Namibia can become a green energy exporter, says first lady

With Europe looking for alternatives to Russian energy, the European Union has set a target to produce 11 million tons of green hydrogen, and import another 11 million tons, by 2030.

US officials troubled by controversial UK tax cut plan

US officials are increasingly troubled by the United Kingdom's proposal to slash taxes at a time of crushing inflation, a plan that has ignited turbulence in financial markets.

The UK economy still hasn't recovered from the pandemic. Now it's on the ropes again

There was good news and bad in Friday's revised data about the UK economy. It grew — marginally — in the second quarter of the year, rather than shrinking as previously estimated.

Heavy gunfire in Burkina Faso capital, soldiers on streets, witnesses say

Heavy gunfire was heard coming from the main military camp and some residential areas of Burkina Faso's capital early on Friday morning, Reuters reporters said.

At least 19 dead after suicide bomb blast at educational center in Kabul

A suicide bomb attack on an education center in Kabul has killed at least 19 people, most of whom are believed to be young women, in the latest sign of the deteriorating security situation in the Afghan capital.

Latin America's largest democracy is days away from choosing its next president

Brazil's upcoming presidential election has been shrouded by an unprecedented climate of tension and violence. As the Oct. 2 vote approaches, episodes of harassment and attacks have intensified, with even neutral players like poll institutes turning into targets.

Germany will borrow nearly $200 billion to cap consumers' energy bills

The German government announced it plans to borrow €200 billion ($195 billion) to cap natural gas prices for households and businesses. That's a bigger price tag than the £150 billion ($165 billion) the UK government is expected to borrow to finance its own price cap.

US defeats Russia in a battle to control the future of the global internet

The United States has soundly defeated Russia in an election to control a United Nations body responsible for shaping global internet development, a contest viewed as geopolitically symbolic amid wider US-Russia tensions and an answer to fears of growing censorship online by authoritarian regimes.

Analysis: The UK is gripped by an economic crisis of its own making

A week ago, the Bank of England took a stab in the dark. It raised interest rates by a relatively modest half a percentage point to tackle inflation. It couldn't know the scale of the storm that was about to break.

US F-15 jet downs Iranian drone that appeared to threaten US forces in Iraq

The US scrambled an F-15 jet to shoot down an Iranian drone that appeared to be heading towards US forces in Erbil, Iraq, on Wednesday, a US official told CNN.

Iranian women are cutting off their hair in protest. Here's why

A weeping Iranian woman is seen kneeling by her dead brother's coffin as she slashes through her hair with a pair of scissors. Her relatives wail for justice as she tosses strands onto the coffin.

Fighter jets escort Singapore Airlines plane after bomb hoax

Two air force fighter jets escorted a Singapore Airlines plane traveling from San Francisco to Changi Airport after a passenger made a hoax bomb threat.

Tens of thousands evacuated as Typhoon Noru makes landfall in Vietnam's Da Nang

Typhoon Noru made landfall near Vietnam's popular beach resort city of Da Nang on Wednesday morning, bringing powerful winds and heavy rain as tens of thousands of people were evacuated.

Analysis: The Truss tax plan in the UK cushions the wealthy while pushing borrowers toward a financial cliff

After tumbling to a record low against the dollar, the British pound stabilized Tuesday, rising more than 1% to $1.08.

Blinken says US will try to help Iranians maintain access to internet amid blackouts

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday that the Biden administration "will certainly look for ways to facilitate technology services being made accessible to people in Iran" amid widespread internet outages during the nationwide unrest.

Stocks finish mixed, but Dow and S&P hit lowest levels since November 2020

Stocks opened higher Tuesday morning, snapping a five-day losing streak and a steep selloff that sent the Dow into a bear market the previous day.

