Indian Film Related Links

[RR]

Post link announcements here. Pls do NOT create new topics for each link. Such topics will be deleted.

[arihantarihant007]

thanks for tellin :lol: :lol: :twisted:

[RR]

Indian short film in Oscar race

Ashvin Kumar's "Little Terrorist" has made it, where "Shwaas" failed, to the Oscars' nominations list, but in the Short Film category. Shot on a shoe-string budget and in five days, it has won prizes at several international festivals.
http://www.hindu.com/fr/2005/02/04/stories/2005020401950600.htm

A film from the heart
In his own words, Sanjay Leela Bhansali `committed hara-kiri' with his debut "Khamoshi." But "Devdas" made up for it. With "Black," he enters a road not taken. He tells GOWRI RAMNARAYAN that aesthetically, it is his best film.
http://www.hindu.com/fr/2005/02/04/stories/2005020401920100.htm

[donje]

A very cool Bollywood Dvds website. check them out http://www.bollywooddvds.com

[amoi]

Hello,

Its that any body know abt Tamil songs website that can be download to CD (burn to CD)



:)

[Kherkhaw]

Download latest of Tamil and Bollywood movie trailors for FREE!

www.aziaportal.com (http://www.aziaportal.com)

[Girish11]

Given below are a few sites where you can find Indian movies,
all languages, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam etc and songs,
ring tones, documentaries etc etc. These sites upload the files
in torrent format. But remember, it is a must to upload as much
as you download to keep the sites alive. You can download
everything for free but if you dont upload and maintian a
1:1 ratio of download/upload, you will be banned. Some sites
have the membership closed, some, you will need invitation
from existing members to join. Enjoy.

www.bwtorrents.com
www.desitorrents.com
www.idesir.com
www.tmstorrents.com
www.tamiltorrents.com

[janan]

thanxx

[zakinfo]

Hi Every One

I found great site for music lovers.
Latest Bollywood Movies are Avialable
and Latest Mp3 Music lile : Saawan, Shaadi se Pheley, Taxi No.9211, Aksar, Sun Zara, and many moree >> ALL ARE FREE GRAP NOW !

Logon http://www.djzaki.com

Sunny

[Wibha]

telugu and hindi movies

www.brainofandhra.com

tamil

www.tamilblood.tk
www.tamilservice.com

do any of u no a website for kannada movies???

[Sudarshan C R]

You can try
www.kannadamusicworld.com
www.kannadaaudio.com
www.chitraranga.com (in kannada language)
www.chitraloka.com (in kannada language)

[bulb_mani]

www.indiaglitz.com --> Hindi , Malayalam , Tamil , Telugu , Kannada
www.cinesouth.com --> Malayalam , Tamil , Telugu , Kannada
www.behindwoods.com --> tamil

[jackdawson2007]

thanks

[jackdawson2007]

thanks

[jackdawson2007]

thanks man

[sarna_blr]

http://in.movies.yahoo.com/news-detail/34781/Baby-Shamili-turns-heroine.html

Baby Shamili, the younger sister of actress Shalini, may be more familiar to Tamil cinegoers for her amazing portrayal in ace Mani Rathnam's Anjali as a mentally-challenged child. Shamili won the prestigious National Award in 1991 for her this performance when she was just three years old. In fact, baby Shamili came to the limelight with Malayalam films much before her entry into Tamil. She mesmerized the audience with her great performances in many Malayalam films in the 90's. She was last seen in Malayalam with Mammootty and Mohanlal in Fazil's Harikrishnans (1998), where she played the youngest sister of the superstars. Baby Shamili, a pretty teenager today, is all set to make a comeback as a full-fledged heroine soon. Shamili bagged a chance to play the heroine in a new Telugu film opposite chocolate hero Siddharth. This untitled film will be directed by debutant Anand Ranga, who earlier assisted Bhaskar in his blockbuster Bommarillu. Anand Renga is said to have impressed Shamili with the story. D.V.V. Danayya will be producing Shamili's debut flick under Universal media banner. This film will start rolling from October 1.

[Meera-ssg]

http://in.movies.yahoo.com/movies/Main-Aurr-Mrs-Khanna/details-10323.html

They never tire to make such stories.

[shaileshh]

Songs and Chords site www.songsandchords.com

[Mahavir]

Here is a best page describing Top Bollywood Actors:


Top Actors of Bollywood Movies
http://jainismus.hubpages.com/hub/Top-Actors-of-Bollywood-Movies

Also See:
Some Flaws in Indian War Movies
http://jainismus.hubpages.com/hub/Some-Flaws-in-Indian-War-Movies

[raagadevan]

"A century of cinema"

"While it is difficult to define, precisely, what Indian cinema is, it's easy to see why its hundredth year, in 2013, is going to be celebrated. It's a matter of national pride, like a hundred hundreds in cricket — and in at least one sense, there's genuine cause. Ours is the only cinema — let's ignore, for now, the slightly thorny issue of identifying “our cinema” — that has not been squelched under the Hollywood juggernaut."

