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69 Responses to “NH10 (ongoing), the rest of the box office”
My daughter warned me, “Mama… please avoid! It’s not for you. The violence depicted is so graphic, so gory, you won’t be able to take it.” Anandita was right – I couldn’t take the relentless pulping of bodies that NH10 feeds on. But the movie was definitely for me. And for every other citizen who is shocked by the stepped up attacks on women in our superficially modern, but essentially medieval society.
For me, it wasn’t the ugh close-ups or the thud-thud of blunt weapons bludgeoning the young couple to death that disturbed as much as the complicity of all those involved in the deliverance of ‘justice’ – the local police, the woman sarpanch (whose daughter is being ‘punished’ by the son and his accomplices for daring to marry a man from the same ‘gotra’). I was numb for hours after I walked out of the multiplex.
……..
I wonder what made Anushka Sharma pick such a bold subject? It is clearly not a vanity project – she could have backed something far more commercial. NH10 is a grim watch. And I admire Anushka for putting her money where her mouth is. As cinema, it is far from flawless or brilliant. It is not even aimed at the film festival circuit. Director Navdeep Singh goes about his job with a heavy hand that will not win the film any National or popular awards. So what?
Towards the end, when the audience is as exhausted as Anushka, there’s a telling scene with an unambiguously ‘urban’ subtext. Anushka is about to crush one of the villains by driving an SUV straight into the man, who is pinned against a stone wall , his legs broken, his life hanging by a thread. What does our girl do? She pulls out a ciggie from a pack, and lights up. She takes her time taking a few long drags, all the while staring coolly at her victim as he groans and moans in pain. Once done, she stubs out her cigarette, gets into the SUV, revs up the engine and drives full throttle into the guy, flattening him instantly.
Oooooof! No wonder Virat Kohli made sure he praised his ‘love’ on Twitter.
You definitely don’t want to mess with Anushka Sharma.
Managed to watch NH10. One time watch and good timepass. Because of spoilers no surprises. Yet I did not lose interest. Editing was crisp and tight. Even songs did not distract that much. The violence was bearable. The good thing is there is no rape.
It is about honour killings and the story was told through Meera. How terrible and unreasonable and brutal are honour killings. It is not about cityfolks. They are incidental and one dimensional. I did not give much thought about how she took revenge though it was satisfactory. In a short role, Bhoopalam was impressive.
Feel free to forget his tirade against the North Indians or his long buried hatchet against the senior Bachchan, Raj Thackeray, the ultimate flag bearer of Marathi manoos and Marathi asmita has roped in none other than Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan for a special ceremony that will mark the beginning of the Marathi New Year. Following is the hoarding that serves a testimony to the news.
I know but still, given the polarization Raj Thackeray has been responsible for and given some of the stunts he pulled in this sense, even with respect to them, and even though he ‘made up’ later I think a certain kind of political figure should be avoided except at the most general function. But look at this poster, the real message here is the three figures on it! In politics you can’t go just by technicalities. Because the politician is always looking to advance a ‘deeper’ message with everything he or she does. Of course I’m not saying Abhishek is being naive here or something. There are always reasons to be either on a politician’s good side or at least not on his bad side. Still the problem with India in this sense is that even the most well-known public figures in the entertainment industry refuse to rub politicians the wrong way in any sense. The South is an exception but that’s because things are extremely politicized there to begin with.
Producers of the crime series True Detective have turned to an unusual source for actors in the second season of the acclaimed drama: porn stars.
True Detective 2, which will star Colin Farrell and Rachel McAdams, has been the subject of intense rumours since series creator Nic Pizzolatto said the new plot line would involve cops looking into a murder set against the backdrop of “the secret occult history of the United States’ transportation system”.
Actor Deepika Padukone breaks the silence and stigma around depression sharing, for the first time on TV, her battle against the ailment. In this exclusive chat, Deepika Padukone, along with her mother, counsellor and doctor, speaks up to help others struggling with depression. Her aim – “if I can impact one life in this entire process of speaking up and letting people know that it’s something I have been through and something that I could deal with because I had a fantastic support system.”
[finally I’ve had the Haider DVD lying around for a while but somehow haven’t gotten into it. Rocky has said I can’t watch it without purifying my soul with Baby right away!]
I will get to it soon though! Did watch Ugly in the meantime. Currently watching the Game (BBC). I’m a sucker for Cold War stuff!
seriously though I might have seen Baby before Haider but I’m waiting for the right transfer. Don’t know if the DVD’s out. The thing is that sometimes even conceding a film is more serious or good in that sense I’m just more in the mood for lighter stuff.
