Alia shares dream-like pictures from her wedding (Alia Bhatt IG)
Not long after Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor officially became Mrs and Mr Kapoor, and once the no-fuss ceremonies got over, Alia shared a bunch of dream-like pictures of the couple on her social media…reports Asian Lite News
Taking to her Instagram, Alia posted a series of pictures with Ranbir, who’s seen sporting a well-developed beard. She wrote in the caption: “Today, surrounded by our family and friends, at home, in our favourite spot — the balcony we’ve spent the last five years of our relationship — we got married.”
She continued: “With so much already behind us, we can’t wait to build more memories together, memories that are full of love, laughter, comfortable silences, movie nights, silly fights, wine delights and Chinese bites. Thank you for all the love and light during this very momentous time in our lives. It has made this moment all the more special. Love, Ranbir and Alia.”
In the pictures, the star couple can be seen wearing cream-coloured wedding outfits, drenched in the golden shade of the setting Mumbai sun.
Ranbir and Alia began dating on the sets of “Brahmastra” in 2018 and made their first appearance as a couple at Sonam Kapoor’s wedding reception in the same year.
After the wedding, incidentally, Ranbir’s cousin, Kareena Kapoor Khan, shared a picture of her second child Jeh on Instagram. The mother-son duo dressed in matching shades of pink can be seen laughing their hearts out for the camera.
Alia shares dream-like pictures from her wedding (Alia Bhatt IG)
The 22nd edition of the biggest celebration of Indian cinema- the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards is all set to unite the world to showcase cinematic excellence, bringing its global brand presence to Yas Island, Abu Dhabi on May 20th and 21st, 2022…reports Asian Lite News
The highly anticipated NEXA IIFA Awards will witness electrifying performances by Bollywood megastars Kartik Aaryan, Sara Ali Khan, Varun Dhawan, Ananya Panday, Divya Khosla Kumar & Nora Fatehi among others at the most coveted annual ceremony that promises to be a mélange of glitz, glamour and entertainment.
The grandiose global event will be hosted by Bollywood superstar Salman Khan, Riteish Deshmukh & Maniesh Paul at the Middle East’s largest state-of-the-art indoor entertainment venue, Etihad Arena, part of Yas Bay Waterfront on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi.
Get ready to witness #KartikAaryan’s stellar performance at the 22nd NEXA IIFA Awards!🤩
The organizers also announced that the star-studded IIFA Weekend would be presented by Laser Book News, the fastest – growing news and opinions platform along with official travel partner Ease My Trip – one of India’s leading online travel aggregators, cause partner for gender equality – Woosh washing expert and associate sponsor Krisumi Corporation.
With excitement increasing all over the world, people can now buy tickets to the biggest celebration of Indian Cinema on https://www.etihadarena.ae/en/box-office or you can head to www.yasisland.ae where fans can add all that they need for their visit to Yas Island. The price denominations range from AED prices 110, 220, 330, 440, 550, 1000 and 1350. (*Please note additional charges, terms & conditions may apply).
#SaraAliKhan will set the dance floor ablaze with her performance at IIFA! 🤩🔥
The event will take place at the Middle East’s largest state-of-the-art indoor entertainment venue, Etihad Arena, part of Yas Bay Waterfront on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, in collaboration with the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi), and Miral, Abu Dhabi’s leading creator of immersive destinations and experiences.
NEXA from Maruti Suzuki India Limited stands committed to IIFA continuing their partnership for the sixth consecutive edition as the Title Sponsor of the IIFA Awards. As the world looks forward to this year’s celebration of Hindi cinema with music and fashion at yet another exotic destination, the content promises to be aspirational and entertaining. With its growing popularity across the world, IIFA today is recognized not just as a globally broadcast and streamed event but an institution in its own right, and a platform that is recognized as the most engaging celebration of Indian cinema.
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Yas Island is one of the world’s fastest growing leisure and entertainment destinations, located on the golden shores of Abu Dhabi. Home to magical adventures and awe-inspiring entertainment, as well as three globally renowned theme parks, outstanding motorsports, an award-winning golf venue and world-class hospitality services, Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island is a destination like nowhere else.
Kartik Aaryan: “As always, IIFA truly gives you the biggest audience to entertain and the opportunity to engage with and entertain my fans is super fulfilling. In 2018, after Hosting and performing at my first IIFA which was a phenomenal experience, I’m elated to perform once again at the 22nd edition of the biggest celebration of Indian cinema. IIFA truly is an embodiment of a global phenomenon with its massive fan following and I’m looking forward to IIFA Awards at Yas Island, Abu Dhabi this year.”
Sara Ali Khan: “IIFA is a genuinely inspirational global platform that has always set the way for placing Indian cinema on a worldwide stage, honouring and recognizing the brilliance inside our industry with its annual ceremony at an international destination and has continued to do so with tenacity. I am honoured to be a part of the 22nd edition in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi at Etihad Arena on Yas Bay. Can’t wait to connect with the IIFA fans and enthusiasts from across the world.”
