Notizie

Indian audiences indeed got to watch “Sinners” — just not the way the rest of the world did. And one scene especially irked moviegoers.

This hallucinatory sequence takes place at the midpoint inside Club Juke, when Sammie’s (Miles Caton) soul-stirring blues music becomes so transcendental that it conjures the spirits of the past and future. The guests rejoice, drinks in hand, while puffing on cigarettes. But in Indian cinemas, this immersive sequence gets interrupted — not by a vampire, but a certain disclaimer in an oversized font, stating, “Smoking and alcohol consumption are injurious to health.”

These health warnings are enforced by the Central Board of Film Certification (Cbfc), aka Censor Board, due to a government mandate. The statutory film certification body, under the Indian government, has the authority to suggest cuts and edits to movies before clearing a film for release. On scrutinizing the Cbfc certificate available in the public domain,...

It isn’t clear as yet why Vikrant Massey has decided to quit acting just when things are looking up for him after 12th Fail and The Sabarmati Report.

Long before these, Vikrant was immediately noticed as Ranveer Singh’s best friend in Vikramaditya Motwane’s Lootera. Ever since then Massey has been struggling to find his bearings in the film industry.

He was eminently watchable in the webseries Criminal Justice and Broken But Beautiful. Sadly films like Chhapaak and Haseen Dilruba seem to cast him as this millennium’s Vinod Mehra, that dependable actor who was typecast as the supportive co-star in women-oriented films in the 1980s.

Vikrant Massey awaited that one big explosion in his career. Konkona Sen Sharma’s directorial debut A Death In The Gunj did justice to Vikrant Massey’s talent. But no one saw that film outside film festivals. In A Death In The Gunj...

The Sabarmati Report Box Office Witnesses 60% Monday Drop! ( Photo Credit – YouTube )

Vikrant Massey’s The Sabarmati Report managed to maintain the drop on Monday, earning in the same range as the opening day. The film’s future will be decided based on the numbers coming in through the week. Currently, it stands at 7.9 crore in four days at the box office.

The Sabarmati Report Box Office Collection Day 4

On the fourth day, Monday, November 18, the film witnessed a drop of almost 60% at the box office, earning 1.23 crore, almost in the same range as the opening day. However, the drop margin should not be concerning since Sunday was obviously much higher.

Starring Vikrant Massey, Ridhi Dogra, and Raashii Khanna, the film is a decent blend of political intrigue, social commentary, and personal struggles. Moreover, positive word-of-mouth is helping it grow gradually.

Trending Scarlett Johansson Box Office Report Card 2024: Fly Me To The Moon...

The Sabarmati Report Box Office Day 1: Turns Vikrant Massey’s Biggest Opener (Photo Credit – Instagram)

Vikrant Massey, Raashii Khanna and Ridhi Dogra’s The Sabarmati Express has opened at the box office at 1.69 crore exceeding the expecation minutely. But the silver lining is that the film has earned much better than his last opening day 12th Fail, that was a superhit at the box office.

The Sabarmati Report Box Office Collection Day 1

On the first day, November 15, Friday, the political drama earned 1.69 crore at the box office, while 12th Fail earned 1.10 crore at the box office. Vikrant’s new release has outperformed the opening day number of his last release by delivering 53% higher opening.

Will It Sail?

Since the film has performed better than 12th Fail, it instils a hope that it might be have the same fate as the Vidhu Vinod Chopra directorial, but it would be too...

Actress Konkona Sen Sharma, who is all geared up for the release of the dark comedy thriller series ‘Killer Soup’, has shared that she is ‘sick’ of doing just very earnest, good kind of roles, and loves playing women who are little ‘irresponsible’, and have shades of grey. Konkona takes on the intricate role of Swathi Shetty in ‘Killer Soup’, starring Manoj Bajpayee.

Directed by Abhishek Chaubey, the series promises a compelling blend of love, lust, thrill, and suspense, seasoned with dark humour that sets it apart.

The actress is known for her work in movies like ‘Wake Up Sid’, ‘Page 3’, ‘Omkara’, ‘Life in a… Metro’, ‘Lipstick Under My Burkha’, among many others.

