a pile of similar envelopes lay unopened. Without saying much you are ushered into their life and familiarised with her gentleness and his idiosyncrasies.
However, it is a bit too saccharine. The characters are threatened by problems of far-reaching impacts, such as a bank loan that’s threatening to evict them out of their house and their flailing health but the film often digresses to overtly stretched-out Instagram-able moments. There are tonal inconsistencies and cliched tropes. To emphasise the heterogenous nature of the couple’s social circle, a Muslim man wearing a chequered scarf greets everyone with multiple ‘salaams’. One of the couple’s closest friends is an Anglo Indian woman who is always seen in gowns. Their Man Friday is a communist trade union worker. It isn’t the plausibility of these choices that is jarring, but the pattern these characters are a part of. Instead of nuanced story-telling, you get scenes that resemble pieces of room decor – charming, but with fleeting life span and little depth.
Nithya Menen has a face made for fantastic close-up shots. She is charming as an artist in search of inspiration, although the vapidity in her character construction is hard to miss. Menen is Arundhati, a Delhi-based artist who arrives in Fort Kochi to participate in the city’s art biennale. Her narrative track exists in a bubble in the film’s atmosphere, not consequential to the main story-line. She keeps appearing and reappearing in the film, barging into the life of Fort Kochi’s old-fashioned population like a Western tourist in search of the exotic spirituality in India. There are instances straight out of tourism promotional videos, of Menen roaming the streets of Fort Kochi to get in touch with its soul and find her ‘roots’. Instead of nuances, you get dialogues that attach several tags to her – a rebel in the art circle, and an artist extraordinaire. But you aren’t provided with enough material that validate the descriptions. It’s just a passing shot that informs the audience of the final installation that she makes, which is very much at the core of her character. For an accomplished artist who has travelled the world, Arundhati turns out to be quite old-fashioned. One of the pivotal scenes in her part of the narrative is where she suffers a breakdown thanks to her mother’s decision to remarry. Her relationship with the couple who provide her with creative inspiration, is perhaps the weakest part of the film.
kolaambi
Cinematographer Ravi Varman ensures that every frame is photogenic, always drenched in a warm glow. Particularly interesting is how he captures the characters in their intimate moments, in the crammed space inside their home. The overtly buttery quality of the visuals might have been problematic in a different film where story-telling is sturdier, but here, the narrative is largely shouldered by the postcard aesthetic Ravi Varman and music composer Ramesh Narayanan bring to the table.
There is an obvious conflict of interest at the heart of Kolaambi. It wears the facade of mainstream feel-good dramas, while trying to accommodate several subjects into the narrative at once. It talks about the now-relevant citizenship issue, the localness of Kochi art biennale, and the secular nature of old communities, but in plain broad strokes. And this lack of interest in going beyond the superficialities turns the film utterly disposable.
****
The Kolaambi review is a Silverscreen original article. It was not paid for or commissioned by anyone associated with the film. Silverscreen.in and its writers do not have any commercial relationship with movies that are reviewed on the site.
After a violet theme in 2017 (China) and whites paired with denim in 2018 (Chennai), this year the gathering was clad in black and gold. The actors reminisced memories of the past and were found clicking photos with each other.
An example of friendship over years,tested over time.Thanks #Chiranjeevi &family for hosting. We are lucky to share this bond🙏🏻🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/WG6rrWMPyY
According to a report on Times Of India, actor Ramesh Aravind said, “This was my fourth time at the reunion. Chiranjeevi was a great host. Everything from the setting, the food, and the mood was upbeat. Nagarjuna and Amala were the new entrants to our group this year. Though everyone is a big star, it is so much fun coming together like this and partying like high school buddies. Kush, Suhasini, and Lissy plan this every year and work out several logistics. It feels great to have connected with the stars.”
Meanwhile, actor-director Prathap Pothen who was also an integral part of the ’80s has expressed his regret on not being invited for the reunion.
Nandamuri Kalyan Ram and Mehreen starrer Entha Manchivaadavuraa has been in the making for a while now. The team has reportedly completed shoot and is gearing up for the film’s release next year.
