Section: Movies

‘Fire Will Come’ Filmmaker Oliver Laxe At The 21st MAMI Mumbai Film Festival: “Light Is A Veil, I’m Using Cinema To Explore The Shadows”

BY Aswathy Gopalakrishnan On

French-Spanish filmmaker Oliver Laxe’s third feature film, Fire Will Come, won the Uncertain Regard Jury Prize at Cannes Film Festival, 2019. In the slow-moving drama set in Laxe’s ancestral village in Spain’s Galician region, Amador (Amador Arias), a pyromaniac, returns home from prison. The film is built on images that lingers. The focus is on the inner life of the characters and the countryside where everything – human beings, animals, flora and the mountains –  seems to exist in harmony. Laxe continues to use the sublime minimalist approach which has come to be his signature, although, this time, the narrative is less opaque.

Image courtesy: Laurent Koffel, Bande-a-part

 

 

The filmmaker, who was born in France and lived most of his life in Spain, moved to Morocco in his twenties, where his first two films were shot. His debut film, You All Are Captains (2010) won a FIPRESCI award at Cannes Film Festival. His sophomore feature film, Mimosas, won the Critics Week prize at Cannes in 2016.

Laxe was at the recently concluded 21st Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival where Fire Will Come was screened. After a screening and Q&A session, the 37-year-old filmmaker sat down for a chat with Silverscreen.in at the lobby of his Juhu hotel to talk about his cinematic and philosophical influences, the places he has lived in and abandoned, and the existential questions that he tries to answer through cinema.

Do you enjoy Q&A sessions?

Yes. That is why I took a long flight and came here. To talk and to listen to the audience.

Is it always possible to theorise the process of filmmaking?

I think in this case (Fire Will Come) I can because the shooting process and the end result were in sync. Everything went nearly accurate. But the case of Mimosas, my last film, was different. It was hard to do. We had no budget, that terrain (Atlas mountains) was difficult to shoot in. But in hind sight, it was a good experience. There was certainly a gap between what I wanted to achieve and what I ended up making. Yet now I feel the film I ended up making was essentially and spiritually what I really had to make. There was a call of spiritual adventure in it. It was like a prayer.

I do think this process of making films is quite mysterious. I could explain it to you for hours, but I think that the truth is something hidden and profound. I believe filmmakers are just tools of the society, time and generation. We are just a medium. The world is using us to express something. This is why I like to answer audience’s questions about how I made the film. It helps me understand my process and reasons better.

Where do your idea of images come from?

Sometimes they are within me. Sometimes I dream them. I like photographs. I enjoy watching films too. (Andrei) Tarkovsky, (Robert) Bresson… I like Apichatpong (Weerasethakul) too, although his films are a bit too dark for my taste. Most of the time, my idea of images comes from the places I visit. I feel every place holds within itself images and a soul.

You don’t use conventional narrative devices.

I believe art is an esoteric tool. But today, it is too exoteric. The hidden things – the shadows – remain hidden. There is a Sufi mystic who said, “Light is a veil.” When there is light, you see nothing. We are living in a state of decadence. I believe cinema is about the shadows. Through cinema, I am trying to explore the hidden.

In Fire Will Come, I think you can feel what is behind the exterior of things. At least, that was my intention. Today, you know, it is very difficult to make a spiritual film. The spiritual narrative is not linear or easy to understand.

There is a strong spiritual undertone in Fire Will Come. The title, which sounds like a threat or a maxim, is quite biblical. In a scene, the camera moves seamlessly from the face of human beings to the face of a cow…

I am a believer. I believe nature has rules. Nature is speaking to us all the time, and cinema has the capacity to capture that voice. I want to make images that penetrate us and heal us.

 The word religion comes from the Latin word ‘religare‘ which means ‘to unite’. The world is divided. I think, as artists, our purpose is to link. To defend the fragility of the world, to protect small things and their beauty. In that sense, yes, I am religious. I pray using my camera.

But you know, in my opinion, the world is anthropocentric. I believe human beings are at the center of the equation. But that doesn’t mean that he can afford to not care about the other dimensions. He has to live in harmony. I like to shoot the face of a cow alongside the face of a human being. But at the end of the day, it’s a cow. (Smiles).

How do you choose your film’s music?

It is very intuitive. In Fire Will Come, I have used a lot of trombone music. It is a heavy metallic instrument. But it produces a sound which is aerial and very transcendent. I like that balance. I want my films to be like that. The audience should be able to smell, taste and sense things in it.

In the film, everyone in the village is sympathetic towards Almador, a prisoner on parole. There is a lot of kindness in the characters.

Yes. But I don’t think everything is perfect in the countryside. People judge each other a lot. That is why people want to escape to cities. To be anonymous. But I don’t think it is a good thing. If you hide yourself that way, your ego will be hidden from you. In a village where life is slow-moving, you will have to confront your ego.

The film opens to a nearly surreal visual of deforestation which doesn’t have an apparent connection to the rest of the film.

I call them essential images. While I was living in Morocco, I used to hear a lot about a mafia that cut palm trees at night and sold them to rich people in Casablanca. Although I had never really seen those machines cutting the trees, these images started to form inside my head. When I was writing my script, I wanted to include them in the film. Yes, the scene is not directly linked to the narrative. But I feel it completes the narrative.

The final shot of the wildfire is fascinating. It has an enigmatic sense of calmness.

In my films, you can always find a shift from human dimension to the other dimension, like a glance from the top. At first, we identify with the character whose house is burning down. We see his sadness and empathise with him. Then the camera moves upwards, detaching itself from human emotions to see the reality. It’s my way of saying that eventually, the fire will come, death will come and life will arrive after. It is a way of accepting the cycle of life. Similarly, I could have ended with the image of the son getting beaten up. But I decided to use two images of the helicopter, to give the audience a sense of distance from the human dimension.

You talk about peaceful acceptance of reality. But in life when you are shooting a film, when perhaps, funding doesn’t come on time or when production problems arise, do you accept things peacefully?

Now it’s beautiful to say that I do accept things as they come. But while shooting I don’t do that. I am trying, nevertheless. In this film, we had to finish the shoot with the actors in a real wildfire. We were shooting in the summer. In the valley, every year wildfires occur in the summer, but this time, while we were shooting there, it started raining heavily. How do you explain this? We, a crew of 15 people, waited for many days, and finally, two days before the shoot was supposed to end, there was fire.

I believe life is a test. It’s like the universe is saying, “oh you want to make a film about humble people and acceptance?  Let’s see if you know what’s acceptance!”

Why did you decide to return to your ancestral village in Galicia to make a film?

I am a man of tradition. I had to come back home. I am influenced by Sufism. I visited monasteries in Senegal, Cyprus, Persia. I believe we need masters in life. It is said that if you have no master, then your ego is your master.