Divya Khosla Kumar: “IIFA, represents the mammoth outreach of Indian cinema and as a major international event beyond the Indian shores, IIFA has truly taken it to glorious pinnacles bringing the world of Indian cinema to life for existing and new audiences. I am honoured and looking forward to my performance at the 22nd edition in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi.”
Nora Fatehi: “I am really excited as it is not only my first time at the IIFA but also because it is a one-of-a-kind performance for everyone. It has all elements of entertainment and a huge surprise as well! As an artist, I’m really glad to be a part of the 22nd edition of IIFA at Yas Island, which is bringing Indian cinema and culture to a global platform, as it resonates with my idea of elevating and promoting cross-cultural diversities across the globe.”
Alongside the arena and Yas Bay, guests visiting Yas Island will also be able to enjoy a variety of experiences. From award-winning theme parks, the record-breaking CLYMB™ Abu Dhabi, the capital’s largest mall, 160 dining options, a scenic beach and mangroves, luxurious hospitality stays and so much more, there’s a lot to explore!
Then, the cinemas reopened at 50 per cent capacity to start with and are now allowed to operate at full capacity. To their relief, the cinema chains had a lineup of films due for release…reports Vinod Mirani
The first quarter of the year held a great promise for the film industry to level up with the pre-Covid-19 times and return to the good old normal days when a pandemic did not run your life or, rather, restrict it. For various reasons, though, the film industry has not been able to realise that promise.
Ever since the exhibition trade re-opened post-pandemic, initially with restrictions of limited capacity, there was a sigh of relief. The exhibitors were back in business after almost two years of uncertainties. Since then, however, the films made for the Hindi audience are not working as expected. And it is not because they are remakes of South films. Because, South films dubbed in Hindi are doing better than they ever did.
I have mentioned this on an earlier occasion, the South dubbed films used to be released in the Hindi belt as gap fillers when the times were not conducive for the box office prospects of a mainstream film. But the cinemas had to run. Things seem to have changed and, in fact, South films dubbed in Hindi have salvaged the first quarter of the year to some extent.
Somewhere during the lockdown, the viewer has come to terms with certain things, starting with content being most important. OTT platforms filled the gap and continued to provide entertainment when the cinemas were shut. On streaming platforms, there were quite a few big successes and most of them did not boast of big stars.
In fact, OTT serials that succeeded featured either newcomers, or actors who were not getting assignments in films any longer, or those who played character roles in films. Somehow, even on OTT platforms, some of the films with big stars failed to find favour with the viewer!
Then, the cinemas reopened at 50 per cent capacity to start with and are now allowed to operate at full capacity. To their relief, the cinema chains had a lineup of films due for release.
We saw no major release in January. February saw the release of ‘Badhaai Do’ and ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’. The former just about managed to touch double-digit collections (in crores) and ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’ just could not justify the hype around it. The claimed collection figure for it is about Rs 118 crore, but the trade puts it at about Rs 80 crore!
Amitabh Bachchan’s ‘Jhund’ again remained a non-starter, barely managing to cross the double-digit marK with about Rs 12 crore. Much was expected of ‘Bachchhan Paandey’, being a remake of the Tamil film ‘Jigarthanda’ (which, in turn, had been inspired by a South Korean film) and an Akshay Kumar-starrer at that! The film failed to get a decent opening and had to be withdrawn from many cinemas or the number of shows allotted to it curtailed.
It could not cross even the Rs 50 crore mark, thereby qualifying to be rated as a disaster. Ironically, the Tamil original had won two National Awards, one for Bobby Simha (Best Supporting Actor) and another for Vivek Harshan (Best Editing) in March 2015.
The first quarter belonged to just one film, ‘The Kashmir Files’. A small film with senior character actors playing the protagonists, it has stirred up the biggest political debate in the country and its after-effects are being felt nationwide. And, it did not let the box office down either. As the days went by since its release on limited screens, the film added not only more screens and therefore footfalls, but also touched Rs 240+ crore in Indian theatrical releases by Week 3.
Hindi filmmakers tend to remake South films, some even buy rights to movies that are many years old. Why do they fail? Take the recent example of ‘Bachchhan Paandey’, a major disaster. The reason is that you do not have decent writers in the Hindi film industry, and you also don’t seem to have rewrite people who can capture the essence of the original!
During the lockdown, OTT streaming content remained the subject of discussions on social media. Sadly, not much has changed since the resumption of new releases. The only release that has dominated social media is ‘The Kashmir Files.
Now, this is a film that does not entertain like a formula commercial production. Some even called it a documentary! Its success is something to be analysed. Fine. But what accounts for the poor performance of films such as ‘Bachchhan Paandey’, ‘Jhund’ and Badhaai Do’?
