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“Gulab,” a film by Sanjoy Nag, now playing in the Viewing Room section of the Nfdc’s Film Bazaar market in Goa, is the first product of a slate of upcoming feature film productions from Endemol Shine India.

The company, part of the giant Banijay conglomerate, is best known as a global power in the TV production and distribution sector, but it is also close to finishing several film productions by South Asian directors. These include a slice of life social drama on aging and relevance directed by Gajendra Ahire; a social comedy by Nicholas Kharkongor; a romantic comedy by Seema Desai; and a paranormal drama by Samrat Chakraborty.

With the exception of “Gulab,” the company declined to reveal titles, synopses or casting details. “All the films are targeting a digital release in 2023,” Rishi Negi, CEO, Endemol Shine India, told Variety. Though some festival play or limited theatrical releases may be possible.

After Shaheen Bhatt recently opened up about her battle with depression, her mother and veteran actress Soni Razdan says she was always worried about her elder daughter and tried to be her pillar of strength.

In a TV interview, Shaheen talked about her book "Never Been (Un)Happier", in which she has articulated about her tryst with depression and how incidents during her childhood pushed her into that direction.

Talking about how she emotionally balanced the situation, Soni told Ians: "I am a mother. Whether it is Alia or Shaheen, at any point in time, if they are suffering, I am the one who gets affected badly.

"I am the mother, and the emotional chord with my children is naturally strong. So there are times when I might get sleepless nights because I am worried. Particularly in Shaheen's case, I was worried because, at this young age, she went through so much.

National Award winning filmmaker Sanjoy Nag (Memories in March) has wrapped up the shoot of his next film Yours Truly. The film which has been shot on location in Kolkata, is based on a short story, “The One That Was Announced” by award-winning writer & playwright Annie Zaidi from the collection ‘Love Story #1-14’ published by Harper Collins. The film produced by Platoon One Films & Mdc Filmworks has also revealed its intriguing and endearing first look.

Yours Truly will see Soni Razdan, who has been directed by her husband Mahesh Bhatt in cult Hindi films like Saraansh, appear on screen with him for the first time in their illustrious careers. Razdan, who is also the mother of Bollywood darling Alia Bhatt, plays the protagonist Mithi Kumar in a superb ensemble cast along with Aahana Kumra (Lipstick Under My Burkha), Pankaj Tripathi (Newton, Bareilly ki Barfi),and Mahesh Bhatt in a special appearance.

National Award winning filmmaker Sanjoy Nag’s next film Yours Truly which is based on a short story, ‘The One That Was Announced’ by award-winning writer & playwright Annie Zaidi from the collection will feature Soni Razdan and Mahesh Bhatt sharing screen space. The film which is a poetic romance drama will see Razdan play the protagonist Mithi Kumar alongside a superb cast along with Aahana Kumra (Lipstick Under My Burkha), Pankaj Tripathi (Newton, Bareilly Ki Barfi), however Mahesh Bhatt will only be seen in a special appearance.

The post Mahesh Bhatt to share screen space with Soni Razdan in Yours Truly appeared first on Bollywood Hungama.

Nfdc Film Bazaar is introducing a new segment for films in need of gap financing this year. Eighteen projects will be pitched to potential investors to find finishing funds at the first Investor Pitch in Goa this year.

“We learnt that independent films invariably run out of budget at post-production stage. So we thought of organizing a pitching session of such films from Nfdc Recommends section and presenting them to investors, producers and distributors. Here prospective investors can get to watch full films,” says Deepti DCunha, the curator of Investor Pitch.

In order to try out the idea, Nfdc invited selected filmmakers from the Viewing Room section last year for a pitching forum. Filmmakers were asked to showcase the trailers and talk about their films for about five minutes.

One of the filmmakers who pitched his film at the forum last year was Lajwanti director Pushpendra Singh. He met Delhi-based...

Nfdc Labs announced the six participants of the Nfdc – Harlequin Romance Screenwriters’ Lab.

The first of its kind,three-part Lab with romance and women-centric plots as the themes, will be mentored by screenwriters Habib Faisal and Bhavani Iyer and popular authors Ashok Banker and Shoma Narayanan for the parallel Harlequin Lab. Post the Lab, Harlequin will offer book deals to the most promising writers.

The experts will mentor three scripts each for their respective Labs – Nfdc and Harlequin. The Lab will include 2 residential programs: First part at a hotel in Pune from 27 – 31 July, 2014; Second part – offline program conducted as per schedule mutually decided between the mentors and the writers; Third and the final part from 16 – 20 November, 2014 at Film Bazaar in Goa.

The selected scripts are:

1. Anjuna Beats - Thomas Jacob

2. Love in the Time of Moral Policing - Niharika Negi

3. Magic for Maria - Annie Zaidi

4. Vanmala - Abhimanyu Kulkarni...

Huma Qureshi in “Sujata”

It doesn’t happen too often that you can walk up to a theatre, buy a ticket and watch short films. “Shorts” presents one of such rare opportunities to watch short films the way films should be watched!

The films which make “Shorts” were meant to be short films and just that. And that’s why each of these films have a distinct voice of their own. Don’t look for thematic continuity or similarity in style. The five films are highly individualistic, divergent and that’s what makes for an engaging viewing. The curator of the package should also be congratulated for presenting such an eclectic mix of some of the recent short films from India.

Sujata by Shlok Sharma

Shlok truly dazzles with his command over the medium. He plays around with time like a master and his camera reveals only as much as...