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141 Responses to “Ab Tak Chappan 2, Dum Laga Ke Haisha, Badlapur (ongoing), the rest of the box office”
Ab Tak Chappan 2 And Dum Laga Ke Haisha Open Poorly
Friday 27 February 2015 14.00 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
Ab Tak Chappan 2 and Dum Laga Ke Haisha bot opened to poor 5-7% occupancies. The other releases Hey Bro was a last minute cancellation after some multiplexes had already put it in their schedule for the week.
The screen count for Ab Tak Chappan 2 and Dum Laga Ke Haisha is as follows.
Ab Tak Chappan 2 – 1375 screens
Dum Laga Ke Haisha – 775 screens.
If collections stay as they are then Ab Tak Chappan 2 will record better first day collections due to extra screens and single screen collections but with Dum Laga Ke Haisha being a multiplex film and having better reports it should do better as the day goes along.
Badlapur Has A Good First Week
Friday 27 February 2015 12.00 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
Badlapur had a good first week as it grossed around 36.25 crore nett in week one. The film held up pretty well on the weekdays to record the second highest first week total of the year after Baby which grossed 51.75 crore nett plus.
The collections are very similar to Main Tera Hero which was released last April and grossed 37.25 crore nett. That film was driven by Mumbai circuit with a ratio of 36% and it will be slightly higher for Badlapur as Mumbai has also performed best for this especially the main cities of Maharashtra.
The business in the North has been average though was holding up well at low levels towards the end of the week. The film is the only profitable film of the year and it will be the second weekend that decides whether it emerges a hit or not.
Roy Falls Ninety Percent Plus In Week Two
Friday 27 February 2015 11.30 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
Roy crashed badly in week two grossing around 2.75 crore nett and taking its two week total to 36.50 crore nett. The fall in week two was a huge 92%. The two week business is the same as the first week business of Badlapur and Roy had taken a better opening than Badlapur on day one.
The film basically just performed for the two days and day one was due to the presence of Ranbir Kapoor and Valentines day kept it afloat on day two and the the crashes started with Monday seeing the type of crash which is very rare..
The film which has cost around 50 crore to release and market with 30% of that going to Ranbir Kapoor for his services will lose heavily. The loses will be over 15 crore for sure as recovery from all revenues can go a little up 30 crore at best.
Quite a few from Team Ankhon Dekhi collaborate. Sanjay Mishra is reliably crusty; Seema Pahwa is perfect as the hassled, small-town mom, Chandrachoor Rai, Mahesh Sharma do well as Khurrana’s sneaky and supportive cronies respectively whereas Shrikant Verma steals quite a few scenes with his chaste Hindi punch-lines (Hum toh thehre pracheen Bharat ke avshesh) as the wisdom-spewing Shakha Babu.
As with Ankhon Dekhi, Meenal Agarwal’s production design is authentic in its depiction of life in the heaving interiors. It’s a vision cinematographer Manu Anand beholds and beautifies in compositions of bright marigold strings adorning pale, faded green walls that linger on like the aftertaste of this film.
Maybe it’s a tendency to look romantically at the decade that’s closest to you but the 1990s were a fanciful decade. Mile Sur Mera Tumhara trills in the background, Shah Rukh Khan stutters for Kiran on cable television, Kumar Sanu is the closest we get to divine intervention — Dum Laga Ke Haisha is subtle in the nostalgia it invokes, it has to be; the characters are living in the moment not basking in its influence.
Veteran Hindi and Marathi actor Ajay Wadhavkar, who last played the role of Sushant Singh Rajput’s father in the TV show Pavitra Rishta, passed away in Pune.
Ajay, who shot to fame as Ganpat Hawaldar with DD’s Nukkad, was suffering from throat cancer and diabetes and was under treatment at Nanavati hospital in Mumbai. The actor we hear was also facing a financial crisis and Bollywood’s popular comic actor Johnny Lever lent him a helping hand.
Usha Nadkarni, who played his wife in Pavitra Rishta confirmed the news and said, “Yes, I got the news today. He was not keeping well since quite some time. When we shot for the last episode of Pavitra Rishta, I enquired about him and got to know that he was unwell. Since then I was in constant touch with him and his family. But I got busy lately due to the outdoor shoots and today I got this news that he is no more.”
“And he gets juicy moments – when he pleads with Jhimil for “gandi baat” over the phone, or when he mimics another prisoner’s limp. I laughed out loud when, after his release from prison, Liak walks up to the man who’s tailing him and has a casual chat. Siddiqui’s enunciations are entertainingly weird. You have to see the way he says goodnight to Patil (Zakir Hussain), compressing the word and spitting it out like a bullet. But Badlapur gives his character a hell of an arc, and he finds new things to do, newer ways to do them. At first, we think he’s scum – when Raghu visits him in jail and beats him up, Liak smiles, and we don’t doubt the reason for that smile. Surely he’s pure evil. Surely that’s why he’s smiling, at this realisation of how much pain he’s brought to someone. But then again, looking at him in the latter parts of the picture, maybe not? Maybe there’s something more to that smile? Siddiqui gives us a fully shaped performance and yet he doesn’t connect all the dots (and the writing surely helps). He keeps us on our toes. I don’t want to make grand statements like he’s the best actor we have today, but if anyone’s making “I heart Nawazuddin Siddiqui” T-shirts, will you let me know?”
I can confirm, from my side, that it’s a brilliant film. Sriram Raghavan’s best to date…but Varun Dhawan is the weak link. I would have loved to see Akshaye Khanna in his place. An actor of his caliber would have taken the film to a different level.
It’s a pity that Akshaye Khanna has just vanished. One of the rare understated actors of his generation and not surprisingly not valued very much. loved his negative outings as well.
Agree with everyone. I used to dig his performances. Was a pleasure to watch. There wasn’t a character he wasn’t comfortable doing.
He was the best thing about Tees Maar Khan. Was last seen in the dud Gali Gali Chor Hai.
Absolutely loved his acting in Gandhi My Father. A very underrated performance that deserves to be counted as one of the best in those times by a commercial lead actor.
Is it true your father was duped and lost his business?
Yes, his signature was taken fraudulently and everything was gone. I was in the ninth standard and had to start working.
I am grateful to the late G S Tari who provided me my bread and butter (Nana printed cinema posters for him). I used to call his wife Aai (mother).
You meet some good people along the journey and must not forget them.
I was paid Rs 35 a month and one meal a day. I had to walk eight kilometres to the work place — from Matunga west to Chunabhatti (in central Mumbai)
My wishes and dreams are very small — two meals a day for which I hope I don’t have to beg. Live life with honesty, that’s all I want. I never asked anything else from God.
Watch: Nana Patekar on his first salary
I studied at the Bandra School of Arts, which is now Raheja School of Arts. Then I went to JJ School of Arts. In the afternoons, I worked.
Later I worked for an ad agency, Strusa Advertising, as a commercial artist and visualiser. There came a time when I had to decide between a regular job and theatre. So I quit the job.
I thought I don’t have to marry, so let’s do theatre. Whenever I earn some money and a girl agrees to marry me, then I shall see.
I got married to Nilu (Neelkanti), whom I met because of my plays. She was a very good actress and also writes well. She was an officer in a bank and earned Rs 2,500 a month when I earned Rs 50 per show, when I was doing Hamidabaichi Kothi.
If I did 15 shows, I earned Rs 750. So the total was about Rs 3,250, which was more than enough.
During the mid-70s, you got a month’s rations fro Rs 200. We saved a lot of money.
We spent Rs 750 on our wedding. We had some Rs 24 left over so we bought some Goldspots (the soft drink) and gave it to our guests who had gathered.
We went to Pune for a night. Arvind Deshpande had booked a room for us in a hotel.
Is it true that you stopped acting in Purush because the audience would clap even when you were doing a rape scene?
Yes. When I started working in films, playgoers had a certain image of me in their minds.
I played a negative character in Purush. But they looked on me as a film actor, so as soon as I came on, they would clap.
Before the play started, I would come on stage and explain that the role I was to perform was about the bad things that exist in our society, and so please don’t clap.
But when it still went on, I stopped appearing in the play. Nevertheless, I did that play for 16 years.
Did Nilu Phule do the play before you?
No. Nilu Phule did Sakaram Binder. Later I was asked to do Sakaram Binder, and I even did rehearsals for it. But it is difficult to match the impression left by someone else. Nilu-bhau was a great performer.
Even today, if someone asks me to do Sakaram Binder, I may feel like doing it, but I think I would only do it as a film.
though I didn’t know about this I couldn’t have commented on it because I first have to issue comments on violence in Africa, violence in Burma etc etc.. and before all else the barbarisms ISIS indulge in every day. Once I get done with all of this I’ll deal with the assault on good taste also known as your comments.
“because I first have to issue comments on violence in Africa, violence in Burma etc etc.. and before all else the barbarisms ISIS indulge in every ”
Yup I know u won’t get the time
U may get the time to do so if u r not busy expressing your deep outrage at the extremists ‘violently agitating’ against the PK screenings
( incidentally these ‘violent extermists’ couldn’t stop PK from the public making it the biggest grosser of all time!)
though I apologize for introducing facts to you I wasn’t outraged by the PK incidents. I brought them up as part of longer political discussions. Wasn’t really just going after these incidents. And while I thought that sleaze was your greatest problem it’s a bit disappointing to see you constantly come up with this communal innuendo to attack me and Sanjana. Not that it bothers me otherwise. Not sure what happened to you though. Just went off the deep end at some point after Krrish 3.
Newcomer Bhumi is endearing and gets into her role with an admirable ease. Ayushmann Khurrana is excellent. The casting director (Shanoo Sharma) deserves a special mention for handpicking some of the best talents in the industry to come together to make this film what it turned out to be.
One of the best romantic comedies to come out of Bollywood, ‘Dum Lagaa Ke Haisha’ steadily grows on you and warms the cockles of your heart even before you realise it. By the end of it, you might just want to go and hug the people in your life who you otherwise take for granted.
– See more at: http://www.mid-day.com/articles/dum-lagaa-ke-haisha—movie-review/16023194#sthash.g1OkdtPf.dpuf
i woder why people are investing their money on this khurana guy – except for the first movie – vicky donor – all his movies have crashed at the BO – What r people expecting? miracles?
I’m sure you don’t mean that in an absolute sense. Otherwise it wouldn’t matter whether Bachchan did Deewar or Shatrugan Sinha! Put differently the star also makes a movie better or worse.
Sriram Raghavan, the avowed noir fanatic, got it right to an extent in the first half of Ek Hasina Thi and some parts of Johnny Gaddaar (and lost it completely in Agent Vinod) but Badlapur is a bad regression. The only bright spot is Nawazuddin Siddiqui but he too should watch it — too much of this underclass, small-time thief with an unshaven, sweaty face has the danger of filmmakers typecasting him like how they did, say, Gulshan Grover, the go-to guy for another trope of the 80s Bollywood. The rest of the casting is a disaster. Varun Dhawan as the seething, simmering vengeful hero is like casting Justin Bieber as Scarface. Or Huma Qureshi as the prostitute is like giving Sharon Stone’s role in Basic Instinct to Emma Thompson. But these are specifics. Badlapur lacks the overall noir-cred, it just doesn’t have noir soul, it is regular Bollywood fare masquerading as film noir.
Lol. This is a bad review and I wonder how can a reputed magazine like Outlook have it published when it doesn’t make any sense.
Film noir is a genre created by movie watchers and students alike. Badlapur doesn’t aim to be anything except provide a good watching experience, shattering expectations and creating an aura of unbelievability and unpredictability along the way. The writer here focuses on what it isn’t and what it should be rather than what it is. No word about the story arc or other technical aspects. Just a word about the performances in the final few lines?
Naach-gaana. Sparkling S.D. Burman vs. rocking R.D. Burman – I would not have to choose a favorite soundtrack between these two. In that informal Twitter poll, several people chose Jewel Thief for Vyjayanthimala’s amazing “Honthon Pe Aisi Baat” alone. If that’s not enough, Jewel Thief also has Helen dancing backwards on top of a bar, and I have already mentioned the delicious “Raat Akeli Hai.”” But then Teesri Manzil has “Aaja aaja,” with Asha Parekh and an army of sparkle-clad chorus dancers shimmying and mashed-potatoing with Shammi in a distillation of everything that makes 1960s movies fun.
For sure, there is a lot of style and fun in both films. Teesri Manzil is a great film, a satisfying and entertaining noir thriller, with a few almost Hitchcockian details and a generous helping of romance and style. And that moment in “O haseena zulfonwali,” when Helen appears framed in the pupil of that gigantic eye, is sublime, a concentrated moment of pure 1960s Bollywood bliss. Jewel Thief is a wild and twisting romp with stylistic nods to the likes of James Bond and Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Two fantastically stylish films, both thanks to the great Vijay Anand.
According to a report on Pinkvilla.com, actor Ajay Devgn has expressed his views on the controversial AIB Roast. Ajay said that he would prefer not to watch the show, from what he has heard about it, as he does not enjoy such kind of humour. Further to the report, Ajay also talked about the schedule of his upcoming film Shivaay for which he will soon be leaving for Bulgaria. The high-budgeted film features legendary actor Dilip Kumar and Saira Banu’s grand-niece, Sayesha as the female lead.
Recently, Sanjay Leela Bhansali reprimanded Ranveer Singh for being involved in the roast. Read on to know what he said…
As per a report on Bollywoodlife.com, Sanjay Leela Bhansali is not very happy about Ranveer Singh’s involvement in the AIB Knockout roast. Ranveer, who is currently shooting for Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Bajirao Mastani, got an earful from the director, the report stated. Further to the report, Bhansali also advised Ranveer to behave like Salman and Shah Rukh and not like a ‘chichora’
yes the Khuda Gawah look was first designed for this one. But it was one of the shelvings I’ve always regretted the most. Even more than this perhaps Dutta’s Bandhua.
yes I know but don’t agree with the rest.. Ghai was making this at the peak of his career right after Karma. It was simply the biggest combo of that period because Ghai was the biggest director then. In an interview a few years later he said that he still told people to look at some of the shelved footage to see what a performance was really about (not that anyone needed to learn this from him when it came to Bachchan!). But Ghai made some remarks about Bachchan being a bit distracted in those days and I’m not sure if this was the only thing but Bachchan wasn’t pleased. Otherwise I regret the Bandhua shelving a bit more even if Dutta didn’t really have any success after Ghulami in any of his Rajasthan films. But Ghulami remains for me the greatest commercial Hindi film of the last thirty years.
Badlapur Day Eight Business – Decent Hold
Saturday 28 February 2015 13.00 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
Badlapur had a 75-80% fall on its second Friday compared to first Friday as it grossed around 1.50 crore nett. The hold is decent. The eight day total is around 37.75 crore nett.
The collections of Badlapur on day eight were slightly better than both the new releases Ab Tak Chappan 2 and Dum Laga Ke Haisha on their respective first days. Badlapur should see big growth on second Saturday as it’s a settled film and normally for films which have a sustaining week one run show a big jump on Saturday.
Badlapur has chances of hitting that 25 crore share mark and becoming the first solid hit of the year but needs to get in a 10 crore nett plus week two.
