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More news →"The Last Monk" being screened at MAMI
Plexus Films and Access Entertainment's maiden feature film in English, "The Last Monk", which was acclaimed at the Rotterdam film festival recently, is now being screened at the forthcoming MAMI film festival in Mumbai on 24th March. "The Last Monk" has been directed by Sudipto Sen, assistant to legendary filmmaker G.Aravindan. He has made many documentaries including "The Other Wealth", which won National Award for Best Environmental Film in 1995. It was also screened at all the major international film festivals. "The Last Monk" is a maiden venture marking his debut as a feature film director. This unique venture in the midst of contemporary Indian cinema scenario is slated to be the beginning of a new genre. As an Indian feature film in English, "The Last Monk" ventures into the hitherto uncharted territories of cultural Buddhism through breath-taking landscape of Ladakh on Indo-Tibetan plateau and a radical understanding of male-female relationship, sexuality and beyond. "The Last Monk" is the story of Swapna. Swapna's role is enacted by Rachna Shah, who has already worked in many prestigious films including Sonu Sisupal's "Kaalachakram" (Tamil), Susant Mishra's "Dharini" (Hindi), Santosh Sivan's ""Navrasa" (Tamil) and Ashok Vishwanathan's Andhkaroor Shabd - Sounds of Darkness (Bengali). Well known theatre actor and model Jimeesh Gandhi plays Pushkar, the material strength of Swapna. Sonam Stobgias Gorky, from NSD, plays Sonik, the main protagonist of the film.
The real star of '36 China Town'?
Yes, '36 China Town' is indeed special for number of reasons. On one side there is the director duo of Abbas Mustan returning with what they are best at - thrills and chills, while on the other hand real life couple of Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor aim at erasing the forgettable 'Fida' behind them. To add to the fun here is Upen Patel igniting the screens while Himesh Reshammiya's music too is much talked about. To top it all, production values are bound to be great since the film comes from Subash Ghai's Mukta Arts. But guess who is the real star of the movie that makes it a must watch? None other than Akshaye Khanna who plays an investigating cop in the film with an attire that suits his personality to the T. Enacting the role of an intelligent no-nonsense cop, he adds on the intrigue in the film and is believed to have come up with an extremely convincing performance. No doubt, the film becomes extra special due to the presence of this versatile actor!
The Big B' in romantic mood
The ultimate Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan never seems to stop growing. The older he grows, the better he becomes as an actor. And he still seems to be romantic at heart. Hold your breath, he is going to romance a girl 36 years younger to him in his next film. Ram Gopal Varma has announced his next project titled 'Nishabd', leaving his ambitious project 'Sholay' behind. It will be based on Vladimir Nakobov's novel 'Lolita'. In the film, Amitabh Bachchan will play the lead role of a 54-year old married man, who falls in love with a young girl. Interestingly, the girl will be 36 years younger to him according to the story of the film. The makers of the film have decided to cast newcomer Jia to play Amitabh's love interest so as to bring shade of reality to the film. Amitabh Bachchan is excited to be a part of the project. It is said that Varma has been thinking of doing this film for quite a while now. He said that love has nothing to do with age, as people fall in love irrespective of age. Nakobov's novel is about a 44-year old man fantasizing a 14-year-old girl but 'Nishabd' is said to be a complete love story. The film is likely to go to the floors by May 1. The makers of the film are planning to complete the whole shooting in a single schedule.