Music producers Aditya Music India Pvt Ltd have forayed into film production with this project. National Award winning director Satish Vegesna has helmed this film.
Entha Manchivaadavuraa’s music album will be released in December and the producers plan to release the movie during Sankranti (15 January). Music director Gopi Sundar has composed the film’s soundtrack. The film features multiple lyricists — Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry, Srimani, and Ramajogayya Sastry.
The film features four songs and some fight sequences too. Speaking about this to the press, producer Aditya Umesh Gupta said, “We are positive that our journey in films will be as successful as in the music world.”
Sivalenka Krishna Prasad of Sridevi Movies who is presenting the film, said, “The output is very satisfying and I am sure this will cater to all audiences.”
The film also stars VK Naresh, Thanikella Bharani, Pavithra Lokesh, Suhasini, Sarath Babu, Rajeev Kanakala and Vennela Kishore.
In a recent interview with Film Companion, where author-journalist Anupama Chopra was seen to host actors Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Alia Bhatt, Ayushmann Khurrana, Manoj Bajpayee, Vijay Sethupathi, Vijay Devarakonda, and Parvathy Thiruvothu, Manoj Bajpayee said that Vijay Sethupathi will feature in Laal Singh Chaddha alongside Aamir Khan. The episode that was titled ‘Actors Adda’ spoke of how the actors balance between quality and box office, about the acting processes that work for them, the moral responsibility that success brings, their inspirations and more.
In the interview, Vijay Sethupathi mentioned that the Hindi language was a barrier for him. On hearing this, Manoj Bajpayee brought to light that the actor was a part of the Aamir Khan starrer. Vijay Sethupathi added that he feared to work in other-language films apart from Tamil and Telugu owing to the lack of knowledge about the culture which serves as a means to connect with the audiences. “If you go to Saudi Arabia and work there for 6 months, you can learn Arabic also. Language is not a major barrier, but the main thing is that I should know the culture,” said the actor.
Laal Singh Chaddha is the Indian adaptation of Robert Zemeckis’ iconic Forrest Gump which starred Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson, and Sally Field. The film will star Aamir Khan, who plays the role of a Punjabi, opposite Kareena Kapoor. Recently, the first look poster of the film was released. Kareena’s look in the film had also leaked and did the rounds on social media.
Helmed by Advait Chandan of Secret Superstar fame, it will be jointly produced by Aamir Khan, Kiran Rao and Viacom18 Studios. While Pritam is composing music and lyrics are by Amitabh Bhattacharya, Atul Kulkarni is penning the story.
The film is all set for a Christmas 2020 release.
Meanwhile, Vijay Sethupathi who is a part of several films like Laabam, Maamanithan, Kadaisi Vivasaayi, Ranasingam, Yaadhum Oore Yaavarum Kelir, Oh My Kadavule will reportedly join the sets of Lokesh Kanagaraj‘s Thalapathy 64 in the first week of December. The team will wrap up the second schedule in Delhi in a few days.
We’d reported earlier that director Sekhar Kammula’s next film stars Naga Chaitanya and Sai Pallavi in the lead roles. Naga Chaitanya shared his first look in this film, on his birthday, yesterday. The poster simply calls the untitled project NC19.
Sekhar Kammula, who has made relatable Telugu cinema with strong female leads from Anand to Godavari, is working with Sai Pallavi again after Fidaa.
The makers also released a short video featuring glimpses of Naga Chaitanya’s role in the film with a breezy violin score. He will reportedly play a village youth who migrates to the city in search of a livelihood. The film is being presented by Amigos Creations, and produced by Narayan Das K Narang and P Ram Mohan Rao under Sri Venkateswara Cinemas’ LLP banner
NC19 is touted to be a romantic musical and went on the floors last month, in Hyderabad.
Chaitanya and Venkatesh starrer Venky Mama will release this December. A glimpse of his role in this film too was launched yesterday.
Kangana Ranaut, whose last release was Judgementall Hai Kya will now turn producer with Aparajitha Ayodhya. The actor has confirmed the title of the film and also revealed that it is based on the Ram Mandir issue and the court case that was recently solved after several disputes.
