Dream Girl 2, Trailer launch: Meet Ayushwomann, the body behind the voice Meeting Dream Girl 2 was not easy. In fact, it was 3 times as difficult as one would have imagined. First hurdle was the location hunt, as the invitation just said Meta Office, BKC. BKC is a huge settlement, and it took us (me and my friend Prasad Sovani, who had come down from Pune) a while to locate the venue, though we still managed to arrive on time. Secondly, we had to wait about 45 minutes to get identity badges a...

Khela Hobe, Review: Om Puri lives, six years after his death Your gut reaction on seeing a film like Khela Hobe is to lambast it, tear it to shreds and dump it in the bin. You can have a field day showcasing your linguistic prowess and delivering a lecture on the prolific use of demeaning adjectives. But somewhere along the line, a modicum of empathy surfaces. This is largely due to the passing away of lead actor Om Puri, a friend, who died over six years ago. Obviously, this film is more tha...

Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2-Song launch at Imagicaa: How far will you go to watch a film song? Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 is the second part of the franchise, the title of which means Maze or Labyrinth. Imagicaa is an amusement park situated at Khopoli, some 80 kms from Mumbai. The invitation from the Public Relations was tempting: 1.00 pm - Media assemble time at T-Series office, Andheri West   2:00 PM - Departure For Imagicaa, with Media   - Media to be segregated in 2 buses   5:00 PM - ...

Dehati Disco, trailer launch: Ace choreographer Ganesh Acharya debuts as leading man They chose International Dance Day to release the trailer of the film Dehati (Rural) Disco at the deserted and decrepit Golden Tobacco cigarette factory, in suburban Vile Parle, Mumbai, which stopped production of their Panama brand decades ago, and the place, which was a landmark once upon a time, now constitutes vestigial remain. Dance has always been the heart of our Indian cinema. We have seen several ic...

Babloo Bachelor, Review: Bachelor and the marriage lure Of all the themes that have been chosen for making Hindi films over the last several decades, marriage is the most common. Till the dawn of the 21st century, a host of film scripts were woven around the boy-meets-girl, they cannot marry due to a plethora of reasons, the most common being inequality of status, a villain was added for effect, and it all ended well. Now, with mobile phones, social media, so many mixed marriages and live-ins...

Kashi—In Search of Ganga, Review: Searchomania and Schizophrenia Suspense thriller it could be. It is not. Search for a sibling it could be. It is not. A film that takes the audience for a royal ride, it is. A classic case of the script and the direction tying up the story in knots, and then, not knowing how to unravel the Gordian knotty, only getting naughty and clever by half. Lucknow-based journalist Devina meets Kaashi in Kaashi (another name for Varanasi or Banaras) and takes an ...

Prof. Waman Kendre and Nawazuddin Siddiqui Curtain falls on NSD’s historic Theatre Olympics after 16-day Mumbai marathon Staggered across 17 cities, National School of Drama’s 8th Theatre Olympics came to an end after 16 continuous days of performances, seminars, master classes, interactions and street theatre shows. A glittering closing ceremony was held at the Kamgar Maidan, Elphinstone Road, Central Mumbai, not very far from the venues of the Olympics themselves. Among the lu...

American Horizon on the Indian Kshitij, a month away from release Rare indeed. A Mumbai-based film professional named Navroz Prasla (no, not the Parsee or Irani Navroz, but a Khoja community member) moves to Houston, USA  and sets up a media and event company, gets interested in a Marathi story, and produces an all Marathi cast and crew film called Kshitij (A Horizon), the only non-Maharashtrian being Oscar-winning Sound Designer, Resul Pookutty. The film is now complete, and the PR age...

Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon, Review: Odd Kapils                                                                                        What is Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon (KKPK)? A remake of the Kannada film Nimbe Huli, produced by Subhash Ghai? A remake of some yet to be identified Eng...