LOL on whole Ticket, and agree.
Haider definitely has political ( commie) subtexts and distorts the truth , but somehow I did not find it anti Indian Army.
Politics is often very complicated, in the opposition one can take absolutist positions but it’s considerably messier when one is in power. The problem though is that one shouldn’t deconstruct one’s central narrative. If one does that the base is demoralized. Here it was always absurd to get into bed with the PDP. There’s simply no payoff for them in any sense (I agree with you here). But as a larger matter again democracies (and political parties in democracies) always peddle a higher morality. But a lot in politics is ‘dirty’ and ‘nasty’ at every level. When the truth leaks out every now and then everyone is surprised. But ideological purity or political morality is only for the naive. Part of the problem in Kashmir is that there’s relative calm there after the longest time and no one wants to rock the apple-cart. The problem is that to preserve that calm atrocious and provocative statements come from the PDP on a regular basis (and are tolerated), the worst political actors in the state (militants or whatever) have to be constantly appeased and so on. Which is a strategy one could swallow in the hopes of a lasting peace down the line if an outside power weren’t involved. That’s not the case here.
on that note has anyone here seen Indian Summers? I know it’s done very well in the UK. Supposed to start airing on PBS here probably in fall but the British DVD will be out in April and I might just get it. Love this sort of thing.. the British in Simla in the 30s! Don’t get fooled by all my colonization talk. I love them Brits (in India)!
Indian summers is lovely; I highly recommend it. It’s a sumptuously filmed and highly stylised version of 1930s Shimla, to be sure, but it isn’t just a nostalgic look back at the glory of The Raj. It’s part periods drama, part political thriller with lots of tense (interracial) romance woven in.
There are several Indian characters and they are all well rendered, ideologically complex and far removed from the ‘natives’ of, say, Kipling’s or Maugham’s work, albeit still very much the creations of an English writer.
as for the National Awards they’ve hit another low giving it to Kangana for Queen. First off I found it one of the most overrated films around but even otherwise and conceding Kangana did fine here is this really the sort of performance that deserves a National?!
I have not seen other language movies so can’t really comment on that , but I did like Kangana a lot in Queen .( I have never liked Kangna , she reminds me of Chipkali , LOL)
annoying toh Katrina bhee hai, but at least she is easy on the eyes !!
Right now after watching three award shows, Priyanka is the one who I find most annoying !! She seems to have developed a very high opinion of herself .
Aside- Shahid’s Dance at the Star guild award was too good, that is when I heard the full song ( gul sey mil ) too and loved it !!
You recall the time when Karisma got a National (Best Supporting) for Dil To Pagal Hai?!
And think of this, Priyanka got Best Actress for Fashion (Kangana too got best supporting for the same film). Whatever you might think of Kangana’s performance, it was certainly far more deserving than Priyanka’s. I wish Tabu would have won it for Haider though.
Since I am still struggling to write my piece on Haider, after 3 viewings, here is Raja Sen’s take:
“At the heart of the film stands Tabu. Her Ghazala is a heartbreaking character, all passion and preening and perpetually inappropriate relationships. She looks luminous the first time we see her, but the great actress can amazingly adjust that candle-wick lighting up her face, so not just does she shine and simmer, but she can flicker. The way she looks into the mirror while her son kisses her… It’s haunting. Old Bhardwaj alumnus and former Macbeth Irrfan Khan, meanwhile, is striking in a very clever role that both shows off his screen-presence and kicks the film into a different gear.
The best performance comes from Kay Kay Menon in the Claudius role. His Khurram is a slimeball aching to be accepted as a success, an unctuous man and yet one who likes to strut, who likes to revel in his victories — but who, at the singular point of triumph — can only find a fellow conspirator to embrace. This is a traditionally meaty part, immortalised by Derek Jacobi in the 1996 Hamlet, but Kay Kay gives the character his own terrific edge, twitchy and tentative and surprisingly warm.
One particularly unforgettable moment in the film features Peer himself in a cameo as a man afraid to cross the threshold into his own house. That particular scene, and its subsequent, immediate resolution, comes from a short-story by Kashmiri writer Akhtar Mohiuddin. It is a great story of such frightening clarity that most filmmakers would have milked it into a longer scene, if not a short-film. Bhardwaj, now more than ever, seems assured of the power of his content, and knows when to pull his punches and doesn’t fall for obvious temptations. The result is a knockout, a film that makes you smell corpses, that makes you shudder with melancholia, and a film that points accusing fingers. A film that doesn’t flinch.
