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Mumbai, Feb 24 (Ians) Veteran actor Amrish Puri’s grandson, Vardhan Puri, who made his film debut in 2019 with the film ‘Yeh Saali Aashiqui’ is all set to work on an international series and will be starting the shoot for the same in June.

Although he has not made any announcements the sources suggest that Vardhan had been approached for the project in January and committed to it also.

If sources are to be believed, the project is primarily a human drama series and will be shot lavishly in the US. As per the sources: “Vardhan enjoys huge popularity, especially amongst the youth post the digital success of his critically acclaimed film ‘Yeh Saali Aashiqui’. The young actor who is also equally popular in the brand endorsement space will be collaborating with a production house based in the US and the series is expected to go on floors by June this year.

“Gulab,” a film by Sanjoy Nag, now playing in the Viewing Room section of the Nfdc’s Film Bazaar market in Goa, is the first product of a slate of upcoming feature film productions from Endemol Shine India.

The company, part of the giant Banijay conglomerate, is best known as a global power in the TV production and distribution sector, but it is also close to finishing several film productions by South Asian directors. These include a slice of life social drama on aging and relevance directed by Gajendra Ahire; a social comedy by Nicholas Kharkongor; a romantic comedy by Seema Desai; and a paranormal drama by Samrat Chakraborty.

With the exception of “Gulab,” the company declined to reveal titles, synopses or casting details. “All the films are targeting a digital release in 2023,” Rishi Negi, CEO, Endemol Shine India, told Variety. Though some festival play or limited theatrical releases may be possible.

The only cure to old age is death. The only remedy to loneliness during old age is memories, at least for some. Others who prefer to live in the here-and-now may choose to seek reluctant company. There are stories of how veteran actress Nadira would bribe her guests to stay a little longer with drinks.

Violet Stoneham, the character that Jennifer Kapoor played in Aparna Sen's "36 Chowringhee Lane" allowed a young couple to use her apartment for sex, just so that she would be in company. Creaky bed notwithstanding.

There is a couple making noisy love in "Yours Truly", though their sounds of passion sound fairly phoney, as though they were faking it just to make the ageing protagonist feel lonelier.

In Yours Truly, Soni Razdan playing an autumnal Bengali woman Mithi Kumar in Kolkata, is a direct descendent of Violet Stoneham, though far less intimidated by her solitude.

After Shaheen Bhatt recently opened up about her battle with depression, her mother and veteran actress Soni Razdan says she was always worried about her elder daughter and tried to be her pillar of strength.

In a TV interview, Shaheen talked about her book "Never Been (Un)Happier", in which she has articulated about her tryst with depression and how incidents during her childhood pushed her into that direction.

Talking about how she emotionally balanced the situation, Soni told Ians: "I am a mother. Whether it is Alia or Shaheen, at any point in time, if they are suffering, I am the one who gets affected badly.

"I am the mother, and the emotional chord with my children is naturally strong. So there are times when I might get sleepless nights because I am worried. Particularly in Shaheen's case, I was worried because, at this young age, she went through so much.

The New York Indian Film Festival (Nyiff) announced the full lineup at the Launch event for their 19th year of celebrating Independent, art house, alternate, and diaspora films from the Indian subcontinent (May 7– May 12) at the Village East Cinemas in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Dedicated to bringing these films to a New York audience, the festival will feature 32 screenings. Nyiff will be featuring 7 World Premieres along with an International Premiere and 5 Us premieres and the rest of the films being NY premieres. Nyiff has been the go-to festival to see South Asian diaspora films that have not been seen in New York City and is continuing with this mission for the nineteenth year.

This year Nyiff has the largest number of regional (non-Hindi) language films – 20 in total. The languages focused on are Assamese, Bengali, Tamil, Malayalam, Marathi, Kannada, Ladakhi, Punjabi, and Harayanavi and all the films will have English subtitles.