This village where the film is where the house of my grandparents is. You know, I was shooting on the land where several generations of my ancestors sacrificed themselves. The word sacrifice means to become sacred. They became sacred with their suffering and hard work. Shooting my film on that land, I believe, made my film is pure. Currently, I live in Galicia. I am restoring my grandparent’s house. I want to create a farm.

How are your films received in Spain?

Now, since I have prizes in Cannes, my film has an audience. We stayed in cinemas for ten days in Spain. Thirty thousand people saw it. It’s a moderate budget film compared to the mainstream films made in Spain. I started making films with my own camera, on a very small scale. Now I have a cinematographer. I really work well now.

Have you seen any Indian films?

Once in Marrakesh, I happened to attend a retrospective of Indian films. I saw a Bollywood film which was directed by an important director, featuring some well-known actors. I really enjoyed it. It was very light– made for a commercial audience. But it was also very deep. It talked about destiny. I liked how it struck a balance.

Also read, ‘You Will Die At 20’ Actor Mahmoud Al-Sarraj On The Rise Of Sudanese Cinema

Read, Eeb Allay Ooo! Wins The Top Prize At 21st Jio Mami Mumbai Film Festival

Kollywood Movie Review – Kaithi Is A Riveting, Well-Crafted Film That Also Showcases An Actor’s Love For The Story He’s Chosen

BY Aditya Shrikrishna On

Cast: Karthi, Narain

Direction: Lokesh Kanagaraj

Lokesh Kanagaraj gives us an extended prologue for his Kaithi before the opening credits roll. There has been a drug bust and the drug lords are angry as hell. They are ready to pin the blame on the weakest under-ling. The police force led by Bejoy (Narain) is agitated. They need to get the cargo to someplace safe and they can trust no one. There is a drug lord above all, we hear only his name. We don’t see his face. Nobody has seen his face; he is a shadow. His minions are running the show and are out to get every team member in the special task force for what they have pulled. A bounty is placed on each head. Teams disperse. We also learn that there is a mole inside the gangsters, sent by Bejoy, and he’s deep and senior enough to call the shots. We get information in fits and starts as to who is who, not everything as coherent as we would like. There is no time for elation because Lokesh Kanagaraj doesn’t want us to trust anyone. The good guys can be the bad guys. The bad guys can be the good guys. The narcotics officer who seems to be on the opposite side of the law is called Stephen Raj — a name belonging to one of the cult-est undercover cop characters in Tamil cinema.

Lokesh Kanagaraj is the quintessential 90s kid who’s clearly grown up on a steady diet of late 80s to mid-90s Tamil masala action films. There are bits of several things from much-loved action films of those years. Like Inaindha Kaigal, Kaithi too is about two men from the opposite sides of the law coming together for the greater good. Like in that classic, Kaithi too has a father trying to finish a job and return home to his kid. Like Kuruthippunal, here too, there is a young mole wedged deep in a criminal organisation, sharing a bond of loyalty with his senior, what Dhanush and Adinarayanan shared in that film.

A song from another PC Sreeram’s film — Meera — Pudhu Routeuladhan plays just as Dilli (Karthi) takes a detour with the lorry, now working for Bejoy on a mission. Meera, of course, was a road movie with Meera (Aishwarya) and Jeeva (Vikram) running away from a bunch of goons out to kill them. At one point, Dilli even references Vijaykanth films. There is a mix of the best of them in Kaithi, from mass action scenes and transformations fashioned after Chathriyan to hand to hand combat set in quarries like Captain Prabhakaran. Kaithi also features the best usage of Aasa Adhigum Vechu, uncharacteristically set inside a police commissioner’s office.

The filmmaking is uncompromising throughout. Lokesh Kanagaraj uses a tracking shot in the prologue to define the gravity of the situation at a retiring Inspector General’s party. The film’s events are over a single night and we are thrust in media res. It’s to the director’s credit that the energy never wanes, and the pace never sags. The stakes are always high because we root for the guys we believe are on the right side of the law and there are enough comedic digressions that offer a breather (one on prison not being on Mars is a howler).

Kaithi wants to intentionally blur the lines between the police and the convict, its atmosphere and setting go a long way in making this happen. One part of the film is the road film — think a mix of Mad Max Fury Road, The Italian Job and Speed — where the convict is wild and free with the blessings of the police officer. The other setting of the film is the commissioner’s office which needs to be guarded at all costs till Bejoy and Dilli reach. The commissioner’s office now becomes a fortress (the building in the film is a British era architecture) and in some weird fashion, a prison for the lone constable (George Maryan in a role and performance of a lifetime). For waging wars that are disproportionate to his position and stature, he is aptly named Napolean. He is Legolas and Gimli rolled into one, guarding Helm’s Deep. We can never tell what got left out at the editing table, but Philomin Raj’s editing is a masterclass, scenes flowing from one to another, and not a single frame feeling like a chore. There is even delicious foreshadowing. Kamatchi complains the weight of a pistol, how it isn’t as light as they make it out to be in the movies. I don’t want to spoil it so look out for that final scene to realize the pettiness of this complaint.

Kaithi has a strong emotional core running throughout, that of Dilli and the daughter that he has never met. The fuel that the film runs on is this yet unformed bond and the bond that slowly gets forged between Bejoy and Dilli, Dilli and Kamatchi, or Napolean and the college students. Kaithi works in large parts due to Lokesh Kanagaraj not giving in to any form of simplification. His exposition can be garbled but they are intentionally garbled. He doesn’t want to make you root for anyone. He wants your choice to be organic. Even when Dilli is narrating a past, a lesser director would have crumbled and filmed those portions. In Kaithi, we don’t get that. We simply hear what Dilli has to say. We imagine what it must have been like. We feel his pain. This is a mark of a true filmmaker. Not to mention an actor loving the film he has chosen to do.

Also read, Silverscreen.in interview of Lokesh Kanagaraj

The Kaithi 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.

Kollywood Movie Review: Bigil – An Arresting Vijay In An Uneven Film That Is Deeply Insensitive And Makes Mansplaining An Art

BY Subha J Rao On

Director: Atlee

Cast: Vijay, Nayanthara, Yogi Babu, Varsha Bollamma, Indhuja

I hope my editor does not watch Bigil anytime soon. The next time she wants a rewrite or a story delivered super-fast, she just might do what Vijay does in Bigil — call me gundamma. It’s supposed to fat-shame me into encouragement, you know! Make me land some plum stories or, probably, breaking news.

I’m also thinking of the sensible, professional editors who gave me a job when I was pregnant, without thinking like my ‘akka’ or ‘amma’. Pregnancy is not a disease, but there’s no point screaming that fact.