Is Haider Vishal Bhardwaj’s best film? That is the question. (The answer, naturally, lies behind the fact that we can even ask.)”
yes I really should check this out..! For the longest time I hadn’t even seen the Sopranos. Finally got into it much too late. Saw a few episodes and wasn’t quite as enthused. It was revolutionary for its time but I think I might have waited too much with all the great TV that has followed since. Still I should complete it.
Next time they can choose someone comparatively young, hale and hearty like Raju Hirani, Vishal Bharadwaj, Mani Ratnam, Aamir Khan, Kamal Hasan and the like. If they want to consider producers, directors only. Not when they are wheel chair bound!
“For several years, this two-storied structure on Bandra’s Carter Road was only used sporadically by the neighbourhood’s residents for annual Holi parties. The BMC who owned the over 7000 square feet space, has now leased it to the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) for 30 years. The NFDC, along with top Bollywood filmmakers, is now turning this place into a film hub, dedicated to inide cinema. FilmBay, modelled on the lines of the IFC Center in New York, will exhibit alternative cinema and host other film-centric events.
The creative director is Kiran Rao. Anurag Kashyap, Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Banerjee, Rohan Sippy and film-critic Anupama Chopra make up the advisory panel. There are plans to revamp the structure, the cost of which will be borne by NFDC. ”
Anupam Kher has always been vocal about his dislike for Vishal Bharadwaj’s Haider and the manner in which he felt that the filmmaker skirted the issue of Kashmiri Pandits in the film. However, when the director was awarded the National Award in five categories and dedicated the awards to the Kashmiri pandit genocide, Anupam Kher took to Twitter to express his dislike. He wrote, “While I congratulate Vishal Bhardwaj for National Awards but dedicating them to #KashmiriPandits genocide is such a fraudish thing to do. When was last time Vishal Bhardwaj spoke about d plight of #KashmiriPandits? He in fact humiliated us by doing dance of devil at our temple. The so called ‘Hindu’ centric Govt. gave Haider 5 National Awards which many felt was anti-Hindu & anti Indian Army. This is NOT Talibanism.”
With the smashing trailer of Bombay Velvet that received a lots of acclamation from the audience and the B-town, Karan Johar is all set to excite the audience yet again with his upcoming production ‘Kapoor and Sons’ starring Sidharth Malhotra, Fawad Khan, Alia Bhatt and Rishi Kapoor.
Kapoor and Sons is a movie that’s about a modern family with a love triangle in it. Shakun Batra will be directing the movie.
Has anybody spared a thought for that Kannada actor Vijay who got best actor award? Same thing happened to the marathi actress who won last year or so.
Sanchari Vijay, who bagged the best actor national award for his role in Kannada film “Nanu Avanalla Avalu” (I am not a he, but she), today said playing the character of a transgender was difficult even though he had done it earlier in a Prakash Raj-starrer movie.
Vijay, whose other film “Harivu” bagged the Best Kannada Film award,” said: “I am doubly elated.”
“Playing the character of a transgender was very difficult though I had played this character earlier in the tri-lingual Prakash Raj-starrer film, but that was a very small role,” he told PTI here after being chosen for the best actor award.
Vijay had played the transgender’s character in “Oggarane” (Kannada), “Un Samayal Arayil” (Tamil) and “Ulavacharu Biryani” (Telugu), a romantic film directed by Prakash Raj.
Though the Tamil and the Telugu versions didn’t do well, “Oggarane”, the Kannada version, became a huge hit.
Vijay said he did a lot of homework to portray the character as he paid several visits to the colony where transgenders stay, just to observe them react to different situations.
“I put in a lot of effort to understand and portray the role of a transgender, which is an unnatural phenomena to me because I am a straight man. I paid visits to them to understand and observe their mannerisms and how they reacted to different situations, which helped me play the character better,” he said.
He was declared the best actor for his poignant portrayal of a woman trapped in a man’s body, portraying a gamut of emotions as “she” struggles through confusion, rejection and humiliation to finally chart her own course with confidence and dignity.
Asked what was the most touching scene in the film, Vijay said, “The scene where a crude and also illegal surgery is performed, which is in real life done in Kadapa in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh. That scene I liked the most,” he said.
Getting this role was not easy as the filmmakers had rejected many of the original transgenders, and ultimately offered it to him after they were convinced of his acting skills, Vijay said.
“The filmmakers of this film had rejected many transgenders after their screen tests, but they offered me the role, may be they were convinced I could deliver on their expectations,” he said.
The award winning film, directed by B S Lingadevaru, narrates the life of a transgender. The film is based on “I am Vidya, an autobiography of Living Smile Vidya.”
Must watch video for all the” HINDI” film Industry fans. The tribute to Shammi Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan is outstanding !! Ranveer Singh is the man !!!
