Posts tagged iran

Bellucci, Gibson to shoot in India for film on Malala?

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2 months ago
by Fenil Seta in

Jyothi Prabhakar (BOMBAY TIMES; April 6, 2013)

 

If all goes as planned, Mel Gibson and Monica Bellucci will be spotted shooting in various parts of India for filmmaker Amjad Khan.He is making a film in English on Pakistani teenage education activist Malala Yousafzai. Says Amjad,“The film is currently titled Gul Makai. It means cornflower, and it’s the name Malala used for writing her blog. If at all this changes for permission reasons, it will just be Malala.” He adds, “We start on May 22 in Bhuj, India. Thereafter, we go to Bhedaghat in Jabalpur (MP) as it resembles the Swat Valley on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border (where Malala was shot at). Next,we go to Jaipur, Bikaner and Jaisalmer. After that,we go to Tehran, Iran and then come back to Mumbai for the fifth schedule. The last leg of shooting will be in London.” But who is playing Malala? “Her identity needs to be kept under wraps for security reasons. The minute the formalities for her to play the role are finalised, I will reveal her name. At this point,all I can say is she is not Indian,but South Asian.” Kay Kay Menon, Seema Biswas, Om Puri and Naseeruddin Shah also feature in this film.

The builder, registrar all knew who I was-Adnan Sami

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2 years ago
by Fenil Seta in

Singer Adnan Sami says he’s determined to fight for his home which has been confiscated by ED

Subhash K Jha (MUMBAI MIRROR; December 28, 2010)

Acombative Adnan Sami whose sprawling house at Andheri has been attached by the Enforcement Directorate for violations under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, took on the builder and the registration authorities in Mumbai on Monday.

Sami, of Pakistani origin, came here in 1999 and has been in India since. “I’m a tax payer now. I’ve done everything according to the rules. I have a PAN card. In 2003 I decided to buy this property in Oberoi Sky Garden.

Adnan Sami and his wife Roya at their Oberoi Sky Garden (right) residence in Lokhandwala on Monday

I  knew the builder Vikas Oberoi and he said to me, ‘I’ve just completed a building and I’ve got some apartments in it, why don’t you check it out?’ He got his office and legal team to take care of the formalities. My job, I thought, was done once I paid the money.

Obviously when you buy property there are a thousand papers and legal documents. How was I to know what the formalities were, wasn’t this his (Vikas Oberoi’s) line of work? Anyhow he asked me to furnish documents like passport, PAN card, etc. They took care of the formalities. That I was a Pakistani was never hidden. It was all there on paper. Then I needed a part loan. Vikas Oberoi arranged a loan of Rs 1.5 crore rupees. The whole property was worth Rs 2.3 crores.”

The charge against More >

Samira Makhmalbaf speaks

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2 years ago
by Fenil Seta in

Jury member at the Mumbai Film Festival, director Samira Makhmalbaf talks about the tough job ahead and her search for hope through strife

Kevin Lobo (MUMBAI MIRROR; October 24, 2010)

Samira Makhmalbaf’s family business is cinema. Her father is the prolific Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf and she got involved in the trade when she was just 14. First as an actor, and then director, her rise to critical acclaim has been swift and overwhelming.

Recently she was voted by Guardian to be among the top 40 directors in world who are still making films and has already been among many festival juries around the world. She does the same for the Mumbai Film Festival this week. “I am not a critic so I’m glad that we will decide in a group.

I do realise that everyone watches a film with their own baggage, but I will try and leave mine behind before I see a film. I don’t know what I’m looking for, but something that touches my heart for sure. I realise what an award can do for a filmmakers career,” says the young director.

And in that, Samira has come close twice. Her films, Blackboards and At Five in the Afternoon were nominated for the Golden Palm at Cannes, but missed it. However they did go on to win the The Grand Jury Prize at the fest. Her films are an exploration of hope through the worst circumstances. War, its after-effects and the people that get affected by it, are subjects that she has constantly explored through her career.

And these More >

Checkout: Rajinikanth’s metamorphosis into Robot-Part 1

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2 years ago
by Fenil Seta in

By Neville Bode, October 18, 2010 – 15:43 IST

With the enormous success of the South Indian blockbuster, Robot (Endhiran) has already made a benchmark in the evolution process of filmmaking in India. The Rajinikanth – Aishwarya starrer directed by S.Shankar, got rave reviews for its uniqueness in action and visual effects. With a budget of over a hundred and fifty crores, 25 % of the funds were allotted in executing the commendable work done in VFX that helped in the narration of the film.

The film revolves around Dr. Vaseegaran played by Rajinikanth who invents a High-end robot named Chitti, a mirror of his own image. The scientific body, AIRD, declines the approval of the robot stating that it does not have emotions and the ability to make rational judgment. An unexpected flash of lightning induces emotions in the robot, and Chitti is geared up for its integration into the human world. Chitti then falls in love with Dr. Vaseegaran’ fiancée Sana played by Aishwarya Rai and goes against his creator.