The film also made me wonder how many men turned saviour to help me realise my true potential that was floundering about without help from a powerful, accomplished man. Last time I counted, none!

Now that I’ve got the three most troublesome things about Bigil out of the way, we can focus on the never-ending festival film that Atlee has set out to make. Let me begin with something positive. After years, you see Vijay the actor again, in parts, when he plays Rayappan. Makes you wonder if directors had tried to look beyond his fabulous dance moves and general on-screen goofiness (can get endearing except when he does bunny hops for a hug, be it with his father or girlfriend, like in this film), we actually might have seen an actor-star, rather than just ‘Thalapathi’. He’s on point as the don forced to take up arms to keep the bad guys at bay, and as the affectionate father who tries his best to get his son far away from fights and into football.

Bigil Movie Stills Starring Vijay
Bigil, starring Vijay and directed by Atlee

The film is no Chak De, on or without steroids, and it’s important to mention that upfront because that’s the comparison doing the rounds since the film was announced, helped in no small measure by Shah Rukh Khan’s tweet. That Chak De (it was about women’s hockey, this is football) is still being mentioned 12 years after its release is proof of its tightly-written script, and content that entertained without introducing any entertaining elements. But, we have a long way to go there, especially when a film is made with a reigning star.

Bigil is also not about women’s empowerment, even if it has two women-centric anthems, ‘Maadharey’ and ‘Singapenney’.

It is about a man getting in touch with his past avatar, and fulfilling his father’s last wish through a bunch of girls, most of whom come with sad backstories, and two with current sad stories (Varsha’s Gayathri, who is married off to a man who believes women must rule the home, before he is told otherwise, again by the hero and heroine; and Anitha, an acid attack survivor; she shows some steel, mercifully). Throw in some fat-shaming, some pregnancy gyaan (which backfires big time, because while the examples of Serena Williams and Mary Kom are cited, our pregnant player is told to sit out, before being called for the penalty shootout), a love story that works in parts, some gory violence and the saviour trope, and here’s your film. The most endearing bond on screen is the one shared between the two Vijays — the utterly dignified, stylish Rayappan and a young Bigil.

Bigil Movie Stills Starring Vijay
Vijay and Nayanthara in Bigil

Nayanthara as Angel looks well-made up on screen, as is the norm these days, whether she plays a CBI officer, a student of physiotherapy or a doctor; not a hair is out of place. Her best scenes are at the altar — she says no innumerable times, to the exasperation of the priest. But then you wonder how someone who seemingly has a mind of her own happily accepts Bigil’s reasoning that calling an obese player gundamma and ridiculing her fondness for food is akin to lighting the spark to get her to play well. And while at it, what’s with the deeply insensitive background score when Pandiyamma is on screen?

This point especially rankles, like a friend rightfully pointed out, because when the boys play and are in a similar situation, they get encouraged by saying they should stop defending the opponents’ goals and start scoring their own. So, why is it right for our hero to presume only shaming/seething with rage can get girls to play well? To top it all, after all the dialogue about playing for the team, the State, et al, the girls wear jerseys with Bigil written on them.

This is not a film where you go in expecting some deft football techniques; despite that, it all comes across as too filmy. You also expect better of the stunts (Anl Arasu); after all, Vijay’s major draws are his dancing skills and deftness in stunt sequences. This film needed a better antagonist; you have two in Daniel Balaji and Jackie Shroff, but they are not so well written as to allow Vijay’s character to pit his skills against them. A good hero needs a good villain, and Bigil’s biggest drawback is that.

Yes, people have made films that run beyond three hours. But, when a film runs to 178 minutes in this day and age when directors manage a lot even within two hours, it needs enough conflict and emotion and meat to keep it going. You need to feel invested. That’s something Bigil sorely needs. The film seems like a set of sequences stitched together in haste. Some work, most don’t. In comparison, the matches in Chak De give you goosebumps even now, after multiple viewings.

Agreed, this was not a film made to please reviewers or even those looking for some logic and sensitivity in a script, but Atlee could have tried a little more. If only a portion of the humongous budget (Rs 180 crore) had been diverted to a writing team that would make the most of a premise that looks good on paper — a former player taking on coaching duties for a bunch of girls who aspire to football greatness.

Yogi Babu and body-shaming go hand-in-hand these days, only this time around, he’s shaming others, including Manobala, who gets called a skeleton and an old lady who is ridiculed constantly. Kathir, that rare, lovely performer who can own every frame, is wasted in a blink-and-miss role. Criminal, considering we know what he’s capable of. Something similar happens to Indhuja, who is also a performer.

The biggest problem with Bigil is that you can’t rage or get over-enthusiastic about it. The film strives so hard to hit the middle ground. It says something in one scene, something totally different in another, and then settles for an in-between happy spot in the third. Atlee has many hits in his oeuvre now, and this kind of filmmaking has become his trademark, but once in a while, just once in a while, it would pay to practice that glorious line: show, don’t tell! When you’re expecting something to happen, you want to see it happen; you don’t want some onscreen character to tell you that hey, look ma, this is going to happen.

Bigil has everything going for it technically. Cinematographer GK Vishnu lights up every frame with care and lends it the look of a festival film; where the grit is seen, but through a patina of gloss. Choreographer Dinesh Master has a great dancer to work with, and it shows in the final output. The dances are lit, and some steps will find themselves recreated pretty soon during college culturals, among the greatest validation. Music by AR Rahman has been much discussed, but music is not one of the strong points of this film.

Sometime during the first half, a character asks: ‘Enna Nadakudhuinge Raman?’ (What’s happening, Raman?) Quite mirrors what the audience wants to ask too. And, there’s a male angle here too, like through the rest of the film.

The Bigil 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.

Dev Patel on learning Hindi for ‘Hotel Mumbai’

BY Silverscreen India Staff On

As Dev Patel chased down the character of Arjun, a turbaned Sikh working under Chef Hemant Oberoi in Anthony Maras’ upcoming film Hotel Mumbai, based on the 26/11 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, he knew it was uphill task preparing for the part that’s so far removed from his real self.

Patel was born and raised in England by Gujarati Indian Hindu parents but he had great compassion for the Sikh community who bore the brunt of the 9/11 attacks. The actor understood the hate came from the lack of representation of Sikh characters in international films that triggered him to reason with his director why Arjun should be a Sikh in the film.

Talking about his prep, he said, “I spent about a month with my coach Raghuveer Joshi working on the accent and the pitch. Since the character is fictional, there was no reference point. Looks-wise we built him up from ground zero. I had to completely change my appearance, work on my Hindi and Punjabi at the same time and ensure that the words sound correct in terms of tonality. I had done neither of these before but I am glad the film made me push myself to try out an uncharted territory personally. The story is close to me as I was shooting here for one month and the next in my house in London my parents looking at the TV screens and watching Mumbai burning, it was horrible!”