"The National Awards, over the years, have made something of a habit of surprising us... And sometimes, like it happened this year, we are surprised by how little we still know about our nation. The award for Best Feature Film was shared by “Deool”, made in Marathi, and “Byari”, a drama named for the dialect spoken by the people in it. The surprise, to some of us, wasn't that a film in the Byari language won. The surprise was that a language named Byari existed."

"The other hope I harbour while commemorating this centenary is that subtitles be made mandatory for films made in every Indian tongue, even Hindi, which, contrary to the Centre's assumption, isn't exactly a nationally understood language. Perhaps we'd be better equipped to define Indian cinema if we saw films in Malayalam and Marathi and Bengali and Assamese, perfectly in harmony with each moment (and not just a vague sense of the plot)."

http://www.thehindu.com/arts/magazine/article3265543.ece?homepage=true

[raagadevan]

‘Barfi!’ to represent India at Oscars

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/news-interviews/Barfi-to-represent-India-at-Oscars/articleshow/16508913.cms

[iqojoxifidoc]

‘They call me H’wood heroine’
‘They call me H’wood heroine’

Shravanthi Sainath might only be in Class 12, but the girl is already a powerhouse of talent. In what can only be called a dream debut, the petite young dancer has been cast as the 16-year-old Pi’s girlfriend in the film, The Life of Pi, which hits the screens today. “I play a 16-year old Bharatanatyam dancer in the film,” begins Shravanthi. “The scenes are set in the ‘70s and I play a typical Tamilian girl living in Puducherry.”

Ask her how she bagged the role, and she explains, “I am a dancer and have been learning dance right from the age of five at Sridevi Vidyalaya under the tutelage of Sheela Unnikrishnan. The crew of the film was looking for a fresh face to cast in the film and they landed up at my dance school. My teacher gave them three photographs of girls from my class, including mine, and I was shortlisted. Following that, there was a small audition of sorts at the dance class itself, and the crew shot videos that were taken to New York. The next thing I know, I was in Taiwan for a screen test and the role was all mine.”
http://http://www.deccanchronicle.com/tabloid/chennai/%E2%80%98they-call-me-h%E2%80%99wood-heroine%E2%80%99-650

[iqojoxifidoc]

It’s about taking a leap of faith'http://http://newindianexpress.com/entertainment/interviews/article1323871.ece

2;Lyrical portrayal of a crazy adventure

http://http://newindianexpress.com/cities/hyderabad/article1352240.ece

Life of Pi opens to Bombay Jayashri’s voice lilting a lullaby, as the camera follows a collection of the most exotic animals that shared screen space outside of National Geographic. This farm, we know, is so impossible in Pondicherry that, already, even before we hear of Francis Mamaji who was born with a wide chest and skinny legs, we’ve been brought to the edge of magic realism.

This is the story of a boy delivered by a herpetologist, named after a Parisian swimming pool, introduced to a trinity of religious trinities, and left adrift with a zebra, an orangutan, a hyena, and a tiger in the middle of the Pacific ocean. We meet the boy when he’s in his fifties, making wisecracks about the guilt “Catholic Hindus” carry around, as he tells his tale to an author (Rafe Spall) seeking fellowship in the wake of a novel that “sputtered, coughed and died”.

The character of the writer is presumably taken from Yann Martel’s Acknowledgments in the novel, where he mentions India being a cheaper place to live in than Portugal. And the film finds its voice through juxtaposition of the past with the present, given coherence by the narrative of the adult Pi (Irrfan Khan). The tones of the colour palette change as we move from the sixties to the seventies to the millennium, from Pondicherry to the high seas to Montreal.

I can’t recall when a more beautiful film was made based on a brooding fantasy novel. And this one is arguably better than the book, because it builds on it. Here, we don’t see just one aspect of the life of Pi, but his whole life - his family, his first love, his philosophical preoccupations, his adventure, his guilt, his sorrow, his new life. In the poetic fluidity of the film, the allegory of life and devotion that is the premise of the book draws us in. It isn’t cloying, it’s heartbreaking. It isn’t optimistic, it’s incidental. This isn’t an adventure, it’s life.