SATYAMSHOT 
March 20, 2015 at 7:30 AM
Shobhaa De on NH-10
It’s not a movie… it’s a truth serum…
My daughter warned me, “Mama… please avoid! It’s not for you. The violence depicted is so graphic, so gory, you won’t be able to take it.” Anandita was right – I couldn’t take the relentless pulping of bodies that NH10 feeds on. But the movie was definitely for me. And for every other citizen who is shocked by the stepped up attacks on women in our superficially modern, but essentially medieval society.
For me, it wasn’t the ugh close-ups or the thud-thud of blunt weapons bludgeoning the young couple to death that disturbed as much as the complicity of all those involved in the deliverance of ‘justice’ – the local police, the woman sarpanch (whose daughter is being ‘punished’ by the son and his accomplices for daring to marry a man from the same ‘gotra’). I was numb for hours after I walked out of the multiplex.
……..
I wonder what made Anushka Sharma pick such a bold subject? It is clearly not a vanity project – she could have backed something far more commercial. NH10 is a grim watch. And I admire Anushka for putting her money where her mouth is. As cinema, it is far from flawless or brilliant. It is not even aimed at the film festival circuit. Director Navdeep Singh goes about his job with a heavy hand that will not win the film any National or popular awards. So what?
Towards the end, when the audience is as exhausted as Anushka, there’s a telling scene with an unambiguously ‘urban’ subtext. Anushka is about to crush one of the villains by driving an SUV straight into the man, who is pinned against a stone wall , his legs broken, his life hanging by a thread. What does our girl do? She pulls out a ciggie from a pack, and lights up. She takes her time taking a few long drags, all the while staring coolly at her victim as he groans and moans in pain. Once done, she stubs out her cigarette, gets into the SUV, revs up the engine and drives full throttle into the guy, flattening him instantly.
Oooooof! No wonder Virat Kohli made sure he praised his ‘love’ on Twitter.
You definitely don’t want to mess with Anushka Sharma.
http://www.ndtv.com/opinion/you-dont-want-to-mess-with-anushka-sharma-748273?pfrom=home-lateststories
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March 21, 2015 at 12:47 AM
Happy Ugadi to all.
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March 21, 2015 at 3:32 AM
Happy Navaratri, Ugadi and Nauroz to everyone!
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March 21, 2015 at 8:34 AM
thanks.. the same to you and everyone else here..
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March 21, 2015 at 3:20 AM
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March 21, 2015 at 3:31 AM
This is doing rounds of FB feed :
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March 21, 2015 at 4:27 AM
http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/they-dont-need-no-100-crore-club/
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March 21, 2015 at 6:59 AM
Managed to watch NH10. One time watch and good timepass. Because of spoilers no surprises. Yet I did not lose interest. Editing was crisp and tight. Even songs did not distract that much. The violence was bearable. The good thing is there is no rape.
It is about honour killings and the story was told through Meera. How terrible and unreasonable and brutal are honour killings. It is not about cityfolks. They are incidental and one dimensional. I did not give much thought about how she took revenge though it was satisfactory. In a short role, Bhoopalam was impressive.
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March 21, 2015 at 8:50 AM
Feel free to forget his tirade against the North Indians or his long buried hatchet against the senior Bachchan, Raj Thackeray, the ultimate flag bearer of Marathi manoos and Marathi asmita has roped in none other than Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan for a special ceremony that will mark the beginning of the Marathi New Year. Following is the hoarding that serves a testimony to the news.
http://us.india.com/showbiz/gudi-padwa-special-raj-thackeray-ropes-in-abhishek-bachchan-and-aishwarya-rai-bachchan-for-a-special-ceremony-324204/
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March 21, 2015 at 8:51 AM
they shouldn’t have agreed to this.
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March 21, 2015 at 10:23 AM
I am sure the invite must have been to the Senior , he must have deflected it to the Jr. and Ash….
But agree there was no need to agree to it…..
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March 21, 2015 at 10:37 AM
But this doesn’t have much to do with his party and party politics. It has more to do with the Marathi film industry if you look at the card…
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March 21, 2015 at 11:16 AM
I know but still, given the polarization Raj Thackeray has been responsible for and given some of the stunts he pulled in this sense, even with respect to them, and even though he ‘made up’ later I think a certain kind of political figure should be avoided except at the most general function. But look at this poster, the real message here is the three figures on it! In politics you can’t go just by technicalities. Because the politician is always looking to advance a ‘deeper’ message with everything he or she does. Of course I’m not saying Abhishek is being naive here or something. There are always reasons to be either on a politician’s good side or at least not on his bad side. Still the problem with India in this sense is that even the most well-known public figures in the entertainment industry refuse to rub politicians the wrong way in any sense. The South is an exception but that’s because things are extremely politicized there to begin with.