Meanwhile, Dev Patel also stars in an episode of Modern Love, an anthology of stories, based on the popular NY Times column, that is now streaming on Amazon Prime. Fans of the show have been tweeting especially about his role.

Eeb Allay Ooo! That Narrates A Monkey Chaser’s Existential Crisis, Wins The Top Prize At 21st Jio Mami Mumbai Film Festival

BY Silverscreen India Staff On

As the 21st edition of JIO MAMI Mumbai Film Festival concluded on Thursday, filmmaker Prateek Vats’ Eeb Allay Ooo! bagged the prestigious Golden Gateway award. The film also won the Young Critics’ Choice Award.

Animation filmmaker Gitanjali Rao’s Bombay Rose won the Silver Gateway award in the Indian films’ competition section of the festival. Debut director and screenwriter Saurav Rai won the The Grand Jury Prize was bagged by screenwriter Saurav Rai for Nimtoh.

Actor Shardul Bhardwaj of Eeb Allay Ooo!
and Mohini Sharma of Just Like That won Special Jury Mentions.

India Gold, the Indian competition section of Mumbai Film festival is a collection of the best films from the country. This year, ten films competed in this category.

In Eeb Alley Ooo! a newly inducted ‘monkey-chaser’ in New Delhi’s capital region writhes in existential crisis. The film uses the medium of dark satire to show the class and caste conflicts in the city.

Bombay Rose Rao’s ode to Mumbai follows the life of a bunch of commoners in the city. Nimtoh, a Nepalese language film, is a delightful drama centred on Tashi, a 10-year-old boy who lives with his grandmother in a mountain hamlet.

In the international competition section, Tamara Kotevska and Ljubo Stefanov’s Macedonian documentary Honeyland, won the Golden Gateway award. The film is Macedonia’s official entry to the Academy awards this year. Buoyancy, directed by Rodd Rathjen, won the Silver Gateway award, and the grand jury prize went to Suhaib Gasmelbari’s Talking About Trees, a Sudanese documentary. Special Jury Mention was shared by Carlo Sironi’s Sole, and Amjad Abu Alala’s You Will Die At Twenty. 

Also read, You Will Die At 20 Actor Mahmoud Al-Sarraj On The Rise Of Sudanese Cinema

Lokesh Kanagaraj and Karthi Together Created The Personality Of The Lead Role In Kaithi

BY Aparajitha Balu On

The young team of Kaithi reportedly worked only at night in extreme temperatures and ended up losing a few pounds. The crew of the Karthi starrer was all praise for director Lokesh Kanagaraj‘s working style and clarity in the staging of scenes at a recent interaction.

The director apparently called up music director Sam CS recently to compose for a short film he had in mind. “We respect the art and stay true to our profession,” said Sam CS and added, “Kaithi may not be in the regular template that a film is obligated to follow, but it has an emotional backing. Karthi sir has added value to my music with his commendable performance throughout the film. Editor Philomin Raj was more of an AD than an editor in the film. He tortured me more than the director did, with his endless calls,” he quipped lightheartedly.

The one-night story, which seems to be a favourite of the director’s (Maanagaram too was set in one night), had cinematographer Sathyan Sooryan employing only one headlight from the lorry used in the film, in some of the scenes. “When the script was narrated to me, I realised I would be shouldering a huge responsibility which only increased after Karthi sir was roped into the film {initially to be headlined by someone else}.”

Vijay TV fame Dheena and Mariam George will be seen essaying serious roles in the film. Dheena stated that he always turned out to be the victim of the actors Karthi and Narain’s jokes on set. “In the film, I would be dictating the two of them, but once the camera stops rolling, I got caught between the two. In one moment I’m the ‘hero’ and the very next, I’m a politician in their eyes,” laughed Dheena.

Actor Ramana said that he witnessed another dimension of the film during its dubbing. “There’s a three-minute tight close-up shot of Karthi anna performing in the film. I had goosebumps when I witnessed it,” said the actor.

Actor Narain who has been out of action for a while in the Tamil industry makes a comeback with Kaithi. The actor, who was reportedly roped in by Karthi, has good screentime in the film. The actor thanked the team for launching the trailer on his birthday. “This is my second innings. I thank my best friend, Karthi (anna or thambi? he pondered) for giving me this opportunity.”

Lokesh Kanagaraj said that he had no idea about who would play the lead, and the film happened only because producer SR Prabhu suggested that actor Karthi essay the role. “People have always told me that it’s hard to break the stereotypical pattern of filmmaking and I wanted to give it a try. Fortunately, Karthi sir agreed to the film despite the lack of commercial aspects. I’m pretty sure all directors want to make films like this but haven’t stumbled upon the chances to,” said the director.

Producer SR Prabhu said that Lokesh is one director who strives to make a complete film. The two-and-a-half-hour action-filled movie reportedly had a less-than fifty pages script book. “Lokesh is one director with whom we can blindly go ahead on hearing just the one-line. I was impressed with how the small idea was shaping up and decided to rope in Karthi sir to essay the lead. The movie was shot in lesser number of days when compared to Theeran Adhigaaram Ondru but contains more action than it contained,” said Prabhu.

Actor Karthi reportedly loves to learn of the background of a story and the graph of a character before he takes up a script. He found a lot of scope for performance and was ready to take on the challenges in this script. Lokesh and Karthi together curated the personality of the lead role and wanted to take the harder path to enhance the script. “Lokesh can only be found talking about cinema. I don’t know how his wife puts up with him,” joked Karthi who added, “The film is a wonderful platform for all the technicians and actors. It is a multi-hero film where every character possesses a different shade. This is the most disciplined set I’ve ever seen. The entire team respected the actors performing and I couldn’t help but reiterate the fact to Lokesh.”

Kaithi is set to hit the screens tomorrow (25 October 2019). 

Watch the trailer here:

Parthiban’s ‘Oththa Seruppu Size 7’ Screened For The Golden Globe Jury

BY Aparajitha Balu On

Actor-Director-Producer Radhakrishnan Parthiban‘s Oththa Seruppu Size 7 was screened for the Golden Globe jury at Los Angeles, California. The film that hit the screens on 20 September 2019 in India, was a experimental about a man being investigated by the police for murder. It was helmed, headlined and bankrolled solely by Parthiban. The film is also being screened for the Academy Awards’ jury members today in California.