Varun Dhawan holds sway at Amazon Prime Video bae

Varun Dhawan holds sway at Amazon Prime Video bae

Events starting on time is a rarity in the entertainment circuit of Mumbae….oops, Mumbai, but for once the exception proved the rule. A smartly dressed young lady greeted me at the desk, took my name, which I spelt out to her loud and clear. Then she took my picture on an ipad and told me to collect my identity badge a few minutes later. As I entered the Grand Sangam Ballroom at the J.W. Marriott hotel, Juhu, there was loud dance music on, a sure sign that someone was performing. And sure enough, some dancers were performing, performing their muscles out, in spell-binding manner.

The lead dancer was revealed to be Varun Dhawan, who has a huge following, even among the media, and we were then introduced to the concept of bae. This was done firstly by Varun himself, then through a couple of videos and then through the exchanges between livewire compère Rohini, Varun, Sushant Sreeram and Gaurav, aka GG. Rohini ran a quiz to ‘test the knowledge about Amazon Prime Video and its shows’, between the three, and, guess what, only Varun got the answers right. All of them. Fixed? You bet! Varun Dhawan fixation? You bet again. So what is bae all about? What was the big secret revealed yesterday to a select audience? Read on.

As Prime Bae, super-star and Prime Video super-fan, Varun Dhawan, will treat fans and audiences with ‘never heard before’ updates on all the amazing series and movies in the works at Prime Video! A self-confessed super-fan and close friend of Prime Video, who watched all Prime Video shows at least twice during the lockdown, Varun Dhawan will not only be the first (‘Before Anyone Else’…what’s in an acronym) to get his hands on all the news and updates on upcoming Prime Video projects but will also ensure the legions of Prime Video fans are the first (‘Before Anyone Else’) to get to know them too! What’s more, audiences will be treated to Varun’s personal, inimitable style, as he reveals the scoop on topics ranging from “where is Srikant Tiwari off to next?” to “what happens to Munna Bhaiyya?”

https://twitter.com/PrimeVideoIN/status/1574370407750070272?t=93xxCYP5SWhzeBqKVFECcg&s=19

Prime Bae is a significant step in Prime Video’s aim to build an even more personal and deeper relationship with its viewers by delighting fans who constantly seek the latest information on their favourite Amazon Originals and Exclusives. With Prime Bae, the brand aims to establish a humorous and tongue-in-cheek connect with the viewers, via Varun Dhawan, who is not only an established movie star, but is known and admired for his down-to-earth and friendly persona. As Prime Bae, Varun brings his off-screen personality, style, humour, and love for Prime Video’s content to build a fun-loving conduit between the brand and the customers, delighting fans who want to know everything about everything Prime Video is doing, Before Anyone Else.

Talking about his new role as Prime Bae, Varun Dhawan said, “Actors often call their on-screen roles ‘challenging’, but trust me, my new real-life role as #PrimeBae is even more challenging. Let me tell you getting the andar ki khabar (inside news) Before Anyone Else from Prime Video, on their upcoming series and movies, is an almost impossible task! But, as a Prime Video super-fan, I have accepted the challenge to uncover all the latest news from all the amazing series and movies in the works at Prime Video and share this information with my fans and content lovers across the world. To begin with, I can share with confidence that the first mazedaar (delightful) announcement I will make as Prime Video’s #PrimeBae next week will absolutely delight you. I have all the scoop on it, so stay tuned!”

“Over the years, we have built a strong relationship with our customers, who now rely upon us as their trusted friend – one who encourages, inspires, motivates, and can be relied upon to entertain at all times,” said Sushant Sreeram, Head of SVOD (no expansion of the acronym available) Business, Prime Video, India. “We see customers’ love and appreciation for us in their enthusiasm and inquisitiveness in knowing more about our upcoming shows and movies. With Varun as our first-ever #PrimeBae, we aim to build an even more tight-knit community of super-fans, taking them deeper and helping them experience the inner world of Prime Video. Our shows and movies aim to entertain and immerse audiences in their world – why should the latest news on them not be entertaining too? And what better way to kick-start Prime Bae’s journey than with one of India’s favourite actors, Varun Dhawan. His humour and style are sure to make this an interesting ride. Honestly, there’s no knowing what details Prime Bae might share next. Just get on-board and see where it takes you!”