Ab Tak Chappan 2 And Dum Laga Ke Haisha First Day Business
Saturday 28 February 2015 12.00 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
Ab Tak Chappan 2 and Dum Laga Ke Haisha had poor collections on day with Ab Tak chappan 2 grossing around 1.25-1.50 crore nett and Dum Laga Ke Haisha grossing around 1-1.25 crore nett.
The first day collections of Ab Tak Chappan 2 may be better but it has no chance at the box office as the collections have come of close to 1400 screens. Dum Laga Ke Haisha did show some improvement in the evening and despite its low start still has a chance if it can show that big improvement on the key Saturday.
Ab Tak Chappan 2 is unlikely to improve much while Dum Laga Ke Haisha will grow on Saturday but the growth has to be really big, preferably doubling up its Friday collections.
Bollywood actor Sonam Kapoor, who was admitted to a private hospital in Rajkot, has tested positive for swine flu. She was admitted with symptoms of high fever, sore throat and bodyache, prompting doctors to take samples for a swine flu test. It has now been confirmed that the actor has caught H1N1 infection.
Swine flu has become an epidemic in Gujarat where since January 1, 256 people have died while more than 4000 cases have been reported from across the state.
The actor has not been isolated and is stable and under the treatment of Dr Chirag Matravadia of Sterling multispeciality hospital. The Bollywood star’s trainer too has tested positive for swine flu.
Sonam Kapoor is in Gujarat for the shooting of Surat Barjatya’s upcoming film Prem Ratan Dhan Payo. The shooting is underway at a royal palace in Gondal, a town which was a princely state before independence in Rajkot district. Barjatya’s earlier work, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, was also filmed at the location.
Salman Khan and Anupam Kher are other actors camping in Gondal for the film’s shooting which, as per its original schedule, is to conclude in second week of March.
This month, Bollywood has been rewarding me for my unwavering devotion to itover the years, with films that warms the cockles of the heart. First there was Badlapur with a twisted story of good and evil that surprised you at its every turn. And now comes ‘ Dum Laga Ke Haisha’. In 1967, when I saw my first Hindi film, Upkar, could I have imagined to see one day a film on a subject like this – a guy from small town UP who failed his class X, pressurized to marry a fat girl who is much smarter than him? Mind you the girl is really fat. So fat that when she leaves her husband and comes to her father’s place because the husband said to his friends in public, “ How can I live with this ‘ moti shaandh ( fat bull) ’! , her own brother says, “Tum to ho na moto shhandh !’
The film is brutally honest. You can see why the family wants him to marry her – she is a B.Ed, and the government job she is sure to get will help the family’s straightened financial condition, what with this boy being no good at anything. As for the boy’s perspective, you can see that he does not feel attracted to her. And you can empathize with him. But you can also see that she is smart, a genuinely good human being and has her own charm. To the films credit, she is written as a good girl , but not a goody-goody. She gives back as good as she gets. When she overhears him her moti shaandh he slaps her hard. But she hits back only when she is provoked. Otherwise she is trying her best to make the marriage work, including buying a punk nightie and putting on an ‘ English film’ to arouse some passion in him. She is willing to teach him the rudiments of English when he is gearing up to give class x another shot. But he is a thick-skulled mule, he simply doesn’t have enough sense to value what he has got. He gets worked up by seeing the photo of a beautiful girl that his mohalla friend is going to marry.
The film starts with the boy acting as the narrator. ‘ Three things can make me cry’, he strats, “ first, babuji’s chappals, then, there are Kumar Sanu’s osngs.., and the third…”, he pauses and the film unfolds. The little details of this North-Indian small town in the nineties – Kumar Sanu, audio cassettes, VCRs, scooters – are lovingly captured. The families of both the boy and the girl present such droll but real characters, played by competent theater and TV artistes.
The most subversive element of the film is an RSS like organization whose pramukh talks of anushashan and kranti, and drops the names of Bhagat Singh. The shorts they wear are not khaki, but the units are called saakhaas. They talk of Bhratiya sanskruti while getting roundly drunk at a marriage party. We can see what is responsible, at least partly, for instilling the false machismo in our protagonist.
The final contest, from which the film gets its name, is the kind of script device that is becoming common for bringing rom-coms and other slice-of-life stories to a fell-good close ( from Lagaan to Rab De Bna Di Jodi to Taare Zameen Par and the recent Bengali gem, One Tee Bioscope.) But that is done quire well. What is not so done well is weaving the varied strands of the narrative ( that includes a bua whose husband has deserted her just after marriage) to a cohesive, well-articulated tale.
But what is on diplay is charming enough and not in small measure due to the performance of the lead pair. Bhumi Bednekar as the fat but feisty girl brings to life a singular flesh and blood character whom you cannot help but relate to. Ayushman Khurana essays the best role of his character , bringing out convincingly how men can be such a haramis.
And the final Kumar Sanu-Sadhna Sargam duet is a real blast from the past and I wish the theatre guys did not bring the lights on before the song was over.
Ab Tak Chappan 2 And Dum Laga Ke Haisha Second Day Business
Sunday 01 March 2015 14.30 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
Dum Laga Ke Haisha showed excellent growth of 90% on Saturday. The numbers are still low but the trend gives the film a chance in the long run. The first two day business of Dum Laga Ke Haisha is as follows.
Friday – 1,10,00,000
Saturday 2,10,00,000
TOTAL – 3,30,00,000
Ab Tak Chappan 2 is a poor fare with practically no growth on Saturday. The first two day business of Ab Tak Chappan 2 is as follows.
Dum Laga Ke Haisha Heading For Surprise Success
Sunday 01 March 2015 23.00 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
Dum Laga Ke Haisha may be heading for a surprise success as the business on Sunday is likely to grow in the 40% region for a total near the 3 crore nett mark. The weekend business will be a little over 6 crore nett.
The most important things with multiplex films which don’t open is huge growth on Saturday which happened with Dum Laga ke Haisha and then a Monday total similar to Friday if not better. So with the film doing what was needed on Saturday it is about Monday.
This sort of Saturday jump suggests a strong hold on Monday with the only issue being a complete multiplex release means ticket prices being 20% less than Friday almost everywhere so it has to cover this with extra footfalls compared to Friday.
Badlapur review from Namrata Joshi, a sensible enouh reviewers, one of the few that I read.
:
Sriram Raghavan is the closest to a Hitchcock in Bollywood, in that his murders are much more than merely killings. Crime comes layered with philosophical concepts. So, if Hitchcock’s Psycho is as much about materialism and voyeurism as it is about Norman Bates slashing Marion Crane in the iconic shower scene, then Sriram’s Badlapur puts an accidental shooting and the ensuing tale of revenge and redemption in an elaborate, labyrinthine perspective. In Sriram’s hand a seemingly simple African proverb—‘the axe forgets, the tree remembers’—gets a layered interpretation. However, not as entirely successfully; more on paper, in the thought behind the film, rather than in its actual depiction on screen.
……….
The film is like a boxing match between two actors—Varun and Nawaz—with Nawaz easily coming up trumps in the kind of role he could now well be getting typecast in. Besides the protagonist and the antagonist, Sriram sketches even the minutest of characters in detail. Be it the cop shadowing Nawaz or the new lover (Zakir Hussain) of Laik’s girlfriend Jhimli (Huma Qureshi) in merely two scenes. And he has a bunch of superb actors—from Divya and Radhika to Huma and Vinay—to make the ensemble work. Kumud Mishra as the inspector on the case and Pratima Kazmi as Laik’s mom stand out.
But who is the real criminal here, one who does it in the heat of the moment or one who commits a crime in a cold, calculated manner? Who is seeking revenge and who has the generosity to grant forgiveness? And who eventually gets redemption? By the end of it, axe and tree don’t quite seem like what they are, the criminal and the victim becoming two sides of the same coin.
The narrative gets too cramped and blotchy at times. Moments that could have been more dramatic get so understated that the audience may have trouble hearing them. On the other hand, at the very end, things are laid out too literal when they should have been left unsaid.
I’m surprised the ‘right’ in India hasn’t objected to Badlapur as it’s the ultimate liberal/leftist film. Without giving too much away, the film dares its viewers to sympathize with an impulsive murderer – the so-called scum of the Earth. Of course, I don’t credit the right-wing nuts with too much intelligence – that they could look beyond religious overtones would be a stretch – but this film, in terms of ideology, is no different from an activist’s support for the Naxal cause.
I applaud Sriram Raghavan for asking tough questions and placing the film’s audience in a moral dilemma. In more ways than one the film is a ‘theoretical’ exercise in examining the psychological nature of festering thoughts of revenge – what it does to a person, how it can result in blurring the lines between the perpetrator and the victim and so on. In a literal sense it doesn’t make much sense. It’s highly unlikely that such a scenario will ever unfold. But as a concept, as a thought-provoking exercise and in the formal sense, this film is a distinguished triumph.
Saket: ” It’s highly unlikely that such a scenario will ever unfold. ” Such scenarios do occur when, for example, protesters demand capital punishment for all rapists, or policemen torture poor men accused of theft, or when people throw stones to kill an adulteress.
“Murderer is ok. If the film maker tries to justify rapist like this, he will get all the brickbats including mine.” These are precisely the kind of attitude Raghavn’s Badlapur is questioning in an oblique way. Come on, rape preferred over murder! Countless women get raped in India , in the US, and they go on to lead meaningful lives – many like Oprah, Lady Gaga and Fiona apple , to name just a few, have gone on to achieve phenomenal success, and sources of inspiration for many. ( I am listing the celebrities who have come out and admitted rape publicly, I am sure there are thousands others who have achieved great thins but don’t want to make a noise about their rape.) In contrast, I do not know in what way have the women who have been murdered had it any better. Choosing a murder over rape is preposterous to say the least.
Maya Angelou was raped when she was 8, Billie Holiday when shew as 12. But look at the lives they have lived. No murdered woman gets that kind of chance.
Before satyam sir makes a claim that I have posted this without any reference , this is in response to Sanjana’s link. Sanjana is always posting political stuff in a non political thread , with 100% of them being anti BJP or anti Hindu.
Please Let this be a Filmi shot not a Sickular Samaj !!
I am not the only one who posts these things. I post other things as well. Just imagine if UPA ignored Mufti’s remarks and fail to condemn it outrightly how sushma, jaitley would have reacted? They would have stalled parliament proceedings, demand explanations and raise hell. BJP kare to rasleela, UPA kare to character dheela?
why are you saying that Sanjana? Haven’t they withdrawn 370? Oh wait..! They said they stand by their principles but they’ll look at it if and when they gain a completely majority in J&K. In the meantime they’re hugging Sajjad Lone. LOL! But at least the uniform civil code will be in soon. Waiting with bated breath!
Unfortunately the fact is that whether one is on the Right or the Left all of one’s protests are only about political parties and far less (if at all) about ideological positions. And people prove this again and again. Which is why when people are trapped in these debates they tend to keep blaming the other side and never taking responsibility for their own. It’s an easy ‘political’ tactic. Most people do this. The same people who jump at crumbs on one side of the political debate say ‘hey why are you making such a big deal out of this stuff?’ when the shoe is on the other foot and far bigger issues arise on their own. Once again from my side this isn’t about the Congress or the BJP or anyone else. It’s about the ‘people’. Much as I’ve criticized the same for years for fostering a certain kind of cinema. I’ve not just kept is restricted to people who make the films. Because they’re only doing what sells. Hence my ultimate target has always been a ‘New Indian’ mindset. Which in turn is also about a similar mindset globally. One can disagree but this position is certainly not dependent on one political party or the other.
My point was posting only anti BJP articles in a Filmi thread , chup chaap, and pretending to be unbiased when called out claiming victimhood. but how can Satyam sir let go any opportunity to beat the BJP and the Hindu right !!
Aside- on social media, the hardcore BJP supporters have come out strongly against the BJP on these matters. Meanwhile Bhushan has admitted that the communal posters were put up by Aap party and then gave the ticket to the Fall guy !
lekin SS par Sannnataa !!
Aside- 2- got work to do…..
In fairness to Sanjana I don’t think she’s all that big on left parties either. She seems to have ideological consistency more than anything else. I’ve not seen her buying into the left party narratives all that much either. And again my point here is it is one thing to criticize from a position of ideological consistency and quite another to do so from one of party consistency. As for people coming out against the BJP I’m not talking about social media in general but people who are here. As with every other debate.
JK Govt is going to embarrass the central Govt. Today we have Afzal Guru comment. I thought the treatment was wrong when they hanged him. They should have followed the process. But all these noises just confirms that he was actual culprit unlike many who suggested he has been prosecuted wrongly/unfairly.
For your kind information, I am not anti hindu. Anti BJP does not mean anti hindu. Who are BJP people to talk on behalf of all hindus?
So I have to keep quiet just because mufti is an ally of BJP now?
I hate it when BJP and allied parties appropriate Hinduism for their own benefit. One need not be pro- BJP to be a good Hindu. And I hate the way people like that Sadhvi somebody get unnecessary publicity for their rants. This Sadhvi female has declared that the Khan trio needs to be boycotted for having practised ‘love jihad’. When did good old love marriage become love jihad and why is the media even giving space to such utterances? Even a supposedly sensible paper The Hindu, has reported this latest bit of Sadhvi-spouting. Inter- religious marriages have been around for decades and most of them have lasted. Yes, Aamir and Hritik have had broken marriages, but I don’t suppose they broke up because of religious differences. Aamir has married a Hindu again, his sisters have married Hindus; Salman is the product of an inter-religious marriage. I wish the PM would rein in these rabid elements…but it doesn’t look like he will.
and I hate it when some Loose Sickulars type people- attempt to club all Hindu looneys with the BJP and Modi.
Any Hindu Looney says anything- it is Modi’s and BJP’s fault – PM should rein in these rabid elements ! wah bhai wah !!
These commies want to have it both ways !!
Aside- AIB’s time- if you don’t like it don’t watch it.. Now- Modi should act !
People like Malini Parthshastri and her LS (short for Long Standing) followers just cannot digest a non English speaking gaon wala becoming the PM. Oh! he is so unsophisticated, rustic .. I want my Shashi Tharoor back !! LOL!!
Well, I’m happy that Pakistan, Hurriyaat and separatists made the elections possible in Kashmir. They are great and the marriage of PDP with BJP and the tight hug of Modi of a reluctant Mufti sealed it.
Happy days are here again. Shammi Kappor’s Kashmir songs have started ringing in my years. YAHOOOOOO!!!!!
@ omrocky786 — you are SO wrong in your facile stereotypical assumptions. You are in fact slotting people who seem to be left- leaning liberals. Nobody , neither right wing leaders nor left , can be fit into air tight compartments the way you are doing. And I still mean every word of what I wrote. I have castigated the media for playing up inflammatory speeches that divide the country. And yes, the BJP needs to rein in these loony loose lips.
The media is seriously irresponsible. Why give publicity to the rants of a rapist murderer in jail, trying to escape hanging?
I support BJP to an extent. Voted for Vajayee in 1999, still support him and Advani, am ok with the PM if he will work towards the country’s development– not division, caused by his party’s mischief- making cousins. And mischief- making is a mild term for these poisonous elements.
