News

Shyam Benegal’s classic Sardari Begum which completes 29 years on May 23 starred Kirron Kher, Amrish Puri, Smriti Mishra and Rajit Kapur. In a conversation about the film with Subhash K Jha, Rajit Kapur reminisces on the making of the film and his challenging character.

Your memories of Sardari Begum?

Yes, there are memories. Most of it was shot in Film City here in Mumbai. Very interesting for me because the character came straight after playing Mahatma Gandhi in Shyam Benegal’s The Making of the Mahatma.

It was a complete switch?

This halo of the good Samaritan I was able to shed by playing this lecherous pimp. And the interesting thing was that I was playing three different ages and there were just about two scenes in each of these age groups. So, yeah, I found it meaty and challenging to, you know, have these just two scenes in each...

Surekha Sikri never thought of herself as a brilliant actor. I first became aware of Surekha Sikri in a film called Parinati way back in 1989. Before that, she was in Govind Nihalani’s monumental Partition saga Tamas, where she didn’t have much to do.

Says Prakash Jha, “I would like to take credit for giving Surekhaji a meaty role long before Badhaai Ho.”

Tamas director Govind Nihalani had intimated to me about this “explosive actress who chews into a scene, no matter how brief.” This, coming from the director who thought nothing of dismissing Shabana Azmi, meant a lot. I wondered what was so special about Surekha.

Parinati answered the question. It was my actual introduction to Sikri’s secret vault of talent. A Rajasthani moral fable where she played wife to Basant Joglekar, Surekha Sikri brought into the dense drama an impishness and a Promethean provocativeness. She was...

Quoting William Shakespeare, "All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages." On World Theatre Day, theatre artists turned television actors, currently seen on various shows, share their undying love for theatre and their fond memories. These include Vibhuti Narayan Mishra (Aasif Sheikh) and Manmohan Tiwari (Rohitashv Gour) of Bhabiji Ghar Par Hai, Daroga Happu Singh (Yogesh Tripathi), Rajesh Singh (Kamna Pathak) and Katori Amma (Himani Shivpuri) of Happu Ki Ultan Paltan.

Aasif Sheikh, aka Vibhuti Narayan Mishra, comments, "This day is a celebration for those who can see the value and importance of the art form. Theatre helps to promote social discourse, dialogue and potential social change. Theatre is a cultural phenomenon that demands that society examines itself in the mirror. My experience...

Starring Vinay Pathak,Amruta Subhash, Tannishtha Chatterjee

Written & Directed by Ruchika Oberoi

Urban Desolation is not an easy subject to put on screen, especially when you are looking at fusing fluency with blitheness, as debutant director Ruchika Oberoi bravely does in this heartwarming homage to the spirit of cheerless solitude in the urban jungle. The subject is far easier to pin down in a non-urban setting, as was the case with Mrinal Sen’s Khandhar where Shabana Azmi as Jamini portrayed emotional and spiritual desolation with heartbreaking veracity.

Tannishtha Chatterjee is no less heartbreaking in the third story entitled ‘Contact’ in Ruchika Oberoi’s 3-tier tribute to urban desolation. Tannishtha’s Aarti (pitch-perfect after that oddly displaced and shrill performance last week in UnIndian) is Everywoman, the kind of nondescript faceless suburban non-entity whom you wouldn’t give a second glance in a crowd. Everyday Aarti takes the same route to work,...

Film: "Lessons In Forgetting"; Cast: Adil Hussain, Amey Wagh, Bhanu Prakash, Veena Sajnani, Uttara Baokar, Roshni Achreja, Maya Tideman, Raaghav Chanana, Karan Nair, Anuja Vaidya, Lakshmi Krishnamurthy, Parthiv Shah, Sukitha Aiyar; Director: Unni Vijayan; Rating: ***

"Never run away from things that terrify you," was a lesson that J.A. Krishnamurthy had instilled in his daughter Smriti when she was young, and he probably regrets doing so, for the results could be terrifying. A reality one should wake up to.

Released under the PVR Director's Rare banner and winner of the National Award for best feature film in English, "Lessons In Forgetting" is a tale of redemption, forgiveness and second chances. It is an adaptation.

Ha Bharat Maza directed by Sumitra Bhave and Sunil Sukhtankar won the Sant Tukaram award for Best Marathi Film at the 10th Pune International Film Festival which concluded on Thursday. The film based on corruption in Indian middle-class families walked away with a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh.

Umesh Kulkarni won the Best Director for Deool while Uttara Baokar was adjudged the Best Actor for Ha Bharat Maza and Subodh Bhave for Balgandharva.

German film If Not Us, Who? by Andres Veiel won the Best Film award in the World Cinema competition category and a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh. Asghar Farhadi won the Best Director for Nader & Simin: A Separation.

Somnath Gupta’s Ami Aadu won the audience award for Best Film in world competition. This award was instituted by the festival in the 10th edition.

The festival closed with the screening of German film If Not Us, Who?...

Still from Bharat Mazza Desh Aahe

Bhageerathi directed by Dr. Baraguru Ramchandrappa and Bharat Mazza Desh Aahe directed by Sumitra Bhave and Sunil Sukthankar are the first two selections to be announced for screening under the Indian Premiere section at the 42nd International Film Festival of India, Goa 2011.

Featuring Srinath Bhavana, Kishor and Hema Chowudri , Bhageerathi is based on a Kannada folk ballad ‘Kerege Haara’ (A Sacrifice for a tank).

Bharat Mazza Desh Aahe (India is my Country) features Vikram Gokhale, Uttara Baokar, Renuka Daftardar, Jitendra Joshi, Devika Daftardar, Omkar Govardhan, Alok Rajwade, Kishor Kadam, Deepa Shriram. The film depicts the story of a family dealing with value problems amongst themselves and simultaneously experiencing the everyday corruption in their social life.

The festival will be held from November 23-December 3, 2011.

8 X 10 Tasveer: Could have been much better

Rating: 2.5 out of 5*

Starring: Akshay Kumar, Ayesha Takia, Sharmila Tagore, Girish Karnad, Javed Jaffrey, Anant Mahadevan, Rushad Rana and Uttara Baokar.

Director: Nagesh Kukunoor

Jai Puri (Akshay) is a forest ranger in Canada. For over a year he is having a live in relationship with Sheela (Takia) and staying separately from his parents Jatin (Benjamin Gilani) and Savitri (Sharmila Tagore) because he doesn’t approve of his father’s business dealings. Jai is blessed with supernatural powers.