The makers of the short film Chalo Jeete Hain presented the film to Honourable President of India at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Inspired from the early life of  Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi it tells about a young Naru who is intrigued by Swami Vivekananda’s words, “ Wahi jeete hain jo doosron ke liye jeete hain” and strives to adopt this philosophy very early in his life. Attended by ministers, educationalist and eminent members of society the film is produced by Mahaveer Jain and Bhushan Kumar and directed by Mangesh Hadawale and presented by Aanand L Rai and Mahaveer Jain.

The film’s trailer has already received over 3 million views on YouTube within three days. The curiosity and buzz around the film and its leading into the #actofkindness campaign is so strong that the film has been recommended for screening in the Parliament and also for school children.

@bhawanasomaaya

In the olden days when Om Puri played   weaver in Shyam Benegal’s Susman he spent days with a weaver family in Pochampali and mastered the art. Now Rajkummar Rao known to be a method actor and who plays a tailor in his upcoming film Stree is going out of his way to learn the sewing machine. He underwent a month long training where he was taught cutting and both stitching and sewing.

Says Rampal every job appears easy but is effective only with mastery be it acting or driving.  The coordination and reflexes have to be easy or they appear artificial. I could have used a body double but I didn’t want to so I bought myself a sewing machine and hired a tailor in Mumbai to teach me how to sew and made sure he was present on the sets in Chanderi. That’s not all Rajkumar hired another tutor to supervise his Chanderi dialect and spent time with the locals to polish his accent before going on the sets for his horror comedy directed by Amar Kaushik.

@bhawanasomaaya

The stars are getting more and more media savvy and the latest to start a trend is Kajol and Ajay Devgn who have chosen to announce the new release date 7th September 2018 of their upcoming film Helicopter Eela on social media. It is a super idea and miles ahead of the conventional press notes and press conferences.

Kajol and Ajay were planning to do something together for a long time and finally they have found a project both are looking forward to. Starring National Award winning actor, Riddhi Sen who will be playing Kajol’s son, the film has Neha Dhupia and Tota Roy Chowdhary. Directed by Pradeep Sarkar and written by Mitesh Shah, the film will see Kajol playing a single mother and an aspiring singer.

Last seen together in Pyaar Toh Hona Hi Tha this time the husband will be behind the scenes as the presenter of the film in association with Jayantilal Gada of Pen.

@bhawanasomaaya

Our dream merchants find many different things to endorse and Vikram Bhatt has found the most unusual ones to lend his name. He has become the brand ambassador for an astrology app – Astrobuddy, which is founded by Bhupesh Sharma.

The idea is to make astrology into a household name and is a content/ service provider for Astrology powering digital and voice astrology products globally. With over 30 million customers they understand diverse audience sets and content consumption preferences. The app is world’s first Astrology application that facilitates live text chat for the users to seek advice

The objective of setting up AstroBuddy is to dispel the way astrology has been misinterpreted and showcased over and over again. Sharma says they defy myths and work on people’s strengths with the objective of productivity.

 Sounds good and in any case, astrology and cinema have had a very long association.

Welcome to the intrigue of palace politics

Film: Saheb Biwi aur Gangster 3

Date: 27 July 2018

Director: Tigmanshu Dhulia

Writers: Sanjay Chauhan, Tigmanshu Dhulia

Cast Sanjay Dutt,Jimmy Shergill, Mahi Gill, Chitrangada Singh

In a dark corner of a grand hotel in London, the Maharaja of India dressed in a hood plays a dangerous game for living. He sniffs vodka and shoots bullets. He is a master at the game and has made millions playing it but he is an unhappy man because he cannot return home and then accidentally, opportunity comes in disguise.

A brawl at the hotel followed by a police case and the Maharaja is deported to India and Uday Singh/ Sanjay Dutt is back to his palace and beloved.

Franchises globally are usually conceived with superstars which is why they spell big business. Tigmanshu Dhulia is perhaps the only writer-director who has dared to take super actors instead of superstars and weave stories of ambition, lust, and deception and create a trend of sorts.

If Randeep Hooda was the outsider in Saheb Biwi aur Gangster released in 2011 and Irrfan Khan in Sahbe Biwi aur Gangster Returns Sanjay Dutt is a pawn in the ongoing domestic drama between the King Aditya Pratap Singh/ Jimmy Shergill and his queen Madhavi Devi/ Mahie Gill.

This time, the film is about two kings/ Sanjay Dutt and Jimmy Shergill, two queens/ Mahie Gill, Soha Ali Khan, and two loyalists/ Kanhaiya and his daughter played by Paoli Dam. This time the premise shifts from Uttar Pradesh to Rajasthan and briefly to Europe so the scale gets bigger adding a glamour quotient that was not visible in the franchise’s earlier installments.