The Magical Realism of The Mistress of Spices
For the ultimate curtain raiser to The Mistress Of Spices, including the storyline and an insightful backgrounder on it, which especially highlights the Magical Realism used in the forthcoming Ash starrer from Gurinder Chaddha, read on! Also, info on the cast and technical crew, in detail. A story of Magical Realism: 'The Mistress of Spices' is an enchanting and sensual fable about the romantic and personal conflicts that face TILO, a beautiful young woman, trained in the ancient and magical art of spices. Ordained with special powers to help those that come to her, Tilo can sense people's problems with a startling ability to see into their past and future. Tilo works in a small San Francisco store called the 'SPICE BAZAAR', where, with the guidance of her spices, she finds the perfect remedy for anyone who walks through her door. For her powers to work she must obey three simple but strict rules, she must only use the spices to help others, she must not touch another human's skin and she must never leave her store. When DOUG, a handsome, enigmatic architect crashes his Harley Davison outside her San Francisco store, she has to tend to his wounds and her life is changed forever. For the first time Tilo's own desires are stirred - is there more to life than helping others? Tilo knows the rules and her spices warn her to stay away. But Doug doesn't have any spices telling him what to do and soon returns with flowers to ask her on a date. No matter how hard she resists him, his persistence, honesty and friendship draws them closer and closer to each other. When they accidentally touch, another rule is broken and the spices are enraged. The spices are in no mood for either leniency or romance but Tilo is captivated by the force of love and agrees to go on a date leaving her spices behind. The spices begin to punish her - the more she falls in love and defies the rules, the more her customers suffer. All Tilo wants to do is carry on her work helping others and fall in love as well, but she is forced into a painful dilemma. If she turns her back on her way of life, all the people that she has helped will suffer, but if she doesn't, she will lose Doug forever! Tilo must now confront her past, her friends, her desires and ultimately the spices to decide if she can fight for a new life of her choosing or must return to the old one. The biggest USP of the storyline: Magical Realism One of the key and unique elements to the Mistress of Spices is the use of Magical Realism, a literary technique that explores how different cultures perceive reality. Magical realism is found within in a variety of literature, and as literary professor Jane Anderson Jones explains, "What is absolutely 'real' to one culture, is 'magical' to the other culture. From a 'Western' viewpoint, the other culture's reality is often described as superstition, witchcraft or nonsense; from another cultures viewpoint (Native American, Eastern, African etc) western logic and science are viewed as "magic" or disconnected from the spiritual world. The intersect of these different world views is Magical Realism." In The Mistress of Spices the intersect occurs between the traditions of India and the modernity of America . From the very outset of the film, it is clear that Tilo lives strictly by the rules of the spices. 1. Never think about your own desires, only use the spices to help others. 2. Do not touch anyone else and 3. Do not leave the store. To begin with Tilo keeps within the restrictions of these rules and the literal boundaries of the shop. She soon realizes however, that it is not going to be easy to adhere to these traditions within the environment of modern America where free will is the more dominant force. When Doug walks into her store and awakens a passion within her, the chilli's become aggravated and warn her against the dangers of abandoning her traditions. When she steps outside the store to explore the world of San Francisco and her blossoming desires for Doug, the spices are furious, they stop working as they should and all sense of order is lost. Tilo is torn between these conflicting desires and eventually submits herself back into the burning chilli's asking the spices to decide her fate. By the end however, Tilo manages to find a balance, she holds on the backbone of her traditions and respect for her spices whilst also embracing her personal desires for love and human affection. She truly can, have it all.
The girls who remained unsung in 36 China Town
It was Kareena Kapoor all the way as far as 'Aashique' was concerned in '36 China Town'. For Payal Rohatgi it has never being difficult to enjoy all the eyeballs and she too had it easy to get noticed by being a major suspect in the film. On the other hand Tanaz Currim, who has reinvented herself over the years, had the audience rolling over with her pairing up with Johney Lever. But whatever happened to the other three girls in the movie i.e. Isha Kopikar, Tanushree Dutta and lesser known Sambhavna Seth? While Isha Kopikar was THE victim around whom the entire story revolved, she was nowhere to be seen in the promos either in the past or today! On the other hand Tanushree Dutta had a rather expensively shot song devoted to her in the film [Jab Kabhi] but that too has never arrived on air except for being in the film. The most disheartening case has been with newcomer Sambhavna who must have pinned a lot of hopes on her small role and a song in the film. For those who are still wondering which song, it is none other than 'Aashique' that comes at the beginning of the film with Upen Patel in the lead. Sambhavna is there for a couple of scenes preceding the number and also gets good footage in the song. Sadly that's all she gets in terms of mileage! With '36 China Town' being a success, would the three girls now get an opportunity to be a part of the film's promotion?
'The Killer' promises a new sound
When Vishesh Films and Emraan Hashmi combine, great music obviously follows! From 'Footpath', 'Murder', 'Tumse Nahi Dekha' to 'Zeher', 'Kalyug' and most recently 'Gangster', each of the films has always boasted of popular music. Now the production house and Emraan Hashmi are coming together yet again with 'The Killer' that stars Irrfan Khan in the lead role along with Nisha Kothari who plays Hashmi's love interest. While no one doubts yet another exciting music on the way, the film's publicity still chooses to explicitly call it out. Promising an arrival of new sound in the form of some outstanding melodies, the music of 'The Killer' comprises of 5 numbers that are soon coming your way!