Somehow, Ang Lee makes us laugh far more often than the script warrants. Sometimes, it’s the genius of lines like, “Thank you, Vishnu, for introducing me to Christ”. Sometimes, it’s the timing of as simple a word as “idiot”. Sometimes, it’s a manual for survival that suggests “community singing” as a way to keep one’s hopes up. Most often, it’s the seamless manner in which the screenplay guides the actors, so that every coincidence irrationally pushes the story further into the realm of credibility. Among my favourite scenes is that of the family’s reaction to Pi’s search for religion. Another is the manner in which Piscine changes his name to ‘Pi’, convincing his schoolmates of it - though that’s slightly marred by his getting the value of pi wrong. Even in his small role, Adil Hussain, playing a polio-afflicted zoo owner, shows us what a fine actor he is. And Tabu, except for the atrocious Tamil she speaks (seriously, why not dub?), is a decent fit. But the revelation in the film is young Suraj Sharma, who outshines Irrfan Khan, to make our memory of the teenage Pi more abiding than that of the adult Pi. He never hams, even when he has to do the most ridiculous things.

With a script that is so restrained, the overwhelming beauty of the film truly touches the audience. The graphics are so well done we can rarely make out how much of it is CGI.

[iqojoxifidoc]

Tamil Pi has less takers in Pondy
It may be shot here based on a story that happened here. But, the Tamil version of Life of Pi, the latest movie from Oscar-award-winning director Ang Lee, has apparently failed to enthuse film buffs in Puducherry when it was released on Friday.

The theatre was half empty for the first three shows and the trend is likely to continue, according to a theatre staff member.

“We have 1,098 seats and nearly half were filled,” an employee of the Raja Theatre told Express.

This lukewarm response comes as a surprise as large portions of the movie were filmed in Pi’s native place Puducherry. Life of Pi is a screen adaptation of Canadian author Yann Martel’s 2001 work by the same name. The adventure drama, shot in 3D, revolves around a perilous voyage that 16-year-old Piscine Molitor Patel (Pi) is literally thrown into following his family’s bid to leave Puducherry during the Emergency. The film depicts Pi’s magic realistic struggle to survive a 227-day journey in the Pacific Ocean onboard a lifeboat, fighting hunger, uncertainty, loneliness and a Royal Bengal tiger.

Muthukumar, who watched the 2.30 pm show felt the second half of the film was a bit of a drag. But he lauded Suraj Sharma’s acting.

Indian actor Sharma (17) played the role of young Pi.

There were a few who were impressed by the visual appeal of Lee’s work. “It is pictured beautifully. We cannot believe that some of the parts shown are Puducherry,” said Jagan, who walked in for a matinee show.

Meanwhile, some movie-goers lamented the fact that the movie was released in Tamil. “I think I missed the real experience by watching the Tamil version,” said Ananda.

As Vijay-starrer Thuppakki continues to score high with the city’s box office, theatre employees seem skeptical about Life of Pi’s success in the Union Territory.

http://http://newindianexpress.com/states/tamil_nadu/article1352549.ece

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BzowSv5CrU (http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BzowSv5CrU http://cinema.vikatan.com/articles/news/8/120)
http://cinema.vikatan.com/articles/news/8/120 (http://cinema.vikatan.com/articles/news/8/120)

[raagadevan]

“Top Ten Bollywood Movies of 2012”- The Times of India/idiva.com

Agneepath (January)

Kahaani (March)

Vicky Donor (April)

Gangs of Wasseypur I & II (May/August)

Ek Tha Tiger (August)

Jism 2 (August)

Barfi! (September)

English Vinglish (October)

Jab Tak Hain Jaan (October)

Talaash (November)


http://idiva.com/photogallery-entertainment/top-10-bollywood-movies-of-2012/17949/2

[raagadevan]

Nobody else could have played Raju (Guide): Waheeda Rehman

On Dev Anand's first death anniversary, which falls tomorrow, Waheeda Rehman shares the good times she spent with her favourite co-star

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/news-interviews/Nobody-else-could-have-played-raju-guide-Waheeda-Rehman/articleshow/17451766.cms

[raagadevan]

Dilip Kumar: No need to go to Hollywood to prove myself

On his 90th birthday today, thespian Dilip Kumar talks about his childhood, career and the current crop in Bollywood

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/news-interviews/Dilip-Kumar-No-need-to-go-to-Hollywood-to-prove-myself/articleshow/17556631.cms

[raagadevan]

The home and the world

By Baradwaj Rangan - The Hindu - February 15, 2013

Making the case that a certain kind of “good cinema” can be made without adhering to the aesthetic traditions of what’s traditionally accepted as “good cinema.”

http://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/cinema-columns/the-home-and-the-world/article4418461.ece?homepage=true

[raagadevan]

The next dimension

"If the increase in the number of 3D films — Bollywood and regional (not to forget re-releases of hits!) is any indication, it seems like a win-win situation for everyone involved."

http://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/the-next-dimension/article4494494.ece?homepage=true

[raagadevan]

60th National Film Awards:

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/national-film-awards-irrfan-khan-wins-best-actor-vicky-donor-best-film/1089801/

The Complete List:

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/national-awards-list-of-winners/1089807/

[raagadevan]

60th National Film Awards - The (Really) Complete List:

1. Best Feature Film - Paan Singh Tomar (Hindi); Director Tigmanshu Dhulia (Swarna Kamal medal and Rs 2,50,000) Producer: UTV Software Communications (Swarna Kamal medal and Rs 2,50,000)

2. Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director - Chittagong (Hindi) Producer and Director: Bedabrata Pain; and 101 Chodiyangal (Malayalam) Producer: Thomas Kottackkakom Dir: Siddhartha Siva (Swarna Kamal medal and Rs 1,25,000)

3. Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment - Vicky Donor (Hindi) Producer Sunil Lulla, John Abraham, Ronnie Lahiri, Ram Mirchandani, Dir: Shoojit Sircar; Ustad Hotel (Malayalam) Producer: Listin Stephen, Dir: Anwar Rasheed (Swarna Kamal medal and Rs 2,00,000)

4. Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration - Thanichallanjan (Malayalam) Producer Cherian Philippose (Rajat Kamal medal and Rs 1,50,000), Dir: Babu Thiruvalla (Rajat Kamal medal and Rs 1,50,000)

5. Best Film on Social Issues: Spirit (Malayalam) Producer MJ Antony (Rajat Kamal medal and Rs 1,50,000), Dir: Renjith (Rajat Kamal medal and Rs 1,50,000)

6. Best Children's Film - Dekh Indian Circus (Hindi) Producer: Mahaveer Jain (Swarna Kamal medal and Rs 1,50,000), Dir: Mangesh Hadawale (Swarna Kamal medal and Rs 1,50,000)

7. Best Film on Environment and Conservation/preservation: Black Forest (Malayalam) Producer: Baby Mathew Somatheeram (Rajat Kamal medal and Rs 1,50,000), Dir: Joshy Mathew (Rajat Kamal medal and Rs 1,50,000)

8.Best Animation Film - Delhi Safari (Hindi) Producer: Anupama Patil (Swarna Kamal medal and Rs 1,00,000), Dir: Nikhil Advani (Swarna Kamal medal and Rs 1,00,000), Animator Rafique Shaikh (Swarna Kamal medal and Rs 1,00,000)

9. Best Direction - Dhag (Marathi) Dir: Shivaji Lotan Patil (Swarna Kamal and Rs 2,50,000)

10.Best Actor - Paan Singh Tomar (Hindi) Actors: Irrfaan (Rajat Kamal medal and Rs 50,000), Vikram Gokhale (Rajat Kamal medal and Rs 50,000)

11.Best Actress - Dhag (Marathi) Actress: Usha Jadhav (Rajat Kamal medal and Rs 50,000)

12.Best Supporting Actor - Vicky Donor (Hindi) Actor: Anu Kapoor (Rajat Kamal medal and Rs 50,000)

13. Best Supporting Actress - Vicky Donor (Hindi) Dolly Ahluwalia (Rajat Kamal medal and Rs 50,000); Thanichallanjan (Malayalam) Kalpana (Rajat Kamal medal and Rs 50,000)
Ads by Google

14. Best Child Artist - Dekh Indian Circus (Hindi), Actor: Virendra Pratap; 101 Chodiyangal, Actor: Minon (Rajat Kamal medal and Rs 50,000)

15.Best Male Playback Singer - Chittagong (Hindi) Singer: Shankar Mahadevan, Bolo Na (Rajat Kamal medal and Rs 50,000)

16.Best Female Playback Singer - Samhita (Marathi) Singer: Aarti Anklekar Tikekar, Palakein Naa Moondon (Rajat Kamal medal and Rs 50,000)

17. Best Cinematography - Ko: YAD, Cameraman: Sudheer Palsane (Rajat Kamal medal and Rs 50,000) Laboratory: Prasad Film Laboratory, Chennai (Rajat Kamal medal and Rs 50,000)

18. Best Screenplay - Screenplay Writer (Original) Kahani (Hindi) Sujoy Ghosh (Rajat Kamal medal and Rs 50,000), Screenplay writer (Adapted) Oh My God (Hindi) Bhavesh Mandalia, Umesh Shukla (Rajat Kamal medal and Rs 50,000) and Dialogues Ustaad Hotel (Malayalam) Anjali Menon (Rajat Kamal medal and Rs 50,000)

19. Best Audiography - Location Sound Recordist Annayum Rasoolam (Malayalam) Radhakrishnan S (Rajat Kamal medal and Rs 50,000); Sound Designer, Shabdo (Bengali) Anirban Sengupta, Dipankar Chaki (Rajat Kamal medal and Rs 50,000); Re-recordist of final mixed track Gangs of Wasseypur (Hindi) Alok De, Sinoy Joseph, Shreejesh Nair (Rajat Kamal medal and Rs 50,000)

20.Best Editing - Kahaani (Hindi) Namrata Rao (Rajat Kamal medal and Rs 50,000)