What process she follows in choosing such power-packed roles, Konkona told Ians: “When I look for roles, I see what script is like first. The entire script has to be cohesive. Characters have to be well-written,...

Indian actor Jim Sarbh has been recognized with an International Emmy best actor nomination for hit SonyLIV series “Rocket Boys.”

In the series, created by Nikkhil Advani, directed by Abhay Pannu and produced by Roy Kapur Films and Emmay Entertainment, Sarbh plays Dr. Homi Jahangir Bhabha, credited as the father of the Indian nuclear program. Alongside him is Ishwak Singh playing Vikram Sarabhai who pioneered India’s space research program.

Since debuting in 2014 with “Shuruaat Ka Interval,” Sarbh has racked up an impressive array of credits including the acclaimed “Neerja” (2016), Toronto title “A Death in the Gunj” (2017), hits “Padmaavat” and “Sanju,” Rotterdam film “Jonaki,” Toronto selection “The Wedding Guest” (all 2018), Sundance film “Photograph” (2019) and 2023 hit “Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway.” He also has a recurring lead role in the immensely popular Prime Video series “Made in Heaven.”

Next up for Sarbh are: an interview show with Zoya Hussain; a new film with Pannu,...

Eight projects of multiple genres, including magic realism, fantasy, horror/thriller, women’s empowerment, cross-border politics, Lgtbq+ issues, and mental illness, have been selected for the 16th edition of Nfdc Screenwriters’ Lab, an ongoing initiative to develop, nurture, and promote original voices from all over India. The eight screen writers, who also happen to be filmmakers of ad films, short films, documentaries, and feature films, have written the selected scripts in multiple languages, including Hindi, Marathi, English, Urdu, Malayalam, Bengali, Odia, and Tibetan.

Two of the writers are National Award Winners for “Best Marathi Film” and “Best Cinematography.”

“We, at Nfdc, strongly feel that a well-written script forms the foundation of a compelling story, engaging characters, and meaningful dialogue, all of which are essential elements of a successful film.” said Mr. Prithul Kumar, Managing Director of Nfdc.

“We are at the forefront of not only training our writers to better develop their unique stories,...

Eight projects of multiple genres, including magic realism, fantasy, horror/thriller, women’s empowerment, cross-border politics, Lgtbq+ issues, and mental illness, have been selected for the 16th edition of Nfdc Screenwriters’ Lab, an ongoing initiative to develop, nurture, and promote original voices from all over India. The eight screen writers, who also happen to be filmmakers of ad films, short films, documentaries, and feature films, have written the selected scripts in multiple languages, including Hindi, Marathi, English, Urdu, Malayalam, Bengali, Odia, and Tibetan.

Two of the writers are National Award Winners for “Best Marathi Film” and “Best Cinematography.”

“We, at Nfdc, strongly feel that a well-written script forms the foundation of a compelling story, engaging characters, and meaningful dialogue, all of which are essential elements of a successful film.” said Mr. Prithul Kumar, Managing Director of Nfdc.

“We are at the forefront of not only training our writers to better develop their unique stories,...

Mumbai, Aug 30 (Ians) Actor Vikrant Massey is all set to collaborate with debut director Niranjan Iyengar for a film based on the life of renowned author Ruskin Bond.

Alongside his lead role in Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s upcoming project ‘12th Fail’, he is set to embark on Niranjan Iyengar’s directorial debut, which promises to bring to life the captivating story of Ruskin Bond.

Ruskin Bond’s first novel, ‘The Room on the Roof’, was published in 1956, and it received the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize in 1957. Bond has authored more than 500 short stories, essays, and novels which includes 69 books for children.

He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1992 for ‘Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra’. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1999 and Padma Bhushan in 2014. He lives with his adopted family in Landour, Mussoorie, in Uttarakhand.

Vikrant made his acting debut with the role of Aamir Hassan in...

The Indian human rights activist drama, Punjab ’95, has been pulled from this year’s TIFF lineup, Deadline has confirmed. We hear this was a decision made by the filmmakers, not the festival.

The pic, directed by Honey Trehan, tells the story of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, and was scheduled to world premiere in the Gala Presentations section on Sept. 11.