Of course, if these few films have managed to stay at the cinemas for just a few days and have figures like Rs 8 crore or Rs 12 crore to show, it is also because of the enhanced admission rates charged by the cinema managements since the reopening. A person who would love to watch a film at a cinema is put off. It seems like everybody is out to recoup the lockdown losses from the general public, be it a barber shop, or a restaurant, or a cinema theatre. They all are punishing the public for the loss of business.
So, what has happened in the first three months of 2022 is that the box office take-home so far has been just about Rs 350 crore, against Rs 850 crore to Rs 900 crore before the pandemic. A third of the normal business.
‘Content is king’ is a phrase most relevant to films and other entertainment media. Reminds me of the 1970s and 80s, when writers not only helped sell a film, but also competed with each other to deliver better content! There was a long list of film writers in business. Against this, we know of no writer in the Hindi film industry whose name matters, let alone helps sell a
film.
So far, in the last few years, the magic of none of the top stars has worked. Aamir Khan comes up with a film on rare occasions. Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan have been delivering duds on a regular basis. And, now, a fairly dependable Akshay Kumar is also facing rejection. To be practical, we can’t expect a film such as ‘The Kashmir Files’ every quarter to salvage the situation and let the cinemas function.
Talking of cinemas, one thought they were in a real jeopardy during the lockdown of more than 18 months. Quite contrary to the fears, the cinema exhibition trade seems to have come alive, if not at the box office, at least behind the scenes.
The latest news making the media rounds is that the PVR Group has taken over control of the INOX Group cinemas. A couple of weeks earlier, there was also talk of a PVR-Cinepolis merger. When these handshakes are formalised, will the film trade be confronted by the virtual monopoly of a single group of cinemas? Not that it is much different now, for the programmers of all these chains together decide on a film’s release strategy.
What filmmakers should worry about is how they will continue to remake South hits in Hindi if their dubbed versions are doing so well and the audience is already exposed to these films! There are about 25 South hits that are being made in Hindi as of now. Better find your own writers. Now, the latest dubbed South release, ‘RRR’ has done excellent business in the Hindi belt, collecting Rs 130 crore in the opening week.
Then there is this talk about why dubbed films do well with the Hindi audience while the originals are failing! A star was reported to be lamenting this situation. A distributor suggests, in jest of course, that our Hindi stars should do all their films in the South and release their dubbed versions in the Hindi market!
It is reported that a popular Hindi production house has come up with an interesting offer to rope in Ram Charan for its upcoming biggie…reports Asian Lite News
The prodigious success of S.S. Rajamouli’s recent release ‘RRR’ has gingered up things for Tollywood star Ram Charan.
Having turned heads with his astounding performance as Alluri Sitarama Raju in the movie, Ram Charan has become the bull’s eye for filmmakers in Bollywood.
Gossip about Ram Charan’s apparent Bollywood movie are currently making rounds among the folks in the Telugu movie industry.
It is reported that a popular Hindi production house has come up with an interesting offer to rope in Ram Charan for its upcoming biggie.
While the reports lack authenticity, it is still being talked about that, Ram Charan will definitely be seen in a Bollywood movie soon after his current commitments.
Ram Charan, on the other hand, is busy shooting for Shankar Shanmugham’s upcoming big-ticket movie, in which Kiara Advani is the female lead. The ‘Rangasthalam’ actor has a project under Gautham Thinnanuri’s direction as well.
Jackie Shroff and Ayesha’s daughter e Krishna Shroff is a fitness enthusiast and a Basketball coach who often raises the temperature with her bold and beautiful posts on Instagram…reports Olivia Sarkar
These Bollywood star kids might not officially entered the film industry, but they frequently feature across headlines and also rule social media platforms. With a large follower base and dedicated fan pages, these youngsters enjoy huge stardom. Here’s a look at the names already part of the glitzy world.
Suhana Khan
Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan’s daughter is an internet sensation who frequently steals the show.
Suhana’s recent videos on Justin Bieber’s hit song “Peaches” went viral on social media. She is currently a student at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, and frequently shares pictures on Instagram with her girlfriends. She has over 2.4 million followers. Khushi Kapoor
Khushi Kapoor, the younger daughter of late actress Sridevi and film producer Boney Kapoor, is quite active and popular on Instagram, with over 758k followers. Khushi is currently studying in New York and has an incredible sense of fashion, as evidenced by her stunning social media photos. She is a fashion glossy favourite for her stylish outings.
Krishna Shroff
Jackie Shroff and Ayesha’s daughter e Krishna Shroff is a fitness enthusiast and a Basketball coach who often raises the temperature with her bold and beautiful posts on Instagram. She has over 1 million followers on Instagram and often steals headlines for her marvelous figure.
Navya Naveli Nanda
Granddaughter to megastar Amitabh Bachchan, Navya Naveli Nanda is a millennial beauty. Understaded, casual and yet very fashionable she balances business and glamour with finesse. After completing her graduation from New York’s Fordham University in digital technology and UX design, she stepped into the business world becoming the co-founder of an online healthcare portal for women named Aara Health. Navya commands over 575K followers on Instagram.