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March 22, 2015 at 2:06 AM
http://indianexpress.com/photos/entertainment-gallery/aishwarya-rai-husband-abhishek-bachchan-celebrate-gudhi-padwa/
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March 21, 2015 at 4:26 PM
http://www.newindianexpress.com/photos/nation/Celebrities-and-Maharashtra-in-Colours-of-Gudi-Padwa/2015/03/21/article2724139.ece#
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March 21, 2015 at 10:36 AM
Producers of the crime series True Detective have turned to an unusual source for actors in the second season of the acclaimed drama: porn stars.
True Detective 2, which will star Colin Farrell and Rachel McAdams, has been the subject of intense rumours since series creator Nic Pizzolatto said the new plot line would involve cops looking into a murder set against the backdrop of “the secret occult history of the United States’ transportation system”.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/true-detective-season-2-recruits-porn-stars-for-sex-orgy-scenes-20150320-1m3mai.html#ixzz3V1v0FNdp
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March 21, 2015 at 11:57 PM
http://www.mid-day.com/articles/bollywood-folk-talk-about-working-around-censor-laws/16081165
Bollywood folk talk about working around Censor laws
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March 22, 2015 at 2:36 AM
http://www.mid-day.com/photos/birthday-special-24-rare-pictures-of-rani-mukerji/4961/44689
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March 22, 2015 at 3:19 PM
[post created]
seems really similar to the last one.
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March 22, 2015 at 4:53 PM
Tom Cruise! Sold. Didn’t even know there was another installment on the cards..
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March 22, 2015 at 4:59 PM
Yeah…MI:5 have suddenly started looking like one of the most awaited movie of the year
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March 23, 2015 at 10:16 AM
Actor Deepika Padukone breaks the silence and stigma around depression sharing, for the first time on TV, her battle against the ailment. In this exclusive chat, Deepika Padukone, along with her mother, counsellor and doctor, speaks up to help others struggling with depression. Her aim – “if I can impact one life in this entire process of speaking up and letting people know that it’s something I have been through and something that I could deal with because I had a fantastic support system.”
http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/we-the-people/let-s-talk-depression-deepika-padukone-s-story/360487?pfrom=nri_videowidget_cat_4
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March 24, 2015 at 3:52 AM
Nirbhaya documentary row: SC issues notice to defence lawyers for derogatory remarks
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Nirbhaya-documentary-row-SC-issues-notice-to-defence-lawyers-for-derogatory-remarks/articleshow/46672838.cms
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March 24, 2015 at 8:15 AM
What politicians should learn from katrina Kaif?http://www.pinkvilla.com/entertainment/exclusives/when-i-questioned-her-about-salman-ranbir-deepika-katrina-did-not-hold-back
Ps: doesn’t anybody have the video/link of this ‘interview’?
So we all can learn from her…
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March 24, 2015 at 9:21 AM
Not all and doubt even U could learn something from her..
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March 24, 2015 at 12:31 PM
Satyam Sir, ab toh dekh lo !!!! LOL
http://movies.ndtv.com/bollywood/national-awards-vishal-bhardwaj-happy-for-haider-sad-for-shahid-kapoor-749279
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March 24, 2015 at 12:39 PM
part of an older comment:
[finally I’ve had the Haider DVD lying around for a while but somehow haven’t gotten into it. Rocky has said I can’t watch it without purifying my soul with Baby right away!]
I will get to it soon though! Did watch Ugly in the meantime. Currently watching the Game (BBC). I’m a sucker for Cold War stuff!
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March 24, 2015 at 12:42 PM
Ha ha….
Sir your Spin about Baby and Rocky had caused a near meltdown of Soneone !! LOL
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March 24, 2015 at 12:46 PM
seriously though I might have seen Baby before Haider but I’m waiting for the right transfer. Don’t know if the DVD’s out. The thing is that sometimes even conceding a film is more serious or good in that sense I’m just more in the mood for lighter stuff.
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March 24, 2015 at 12:52 PM
I would highly recommend to watch Baby on the original DVD…
The Nepal Hotel sequence alone is worth the $2.00 !!
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March 24, 2015 at 1:24 PM
It is worth the whole ticket 🙂
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March 24, 2015 at 1:27 PM
Baby is a good thriller. It is made like Hollywood films. I personally don’t attach any political subtext to it. In Haider, I do see it.