21. Best Production Design - Vishwaroopam (Tamil) Boontawee Thor Taweepasas, Lalgudi N Ilayaraja (Rajat Kamal medal and Rs 50,000)

22. Best Costume Designer - Paradesi (Tamil) Poornima Ramaswamy (Rajat Kamal medal and Rs 50,000)

23. Best Make-up Artist - Vazakkuenn 18/9 (Tamil) Raja (Rajat Kamal medal and Rs 50,000)

24. Best Music Direction - Songs: Samhita (Marathi) Shailender Barve (Rajat Kamal medal and Rs 50,000); Kaliyachan (Malayalam) Biji Bal (Rajat Kamal medal and Rs 50,000)

25. Best Lyrics - Chittagong (Hindi) Prasoon Joshi, Bolo Na (Rajat Kamal medal and Rs 50,000)

26. Special Jury Award - Chitrangada (Bengali) Rituparno Ghosh; Kahaani (Hindi) Gangs of Wasseypur (Hindi) Dekh Indian Circus (Hindi) Nawazuddin Siddiqui (Rajat Kamal medal and Rs 2,00,000)

27. Best Special Effects - Eega (Telugu) Makuta VFX (Rajat Kamal medal and Rs 50,000)

28. Best Choreogrpahy - Vishwaroopam (Tamil) Pandit Birju Maharaj (Rajat Kamal medal and Rs 50,000)

[raagadevan]

Doing what she loves best

By Anusuya Menon - The Hindu; May 11, 2013

Actor-director Revathi is comfortable in her own space. She talks about her two new Hindi films and life on television.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/doing-what-she-loves-best/article4704343.ece

[raagadevan]

True to its title, "Ugly" portrays awful side of India

“An asphyxiating picture of India, and like its title, its ugly, ugly, ugly!” wrote the influential French weekly, Telerama, discussing director-scriptwriter-producer Anurag Kashyap’s latest offering Ugly, which is in competition in the Director’s Fortnight section at the Cannes Film Festival.

http://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/true-to-its-title-ugly-portrays-awful-side-of-india/article4728292.ece

[raagadevan]

A gutsy filmmaker whose craft transcended the confines of region

A meticulous screenwriter-director whose films blended the classical literary traditions of his native Bengal with a new-age sensibility and craft that transcended the confines of region, Rituparno Ghosh was one of the most provocative voices of contemporary Indian cinema.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/a-gutsy-filmmaker-whose-craft-transcended-the-confines-of-region/article4765457.ece

[raagadevan]

Loss and loneliness

"The poetry of cinema can teach one to care deeply."

By Harsh Mander- The Hindu, June 15, 2013

http://www.thehindu.com/features/magazine/loss-and-loneliness/article4817417.ece?homepage=true

[cokepepsi]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXX7h5OxXcs

dookudu would be dubbed in malayaalam
mahesh glorious victory would be urssssss..love u.

[raagadevan]

Ayyo, Rama, what’s aappening?

"Not every Tamilian is characterised by forehead stripes, a fondness for idlis and an accent that appears to have been gargled through a mouth full of sambar." "But then, does every Punjabi male start to shake his shoulders to the sound of an off-screen dhol as a chorus bursts into balle-balle? Is every Christian father a cheerful lush who trundles off to a portrait of the Virgin Mary after proclaiming 'Hum God se baat karega, man'?"

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/ayyo-rama-whats-aappening/article4843665.ece

[RAGHAVENDRA]

100 years of Indian Cinema

Films Division Documentary Part 1

http://youtu.be/k1KfFLmQUos

Films Division Documentary Part 2

http://youtu.be/qExrYqyhJ3U

[raagadevan]

A halo around male antics

By Chitra Padmanabhan - The Hindu, July 21, 2013

"There can be many reasons why Raanjhanaa is a hit, but clearly, none of them can be very comforting."

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/a-halo-around-male-antics/article4935937.ece?homepage=true


Redeemed by realism

By Anand Venkateswaran - The Hindu, July 21, 2013

"If box office numbers are anything to go by, the approval is not isolated. Raanjhanaa crossed Rs. 50 crore at the end of its second week. In a month, it had breached the Rs. 100 crore mark, making it the third-biggest release of 2013."

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/redeemed-by-realism/article4935902.ece?homepage=true


Crazy love in Banaras

By Swara Bhaskar - The Hindu, July 21, 2013

"Is Raanjhanaa the tale of an irrational, impassioned, obsessive lover, or thinly disguised male supremacist storytelling?" "A male-centric perspective? Yes. Politically incorrect? Indeed! Disturbing? Certainly! Emotionally compelling? Also! Misogynistic? I beg to differ."