The bombing has created widespread panic among the Ukrainians, who have turned subway stations into underground bunkers to stay safe during the ongoing skirmish…reports Asian Lite News
Actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas, who was appointed the UN Goodwill Ambassador in 2016, has strongly reacted to the crisis which is currently unfolding in Ukraine following the military attack launched by Russia.
Terming the situation as “terrifying”, she has urged people on behalf of Unicef to provide aid to Ukraine. The actress shared a video of a news coverage on the situation in Ukraine, which is getting battered with Russian bombing on their military bases.
The bombing has created widespread panic among the Ukrainians, who have turned subway stations into underground bunkers to stay safe during the ongoing skirmish.
Priyanka wrote in the caption, “The situation unfolding in Ukraine is terrifying. Innocent people living in fear for their lives and the lives of their loved ones, while trying to navigate the uncertainty of the immediate future.”
She further wrote, “It’s difficult to comprehend how in the modern world this could escalate to such a catastrophic point, but this is a consequential moment that will reverberate around the world.”
Urging people to lend a helping hand, she wrote, “There are innocent lives living in this war zone. They are just like you and me. Here is more info at the link in my bio about how to assist the people of Ukraine.”
The ongoing crisis in Ukraine has drawn varied reactions from influential people. Earlier, actor Sonu Sood had urged the Indian Embassy in Ukraine to help find an alternative route for evacuating stranded Indians.
Khanna is known for constantly reinventing traditional silhouettes and creating statement-worthy ensembles…reports Asian Lite News
Trends come and go, but there’s nothing quite like a sari. Whether it’s a casual outing, an intimate soiree or a lavish celebration, there’s a sari for every occasion. Keeping up with the warm months ahead, we’ve rounded-up some styles that you can add to your summer wardrobe.
Pastel power
Parineeti Chopra Photo: Instagram
Summers are for cool tones and flowy silhouettes. Actress Parineeti Chopra opted for a light pink sari from Faabiiana and paired it with a matching blouse. We’re digging the colour and love how she’s completed the look with minimal gold accessories and dewy make-up.
Elegant embellishments
Vani Kapoor Photo: Instagram
This yellow piece from Arpita Mehta is apt for summer weddings — the colour, the detailing on the sari and the striking blouse. Depending on the scale of the occasion, you can style embroidered pieces with heavy jewellery or keep it simple like Vaani Kapoor has.
Something light, something white
Bhumi Pednekar Photo: Instagram
Whether it’s a crisp shirt, a lush embroidered lehenga or a pristine sari, white is always right. For the promotion of her upcoming film, Bhumi Pednekar opted for a very cool number from Abu Jani-Sandeep Khosla. Her white sari is detailed with ‘love’ written in different languages.
Print game strong
Hearty Handlooms Photo: Instagram
If big and bold prints define your personality, then this sari from House of Hiya is for you! Giving a twist to basic florals, the exaggerated print looks fabulous on Taapsee Pannu. The actress finished the look with dainty emerald jewels.
Very Peri
Photo: Instagram
Very Peri has been named the main colour for 2022. The dynamic periwinkle blue hue with a violet-red undertone is the IT colour to sport this season. Actor Shefali Shah nails the look in this handcrafted Deep Thee creation.
Hearty Handlooms
Mandira Bedi
Actress Mandira Bedi was recently spotted in a silk sari from Ekaya. From chanderis and banarasis to silks and bandhanis, handwoven saris always look so elegant. This look is an absolute winner, especially the co-ordinated sheer blouse.
Pre-draped
Katrina Kaif Photo: Instagram
For those of you who have still not perfected the art of draping, pre-stitched saris are your best bet. They are practical, comfy and look super-chic. Katrina Kaif opted for a bright sari paired with a jacket from designer Anamika Khanna. Khanna is known for constantly reinventing traditional silhouettes and creating statement-worthy ensembles.
Hindi films completed and waiting for cinemas to reopen helped some of these platforms. Seeing that the wait could be endless, the production houses decided to premiere the films on OTT platforms…reports Asian Lite News
Netflix laments low subscription base
OTT platforms started in India around 2013-14 with Reliance, Zee, etc. launching a kind of online service for entertainment. Available mostly on mobile phones, but little was known about them and smart phones had yet to catch up.
The major foreign platforms followed a little later, around 2016. Netflix was much talked about among those with buying power. Some liked to boast about being hooked to Netflix! To the others, it did not matter because they did not know what one was talking about. To debate or discuss anything, both sides need to know the subject. The subscriptions were slow to catch up.
People got interested when these platforms started producing or outsourcing specific programmes exclusively for Indian viewers. Netflix was a new entity as far as India was concerned, but other platforms such as Sony, Star, Disney and Zee, though new to OTT, were already familiar brands and people in India kind of knew what to expect from them.