The film will be bankrolled under her yet to be launched Manikarnika Films, named after her directorial debut Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi.
According to a report on Mumbai Mirror, the actor said “Many documentaries have been made on this subject from varying perspectives. However, what makes Aparajitha Ayodhya different is that it will document the journey of the protagonist from a non-believer to a believer. In a way, the film will also reflect my personal journey, so I feel that this is the apt topic for my first film.”
She also said, “I have grown up hearing the name Ayodhya being referred to in a negative light. The piece of land that was symbolic of sacrifices became the subject of a property dispute. The case changed the face of Indian politics and the verdict reflected the secular spirit of India.”
Kangana’s sister Rangoli Chandel took to Twitter to announce the news.
Speaking about the title, Kangana said “I have seen bhakts getting drenched in the rain, arguing that they cannot be warm and dry when their Ram Lalla is wet and cold. There have been numerous efforts to wipe out our unity, but we remain undefeated. Hence the prefix Aparajitha, which means the unvanquished.”
KV Vijayendra Prasad, the writer of the Bahubali franchise will be in charge of the script for this film. The director, cast, and crew will be announced shortly with a grand launch.
Very soon Kangana will have a grand launch of Aparajitha Ayodhya where they will announce the director and the cast #workinprogress#newbeginnings 🙏🥰
Kangana recently mentioned in a press statement that she does not plan on starring in her production ventures. Small-budget films are in the offing for the actress because of their reception in the box office along with an aim to produce for digital platforms.
“My office will be ready by January 2020. Simultaneously, we are readying our projects. There are so many good scripts that come my way, and the (makers) want me to feature in them. But there is so much new talent that needs to be given a platform. It’s important that these powerful scripts don’t get lost, and make it to the big screen,” said Kangana in the press statement.
Meanwhile, Kangana will next be seen in Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari’s sports drama Panga, AL Vijay’s Thalaivi (Tamil), and Jaya (Hindi), and Razneesh Razy Ghai’s Dhaakad.
The first look poster along with a video of Thalaivi dropped recently. Read our review here.
Actor Vishnu Vishal’s next film FIR – Faizal Ibrahim Rais has begun shooting today. Directed by Manu Anand, a former associate of director Gautham Vasudev Menon, the film will be made by the actor’s home banner Vishnuu Vishal Studioz. The film was earier set to be produced by Anand Joy’s Sujataa Entertainment.
#FIR – our next production goes on floors today. An intriguing thriller getting ready for a summer 2020 release.
We had earlier reported that the previous producers had given the green signal for the shoot without adequate funds. And that the shooting had to be halted midway because of this.
However, Vishnu Vishal clarified to us that this was not the case and that shoot had never begun. He replied to Silverscreen on Twitter with this tweet:
Thnk you for the write up.. just a small correction..the shoot never started before this..only movie was launched with a pooja 🙏today was the first day of shoot:)
Vishnu Vishal mentioned in his tweet that he felt like a student returning to school after a term break.
After 6 months of script reading, discussions, few injuries, physical training and making a lot of new changes in me, getting back into a set for shoot :):)
The film’s theme revolves around terrorism wherein a young Muslim boy finds himself in a difficult circumstance. Raiza Wilson, Manjima Mohan, and Reba Monica John will be playing the female leads in the film. South Indian movie tracker Prashanth Rangaswamy too has a significant role in the film. Arul Vincent will be handling the camera with N Ashwath composing music and Prasanna GK on the edit.
The film will hit screens next year.
Watch the motion poster of FIR – Faizal Ibrahim Rais here.
When the announcement for Abhishek Bachchan starrer Bob Biswas — produced by Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment and Sujoy Ghosh’s Bound Script Production — was made, there was something familiar about it all. The tweet began with the word, Nomoshkar, and was followed by the folded hands and spectacle emoji. We’d seen it before… It’s that amazing unassuming life insurance agent/hitman from Vidya Balan starrer Kahaani. Bob Biswas (played superbly by Saswata Chatterjee). He would say, “Nomoshkar…” his arms folded, all sweet, and then “Ek minute…” bang bang. Shoot his mark and disappear.