“As I mentioned earlier, the entire process of Oththa Seruppu Size 7 has been a mix of emotions and challenges. The only thing that took me through the challenging process was the hope I had on the audiences. Now to see that the film is getting unconditional appreciation from across the globe, fills me with delight. The screening for jury members at the Golden Globe was like an acid test and I was emotional when they personally interacted with me after the screening. They mentioned that it’s a phenomenal attempt, which isn’t an easy thing to accomplish,” said Parthiban and added, “I am happy that Metroplex Tamil Sangam at Dallas City, Texas Province has recognised my work and is honouring me with a special screening, interaction, and dinner at 4 pm on October 26 (Saturday). I am really excited to meet the folks out there.”

Parthiban, Golden Globes
Parthiban and Resul Pookutty at the screening

The film first premiered at the Singapore South Asian International Film Festival before hitting theatres and has now been selected under the Indian Panorama section for the International Film Festival of India set to happen between 20-28 November 2019 at Goa.

Oththa Seruppu Size 7 had cinematographer Ramji cranking the camera, R Sudharsan on the edit, A Amaran on art, Resul Pookutty designing sound and music by Santhosh Narayanan with Sathya C scoring the background track. The film was registered in the Asian and Indian Book of Records for a single person directing, producing and performing in the movie.

Watch the trailer of the film here:

Read Silverscreen‘s review of the film here.

Also, read Resul Pookuty’s interview with Silverscreen on his working experience and rapport shared with Parthiban during Oththa Seruppu Size 7.

21st MAMI Mumbai Film Festival: ‘You Will Die At 20’ Actor Mahmoud Al-Sarraj On The Rise Of Sudanese Cinema

BY Aswathy Gopalakrishnan On

Mahmoud Al-Sarraj, a veteran Sudanese theatre actor and musician, plays one of the central roles in You Will Die At Twenty, a Sudanese film playing at 21st Jio Mami Mumbai Film Festival’s international competition section. He talks to Silverscreen.in about the rebloom of Sudanese cinema that was on a decline over the last thirty years when the country was ruled by an authoritarian Islamic government.

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In 1991, Mahmoud Al-sarraj and his band, Salam, were performing at an evening party when the intelligence force picked him up for an interrogation. “They said I was singing a political song. ‘Why are you singing about ‘my country’, they wanted to know. It’s a song that my father wrote. It’s just a harmless song.”

The Sudanese government, he says, was afraid of art more than anything else because it feared art could change things.

Sudan has a minuscule film industry that has produced several notable short films, television shows, and documentaries, but just eight feature films. 

You Will Die At Twenty (2019), directed by Amjad Abu Alala, is one of the Sudanese films currently creating a buzz in film festivals across the world. A human drama about a boy who is destined to die prematurely, the film won the Lion Of The Future award at the Venice Film Festival this year and the best narrative feature award at Egypt’s El Gouna Film Festival in September.

Sudan’s tryst with cinema began in the 1900s, under the British rule. In the 1920s, the capital city of Khartoum got its first cinema which screened silent films. In spite of a dire difficulty in finding financiers (there are no local film producers in Sudan), the filmmaking community in the country thrived until 1989, when the Omar-al-Bashir government came to power through a coup and ruled Sudan until April 2019 when they were overthrown as a result of several months of civilian uprising.

The government didn’t rush into acting against artistic endeavours in the country, says Sarraj. “They never said they were against art. Instead, they choked it slowly, by increasing taxes, curtailing freedom of expression, stopping public fund for filmmakers, and making it hard for cinemas and art practitioners to function. In effect, they were very much against music, cinema, against everything beautiful that reflects Sudanese diversity. They were trying to create a homogenous Arabic Islamist culture. But Sudan is a huge country. We have many languages, religions, cultures. They were essentially fighting against Sudan’s diversity.”

In 1993, the government closed down the Sudan Cinema Club, fired the employees and initiated the collapse of the country’s cinemas. “In the 1980s, the city of Khartoum alone had 20 cinemas. Currently, there is just one left, in Afro Mall in the city,” says Sarraj.

The 59-year-old artiste is actively involved in the field of music. He creates songs for radio shows, TV programmes, and individual albums. “You could play around there (in the field of music). Images were what unsettled the government more. They wanted to dictate what people see. They were to some extent okay with sound.” 

The government used music to popularise army and Islam. “They stole old Sudanese melodies and rewrote the lyrics.”

Al-Sarraj’s father was one of the founders of Sudanese modern theatre. “He was a writer-director. He was the first theatre director to cast a woman to play the role of a female character. In 1946. Before that, female roles were played by men.”

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Although theatre is still popular in Sudan, it has become increasingly difficult to make a living out of it, says the actor. “The income is very little. You work for many days to make a play, but eventually you are able to run it for hardly a month. That’s why we actors remain poor.”

Director Suhaib Gasmalbari’s Talking About Trees, another Sudanese film playing at Mumbai film festival, is a docu-fiction — Sudan’s love letter to cinema — that follows four filmmakers in their 60s, who are trying to revive public film screenings in Islamist-ruled Khartoum. The filmmakers, Ibrahim Shadad, Manar Al Hilo, Suleiman Mohamed Ibrahim, Altayeb Mahdi, studied cinema in Moscow and film schools in France and came back home make movies in Sudan. “The regime made sure that these filmmakers couldn’t make a single movie here. They were hounded, imprisoned and harassed,” says Sarraj. 

The generation of the Sudanese population born prior to 1989 was raised on Indian and American films. “You know there were cinemas that thrived only by screening Indian films? We used to dance inside the screening hall to the songs in Indian films. After 1989, foreign films disappeared too.”

How does it feel to live in a place without cinema, I ask. “A lot of sadness,” he replies. “Art is important. I love classic movies that are deep, which talk about human beings and relationships. Films that are critical of our existence, which are about loneliness and which say we need each other.”

He recalls the daily newspaper columns from thirty years ago that listed what people could do in the evening. “Advertisements for cinemas, restaurants, concerts. Those columns were one of the first things to disappear after 1989. That left people with nowhere to go to. Many people left the country. I briefly left for the United States. But I couldn’t adjust to the place, and I came back.”

There was a lot of anger, he says. “We protested. We went to jail. We wanted them to reopen cinemas and our lives.”

The prime reason behind the public anger that eventually overthrew the al-Bashir’s government was corruption.”They were very corrupt. They had great money in foreign lands. They were running after their own benefits when the people suffered here,” says Sarraj.

After the collapse of al-Bashir government on 11 April 2019, things have started to look up in Sudan, says Sarraj. “Our old cinemas are undergoing renovation. Soon we will have three or four cinemas in Khartoum. And the artists, filmmakers, and actors who had fled the country are coming back.”

Sarraj’s own daughter is looking forward to be a filmmaker. “She wants to study cinema. There are no film schools in Sudan. So people go to Cairo or France.”