The movie follows Khalra’s courageous campaign to uncover the murders and abduction of more than 25,000 Sikhs by Punjab police from 1984-1994. Khalra disappeared in September 1995 with six Punjab police officers convicted for his abduction and murder ten years later. The pic is the second feature from Trehan after the 2020 Netflix movie Raat Akeli Hai. The filmmaker was previously at TIFF in 2016 as a producer on the pic A Death in the Gunj. Punjab ’95 stars singer-actor Diljit Dosanjh as Khalra.

Screen Daily reports that the pic’s...

The film tells the true story of human-rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra.

Punjab ’95, a controversial drama about Indian human-rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, has been pulled from the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival.

The feature was due to receive its world premiere in the Gala Presentations strand of TIFF on September 11 but a festival spokesperson confirmed to Screen that it is no longer part of the programme. The festival would not comment further on the reasons behind its withdrawal.

Based on a true story, it stars singer-actor Diljit Dosanjh as Khalra, a renowned human-rights activist who found evidence of the abduction,...

The last time Konkona Sen Sharma directed something, it was 2017. A year after that, the first installment of Netflix’s Lust Stories was released. Sex used to be a bigger taboo in India back then, so content like that was bound to get all the attention. Especially with four of the big names of Bollywood directing one segment each, Lust Stories was destined for popularity. However, from a cinematic point-of-view, it was not particularly great. Three out of the four directors, Kashyap, KJo, and Zoya Akhtar, treated lust as some kind of forbidden fruit and put a woman at the center of the story, which effectively villainized them.

I am sure you all have seen the “Kiara Advani TV remote” video and so many edits of that all over the internet over the past six years. While that particular segment was supposed to be a representation of female empowerment, the result was actually the opposite,...

‘Qubool Hai’ actor Vikrant Massey is all set to host a crime show ‘Crimes Aaj Kal’ which will be based on real incidents and crimes committed by youngsters. He shared that the project made him interested as since childhood, he has enjoyed watching crime dramas.

He said: “I have grown up watching shows like ‘Crime Patrol’, ‘Cid’, etc. and I am sure many people like me miss watching such shows. It was a surreal feeling when I got the opportunity to host ‘Crimes Aaj Kal’.”

Vikrant is known for TV shows such as ‘Qubool Hai’, ‘Dharam Veer’, ‘Baba Aiso Varr Dhoondo’, and apart from appearing on the small screen, he was also seen in ‘Lootera’, ‘Dil Dhadakne Do’, ‘Half Girlfriend’, ‘A Death in the Gunj’, and the web series ‘Mirzapur’, among others.

Elaborating more on the crime show, Vikrant added: “The series focuses on real-life stories, situations, and incidents that...

By Isha Anand

Qala marks the second collaboration between Anvita Dutt, Tripti Dimri and Anushka Sharma’s Clean Slate Filmz after “Bulbbul”. Both a melancholic social tragedy, while “Bulbbul” explores the themes of the sexual violence that wreaks horror in the lives of women, “Qala” sheds light on the plight of women in the Hindi music industry- predominantly a man’s world. But there is more to this movie than what meets the eye. A visually striking film with moths, metaphors and music encapsulates the plummeting mental health of the titular woman

Set back and forth in Calcutta and exquisite snow-capped Himachal, “Qala” is the story of an aspiring singer who yearns for the affection and validation of her formidable mother Urmila (Swastika Mukherjee), a thumri singer past her prime. It starts with Qala receiving the “Golden Vinyl” for her exemplary voice and contribution to Hindi music. The rest of...

Actor Gulshan Devaiah says the greatest fear for an actor is to be forgotten and become irrelevant.

"The forgotten become irrelevant and that's the greatest fear for an actor. This can be anybody's reality. It's a tough business. It kills the mind, breaks the spirit of people & yet we come flocking in the thousands. Best wishes to Mr Samir Khakhar & everyone else who's an actor," Gulshan tweeted on Saturday.

His post comes as a reaction to a post which stated that "Samir Khakhar who played the role of Khopdi in Nukkad is looking for work".