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March 24, 2015 at 5:11 PM
LOL on whole Ticket, and agree.
Haider definitely has political ( commie) subtexts and distorts the truth , but somehow I did not find it anti Indian Army.
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March 24, 2015 at 7:16 PM
Nor does the PM these days…!
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March 25, 2015 at 10:25 AM
Trust me, I am not happy with that at all, Just don’t understand the logic of continuing the alliance with PDP.
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March 25, 2015 at 11:27 AM
Politics is often very complicated, in the opposition one can take absolutist positions but it’s considerably messier when one is in power. The problem though is that one shouldn’t deconstruct one’s central narrative. If one does that the base is demoralized. Here it was always absurd to get into bed with the PDP. There’s simply no payoff for them in any sense (I agree with you here). But as a larger matter again democracies (and political parties in democracies) always peddle a higher morality. But a lot in politics is ‘dirty’ and ‘nasty’ at every level. When the truth leaks out every now and then everyone is surprised. But ideological purity or political morality is only for the naive. Part of the problem in Kashmir is that there’s relative calm there after the longest time and no one wants to rock the apple-cart. The problem is that to preserve that calm atrocious and provocative statements come from the PDP on a regular basis (and are tolerated), the worst political actors in the state (militants or whatever) have to be constantly appeased and so on. Which is a strategy one could swallow in the hopes of a lasting peace down the line if an outside power weren’t involved. That’s not the case here.
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March 25, 2015 at 12:10 PM
http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/check-how-many-flags-are-unfurled-here-when-pak-wins-a-cricket-match-j-k-separatist-leader-asiya-andrabi/article1-1330524.aspx
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March 24, 2015 at 12:44 PM
on that note has anyone here seen Indian Summers? I know it’s done very well in the UK. Supposed to start airing on PBS here probably in fall but the British DVD will be out in April and I might just get it. Love this sort of thing.. the British in Simla in the 30s! Don’t get fooled by all my colonization talk. I love them Brits (in India)!
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March 24, 2015 at 1:27 PM
Indian summers is lovely; I highly recommend it. It’s a sumptuously filmed and highly stylised version of 1930s Shimla, to be sure, but it isn’t just a nostalgic look back at the glory of The Raj. It’s part periods drama, part political thriller with lots of tense (interracial) romance woven in.
There are several Indian characters and they are all well rendered, ideologically complex and far removed from the ‘natives’ of, say, Kipling’s or Maugham’s work, albeit still very much the creations of an English writer.
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March 24, 2015 at 12:40 PM
as for the National Awards they’ve hit another low giving it to Kangana for Queen. First off I found it one of the most overrated films around but even otherwise and conceding Kangana did fine here is this really the sort of performance that deserves a National?!
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March 24, 2015 at 12:49 PM
I have not seen other language movies so can’t really comment on that , but I did like Kangana a lot in Queen .( I have never liked Kangna , she reminds me of Chipkali , LOL)
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March 24, 2015 at 12:52 PM
somehow I find her most annoying..she has a strange way of speaking too. I think her character in queen generated empathy. I’ll give her that.
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March 24, 2015 at 12:59 PM
annoying toh Katrina bhee hai, but at least she is easy on the eyes !!
Right now after watching three award shows, Priyanka is the one who I find most annoying !! She seems to have developed a very high opinion of herself .
Aside- Shahid’s Dance at the Star guild award was too good, that is when I heard the full song ( gul sey mil ) too and loved it !!
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March 24, 2015 at 1:11 PM
I’ve never been part of the Katrina fan club! As you know! I’ve always found her insipid.
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March 24, 2015 at 1:23 PM
Ditto for her voice.
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March 24, 2015 at 1:02 PM
Better than Saif Ali Khan winning a national award for HUM TUM…
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March 24, 2015 at 1:10 PM
True.. but wasn’t that in the popular category or something?
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March 25, 2015 at 3:03 PM
You recall the time when Karisma got a National (Best Supporting) for Dil To Pagal Hai?!
And think of this, Priyanka got Best Actress for Fashion (Kangana too got best supporting for the same film). Whatever you might think of Kangana’s performance, it was certainly far more deserving than Priyanka’s. I wish Tabu would have won it for Haider though.
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March 25, 2015 at 3:22 PM
didn’t remember those.. but yeah they’ve been doing these atrocious things for years.