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/crazy-love-in-banaras/article4935904.ece?homepage=true

[raagadevan]

The Mythical Madrasi

"Chennai Express is just the excuse for Shah Rukh to get on the train to somewhere South and just like a character yanks the chain and stops the train somewhere in the middle of nowhere (near an exotic waterfall because that’s where the mythical South for the cinema begins) the makers set the film in a mythical land in the middle of nowhere. Just about as credible as Priyadarshan trying to pass off Ooty as a village in the North in his comedies. The result: Chennai Express is as funny or cute as Joey’s French. Just like Joey Tribbiani (Friends) genuinely believes he can speak French and auditions for a French play, Shah Rukh and Rohit Shetty genuinely think they are showing us the South."

http://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/the-mythical-madrasi/article5032236.ece?homepage=true

[leosimha]

How Chennai Express changed the Hindi film market in the south

Aug 29, 2013 (http://www.firstpost.com/author/hidden)

By Sreedhar Pillai

For Bollywood films, Tamil Nadu and Kerala (TK area) are of least priority as their share is the lowest in the domestic market. In fact this territory is by and large Chennai because 75 percent of the box-office share of a Hindi film in TK comes from Chennai and its suburbs.

Chennai Express has changed that equation. While it became the biggest grosser in Indian cinema, in the TK area it became a runaway blockbuster netting an unbelievable Rs 8.55 crore in 18 days. It is phenomenal by any standard as the maximum that the previous record holder in TK area – 3 Idiots – could net was only Rs 4.25 cr. It clearly shows that Chennai Express has opened the market for Hindi films in the south is and more areas in Tamil Nadu are falling to the lure of Bollywood.

Annamalai, a leading theatre owner said: “Earlier Hindi films used to run only in Chennai city, Coimbatore and Kerala, but now more towns in Tamil Nadu are screening them on a regular basis. I would say Chennai Express is a huge hit because the flavour of the content was similar to mass Tamil films. And the lungi dance song in the film was a huge tribute to our “thalaivar” Superstar Rajinikanth.” However, industry sources say the film did extraordinary business in Tamil Nadu mainly because of the aggressive promotions done by Shah Rukh Khan. He flew down to Chennai along with Deepika Padukone for the finale of ‘Meena Hunt’ organised by a leading silk sari shop which had custom-made the saris worn by Deepika in the film.

http://www.firstpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Chennai-express22.jpg (http://www.firstpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Chennai-express22.jpg)Poster of Chennai Express.

The contest was aimed at finding young talent from the three cities Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai, who could mimic the accent, dance moves and style of ‘Meena’, Deepika’s character in the film At the event in a five star hotel in Chennai, SRK charmed the audiences and the media, and did things that very few superstars would do to keep his promotions going. A man from the audience at the event told the anchor of the show: “It’s my dream to see Shah Rukh Khan in a sari!”

SRK made the man’s bizarre dream come true. Shah Rukh Khan sported a sari as a lungi and did the Lungi Dance along with Deepika Padukone, and the next day’s Tamil newspapers and channels splashed it big. The local media went gaga over SRK’s impromptu act and asked a valid question – which Tamil actor would do such innovative and daring promotions for his own films? No Tamil star does the kind of promotions an average Bollywood star does for his films. In fact, big star contracts in Tamil have a clause saying that the actor will not in any way do public promotions for his films!

Shah Rukh during his promotional tours said that the lungi dance was a tribute to superstar Rajinikanth and he has taken the latter’s permission for the song. In one of his media interactions SRK added: “I thought the timing is good. If you don’t pay a tribute to Rajini sir in a film called Chennai Express, then it is incomplete”. Another major factor for the unprecedented success was the delayed release of Tamil superstar Vijay’s Thalaivaa, which was scheduled to hit the screens on the same day as Chennai Express.

Some of the screens which had booked Thalaivaa switched to Chennai Express, making its opening bigger. Tamil actor and film historian Mohan Ram who acted in Chennai Express said: “The southern audience has always had a special fondness for garam masala in food and films- the film was pure entertainment. A Hindi film with so much Tamil, the masala becomes local and relished. The icing was the Lungi dance – the Rajini tribute – which made it a blockbuster here. The presence of other known faces like Sathyaraj, Delhi Ganesh and yours truly added to the flavour.”

With the mega success of Chennai Express the price of big star Hindi films has gone through the roof. Theatres in rural Tamil Nadu are willing to screen Hindi films as they are commercially viable. In Kerala, the local Malayalam television channels now have special shows on Bollywood. The top Bollywood stars regularly attend gold shop openings in the state and are even featured in local ads. Hrithik Roshan’s Krrish 3 has been sold for TK area, three months ahead of its release, at a whopping price, double of what a normal Bollywood big film gets.

The sci-fi sequel is expected to open for Diwali in 300 screens in TK area, with even a Tamil dubbed version. Ironically, the change of mind and taste is all happening in Tamil Nadu which in the past had witnessed an anti-Hindi agitation and non-release of Hindi films. Thanks to SRK and his Chennai Express, Bollywood has finally conquered this last frontier.