Varun’s mission to be a #PrimeBae began when his friends started badgering him for the latest scoop on upcoming shows and movies at Prime Video and he realised he really didn’t know much! (watch here: https://bit.ly/3BEc1D3)

Having vowed to gain access to these secrets, Varun tried straight-forward methods which expectedly failed, forcing him to use his endearing and lovable personality to gain access to Prime Video’s top-secret information on upcoming series and movies (watch here: https://bit.ly/3C5zVsG)

Winning over everyone at Prime Video with his charm, Varun anointed himself as Prime Bae – the first and only source of all the entertaining updates from India’s most loved entertainment hub Before Anyone Else watch here.

https://youtu.be/IXMLS-am8wY

Prime Video has released three films so far, each playing on Prime Video and Varun Dhawan’s digital and social media platforms.

Indian film-maker and screenwriter, Vasan Bala, who has directed the films said, “Who doesn’t want the inside information on the series and movies they love? The concept of Prime Bae leverages this insight and invites viewers to be a part of the Prime Video universe, along with one of their favourite actors, Varun Dhawan. Always a friend of the audience, his charming and lovable personality comes alive in the films, while his natural humour and energy elevates an inherently unique concept. Imagine your favourite movie star dishing out the latest information on your favourite movies or series! Truly fun and entertaining.”

Oh! The bit about the badge. I had collected it during the proceedings, and, to my horror, my surname was spelt SAYEED! Many others who had not collected it made a beeline, thinking it was to be some kind of gift, only to find that the only gift it had was their picture on it. Coming back to the mis-spelling of SYED as SAYEED on my badge, the person concerned could do with some badgering. If only I could find her…but I can always ask Varun. He will find her before anyone else! What Varun Dhawan say hold sway, that’s the way at APV Bay! Whaddya say?

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One of Russia's most elusive oligarchs admits to creating Wagner mercenaries in 2014, reversing years of denials

• LIVE UPDATES: Lavrov: 'Formalized' Russian territories would have Kremlin's 'full protection' • Opinion: Putin's biggest weakness • Polish venue cancels Pink Floyd co-founder's shows after controversial Ukraine letter

Cuba legalizes same-sex marriage

Cuba has legalized same-sex marriage after Cubans voted in favor of a family code that increased protections for minorities on the island, the country's National Electoral Council announced on Monday.

First came the floods. Now, Pakistan's children face a new disaster

The baby sleeps listlessly on the hospital bed, her frail and dehydrated body fighting for survival. Next to her lies a motionless infant wrapped in a white cloth, who died just minutes earlier.

At least 11 children among dead after gunman opens fire at school in Russia

At least five children have been killed in a school shooting in the western Russian city of Izhevsk, Russian state media reported Monday.

Expect big holiday sales on everything but the bling

Retailers have already signaled big sales are coming for the holidays — with one major, sparkly exception.

UK could fine TikTok $29 million over children's privacy concerns

The UK said Monday it could impose a multimillion-dollar fine on TikTok after the government found the short-form video platform may have violated children's privacy.

Paris Fashion Week: How to watch the Spring-Summer 2023 shows

Once again all eyes are on the French capital as fashion week kicks off today. The nine-day itinerary includes more than 100 brands presenting new Spring-Summer 2023 collections.

„When the Woodlark sings“ is the AWARD WINNER on the INFLUX Film Awards

Our film "When the Woodlark Sings" was selected at the INFLUX Film Awards, Huntington Beach CA, USA in the category Best International Film and is the AWARD WINNER.

What a great feeling! We are overjoyed, grateful and delighted!

Watch the trailer: https://youtu.be/oXuEJiN3rD0

More information: https://heidelerche-film.cittador.com

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Selection procedure on Cittador International Film Festival

A step by step guide to submitting a short film to the Cittador Film Festival 2022 Vienna, Austria:

1.     Submit your film on FilmFreeway via this link: https://filmfreeway.com/CittadorInternationalFilmFestival

2.     If your film selected, you receive the “Official Selection” status and laurels as official selected film. You can use laurels for your promotional purpose for example on social media channels.