The future looks bright, says the actor. “The revolution of December 2018 was led by young people who were born in the time of the Islamists. It’s very strange. Those young girls and boys who have seen nothing except this kind of oppression, made the change possible.”

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First Look Of Madhumita Sundararaman’s ‘KD Engira Karuppudurai’ Out Now

BY Aparajitha Balu On

The first look poster of KD Engira Karuppudurai, a Tamil film directed by Madhumita Sundararaman under Saregama’s production wing Yoodlee Films dropped recently. The movie that has been doing the rounds in the film festival circuit, is now set for a November release in theatres. It stars Mu Ramasamy ayya and debut actor Nagavishal in the lead.

The first look poster features a toothless Ramasamy seated in front of a heap of biryani, biting on a bone with Nagavishal at the back, facepalming at the sight. Except for the two characters, the entire poster has been illustrated with bright colours.

RJ Balaji took to Twitter to release the first look poster.

Yesterday, the film’s first song ‘Tuckulingu’ was released by composer D Imman on Twitter. Rendered by Benny Dayal and Andrea Jeremiah, the peppy song has lyrics penned by Sabarivaasan Shanmugam and Karthikeya Murthy with music by Karthikeya Murthy.

Editor Anthony L Ruben, who is gearing up for the release of director Atlee‘s Bigil, has been brought on board as the trailer and promo editor of the film. The editor took to Twitter to share the news.

Director Madhumita Sundararaman, who is known for films like Vallamai Tharayo (which won Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Family Film), Kola Kolaya Mundhirika and Moone Moonu Varthai, has reportedly picked a lively yet emotional storyline for this film. It is about a bed-ridden old man who wakes up from a coma and escapes from his household when he comes to know that his family is planning to euthanise him. He befriends a cheerful eight-year-old and embarks on a journey with him, fulfilling all the dreams on his bucket list. While the boy is an orphan yearning for love, the old man seeks solitude from a disloyal family.

The film was nominated under multiple categories and won various awards at festivals including the 3rd Singapore South Asian International Film Festival and the New York Indian Film Festival. Yog Japee, Badava Gopi, Gabrella Sellus and Guna have played significant roles. Meyyendiran Kempuraj has handled the camera, Karthikeya Murthy has composed music with Vijay Venkataramanan on the edit.

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Listen to ‘Tuckulingu’ from KD Engira Karuppudurai.

Hero Teaser Starring Sivakarthikeyan

Cast: Sivakarthikeyan, Abhay Deol, Action King Arjun,
Kalyani Priyadarshan, Ivana

Director: P.S.Mithran
Music Director: Yuvan Shankar Raja
DOP: George C Williams
Cuts: Ruben
Art: V Selvakumar
Stunts: Dhilip Subbararayan
Sound Design: Tapas Nayak
Dialogues – M.R.Pon Parthipan, Antony Bhagyaraj, Savari Muthu
Lyrics – Rokesh, Pa.Vijay
Choreography: Raju Sundaram,Sathish
Costume designer – pallavi singh
Stills: Anand G
VFX: Mindstein
PRO: Suresh Chandra & Rekha D’One
Executive Producer: T.Ezhumalaiyan
Producer: KJR Studios – Kotapadi J Rajesh

Producer Arun Pandian: Actor Kangana Ranaut Will Not Headline The Hindi Version Of Amala Paul Starrer ‘Aadai’

BY Aparajitha Balu On

Actor Amala Paul starrer Aadai recently hit screens after tackling several issues owing to the actor’s undaunted performance in the film. Post-release, the buzz was that actor Kangana Ranaut has been roped in to play the female lead in the Hindi remake of Aadai. This rumour has now been refuted by actor-producer C. Arun Pandian‘s A&P Groups through an official press statement.

“We have not approached Kangna Ranaut for the lead. The rumor spreading is false news. The director and crew are yet to be finalised. Kindly avoid further rumors,” read the press statement.

A&P Groups which is primarily into production and distribution of Tamil films acquired the remake rights of Aadai in all languages. It has tied up with a production company in Mumbai to shoot the Hindi version on a large-scale. The shooting will commence soon with a popular artist from the Bollywood industry essaying the role of Sudhandhira Kodi aka Kamini, Amala’s character in the Tamil version. The team has also reportedly planned to bring onboard top artists for the supporting cast.

Aadai was helmed by Meyaadha Maan fame Rathna Kumar and produced by Viji Subramanian under the V Studios production banner. The movie revolves around a free-spirited TV show anchor who goes beyond limits in an attempt to break the behavioural pattern set by society for women, leading her into deep trouble. The drama-thriller fared decently at the box office with mixed reviews on Amala’s role.

Amala Paul headlined the film along with actors Vivek Prasanna, Ramya Subramanian, Vada Poche Sarithiran, Ananya Ramaprasad, Rohith Nandakumar, Kishore Dev, T. M. Karthik, and Sriranjini who played the supporting roles. Vijay Kartik Kannan handled cinematography, Shafique Mohammed Ali took care of the edit and Pradeep Kumar composed music along with the Oorka band who made their debut into the industry.

Celebrities At The 'Aadai' Premiere
Celebrities At The ‘Aadai’ Premiere

Incidentally, the film premieres on television on 26 October, Saturday at 5 PM on Colours Tamil.

Watch the trailer of Aadai here.

Read Silverscreen‘s review of Aadai here.

‘Hotel Mumbai’ Starring Dev Patel And Anupam Kher Is Based On The 26/11 Mumbai Attacks; Hindi Trailer Out Now

BY Aparajitha Balu On

The latest to join the list of films that dealt with the appalling Mumbai Taj hotel terrorist attacks is Hotel Mumbai starring Dev Patel and veteran actor Anupam Kher. The film whose Hindi trailer dropped recently has Anthony Maras helming it and Zee Studios and Purpose Entertainment bankrolling it. Hotel Mumbai talks of the tragedy from the hostages’ point of view, with Anupam Kher essaying chef Hemant Oberoi, the celebrated chef of the hotel who helped save several lives back in 2008, and Dev Patel essaying the role of a young waiter. The film was lauded at the 43rd annual Toronto International Film Festival in 2018 where it was first screened.

Zee Studios took to Twitter to release the trailer.

The film marks Anupam Kher’s 501st movie in the industry who said in a statement, “The film celebrates the real-life heroes and how they were able to discover their own courage. Sometimes you discover your own courage in a situation like this. This film made me learn the biggest lesson of my life – to value humanity above all. It’s been 35 amazing years for me in this industry and I have had the fortune to work on such impeccable films and with equally impeccable talent. I think any actor would agree that one doesn’t count the number of movies they do. An actor is greedy for more parts, for better parts and that’s what my journey has been defined by. I’m happy this film, Hotel Mumbai is my 501st film. It’s a landmark project for me and for all those brave souls who help continue the spirit of humanity in dire times of need.”