What is more, be it Sony, Zee or Star, they already had an ample repertoire of Indian entertainment, especially Hindi content. Similarly, Eros Now is also an old hand in the film business. Shemaroo Me, the late entrant to the OTT field, is an old hand having started with a video library in the name of Shemaroo and later, the video rights acquisition and distribution business. They believed in buying the rights of films from big-name production houses and today boast of one of the best collections.
Since then, the number of OTT platforms has mushroomed. Many new names sprang up. The Covid-19 lockdown imposed in March 2020 proved to be an opportunity for these platforms. Cinema theatres were ordered to close down, which only added to the OTT count.
To an extent, even the OTT managements were taken unawares. Shooting for films as well as for television and OTT platforms were forced to stop. Television channels, which have banks of ready episodes, managed for a few weeks, but eventually had to resort to reruns. OTT platforms had no such backup. So, they had to fall back on films and both Indian and foreign as well as international OTT streaming content. That kept them going.
Hindi films completed and waiting for cinemas to reopen helped some of these platforms. Seeing that the wait could be endless, the production houses decided to premiere the films on OTT platforms.
Films such as ‘Radhe’, ‘Gulabo Sitabo’, ‘Laxmii’, ‘Ludo’, ‘Sherni’, ‘Hungama 2’, ‘AK vs. AK’, ‘Coolie No. 1’, ‘Tribhanga’, ‘Sadak 2’, ‘The Girl On The Train’, ‘The Big Bull’, ‘Toofaan’, ‘Mimi’, ‘Shershaah’, ‘Bhuj: The Pride Of India’, ‘Bhoot Police’, ‘Rashmi Rocket’, ‘Sardar Udham’, ‘Hum Do Hamare Do’, ‘Dhamaka’ and ‘Bob Biswas’ were released on OTT.
Though most of these films were not appreciated, at least, they sated the curiosity of some, especially the self-styled critics, who like to talk films and rate them with stars.
Not all OTT platforms may be doing well or even getting subscribers. Some may vanish into thin air just like they popped up from nowhere.
But the one that is feeling the pinch is the pioneer international content streaming platform, Netflix. The company feels that it has not got the required subscription base in India, it has not been successful in India. One of the factors that was a deterrent for the masses was the high monthly subscription plan of Rs 499, which the company has set right now by reducing it to Rs 199.
Till not long ago Rs 499 amounted to a month’s subscription of a local cable network with a number of channels, provided that you never bothered to count or surf along with the regular ones in demand. With a choice of multiple OTT providers, forking out almost Rs 6,000 per year was a tough call for the middle class, which spelt a bigger base.
The best example would be Zee 5 and ‘Radhe’. The platform decided to make the most of the opportunity of the Salman Khan film premiering on OTT by offering annual subscriptions at a much lower price, Rs 499 (earlier 799), which included an eight- hour window to watch ‘Radhe’! This was used as an instrument to broaden the viewer base of the platform.
Besides, Netflix is seen more as an elite platform for niche viewers with a huge collection of international programmes, but not much in comparison for the regional language viewers. Netflix has a reason to worry about its subscription lag, which is 5.5 million, against Amazon’s 19 million and the top draw, Disney+ Hotstar’s over 45 million.
Mobile phones and air travel, for example, had a limited number of takers for a long time. A basic ‘dabba’ mobile phone cost more than Rs 15,000 and the call rates were Rs 16 per minute with both parties, caller as well as receiver, billed. What happened was that the phone was used more as a pager as people checked the number and called back from landlines.
Then came the budget airlines and a range of mobile phones suitable for all pockets. One can see the difference. Airports are now overflowing with travellers and a mobile phone adorns just about every pocket.
In India, with its vast consumer base, if you wish to go for volumes, you have to be pocket friendly. That is when you build a mass base.
YouTube plays thousands of movies, songs and other such content and the number of hits the Indian film and songs get on this platform is amazing. These contain a lot of old films, for, in most cases, nobody seems to know who holds the copyright of such content.
It is the responsibility of YouTube, though, to ascertain and trace the owner of the copyrights before it starts adding any content on its platform. Or at least the platform should inform the parties concerned through a Public Notice in the media as is the trade norm.
When any content watched by a viewer earns a hit, the score is readily available and the platform should have devised some sort of mechanism to deposit the monies so earned with a producers’ body or a trust. That money certainly does not belong to YouTube.
The film business ran on trust for a long time. Even if a producer and his actors had decided on the price to act in a film (there were no other terms, actually), then nothing was put on paper. The agreements were drawn only after the release of a film or when it came to filing income-tax returns! Similar was the practice with distributors and other technicians.
But, as the entertainment industry broadened its base with the arrival of television and video rights, the filmmaker learned at some cost the need for an agreement. Video and satellite channels, while drafting agreements, included what were called ‘Tunnel Rights’, which meant that all rights that may arise from future developments and technology would belong to them!
The producer, working on borrowed monies, signed away just about everything!
When the video format came to the market, many producers were surprised to see their films available in the format. How did it happen? Many prints of Hindi films were lying in the warehouses of overseas distributors, which were acquired by the video companies at a price of as little as Rs 10,000. One Hong Kong-based label specialised in this kind of business.