3.     The interview with filmmaker / film composer will be posted on the web of the Cittador Film Festival. 

4.     Your film will be featured on the film festival homepage and automatically eligible for the Audience Award. 

5.     Each selected film will be promoted on social media. 

6.     The film festival jury decided about award winners on December 22, 2022

7.     The film featured on the film festival homepage with the most audience votes will be awarded with the “Audience Award”.

8.     The awarded films will be shown at the Studio Cinema, Lugner City in Vienna on December 27, 2022.

Film festival website: https://iff.cittador.com 

Film submission via FilmFreeway: https://filmfreeway.com/CittadorInternationalFilmFestival

 

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What it's like to visit Saudi Arabia now

I have seen countries change before, but I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like the change taking place in Saudi Arabia. It is not like the fall of Soviet Europe, nor the upheaval recently witnessed in Sri Lanka. Saudi's change is deliberate, deep-reaching and dramatic.

Typhoon Noru leaves five dead as storm sweeps over the Philippines

Five rescue workers have died in the aftermath of Typhoon Noru, which made landfall in the Philippines Sunday and is predicted to gather strength again before hitting Vietnam on Tuesday.

Hong Kong puts 90-year-old cardinal on trial over protest fund

Cardinal Joseph Zen, a 90-year-old former bishop of Hong Kong and outspoken critic of China's ruling Communist Party, went on trial Monday over his role in a relief fund for the city's pro-democracy protests in 2019.

Prime Video’s first original film, Maja Ma, Trailer launch: Mad about Madhuri

Prime Video’s first original film, Maja Ma, Trailer launch: Mad about Madhuri

One afternoon in 1984, I was invited to the Natraj Hotel, Marine Drive, Bombay, to the release get-together of Rajshri Productions’ Abodh. My benefactor, writer-director Gobind Moonis, who had wanted to cast me as the blind boy in Dosti, had now discovered a girl with a very pretty face who had learnt kathak too. But the star of the day was Gyan Shivpuri, an actor who came with a reputation. When I tried to talk to the girl, she was shy and reluctant. I guess she must have just completed junior college. Her mother-tongue was Marathi and her name was Madhuri Dixit.

A few days ago, it was the J.W. Marriott Hotel, Juhu, Mumbai, and she was making another debut, 38 years later. Madhuri is playing the matriarch of the Patel family, in Amazon Prime Video’s first ever movie production, Maja Ma. Since the Patels are a Gujarati family, and the title of the film is Maja Ma (‘I’m Having Fun’, a common Gujarati response when greeted with ‘Kem Chho’—How Are You?) it is likely that she will have to speak a few lines in Gujarati, which she is yet to master. Hindi, meanwhile, has posed no problems at all, in all these 38 years, during which she clocked over 70 films. Marriage led to a sabbatical in the USA, but she returned a few years later to resume her career, playing mature roles.

Almost all those who were present were rooting for Madhuri, waiting for her to emerge from backstage. And emerge she did, to thunderous applause. Not only did she speak with the compère, Sachin Kumbhar, to the audience’s delight, but she danced too, with a troupe, to a song from the film, sending the crowd into raptures. It was a garba, and would you believe it? she has never had to do a garba dance on screen before this. The closest she came to it was when she performed dandiya raas. And to double the delight, she came on stage again, to dance with volunteers from the floor.

Featuring Madhuri Dixit, Gajraj Rao and Ritwik Bhowmik in the lead, this family entertainer has an ensemble cast, including Barkha Singh, Srishti Shrivastava, Rajit Kapur, Simone Singh, Sheeba Chaddha, Malhar Thakar and Ninad Kamat, in pivotal roles 

Produced by Leo Media Collective and Amritpal Singh Bindra, directed by Anand Tiwari and written by Sumit Batheja, MajaMa will stream in India and across 240 countries and territories, starting 6th October. Its trailer was unveiled on the occasion, showing Madhuri Dixit in a complex and fearless avatar. A Bollywood-style entertainer, Maja Ma is set against the celebratory backdrop of a traditional festival and a lively, colourful wedding, with a story that will tug at your heartstrings.  

