CinemaThe film is about two sex workers who decide to cut out the middlemen and run their own business.Sowmya RajendranCommercial sex workers in cinema usually appear to titillate and serve as symbols of vice. If at all the character has an arc beyond that, it is typically a sob story that justifies why and how the woman became a sex worker and her desire to turn over a new leaf. There have been very few films like IV Sasi's Avalude Ravukkal where a sex worker has not only been unapologetic about what she does, but also considers herself deserving of love and dignity despite what her job. Vidya Balan's Begum Jaan, a remake of Rajkahini, which told the story of a brothel caught in the partition, was slammed by many critics for its melodrama. Nevertheless, it's one of the rare films to have looked at commercial sex work from within by having them as the central protagonists - however unsatisfactory it might have proven to be. Aditya Kripalani's Tikli and Laxmi Bomb is distinct in tone from all these films - it's the story of a start-up, a business dream. The product is sex work but the premise makes it quite different from the usual films we've seen on the subject. It all starts with Putul (Chitrangada Chakraborty), a young Bengali woman who joins the streets of Mumbai as a sex worker. From the beginning, she has the air of the rebel. She wants to know why things are the way they are - why do they have to pay middlemen their cuts, why do they have to give the cops money when they harass them anyway? Laxmi (Vibhawari Deshpande), a senior in the job, tries to brush her questions away...because she knows what can happen when they are asked. However, Putul does not give up. In one scene, she is sitting at a restaurant in a jazzy red top and announcing to her fellow sex workers that she's wearing red because red is the colour of revolution. Not all of them look convinced, but they are moved nevertheless by this strange hot-headed woman who has built a reputation with her knife. In another scene, Putul is being brutally raped, but even then, she manages to exert some agency in deciding in what position she will be raped - because it makes a difference to her. While the camera doesn't romanticise sex work - there are many instances when we're shown just what kind of brutal abuse and danger the women are subjected to - it does not, at any point, turn exploitative. Finding that balance is hard to do in a film like this but Tikli and Laxmi Bomb pulls it off. In an earlier interview to Tnm, Aditya has spoken about how he used to pay sex workers to share their experiences with him so he could write the book on which the film is based. You see this reflected in the kind of detail that plays out in the plot. When the sex workers need to organise money quickly, an inventive Putul comes up with an idea that makes you grin - the idea, which can be quite gross to watch when executed literally on screen - is presented as a glorious relay race on the beach, with the smiling women running with a rare freedom. The business ideas and tricks that the women come up with make for the best parts in the film. The villains, who are all nasty, sleazy men, are unfortunately too one-note to leave an impression. Take corporator Shinde. We're introduced to him when he's 'auditioning' bar dancers. It's too obvious and divides the film all too clearly into the good girls vs the bad boys. There are no grey characters and this makes the screenplay predictable. Among the sex workers, there's enough diversity - from a Saranya to a Tsamchoe - but except Laxmi and Tikli, the characters of the rest are under-developed. Not that we need to hear why they became sex workers, just that it would have been rewarding to see what sort of people they are. I got the sense that Aditya relied more on their clothing and sense of style to create characters than write them. I was also wondering why there were no trans women in the group - was it to avoid the stereotyping? The unconventional camera angles often jolt you into seeing the film from within, rather than from the outside. I found the background score unsettling - at times I felt it just didn't go with what was being shown on screen. Take that chase scene with Laxmi and Putul, the music almost sounds adventurous rather than dangerous. But then, I was wondering if this is because I expected the score to go with all the stories of sex workers we've seen so far. If the scene had been from an average film about a start-up, the score would have been quite suitable. And that is what Tilki and Laxmi Bomb is, a start-up story, however bizarre it might seem. The film is currently in the festival circuit and the makers hope for a theatrical release soon.
- 3/27/2018
- by Editor
- The News Minute
Cinema The film is about two sex workers who come together to run a co-operative and eliminate the middlemen. Tnm StaffWriter and filmmaker Aditya Kripalani, who recently turned his third international bestseller, Tikli and Laxmi Bomb into a film of the same title has another feather in his cap. The film has won Best Feature in the 10th edition of the Berlin Independent Film Festival on Sunday. Featuring Vibhawari Deshpande, Chitrangada Chakraborty, Suchitra Pillai, Upendra Limaye and Saharsh Kumar Shukla, the film will be screened in the UK Asian Film Festival at London’s oldest cinema house. Last year A Death in the Gunj and Lipstick Under My Burkha were selected from India. The book and film trace the unusual story of two sex workers who come together to run a co-operative and eliminate the middlemen in sex work. In an interview to Tnm, Aditya revealed that he had always wanted to make an anti-patriarchy film with the theme of ‘Sisterhood above all’, and this is what led him to pick an entirely woman-oriented subject. An alumnus of the prestigious Ftii in Pune, Aditya said that the idea for Tikli and Laxmi Bomb originated in 2003, after watching Thelma and Louise in college. “(I) have wondered ever since why we aren't making a film with that wild a spirit, with that acerbic a telling, in India,” he said. On the research on sex work that went into writing the story, Aditya said, “I spent a lot of time talking to sex workers around the Sv road area (Mumbai). This would only work practically if I paid them for the sex and had a chat instead. As they're at work and making their living for the night, money is of primary importance and not some pesky guy's questions.” “A lot of them also opened up after the second or third time. And spoke of their lives, what drove them, urges, feelings, they shared their laughter. The most beautiful thing was that on their own, they're not 'martyrs' or sad at all. They're about as happy as women working in advertising or banking. It's just that they've seen patriarchy in its worst colours and so are wiser for it, in terms of how to deal with it,” he added Just like the research done on the book, the film too has been shot in real locations in Mumbai in tough conditions. Apart from Tikli and Laxmi Bomb, the filmmaker has also written two other books, Frontseat and Backseat which went on to become international bestsellers as well.