Link - http://www.firstpost.com/bollywood/how-chennai-express-changed-the-hindi-film-market-in-the-south-1068761.html

[raagadevan]

Notes of discord in (film) music industry

Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammed Rafi, who together gave Hindi cinema several melodious songs, once hummed a tune of discord. Lata Mangeshkar said singers too deserved royalty of songs along with composers and lyricists, but Rafi begged to differ. That was over half-a-century ago. The controversy is back with the singers’ organisation, Indian Singers’ Rights Association (ISRA), demanding at a press conference in Chennai recently that it would soon begin collecting royalty for their songs.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/notes-of-discord-in-music-industry/article5075707.ece

[raagadevan]

Framing women’s narratives

"The ongoing Open Frame International Film Festival focuses on narratives of and by women"

http://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/framing-womens-narratives/article5120222.ece?homepage=true

[raagadevan]

‘The Good Road’ nominated as India’s entry for Oscars

Gyan Correa’s National award-winning Gujarati film ‘The Good Road’, a lost-and-found story of a small boy, was on Saturday nominated to represent India in the Best Foreign Film category at next year’s Oscars.
It saw off strong competition from films like ‘The Lunchbox’, ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’, ‘English Vinglish’, Malayalam film ‘Celluloid’ and Kamal Haasan’s ‘Vishwaroopam’.

http://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/the-good-road-nominated-as-indias-entry-for-oscars/article5153986.ece?homepage=true

[raagadevan]

States can't cite law and order to ban cleared films: Panel

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/States-cant-cite-law-and-order-to-ban-cleared-films-Panel/articleshow/23838730.cms

[RAGHAVENDRA]

Best of Indian Cinema on Doordarshan

http://www.dinathanthiepaper.in/10112013/MDSK357207-M.jpg

from dailythanthi epaper

[raagadevan]

"The less you do the better" - Robert De Niro says of good acting

A Discussion/Debate:

1. Overacting merits cheers too
2. De Niro right on the money

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/The-less-you-do-the-better-Robert-De-Niro-says-of-good-acting/articleshow/25839608.cms

[raagadevan]

44th International Film Festival of India Opens in Goa

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/44th-international-film-festival-of-india-list-of-films-to-be-screened/435171-8-66.html

[raagadevan]

All’s in a letter

A peek at how initials have been integral to the identity of many big names in the film industry

http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/alls-in-a-letter/article5389739.ece?homepage=true

[raagadevan]

R... Rajkumar: Everything about this film is wrong

"Prabhu Deva's film stoops to new lows in an attempt to cater to the lowest common denominator and the unabashed sexualisation and reduction of the girl into a prize for who is stronger makes for a dangerous and disturbing new type of “heroine”. Because, she is, in fact, the victim who the makers want us to believe could actually fall in love with a lecherous stalker who rightfully should be in jail for multiple murders."

http://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/cinema-reviews/r-rajkumar-everything-about-this-film-is-wrong/article5433515.ece?homepage=true

[raagadevan]

A well-aimed stone at the caste system

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Thiruvananthapuram/a-wellaimed-stone-at-the-caste-system/article5443328.ece

[raagadevan]

Chennai International Film Festival gets off to a glittering start

http://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/chennai-international-film-festival-gets-off-to-a-glittering-start/article5452614.ece?homepage=true

[raagadevan]

Cinema Plus

http://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/

[raagadevan]

Asha Parekh - Jubilee queen, once more

http://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/jubilee-queen-once-more/article5478936.ece?homepage=true

[raagadevan]

Four films and superstars

http://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/four-films-and-superstars/article5582119.ece?homepage=true

[raagadevan]

80s film stars reunite for a theme party

http://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/80s-film-stars-reunite-for-a-theme-party/article5594308.ece?homepage=true

[raagadevan]

Incongruity of choices

http://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/incongruity-of-choices/article5609968.ece?homepage=true

[raagadevan]

Crossing the language barrier in films

-Baradwaj Rangan; The Hindu, January 29, 2014

In a country as diverse as ours, how do we prevent the ghettoisation of the regional film industries? Subtitles could be a start.