National Award winning filmmaker Sanjoy Nag (Memories in March) has wrapped up the shoot of his next film Yours Truly. The film which has been shot on location in Kolkata, is based on a short story, “The One That Was Announced” by award-winning writer & playwright Annie Zaidi from the collection ‘Love Story #1-14’ published by Harper Collins. The film produced by Platoon One Films & Mdc Filmworks has also revealed its intriguing and endearing first look.

Yours Truly will see Soni Razdan, who has been directed by her husband Mahesh Bhatt in cult Hindi films like Saraansh, appear on screen with him for the first time in their illustrious careers. Razdan, who is also the mother of Bollywood darling Alia Bhatt, plays the protagonist Mithi Kumar in a superb ensemble cast along with Aahana Kumra (Lipstick Under My Burkha), Pankaj Tripathi (Newton, Bareilly ki Barfi),and Mahesh Bhatt in a special appearance.

National Award winning filmmaker Sanjoy Nag’s next film Yours Truly which is based on a short story, ‘The One That Was Announced’ by award-winning writer & playwright Annie Zaidi from the collection will feature Soni Razdan and Mahesh Bhatt sharing screen space. The film which is a poetic romance drama will see Razdan play the protagonist Mithi Kumar alongside a superb cast along with Aahana Kumra (Lipstick Under My Burkha), Pankaj Tripathi (Newton, Bareilly Ki Barfi), however Mahesh Bhatt will only be seen in a special appearance.

The post Mahesh Bhatt to share screen space with Soni Razdan in Yours Truly appeared first on Bollywood Hungama.

The Busan film fest’s Asian Project Market (Apm) has highlighted a “strong presence” of women filmmakers in this year’s line-up.

A total of 27 titles from 16 countries have been selected including projects from names including Yim Soon-rye, Tan Chui Mui and Laila Pakalnina.

In its 19th year, the Apm (formerly called the Pusan Promotion Plan or Ppp) said it tried to go back to its original mission of discovering up-and-coming talent with a selection that includes Pavle Vuckovic - who debuted last year in Cannes with Panama - bringing his Serbian thriller Mountain Eyes and Lei Lei with her debut feature animation Ningdu,which has Isabelle Glachant attached as a producer.

Apm stated it saw “an increased interest and more submissions by female directors and producers” this year. Yim is bringing Project Lee Jung-Seob, based on the legendary Korean artist’s life, while Tan has Malaysian coming-of-age drama All About Yuyu and Pakalnina has Latvia-Estonia...

The New York Indian Film Festival (Nyiff) announced the full lineup last night for their 16th year of celebrating independent, art house, alternate, and diaspora films from/about/connected to the Indian subcontinent (May 7 – May 14). Dedicated to bringing these films to a New York audience, the festival will feature 40 screenings (35 narrative, 5 documentary) –all seen for the first time in New York City. In addition, the festival will also feature five programs of short films.

The festival highlights various cinemas of India’s different regions. All the films are subtitled in English and some of the languages this year include Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Telegu, Assamese, Haryanavi and Urdu. This year’s festival will feature a couple of sidebars –Nfdc restored first films of filmmakers and a three-generations sidebar, films of Bimal Roy, Basu Bhattacharya and Aditya Bhattacharya.

The festival’s film lineup includes 2016 National Award winners A Far Afternoon,...

A still from the opening film “Out in the Dark”

Kashish Mumbai International Queer Film Festival 2014 will open with Michael Mayer’s Out in the Dark (Israel, Palestine, USA), a love story between an ambitious Palestinian student and an idealistic Israeli lawyer caught in a minefield of socio-political conflict.

The festival which will take place from May 21 – May 25 at Liberty Cinema, New Marine Lines and Alliance Française de Bombay; will screen around 154 films from 31 countries including shorts and features in both narrative and documentary category.

Twenty-eight Indian films will be screened at the festival. National Award winning director Ravi Jadhav’s Marathi short film Mitraa, based on Vijay Tendulkar’s play Mitrachi Goshta, will be screened on Saturday May 24, 4.45 pm at Liberty Cinema in a short film package ‘Indian Showcase’.