‘If you are a woman, you will understand.’ Sort of that , I am trying to understand by listening to what women who have been raped have to say. They all prefer to live. Leave alone Maya Angelou and Oprah, even Nirbhaya said.: I want to LIVE.
“I am talking about general murders irrespective of gender which takes place at the heat of the moment.”
What about rape that happens at the heat of the moment? At the rapist may be thinking I am doing the woman no harm. But the murderer? Can he have any such illusion?
When the woman cries, tries to escape, then also the rapist thinks he is doing no harm? So consent is not necessary? A murder is done not to insult or humiliate. A rape is an act of insult and humiliation.
to be very honest and without getting into this debate either way I find this old symmetry between murder and rape itself problematic. Only with rape is the specter of death raised so regularly. Because of course it plays into old honor-shame tropes. I would say though that rape is an act of humiliation for sure but also one of incredible (including literal) violence.
Rape is not an individual act anymore. Or it is a simple rape. Gang rapes, inserting things to cause unbelievable pain, acid throwing to disfigure, setting fire after rape or in case the rape attempt fails etc. etc. It is not shame anymore but it is pain and humiliation.
“Who said preferable? It is a lesser crime compared to rape. It does not mean people want to be killed. ” I still dont get it. Why exactly is murder a lesser crime? Most people think getting murdered is worse , still it is the lesser crime? In rape , the prime motive is not to hurt the other person, while ina murder, the only purpose is to hurt the other person, in fact to cause the maximum hurt to the other peson, irrevecoably hurt the other peson. Still murder is the lesser crime ! Well, if you say so.
One of Indian TV’s most famous faces tells Kanika Datta why and how she hopes to reinvent herself in the uncharted territories of multimedia and think tanks
The first thing Barkha Dutt wants to clarify is that she’s not signing off from NDTV, her professional alma mater of 20 years. Not yet, anyway, though she frankly admits she couldn’t say if things will change five years from now. That future hinges on how well she is able to reinvent herself as an entrepreneur in the brave new worlds of multimedia and think tanks.
“I am trying to push the envelope in the non-TV space,” explains Dutt, till recently NDTV Group Editor and one of Indian television’s most famous faces, with a legion of fans and detractors in almost equal numbers.
To do this, she has reworked her contract with NDTV so that she is now consulting editor who will continue to anchor The Buck Stops Here on weeknights and We, The People on weekends and be available for big news breaks. This not-undemanding schedule is expected to free her to pursue business plans she’s preparing with friends and associates.
There is much to be finalised still but the outlines of Barkha 2.0 have started emerging. Neither venture will require her to stray far from her core competence as a seasoned TV journalist with enviable contacts. For instance, the multi-media content company will have a certain amount of content from NDTV but the basic business plan is to offer content for diverse multimedia platforms that will be packaged in unique and different ways.
How different, especially when the digital space grows more crowded by the day?
From talks with six or seven friends who will be joining her in this venture, the broad idea that has emerged is to bring together a small group of people from diverse backgrounds to curate and create original content.
“We essentially see ourselves as a digital studio,” she says. Since the big idea is to create distinctive and eclectic conversations, the creators/curators will come from entertainment, the arts, politics, diplomacy, specialists in food writing and so on, rather than journalists who, she points out, can sometimes have a rather jaded view of things.
The focus is on the exploding world of digital news and entertainment, but one unexpected and somewhat serendipitous part of these plans is a possible radio show. That opportunity emerged when the news of her change of role at NDTV went viral and a radio channel head called — she’s not saying who because discussions are still very preliminary — suggesting she consider doing a radio show.
“This was not part of the plan but I did study radio production at Jamia Millia so I thought, why not,” she laughs.
The registration of the multimedia company and talks with a private equity/venture capital investors are on, so Dutt is reluctant to offer many more details.
“I will probably have more to say in April or so,” she says apologetically but confirms that the investor is Indian. Asked about revenues and breakeven, she candidly admits she’s not entirely clear how these ideas can be monetised and, in any case, those are not her areas of expertise.
“I’ve left that to others to figure out but my own motives are creative rather than commercial,” she says.
Indeed, she is quick to clarify that she’s not aiming to become a mogul with these new ventures.
“We’re not going to be some digital media empire owning platforms and so on; we’re going to create great content. An incremental approach is a better revenue model because it means we won’t need that much money.”
True to her word, the Delhi office of the new ventures is slated to be the empty basement of her tastefully decorated Greater Kailash ground floor home; in Mumbai, the search is on for office space.
In any case, she points out, no one can really predict if and when the money will roll in since the digital information business is still a relatively new concept in India and companies are yet to make money from it.
Her company, however, will start with a revenue stream from her contract with NDTV and, if discussions work out, from the radio show.
The obvious issue of conflict of interest has also been addressed in the contract: content she creates for her company has to be “distinct” from what she produces for NDTV. How distinct? “A lot of this is still exploratory,” she demurs, adding that she’s exploring a range of ideas and is ready to chart new territory — “look at Amazon, for instance; it started out as an e-commerce company and is now into a streaming video service,” she points out.
The second element of her career outside NDTV has crystallised a little more in the form of a think tank called Ideas Collective.
“This has nothing to do with the mass media but will be a high-calibre multi-disciplinary policy group with experts from education defence, diplomacy, human resources and so on,” she explains.
IC will kick off in December 2015/ January 2016 with a series of annual summits titled IF, which stands for Ideas for the Future. The objective is to create “futuristic conversations” on eight or 10 subjects — such as, what will happen if gay rights are decriminalised in India or, say, low-cost air fares become cheaper than first-class rail fares. “So it will be IF dot, dot, dot, not IF with a question mark,” she clarifies. The Aspen Institute and former Daily Beast editor Tina Brown’s Women in the World annual summit are models she’s examined.
The revenue stream here appears to be clearer: IC will be a not-for-profit outfit, with a group of donors (rather on the Brookings India line) and conference costs covered by sponsorships. It is, however, very much part of the broad idea of creating “live conversations” that informs the multimedia foray and there will some amount of overlap between the two.
This low-key career shift appears almost at odds with someone who has often been a headline maker and celebrity in her own right. Her reporting stint during the Kargil conflict between May and July 1999 catapulted her to national fame and became the inspiration for a film starring actor Preity Zinta.
More recently, she was in the eye of a national controversy involving Niira Radia, a corporate lobbyist. Even today, however, people queue up to ask for her autograph or have photographs taken with her.
The Indian diaspora forms a particularly adoring fan base; in India, no two members of the chatterati can agree on her talent, which makes her a frequent topic of drawing room conversation.
But Dutt, who is far more understated off-screen than her forceful on-screen persona suggests, does not appear to have experienced the equivalent of a Pauline epiphany with this decision. On the contrary, she says, this is something she’s been mulling for about two years.
“I’ve done this (job at NDTV) for 20 years and I got the feeling that I had peaked. So I thought if I had to reinvent myself, it had to be now,” she says. Initially, she thought of making the change after the 2014 elections and approached some friends with ideas — naturally, they didn’t believe her at first.
Now, as Dutt, 43, opts for a brand extension, so to speak, of her career, much of her success will also depend on her own self-belief.
And at the divorce court, Prem and Sandhya are practically sidelined – their wailing families occupy centre stage. Dum Laga Ke Haisha reminds us of a time when family was such an important part of India – and Indian cinema.
Dum Laga Ke Haisha Holds Strongly On Monday
Monday 02 March 2015 23.00 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
Dum Laga Ke Haisha had a very strong hold on Monday as the collections will come in slightly lower than its first day at around the 1 crore nett mark. It will be a little short of day one due to lower ticket rates at multiplexes though footfalls are showing a considerable rise of 20% plus from day one.
The Monday business ensures a good run for the film over the next 2-3 weeks and will put up a decent lifetime total, or even a good one if it holds on for longer. There were centres which recorded better figures on Monday than Friday but they were the ones where the opening was very weak.
This film is the second success of the year after Badlapur and remains to be seen where the lifetime business goes.
Happy to see DLKH performing well…indeed one of the better movies from YRF in last couple of years and will probably remain among one of the best movies of the year
Badlapur Second Monday Business
Tuesday 03 March 2015 12.00 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
Badlapur grossed around 90 lakhs nett on Monday taking its second week total to 6.90 crore need and overall total to 42.75 crore nett. The first four day business of Badlapur in its second week is as follows.
Ab Tak Chappan 2 And Dum Laga Ke Haisha Monday Business
Tuesday 03 March 2015 13.00 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
Dum Laga Ke Haisha held on trongly on Monday with collections a little less than Friday. The film is trending very well. The first four day business of Dum Laga Ke Haisha is as follows.
“We used grapheme-phoneme mapping which divides languages into ‘transparent’ (easy to learn) or ‘deep’ (difficult to learn). For example: Hindi and German are transparent while English and French are deep. Urdu is the deepest language and therefore reading it involves more areas of the brain, which is good for mental health,” said Kumar adding, “Urdu has two more advantages over others — visual complexity of letters and direction of writing.”
The study found that reading Urdu involved dominant participation of the middle and superior regions of the frontal part of the brain. “Both these areas control majority of cognitive functions of the brain such as decision making, emotional control, coping with stress, analying things and processing information,” he said adding that its role in decision making was most important. “It governs the ability to determine the good from the bad along with consequences of action,” he stated, citing the Journal of Cognitive Neurosciences.
The work examined effects of graphene-phoneme mapping over neural regions in bilingual people and suggested that Hindi and Urdu made a good combination. “This works very well because they are mutually comprehensible languages and have a shared vocabulary,” Kumar said. Researchers at Nizam Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad, have already shown that bilingualism delays the age of onset of Alzheimers and other dementia. It also found that the Urdu-Hindi combo was beneficial for children with learning disabilities, particularly dyslexia, as it improves functioning of the visual cortex.
Yes learning multiple languages is considered a plus by just about any scientist in this field. And yes I’ve heard of studies that suggest it is helpful to prevent Alzheimer’s if one learns a second language as an adult (makes sense because bilingualism for the child is still a natural phenomenon).
Frankly, and for multiple reasons, this piece is utterly ridiculous and worse.
I’ll just stick to the Urdu example. It borrows the Arabic script much like Persian and a number of other languages. In terms of its grammar it’s a Sanskritic language much like a dozen other major Indian languages. The vocabulary is more Persianized (but it still has more Sanskritic vocabulary than anything else) much like the modern Hindi vocabulary (I refer to the ‘Doordarshan’ or administrative Hindi currently in vogue which of course isn’t the only kind) is Sanskritized (beyond its natural heritage). So why those other languages that have so much in common with it are not equally hard is beyond me! This piece is such bull. could say more n this or even those European examples but it’s a waste of time. It’s tricky opening up linguistic debates anyway given the utter fiction that people subscribe to in these cases. Those for instance who believe Tamil comes from Sanskrit!
You can ‘research’ anything. It’s not as neutral as it sounds. That first paragraph you’ve quoted is pure bull in every sense. On Urdu, on French/German and so on.
one hopes that those doing research in labs have better standing in these matters than Saket and Satyam! I think both of us would be doing things a bit differently if we were presenting claims to a cricket journal!
It changes over the years. For example, now I am very aware that you have at last got some decent roads. And a bridge. You ought to have 10 bridges, but you’ve got one. At last your traffic is moving, even if it is moving in the wrong direction. Even if you still believe that the white line goes down the middle of your car. I have never understood how you can be such an intelligent race and think that white lines were put there to go down the middle of the car – that’s got me fooled – and yet mastered it, because if you were stupid, it would really worry me. But you are not stupid. And you still put the white line down the middle of the car. I should be Minister of Transport for this country, then there would be some changes, I can tell you that!
brave decision on aamir’s part where he is playing a 55 yrs dad having 4 daughters……this man is growing to greater heights with each film – I wish he does a GRAND film with Shankar
He also said that he was not stating from moralistic point of view but from emotional point of view. He may have been referring to Alvira.
It will be interesting to watch him playing dad to grownup kids.
I wanted to write, but suppressed the idea as it would have served no purpose but heated up the entire issue once again. But i’m very happy that Aamir responded and responded with reasoning, equanimity with out falling prey to the trap of provocation in form of abuses, allegations, “shut ups”. This is what i like most about Aamir as a person as he does not stoop to the level of those who accuse him and keeps his calm under all circumstances. Most of the times he is very clear of his stances and does not budge from them under duress. Even when he was very aloof from media and a recluse, he,despite all the attempts,to get him lose his composure in the heat of the moment under all slanderous accusations, has never ever succumbed. Be it his rift with Mahesh Bhatt, Ram Gopal Verma or media’s concocted stories on his personal life, he kept immune to all this and even when he responded, it was full of grace, rationale sans any hostility or ill will towards the person rather he felt to steer clear himself of those people.
Abhishek Bachchan to work with Vashu Bhagnani after 13 years
By Bollywood Hungama News Network, March 04, 2015 – 11:10 hrs IST
The last time when we saw Abhishek Bachchan in a Vashu Bhagnani produced film was in the year 2002, and the film being Om Jai Jagdish. After almost 13 long years, Abhishek Bachchan will now be seen in Vashu Bhagnani’s untitled film. Unlike the ‘popular rumors’, the film in question is not a remake of Amitabh Bachchan’s Do Aur Do Paanch, but a totally fresh script.
Speaking about the film, Abhishek said that, even though they are in the casting stages, he has given the nod to Vashu’s film that’s being directed by the debutante Akshai Puri.
On the other hand, the debutante director Akshai Puri further added that, the said film is a two hero film, of which, one is Abhishek Bachchan while they are still finalizing on the second hero. Watch this space for development.
Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar has invited his fans to suggest the title of a “docu-feature” based on his life.
“Proud to announce the ‘Docu-Feature’, which would be based on my life. This is in association with @ravi0404 and @200NOTOUTFIILMS. Would love to involve you all.. Suggest what should be the name for this movie. Send me your thoughts here: http://Bit.ly/NameMyMovie,” Tendulkar tweeted on Wednesday.
He has also promised a treat for those who suggest the best names.
“There is something very special in store for the ones who come up with the most ideal title for my movie. I am waiting to hear from you,” he added.
Tendulkar too will star as himself in the biopic, conceived by Mumbai-based production company 200 Not Out in co-ordination with World Sports Group, the firm that manages Brand Sachin.
The movie, to be directed by London-based writer-filmmaker James Erskine, promises “never seen before facets and footage” on the cricket legend,
Apart from his presence in the movie, Tendulkar is said to be making a lot of contribution to the project, which will capture his phenomenal rise in the world of cricket.
In his career spanning 24 years, the cricketer scored 15,921 runs from 200 matches at an average of 53.78. He also has most batting records under his belt in Tests as also in the 50-over format.
Having started as a 16-year-old, the ‘Little Master’, at five feet five inch, holds the record for the maximum number of appearances and is the highest run-getter and century maker in both versions.
Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah, who will be seen in K.C. Bokadia’s “Dirty Politics”, says his character in the film is somewhat like Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
“I play an idolised version of Delhi’s Chief Minister (Arvind Kejriwal)…like him, this character also stands for right things and succeeds thereafter,” the actor said here Tuesday during a press conference to promote the film.
Kejriwal, who has become Delhi’s chief minister for the second time, was a team member of Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption movement. He then took the political route and formed the Aam Aadmi Party. He first became the chief minister after the 2013 Delhi assembly polls but stepped down after 49 days. He made a historic comeback in the assembly polls this year.
Like Kejriwal, Naseeruddin’s character in “Dirty Politics” is a “political activist and always believes in taking action against wrong doings”.
“Somewhere he is a witness of everything that happens in the story and at last he is the one who decides to take the positive action,” he added.
“Dirty Politics” also features Mallika Sherawat, Jackky Shroff, Anupam Kher, Ashutosh Rana and Om Puri in key roles.
India’s censor blocks Fifty Shades Of Grey from cinemas
Fifty Shades Of Grey starring Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan. India’s government censors have said they will not allow the big-screen adaptation of erotic novel Fifty Shades Of Grey to be shown in Indian cinemas, a decision most had anticipated in the largely conservative country.
MUMBAI (REUTERS) – India’s government censors have said they will not allow the big-screen adaptation of erotic novel Fifty Shades Of Grey to be shown in Indian cinemas, a decision most had anticipated in the largely conservative country.
The chief executive of the Central Board of Film Certification, Shravan Kumar, declined to say why the panel refused to approve the film adaptation, but said Universal Pictures, the Comcast Corp unit that released the film, could appeal the decision.
A Universal Pictures source familiar with the review process said the board had objected to some of the film’s dialogue, even after the studio made voluntary edits to the film to tone down its sex scenes and removed all nudity.
The film first opened in February and has grossed at least US$400 million (S$550 million) in global sales.
However, for some countries the kinky storyline was too much: Malaysia, Indonesia and Kenya have banned Fifty Shades from their theatres, largely because of its sexual content.
The film’s distributor, Comcast Corp is also not pursuing a theatrical release in China, the world’s second-largest film market, where the censors tend to ban sexually explicit films.
Universal Studios source said the studio had already approached the relevant committee at the central board to make its appeal. The source declined to be identified as he is not authorised to speak to the media about the censorship process.
The movie version of the best-selling 2011 novel stars Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson as a couple in a sadomasochistic relationship.
India’s censor has received much criticism in recent months. Leela Samson, who served several years as its chairman, quit in January after accusing the federal government of interfering in the board’s decisions.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government then unveiled a new-look censor board, which has since issued guidelines saying Indian films should not contain profanity.
In the case of a new Bollywood movie Dum Laga Ke Haisha (Give It All You’ve Got), the censor board asked that the word “lesbian” be purged from the film’s dialogue.
Second Best Marigold Hotel: Many of British cinema’s finest old-timers (Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Bill Nighy) join Richard Gere, Dev Patel and Lilette Dubey in this charming trifle of a film. It’s set in Jaipur and features the most (inoffensively) unrealistic depiction of Indian society that I have ever seen onscreen.
Bhushan and Yadav will not be able to get even 20 votes if they separate from Kejri. People voted for Kejri more than for AAP. If someone wants to cut the roots, the tree wont stand.
India’s Daughter: BBC brings forward airing of Delhi rape documentary
“BBC4 editor Cassian Harrison said the decision to move the “powerful and compelling” programme was made, “due to the international interest” in it.
“From our perspective, given the strong public interest we feel it’s important it gets out”, said Harrison, adding: “it is a shame that the authorities in India don’t want it to be shown.”
The BBC has not received any correspondence from the Indian government but said it would be unlikely to be able to ban it in the UK due to it being under a different jurisdiction.
The move was made after Indian authorities banned the domestic broadcast of the film and said they were also trying to prevent it from being shown worldwide.
India’s parliamentary affairs minister M Venkaiah Naidu declared: “We can ban the film in India. But this is an international conspiracy to defame India. We will see how the film can be stopped abroad too.”
Reducing rape to a generic Indian male mindset fails its victims
Priyamvada Gopal
Read more
Udwin appealed to Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, to try and help get the ban overturned and “deal with this unceremonious silencing of the film”.”
KOHIMA: A man, accused of raping a girl, was beaten to death today after being pulled out of a jail by a mob at Dimapur in Nagaland.
A mass protest rally against the rape was held at Dimapur this morning after which students and angry people forced into the district jail and managed to pull out the accused.
The accused had allegedly raped the victim several times on February 23 and was arrested the following day following a complaint lodged by the victim.
The police resorted to blank firing and fired tear gas shells but failed to control the situation, officials said.
READ ALSO: One rape every 30 minutes in India
The accused was dragged naked to the main town and he died of the injuries of beatings by the public, a senior official said.
An emergency cabinet meeting was held at 7 pm at the residential office of chief minister to take stock of the law and other situation in Dimapur.
The cabinet condemned the violent incident whereby the mob took the law into their hands, leading to the death of the accused, said a release issued by CMO Media Cell this evening.
The cabinet also decided to institute a high-level committee to inquire into the incident and find out the circumstances leading to it.
The committee would also inquire into the lapses or shortcomings on the part of any public servant in connection with the incident and the person or group of persons responsible for the violence leading to the death of the accused in the hands of the mob.
The chief minister, being in New Delhi, the cabinet meeting was chaired by Minister for Social Security & Welfare and Parliamentary Affairs, Kiyanilie Peseyie, the CMO Media Cell added.
… is a coming of age cinema, not just for the protagonist, of this splendid film but also for Indian cinema, at large. It brings out how one’s self-esteem pivots so much on our physical structure and relegates every other aspect of our personality. Though looks and body structure have overarching influence on nearly every social transactions, the movie deals with the issue head-on, where it matters the most, marriage. It thereby deals with complexities of affection, love and conjugal relationship between physically incompatible couple. It boldly addresses these sensitive issues, that fraught the minds, especially young minds, that are otherwise chosen to be kept under wraps, in our hypocritical society. And it does it with necessary sensitivity and tenderness making it an outstanding piece of cinema.
An dreamy, handsome but school drop out, Prem, is forced to tie nuptial knot, with a rotund but academically superior, small town girl, Sandhya. The disappointment of Prem, as he pulls a long face, of not getting a bride with ‘Juhi-Chawla-level-of-looks’ it overtly evident. So is his social discomfort about the way he would be publicly perceived, by society, with an over-weight wife. Though these emotions expose Prem’s puerile mindset but it is his inability to consummate into the rightful conjugal relationship, with his wife Sandhya, is what probes into the deeper recesses of his psyche. And it the response of Sandhya, with an assured self esteem and her ability to maintain her grace, even when she makes frantic effort to be sexually attractive, what makes it an intriguing cinema. Further the chemistry between the estranged couple, leaves you with a lump in the throat, as it goes through its travail till it culminates into companionship braced with affection and love. It is the defy handling of Prem’s psychological growth, his coming of age, his unconditional acceptance of Sandhya and understanding the importance of inner person over the external, making it a meaningful cinema, without didactic preaching.
The movie hits the ground running, coming straight to the theme and sticking to it, steadfast, till the very end. It is set along the Haridwar/Rishikesh area and captures the twin temple cities and the areas’ USP, the rapid Ganges, beautifully. Also brings out the India’s social reality, circa 1995, quiet well. However, it’s fine performances by Ayushmann Khurrana as Prem, Sanjay Mishra as his father, and stellar debut by Bhumi Pednekar as Sandhya that provide generous icing on this mouth watering, delectable cake.
SATYAMSHOT 
February 27, 2015 at 6:06 AM
Ab Tak Chappan 2 And Dum Laga Ke Haisha Open Poorly
Friday 27 February 2015 14.00 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
Ab Tak Chappan 2 and Dum Laga Ke Haisha bot opened to poor 5-7% occupancies. The other releases Hey Bro was a last minute cancellation after some multiplexes had already put it in their schedule for the week.
The screen count for Ab Tak Chappan 2 and Dum Laga Ke Haisha is as follows.
Ab Tak Chappan 2 – 1375 screens
Dum Laga Ke Haisha – 775 screens.
If collections stay as they are then Ab Tak Chappan 2 will record better first day collections due to extra screens and single screen collections but with Dum Laga Ke Haisha being a multiplex film and having better reports it should do better as the day goes along.
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February 27, 2015 at 6:07 AM
Badlapur Has A Good First Week
Friday 27 February 2015 12.00 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
Badlapur had a good first week as it grossed around 36.25 crore nett in week one. The film held up pretty well on the weekdays to record the second highest first week total of the year after Baby which grossed 51.75 crore nett plus.
The collections are very similar to Main Tera Hero which was released last April and grossed 37.25 crore nett. That film was driven by Mumbai circuit with a ratio of 36% and it will be slightly higher for Badlapur as Mumbai has also performed best for this especially the main cities of Maharashtra.
The business in the North has been average though was holding up well at low levels towards the end of the week. The film is the only profitable film of the year and it will be the second weekend that decides whether it emerges a hit or not.
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February 27, 2015 at 6:07 AM
Roy Falls Ninety Percent Plus In Week Two
Friday 27 February 2015 11.30 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
Roy crashed badly in week two grossing around 2.75 crore nett and taking its two week total to 36.50 crore nett. The fall in week two was a huge 92%. The two week business is the same as the first week business of Badlapur and Roy had taken a better opening than Badlapur on day one.
The film basically just performed for the two days and day one was due to the presence of Ranbir Kapoor and Valentines day kept it afloat on day two and the the crashes started with Monday seeing the type of crash which is very rare..
The film which has cost around 50 crore to release and market with 30% of that going to Ranbir Kapoor for his services will lose heavily. The loses will be over 15 crore for sure as recovery from all revenues can go a little up 30 crore at best.
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February 27, 2015 at 6:51 AM
Quite a few from Team Ankhon Dekhi collaborate. Sanjay Mishra is reliably crusty; Seema Pahwa is perfect as the hassled, small-town mom, Chandrachoor Rai, Mahesh Sharma do well as Khurrana’s sneaky and supportive cronies respectively whereas Shrikant Verma steals quite a few scenes with his chaste Hindi punch-lines (Hum toh thehre pracheen Bharat ke avshesh) as the wisdom-spewing Shakha Babu.
As with Ankhon Dekhi, Meenal Agarwal’s production design is authentic in its depiction of life in the heaving interiors. It’s a vision cinematographer Manu Anand beholds and beautifies in compositions of bright marigold strings adorning pale, faded green walls that linger on like the aftertaste of this film.
Maybe it’s a tendency to look romantically at the decade that’s closest to you but the 1990s were a fanciful decade. Mile Sur Mera Tumhara trills in the background, Shah Rukh Khan stutters for Kiran on cable television, Kumar Sanu is the closest we get to divine intervention — Dum Laga Ke Haisha is subtle in the nostalgia it invokes, it has to be; the characters are living in the moment not basking in its influence.
http://www.rediff.com/movies/review/review-dum-laga-ke-haisha-will-win-your-heart/20150227.htm
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February 27, 2015 at 7:15 AM
Veteran Hindi and Marathi actor Ajay Wadhavkar, who last played the role of Sushant Singh Rajput’s father in the TV show Pavitra Rishta, passed away in Pune.
Ajay, who shot to fame as Ganpat Hawaldar with DD’s Nukkad, was suffering from throat cancer and diabetes and was under treatment at Nanavati hospital in Mumbai. The actor we hear was also facing a financial crisis and Bollywood’s popular comic actor Johnny Lever lent him a helping hand.
Usha Nadkarni, who played his wife in Pavitra Rishta confirmed the news and said, “Yes, I got the news today. He was not keeping well since quite some time. When we shot for the last episode of Pavitra Rishta, I enquired about him and got to know that he was unwell. Since then I was in constant touch with him and his family. But I got busy lately due to the outdoor shoots and today I got this news that he is no more.”
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tv/Pavitra-Rishta-actor-Ajay-Wadhavkar-passes-away/photostory/46396039.cms
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February 27, 2015 at 11:00 AM
Rangan has apparently liked Badlapur a lot.
“And he gets juicy moments – when he pleads with Jhimil for “gandi baat” over the phone, or when he mimics another prisoner’s limp. I laughed out loud when, after his release from prison, Liak walks up to the man who’s tailing him and has a casual chat. Siddiqui’s enunciations are entertainingly weird. You have to see the way he says goodnight to Patil (Zakir Hussain), compressing the word and spitting it out like a bullet. But Badlapur gives his character a hell of an arc, and he finds new things to do, newer ways to do them. At first, we think he’s scum – when Raghu visits him in jail and beats him up, Liak smiles, and we don’t doubt the reason for that smile. Surely he’s pure evil. Surely that’s why he’s smiling, at this realisation of how much pain he’s brought to someone. But then again, looking at him in the latter parts of the picture, maybe not? Maybe there’s something more to that smile? Siddiqui gives us a fully shaped performance and yet he doesn’t connect all the dots (and the writing surely helps). He keeps us on our toes. I don’t want to make grand statements like he’s the best actor we have today, but if anyone’s making “I heart Nawazuddin Siddiqui” T-shirts, will you let me know?”
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February 27, 2015 at 12:25 PM
I can confirm, from my side, that it’s a brilliant film. Sriram Raghavan’s best to date…but Varun Dhawan is the weak link. I would have loved to see Akshaye Khanna in his place. An actor of his caliber would have taken the film to a different level.
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February 27, 2015 at 1:29 PM
I think Saif would have suited the role.
Akshaye Khanna disappeared. Nowadays there is no news of him.
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February 27, 2015 at 2:40 PM
It’s a pity that Akshaye Khanna has just vanished. One of the rare understated actors of his generation and not surprisingly not valued very much. loved his negative outings as well.
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February 27, 2015 at 3:00 PM
Agree with everyone. I used to dig his performances. Was a pleasure to watch. There wasn’t a character he wasn’t comfortable doing.
He was the best thing about Tees Maar Khan. Was last seen in the dud Gali Gali Chor Hai.
Absolutely loved his acting in Gandhi My Father. A very underrated performance that deserves to be counted as one of the best in those times by a commercial lead actor.
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February 27, 2015 at 8:18 PM
Loved Badlapur. And I miss Akshaye – he was my favourite actor at one point. Something about him reminded me of Sanjeev Kumar.
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February 27, 2015 at 5:48 PM
** Fine interview with Nana**
Is it true your father was duped and lost his business?
Yes, his signature was taken fraudulently and everything was gone. I was in the ninth standard and had to start working.
I am grateful to the late G S Tari who provided me my bread and butter (Nana printed cinema posters for him). I used to call his wife Aai (mother).
You meet some good people along the journey and must not forget them.
I was paid Rs 35 a month and one meal a day. I had to walk eight kilometres to the work place — from Matunga west to Chunabhatti (in central Mumbai)
My wishes and dreams are very small — two meals a day for which I hope I don’t have to beg. Live life with honesty, that’s all I want. I never asked anything else from God.
Watch: Nana Patekar on his first salary
I studied at the Bandra School of Arts, which is now Raheja School of Arts. Then I went to JJ School of Arts. In the afternoons, I worked.