The trailer gives us a glimpse into the life of Pallavi (essayed by Madhuri Dixit) – a delightful woman who is the backbone of her middle-class family and the society she lives in, around whom the movie revolves. As a series of events unfold, a life that she has built with so much love starts to fall apart, putting her son’s upcoming engagement in jeopardy. The conflict tests existing relationships for resilience, understanding and beliefs. What has caused this unexpected situation? How will Pallavi and her family deal with the turmoil? Will this bring the families closer, or will the newly forming relationships crumble?

“I am thrilled to be a part of Prime Video’s first Indian Amazon Original Movie”, said Madhuri Dixit. “With Maja Ma, what I am most excited about is my character. It is a role with complex nuances that I have never played before. Pallavi Patel carries enormous responsibility around – as a mother, as a wife and as a contributing member of society, with such ease and grace, that it becomes easy to overlook her strength, conviction, and resilience. She goes through a multitude of emotions that could have strong repercussions on her life and the lives of people she loves.”

She further added, “I am so excited to share this film with my fans and audiences. Working with the cast and crew of the film has been a lovely experience. I am thrilled that Prime Video is taking Maja Ma to audiences worldwide. This piece of our heart, our hard work, will find love with audiences looking for heartfelt storytelling everywhere in the world.”  

“You will see me play a middle-class man, a father to young adults and husband to a loving wife, in Maja Ma,” said Gajraj Rao, talking about the movie and his character. “However, as you watch the movie, the character traverses through some interesting, sometimes challenging, not to mention unexpected situations, in his life. Working with the whole team – Madhuri Dixit, all cast members and the creators – was a great experience. I am quite sure the audiences will love the movie. This is the first time I have seen a genius at work. After seeing so many of her films, I have had the good fortune of working with her. This gave me a chance to see how she works. Very rarely have I seen her bring any paper with her. Invariably, she has her lines by heart. By contrast, I need to do my lines several times to memorise them, and I still forget them sometimes.”

“I play a mamma’s boy. And how can I not, when the mamma is the gorgeous and doting, Madhuri Dixit herself,” said Ritwik Bhowmik. “A confession…in reality too, I am a Mama’s boy. Tejas is a sincere yet aspirational young man. He is still finding himself, nurturing his ambitions and his intrinsic value system. This role is very special for me, as it is my debut movie and my third outing on Prime Video. Maja Ma is also my third time working with the director, Anand Tiwari. He brings out the best in us, in the most effortless manner. I am truly enthralled to have shared this space with so many talented actors of the industry. What will stay with me is the experience we had in bringing this movie to life – such a great time with one big happy family on the sets.” 

“I am so excited to be playing Esha (not pronounced Isha or Eesha, more like Aysha). My character has great balance –despite having been brought up by orthodox NRI parents, she has modern American traits while still having Indian sensibilities. She is her own woman, confident and free spirited,” said Barkha Singh. “There are such dynamic character arcs in the film, which every cast member has done complete justice to, guided by the clarity of Anand Sir’s vision. It was an amazing experience working with the whole team, especially Madhuri ma’am. It has been a privilege to share screen space with her.” 

Commenting upon the upcoming movie and her character, Srishti Shrivastava said, “It is every actor’s dream to dabble in various mediums of entertainment and to have their work reach out to audiences across a wide spectrum. I have worked in many movies and series across various mediums earlier, but doing Maja Ma was another level of excitement. My character, Tara, has been very well etched as a strong, feisty and progressive young woman. Working with Madhuri ji and Gajraj ji was an absolute honor and privilege, to the say the least.  Ritwik, Barkha and the rest of the Maja Ma Team made the experience even more enriching and memorable. I cannot wait – for the movie, the music, and the story to reach audiences.