Pradipta Ray who was the winner of Riyad Wadia Award for Emerging Indian Filmmaker at Kashish 2012 will return with Bengali...

A still from Fandry

The British Film Institute’s London Film Festival has picked 7 Indian films to screen in its 57th edition: Sniffer, Fandry, Jeevan Smriti, The Lunchbox, Kalpana, Siddharth and From Gulf To Gulf .

The festival will be held from October 9 to 20, 2013 and will screen over 300 films.

Ritesh Batra’s The Lunchbox is the only Indian film in the Official Competition section. An India/France/Germany co-production, the film revolves around a middle class housewife Ila who is trying once again to add some spice to her marriage and Saajan, a lonely man on the verge of retirement. Irrfan Khan, Nimrat Kaur and Nawazuddin Siddiqui feature in lead roles. The film is due to see a country wide theatrical release on September 20, 2013.

Buddhadeb Dasgupta’s Sniffer (Anwar Ka Ajab Kissa) and Richie Mehta’s Siddharth will screen under the Journey section.

Sniffer is the tale of a clumsy private detective Anwar.

Rituparno Ghosh’s last completed film Jeevan Smriti: Selected Memories (77 mins), an impressionist documentary on Rabindranath Tagore will be telecast on August 8, 10:30 pm on Doordarshan.

The film in English celebrates the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore while the telecast coincides with 22nd Shravan, his death anniversary.

Jeevan Smriti is produced by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India and filmmaker Sanjoy Nag is the creative producer.

“The film focuses on some key journeys in Tagore’s life that evolved and enriched his quest to re-imagine a new India, which would rise above narrow patriotic concerns prevailing in the country of the time,” Rituparno had said. “The idea is not to stick to the expected austerity of the standard documentary film, but to bring Tagore alive as a flesh and blood person whom the average Indian can relate to despite his lofty philosophical expression, as a lovable and highly accessible vulnerable human being.

Ace filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh, who is known for his unique films, suffered a cardiac arrest and passed away on Thursday morning at 7.30am in Kolkata at the age of 49. He was reportedly suffering from pancreatitis.

Rituparno Ghosh was first acknowledged in the 90’s when he made films in Bengali with strong and sensitive subjects. His recent endeavours were with some Bollywood biggies like Amitabh Bachchan, Ajay Devgn and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. Ghosh won many national awards and his film Chokher Bali starring Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Raima Sen was nominated for Golden Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival in 2003.

Rituparno Ghosh was a bold director and did not refrain from touching the otherwise sensitively discussed topic of homosexuality. He played the role of a homosexual filmmaker in Kaushik Ganguly’s ‘‘Arekti Premer Galpo’ and Sanjoy Nag’s ‘Memories in March’. He was one person who never attempted to hide his sexual preferences.

Rituparno Ghosh had written and acted in Sanjoy Nag’s 2010 debut film Memories in March that deals with a mother’s (Arati) discovery that her deceased son (Sid) was a gay. The film deftly touched upon the changing dynamics of Arati and the gay partner of her son (Ornob) – Sid always remained as the backdrop. In one of the initial interactions between a female colleague of the son (Sahana) and Arati, Sahana told Arati about her crush for Sid. Then she straightened her dress and quietly challenged Sid’s mother, “Do you think I am up to the mark for him?” What Arati replied is un-important. What is important perhaps is the singular dialogue that puts the matter of Gender in perspective – the patriarchal society looks at women as a commodity even in an otherwise attempted asexual film. This preamble (and lending the content from my previous critique of Memories in March...

Urumi directed by Santosh Sivan will screen as the opening film of Indian Panorama at the International Film Festival of India, Goa 2011.