There is an item number, a romantic song between Sanjay and Chitrangda which frankly interrupts the storytelling and is the only sore point of the film. The positives are the hard-hitting dialogues, essentially the narrative as the characters get more layered and the situations more complex.

The director wastes no time in setting the plot and embroils you in the dark, dangerous, morbid tales of palace politics.

As Suhani Chitrangda Singh adds fragrance to an otherwise ruthless story, Sanjay Dutt is disappointingly repetitive. Jimmy Shergill looks royalty and plays the king with amazing poise and restraint while Mahie Gill for the third time has you riveted to the cruelties and the vulnerabilities of queen Madhavi. Saheb and Biwi are clearly the reasons for us to watch the film.

Director Tigmanshu Dhulia’s Saheb Biwi aur Gangster 3 is unpredictable, unconventional; watch it if you are a fan of the franchise or if you relish the dark side of human stories.

I rate Saheb Biwi aur Gangster 3 with 3 stars.

Bhawana Sommaya/ @bhawansomaaya

As we come to the end of the Rain Special many songs and scenes play in my mind like ‘Cham Cham barsa paani…’I recall Srividya playing modern day Kunti telling Rajnikant to withdraw  his support to the enemy to protect her other son in Mani Ratnam’s Dalpati.

I remember a forlorn Rakhee singing to no one in particualr ‘Sawan ke jhoole pade…’ in Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Jurmana. I remember Kajol discovering her lost husband Shah Rukh Khan suddenly on television in My Name is Khan and sensing anxiety…I remember the sexiest of all rain songs in ‘Aaj rapat jaayen toh …’ in Namak Halaal and of course the climax when the entire village gathers to dance in the rain in Lagaan.

How can we ever forget the spirited Aishwarya Rai dancing to ‘barso re megha…’ in Guru,  Kareena Kapoor drenched in the shower seducing a shy Rahul Bose in Chameli and before that  a cheerful Madhoo jumping in the paddy fields singing ‘Dil hai chotasa…’ in Roja..?  How can we forget the melodious Barkha raani zara jham ke barso and the turning point in Karan Johar’s Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham when Shah Rukh Khan takes an impulsive decision to marry Kajol and bring home his bride and sister on a stormy night to his father.

And last but not the least the song that in a way started the monsoon magic in Hindi films ‘Zindagi na bhulenge hum barsaat ki raat…’ from Barsaat Ki Raat.

You can also watch my rain feature on youtube link/ https://youtu.be/3S8Hm7k7mao

@bhawanasomaaya

We don’t like to attach logic to rain but there is something called a Rain-maker who actually visits locations deprived of rain and guides them how they can benefit from the reason and there have been films where the Rain-maker/ Barishker has been used as a metaphor to transform dry and dreary lives of the protagonist, interesting stories that add more intrigue to the concept of the monsoon.

Nature affects us more strongly than we realize which is why we are usually impatient and angry during the summers and in a reasonably good mood during the winters and the monsoons because the downpour makes us submit more easily in the rains than in normal circumstances, and which is why filmmakers prefer to project tragedies in the backdrop of thunder and storm for greater impact.

Rain is a reason for celebration for the village farmers always and it becomes a bigger moment when the entire village rejoices the moment together as it has happened in many of our old/ Do Bigha Zameen and new films/ Lagaan.

My favorite song for today is ‘Ek ladki bheegi haagi si…’

My favorite scene:  When Neetu Singh runs out of her home to meet her beloved in Priyatama borrowing Asha Sachdev’s umbrella.

You can also watch my rain feature on youtube link/ https://youtu.be/3S8Hm7k7mao

@bhawanasomaaya

There are many moods and shades to the season of monsoon in Indian movies and I have been writing and speaking on this extensively on the subject for the past few weeks. I have lined rain to erotica, to anxiety, to drama and to conflict/ confrontation as well.

Commitment to attraction is the first and probably the most difficult step in romance and majority of our songs in films address to this state of mind the hero/heroine when they struggle to express themselves. Both are shy and unsure but when attraction is mutual expressions finds a way and then love blossoms leading to unabashed romance.

Rain is synonymous with sensuality, to reflection and change of mind as well.  No romance is complete without heartache and longing that emerges from separation with beloved and those are scenes elaborating on desolation and yearning.

My favorite song for today is ‘Zindagi na bhulenge hum barsaat ki raat…’

My favorite scene: When Shaban Azmi walks with an umbrella from her college to her home, books in hand thinking of her beloved in Swami.

You can also watch my rain feature on youtube link/ https://youtu.be/3S8Hm7k7mao

@bhawanasomaaya