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Posts tagged ketan mehta
Tigmanshu Dhulia returns to acting with Mountain Man
03 months ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
IANS (DNA; February 5, 2013)
After his highly-acclaimed acting debut in Anurag Kashyap’s Gangs Of Wasseypur, filmmaker Tigmanshu Dhulia, currently swamped with two back-to-back directorial undertakings, has been persuaded to face the camera again.
He will act in Ketan Mehta’s Mountain Man, a biopic on the unsung Bihari hero Dashrath Manjhi, who dug a road through a mountain from his remote village to the nearest city. Dhulia had been persuaded by Mehta to play a negative character once again. When Dhulia begged off citing his water-tight schedule, Mehta insisted only he could play the part.
Dhulia drove to Wai on the outskirts of Mumbai to shoot for the film. “Ketan said he had a role for me in Mountain Man. I play the evil mukhiya (leader) of a village in Bihar. I couldn’t say no to Ketan. I’ve been a fan of his work forever. So here I am once again heading to the badlands, all thanks to Anurag Kashyap,” says Dhulia. Having directed films like Paan Singh Tomar and Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster, Dhulia has no long-term acting plans. “I have no intention of pursuing an acting career. Main direction mein khush hoon (I am happy with direction). I did Gangs Of Wasseypur for Anurag. Now I am doing this film for Ketan. That is it. I have six to seven scenes,” he says.
Incidentally, Dhulia is a trained actor from the National School of Drama. “And just to set the record straight, Gangs Of Wasseypur is technically not my acting debut. I had one shot with Shah Rukh Khan in Mani Ratnam’s More >
Limping pimp Nawazuddin turns tycoon in Black Currency
05 months ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
Nawazuddin Siddiqui, after Talaash, will be seen as a money-laundering businessman based on Hassan Ali
Subhash K Jha (MUMBAI MIRROR; December 4, 2012)
Barely out of one biographical character of the ‘Mountain Man’ Dashrath Manjhi in Ketan Mehta’s film, and Nawazuddin Siddiqui is ready for another. Currently being feted for his performance as a physically challenged pimp in Talaash, the actor has been signed on to portray Hassan Ali Khan, the Indian businessman alleged to have stashed away billions in Swiss accounts.
Titled Black Currency, the film will be directed by Anil Sharma’s brother Sanjay Sharma. Nawazuddin’s character in the film is based on the money laundering tycoon. “I have so far played financially challenged characters or social outcastes. For the first time I’ll be seen in expensive Savile Row suits traveling in my private jet, getting off choppers for high-level meetings on exotic islands, surrounded by glamorous women,” the actor told us excitedly and added jokingly, that the budget of Black Currency is more than that for all the films he has done so far.
Ironically, Nawazuddin comes from a very humble background. “We don’t even have a movie theatre in our village. My family has to travel 60 km to the nearest town to see my films. I’ve led a hand-to-mouth existence. For me to play a multi-billionaire is a dream-come-true,” he told us.
Having dressed shabbily for all his on-screen characters so far, Nawazuddin told us that this role gives him a ‘high’. More >
Nawazuddin to be in hometown during Talaash’s release
05 months ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
Shaheen Parkar (MID-DAY; November 30, 2012)
On the eve of his film’s release, a busy Nawazuddin Siddiqui is off to meet his family
His last two B-Town outings — Kahaani and Gangs of Wasseypur — thrust Nawazuddin Siddiqui into the limelight. The actor, who for years had done bit roles, suddenly became a name to watch out for. Strangely when he has a film lined up for release, the actor has gone missing.
Nawaz features in Reema Kagti’s Talaash. At the film’s promotional events, the director makes it a point to state that the thriller stars Aamir, Kareena, Rani and Nawaz. But the latter has been conspicuous by his absence from the scene.
The unassuming actor has been shooting for Ketan Mehta’s film Mountain Man in Bodh Gaya, Bihar. Presently he is in New Delhi and will not be in Mumbai during the film’s release as well.
He says, “From Delhi, I will be leaving for my hometown. I had been shooting for Ketan Mehta’s film and it is almost complete. I now need to spend time with my folks. There is no particular occasion but shooting and travelling has kept me busy for a while. With time on hand, I’d rather go home.” His folks live in a small town called Budhana, which is in Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh.
Nawaz who features in the promos of the film will catch up on the flick at his native place. “I had already informed the makers that I would be unavailable during the release,” says the actor who also features with Bipasha Basu in Suparn Verma’s horror flick Aatma.