The producer had neither the inclination, nor the resources to go fight a case in a Hong Kong court. This is akin to what Suneel Darshan states about Google/YouTube. Who will take on such a monstrous entity? Be it a monstrous entity such Google, or other similar players, or even the video pirate at the local level, the producer is left to fight a lone battle.
There is no record of any producers’ association joining forces with him, the very thing these associations are meant for: to protect the interests of their producer members.
Suneel has sued Google, YouTube and CEO Sundar Pichai for the infringement of the copyright of his film, Ek Haseena Thi Ek Deewana Tha. Suneel’s film is available on YouTube and has been uploaded by people other than Suneel himself.
So, does the royalty go to them? Does YouTube ask for any sort of proof of ownership of copyright before uploading a film? If not, the channel is encouraging fraud and piracy.
Suneel states that he wrote many mails to YouTube but got no response. Now this is rude and taking Indian people for granted. Finally, Suneel Darshan had to take recourse to the court of law. Now, besides whatever other observations that the court may make, YouTube needs to be told sternly that it is answerable.
One would think it was the simultaneous release of ‘Sooryavanshi’ and ‘Pushpa: The Rise’ that gave rise to the speculation that the South films were scoring over Hindi films. It is all about perception and expectations…writes Vinod Mirani
There are columns written on the invasion of the South films and film stars, and that Hindi stars have ceded the ground and the Hindi audience is lapping up the content from the South.
Is any such thing happening, really? What prompts the columnists to decide this? Why suddenly more South stars are appearing as guests on television programmes, something that was unthinkable till the Covid-19 lockdowns struck?
Is it a sort of a campaign to undermine Hindi film stars, or is it just a case of ‘out of sight is out of mind’? Hindi stars, thanks to the various lockdowns and Covid-19 norms, are not much in the news. Shoots, even if they do happen, are mostly at some remote locations, away from Mumbai. Dubbed films and the South stars can be and are being used as the gap fillers by the media in place of normal content.
Whatever gives this impression that the South films and stars are making inroads into the Hindi film industry is unfounded. So, what has happened to make some columnists think the way they do?
‘Baahubali: The Beginning’ and ‘Baahubali: The Conclusion’ combined to score about Rs 650 crore at the box office in the Hindi belt. Ironically, the first part, which was good and a visual delight, contributed just about Rs 150 crore to this total.
‘The Conclusion’ was much inferior, but cashed in on the foundation laid by the first part as well as viewers seeking an answer to the most asked question of that time, “Why did Katappa kill Bahubal?” The second part went on to do a business of about Rs 500 crore!
So, ‘Baahubali’, the franchise, its content worked because nobody in the Hindi belt had heard of the hero Prabhas. His second film, ‘Saaho’, was nowhere near the ‘Baahubali’ franchise, nor did Hindi filmmakers make a beeline to sign him up. If that has not happened, he is not the star a Hindi filmmaker will bet his money on.
‘Baahubali: The Beginning’ released in 2015 and ‘Baahubali: The Conclusion’ in 2017. It was a closed chapter, a flash in the pan. So, what has created this air about South films and Hindi films?
One would think it was the simultaneous release of ‘Sooryavanshi’ and ‘Pushpa: The Rise’ that gave rise to the speculation that the South films were scoring over Hindi films. It is all about perception and expectations.
With three top stars of the Hindi industry — Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn and Ranveer Singh — playing pivotal roles with hitmaker Rohit Shetty at the helm, ‘Sooryavanshi’ was being built up as a film to look forward to. But the lockdowns delayed the film’s release by over 18 months and when the film did release, the content was a gross letdown. I don’t know why successful filmmakers dabble in community issues in their films!
It so happened that ‘Sooryavanshi’ got a thumbs down from the viewers. But, as if that was not bad enough, the dubbed film, ‘Pushpa: The Rise’ managed to sustain at the box office. If people turn against a film, there are solid undercurrents and social media is the weapon of choice. While ‘Sooryavanshi’ was written off as a mediocre film, ‘Pushpa: The Rise’, a mediocre film, was praised to the skies!
These South films, which are dubbed in Hindi, have huge budgets and whatever they gross from the Hindi belt is sheer bonus. Yes, ‘Pushpa’ sustained, while ‘Sooryavanshi’ could not. But the film managed to reach the Rs 100-crore mark in the Hindi market only in its seventh week (Rs 100 crore means less than Rs 50 crore take-home).
In normal circumstances, a Hindi hit would do that kind of business in its first weekend. So, that is much ado about nothing.
So far, between 2015/17 and 2021, two dubbed films have sustained within the Hindi belt and that is hardly worth writing pages about.
It is a fact that Hindi films are starved of good writers and hence the need for original content. South films have always been an inspiration for Hindi filmmakers over the years. In between, we did have a generation of self-styled wizkids, the new breed of directors brought up on Hollywood films. So Hollywood films were remade in Hindi.