Later I worked for an ad agency, Strusa Advertising, as a commercial artist and visualiser. There came a time when I had to decide between a regular job and theatre. So I quit the job.
I thought I don’t have to marry, so let’s do theatre. Whenever I earn some money and a girl agrees to marry me, then I shall see.
I got married to Nilu (Neelkanti), whom I met because of my plays. She was a very good actress and also writes well. She was an officer in a bank and earned Rs 2,500 a month when I earned Rs 50 per show, when I was doing Hamidabaichi Kothi.
If I did 15 shows, I earned Rs 750. So the total was about Rs 3,250, which was more than enough.
During the mid-70s, you got a month’s rations fro Rs 200. We saved a lot of money.
We spent Rs 750 on our wedding. We had some Rs 24 left over so we bought some Goldspots (the soft drink) and gave it to our guests who had gathered.
We went to Pune for a night. Arvind Deshpande had booked a room for us in a hotel.
Is it true that you stopped acting in Purush because the audience would clap even when you were doing a rape scene?
Yes. When I started working in films, playgoers had a certain image of me in their minds.
I played a negative character in Purush. But they looked on me as a film actor, so as soon as I came on, they would clap.
Before the play started, I would come on stage and explain that the role I was to perform was about the bad things that exist in our society, and so please don’t clap.
But when it still went on, I stopped appearing in the play. Nevertheless, I did that play for 16 years.
Did Nilu Phule do the play before you?
No. Nilu Phule did Sakaram Binder. Later I was asked to do Sakaram Binder, and I even did rehearsals for it. But it is difficult to match the impression left by someone else. Nilu-bhau was a great performer.
Even today, if someone asks me to do Sakaram Binder, I may feel like doing it, but I think I would only do it as a film.
It’s a very good play, something different.
http://www.rediff.com/movies/interview/i-am-a-better-cook-than-actor-nana-patekar/20150227.htm
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February 27, 2015 at 6:12 PM
I like nana
Btw girl– note the silence of the likes of ‘Satyam’ & ‘Sanjana’ and other proponents of freedom of speech
US-Bangladesh blogger Avijit Roy hacked to death
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-31656222
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February 27, 2015 at 6:34 PM
though I didn’t know about this I couldn’t have commented on it because I first have to issue comments on violence in Africa, violence in Burma etc etc.. and before all else the barbarisms ISIS indulge in every day. Once I get done with all of this I’ll deal with the assault on good taste also known as your comments.
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February 27, 2015 at 6:52 PM
“because I first have to issue comments on violence in Africa, violence in Burma etc etc.. and before all else the barbarisms ISIS indulge in every ”
Yup I know u won’t get the time
U may get the time to do so if u r not busy expressing your deep outrage at the extremists ‘violently agitating’ against the PK screenings
( incidentally these ‘violent extermists’ couldn’t stop PK from the public making it the biggest grosser of all time!)
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February 27, 2015 at 10:12 PM
though I apologize for introducing facts to you I wasn’t outraged by the PK incidents. I brought them up as part of longer political discussions. Wasn’t really just going after these incidents. And while I thought that sleaze was your greatest problem it’s a bit disappointing to see you constantly come up with this communal innuendo to attack me and Sanjana. Not that it bothers me otherwise. Not sure what happened to you though. Just went off the deep end at some point after Krrish 3.
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February 27, 2015 at 10:52 PM
Dont…fall…into..the…trap…
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February 27, 2015 at 8:20 PM
I’m really irritated that DLKH isn’t releasing in the UK. It looks really good and the reviews have been decent too. wtf
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February 28, 2015 at 1:05 AM
Newcomer Bhumi is endearing and gets into her role with an admirable ease. Ayushmann Khurrana is excellent. The casting director (Shanoo Sharma) deserves a special mention for handpicking some of the best talents in the industry to come together to make this film what it turned out to be.
One of the best romantic comedies to come out of Bollywood, ‘Dum Lagaa Ke Haisha’ steadily grows on you and warms the cockles of your heart even before you realise it. By the end of it, you might just want to go and hug the people in your life who you otherwise take for granted.
– See more at: http://www.mid-day.com/articles/dum-lagaa-ke-haisha—movie-review/16023194#sthash.g1OkdtPf.dpuf
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February 28, 2015 at 5:16 AM
It is good and married people are going to relate to it.
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February 28, 2015 at 7:14 AM
i woder why people are investing their money on this khurana guy – except for the first movie – vicky donor – all his movies have crashed at the BO – What r people expecting? miracles?
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March 1, 2015 at 5:48 PM
I am never invested in star so I don’t care who is the lead. The movie should be good. It is a good movie on small scale.
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March 1, 2015 at 5:57 PM
Unrelated: http://m.ndtv.com/diaspora/secret-agent-deep-singh-worlds-newest-superhero-742717
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March 1, 2015 at 6:07 PM
seems to be inspired by Archer (FX). Haven’t seen that either but have gone through some previews.
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March 1, 2015 at 6:06 PM
I’m sure you don’t mean that in an absolute sense. Otherwise it wouldn’t matter whether Bachchan did Deewar or Shatrugan Sinha! Put differently the star also makes a movie better or worse.
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March 1, 2015 at 7:02 PM
He said a good movie on a small scale. Presumably not on a big scale.
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February 27, 2015 at 11:36 PM
http://www.outlookindia.com/article/Film-Noir-No-way/293530
Sriram Raghavan, the avowed noir fanatic, got it right to an extent in the first half of Ek Hasina Thi and some parts of Johnny Gaddaar (and lost it completely in Agent Vinod) but Badlapur is a bad regression. The only bright spot is Nawazuddin Siddiqui but he too should watch it — too much of this underclass, small-time thief with an unshaven, sweaty face has the danger of filmmakers typecasting him like how they did, say, Gulshan Grover, the go-to guy for another trope of the 80s Bollywood. The rest of the casting is a disaster. Varun Dhawan as the seething, simmering vengeful hero is like casting Justin Bieber as Scarface. Or Huma Qureshi as the prostitute is like giving Sharon Stone’s role in Basic Instinct to Emma Thompson. But these are specifics. Badlapur lacks the overall noir-cred, it just doesn’t have noir soul, it is regular Bollywood fare masquerading as film noir.
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March 1, 2015 at 2:38 AM
Lol. This is a bad review and I wonder how can a reputed magazine like Outlook have it published when it doesn’t make any sense.
Film noir is a genre created by movie watchers and students alike. Badlapur doesn’t aim to be anything except provide a good watching experience, shattering expectations and creating an aura of unbelievability and unpredictability along the way. The writer here focuses on what it isn’t and what it should be rather than what it is. No word about the story arc or other technical aspects. Just a word about the performances in the final few lines?
Probably he just doesn’t get it
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February 27, 2015 at 11:39 PM
http://www.outlookindia.com/article/Two-Films-One-Maker/293506
Naach-gaana. Sparkling S.D. Burman vs. rocking R.D. Burman – I would not have to choose a favorite soundtrack between these two. In that informal Twitter poll, several people chose Jewel Thief for Vyjayanthimala’s amazing “Honthon Pe Aisi Baat” alone. If that’s not enough, Jewel Thief also has Helen dancing backwards on top of a bar, and I have already mentioned the delicious “Raat Akeli Hai.”” But then Teesri Manzil has “Aaja aaja,” with Asha Parekh and an army of sparkle-clad chorus dancers shimmying and mashed-potatoing with Shammi in a distillation of everything that makes 1960s movies fun.
For sure, there is a lot of style and fun in both films. Teesri Manzil is a great film, a satisfying and entertaining noir thriller, with a few almost Hitchcockian details and a generous helping of romance and style. And that moment in “O haseena zulfonwali,” when Helen appears framed in the pupil of that gigantic eye, is sublime, a concentrated moment of pure 1960s Bollywood bliss. Jewel Thief is a wild and twisting romp with stylistic nods to the likes of James Bond and Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Two fantastically stylish films, both thanks to the great Vijay Anand.
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February 27, 2015 at 11:57 PM
According to a report on Pinkvilla.com, actor Ajay Devgn has expressed his views on the controversial AIB Roast. Ajay said that he would prefer not to watch the show, from what he has heard about it, as he does not enjoy such kind of humour. Further to the report, Ajay also talked about the schedule of his upcoming film Shivaay for which he will soon be leaving for Bulgaria. The high-budgeted film features legendary actor Dilip Kumar and Saira Banu’s grand-niece, Sayesha as the female lead.
Recently, Sanjay Leela Bhansali reprimanded Ranveer Singh for being involved in the roast. Read on to know what he said…
As per a report on Bollywoodlife.com, Sanjay Leela Bhansali is not very happy about Ranveer Singh’s involvement in the AIB Knockout roast. Ranveer, who is currently shooting for Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Bajirao Mastani, got an earful from the director, the report stated. Further to the report, Bhansali also advised Ranveer to behave like Salman and Shah Rukh and not like a ‘chichora’
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/AIB-Knockout-Roast-Celebrities-react-to-the-controversy/photostory/46393433.cms
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February 28, 2015 at 2:37 AM
Still from Devaa …
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February 28, 2015 at 6:34 AM
yes the Khuda Gawah look was first designed for this one. But it was one of the shelvings I’ve always regretted the most. Even more than this perhaps Dutta’s Bandhua.
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February 28, 2015 at 7:18 AM
thnk god for ghai shelving this one 🙂 what crap it wud have turned out and if i don’t forget – it is big b who walked out of the movie………….
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February 28, 2015 at 7:35 AM
yes I know but don’t agree with the rest.. Ghai was making this at the peak of his career right after Karma. It was simply the biggest combo of that period because Ghai was the biggest director then. In an interview a few years later he said that he still told people to look at some of the shelved footage to see what a performance was really about (not that anyone needed to learn this from him when it came to Bachchan!). But Ghai made some remarks about Bachchan being a bit distracted in those days and I’m not sure if this was the only thing but Bachchan wasn’t pleased. Otherwise I regret the Bandhua shelving a bit more even if Dutta didn’t really have any success after Ghulami in any of his Rajasthan films. But Ghulami remains for me the greatest commercial Hindi film of the last thirty years.
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February 28, 2015 at 9:24 AM
It was Ghai who shelved it, he accused S Ramanathan (or someone) like him ) of constantly interfering in the shooting with the knowledge of Bachchan.
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February 28, 2015 at 4:31 AM
Badlapur Day Eight Business – Decent Hold
Saturday 28 February 2015 13.00 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
Badlapur had a 75-80% fall on its second Friday compared to first Friday as it grossed around 1.50 crore nett. The hold is decent. The eight day total is around 37.75 crore nett.
The collections of Badlapur on day eight were slightly better than both the new releases Ab Tak Chappan 2 and Dum Laga Ke Haisha on their respective first days. Badlapur should see big growth on second Saturday as it’s a settled film and normally for films which have a sustaining week one run show a big jump on Saturday.
Badlapur has chances of hitting that 25 crore share mark and becoming the first solid hit of the year but needs to get in a 10 crore nett plus week two.
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February 28, 2015 at 4:32 AM
Ab Tak Chappan 2 And Dum Laga Ke Haisha First Day Business
Saturday 28 February 2015 12.00 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
Ab Tak Chappan 2 and Dum Laga Ke Haisha had poor collections on day with Ab Tak chappan 2 grossing around 1.25-1.50 crore nett and Dum Laga Ke Haisha grossing around 1-1.25 crore nett.
The first day collections of Ab Tak Chappan 2 may be better but it has no chance at the box office as the collections have come of close to 1400 screens. Dum Laga Ke Haisha did show some improvement in the evening and despite its low start still has a chance if it can show that big improvement on the key Saturday.
Ab Tak Chappan 2 is unlikely to improve much while Dum Laga Ke Haisha will grow on Saturday but the growth has to be really big, preferably doubling up its Friday collections.
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February 28, 2015 at 8:57 AM
Sonam Kapoor admitted to Rajkot hospital, swine flu confirmed
http://www.hindustantimes.com/bollywood/sonam-kapoor-admitted-to-rajkot-hospital-swine-flu-suspected/article1-1321605.aspx
Bollywood actor Sonam Kapoor, who was admitted to a private hospital in Rajkot, has tested positive for swine flu. She was admitted with symptoms of high fever, sore throat and bodyache, prompting doctors to take samples for a swine flu test. It has now been confirmed that the actor has caught H1N1 infection.
Swine flu has become an epidemic in Gujarat where since January 1, 256 people have died while more than 4000 cases have been reported from across the state.
The actor has not been isolated and is stable and under the treatment of Dr Chirag Matravadia of Sterling multispeciality hospital. The Bollywood star’s trainer too has tested positive for swine flu.
Sonam Kapoor is in Gujarat for the shooting of Surat Barjatya’s upcoming film Prem Ratan Dhan Payo. The shooting is underway at a royal palace in Gondal, a town which was a princely state before independence in Rajkot district. Barjatya’s earlier work, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, was also filmed at the location.
Salman Khan and Anupam Kher are other actors camping in Gondal for the film’s shooting which, as per its original schedule, is to conclude in second week of March.
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February 28, 2015 at 9:57 AM
Dum Laga Ke Haisha.
This month, Bollywood has been rewarding me for my unwavering devotion to itover the years, with films that warms the cockles of the heart. First there was Badlapur with a twisted story of good and evil that surprised you at its every turn. And now comes ‘ Dum Laga Ke Haisha’. In 1967, when I saw my first Hindi film, Upkar, could I have imagined to see one day a film on a subject like this – a guy from small town UP who failed his class X, pressurized to marry a fat girl who is much smarter than him? Mind you the girl is really fat. So fat that when she leaves her husband and comes to her father’s place because the husband said to his friends in public, “ How can I live with this ‘ moti shaandh ( fat bull) ’! , her own brother says, “Tum to ho na moto shhandh !’
The film is brutally honest. You can see why the family wants him to marry her – she is a B.Ed, and the government job she is sure to get will help the family’s straightened financial condition, what with this boy being no good at anything. As for the boy’s perspective, you can see that he does not feel attracted to her. And you can empathize with him. But you can also see that she is smart, a genuinely good human being and has her own charm. To the films credit, she is written as a good girl , but not a goody-goody. She gives back as good as she gets. When she overhears him her moti shaandh he slaps her hard. But she hits back only when she is provoked. Otherwise she is trying her best to make the marriage work, including buying a punk nightie and putting on an ‘ English film’ to arouse some passion in him. She is willing to teach him the rudiments of English when he is gearing up to give class x another shot. But he is a thick-skulled mule, he simply doesn’t have enough sense to value what he has got. He gets worked up by seeing the photo of a beautiful girl that his mohalla friend is going to marry.
The film starts with the boy acting as the narrator. ‘ Three things can make me cry’, he strats, “ first, babuji’s chappals, then, there are Kumar Sanu’s osngs.., and the third…”, he pauses and the film unfolds. The little details of this North-Indian small town in the nineties – Kumar Sanu, audio cassettes, VCRs, scooters – are lovingly captured. The families of both the boy and the girl present such droll but real characters, played by competent theater and TV artistes.