Hemant Oberoi, a former chef at Taj who now owns his own restaurant named ‘Hemant Oberoi Restaurant’ at Mumbai, broke the Taj mandate of merely serving and pleasing customers and went on to promote himself to them. He strongly believed that guests were privileged to be able to eat his food and to meet him. On the horrific night of 26/11, he and his team of staff strived to save the lives of his guests even while their lives were at stake.

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Hotel Mumbai‘s cast includes Call Me By Your Name fame Armie Hammer, Nazanin Boniadi, Tilda Cobham-Hervey, Suhail Nayyar, Nagesh Bhosle, Natasha Liu Bordizzo and Jason Isaacs. The film is set to hit screens on 29 November 2019 in Hindi, English, Tamil, and Telugu.

Incidentally, the film has been nominated under 13 categories at the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards 2019 (AACTA). Actor Nazanin Boniadi took to Twitter to express how she felt on hearing the news.

Watch the official trailer of the film here.

Read Silverscreen‘s review of the English trailer here.

Also, read about the happenings on the night of the premiere of Hotel Mumbai at TIFF 2018 here.

Dabangg 3 Trailer Starring Salman Khan, Sonakshi Sinha

Directed by: Prabhu Deva
Produced by: Salma Khan, Arbaaz Khan, Nikhil Dwivedi
Director of Photography: Mahesh Limaye
Music Director: Sajid Wajid
Story: Salman Khan
Screenplay: Salman Khan, Prabhu Deva, Dilip Shukla and Aloke Upadhyaya
Dialogues: Dilip Shukla and Aloke Upadhyaya
Associate Producer: Shamiraah Nambiar
Editor: Ritesh Soni
Action Director: Anl Arasu
Production Design: Wasiq Khan
Costume Design: Ashley Rebello and Alvira Khan Agnihotri
Executive Producer: Manoj Chaturvedi
Sound Designer: Jitendra Chaudhary

Mathivanan Rajendran On How Adil Hussain Starrer ‘Nirvana Inn’ Raised Funds Without Compromising On The Maker’s Vision

BY Krupa Ge On

Nirvana Inn had its world premiere at the Busan International Film Festival earlier this month. This is not your regular horror film with creepy music and jumpcuts, the makers say. The film stars Adil Hussain, Sandhya Mridul and Rajshri Deshpande and is “more of a character study in a slow burn narrative that blurs the line between realism and mystery”.

Adil plays a suicidal boat driver who capsizes his boat, with all his passengers in it, intentionally. However he escapes alive. Guilt-ridden he flees to the Himalayas and works as the caretaker of Nirvana Inn. And then his victims check in to the resort.  Niravana Inn also sheds light on Bhaona, an endangered art form of Assam. Adil Hussain, who is from Assam, took on training from local artists to perform the dance. The final performance had backing music that was performed live by local musicians, according to the makers.

Chennai-based Mathivanan Rajendran of Stray Factory, the producer who mounted the film spoke to Silverscreen about his foray into film production, a South Indian crew making a Hindi film, the powerhouse cast of Nirvana Inn and more…

Excerpts from the conversation…

How did Nirvana Inn happen?  

We were looking to transition from doing YouTube videos, which we got tired of, and I was introduced to the independent film circuit. I reached out with a Facebook message to two filmmakers — Arun Karthick and Vijay Jayapal. I had seen both their films at the Mumbai Film Festival and wondered why I hadn’t heard of these fantastic filmmakers before. I suspect they thought I was an actor trying to get a part in their film. (Smiles).

Vijay and I were working very closely on developing another film The Displaced when he casually mentioned he was writing a psychological horror film. Something about it instinctively clicked, we applied for the very competitive Asian Project Market in Busan and we managed to get in as the only Indian project. This gave the project credibility. I think our production strategy was key, we kept our budget low and promised full creative freedom to the filmmakers. We did not rely on debt financing because that makes you desperate to release the film.

Adil Hussain In Nirvana Inn
Adil Hussain on the sets of ‘Nirvana Inn’

We raised equity from other producers and formed a consortium namely Uncombed Buddha, Magic Hour Films, Stop Whinging, Cent Percent Films, and even a startup Investor Harman Ventures from Tamil Nadu. We matched this with foreign funds and markets. This is a relatively unknown route to make a film in Chennai and it was ridiculously hard to explain this.

This is south Indians making a Hindi movie. How did this happen?

As a psychological horror film, Vijay wanted to shoot in the Himalayas and give the film a sense of coldness and loneliness. Logically, the film became a Hindi language film with some Assamese as well. So finally, we had a South Indian technical crew, a lighting unit from Punjab, supporting cast from Delhi and Himachali crew. Can’t say communication was easy.

Can you talk about the casting in the film?

The minute the film became a Hindi film, Adil Hussain (Life of Pi) was the first name that came to mind. He has an incredibly accomplished history as a theatre actor and instructor. There were some scenes with movement which only a trained actor could have executed. He was coming fresh from winning the National Award in Norway for What would People Say which incidentally was Norway’s entry to the Oscars. He really liked Vijay’s previous film and I think they had a similar view on the aesthetics. Given we didn’t have access to the Hindi film industry he was kind enough to refer us to Sandhya Mridul (POW, Angry Indian Goddesses) and Rajshri Deshpande (Sacred Games, Manto) two powerhouse actresses who had made very interesting choices with their films. They were quick to get back to us and we had a cast in a matter of a week. I must mention that most of the supporting cast were all seasoned working actors or Theatre performers.

Nirvana Inn, Adil Hussain
A still from Nirvana Inn

Can you take me through the making process?

It took us a year and a half to get to this point, which I would say is relatively quick.Six months of development followed by the Asian Project Market in Busan where we met international co-producers and distributors. This broadened our view on the film and we realised the film had surreal elements that connected with everyone across South East Asia. The very title being Nirvana Inn tied into the film’s themes of guilt and redemption and so did the use of ‘Bhaona’ an endangered art form from Assam which uses masks, again something that the market in Busan identified with.

After this we shot the film in the Himalayas. Also, it was a very grueling shoot up in the mountains at sub-zero temperatures and we had to zip line across various locations. It was a dangerous shoot with us escaping a landslide on the very first day. The second schedule of the film was in Assam, which again was tough since it was winter and we were shooting on the banks of the Brahmaputra.