One disappointment: The star cast, the producer and the director, the representatives of Amazon Prime Video,...did not field any questions from the media. But let’s look at the sunny side—lunch was served even before two-thirty pm. A Q &A would have meant another 45 minute delay at least. Hmmm…on second thought, not enough compensation.

Trailer: https://youtu.be/gJj90WOWQvg

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Fifth Iranian paramilitary member killed as president warns protesters will be dealt with 'decisively'

A fifth member of an Iranian volunteer paramilitary group died Sunday after clashing with what state media called "rioters and thugs," as the country's President Ebrahim Raisi warned that protesters would be dealt with "decisively" after days of nationwide unrest.

Dhokha Round D Corner, Review: True lies, deception-perception and betrayal-portrayal

Dhokha Round D Corner, Review: True lies, deception-perception and betrayal-portrayal

Way back in 1940, a British film was made under the title Gaslight. It had an American version in 1944. Since then, it has inspired a lot of psychological thrillers, in India too. In the film, a man plots to convince his wife and all around them that she is mad, in order to recover the jewels that he had tried to steal from her late aunt, who he had just murdered, but had failed by the sudden arrival of the girl, who he befriends and marries, years later. Now imagine this premise and add to it several other intertwined plots of deceit and betrayal, this time inspired by the 1950 Japanese classic, Rashomon, in which there are differing versions of the same incidents and events, all coming across as true, in flashback. Dhokha is a classic case of over-writing and overkill. Perhaps realising that Gaslight was the inspiration for films like Who Kaun Thi and Yeh Raat Phir Na Aayegi, and Rashomon has been made several times, including a version called Sajan, the writers sat down to try and be different, and build an intricate web of deception, where everybody is deceiving everybody. Sadly, though, they ended-up deceiving the audience too.

There are four main players in the story: Yatharth Sinha, the husband, Sanchi Sinha, the wife, Haq Gul, the alleged terrorist and Inspector Harishchandra Malik. Sanchi is seeking a divorce, Yatharth insists she is mentally ill, Gul holds Sanchi hostage and Malik is in-charge of the operation to nab Gul, who escaped from his custody with a mini AK47, snatched from Malik. Each of these four have their axe to grind in the episode and works towards that end. Each accuses the other of lying and deception, and sometimes the deception is there for all of us to see. In the end, one of them is going to die, another is going to lose his sense of balance and the other two will escape unscathed, with their crimes undiscovered and their cover-ups fully in place.

Dhokha comes in the wake of The Big Bull, which was Kookie Gulati’s first film as director. Here, he has written the story too, and collaborated with Neeraj Singh on the screenplay. Besides the films mentioned above, the writers also appear to have drawn inspiration from the film Ittefaq, which was based on a stage play. Ittefaq had Rajesh Khanna playing a man who escapes from the lunatic asylum, where he was wrongly confined, and holds Nanda hostage. In comes Inspector Sujit Kumar, and you can guess what happens next. With too many flashbacks and no positive character, the script fails to grip you. A lot of footage is wasted on the police cordon and the conversations amongst them. As usual, they have a deadline to apprehend/eliminate the terrorist, after which the National Security Guard will take over, causing them humiliation.

It is difficult to make sense of the proceedings, with so many flashbacks, and so many lies that seem so true. All these are shot as if the audience has a vantage point of view and it is unfolding before them. Fact is, it is mainly the actor’s point of view (pov), which often contradicts with another actor’s pov. How is a viewer expected to make any sense of the narrative? And a confused audience is an unhappy audience. In parts, Dhokha is slick and dazzling, but then it gets back into the true lies, deception-perception and betrayal-portrayal mode, which brings it back to the unimpressive level. There are a dozen questions that need answers, because the loopholes are gaping at us. Almost every scene is unconvincing, when you look back upon it, right from the time when Haq Gul escapes from the police van till the climax that leaves one player dead. Lines and moves are written without giving much thought to logic or rationale. Only the immediate situation is addressed. And then, suddenly, one or both of the character(s) comes back, down to earth, faces reality, and the kind of interactive privilege that they had breaks. An example is the scene wherein Sanchi tries to seduce Gul by beginning with his name and telling him that it means flower, and her name is Sanchi. So what, one might react! And howcome all the events fall in place as if they were orchestrated by one person, whereas there are four players in this game of modified chess or Chinese chequers.