The forgotten become irrelevant & that’s the greatest fear for an actor. This can be anybody’s reality. It’s a tough business. It kills the mind, breaks the sprit of people & yet we come flocking in the thousands. Best wishes to Mr Samir Khakhar & everyone else who’s an actor. https://t.co/wdfSmvJaIO

— Gulshan Devaiah (@gulshandevaiah) January 2, 2021

Earlier,...

By Arundhuti Banerjee

Mumbai, Oct 24 (Ians) Actor Gulshan Devaiah feels recent controversies, related to allegations of Bollywood-drug trade nexus as well as nepotism charges, which have been surrounding the film fraternity, do not bother him.

"Without taking names, I want to say that the controversies and generalisation that have defamed our film industry in the recent past do not bother me. What bothers me is the people who are raising their voice with a huge amount of insincerity. If you know that you are an influential voice of the film industry, will you not check your own words before uttering them? That is why I have difficulty trusting them. The audience that is observing the toxicity, should sit back and try to understand who is benefitting from these controversies? As an audience, are you?" said the actor.

Gulshan has managed to make his mark in the entertainment industry across mediums.

Actor Gulshan Devaiah says the problem with accepting depression as a disease is that a lot of people consider it to be a state of mind.

"There is a problem with accepting depression as a disease because most people think depression is a state of mind, or it is an emotion. Like, if I proposed to a girl and she turned me down and I say 'I am depressed', and (treat) depression as a state of mind," Gulshan Devaiah told Ians.

"Depression is used as an expression to express something. But when you are diagnosed with depression, by a mental health practitioner or by a certified doctor, then that is an illness. It needs to be treated like any other illness like cancer or tuberculosis," he added.

Gulshan Devaiah feels depression has to be treated, "some without medication and some with medication".

"There are many people who take heavy medication...

The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (Iffla) today announced its full lineup of narrative and documentary features, and shorts for the festival’s 18th edition, which boasts 5 World, 1 North American, 4 U.S. and 10 Los Angeles premieres, spanning 12 languages, with 50% of all films premiering directed by women. The renowned premiere global showcase for groundbreaking Indian cinema, Iffla will take place this year April 1-5 at Regal L.A. Live: A Barco Innovation Center in Los Angeles. The Opening Night Gala presentation will take place at ArcLight Hollywood, with an after-party to follow hosted by Spice Affair in Beverly Hills. Passes and Gala tickets go on sale today, February 19. Individual tickets will go on sale on February 25 at www.indianfilmfestival.org.

The festival will open with An Evening with Imtiaz Ali, one of Hindi cinema’s most respected and charismatic writer-directors. Ali will be joined onstage by celebrated Indian filmmaker Anurag Kashyap (Gangs of Wasseypur,...

The sparkling female stars of Alankrita Shrivastava’s “Dolly Kitty and Those Twinkling Stars,” produced by Ekta Kapoor’s Balaji Telefilms, have plenty going on in their careers.

Bhumi Pednekar has had a very brief career so far, but she has made each role count. She made her debut in 2015’s “Dum Laga Ke Haisha” as an overweight housewife dealing with an arranged marriage, and went on to star in 2017’s “Toilet – Ek Prem Katha” where she refuses to defecate in the fields and demands a toilet at home.

Also in 2017, she starred in “Shubh Mangal Savdhan” where she played a bride whose groom suffers from erectile dysfunction, while in 2018 Netflix Original anthology film “Lust Stories” she plays a maid in a sexual relationship with a bachelor, who suffers silently when his parents seek an arranged marriage for him. In 2019 bandit drama “Sonchiriya” she plays a strong-willed woman who braves...

He rose to fame with his stint in the TV show "Balika Vadhu" and has grabbed eyeballs with his roles in films such as "Dil Dhadakne Do" and "Lipstick Under My Burkha", and the web series "Mirzapur". Actor Vikrant Massey makes no bones about nepotism playing spoilsport but dismisses such traits as "minor road bumps".

Vikrant, who comes from a non- filmy background, has previously openly said that nepotism does exist in Bollywood. Has it ever played spoilsport for him?