- 2/21/2018
- by Editor
- The News Minute
Harishchandrachi Factory is a film about India's first feature film Raja Harishchandra and the road director Dadasaheb Phalke took to get it made. Produced by Utv Motion Pictures, Paprika Media and Mayasabha, the film stars the likes of Nandu Madhav, Vibhawari Deshpande, Mohit Gokhale and is directed by Paresh Mokashi.
Watch the video below to get a glimpse of what this film is about.
Watch the video below to get a glimpse of what this film is about.
- 3/3/2010
- Bollyspice
New Delhi, Jan 16 (Ians) A special screening of Marathi film ‘Harishchandrachi Factory’, India’s official entry to the Oscars, was held at Rashtrapati Bhavan Saturday evening.
The film, that will hit theatres Jan 29, was screened at the President’s Estate auditorium in the presence of President Pratibha Patil and its director Paresh Mokashi. The lead cast of the movie, including Nandu Madhav and Vibhawari Deshpande, and noted theatre and film actor Mohan Agashe were present at the screening.
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The film, that will hit theatres Jan 29, was screened at the President’s Estate auditorium in the presence of President Pratibha Patil and its director Paresh Mokashi. The lead cast of the movie, including Nandu Madhav and Vibhawari Deshpande, and noted theatre and film actor Mohan Agashe were present at the screening.
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- 1/16/2010
- by realbollywood
- RealBollywood.com
Not only has the film Harishchandrachi Factory won numerous awards at prestigious film festivals, it is also India's selection for the Academy Awards. The film is about India's first feature film Raja Harishchandra and the road director Dadasaheb Phalke took to get it made. Starring Nandu Madhav, Vibhawari Deshpande, Mohit Gokhale and directed by Paresh Mokashi the film is set to release on January 29th.
Here is a look at not only the synopsis, but also the theatrical trailer as well.
Dadasaheb Phalke had abandoned a well established printing business after a quarrel with his business partner. He gave his word to the worried partner that he would never enter into the printing business again as competition! Phalke got instantly unemployed and workless. The family was struggling to survive.
One day he accidentally stumbled across a tent theatre that was screening a silent motion picture. He was awestruck with the film.
Here is a look at not only the synopsis, but also the theatrical trailer as well.
Dadasaheb Phalke had abandoned a well established printing business after a quarrel with his business partner. He gave his word to the worried partner that he would never enter into the printing business again as competition! Phalke got instantly unemployed and workless. The family was struggling to survive.
One day he accidentally stumbled across a tent theatre that was screening a silent motion picture. He was awestruck with the film.
- 1/12/2010
- Bollyspice
New Delhi, Dec 2 (Ians) Utv Motion Pictures plans to release Marathi film “Harishchandrachi Factory”, India’s official entry for the Oscars, Jan 22 next year.
“Indian audiences will get to watch the film on January 22 and we are confident its appeal will reach across all audiences irrespective of language,” Siddharth Roy Kapur, CEO of Utv Motion Pictures, said in a statement Wednesday.
Co-produced by Paprika Media and Mayasabha Production, the Dadasaheb Phalke biopic is the directorial debut of Paresh Mokashi. Starring Nandu Madhav and Vibhawari Deshpande in the lead, “Harishchandrachi Factory” is also competing at the Golden Globes and the British Academy (BAFTA) awards.
“We.
“Indian audiences will get to watch the film on January 22 and we are confident its appeal will reach across all audiences irrespective of language,” Siddharth Roy Kapur, CEO of Utv Motion Pictures, said in a statement Wednesday.
Co-produced by Paprika Media and Mayasabha Production, the Dadasaheb Phalke biopic is the directorial debut of Paresh Mokashi. Starring Nandu Madhav and Vibhawari Deshpande in the lead, “Harishchandrachi Factory” is also competing at the Golden Globes and the British Academy (BAFTA) awards.
“We.
- 12/2/2009
- by realbollywood
- RealBollywood.com
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