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Code Mantra – Day 945

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Gujrati theatre has been soaring in the last few years and the credit goes to extra-ordinary writers and directors on stage. Last week I saw a gripping play Code Mantraabout a court martial case of a young army officer Second in Command Ashwin Rathod. A commando of the Rajputana Rifles Rohit Rathod unable to cope up with the excruciating taining seeks an immediate transfer in exchange of sharing highly confidential information.

 

The same night commando Rohit Rathod is murdered in his barracks and his immediate superior 2.I.C. Ashwin is charged with his murder. What makes the case all the more intriguing is that Ashwin is the older brother of the deceased.
The play is pathbreaking in Gujrati theatre on many levels. It has modern art design and props are moved without curtain drop or fade out which is new experience for large capacity theatres like Bhaidas in Juhu.
This is perhaps the first time a subject on the Indian Army has been addressed on , not just that after a long time perhaps the audience is treated to a gripping court room drama involving Military law expert Shagun Oza/ Sneha Desai in a brilliant performance and her prosecutor colleague.
Code Mantra raises issues regading discipline in army life, corruption in legal system and nation pride.  The play belongs to Pratap Sachdev, writer/ music/ actor Sneha Desai and director of the show, the very versatile Rajesh Joshi.

 

@bhawanasomaaya

Jungle Book must watch – Day 944

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Saal 1967 mein Walt Disney Productions ki American animated film Jungle Book issi naam ki prakhyat kitaab par adharit thi.
Saal1993 mein issi kahani ka Japnese adaptation ko writer Gulzar ne Hindi mein anuvad kiya aur Doordarshan TV ne 52 episodes darshaye.
 
Tab se Chaddi pehankar phool khila hai Mowgli aur uske jungle ke saathi humare dost ban chuke hain.
Ab issi kahani ko naye andaaz aur shaandar scale mein pesh kar rahe hain fillmaker John Favreau.
Kahani sab ko maloom hain – ek chotta bachha jungle mein rehta aur ek din, apno ki talash mein jungle se bahar nikalta hain.
Jungle Book dekhne ki 4 zabardast wajah hain: 1.Film ke visual effects itne kamal ke hai hame lagta hai jaise har pal hum Mowgli ke saath hai.
Jab wo udaas hai toh hum udaas hote hain aur jab wo khush hai toh hum bhi utsahit ho jaate hain.
Jab baarish hoti hai toh hum bheeg jaate hain aur ussi dhoop chalti hai toh hum sookh jaate hain.
Iske alawa film ka bahtareen camera work, locations aur voice overs khas taur par Share Khan ki awaaz mein Nana Patekar aur Babloo ki awaaz mein Irfan Khan.
Mowgli ki bhumika mein chotta Neil Sethi film ke jaan hai
Jungle Book 2D/ 3D/ Hindi aur Angrezi mein release hui hai aur isse pure pariwar (bache, bade, buzurg) ko milkar dekhni chahiye.
Jungle Book ko Big Entertainment Ratings milte hain 4 stars.
Bhawana Somaaya @bhawanasomaaya

Varun Dhawan lends voice to Captain America – Day 943

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Voice overs are in vogue. After a dozen actors dubbed for the Hindi version of The Jungle Book we have now have Varun Dhawan lending his voice for the superhero avenger movie Captain America Civil War!
Disney Studio has got on board versatile actor and youth icon Varun Dhawan to lend his voice for Steve Rogers AKA Captain America in the Hindi version of the colossal superhero action flick.
In the past Varun Dhawan was main lead in Disney India’s homegrown dance franchise ABCD 2 – one of the most successful films of 2015.
The film was a sequel of 2013’s hit film ABCD: Any Body Can Dance so he was the first choice for the studio and Varun who had watched was more than happy to be part of the Marvel Universe. “The film has an amazing connect with kids so that was one of the main reasons for me to do it” says the actor.
 
Captain America: Civil War releases in India on May 6 in 3D, IMAX and 2D and will be simultaneously released in four languages – English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.
@bhawanasomaaya

Shah Rukh shines in Fan – Day 942

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YRF produced aur Maneesh Sharma directed Fan kahani hai ek superstar Aryan Khanna aur uske sabse bade fan, Gaurav Chandna ki. 

Gaurav kehne ko toh West Dilli mein apna cyber station chalata hai, magar sach mein subah shaam sirf Aryan Khanna ke gun gaata hai.

Gaurav ka sapna hai, ke wo ek baar Mumbai jaakar apne star se mile aur samay aane par, ye sapna sach ho jaata hai.