"Yes, in certain cases. At the same time, I have also maintained that fair opportunities also exist. So in case of things like nepotism, I take these as minor road bumps. They are bound to happen on a smooth and straight highway. One is bound to encounter a few hiccups, which is fine. It is all part of a longer journey," Vikrant told a publication.

The 32-year-old actor made his...

Strange Old Lady, Ravening and Eeb Allay Ooo! also picks up awards from Prasad, Qube and Facebook.

Saurav Rai’s Invitation and Jadab Mahanta’s The Holy Bride were both presented with Prasad Post-Production & Moviebuff Appreciation Awards in the Works-in-Progress Lab at this year’s edition of Film Bazaar.

Invitation (Nimtoh), a Nepalese-language drama, tells the story of a ten-year-old village boy who upsets his grandmother by trying to get invited to a wedding within a wealthy family. Assamese-language The Holy Bride (Rukuni Koina) revolves around a girl who suffers social stigma due to a disease that prevents her from entering puberty.

Project from producers of A Death In The Gunj, directed by Hitesh Bhatia.

Sony Pictures International Productions (Spip) is partnering with India’s MacGuffin Pictures, producers of A Death In The Gunj, on a family comedy set to star Rishi Kapoor and Juhi Chawla.

Directed by Hitesh Bhatia, who is making his directorial debut on the project, the as-yet-untitled comedy recently started production in Delhi and was co-written by Bhatia and Supratik Sen.

Spip, the Indian-language production arm of Sony Pictures Entertainment, recently enjoyed commercial and critical success with Hindi-language features Pad Man, starring Akshay Kumar and Radhika Apte, and 102 Not Out,...

This was a terrible year for star-laden, big-budget movies. But a great one for those that were big on ideas like Newton, A Death In The Gunj and Lipstick Under My Burkha...

Arjun Rampal will be attending The Bollywood Festival Norway in Oslo next month where his upcoming film Daddy will be screened as the closing film of the 15th annual event on the 14th of September this year. Arjun Rampal’s much talked-about film Daddy, which is based on the story of Mumbai-based gangster Arun Gawli, has been directed by National Award-winner Ashim Ahluwalia.

The film has been making waves and of course by the impressive transformation of Arjun Rampal into the character.

From the rough streets and back alleys of Central Mumbai comes the sensational true story of Arun Gawli, a man who scripted his own destiny, eventually going on to become one of India’s most feared gangsters. Today he remains an enigmatic figure; at once a volatile, power-hungry criminal for some and the respected “Daddy” or a modern day Robin Hood for the working-class neighbourhood he belongs to.

If you have been missing the adventurous journey of our ‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’ boys, then Richa Chadha and Kalki Koechlin are here with their upcoming movie ‘Jia Aur Jia’ to take you to an all girls’ fun trip! Directed by Howard Rosemeyer, ‘Jia Aur Jia’ unfolds the journey of two girls who are different in all respects. From their attitude towards life to their nature of perceiving things, Jia (Richa Chadha) and Jia (Kalki Koechlin) are just opposites, being each other’s namesake. And, this makes their journey even more interesting to watch. Have a look at the teaser of the movie here: Kalki Koechlin was last seen in ‘A Death In the Gunj’ and if we talk about Richa Chadha, she is back with her ‘Bholi’ avatar in her soon to release movie ‘Fukrey 2’.

She played an integral role in Konkona Sen Sharma’s directorial debut A Death In The Gunj. Now when power packed performer Kalki Koechlin will share screen space with another power packed performer Konkona Sen Sharma for Scholarship, the film is caught in jeopardy – courtesy, lack of funding. Directed by Raman Bhardwaj, reportedly the shootRead More

The post Omg! Konkona Sen Sharma, Kalki Koechlin starrer Scholarship stalled due to financial crisis appeared first on Bollywood Hungama.

Kalki Koechlin who shot into the limelight with her portrayal of Chandramukhi in the film Dev.D has always been known for her off beat choice of films. And proving the same was her recent release A Death in the Gunj. But away from films, Kalki apart from being associated with various social causes is alsoRead More

The post Furry Tales: Kalki Koechlin unleashes her wild side but still manages to look cute appeared first on Bollywood Hungama.