The jury for Feature films, headed by filmmaker Sai Paranjpye selected 23 films out of a total of 118 eligible entries for the Iffi 2011, Indian Panorama Section. Malayalam film Adaminte Makan Abu, directed by Salim Ahamed which won Best Feature Film award at the recent 58th National Film Awards is the 24th film of Indian Panorama, by virtue of direct entry.

In the Non-Feature Film category, Adwaita Sangeet directed by Makarand Brahme will be the opening film. The Non-Feature films Jury chaired by writer-director Ashok Rane picked 21 films out of 135 eligible entries. The winner of Best Non-Feature film in the recent 58th National Film Awards for 2010 Germ by Snehal R. Nair has not been included in the Non-Feature film category, as it was already included in Indian Panorama 2010 last year.

Nader and Simin, A Separation (Iran) directed by Asghar Farhadi won the Best Film at the 32nd Durban International Film Festival.

“…a masterpiece! We are awarding Best Film for the simplicity and precision of Asghar Farhadi’s craft and his portrayal of the complexities of this family and society in a way that is subtle and universally understood,” the Jury said in its statement.

Andrey Zvyagintsev was awarded the Best Director for Elena (Russia).

Skoonheid directed by Oliver Hermanus won the award for the Best South African Feature Film.

The Best First Feature Film went to The Dynamiter (USA), directed by Matthew Gordon.

Best Documentary went to Position Among the Stars (The Netherlands), directed by Leonard Retel Helmrich. “With its incredibly intimate portrayal of life in Indonesia’s slums, this daring documentary illuminates family relations while treating its subjects with dignity,” the Jury said.

Dirty Laundry (South Africa), directed by...

There is a special focus on “India Independents” at the 32nd Durban International Film Festival (Diff), which will run from July 21-31, 2011.

“The remarkably diverse cinema of India is celebrated at Diff this year, with a focus on both the classic and the daringly contemporary,” reads the official website of the festival. As part of the special focus, the festival will present a Satyajit Ray Retrospective along with new works by fresh Indian talents.

The six Ray films to be screened are: Pather Panchali, Aparajito, Charulata, Kapurush, Ghare Baire and Ray’s final film, Agantuk.

Leena Manimekelai’s film The Dead Sea will have its World Premiere at the African festival. Diff describes the films as “a haunting and powerful film about the lives of Tamil fishermen and the difficulties they faced during the Sri Lankan war. The resulting blend of fiction and documentary is a powerful protest against the...

Delhi Belly directed by Abhinay Deo, and produced by Aamir Khan will open the second edition of the London Indian Film Festival on June 30, 2011.

“Irreverent, crude and downright rude this fabulous new comedy caper from modern Mumbai cocks its hat at bad-boy cults like Snatch and The Hangover, with perhaps a little peppering of the Beatles,” reads the synopsis of the film on the festival’s official website.

The other films that will be screened at the festival are: Rang Rasiya by Ketan Mehta, Riding The Stallion Of a Dream by Girish Kasaravalli, The White Elephant by Aijaz Khan, The Way Home by Dr. Biju Kumar, That Girl in Yellow Boots by Anurag Kashyap, Memories in March by Sanjoy Nag, Just Another Love Story by Kaushik Ganguly, Shukno Lanka (Dry Red Chillies) by Gaurav Pandey and Ladli Laila (Virgin Goat) by Murali Nair.

Bengali film Autograph directed by Srijit Mukherji...

Adaminte Makan Abu, Aadukalam, Dhanush, and the other winners of the 2011 National Film Awards have been announced. The 58th Annual National Film Awards, administered by the India’s Directorate of Film Festivals, is “the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it is administrated by the Indian government’s Directorate of Film Festivals since 1973. Every year, a national panel appointed by the government selects the winning entry, and the award ceremony is held in New Delhi, where the President of India gives away the awards. This is followed by the inauguration of the National Film Festival, where the award-winning films are screened for the public. Declared for films produced in the previous year across the country, they hold the distinction of awarding merit to the best of Indian cinema overall, as well as presenting awards for the best films in each region and language of the country. Due...