Film ka plus: film ki kahani, characters, Habib Faisal ke dialogues. Iske alava film ke locations, special effects aur cinematography…

Film ka bada plus: Maneesh Sharma ki kabile taarif direction aur Shaha Rukh Khan ka double dhamaka – yaane ki Dilli ka junooni Gaurav aur Mumbai ka Shaandar Aryan.

Film ka minus: kyon ki kahani larger than life hai, isliye characters aur situations bhi over the top ban jaate hain jo iss genre ki cinema mein understandable hai.

Fan dekhni chahiye film ke sandesh ke liye, Shah Rukh Khan ke liye aur director Maneesh Sharma ke liye.

Fan ko Big Entertainment Ratings miltye hai 3.5 stars.

 

 @bhawanasomaaya

Great Grand Masti is pornography – Day 941

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Film Review: Great Grand Masti 
Date: July 15th, 2016
Director: Indra kumar
Cast: Vivek Oberoi,Ritesh Deshmukh, Aftab Shivdasani n Urvarshi Rautela

Rating: –

Indra Kumar directed Great Grand Masti is a trilogy of his earlier two films Masti made in 2004 and Grand Masti in 2013.

In Masti Meet/Vivek Oberoi, Amar/ Ritesh Deshmukh, Prem/Aftab Shivdasani are married men but have no qualms of flirting with Lara Dutta.

In Grand Masti the three friends delighted to be without their wives celebrate their freedom attending their College Reunion.

In Great Grand Masti they are adventurous to visit a remote village and experience a fatal attraction with a ghost.

All three films border on pornography. The issue isn’t about whether such films should be made or watched? The issue is any film can be made on any subject, watched and enjoyed by the audience provided it is aesthetically presented.
If you have relished Indra Kumar’s vulgar brand of cinema then Great grand Masti is for you.
Word of caution: This is not a film for children or family and certainly not a film that deserves my time or star ratings.

@bhawanasomaaya

Film: 27Down / 1974 – Day 940

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Directed by Awtar Krishna Kaul, starring Raakhee and M K Raina is based on a Hindi novel Athara Sooraj Ke Paudhe by Ramesh Bakshi about a railways employee who meets a girl on the train. The music of this film was composed by Hariprasad Chaurasia and Bhubaneshwar Mishra and production design by Bansi Chandragupta. 27 Down won National Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi as well as Best Cinematography for Apurba Kishore Bir.

Shot on real location on Mumbai trains, platforms, and at Mumbai’s Victoria Terminus station, the film was mostly shot at night to avoid crowds and the cinematographer of the film, Apurba Kishore Bir was just 22 years old and shot almost 70 percent of the film using a hand-held camera using a widelenses rather than the zooms which was the practice that time. Another interesting facet was Bir chose to shoot the film in black and white with stark contrasts rather than color.

For more check India’s finest films on Zee Classic Saturday 10 pm.

@bhawanasomaaya

Film: Kamla Ki Maut /1989 – Day 939

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Directed by Basu Chatterjee the film is set in a lower middle class chawl examining the sudden death of a
20-year-old unmarried Kamla, who commits suicide unable to handle the news of her pregnancy. Raising issues related to pre-marital sex and relationships in modern India Basu Chatterjee master of middle class cinema travels the neighborhood and examines other relationships in the Gopal Bhawan chawl at Mangalwadi in Girgaum.

This is the first time Pankaj Kapoor and Suprriya Pathak came together as a pair and many years later got married. Other actors in the film were Roopa Ganguly, Asha Lata, Irfaan Khan and
believe it or not Lagaan director Ashutosh Gowariker.

For more check India’s finest films on Zee Classic Saturday 10 pm.




@bhawanasomaaya

Film: Nazar- Day 938

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Based on Fyodor Dostoevsky’s short story The Meek OneNazar was produced by NFDC and directed by Mani Kaul starring his daughter Shambhavi Kaul with Shekhar Kapur and Surekha Sikri. The film travelled to almost all the international festivals but was not released in India. About an antique dealer who lives in a luxurious apartment in a fancy apartment in Mumbai with his aunt, the hero surprises everybody when he marries an orphan girl half his age and brings her home.

 

The film begins with the young wife committing suicide and the hero recollecting his conversations with her trying to comprehend the mystery that must have motivated her to take the final decision.

For more check India’s finest films on Zee Classic Saturday 10 pm.

@bhawanasomaaya