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Siraj Syed is the India Correspondent for FilmFestivals.com and a member of FIPRESCI, the International Federation of Film Critics. He is a Film Festival Correspondent since 1976, Film-critic since 1969 and a Feature-writer since 1970. He is also an acting and dialogue coach. @SirajHSyed
Raid, Review: Concealing ceiling
Let us warn you in advance that this film is not about an army raid or a guerrilla foray into another country. ‘Raid’ here refers to an operation launched by an Income Tax (the original ‘IT’) official, with the help of his co-workers and the police, to unearth wealth that has not been accounted for and stowed away as ‘black’ assets, evading income tax, by a legislator. Based on a true story, and set in 1981, the movie has ju...
Rani Mukerji plays Brad Cohen in biopic Hichki, about living with Tourette Syndrome
Front of the Class, a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie shown on CBS in 2008, was viewed by over 12 million people. The movie is based on the true story of Brad Cohen, a young man diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome, who defies the odds, to become a teacher. Ten years later, it is coming to Indian screens as Hichki (hiccup), releasing on March 23, and a probable audience of 120 million or more. The earlier date announc...
FICCI FRAMES 2018, VIII: Glitches and beeps
It’s an age-old catch 22 situation: An event needs coverage, and a journalist needs events to cover. Symbiosis is the name of the game. In the given equation, a big event or a big media house may prove equal to each other, but an unequal arrangement—big event, small journalist; small event, big journalist--usually leads to bitterness. What confounds the issue is the playing of favourites: certain event organisers inviting only certain me...
FICCI FRAMES, VII: India’s filmed entertainment sector, 2016-2020E
EY--Re-imagining India's M&E sector; Ernst and Young Report, released 04 March, 2018, at FICCI FRAMES 18, Grand Hyatt Hotel, Mumbai
Most multilateral agencies see India grow above 7% in the medium-term. While the World Bank forecasts India to grow by 7.5% in both 2019 and 2020, IMF forecasts suggest the growth rate to be 7.4% in FY19 and further increase to 7.8% in FY201. The M&E sector grows with the ...
FICCI Frames 18, VI: Master Class by master director R. Balki
Ace ad film maker turned ace feature film director, R. Balki, chatted with senior TV journalist Anuradha Sengupta in a Master Class on the broad convention theme of Re-Imagining India’s Media & Entertainment Sector, at FICCI Frames 18, on the second working day of the three-day international convention. Balki has made two of his most successful films with India’s longest reigning superstar, Amitabh Bachchan, in the ...
FICCI-FRAMES 18, V: Keynote address of Mr. Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO, Viacom 18
After Sunday evening’s inaugural, where Ms. Smriti Irani, India’s Federal (Union) Minister for Information and Broadcasting & Textiles, was in an Q & A with one of India's biggest film personalities, producer-director-actor Karan Johar, Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO, Viacom18, a leading TV and film company, started the day’s proceedings on the first functional day at the three-day Convent...
Shashi Kapoors don’t die: Part II
The second and concluding part of a personal tribute to the great man.
It has not come soon, as you might have expected. My apologies. Too much was happening. But here we are, talking about a good actor and a great human being. Shashi Kapoor still lives.
In his day, was a star. And like many in the media, he loved good music. So, my friends and I were not really surprised to spot him leaving the hall after a Runa Laila live performance at Birla Matush...
Red Sparrow, Review: Spread-eagled
Think of an American film that is 158 minutes long--probably 150 minutes in a country like India, which has a reasonably strict censorship regime—and then read the following lines, found on the 20th Century Fox website, “As for the filming of the scenes and working with her Hunger Games director Francis Lawrence, she (Jennifer Lawrence) added: We talked about it extensively, which was really important for showing up on the day and there being no ...
The Valley, Review: A suicide, a steep cliff, the sea and a gun
Silicon it is. And IT. The Valley story is told from the perspective of an Indian family. It is placed in the present, or the not too distant past. The Valley follows the slice of life, realistic style of narration and strikes a chord frequently. In English, it features Indian, Pakistani and American actors, with only one easily identifiable name that Indians will relate too. Yet, it is recommended viewing.
The film retraces eve...
Ice, Review: Life v/s ice, too much too late
Melancholia guaranteed, but so is good cinema. Ice is a 15-minute Estonian film that has been shown at 28 film festivals so far (correction: 35; update provided by Anna Hints), and won four (five, she says) prizes too.
Harri is a lieutenant colonel in the Estonian army. Divorced, he only sees his ten-year-old son during the school holidays. Harri decides to make up for lost time and take him on a trip to an island where he went with his fath...
MIFF 2018, XIII: Ivan Leonodovich Maximov: Bizarre, darkly humorous
Ivan Maximov (sometimes spelt Maksimov), is a Producer, Screenwriter, Artist, Animator and Teacher from Russia. Maximov was born in Moscow in 1958 and studied at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (1976-82), following it up with a workshop course in cinema, under directors and screenwriters, like A.Yu. Khrzhanovsky and V.M. Ugarova.
At the beginning of his creative career, Ivan worked as an illustrator in various...
Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri, Review: Rape, murder and other black grey comedy
Outdoor advertising is no longer so called. The 21st century buzz-word is ‘Out-of-Home medium’, OOH. There have been many claims about the efficacy of such advertising, but no one has so far professed that it can help galvanise a police force into speedy action. Welcome to Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri, a 115-minute R-rated homicide drama that is reportedly dropping many clues a...