Mountain Man film in big trouble
07 months ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
Vickey Lalwani (MUMBAI MIRROR; October 17, 2012)
Filmmaker Ketan Mehta has been served legal notice by Sanjay Singh, who is producing a biopic based on the life of Dashrath Manjhi, to be directed by Manish Jha. Manjhi was also known as the Mountain Man, courtesy his feat of single-handedly carving a 360-foot-long, 25-foot-high and 30-foot-wide road through a mountain in Gahlour village in Bihar.
While Mehta seems to have turned a blind eye to Singh’s notice, allegedly, Jha’s assistant Mahendra Jakhar is the one to have leaked Jha’s script to Mehta, who is already shooting his own film. Jha and Singh are terribly angry and upset and have slapped notice on Mehta.
Jha told Mirror, “It helps to have a creative associate as a bouncing board but little did I know mine would create such a big problem in my life. Now, I have no option but to take legal recourse. Dasrath Manjhi is a real life inspirational story. I had registered the script and the screenplay with the Copyright Board of India 2010 and also have email correspondence dated July 1, 2010 with Mahendra to show I had sent him the script for feedback and ideation. Surely, we didn’t deserve this.”
He added, “The combination of writer Abhijat Joshi and director Rajkumar Hirani etc. are rare examples of implicit trust and creative excellence that brought wonderful cinema to our screens. We need more such people in our industry, and it is a shame that one person Mahendra is giving a bad name to the whole clan of writers. I More >
Rang Rasiya gets a new lease of life?
08 months ago
by Fenil Seta
in Rumour has it
After Randeep Hooda’s recent success, his film based on artist Raja Ravi Varma co-starring Nandana Sen may finally be released
Shaheen Parkar (MID-DAY; September 7, 2012)
Randeep Hooda’s long-forgotten film Rang Rasiya, directed and produced by Ketan Mehta, is likely to see light of day finally. The 2008 costume drama based on the life of the 19th century Indian painter Raja Ravi Varma has Nandana Sen as his co-star. Though the movie was completed and also screened at some film festivals, it did not find any distributors for release.
Two years ago there was buzz that a distributor had been found but nothing moved on the front. There were apparently some issues due to some sensuous scenes between Randeep and Nandana. Says a source, “Now that Randeep’s last few releases like Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster and Jannat 2 fetched him rave reviews the makers have decided to give the film another shot and release it. Randeep also has Madhur Bhandarkar’s Heroine with Kareena Kapoor. The producers feel now is the best time to renew the release plans.”
Producer/director Ketan Mehta admits, “The film has been stuck. There were certain issues but we have now taken over the project and will release it soon.” He adds, “I am aware that Randeep is hot property now, so the faster we release it, the better!”
Ketan Mehta’s film on Dashrath Manjhi hits roadblock
08 months ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
The Mountain Man’s son issues a public notice to the filmmaker
Shaheen Parkar (MID-DAY; September 5, 2012)
Making a film on the Mountain Man is proving to be a Herculean task indeed. A fortnight ago, Ketan Mehta announced his project based on the life of Dashrath Manjhi who singlehandedly managed the feat of constructing a 360 feet long road in Bihar by cutting a mountain.
But Bhagirath Dashrath Manjhi, son of Dashrath Manji has now issued a public notice in trade magazines stating that the rights to make a film has been exclusively assigned to filmmaker Neeraj Pathak by him. According to the notice no other person has the consent to make a film on his late father. The notice further states that he has the right to take legal action against anyone who attempts to infringe the personal rights of his family.
Ketan Mehta who is out of Mumbai was unavailable for comment. His wife, actress-turned-filmmaker Deepa Sahi says, “It is a true life story so anyone can make a film based on it. It is part of our history so no one can have a copyright to it.” Earlier in July 2010, director Manish Jha had announced a film, Manjhi, based on the life of Dashrath Manjhi. The film was to be produced by Sanjay Singh, who previously produced Udaan (2010) and Manoj Bajpayee was slated to play the lead. But the project never saw light of day.
Who was Dashrath Manjhi? Mountain Man Dashrath Manjhi (1934-2007) was born in a labourer family in Gahlour village, near Gaya in Bihar. His wife, Falguni, More >
Filmmakers clash over ‘mountain man’ biopic
08 months ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
Bharati Dubey | TNN (THE TIMES OF INDIA; September 2, 2012)
Mumbai: Filmmakers Neeraj Pathak and Ketan Mehta have locked horns over on a biopic of Dashtrath Manjhi, known as India’s ‘mountain man’.
Pathak claims Manjhi’s family gave him the rights to make a film. “I have been in touch with the family and have been visiting them,” Pathak said.