Amazon Prime Video presents the latest and best entertainment for its viewers and their newest Indian film releases are really exciting! Get ready to be transported into an emotional journey filled with comedy, drama, action, adventure and romance.

Viewers will get to experience a whole new level of drama with the all new episodes of Baahubali: The Lost Legends, created by the legendary SS Rajamouli, every Friday. Baahubali: The Lost Legends looks into the The legendary sword of Katappa. It has been shattered but does the legend of the man extend beyond his sword? Watch the latest episode of Baahubali: The Lost Legends for answers.

The temperature will further soar with the sizzling chemistry of Varun Dhawan-Alia Bhatt starrer Badrinath Ki Dulhaniya. Directed by Shashank Khaitan, the film is a dramatic love story. Badrinath Bansal from Jhansi and Vaidehi Trivedi from Kota belong to small towns but have diametrically opposite opinions on everything.

Konkona Sen Sharma’s A Death In The Gunj is about secrets and whispers that hover over our lives and lies that are dormant in the family history. And one family secret that Konkona and her distinguished mother filmmaker Aparna Sen share, is that Aparna has made a quiet non-visible guest appearance in her daughter’s directorial debut. That’s right. Aparna Sen is in Konkona’s much-lauded ARead More

The post Aparna Sen on her secret appearance in Konkana’s directorial debut appeared first on Bollywood Hungama.

A Death In The Gunj

Starring Vikrant Massey, Kalki Koechlin, Ranvir Shorey, Gulshan Devaiah, Tillotama Shome, Om Puri, Tanuja

Written & Directed by Konkona Sen Sharma

It’s hard to define the mood of unrehearsed foreboding and a vague sense of doom that is built into Konkona Sen Sharma’s fragile yet ferocious family-on-a-disastrous-hillstation-holiday film.

If one didn’t know better, one would classify A Death In The Gunj as a whodunit. An Agatha Christie novel condensed into two hours of layered crisp crunchy but seemingly pointless conversations where families on a lazy vacation talk nonsense, play silly games evoking dead spirits (please!) while kids and pets run around in the large crumbling family home as the house-help grumbles about the sudden surge in domestic responsibilities.

It’s a familiar scenario for a tense exploration of fissures and fractures in the joint-family system. Satyajit Ray’s Aranyar Din Ratri, more recently...

Watch Anupama Chopra’s review of A Death in the Gunj, a movie starring Vikrant Massey, Tillotama Shome, Om Puri, Tanuja, Gulshan Devaiah, Kalki Koechlin, Jim Sarbh, and Ranvir Shorey. The movie is directed by Konkona Sen Sharma...

This series shines the light on some unsung but noteworthy actors in Hindi movies. Vikrant Massey, who’s been around the block for 14 years, tells us about making the hero’s best friend role ‘cool’ and playing the lead in A Death In The Gunj...

MacGuffin Pictures and Studioz IDrream join production brings to you the trailer of A Death in the Gunj which was released today. This will mark the directorial debut of the wonderfully talented Konkona Sen Sharma.

A Death In The Gunj which is based on true events got lauded at various international film festivals and the teaser poster of the film was also released recently. The film is an atmospheric thriller which is set in 1979 at McCluskieganj, near Ranchi and stars Vikrant Massey, Gulshan Devaiah, Kalki Koechlin, Ranvir Shorey, Tillotama Shome, Jim Sarbh, Tanuja and Late Om Puri.

The movie is slated to release on 2nd June this year.

Check out the trailer and teaser poster right here!

The prestigious New York Indian Film Festival (Nyiff) has declared debutante director Konkona Sensharma the best director for her film A Death In The Gunj…

While all of us in India are eagerly awaiting to see Konkona Sensharma’s directorial debut A Death In The Gunj starring Vikrant Massey, Tillotama Shome, Gulshan Devaiah, Om Puri, Kalki Koechlin, Ranvir Shorey, Tanuja, Jim Sarbh and others, the film was recently invited to be showcased at the New York Indian Film Festival. Nyiff has been known for spreading awareness about India and its people through cinema since 2001. While the film was widely appreciated at the Nyiff, Konkona Sensharma won the award for the best director – a humongous encourage for any debutant!