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/crossing-the-language-barrier-in-films/article5627493.ece?homepage=true

[raagadevan]

Marketplace art

-By Baradwaj Rangan; The Hindu, February 21, 2014

Balu Mahendra's demise is another reminder that a certain kind of “artistic” commercial film has vanished from our screens

http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/marketplace-art/article5713341.ece?homepage=true

[raagadevan]

Notes from a critic

-By Baradwaj Rangan; The Hindu, March 14, 2014

A colection of thoughts on writing about the movies for a living.

http://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/cinema-columns/notes-from-a-critic/article5785078.ece

[RR]

Notes from a critic

-By Baradwaj Rangan; The Hindu, March 14, 2014

A colection of thoughts on writing about the movies for a living.

http://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/cinema-columns/notes-from-a-critic/article5785078.ece

good points especially this one:

---
There is no such thing as an objective review. While writing the review, you’ll discover things about yourself — about the baggage you carry, about the biases you have — that you may never have anticipated. And all of this will inform your analysis. That’s why there is no such thing as an objective review.
---

And this is precisely why I think the-hindu type one-man reviews are not useful anymore. In forums (and across social media), you get to read all perspectives that give you the real (or at least closer to real) picture of what is good and bad about the movie. Plus, you can also use your knowledge about the posters to get even a more accurate review.

[raagadevan]

A poet and filmmaker should foresee the future: Gulzar

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/interviews/A-poet-and-filmmaker-should-foresee-the-future-Gulzar/articleshow/33873042.cms

[raagadevan]

Indian films brain-dead,says Naseeruddin Shah

Acclaimed actor Naseeruddin Shah has laid the blame of making brain-dead films on film-makers,
arguing that these films were a result of concerted efforts by determined speculators.

"We’ve put our heroes on a pedestal for too long… and it’s time that we engaged with them”

http://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/indian-films-braindeadsays-naseeruddin-shah/article5973942.ece?homepage=true

[raagadevan]

The Cinema of Invisible People

-By Harsh Mander; The Hindu, June 14, 2014

Among some of the best Indian films of recent times exhibited in Delhi, I found compelling the diversity of voices and themes.
The most significant were those that thrust centre-stage faces and voices from the margins of unequal India.

http://www.thehindu.com/features/magazine/the-cinema-of-invisible-people/article6111393.ece?homepage=true

[Russellflh]

Saregama pays tribute to Mohd. Rafi. Calling out to all the fans! ‪View Infographic- http://imgur.com/Pkfsnkk

[raagadevan]

Lawyer moves court against Aamir Khan

The lawyer alleged that the PK’s poster would incite "sexual violence" and encourage "obscenity."

http://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/lawyer-moves-court-against-aamir-khan-over-pk-film-poster/article6274403.ece?homepage=true

For those interested, here is the "controversial" poster for Aamir Khan's movie PK (PeeKay),
to be released on December 19, 2014!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2sMUxJqK6s

[raagadevan]

19 years later…

Gautami makes a comeback after 19 long years, with the Kamal-starrer Papanasam.

http://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/gautami-makes-a-comeback-after-19-long-years-with-the-kamalstarrer-papanasam/article6471390.ece?homepage=true

[raagadevan]

When a photo inspired a film...

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/kozhikode/when-a-photo-inspired-a-film/article7030356.ece?homepage=true

[raagadevan]

Hema Malini injured in road accident in Rajasthan

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/Hema-Malini-injured-in-road-accident-in-Rajasthan/articleshow/47915615.cms

[raagadevan]

Drishyam (Hindi) review -The Indian Express

This Ajay Devgn film could have been better if it had been tighter. And if Ajay Devgn had someone other than Shriya Saran.

http://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/movie-review/drishyam-movie-review-ajay-devgn-tabu/

[raagadevan]

National Award-winning film ‘Khwada’ (Marathi) on rural-urban migration set for October release

http://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/stuck-in-limbo-for-funds-crunch-national-awardwinning-film-on-ruralurban-migration-set-for-october-release/article7651899.ece?homepage=true&w=ma446

[raagadevan]

On older Tamil films and their long shelf life

By Sudhir Srinivasan; The Hindu, March 18, 2016

http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/mindframe-go-going-gone/article8370437.ece?homepage=true&w=ma446

[raagadevan]

Dilip Kumar: My health has been much better this Ramzan

"God's infinite mercy has been upon Saira (wife Saira Banu) and I. Your love and adulation for us can never be thanked enough. Allah's mercy has been upon us, my health has been much better this Ramazan. Could not fast due to regular medication and irregular sleep."

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/dilip-kumar-my-health-has-been-much-better-this-ramazan/articleshow/59296217.cms

[raagadevan]

New wave Indian cinema in the time of Netflix

By Hari Narayan - The Hindu, April 06, 2019

"Directors are no longer bound to see their films released theatrically only. Perhaps, as Kamal Haasan once envisioned, we may soon have films released simultaneously on direct-to-home networks, streaming portals, and on the big screen. And the relationship between the filmmaker and the audience will be taken to a different plane through these many lives of a film."

https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/movies/is-it-time-for-new-wave-20-in-indian-cinema/article26746064.ece?homepage=true

[raagadevan]

Movie: Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv3swq_N0tU

This was an English/Hindi bilingual Indian movie released in 2000 featuring Mammooty in the
title role. He won the National Award for best male actor for his title role in this film.