Such a film needed very high levels of acting, and unfortunately, only one actor rises above the script: Aparshakti Khurana, who is cast as the ‘terrorist’. He comes across as gullible, terrorising, vulnerable and prone to ways of the flesh, all rolled into one. Khurana has worked on the accent too, though I cannot confirm whether it is authentic Kashmiri. Madhavan, who has put on a lot of weight, suits the character, but remains confined within it, unable to impress. Khushali Kumar, the debutante, is uninhibited and passable in a role that needed somebody with much better acting acumen. Darshan Kumar too looks the part, but his dialogue delivery leaves something to be desired, though, playing an Inspector, he can get away with it. Sadly, the name of the woman playing the psychiatrist treating Sanchi was not available at the time this was written.

Time to take a look behind the scenes. Cinematography by Amit Roy gives Mumbai a European or American look and the car scenes are particularly well shot. Editing by Dharmendra Sharma is competent, and there is no point in blaming him for the flashbacks or the length, which, at 112 minutes, is just a tad longer than necessary. The flashbacks are a scripts requirement and/or the director’s decision. Music by is by Amar Mohile, Tanishk Bagchi, Gourav Dasgupta, Rochak Kohli and late Bappi Lahiri. Bappi gets the credit because his song ‘Zuby ‘Zuby Zuby’ has been incorporated at the end credits as an item number. Kumaar has added to Anjaan’s original lyrics. Sung by Alisha Chinai for the film Dance Dance, it is reprised here by other singers, who sound very much like her. It has no connect with the film.

Did the story have possibilities of shaping into a thriller? Yes! Have the screenplay and direction transformed these possibilities into a thrilling cinematic experience? No. That is deception. Not just round d corner, but on cinema screens.

Rating: **

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCSX4d_8oLQ

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Cubans to decide on same-sex marriage in national referendum

The cake with figurines of two brides on top melted in the Caribbean heat and the wedding guests fretted aloud that one of Cuba's frequent blackouts could strike at any moment but for Annery Rivera Velasco and Yennys Hernandez Molina, the day was one of the happiest of their lives.

Italy expected to look right as polls open in national election

Polls opened Sunday in the Italian national elections, with the far-right Brothers of Italy party -- led by Giorgia Meloni -- poised to make big gains after the collapse of two governments since the last election.

North Korea fires ballistic missile into waters off east coast of Korean peninsula

North Korea has fired a ballistic missile into the waters off the east coast of the Korean peninsula, according to officials in both South Korea and Japan.

International chess group criticizes ex-world champion for quitting after one move but says it shares his concerns about cheating

The International Chess Federation (FIDE) reprimanded former world champion Magnus Carlsen for resigning from an online chess match against fellow grandmaster Hans Niemann after just one move but added that it shared the world No.1's "deep concerns about the damage that cheating brings to chess."

Chup: Revenge of the Artist, Review: Critickill analysis

Chup: Revenge of the Artist, Review: Critickill analysis

Film critics, run for cover! Better still, seek police protection. Take a cue from the one renowned film critic already has police protection, and comes to our press previews with an armed escort, in uniform. The reason for this shield is not known to me. But all the other reviewers are mere mortals, some senior, some junior and some newbies. Some of them are well paid, some are paid much less than what they deserve, some are well-to-do and don’t need the money and some do film criticism because they love cinema, never mind if they are not paid at all.

Now here comes a movie about a serial killer who targets only film critics, and makes mince-meat out of them, literally. In a sense, he does to them what some of them do to the films they review—tearing them apart. So, does writer-director R. Balki (his wife Gauri Shinde is a co-producer) want us critics to be silenced (Chup), and is out for Revenge of the Artist? Or is he making a case for better standards in film criticism, in an over-the-top manner? On either premise, he tells a GORY tale in Chup, and it is up to us critics to make sense of it and assess it, without fear of any slasher sending us to the hereafter, soon after it is published, in case he does not like the number of stars we gave it.