Some worked only because of the entertainment quotient. ‘Hamare Tumhare’, ‘Khatta Meetha’, ‘Satte Pe Satta’, ‘Andar Baahar’, ‘Baazigar’, ‘Dushman’, ‘Awara Pagal Deewana’, ‘Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar’, ‘Awarapan’, ‘Ghulam’, ‘Judwaa’, ‘Krrish’, and many more were Hollywood inspired.
Some filmmakers worked on making a place for music in these remakes because Hollywood movies have no place for songs a la Indian movies. The problem with most of these remakes was that they did not have much scope for music and they lacked the emotional angle. Both are the soul of our cinema. Songs, when forced in, were a drag on the film.
Except for this phase when Hollywood films were the inspiration, it was usually South films that Hindi filmmakers would fall back on. The South filmmakers were equally active in the Hindi film industry as they were in the South. Banners such as AVM, Gemini, Padmalaya, Suresh Pictures (Dr D. Rama Naidu), Prasad, Padmalaya, Chinnappa Devar, S. Ramanathan, Mani Ratnam, Purnachandra Rao, along with many top-rated directors, have all made films in Hindi over a period.
What the South filmmakers were known to do, if a regional film proved a hit, they would remake it in Hindi. In such cases, the Telugu-language films had the best record of succeeding in Hindi as their films were more identifiable for the Hindi audience. That usually worked.
During the late 1970s and 80s, the Hindi industry had many top South banners making films. When the South producers felt that they were being exploited by the system here, they all packed UP and left. This is how it has been for a long time. Most Hindi stars have worked in South remakes and continue to do so.
In fact, Jeetendra, after his disastrous home production, ‘Deedar-e-Yaar’, failed so badly that it almost made him bankrupt, with no Hindi producer offering him a film, salvaged his career with the help of South filmmaker L.V. Prasad’s film. Thereafter, the doors of South remakes in Hindi opened up for Jeetendra. There was a phase when almost all his films were South remakes.
So tied up was Jeetendra in Hyderabad and tired of staying in hotels days on end, that he even went ahead and bought a lavish bungalow there. Rajesh Khanna did many South films. Even Anil Kapoor consolidated his career thanks to South remakes.
The South was the main source of heroines in Hindi films, right from Waheeda Rehman, Vyjayantimala, Padmini, Leela Naidu, Hema Malini, Rekha, Meenakshi Sheshadri, Tabu, Jaya Prada, Sridevi, Asin, and many contemporary actresses who have made their way into Hindi films through the South.
When it comes to male actors from the South, there has been a lineup but nobody stayed or stuck around. They were rejected as soon as they landed in the Hindi industry. Earlier, the heroes from South, such as MGR and NTR, wore South all over them and there was no way they could be accepted in Hindi films.
But then came Kamal Haasan, Rajinikantj, Chiranjeevi, Mammootty, Mohanlal, Nagarjun, Venkatesh, Hareesh, Ambareesh, Vishnu Vardan, Arvind Swami, Chakravarthy, Prabhu Deva, R. Madhavan, Rana Daggubati, Prakash Raj, Siddharth, Dhanush, Sudeep, Dulquer Salmaan. None of them have sustained or managed to make a mark in Hindi films.
The South producers may have stopped making films in Hindi, but Hindi filmmakers depend a lot on the South for subjects. South films offer them a wholesome package of action, romance, emotions and entertainment. Something that writers in Mumbai are no more capable of delivering.
Even at present, as more than 20 South remakes in Hindi are on the floors, including titles from Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada cinema. The list is long: ‘Drishyam 2’, ‘Forensic’, ‘Ayyapanum Kohium’, ‘Helen’, ‘Anjaam Pathiraa’, ‘Mumbai Police’, ‘Nayattu’, ‘Dia’, ‘Ratsasan’, ‘Master’, ‘Rocky’, ‘Maan Karate’, ‘Nakshatra Tharattu’, ‘Aruvi’, ‘U Turn’, ‘Soorarai Pottru’, ‘Comali’, ‘Vikram Vedha’, ‘Kaithi’.
Still, two dubbed films do well at the Hindi box office in five years, that does not mean the Hindi industry is ceding ground to the South.
The book announced recently on the actor’s 54th birthday will be officially released on February 14. Amitabh Bachchan has written the foreword…writes Sukant Deepak
It is not about their meetings, their conversations, the long rehearsal sessions. It is a love letter to what need not be said. To what can be conveyed just with a glance. It is also about friendships sans reminders about bonds, about gazing into the abyss together, drowning and allowing magic to happen — be willing partners to find otherworldly rhythms. It is about an actor who never ceases to be human, and was therefore superhuman in his craft. It is also not just about Irrfan, but also filmmaker Anup Singh, the writer — someone who observes, the one who refuses to instantly interpret but leave spaces. Someone who wants to dive into the many layers of the actor’s method, never divorcing the man from his craft or vice-versa.