Nirana Inn Stills
Adil Hussain in Nirvana Inn

We knew the film needed some external pair of eyes and ears as well to make it truly international and we put our best foot forward and applied to the Asian Cinema Fund and we were finally one of two international projects to secure it and possibly only the second Indian film to do so. This gave us access to colour grading and sound mixing studios in Busan, which elevated Vijay’s vision to another level. The ACF guarantees a premiere in Busan and here we are a year later from pitching at the same festival with a premiere.

What are your plans with respect to distributing the film? From what I understand, that is where makers face their biggest headache. It’s so opaque, the model, especially in the south isn’t it?

Innovating with the distribution has got to be the most difficult but also therein lies the opportunity. If your film is financed through partners who care about the film and also avoid debt you have a lot of flexibility with the film’s distribution. We are actively seeking distribution in foreign countries and being present in markets has opened that dialogue. Besides Indian OTTs like Netflix and Amazon Prime which have an interest in independent films, there are opportunities in South East Asia and Europe and we are currently talking to a Chinese Distributor as well. There’s is a huge opportunity in the distribution of these films like A24 has done in the US. Technology has changed, movies have changed and audiences have changed but our distribution and marketing methods have been rather static.

What next on the production front for you?

Vijay’s next film ‘The Displaced’ is about migrants from different parts of India coming to a big city and we’re looking at casting a south Indian actor in the lead so that should be interesting. Our other film in the pipeline is Nasir which was supported by the prestigious Hubert Bals fund and that film and was a co-production with a Dutch Company Rinkel film with much of the ‘post’ being done there as well. It has secured a world premiere at a top-rated festival already.

Ahead Of ‘Bigil’ Release, AGS’ Archana Kalpathi Spoke To ‘Thambis’ And ‘Thangachis’ On Twitter: Highlights From #AskArchana

BY Aparajitha Balu On

Actors Vijay–Nayanthara starrer Bigil is all set for a festival release on 25 October and the team has been working tirelessly to make the film a blockbuster at the box office. Right from bringing in Bollywood to share the trailer to hosting football tournaments to creating a Twitter emoji for its hashtags, the promotion for this film has been on a much larger scale. While post-production work is underway for both the Tamil and Telugu version (Whistle) of the film, Archana Kalpathi, Creative Producer of AGS Entertainment, decided to go live on Twitter, to answer questions from Bigil and ‘Thalapathy’ Vijay fans.

A knackered Archana Kalpathi, also called ‘Archu Akka’ by tweeps, greeted all her ‘thambis’ and ‘thangachis’ who joined the live chat. She spoke about Bigil bookings and the promos would hit social media and television soon. The 180 crore budget film will be released in more than 4000 screens across the world in Tamil and Telugu. Bigil reportedly doesn’t have a Hindi dub due to time constraints for a Deepavali release but will be screened with subtitles for the North.

Vijay At The 'Bigil' Audio Launch
Vijay At The ‘Bigil’ Audio Launch

Archana said that the three-hour runtime was essential to build emotion in the film. “It will be a family entertainer and is not confined only to football. Though there is no specific theme in the film, Rahman sir has done a great job with the re-recording. You all are in for a few surprises. The VFX seen in the trailer is nothing compared to what you are about to witness on-screen, so please watch it in theatres and avoid piracy,” said Archana who has also taken a court order to curb piracy. The film has done about 200 crore business before release.

The team has a lot of pre and post-release ideas planned for Bigil. They plan on releasing the exact figure of the box office collection along with the film’s shooting stills, making videos, and bloopers. “We would love to retweet the celebration videos taken at the first shows across the world. Please share them on Twitter so that we can bring about the festive mood on social media too,” said Archana. The film will also reportedly hit China’s cinema halls soon.

Archana Kalpathi At The 'Bigil' Audio Launch
Archana Kalpathi At The ‘Bigil’ Audio Launch

“Out of 198 days of shoot, we worked with Vijay sir for 150 days. I enjoyed working with him. He’s someone who is aware of everything happening on set but still keeps a low profile,” said Archana who prefers the producer tag rather than the Vijay fangirl tag.

Archana who plans on catching the first show of the film at AGS Maduravoyal is unclear of their next undertaking till the release of Bigil. AGS is ready to work with any actor, be it Vijay or Ajith if the script manages to impress. “After all, we’re a production house,” she said.

Bigil is helmed by director Atlee and is bankrolled by Kalpathi S Aghoram, Kalpathi S Ganesh, and Kalpathi S Suresh under their AGS Entertainment banner. The film marks the third association of Vijay and Atlee after Theri and Mersal. Vijay and Nayanthara will be seen together again in Bigil after their 2009 drama-thriller Villu.

The film’s cast includes Yogi Babu, Vivek, Kathir, Jackie Shroff, Manobala, Daniel Balaji, Anand Raj, Devadarshini, LM Vijayan, Indhuja Ravichandran, Amritha Aiyer, Rebba Monica John, Varsha Bollama and RJ Ananthi. GK Vishnu has handled cinematography, AR Rahman has composed music, T Muthuraj has worked on the art and Anthony L Ruben has taken up editing responsibilities.

Watch the trailer of Bigil here.

David Letterman Ft. Shah Rukh Khan Will Air On October 25 On Netflix; Here’s A Sneak-Peek

BY Silverscreen India Staff On

Earlier this year, in May, talk show host David Letterman engaged in a candid conversation with Shah Rukh Khan. The show will be presented as a stand-alone special on Netflix and in a press statement, the OTT platform said that it “combines two interests for which Letterman is renowned: in-depth conversations with extraordinary people, and in-the-field segments expressing his curiosity and humor.”

Ahead of the conversation, Shah Rukh Khan said, “I’ve watched David Letterman’s late-night talk show for years and I’m a huge fan of his style of interviewing. I’m thrilled and honoured to share my story with him. That this is on Netflix is even more special – I’m working with the team on various projects and it’s always been exciting partnering with them.”

After interviewing Shah Rukh Khan in front of a live audience, Letterman said, “After each one of these sessions I think to myself, it is a very smart, very lovely person from whom I have learned things. You would maybe be at the top of that list.”

Shah Rukh Khan reveals in the trailer that he’s learning to cook Italian and cooks for his kids when they have the midnight pangs. Letterman seems to have joined the actor in his home, Mannat, where thousands come each day, trying to catch a glimpse of their hero. Gauri Khan and AbRam are also seen in the trailer.

SRK has been on a break from movies and has been looking for the right project and rumour has it that he’s agreed to work with the Tamil director Atlee. Altee’s Bigil will release this Deepavali and after that, he’s expected to start work on this project with King Khan.

Meanwhile, SRK has also been in the news for meeting the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi along with others from Bollywood to take Mahatma Gandhi’s message forward as part of a #ChangeWithin campaign.

This special stand-alone episode of My Next Guest Needs No Introduction will air on October 25 on Netflix.