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March 25, 2015 at 8:11 PM
There is no popular subcategory for the National acting awards, which consequently leads to this kind of odd moment:
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March 24, 2015 at 3:35 PM
Since I am still struggling to write my piece on Haider, after 3 viewings, here is Raja Sen’s take:
“At the heart of the film stands Tabu. Her Ghazala is a heartbreaking character, all passion and preening and perpetually inappropriate relationships. She looks luminous the first time we see her, but the great actress can amazingly adjust that candle-wick lighting up her face, so not just does she shine and simmer, but she can flicker. The way she looks into the mirror while her son kisses her… It’s haunting. Old Bhardwaj alumnus and former Macbeth Irrfan Khan, meanwhile, is striking in a very clever role that both shows off his screen-presence and kicks the film into a different gear.
The best performance comes from Kay Kay Menon in the Claudius role. His Khurram is a slimeball aching to be accepted as a success, an unctuous man and yet one who likes to strut, who likes to revel in his victories — but who, at the singular point of triumph — can only find a fellow conspirator to embrace. This is a traditionally meaty part, immortalised by Derek Jacobi in the 1996 Hamlet, but Kay Kay gives the character his own terrific edge, twitchy and tentative and surprisingly warm.
One particularly unforgettable moment in the film features Peer himself in a cameo as a man afraid to cross the threshold into his own house. That particular scene, and its subsequent, immediate resolution, comes from a short-story by Kashmiri writer Akhtar Mohiuddin. It is a great story of such frightening clarity that most filmmakers would have milked it into a longer scene, if not a short-film. Bhardwaj, now more than ever, seems assured of the power of his content, and knows when to pull his punches and doesn’t fall for obvious temptations. The result is a knockout, a film that makes you smell corpses, that makes you shudder with melancholia, and a film that points accusing fingers. A film that doesn’t flinch.
Is Haider Vishal Bhardwaj’s best film? That is the question. (The answer, naturally, lies behind the fact that we can even ask.)”
http://rajasen.com/2014/10/01/review-haider/
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March 24, 2015 at 6:24 PM
The X-Files, one of the most successful television programs of the 1990s, is returning.
The US network Fox has confirmed the series, and its two stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, will return for a six-episode limited series.
The original series aired between 1993 and 2002; a total of 202 episodes were produced.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/the-xfiles-to-return-with-david-duchovny-and-gillian-anderson-in-a-sixpart-series-20150325-1m6ykd.html#ixzz3VLQM1Awu
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March 25, 2015 at 2:39 AM
Awesome! Loved this series back in the day, in fact would watch the earlier series on tv now quite easily
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March 25, 2015 at 6:22 AM
somehow I never saw this. Not a single episode. bizarre but true!
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March 25, 2015 at 6:55 AM
Not one episode of the X files? You are missing out!!! For me the best American series period…I don’t watch a lot so not a lot to compare with
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March 25, 2015 at 7:07 AM
yes I really should check this out..! For the longest time I hadn’t even seen the Sopranos. Finally got into it much too late. Saw a few episodes and wasn’t quite as enthused. It was revolutionary for its time but I think I might have waited too much with all the great TV that has followed since. Still I should complete it.
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May 24, 2016 at 9:47 AM
I haven’t watch the new series yet except first episode. My wife was intrigued, so I said sod it…watch from beginning.
I’m reliving miss-spent youth all over again with The X Files. On series 6 now.
Still think its awesome, oh the writing, the wit between the leads. Teen crush all re-kindled!
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March 24, 2015 at 9:40 PM
Why do they have to be wheelchair-bound to get Dadasaheb Phalke?
http://www.hindustantimes.com/bollywood/why-do-they-have-to-be-wheelchair-bound-to-get-dadasaheb-phalke/article1-1330014.aspx
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March 25, 2015 at 3:23 AM
Next time they can choose someone comparatively young, hale and hearty like Raju Hirani, Vishal Bharadwaj, Mani Ratnam, Aamir Khan, Kamal Hasan and the like. If they want to consider producers, directors only. Not when they are wheel chair bound!
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March 25, 2015 at 3:51 AM
Good news for art-film lovers in Mumbai.
“For several years, this two-storied structure on Bandra’s Carter Road was only used sporadically by the neighbourhood’s residents for annual Holi parties. The BMC who owned the over 7000 square feet space, has now leased it to the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) for 30 years. The NFDC, along with top Bollywood filmmakers, is now turning this place into a film hub, dedicated to inide cinema. FilmBay, modelled on the lines of the IFC Center in New York, will exhibit alternative cinema and host other film-centric events.
The creative director is Kiran Rao. Anurag Kashyap, Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Banerjee, Rohan Sippy and film-critic Anupama Chopra make up the advisory panel. There are plans to revamp the structure, the cost of which will be borne by NFDC. ”
http://www.mumbaimirror.com/entertainment/bollywood/City-gets-its-own-art-house-theatre/articleshow/46682292.cms
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March 25, 2015 at 3:54 AM
Thats great news.