The most subversive element of the film is an RSS like organization whose pramukh talks of anushashan and kranti, and drops the names of Bhagat Singh. The shorts they wear are not khaki, but the units are called saakhaas. They talk of Bhratiya sanskruti while getting roundly drunk at a marriage party. We can see what is responsible, at least partly, for instilling the false machismo in our protagonist.
The final contest, from which the film gets its name, is the kind of script device that is becoming common for bringing rom-coms and other slice-of-life stories to a fell-good close ( from Lagaan to Rab De Bna Di Jodi to Taare Zameen Par and the recent Bengali gem, One Tee Bioscope.) But that is done quire well. What is not so done well is weaving the varied strands of the narrative ( that includes a bua whose husband has deserted her just after marriage) to a cohesive, well-articulated tale.
But what is on diplay is charming enough and not in small measure due to the performance of the lead pair. Bhumi Bednekar as the fat but feisty girl brings to life a singular flesh and blood character whom you cannot help but relate to. Ayushman Khurana essays the best role of his character , bringing out convincingly how men can be such a haramis.
And the final Kumar Sanu-Sadhna Sargam duet is a real blast from the past and I wish the theatre guys did not bring the lights on before the song was over.
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February 28, 2015 at 10:18 AM
Hey Utkal – is your real name Kavita Krishnan (a card carrying member of CPI )????????
Just asking because you seem to have a RSS phobia !!
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February 28, 2015 at 10:56 AM
I asked him to join..!
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February 28, 2015 at 11:07 AM
I thought so……
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February 28, 2015 at 11:09 AM
That is why I at times refer SS as Sickulars Samaj !! LOL
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February 28, 2015 at 11:23 AM
Ha!
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February 28, 2015 at 12:16 PM
He cuts and pastes reviews without acknowledging the source 😦
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February 28, 2015 at 1:58 PM
I am not surprised..
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February 28, 2015 at 2:58 PM
I don’t think so for first part of the question.
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February 28, 2015 at 3:14 PM
yeah I was kidding when I said that to Rocky.. I don’t usually make it public that I’m part of an international communist conspiracy..
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March 1, 2015 at 9:20 AM
Ab Tak Chappan 2 And Dum Laga Ke Haisha Second Day Business
Sunday 01 March 2015 14.30 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
Dum Laga Ke Haisha showed excellent growth of 90% on Saturday. The numbers are still low but the trend gives the film a chance in the long run. The first two day business of Dum Laga Ke Haisha is as follows.
Friday – 1,10,00,000
Saturday 2,10,00,000
TOTAL – 3,30,00,000
Ab Tak Chappan 2 is a poor fare with practically no growth on Saturday. The first two day business of Ab Tak Chappan 2 is as follows.
Friday – 1,35,00,000
Saturday – 1,40,00,000
TOTAL – 2,75,00,000
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March 1, 2015 at 4:13 PM
Dum Laga Ke Haisha Heading For Surprise Success
Sunday 01 March 2015 23.00 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
Dum Laga Ke Haisha may be heading for a surprise success as the business on Sunday is likely to grow in the 40% region for a total near the 3 crore nett mark. The weekend business will be a little over 6 crore nett.
The most important things with multiplex films which don’t open is huge growth on Saturday which happened with Dum Laga ke Haisha and then a Monday total similar to Friday if not better. So with the film doing what was needed on Saturday it is about Monday.
This sort of Saturday jump suggests a strong hold on Monday with the only issue being a complete multiplex release means ticket prices being 20% less than Friday almost everywhere so it has to cover this with extra footfalls compared to Friday.
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March 2, 2015 at 12:28 AM
http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/parthian-shot/if-activists-are-anti-national-for-bjp-is-new-jk-cm-mufti-a-patriot/
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March 2, 2015 at 12:37 AM
With this BJP has become a sickular party.
BJP has not scrapped any of the UPA’s projects but only made some changes.
It means all national parties think alike, act alike.
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March 2, 2015 at 12:41 AM
Badlapur review from Namrata Joshi, a sensible enouh reviewers, one of the few that I read.
:
Sriram Raghavan is the closest to a Hitchcock in Bollywood, in that his murders are much more than merely killings. Crime comes layered with philosophical concepts. So, if Hitchcock’s Psycho is as much about materialism and voyeurism as it is about Norman Bates slashing Marion Crane in the iconic shower scene, then Sriram’s Badlapur puts an accidental shooting and the ensuing tale of revenge and redemption in an elaborate, labyrinthine perspective. In Sriram’s hand a seemingly simple African proverb—‘the axe forgets, the tree remembers’—gets a layered interpretation. However, not as entirely successfully; more on paper, in the thought behind the film, rather than in its actual depiction on screen.
……….
The film is like a boxing match between two actors—Varun and Nawaz—with Nawaz easily coming up trumps in the kind of role he could now well be getting typecast in. Besides the protagonist and the antagonist, Sriram sketches even the minutest of characters in detail. Be it the cop shadowing Nawaz or the new lover (Zakir Hussain) of Laik’s girlfriend Jhimli (Huma Qureshi) in merely two scenes. And he has a bunch of superb actors—from Divya and Radhika to Huma and Vinay—to make the ensemble work. Kumud Mishra as the inspector on the case and Pratima Kazmi as Laik’s mom stand out.
But who is the real criminal here, one who does it in the heat of the moment or one who commits a crime in a cold, calculated manner? Who is seeking revenge and who has the generosity to grant forgiveness? And who eventually gets redemption? By the end of it, axe and tree don’t quite seem like what they are, the criminal and the victim becoming two sides of the same coin.
The narrative gets too cramped and blotchy at times. Moments that could have been more dramatic get so understated that the audience may have trouble hearing them. On the other hand, at the very end, things are laid out too literal when they should have been left unsaid.
http://www.outlookindia.com/article/Badlapur/293511
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March 2, 2015 at 6:52 AM
I’m surprised the ‘right’ in India hasn’t objected to Badlapur as it’s the ultimate liberal/leftist film. Without giving too much away, the film dares its viewers to sympathize with an impulsive murderer – the so-called scum of the Earth. Of course, I don’t credit the right-wing nuts with too much intelligence – that they could look beyond religious overtones would be a stretch – but this film, in terms of ideology, is no different from an activist’s support for the Naxal cause.
I applaud Sriram Raghavan for asking tough questions and placing the film’s audience in a moral dilemma. In more ways than one the film is a ‘theoretical’ exercise in examining the psychological nature of festering thoughts of revenge – what it does to a person, how it can result in blurring the lines between the perpetrator and the victim and so on. In a literal sense it doesn’t make much sense. It’s highly unlikely that such a scenario will ever unfold. But as a concept, as a thought-provoking exercise and in the formal sense, this film is a distinguished triumph.
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March 2, 2015 at 7:02 AM
Murderer is ok. If the film maker tries to justify rapist like this, he will get all the brickbats including mine.
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March 9, 2015 at 4:47 PM
The definition of left and right in Indian context is not same as West.
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March 2, 2015 at 1:00 AM
Dum Laga Ke Haisha Heading For Surprise Success
http://www.boxofficeindia.com/Details/art_detail/dumlagakehaishaheadingforsurprisesuccess#.VPP8J_CCwqE
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March 2, 2015 at 7:02 AM
Saket: ” It’s highly unlikely that such a scenario will ever unfold. ” Such scenarios do occur when, for example, protesters demand capital punishment for all rapists, or policemen torture poor men accused of theft, or when people throw stones to kill an adulteress.
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March 2, 2015 at 7:40 AM
“Murderer is ok. If the film maker tries to justify rapist like this, he will get all the brickbats including mine.” These are precisely the kind of attitude Raghavn’s Badlapur is questioning in an oblique way. Come on, rape preferred over murder! Countless women get raped in India , in the US, and they go on to lead meaningful lives – many like Oprah, Lady Gaga and Fiona apple , to name just a few, have gone on to achieve phenomenal success, and sources of inspiration for many. ( I am listing the celebrities who have come out and admitted rape publicly, I am sure there are thousands others who have achieved great thins but don’t want to make a noise about their rape.) In contrast, I do not know in what way have the women who have been murdered had it any better. Choosing a murder over rape is preposterous to say the least.
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March 2, 2015 at 8:05 AM
Rape is a more heinous crime than a murder.
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March 2, 2015 at 7:45 AM
Maya Angelou was raped when she was 8, Billie Holiday when shew as 12. But look at the lives they have lived. No murdered woman gets that kind of chance.
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March 2, 2015 at 7:46 AM
The usual Sanjpects posting all kinds of links to defame BJP but not this one..itna bhee obvious naa karo yaaaron !!
With tweets like “I trust Keju”….Bhakt kaun hai ??????
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-dna-exclusive-prashnat-bhushan-s-scathing-letter-raising-concerns-over-structural-issues-in-aap-2065417
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March 2, 2015 at 8:03 AM
Before satyam sir makes a claim that I have posted this without any reference , this is in response to Sanjana’s link. Sanjana is always posting political stuff in a non political thread , with 100% of them being anti BJP or anti Hindu.
Please Let this be a Filmi shot not a Sickular Samaj !!
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March 2, 2015 at 8:08 AM
I am not the only one who posts these things. I post other things as well. Just imagine if UPA ignored Mufti’s remarks and fail to condemn it outrightly how sushma, jaitley would have reacted? They would have stalled parliament proceedings, demand explanations and raise hell. BJP kare to rasleela, UPA kare to character dheela?
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March 2, 2015 at 8:09 AM
If this is not appeasement on the part of BJP, then what is?
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March 2, 2015 at 11:23 AM
Ha ha!
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March 2, 2015 at 11:24 AM
My response was to Sanjana’s rasleela- dheela comment. Good one!
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March 2, 2015 at 8:12 AM
Why you are worried? BJP also joined sickular samaj and appeasement politics. Welcome.
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March 2, 2015 at 8:27 AM
why are you saying that Sanjana? Haven’t they withdrawn 370? Oh wait..! They said they stand by their principles but they’ll look at it if and when they gain a completely majority in J&K. In the meantime they’re hugging Sajjad Lone. LOL! But at least the uniform civil code will be in soon. Waiting with bated breath!
Unfortunately the fact is that whether one is on the Right or the Left all of one’s protests are only about political parties and far less (if at all) about ideological positions. And people prove this again and again. Which is why when people are trapped in these debates they tend to keep blaming the other side and never taking responsibility for their own. It’s an easy ‘political’ tactic. Most people do this. The same people who jump at crumbs on one side of the political debate say ‘hey why are you making such a big deal out of this stuff?’ when the shoe is on the other foot and far bigger issues arise on their own. Once again from my side this isn’t about the Congress or the BJP or anyone else. It’s about the ‘people’. Much as I’ve criticized the same for years for fostering a certain kind of cinema. I’ve not just kept is restricted to people who make the films. Because they’re only doing what sells. Hence my ultimate target has always been a ‘New Indian’ mindset. Which in turn is also about a similar mindset globally. One can disagree but this position is certainly not dependent on one political party or the other.
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March 2, 2015 at 10:05 AM
My point was posting only anti BJP articles in a Filmi thread , chup chaap, and pretending to be unbiased when called out claiming victimhood. but how can Satyam sir let go any opportunity to beat the BJP and the Hindu right !!
Aside- on social media, the hardcore BJP supporters have come out strongly against the BJP on these matters. Meanwhile Bhushan has admitted that the communal posters were put up by Aap party and then gave the ticket to the Fall guy !
lekin SS par Sannnataa !!
Aside- 2- got work to do…..
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March 2, 2015 at 11:06 AM
In fairness to Sanjana I don’t think she’s all that big on left parties either. She seems to have ideological consistency more than anything else. I’ve not seen her buying into the left party narratives all that much either. And again my point here is it is one thing to criticize from a position of ideological consistency and quite another to do so from one of party consistency. As for people coming out against the BJP I’m not talking about social media in general but people who are here. As with every other debate.
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March 2, 2015 at 12:09 PM
JK Govt is going to embarrass the central Govt. Today we have Afzal Guru comment. I thought the treatment was wrong when they hanged him. They should have followed the process. But all these noises just confirms that he was actual culprit unlike many who suggested he has been prosecuted wrongly/unfairly.
http://www.outlookindia.com/article/And-His-Life-Should-Become-Extinct/232979
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/feb/10/hanging-afzal-guru-india-democracy
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March 2, 2015 at 10:00 AM
I am not worried, just sitting back and enjoying the unmasking of the Mukhotaas !!LOL
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March 2, 2015 at 8:27 AM
For your kind information, I am not anti hindu. Anti BJP does not mean anti hindu. Who are BJP people to talk on behalf of all hindus?
So I have to keep quiet just because mufti is an ally of BJP now?
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March 2, 2015 at 11:39 AM
I hate it when BJP and allied parties appropriate Hinduism for their own benefit. One need not be pro- BJP to be a good Hindu. And I hate the way people like that Sadhvi somebody get unnecessary publicity for their rants. This Sadhvi female has declared that the Khan trio needs to be boycotted for having practised ‘love jihad’. When did good old love marriage become love jihad and why is the media even giving space to such utterances? Even a supposedly sensible paper The Hindu, has reported this latest bit of Sadhvi-spouting. Inter- religious marriages have been around for decades and most of them have lasted. Yes, Aamir and Hritik have had broken marriages, but I don’t suppose they broke up because of religious differences. Aamir has married a Hindu again, his sisters have married Hindus; Salman is the product of an inter-religious marriage. I wish the PM would rein in these rabid elements…but it doesn’t look like he will.
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March 2, 2015 at 2:43 PM
and I hate it when some Loose Sickulars type people- attempt to club all Hindu looneys with the BJP and Modi.
Any Hindu Looney says anything- it is Modi’s and BJP’s fault – PM should rein in these rabid elements ! wah bhai wah !!
These commies want to have it both ways !!
Aside- AIB’s time- if you don’t like it don’t watch it.. Now- Modi should act !
People like Malini Parthshastri and her LS (short for Long Standing) followers just cannot digest a non English speaking gaon wala becoming the PM. Oh! he is so unsophisticated, rustic .. I want my Shashi Tharoor back !! LOL!!
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March 2, 2015 at 5:42 PM
Well, I’m happy that Pakistan, Hurriyaat and separatists made the elections possible in Kashmir. They are great and the marriage of PDP with BJP and the tight hug of Modi of a reluctant Mufti sealed it.
Happy days are here again. Shammi Kappor’s Kashmir songs have started ringing in my years. YAHOOOOOO!!!!!
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March 2, 2015 at 9:36 PM
@ omrocky786 — you are SO wrong in your facile stereotypical assumptions. You are in fact slotting people who seem to be left- leaning liberals. Nobody , neither right wing leaders nor left , can be fit into air tight compartments the way you are doing. And I still mean every word of what I wrote. I have castigated the media for playing up inflammatory speeches that divide the country. And yes, the BJP needs to rein in these loony loose lips.
The media is seriously irresponsible. Why give publicity to the rants of a rapist murderer in jail, trying to escape hanging?
I support BJP to an extent. Voted for Vajayee in 1999, still support him and Advani, am ok with the PM if he will work towards the country’s development– not division, caused by his party’s mischief- making cousins. And mischief- making is a mild term for these poisonous elements.