FICCI FRAMES IV: Four burning issues
FICCI FRAMES will be addressing some burning issues during its 2018 edition. Dour key areas have been identified in its press release.
1. Dwindling box office collections: What needs to be done to turn it around
2017 has been another year of dismal performance for Indian movies, especially the Hindi films. Even the A-listed stars couldn’t change the fate of the movies with poor storyline. A number of films, which were expected to perform well at th...
Black Panther, Review: Pantherium Vibranium Compendium
You first heard the name in 2010’s Iron Man 2. It was mentioned in 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, but Wakanda became an entity to reckon with in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, with Chadwick Boseman making his debut as Black Panther. So, do not confuse this outing with The Black Panther (1921) or The Black Panther (1977). On hand is no less than the eighteenth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). And hey, it ...
The Shape of Water, Review: Half full, half empty
It’s co-written and directed Guillermo del Toro. And here is an excerpt of the synopsis: In the hidden high-security government laboratory where she works, lonely Elisa is trapped in a life of isolation. Elisa's life is changed forever when she and co-worker Zelda discover a secret classified experiment. Sounds interesting? Yes. Premise can work on its own? As a sci-fi thriller, yes, but as an allegory and metaphor-packed Guillermo d...
Hostiles, review: It’s Cowboys v/s Red Indians again; think again, and again
They have made hundreds of films on the Wild West, about cowboys and Red Indians, settlers from Europe and red-skinned native inhabitants of a continent that Christopher Columbus has mistakenly thought was the one he had sailed out to discover--India. He arrived in 1492, and settlements started taking shape a few decades later. The United States Bill of Rights was passed in 1791, and Hostiles is set in 1892, a ...
PREVIEW, Hostiles: Review will follow
In his contribution to Studies in Classic American Literature, 1922-23, the British novelist D. H. Lawrence David Herbert Richards Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) offered a grim assessment of America and Americans: “All the other stuff, the love, the democracy, the floundering into lust, is a sort of by-play. The essential American soul is hard, isolate, stoic, and a killer. It has never yet melted.” Lawrence's observatio...
FICCI FRAMES 2018, III: Samuel Scott says TV is not dead, nor is it dying
A star attraction at FICCI FRAMES 2018 will be Samuel Scott, who will shine a ray of hope amidst doomsday pundits and make a case that ‘TV is neither dead nor is it not dying.’
Marketing Keynote Speaker and Tech Contrarian, Scott is a former journalist, newspaper editor, and director of marketing and communications in the high-tech industry. Samuel Scott is now a TV advertising speaker, and...
FICCI FRAMES 2018, II: Best Animated FRAMES Awards by FICCI
The Best Animated Frames (BAF) Awards were started in 2004 by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), to recognise and honour students and professionals in the field of Animation. They grew over the years to encompass awards not only in Animation, but also in the VFX and Gaming fields. The contest now receives top-notch entries from across the globe.
The 15th edition of these awards will take place on Mar...
MIFF Director moved to IIMC
After a very short stint as Festival Director at MIFF and Additional Director General, Films Division, Manish Desai moves nest week to the Indian Instiuteof Mass Communication, New Dehi, as Additional Director General.
He has sent a goodbye note to journalists, including this writer.
"Hi,
It has been a decade long association with my friends from Media in Mumbai. My 10 years stint gave me an unprecedented exposure in the form of handling media even...
Exclusive interview with Turkish animator Berat İlk
Animation artist, director and producer, Berat İlk, is an Eskişehir Anadolu University Cartoon Film graduate. İlk, whose expertise is StopMotion, has been among the founding partners of the reputed animation studio, Anima. He has directed or participated as an animator over 100 commercial projects, using various animation techniques like 3D, cell animation, still drawings, flash, puppet, cut out, claymation and many more stop motion tech...
Bubosc; early days.
MIFF 2018, XXII: France had strong presence
Dominique Dubosc and Pierre Assouline were the two veteran French 'stars' that shone on the Mumbai winter sky last week as they participated on the 15th Mumbai International Film Festival for documentary, short fiction and animation films. The week-long festival concluded late at night on the 3rd of February. Dominique served on the International Competition Jury while Pierre was part of the National Competition judges.
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MIFF 2018, XXI: Suicide story from Austria, Brother Jakob, Are You Sleeping? wins Golden Conch
Stefan Bohun’s personal documentary won the prestigious Golden Conch award in the International Competition category at the 15th Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) for Documentary, Animation and Short Films. The award was presented at south Mumbai’s prestigious Tata Theatre. The award carries a Rs. 1 million (ten lakh) cash component.
Stefen Bohun with his tr...
MIFF 2018, XX, Open Forum No. 5
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MIFF 2018, XIX: Pierre Assouline
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About Siraj Syed
 Syed Siraj
(Siraj Associates)
Siraj Syed is a film-critic since 1970 and a Former President of the Freelance Film Journalists' Combine of India.
He is the India Correspondent of FilmFestivals.com and a member of FIPRESCI, the international Federation of Film Critics, Munich, Germany
Siraj Syed has contributed over 1,015 articles on cinema, international film festivals, conventions, exhibitions, etc., most recently, at IFFI (Goa), MIFF (Mumbai), MFF/MAMI (Mumbai) and CommunicAsia (Singapore). He often edits film festival daily bulletins.
He is also an actor and a dubbing artiste. Further, he has been teaching media, acting and dubbing at over 30 institutes in India and Singapore, since 1984.
Bandra West, Mumbai India View my profileSend me a message
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