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March 25, 2015 at 6:53 AM
Anupam Kher has always been vocal about his dislike for Vishal Bharadwaj’s Haider and the manner in which he felt that the filmmaker skirted the issue of Kashmiri Pandits in the film. However, when the director was awarded the National Award in five categories and dedicated the awards to the Kashmiri pandit genocide, Anupam Kher took to Twitter to express his dislike. He wrote, “While I congratulate Vishal Bhardwaj for National Awards but dedicating them to #KashmiriPandits genocide is such a fraudish thing to do. When was last time Vishal Bhardwaj spoke about d plight of #KashmiriPandits? He in fact humiliated us by doing dance of devil at our temple. The so called ‘Hindu’ centric Govt. gave Haider 5 National Awards which many felt was anti-Hindu & anti Indian Army. This is NOT Talibanism.”
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/Bollywood-celebs-boldest-and-most-interesting-statements/photostory/46686278.cms
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March 25, 2015 at 12:19 PM
http://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/bollywood/anupam-kher-blasts-vishal-bhardwaj-after-haider-director-dedicates-national-award-to-kashmiri-pandits/
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March 25, 2015 at 7:28 AM
With the smashing trailer of Bombay Velvet that received a lots of acclamation from the audience and the B-town, Karan Johar is all set to excite the audience yet again with his upcoming production ‘Kapoor and Sons’ starring Sidharth Malhotra, Fawad Khan, Alia Bhatt and Rishi Kapoor.
Kapoor and Sons is a movie that’s about a modern family with a love triangle in it. Shakun Batra will be directing the movie.
http://www.india-forums.com/bollywood/hot-n-happening/50999-karan-johar-announces-his-next-production.htm
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March 25, 2015 at 7:49 AM
Has anybody spared a thought for that Kannada actor Vijay who got best actor award? Same thing happened to the marathi actress who won last year or so.
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March 25, 2015 at 2:52 PM
Sanchari Vijay, who bagged the best actor national award for his role in Kannada film “Nanu Avanalla Avalu” (I am not a he, but she), today said playing the character of a transgender was difficult even though he had done it earlier in a Prakash Raj-starrer movie.
Vijay, whose other film “Harivu” bagged the Best Kannada Film award,” said: “I am doubly elated.”
“Playing the character of a transgender was very difficult though I had played this character earlier in the tri-lingual Prakash Raj-starrer film, but that was a very small role,” he told PTI here after being chosen for the best actor award.
Vijay had played the transgender’s character in “Oggarane” (Kannada), “Un Samayal Arayil” (Tamil) and “Ulavacharu Biryani” (Telugu), a romantic film directed by Prakash Raj.
Though the Tamil and the Telugu versions didn’t do well, “Oggarane”, the Kannada version, became a huge hit.
Vijay said he did a lot of homework to portray the character as he paid several visits to the colony where transgenders stay, just to observe them react to different situations.
“I put in a lot of effort to understand and portray the role of a transgender, which is an unnatural phenomena to me because I am a straight man. I paid visits to them to understand and observe their mannerisms and how they reacted to different situations, which helped me play the character better,” he said.
He was declared the best actor for his poignant portrayal of a woman trapped in a man’s body, portraying a gamut of emotions as “she” struggles through confusion, rejection and humiliation to finally chart her own course with confidence and dignity.
Asked what was the most touching scene in the film, Vijay said, “The scene where a crude and also illegal surgery is performed, which is in real life done in Kadapa in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh. That scene I liked the most,” he said.
Getting this role was not easy as the filmmakers had rejected many of the original transgenders, and ultimately offered it to him after they were convinced of his acting skills, Vijay said.
“The filmmakers of this film had rejected many transgenders after their screen tests, but they offered me the role, may be they were convinced I could deliver on their expectations,” he said.
The award winning film, directed by B S Lingadevaru, narrates the life of a transgender. The film is based on “I am Vidya, an autobiography of Living Smile Vidya.”
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/467499/vijay-elated-winning-actor-award.html
Some of the national dailies could not even spell the film correctly.
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March 25, 2015 at 10:28 AM
Must watch video for all the” HINDI” film Industry fans. The tribute to Shammi Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan is outstanding !! Ranveer Singh is the man !!!
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March 26, 2015 at 4:48 AM
@Ranveer Singh is the man !!!
I am saying this after Band, Baja..Baarat. Though he is Less BO power He is man and Ranbeer is manly version of Neet Kapoor.
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March 26, 2015 at 4:51 AM
Just wath Ranveer in 58th filmfare award
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