Winning laurels at such a prestigious platform sure might have been a fantastic moment for the actor-turned-director. Congratulating his talented director, producer Ashish Bhatnagar said, “We are all extremely happy for Konkona’s big win.

Konkona Sen Sharma has definitely had a great start to the first half of 2017, amidst all the controversies and the ‘ban’ fiasco! The actress and director recently took home the prestigious award for the Best Actress at the New York Indian Film Festival for her film, Lipstick Under My Burkha. This is the second win for the 37 year old actress, who also won the Best Director Award for her debut film, A Death in the Gunj. While Konkona and the makers of the film Lipstick Under My Burkha couldn’t manage a screening in India till now, courtesy the censor board deeming the film as ‘vulgur’ and ‘too sexual’, the film has been getting rave reviews wherever it has been screened till now, most recent being the acclaimed New York Indian Film Festival (Nyiff). Early this year, the Censor Board projected a huge ban on the film, which is directed...

It’s over but it opened L.A.’s newest spring season of unlimited international film screenings all over the city throughout the month of April and into Cannes.

The 15th annual Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (Iffla) opened with “Lipstick Under My Burkha” and its impressive ensemble cast of Konkona Sen Sharma, Ratna Pathak, Aahana Kumra and Plabita Borthakur in a dramatic, but irreverent and vibrant film about women and faith. The film premiered at the Tokyo Film Festival 2016 and has been lighting up the festival circuit, including just winning the Audience Award at the Glasgow Film Festival. Director Alankrita Shrivastava is confirmed to attend and additional talent to be confirmed.

“Lipstick Under My Burkha”

Iffla concluded on April 9 with a red carpet and gala that featured the Los Angeles premiere of Shubhashish Bhutiani’s “Hotel Salvation” starring Adil Hussain who was in attendance, as well as the...

The 15th edition of the Indian Film Festival Of Los Angeles (Iffla) features two world premieres, five North American premieres.

The Los Angeles premiere of Alankrita Shrivastava’s Lipstick Under My Burka and Shubhashish Bhutiani’s debut feature Hotel Salvation bookend the festival, set to run from April 5-9.

Iffla top brass announced a line-up of narrative and documentary features on Tuesday that includes two world premieres, five North American premieres and five Us premieres.

The festival includes several directing debuts. Actress Konkona Sen Sharma will screen A Death In The Gunj, while Ananya Kasaravalli brings The Chronicles Of Hari and Padmakumar Narasimhamurthy will present Billion Colour Story.

Highlights are expected to include the Us premiere of Khushboo Ranka and Vinay Shukla’s documentary An Insignificant Man, about polarising political figure Arvind Kejriwal and his progressive Aam Aadmi Party at the 2013 Delhi state elections.

“As India’s diverse array of talented filmmakers continues to be recognised around...

Exclusive: Amazon has exclusive streaming rights to films like The Land Of The Gods and A Death In The Gunj.

Amazon has announced a long-term alliance with Cinestaan Film Company through its sales arm C International Sales for the exclusive distribution of independent Indian films.

The first batch of the titles includes The Land Of The Gods (Dev Bhoomi), A Death In The Gunj and The Hungry. The films will be streamed exclusively on Amazon Prime Video India after their theatrical release.

Rohit Khattar, chairman of India and UK-based boutique studio Cinestaan Group said, “In our quest to champion independent Indian films, we have been trying to figure out various ways to effectively distribute films which face the usual conundrum of high P&A and other costs. Amazon Prime Video has presented a much needed option.”

Nitesh Kripalani, director and country head of Amazon Prime Video India said, “Our alliance with Cinestaan is to build our selection...

Exclusive/Film Bazaar: Director Rohena Gera makes fictional feature debut.

Following its return to film production with A Death In The Gunj, Studioz IDrream is set to produce Mumbai-set drama Sir, written and directed by Rohena Gera.

The film, which marks Gera’s narrative feature debut, revolves around the relationships between the middle class and their domestic helpers in Mumbai society. “The story tackles Indian taboos but I want it to be understood outside of India,” said Gera.