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March 2, 2015 at 5:43 PM
With PDP marriage, the ghanta budget, the Mufti utterances there are people who want to be interested in AAP internal rift. LOL
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March 2, 2015 at 9:46 PM
My comment above– edit right wing ‘leaders’ to ‘ leaners’. This iPad does unwarranted ‘ corrections’. I guess ‘ leaners’ is ungrammatical.
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March 2, 2015 at 8:09 AM
Sanjana: ‘Rape is a more heinous crime than a murder.’ How on earth? I have just shown how it is not.
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March 2, 2015 at 8:11 AM
You have to understand. If you are a woman, you will understand.
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March 2, 2015 at 8:18 AM
‘If you are a woman, you will understand.’ Sort of that , I am trying to understand by listening to what women who have been raped have to say. They all prefer to live. Leave alone Maya Angelou and Oprah, even Nirbhaya said.: I want to LIVE.
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March 2, 2015 at 8:24 AM
I am not talking about rape victims wanting to live.
I am talking about general murders irrespective of gender which takes place at the heat of the moment.
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March 2, 2015 at 8:27 AM
“I am talking about general murders irrespective of gender which takes place at the heat of the moment.”
What about rape that happens at the heat of the moment? At the rapist may be thinking I am doing the woman no harm. But the murderer? Can he have any such illusion?
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March 2, 2015 at 8:33 AM
When the woman cries, tries to escape, then also the rapist thinks he is doing no harm? So consent is not necessary? A murder is done not to insult or humiliate. A rape is an act of insult and humiliation.
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March 2, 2015 at 9:05 AM
to be very honest and without getting into this debate either way I find this old symmetry between murder and rape itself problematic. Only with rape is the specter of death raised so regularly. Because of course it plays into old honor-shame tropes. I would say though that rape is an act of humiliation for sure but also one of incredible (including literal) violence.
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March 2, 2015 at 9:10 AM
Rape is not an individual act anymore. Or it is a simple rape. Gang rapes, inserting things to cause unbelievable pain, acid throwing to disfigure, setting fire after rape or in case the rape attempt fails etc. etc. It is not shame anymore but it is pain and humiliation.
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March 2, 2015 at 8:58 AM
So getting killed is preferable to getting insulted or humiliated? I would like to know how many irrespective of gender would agree.
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March 2, 2015 at 9:05 AM
Who said preferable? It is a lesser crime compared to rape. It does not mean people want to be killed.
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March 2, 2015 at 9:17 AM
even in Chennai behind woods gives Yennai Arindhaal an ‘above average’ tag:
http://www.behindwoods.com/tamil-movies/yennai-arindhaal/yennai-arindhaal-box-office-mar-01.html
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March 2, 2015 at 9:17 AM
meanwhile I upgraded to blockbuster by the same:
http://www.behindwoods.com/tamil-movies/i/i-box-office-mar-01.html
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March 2, 2015 at 9:19 AM
Sufy has Yennai.. at average and I at super hit:
http://www.sify.com/movies/boxoffice.php?id=15059146&cid=13525926
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March 2, 2015 at 10:56 AM
“Who said preferable? It is a lesser crime compared to rape. It does not mean people want to be killed. ” I still dont get it. Why exactly is murder a lesser crime? Most people think getting murdered is worse , still it is the lesser crime? In rape , the prime motive is not to hurt the other person, while ina murder, the only purpose is to hurt the other person, in fact to cause the maximum hurt to the other peson, irrevecoably hurt the other peson. Still murder is the lesser crime ! Well, if you say so.
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March 2, 2015 at 11:50 AM
One of Indian TV’s most famous faces tells Kanika Datta why and how she hopes to reinvent herself in the uncharted territories of multimedia and think tanks
The first thing Barkha Dutt wants to clarify is that she’s not signing off from NDTV, her professional alma mater of 20 years. Not yet, anyway, though she frankly admits she couldn’t say if things will change five years from now. That future hinges on how well she is able to reinvent herself as an entrepreneur in the brave new worlds of multimedia and think tanks.
“I am trying to push the envelope in the non-TV space,” explains Dutt, till recently NDTV Group Editor and one of Indian television’s most famous faces, with a legion of fans and detractors in almost equal numbers.
To do this, she has reworked her contract with NDTV so that she is now consulting editor who will continue to anchor The Buck Stops Here on weeknights and We, The People on weekends and be available for big news breaks. This not-undemanding schedule is expected to free her to pursue business plans she’s preparing with friends and associates.
There is much to be finalised still but the outlines of Barkha 2.0 have started emerging. Neither venture will require her to stray far from her core competence as a seasoned TV journalist with enviable contacts. For instance, the multi-media content company will have a certain amount of content from NDTV but the basic business plan is to offer content for diverse multimedia platforms that will be packaged in unique and different ways.
How different, especially when the digital space grows more crowded by the day?
From talks with six or seven friends who will be joining her in this venture, the broad idea that has emerged is to bring together a small group of people from diverse backgrounds to curate and create original content.
“We essentially see ourselves as a digital studio,” she says. Since the big idea is to create distinctive and eclectic conversations, the creators/curators will come from entertainment, the arts, politics, diplomacy, specialists in food writing and so on, rather than journalists who, she points out, can sometimes have a rather jaded view of things.
The focus is on the exploding world of digital news and entertainment, but one unexpected and somewhat serendipitous part of these plans is a possible radio show. That opportunity emerged when the news of her change of role at NDTV went viral and a radio channel head called — she’s not saying who because discussions are still very preliminary — suggesting she consider doing a radio show.
“This was not part of the plan but I did study radio production at Jamia Millia so I thought, why not,” she laughs.
The registration of the multimedia company and talks with a private equity/venture capital investors are on, so Dutt is reluctant to offer many more details.
“I will probably have more to say in April or so,” she says apologetically but confirms that the investor is Indian. Asked about revenues and breakeven, she candidly admits she’s not entirely clear how these ideas can be monetised and, in any case, those are not her areas of expertise.
“I’ve left that to others to figure out but my own motives are creative rather than commercial,” she says.
Indeed, she is quick to clarify that she’s not aiming to become a mogul with these new ventures.
“We’re not going to be some digital media empire owning platforms and so on; we’re going to create great content. An incremental approach is a better revenue model because it means we won’t need that much money.”
True to her word, the Delhi office of the new ventures is slated to be the empty basement of her tastefully decorated Greater Kailash ground floor home; in Mumbai, the search is on for office space.
In any case, she points out, no one can really predict if and when the money will roll in since the digital information business is still a relatively new concept in India and companies are yet to make money from it.
Her company, however, will start with a revenue stream from her contract with NDTV and, if discussions work out, from the radio show.
The obvious issue of conflict of interest has also been addressed in the contract: content she creates for her company has to be “distinct” from what she produces for NDTV. How distinct? “A lot of this is still exploratory,” she demurs, adding that she’s exploring a range of ideas and is ready to chart new territory — “look at Amazon, for instance; it started out as an e-commerce company and is now into a streaming video service,” she points out.
The second element of her career outside NDTV has crystallised a little more in the form of a think tank called Ideas Collective.
“This has nothing to do with the mass media but will be a high-calibre multi-disciplinary policy group with experts from education defence, diplomacy, human resources and so on,” she explains.
IC will kick off in December 2015/ January 2016 with a series of annual summits titled IF, which stands for Ideas for the Future. The objective is to create “futuristic conversations” on eight or 10 subjects — such as, what will happen if gay rights are decriminalised in India or, say, low-cost air fares become cheaper than first-class rail fares. “So it will be IF dot, dot, dot, not IF with a question mark,” she clarifies. The Aspen Institute and former Daily Beast editor Tina Brown’s Women in the World annual summit are models she’s examined.
The revenue stream here appears to be clearer: IC will be a not-for-profit outfit, with a group of donors (rather on the Brookings India line) and conference costs covered by sponsorships. It is, however, very much part of the broad idea of creating “live conversations” that informs the multimedia foray and there will some amount of overlap between the two.
This low-key career shift appears almost at odds with someone who has often been a headline maker and celebrity in her own right. Her reporting stint during the Kargil conflict between May and July 1999 catapulted her to national fame and became the inspiration for a film starring actor Preity Zinta.
More recently, she was in the eye of a national controversy involving Niira Radia, a corporate lobbyist. Even today, however, people queue up to ask for her autograph or have photographs taken with her.
The Indian diaspora forms a particularly adoring fan base; in India, no two members of the chatterati can agree on her talent, which makes her a frequent topic of drawing room conversation.
But Dutt, who is far more understated off-screen than her forceful on-screen persona suggests, does not appear to have experienced the equivalent of a Pauline epiphany with this decision. On the contrary, she says, this is something she’s been mulling for about two years.
“I’ve done this (job at NDTV) for 20 years and I got the feeling that I had peaked. So I thought if I had to reinvent myself, it had to be now,” she says. Initially, she thought of making the change after the 2014 elections and approached some friends with ideas — naturally, they didn’t believe her at first.
Now, as Dutt, 43, opts for a brand extension, so to speak, of her career, much of her success will also depend on her own self-belief.
Source: BUSINESS STANDARD
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March 2, 2015 at 12:46 PM
“Dum Laga Ke Haisha”… An enchanting rom-com with a surprisingly dysfunctional core
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March 2, 2015 at 3:01 PM
Loved this part from Rangan (Spoilers ahead):
And at the divorce court, Prem and Sandhya are practically sidelined – their wailing families occupy centre stage. Dum Laga Ke Haisha reminds us of a time when family was such an important part of India – and Indian cinema.
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March 2, 2015 at 2:55 PM
Dum Laga Ke Haisha Holds Strongly On Monday
Monday 02 March 2015 23.00 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
Dum Laga Ke Haisha had a very strong hold on Monday as the collections will come in slightly lower than its first day at around the 1 crore nett mark. It will be a little short of day one due to lower ticket rates at multiplexes though footfalls are showing a considerable rise of 20% plus from day one.
The Monday business ensures a good run for the film over the next 2-3 weeks and will put up a decent lifetime total, or even a good one if it holds on for longer. There were centres which recorded better figures on Monday than Friday but they were the ones where the opening was very weak.
This film is the second success of the year after Badlapur and remains to be seen where the lifetime business goes.
http://www.boxofficeindia.com/Details/art_detail/dumlagakehaishaholdsstronglyonmonday
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March 2, 2015 at 3:00 PM
Happy to see DLKH performing well…indeed one of the better movies from YRF in last couple of years and will probably remain among one of the best movies of the year
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March 2, 2015 at 6:45 PM
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March 3, 2015 at 3:04 AM
Badlapur Second Monday Business
Tuesday 03 March 2015 12.00 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
Badlapur grossed around 90 lakhs nett on Monday taking its second week total to 6.90 crore need and overall total to 42.75 crore nett. The first four day business of Badlapur in its second week is as follows.
Friday – 1,50,00,000
Saturday – 2,00,00,000
Sunday – 2,50,00,000
Monday – 90,0,00,000
TOTAL – 6,90,00,000
The second week total will be in the 9.25-9.50 crore nett range which will mean 45 cr nett plus in two weeks.
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March 3, 2015 at 3:05 AM
Ab Tak Chappan 2 And Dum Laga Ke Haisha Monday Business
Tuesday 03 March 2015 13.00 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
Dum Laga Ke Haisha held on trongly on Monday with collections a little less than Friday. The film is trending very well. The first four day business of Dum Laga Ke Haisha is as follows.
Friday – 1,10,00,000
Saturday 2,10,00,000
Sunday – 2,85,00,000
Monday – 1,00,00,000
TOTAL – 7,05,00,000
Ab Tak Chappan 2 fell on Monday and will gross around 6.75 crore nett in week one. The first four business of Ab Tak Chappan 2 is as follows.
Friday – 1,35,00,000
Saturday – 1,40,00,000
Sunday – 1,75,00,000
Monday – 65,00,000
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March 3, 2015 at 8:25 PM
Dum Laga Ke Haisha has same business and trend as of BbuddahHTB , which was way economical movie(10 Cr ?) … still see how BOI commentary poles apart.
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March 3, 2015 at 7:45 AM
Chilling:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-31698154
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March 3, 2015 at 10:29 AM
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/Urdu-couplets-are-elixir-for-brain-learning-the-language-helps-prevent-dementia/articleshow/46424531.cms
Urdu couplets are elixir for brain; learning the language helps prevent dementia
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March 3, 2015 at 10:32 AM
“We used grapheme-phoneme mapping which divides languages into ‘transparent’ (easy to learn) or ‘deep’ (difficult to learn). For example: Hindi and German are transparent while English and French are deep. Urdu is the deepest language and therefore reading it involves more areas of the brain, which is good for mental health,” said Kumar adding, “Urdu has two more advantages over others — visual complexity of letters and direction of writing.”
The study found that reading Urdu involved dominant participation of the middle and superior regions of the frontal part of the brain. “Both these areas control majority of cognitive functions of the brain such as decision making, emotional control, coping with stress, analying things and processing information,” he said adding that its role in decision making was most important. “It governs the ability to determine the good from the bad along with consequences of action,” he stated, citing the Journal of Cognitive Neurosciences.
The work examined effects of graphene-phoneme mapping over neural regions in bilingual people and suggested that Hindi and Urdu made a good combination. “This works very well because they are mutually comprehensible languages and have a shared vocabulary,” Kumar said. Researchers at Nizam Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad, have already shown that bilingualism delays the age of onset of Alzheimers and other dementia. It also found that the Urdu-Hindi combo was beneficial for children with learning disabilities, particularly dyslexia, as it improves functioning of the visual cortex.
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March 3, 2015 at 10:34 AM
I think it is more about bilingualism or mutilingualism than hindi or urdu.
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March 3, 2015 at 10:54 AM
Yes learning multiple languages is considered a plus by just about any scientist in this field. And yes I’ve heard of studies that suggest it is helpful to prevent Alzheimer’s if one learns a second language as an adult (makes sense because bilingualism for the child is still a natural phenomenon).
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March 3, 2015 at 10:44 AM
Frankly, and for multiple reasons, this piece is utterly ridiculous and worse.
I’ll just stick to the Urdu example. It borrows the Arabic script much like Persian and a number of other languages. In terms of its grammar it’s a Sanskritic language much like a dozen other major Indian languages. The vocabulary is more Persianized (but it still has more Sanskritic vocabulary than anything else) much like the modern Hindi vocabulary (I refer to the ‘Doordarshan’ or administrative Hindi currently in vogue which of course isn’t the only kind) is Sanskritized (beyond its natural heritage). So why those other languages that have so much in common with it are not equally hard is beyond me! This piece is such bull. could say more n this or even those European examples but it’s a waste of time. It’s tricky opening up linguistic debates anyway given the utter fiction that people subscribe to in these cases. Those for instance who believe Tamil comes from Sanskrit!
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March 3, 2015 at 10:50 AM
It is based on research.
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March 3, 2015 at 10:58 AM
You can ‘research’ anything. It’s not as neutral as it sounds. That first paragraph you’ve quoted is pure bull in every sense. On Urdu, on French/German and so on.