Mehta, who is also making a film on Manjhi, claims to have done “research from newspapers”. “Nobody can have the rights on a subject like the mountain man. I don’t claim copyright on a real-life situation ,” Mehta said.
Manji constructed a passage through Gehlour hills, working day and night for 22 years. He reduced the 75-km distance between Atri and Wazirganj blocks of Gaya to just a km.
Nawazuddin to live in forest for Ketan Mehta’s Mountain Man
09 months ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
The actor will be spending a month in a jungle to prepare for his upcoming film
Shakti Shetty (MID-DAY; August 20, 2012)
Nawazuddin Siddiqui is headed for the woods. That’s where filmmaker Ketan Mehta is taking him to prepare for his upcoming film Mountain Man. The film is based in rural India and Mehta apparently wants Nawaz to adapt well to the natural settings. Nawaz emphatically states, “I am ready to go anywhere with Ketanji!”
The 37-year-old actor will play the lead role in Mehta’s next. The period film, set in 1960, tells the inspiring tale of Dashrath Manjhi who single-handedly armed with just a hammer and chisel worked for 22 years to break down a mountain. Manjhi thereby managed to reduce the distance between Atri and Wazirganj in the Gaya district of Bihar from 75 km to just one.
Naturally, Nawazuddin requires some time off to get himself ready for the physically as well as mentally demanding role. “Manjhi isn’t an everyday guy, so it’s not just about having bulging biceps and ripping abs. I need some time, at least a month, to prepare myself. I’m presently shooting for Lunch Box, which will wrap up by the last week of September. Then I’ll be taking a break for this dream role,” says the NSD graduate.
Katrina Kaif in Ketan Mehta’s next?
010 months ago
by Fenil Seta
in Rumour has it
Sources tell us the actor will play the title role in the filmmaker’s next; the Mangal Pandey director will also release his much-delayed Rang Rasiya on his own
Subhash K Jha (MID-DAY; July 15, 2012)
After making biopics on Sardar Patel and Mangal Pandey, Ketan Mehta, the director of classics such as Mirch Masala and Maya Memsaab (whose last film Rang Rasiya, which depicts the life of the father of calendar-art, Ravi Raja Verma, has been stuck in the cans for nearly two years), has moved on to another biopic entitled Noor. It is the legendary story of Noor Inayat Khan and we have it from very reliable sources that Mehta has zeroed in on Katrina Kaif to play the enigmatic woman’s part.
Mehta says, “Noor was an Indian princess who became a British spy during World War 2. This will be an Indo-British-French production.” He is making this film at the end of this year. Mehta has another biopic planned for early next year.
He is going to shoot the story of the Bihari ‘Mountain Man’, the poor destitute labourer Dashrath Manjhi, who spent 22 years of his life single-handedly digging a road into a mountain with a hammer and chisel after his wife died because the mountain prevented him from taking her to the nearest hospital 70 km away from his village near the town of Gaya.
Inspired by the man’s indomitable spirit, Mehta informs, “I’ve named it The Mountain Man. I plan to cast a newcomer in the role. So I’ve two extremely antithetical biopics lined up as soon as Rang Rasiya is More >
Talented art director dies at 49
01 year ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
Ashish Lakhia, known for his art direction in Mirch Masala passed away on Sunday
Subhash K Jha (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 12, 2012)
Ashish Lakhia, a talented art director, breathed his last in Ahmedabad, on Sunday morning. He was 49. Reportedly, he died of multiple organ failure with his lungs giving away first, followed by other complications.
Best remembered for his stunning art direction in Ketan Mehta’s Holi, Mirch Masala and Maya Memsaab among others, where he worked with his mother Meera, Ashish Lakhia was also brother of actor Aditya Lakhia aka ‘Kachra’ in Lagaan and cousin of director Apoorva Lakhia.
Once the last rites were over, a grieving Aditya said of his brother, “He lived with my parents while I live in Mumbai. They have taken his death very badly, especially my mother. Apart from art direction, he also made many documentary films.” Aditya shared a lesser known secret about his brother, that he was a painter and even had an exhibition at the Jehangir Art Gallery about 20 years ago that was well received.
Close friend, actor – director Amole Gupte said, “Ashish was a lot more than just art director. He was a painting prodigy as a child and in fact, inspired me to become a painter. I’d stay with Ashish and his parents Meera and Snehal Lakhia whenever I visited Ahmedabad. They are truly the best parents in the world. This is an irreparable loss for me.”
Apoorva who was very close to Aditya said, “He was an amazingly talented art director. It’s a pity he was More >