This new film seems to be a spin-off of Biswas’ character from Kahaani and looks like Bachchan Junior will play the killer. Bob Biswas will be directed by debutant Diya Annapurna Ghosh, whose short film Neighbourhood Ties was showcased in Cannes in the year 2018. Abhishek Bachchan, who was last seen in Anurag Kashyap’s Manmarziyaan, will also be seen in Kookie Gulati’s The Big Bull and Anurag Basu’s next.
The Ministry Of Information and Broadcasting will felicitate music composer Ilaiyaraaja at the International Film Festival Of India which is underway in Goa. For the first time, the composer, 76, will conduct a masterclass for cine-enthusiasts tomorrow in Kala Academy in Panjim, and a TOI report quotes a source as saying that Ilaiyaraaja will also perform for the audience at the end of the session.
Ilaiyaraaja, who began his career in films as an independent music composer through Panchu Arunachalam’s Annakkili in 1975 has been awarded the Padma Vibhushan and Padma Bhushan by the Indian government. He has won the national award as the music director thrice, and for best background score twice. He has worked in movies in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi, English, Marathi, Sanskrit, Punjabi.
The eight-day film festival has already seen masterclasses by Oscar winning actor Isabella Hupert, art director Sabu Cyril and director Priyadarshan. On 25 November, American cinematographer and director John Bailey, who is heading the international jury at IFFI, and editor Carol Littleton will jointly hold a masterclass on “The Interplay of Cinematography and Film Editing”.
One of the many highlights of this year’s festival is the screening of a curated set of classic silent films by filmmakers such as Alfred Hitchcock and Russian filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein with live piano music played by musician Jonathan Best.
The first look poster of actor-director Rakshit Shetty starrer Avane Sriman Narayanais out now. The film helmed by debut director Sachin Ravi is being bankrolled by Pushkara Mallikarjunaiah and HK Prakash, under their Pushkar Films and Shree Devi Entertainers banners. The film features Rakshit as a corrupt police officer in a fictional town named ‘Amaravathi’ in Karnataka back in the ’80s.
The first look poster features a cop Rakshit firing a double-barrel western gun with one leg on his vintage motorcycle and one on the ground. The motorcycle is seen to be popping out of a wooden picture frame.
The team took to Twitter to release the first-look poster.
Avane Sriman Narayana stars Shanvi Srivastava opposite Rakshit with Balaji Manohar, Achyutha Kumar, Pramod Shetty and Madhusudhan Rao in significant roles. The soundtrack and music are by Charan Raj and B Ajaneesh Loknath with Karm Chawla on the camera. Director Sachin Ravi will also take up the mantle of the editor while Ullas Hydoor will helm art.
Recently, Bangalore Times had reported that the makers took references from iconic Hollywood films like The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and Fiddler on the Roof to create the sets for the film. “There was one set that involved putting up a surreal-looking fort. This setting required chambers and dungeons that were different from those built within traditional architectures by Indian emperors over the centuries. The characters featuring in a scene in this setup have an intrinsic brutal quality to them. So, we have tried to infuse that quality into these sets, and make them remarkably different from the opulence that fort architecture is usually associated with. We also recreated an entire forest. Some of the trees that feature in this set have been created from our imagination, keeping in line with the fantasy aspect of the narrative. There was also a village that was built along the lines of what you would see in the rural areas of north Karnataka,” read the report on Bangalore Times.
The film has been shot in North Karnataka for 198 days with 335 call sheets and is reportedly the first Kannada film with the highest number of shooting call sheets.
The multilingual will hit screens on December 27, 2019, in Kannada and Tamil as Avane Sriman Narayana, Malayalam as Avan Sriman Narayana, Hindi as Adventures of Sriman Narayana, and Telugu as Athade Sriman Narayana. The trailer will also release on November 28, 2019.
Watch the Kannada teaser of Avane Sriman Narayana here.
Meanwhile, the actor who was last seen as ‘Karna’ in Rishab Shetty’s 2016 rom-com Kirik Party will next be seen in Kiran Raj K’s 777 Charlie. He will also be seen in Punyakoti and Thugs of Malgudi, his directorial ventures which are currently in the pre-production stage.