The film has already spread its wings across the globe with raking in massive box-office collections. V. Srinivas Mohan, the VFX supervisor of this film and CEO of the VFX studio – Indian Artists, utilized the innovative skin grafting technology that got laudable appreciation from critics for Sivaji. Shankar got him on board for his latest endeavor Endhiran. He has also worked with the director in Aparichit and Boys hence it was certain that the director More >

Playing a woman 24/7 is impossible-Begum Nawazish Ali

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2 years ago
by Fenil Seta in

Pakistani drag artiste and Bigg Boss contestant Begum Nawazish Ali feels that her nation is crumbling but sexuality there is a non-issue

Vishwas Kulkarni (MUMBAI MIRROR; October 04, 2010)

• Will you be in women’s clothing throughout the show?

It will have to be a 50-50. I’ve made it clear that we’re unique individuals. There are two atmaans in me: one male and one female. But playing a woman 24/7 is physically impossible. At the same time, playing the male full-time is not feasible, because the man in me can be boring. I know it’s going to be a tight ropewalk for me. It’s a balancing act.

• Will you flirt with the men on screen?

Main chote-mote baccho ke saath flirt kya karoongi?  There is only one person jo mere standards ko match kar sakta hai and that is the Bigg Boss himself!

• The show must also be an escape from the horrific realities of Pakistan.

In the last few months, I’ve been extremely depressed about Pakistan. Hundreds of people dying, from floods, from fundamentalist violence, and that’s all you hear about in the news. I have to confess that I have been selfish in accepting this opportunity.

Being locked up for those many weeks might allow for some introspection in terms of how I can give something back to Pakistan, how I can play a slightly more proactive role in repairing it. But yes, I am escaping the bitter, unpleasant realities of a troubled nation.

It’s important for my own sanity.

• Can Pakistani citizens themselves be More >

Lamhaa banned in Gulf countries

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2 years ago
by Fenil Seta in
Sonal Chawla (MUMBAI MIRROR; July 15, 2010)

First the J&K government had problems with Lamhaa being shot in Kashmir. Then the release of the film didn’t see the light of day in Srinagar.

To top it all, the film has now been banned completely in the Gulf countries.

Producer Bunty Walia said, “Yes Lamhaa has been banned all over the Gulf countries, in Iran, Iraq, Dubai Kuwait everywhere. They felt that the movie was controversial and objected strongly against it.

They don’t find the film fit for their audience to watch.” Apparently, the film was then sent to the revising committee in the Gulf countries. Walia added, “They too banned the film.”

A still from Lamhaa

Indian cinema is in a very sad situation-Majid Majidi

1
3 years ago
by Fenil Seta in

Famed Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi talks to Vishwas Kulkarni about making movies about ordinary folks, being Muslim in a hostile world, his disappointment with Priyadarshan’s Bum Bum Bole and Indian cinema in general

MUMBAI MIRROR; June 18, 2010

His film Children of Heaven was nominated for the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Picture in 1998. Majid Majidi is one of the key filmmakers who has put Iran on the World Cinema map. Whilst in town last week, Majidi spoke to Mumbai Mirror exclusively.

•    You started out as an actor, then moved on to directing.

I was part of an experimental film and theatre group that Mohsen Makhmalbaf also belonged to. But I was never into acting. I had a world vision of my own, I was aware of this even when acting. I was making shorts. These shorts were a crucial part of my cinematic consciousness.

•    Iranian cinema captivates with its use of rustic, rural settings, the way the ordinary sublimates to universal truths or crises even. Comment.

There are two ways in which my films function. One is the depiction of the external world, the world of mundane, daily chores. Through the external, we enter the internal. I always knew that I will focus on the most ordinary of individuals so that it may be digested by the world. I choose the simplest of persons  because if you pick up an engineer or a doctor, only a handful of people will connect. My endeavour has been to amplify the voices of the suppressed.

•    More >

Peepli Live at Sundance-Co director shares his experience

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3 years ago
by Fenil Seta in

By Mahmood Farooqui (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 01, 2010)

// // // The Sundance ‘thing’ started for us in the shuttle as we travelled from the airport at Salt Lake City, the capital of Utah, to Park City where the festival is mainly held. We were sharing the cab with an Iranian origin investment banker from London who had come to attend the premiere of his Arab-origin, New York-based girlfriend’s first film, The Imperialists are still Alive. Sitting at the front was a sales agent from L.A who was good friends, believe it or not, with Gulshan Grover and had helped produce Deepa Mehta’s Earth: 1947. It was all very international and also very US.

Our first screening of Peepli Live took place at the Egyptian theatre, down Main Street, the only screening venue which is located in the Park City. The quaint theatre hall was completely full and the first public screening of the film and also the premiere, went down much better than we expected. A hall full of Americans seemed to enjoy every nuance of what is a very Indian film. The Q and A afterwards, and this was true of every subsequent screening, had charged up Americans wanting to unravel complex economic issues of rural India.

The festival itself is spread out over several theatres several miles from each other and they are all unconventional venues. The Temple theatre is a Jewish synagogue, the Library is located at a school, The Yarrow is a hotel, Prospector is a lodge while the Eccles, the largest of them all, is More >

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