Anup Singh’s book ‘Irrfan: Dialogues with the Wind’ (Copper Coin) starts with his landing in Mumbai to meet Irrfan and cast him as the protagonist in the critically acclaimed film ‘Qissa’. But then, that is just the start. A lot happens between Singh casting him for ‘Qissa’ and ‘The Song of the Scorpions’.
Irrfan would always startle the filmmaker by returning to some vague conversation that they might have had months ago. The late actor would sometimes think anew about whatever they had been discussing and would excitedly begin the conversation again as though there had never been all these months in between. “And, then, his phone calls. At all times of day or night. He wanted to share a piece of music or a line in a poem or had thought of a new way of doing a scene. I miss those calls unbearably. And his voice as he said, ‘Anup sahib, why are you still awake? Anyway, yeh aap suniye…’,” the filmmaker tells from Switzerland.
The book announced recently on the actor’s 54th birthday will be officially released on February 14. Amitabh Bachchan has written the foreward.
The filmmaker says while writing it, he allowed every moment between them to unfold to its fullest. Adding that his attempt in the book has not been simply to give flesh and bone to memories, but just as importantly to evoke the spirit, the vigorous aeration of life that was Irrfan’s. “At no point did I feel that Irrfan might not want to share this or that. Quite the opposite, actually.”
Stressing that one of the joys of working with Irrfan, of spending time with him, was the thrill of never really knowing what his exuberant curiosity might be tinkering and playing with on any particular day, he adds that he could start with a gesture and wonder about the bone and muscle, and flare of nerves that are only some of the elements that drive that gesture. “And soon, he might be mulling about the force and gentleness of gestures suggested in the ‘Tibetan Book of the Dead’ as the soul makes its journey to a new state of being.”
Singh recalls that at one moment while writing, he suddenly realised that he seemed to be writing an elegy, a lament, as it was grief that was shaping his memories. But he stopped immediately. While melancholy, even desolation on occasion took possession of Irrfan near the end, he would still compel himself to keep his imagination alive, to keep fantasizing, to keep his faith in possibilities as long as he was breathing.
“I told myself to keep that in mind. Keep in mind that while working together, both Irrfan and I understood that it was necessary to be relentlessly on our guard against emotional responses that only hold half-truths. Emotions that lock us into but just one aspect of our experience,” Singh says.
Reminding himself of Irrfan’s belief that the rhythm with which one walks or raises one’s head or lets it sink, links us to the larger rhythms of our world, that attention to the breath and pulse of our being helps us to shape for ourselves the inchoate experience of our community as well as the rest of humanity, Singh realised that he needed to nuance his sense of loss by not forgetting the lively, expansive aspect of Irrfan: his exhilaration in life.
“With that vital, zestful rhythm thrumming within me now, I could return to writing what for me is a more comprehensive portrait of Irrfan. At the end of reading the book, I hope the reader will carry a little bit of this lilt into their lives too,” he adds.
At many places in the book, it is evident that Singh wants the actor to get into a certain rhythm and tone of the lead character in ‘Qissa’. However, he says that ‘drowning’ himself in a character would not have been Irrfan’s way. “For him, a rhythm was made not of what there is – for example, words – but of pauses, hesitation, the uncertainty between the words. And, for me, that’s what makes his play in Qissa so exquisite.
At one moment you think he’s full of malignance and the very next you see a fragile, vulnerable man. With this kind of performance, you don’t get a ‘character’. What you get is an alive, vibrant spirit, seeking to find his ‘character’ but, instead, constantly finding a new aspect of himself. Such a performance is as much a surprise for the audience as it’s for the actor. What emerges, I believe, is a human being. Someone eternally changing, someone always a mystery.”
Even though at one-point Irrfan refused to be part of ‘Qissa’. Singh says he cannot imagine the film with anyone else.
For both the film they worked on, the attempt was to rehearse hard, and improvisation then was not simply doing what felt right at the moment. “It meant we could choose to make that moment wrong because we could imagine how it would change a performance, a story, a film when we finally hit the right note sometimes much later in the process,” the filmmaker says.
Singh says that once he started jotting down just about everything that he remembered, the pain of his loss lessened. “It was as though we were working together again. It was only much later, that I started putting all these memory notes into some kind of structure, which is finally how the book took its shape.”
Ask him if the book gave him a ‘closure’, and he feels that the word is paradoxical. “Of course, the writing of the book has made me accept that Irrfan and I will no longer make any new films together. But that acceptance has also, in some strange way, fired my imagination. I have already completed one script after his death. This one was to be our next film. I wrote it quickly, feverishly, because in the writing I could see how he might turn at the doorway or how he might hold and then release a certain dialogue. While writing it, I felt we were working together again. I have now started writing another one. Again, this is based on a story we had discussed ardently. Irrfan and I are hard at work together again! What will happen with these scripts? Well, I await an actor whose one gesture will not remind me of Irrfan, but give me a sense that this is that one gesture that would have filled Irrfan with joy.”