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March 3, 2015 at 11:36 AM
Most of the these conclusions are based on Null hypothesis. I think most of such experiment have bias to start with.
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March 3, 2015 at 11:59 AM
For example the argument about Sachin between Saket and Satyam?
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March 3, 2015 at 12:04 PM
one hopes that those doing research in labs have better standing in these matters than Saket and Satyam! I think both of us would be doing things a bit differently if we were presenting claims to a cricket journal!
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March 3, 2015 at 12:04 PM
Haha..that is not research but they start with bias and they listen to each other and write long paragraphs 🙂
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March 3, 2015 at 9:01 PM
http://www.thehindu.com/books/books-authors/interview-with-jeffrey-archer/article6955778.ece
Interview with bestselling author Jeffrey Archer
Excerpts
It changes over the years. For example, now I am very aware that you have at last got some decent roads. And a bridge. You ought to have 10 bridges, but you’ve got one. At last your traffic is moving, even if it is moving in the wrong direction. Even if you still believe that the white line goes down the middle of your car. I have never understood how you can be such an intelligent race and think that white lines were put there to go down the middle of the car – that’s got me fooled – and yet mastered it, because if you were stupid, it would really worry me. But you are not stupid. And you still put the white line down the middle of the car. I should be Minister of Transport for this country, then there would be some changes, I can tell you that!
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March 3, 2015 at 9:35 PM
nice interview – http://www.mumbaimirror.com/entertainment/bollywood/My-reaction-was-more-emotional-than-moralistic/articleshow/46448704.cms
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March 3, 2015 at 10:01 PM
And when someone uses the words “shut up”, it makes me believe that these people are certainly not a part of the group that is for freedom of speech.
Great point.
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March 4, 2015 at 2:05 AM
brave decision on aamir’s part where he is playing a 55 yrs dad having 4 daughters……this man is growing to greater heights with each film – I wish he does a GRAND film with Shankar
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March 4, 2015 at 2:14 AM
http://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2015/02/aamir-khan-aib-roast/
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March 4, 2015 at 3:06 AM
He also said that he was not stating from moralistic point of view but from emotional point of view. He may have been referring to Alvira.
It will be interesting to watch him playing dad to grownup kids.
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March 4, 2015 at 3:33 AM
I wanted to write, but suppressed the idea as it would have served no purpose but heated up the entire issue once again. But i’m very happy that Aamir responded and responded with reasoning, equanimity with out falling prey to the trap of provocation in form of abuses, allegations, “shut ups”. This is what i like most about Aamir as a person as he does not stoop to the level of those who accuse him and keeps his calm under all circumstances. Most of the times he is very clear of his stances and does not budge from them under duress. Even when he was very aloof from media and a recluse, he,despite all the attempts,to get him lose his composure in the heat of the moment under all slanderous accusations, has never ever succumbed. Be it his rift with Mahesh Bhatt, Ram Gopal Verma or media’s concocted stories on his personal life, he kept immune to all this and even when he responded, it was full of grace, rationale sans any hostility or ill will towards the person rather he felt to steer clear himself of those people.
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March 4, 2015 at 4:17 AM
btw – he has backed out of Shankar’s Robot 2 😦 it is official now
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March 4, 2015 at 6:27 AM
Abhishek Bachchan to work with Vashu Bhagnani after 13 years
By Bollywood Hungama News Network, March 04, 2015 – 11:10 hrs IST
The last time when we saw Abhishek Bachchan in a Vashu Bhagnani produced film was in the year 2002, and the film being Om Jai Jagdish. After almost 13 long years, Abhishek Bachchan will now be seen in Vashu Bhagnani’s untitled film. Unlike the ‘popular rumors’, the film in question is not a remake of Amitabh Bachchan’s Do Aur Do Paanch, but a totally fresh script.
Speaking about the film, Abhishek said that, even though they are in the casting stages, he has given the nod to Vashu’s film that’s being directed by the debutante Akshai Puri.
On the other hand, the debutante director Akshai Puri further added that, the said film is a two hero film, of which, one is Abhishek Bachchan while they are still finalizing on the second hero. Watch this space for development.
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March 4, 2015 at 7:05 AM
Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar has invited his fans to suggest the title of a “docu-feature” based on his life.
“Proud to announce the ‘Docu-Feature’, which would be based on my life. This is in association with @ravi0404 and @200NOTOUTFIILMS. Would love to involve you all.. Suggest what should be the name for this movie. Send me your thoughts here: http://Bit.ly/NameMyMovie,” Tendulkar tweeted on Wednesday.
He has also promised a treat for those who suggest the best names.
“There is something very special in store for the ones who come up with the most ideal title for my movie. I am waiting to hear from you,” he added.
Tendulkar too will star as himself in the biopic, conceived by Mumbai-based production company 200 Not Out in co-ordination with World Sports Group, the firm that manages Brand Sachin.
The movie, to be directed by London-based writer-filmmaker James Erskine, promises “never seen before facets and footage” on the cricket legend,
Apart from his presence in the movie, Tendulkar is said to be making a lot of contribution to the project, which will capture his phenomenal rise in the world of cricket.
In his career spanning 24 years, the cricketer scored 15,921 runs from 200 matches at an average of 53.78. He also has most batting records under his belt in Tests as also in the 50-over format.
Having started as a 16-year-old, the ‘Little Master’, at five feet five inch, holds the record for the maximum number of appearances and is the highest run-getter and century maker in both versions.
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March 4, 2015 at 7:07 AM
Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah, who will be seen in K.C. Bokadia’s “Dirty Politics”, says his character in the film is somewhat like Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
“I play an idolised version of Delhi’s Chief Minister (Arvind Kejriwal)…like him, this character also stands for right things and succeeds thereafter,” the actor said here Tuesday during a press conference to promote the film.
Kejriwal, who has become Delhi’s chief minister for the second time, was a team member of Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption movement. He then took the political route and formed the Aam Aadmi Party. He first became the chief minister after the 2013 Delhi assembly polls but stepped down after 49 days. He made a historic comeback in the assembly polls this year.
Like Kejriwal, Naseeruddin’s character in “Dirty Politics” is a “political activist and always believes in taking action against wrong doings”.
“Somewhere he is a witness of everything that happens in the story and at last he is the one who decides to take the positive action,” he added.
“Dirty Politics” also features Mallika Sherawat, Jackky Shroff, Anupam Kher, Ashutosh Rana and Om Puri in key roles.
From Indiaforums
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March 4, 2015 at 7:08 AM
http://www.india-forums.com/bollywood/hot-n-happening/50406-i-play-idolised-version-of-kejriwal-in-dirty-politics-naseeruddi.htm
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March 4, 2015 at 11:52 AM
Xhobdo:
Margarita With A Straw | Trailer | Kalki Koechlin | Releasing 17th April, 2015
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zy3F0WVDK0&sns=tw
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March 4, 2015 at 1:38 PM
[edited]
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March 4, 2015 at 4:13 PM
India’s censor blocks Fifty Shades Of Grey from cinemas
Fifty Shades Of Grey starring Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan. India’s government censors have said they will not allow the big-screen adaptation of erotic novel Fifty Shades Of Grey to be shown in Indian cinemas, a decision most had anticipated in the largely conservative country.
MUMBAI (REUTERS) – India’s government censors have said they will not allow the big-screen adaptation of erotic novel Fifty Shades Of Grey to be shown in Indian cinemas, a decision most had anticipated in the largely conservative country.
The chief executive of the Central Board of Film Certification, Shravan Kumar, declined to say why the panel refused to approve the film adaptation, but said Universal Pictures, the Comcast Corp unit that released the film, could appeal the decision.
A Universal Pictures source familiar with the review process said the board had objected to some of the film’s dialogue, even after the studio made voluntary edits to the film to tone down its sex scenes and removed all nudity.
The film first opened in February and has grossed at least US$400 million (S$550 million) in global sales.
However, for some countries the kinky storyline was too much: Malaysia, Indonesia and Kenya have banned Fifty Shades from their theatres, largely because of its sexual content.
The film’s distributor, Comcast Corp is also not pursuing a theatrical release in China, the world’s second-largest film market, where the censors tend to ban sexually explicit films.
Universal Studios source said the studio had already approached the relevant committee at the central board to make its appeal. The source declined to be identified as he is not authorised to speak to the media about the censorship process.
The movie version of the best-selling 2011 novel stars Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson as a couple in a sadomasochistic relationship.
India’s censor has received much criticism in recent months. Leela Samson, who served several years as its chairman, quit in January after accusing the federal government of interfering in the board’s decisions.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government then unveiled a new-look censor board, which has since issued guidelines saying Indian films should not contain profanity.
In the case of a new Bollywood movie Dum Laga Ke Haisha (Give It All You’ve Got), the censor board asked that the word “lesbian” be purged from the film’s dialogue.
– See more at: http://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/movies/story/indias-censor-blocks-fifty-shades-grey-cinemas-20150305#sthash.MW0aBFO4.dpuf
Ps: after the likes of deepikas kaamleela & fanny, unsure why FSoG needs to be banned? This is ‘unfair’…
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March 4, 2015 at 7:48 PM
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Film-actors-are-not-like-theatre-artists-dont-deserve-tax-relief-says-Madras-high-court/articleshow/46462773.cms
Film actors are not like theatre artists, don’t deserve tax relief, says Madras high court
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March 4, 2015 at 7:58 PM
Second Best Marigold Hotel: Many of British cinema’s finest old-timers (Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Bill Nighy) join Richard Gere, Dev Patel and Lilette Dubey in this charming trifle of a film. It’s set in Jaipur and features the most (inoffensively) unrealistic depiction of Indian society that I have ever seen onscreen.
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March 4, 2015 at 10:14 PM
Bhushan and Yadav will not be able to get even 20 votes if they separate from Kejri. People voted for Kejri more than for AAP. If someone wants to cut the roots, the tree wont stand.
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March 5, 2015 at 11:53 AM
India’s Daughter: BBC brings forward airing of Delhi rape documentary
“BBC4 editor Cassian Harrison said the decision to move the “powerful and compelling” programme was made, “due to the international interest” in it.
“From our perspective, given the strong public interest we feel it’s important it gets out”, said Harrison, adding: “it is a shame that the authorities in India don’t want it to be shown.”
The BBC has not received any correspondence from the Indian government but said it would be unlikely to be able to ban it in the UK due to it being under a different jurisdiction.
The move was made after Indian authorities banned the domestic broadcast of the film and said they were also trying to prevent it from being shown worldwide.
India’s parliamentary affairs minister M Venkaiah Naidu declared: “We can ban the film in India. But this is an international conspiracy to defame India. We will see how the film can be stopped abroad too.”
Reducing rape to a generic Indian male mindset fails its victims
Priyamvada Gopal
Read more
Udwin appealed to Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, to try and help get the ban overturned and “deal with this unceremonious silencing of the film”.”
http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/mar/04/indias-daughter-bbc-delhi-rape-documentary-uk-india-ban
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March 5, 2015 at 1:00 PM
KOHIMA: A man, accused of raping a girl, was beaten to death today after being pulled out of a jail by a mob at Dimapur in Nagaland.
A mass protest rally against the rape was held at Dimapur this morning after which students and angry people forced into the district jail and managed to pull out the accused.
The accused had allegedly raped the victim several times on February 23 and was arrested the following day following a complaint lodged by the victim.
The police resorted to blank firing and fired tear gas shells but failed to control the situation, officials said.
READ ALSO: One rape every 30 minutes in India
The accused was dragged naked to the main town and he died of the injuries of beatings by the public, a senior official said.
An emergency cabinet meeting was held at 7 pm at the residential office of chief minister to take stock of the law and other situation in Dimapur.
The cabinet condemned the violent incident whereby the mob took the law into their hands, leading to the death of the accused, said a release issued by CMO Media Cell this evening.
The cabinet also decided to institute a high-level committee to inquire into the incident and find out the circumstances leading to it.
The committee would also inquire into the lapses or shortcomings on the part of any public servant in connection with the incident and the person or group of persons responsible for the violence leading to the death of the accused in the hands of the mob.
The chief minister, being in New Delhi, the cabinet meeting was chaired by Minister for Social Security & Welfare and Parliamentary Affairs, Kiyanilie Peseyie, the CMO Media Cell added.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Rape-accused-dragged-out-of-jail-custody-lynched-in-Nagaland/articleshow/46471326.cms?
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March 5, 2015 at 11:37 PM
How about sending Nirbhaya rapists to Nagaland jails?
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March 5, 2015 at 2:28 PM
Facebook crunches the numbers: More people thought #TheDress was white and gold
I can swear, I never saw any blue or black in the dress.
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March 5, 2015 at 4:05 PM
DUM LAGA KE HAISHA…
… is a coming of age cinema, not just for the protagonist, of this splendid film but also for Indian cinema, at large. It brings out how one’s self-esteem pivots so much on our physical structure and relegates every other aspect of our personality. Though looks and body structure have overarching influence on nearly every social transactions, the movie deals with the issue head-on, where it matters the most, marriage. It thereby deals with complexities of affection, love and conjugal relationship between physically incompatible couple. It boldly addresses these sensitive issues, that fraught the minds, especially young minds, that are otherwise chosen to be kept under wraps, in our hypocritical society. And it does it with necessary sensitivity and tenderness making it an outstanding piece of cinema.
An dreamy, handsome but school drop out, Prem, is forced to tie nuptial knot, with a rotund but academically superior, small town girl, Sandhya. The disappointment of Prem, as he pulls a long face, of not getting a bride with ‘Juhi-Chawla-level-of-looks’ it overtly evident. So is his social discomfort about the way he would be publicly perceived, by society, with an over-weight wife. Though these emotions expose Prem’s puerile mindset but it is his inability to consummate into the rightful conjugal relationship, with his wife Sandhya, is what probes into the deeper recesses of his psyche. And it the response of Sandhya, with an assured self esteem and her ability to maintain her grace, even when she makes frantic effort to be sexually attractive, what makes it an intriguing cinema. Further the chemistry between the estranged couple, leaves you with a lump in the throat, as it goes through its travail till it culminates into companionship braced with affection and love. It is the defy handling of Prem’s psychological growth, his coming of age, his unconditional acceptance of Sandhya and understanding the importance of inner person over the external, making it a meaningful cinema, without didactic preaching.
The movie hits the ground running, coming straight to the theme and sticking to it, steadfast, till the very end. It is set along the Haridwar/Rishikesh area and captures the twin temple cities and the areas’ USP, the rapid Ganges, beautifully. Also brings out the India’s social reality, circa 1995, quiet well. However, it’s fine performances by Ayushmann Khurrana as Prem, Sanjay Mishra as his father, and stellar debut by Bhumi Pednekar as Sandhya that provide generous icing on this mouth watering, delectable cake.
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March 5, 2015 at 8:23 PM
Harrison Ford badly hurt in plane crash
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/Harrison-Ford-badly-hurt-in-plane-crash/articleshow/46473392.cms?
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March 5, 2015 at 9:11 PM
he’s badly hurt but according to his son he’s ok.
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March 5, 2015 at 8:29 PM
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-plane-crash-venice-20150305-story.html
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