A successful scriptwriter with credits including Kuch Naa Kaho and Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic, Gera made her directing debut in 2013 with documentary What’s Love Got To Do With It?

Studioz IDrream CEO Ashish Bhatnagar said he wanted to produce the film because “our company aims to tell Indian stories that can resonate globally”.

Bhatnagar and Gera are currently in talks with a potential French co-producer.

Rakesh Mehra (Qissa, Sunrise) is also on board the film as line producer...

Exclusive: Indian boutique studio is at Afm for the first time this year.

C International Sales, the UK-based sales arm of Indian boutique studio Cinestaan Film Company, is making its Afm debut with a slate including A Death In The Gunj and The Land Of The Gods.

Konkona Sen Sharma’s A Death In The Gunj, which premiered at Toronto, is backed by indie production house Studioz Idrream. Directed by Serbia’s Goran Paskalijevic, The Land Of The Gods (Dev Bhoomi) stars India’s Victor Banerjee.

Headed by former 6 Sales chief Marina Fuentes, C International focuses on films with a connection to India and handles both acquisitions and Cinestaan productions. The company is also selling Cinestaan’s Mirzya, directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, for non-Indian diaspora territories.

“Launching C International Sales as independent Indian storytelling grows and the appetite for these stories escalates around the world is a fantastic opportunity,” said Fuentes...

Other winners included Ralitza Petrova’s Godless and The Narrow Path, directed by Satish Babusenan and Santosh Babusenan.

Davy Chou’s Diamond Island won the Golden Gateway Award in Mumbai Film Festival’s international competition, while Haobam Paban Kumar’ Lady Of The Lake scooped the same honour in India Gold.

Diamond Island, a co-production between Cambodia, France and three other countries, received its world premiere in Critics Week at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and premiered in Cambodia this week. Lady Of The Lake, a Manipuri-language drama about fishermen being driven from their homes, recently premiered at Busan.

Other winners in Mumbai’s international competition included Bulgarian filmmaker Ralitza Petrova’s Godless, which took the Silver Gateway Award, and Mexican director Natalia Almada’s Everything Else, which took the Jury Grand Prize. Special mentions went to Alba, directed by Ecuador’s Macarena Arias, and UK-Peruvian drama When Two Worlds Collide.

In the India...

Konkana Sen Sharma makes her directorial debut with A Death in the Gunj, starring Om Puri, Kalki Koechlin, Ranvir Shorey and more. The film is produced by Ashish Bhatnagar, Vijay Kumar Swami, Raagii Bhatnagar, Abhishek Chaubey, and Honey Trehan under the banners of Studioz IDrream and MacGuffin Pictures, and is set to release in theaters on 13 January 2017.

Check out the trailer below!

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpYJYoiHJ55R7Mfp12lQZJg

The post ‘A Death in the Gunj’ trailer appeared first on BollySpice.com.

The Jio Mami Mumbai Film Festival with Star gears up to open its 18th edition with Konkona Sensharma’s directorial debut film, A Death in the Gunj. The opening film will be screened on 21st October, 2016. The film has garnered critical acclaim internationally and has recently been screened at the 41st Toronto Film Festival.

A Death in the Gunj marks a double debut for Konkona Sensharma – as director and screenplay writer. Shot at various locations in McCluskiegunj, Jharkhand, the film is a coming-of-age story, set in the 1970s. The film revolves around a family vacation and is based on true events which are meticulously captured by Sensharma. The film is said to have been wrapped up in six weeks in March 2016.

Konkona Sensharma said,” I’m truly excited and honored that Aditg will be the opening film at Mami! It is the city of my work and where the film...

The Mumbai Film Festival will once again throw the spotlight on India's evolving independent scene with opening film A Death in the Gunj.

The directorial debut of well-known actress Konkona Sen Sharma (Talvar), the film had its world premiere at Toronto on September 9 in the festival's Special Presentations section.

The film will also screen next month at Busan in that festival's Window on Asian cinema section.

The '70s-set coming-of-age story is based on true events and revolves around a family on holiday in the remote McCluskiegunj tourist area, in the eastern state of Jharkhand. Most ...