Almost everything that will be said about Chup’s plot or story will be a spoiler, so one has to tread very carefully. A middle-aged woman returns home late at night and finds the lights switched off. She tries to switch them on again, and they come on. Calling out to her husband, she gets no response. Then she looks everywhere in the flat, till she finds him in the toilet. He is sitting on the toilet seat, dead, with his body slashed all over, and a triangle on his forehead, and a toilet roll placed strategically, where…The police arrive, led by Arvind Mathur, who immediately suspects that the triangle on the head is a vital clue, but cannot get any further lead. More ‘critical’ murders follow, each more brutal than the other, one involving the discovery of dismembered parts of a critic’s body.

Running parallel is the story of Nila Menon, who is single, and the daughter of a Tamil-speaking blind, mother, who loves tulips. Nila gets her tulips time and again from a shop that is so exclusive that it grows tulips, a flower native to Europe, in its own garden. The shop, called Danny’s Flowers, is run by a mysterious man, who Nila presumes, is Danny. The man is given to talking to himself and lands up at Nila’s house on Guru Dutt (late film director, actor, who died in the mid-60s, apparently committing suicide but enjoys cult status since then)’s birthday, with flowers made of paper. The last film that Guru Dutt had directed was called Kaagaz Ke Phool (Paper Flowers, a resounding flop when released, but since then, considered among the best Indian films ever made). They fall in love. Soon afterwards, the killer on the loose targets another victim, again a film critic, and the police are unable to get any leads again.

A well-known critic-turned-film-maker is among the writers on this film, Raja Sen, who has also directed a film. The leap from reviewing to creating has been taken by many a personality, right from the critics in the French magazine, Les cahiers du cinéma. Interestingly, I cannot recall any reverse leap—a film maker who gives-up directing films in favour of reviewing them. The two other writers are director R. Balki himself and Rishi Virmani. Less than halfway into the film, the killer is revealed, which might not have been so bad had the move worked. There were no suspects really, unless one counts the delivery man who wears a T shirt with a huge star on it and is shown only in long shot, or the producer/director who is briefly interviewed by Mathur. Nila works for a TV channel and no possible motive could have been attributed to her. And Mrs. Menon is blind, which rules her out completely. You could say, “What about somebody from the police force?”, and I would say that is too far-fetched, unless there was a long back-story.

Nila surrenders to ‘Danny’ all too easily, even sleeps with him, and demands an encore immediately afterwards. The delivery man has no role to play in the film and showing him at least twice was a waste of precious time. Why did Nila’s mother have to be Tamil and blind, and why does she behave in a very edgy, unpredictable manner all the time? What about Nila’s father? There is a long back story to ‘Danny’, but none to Nila. Who is that priest praying in a chapel next to Danny’s flower shop, with Guru Dutt’s huge picture hanging above him? That’s all we see of him. Dialogue is largely give and take; first your turn, then mine. Some witticisms are interspersed, but most of them sound pretentious.

How did the killer master the art of picking locks, taking a victim to a railway track and laying it there, to be carved into pieces under a running train, without raising the least suspicion; throwing a victim from the third floor to the ground, at a spot that the police cordon surrounding the building, including sharp-shooters with telescopic guns, are unable to notice, and then coming down and carrying the victim on a cycle, to dispense his kind of justice? The police are zeroing on all directors whose first film flopped, largely due to adverse film reviews, and this might be his way of getting back at the critics, although his victims are not those who trashed his film! They are present day reviewers. Adhesive tape used by the murderer to gag his victims was available 10-12 years ago, and has not been seen in the market since then. But the killer always uses this tape, which a smart killer wouldn’t, lest it give the police a clue. And this killer is smartness personified.

With an impressive though sparse record of seven films in 15 years, most of which were box-office bonanza, R. Balki’s last outing was Mission Mangal, three years ago, a film he only wrote. Taking-up vastly differing themes in each successive film, he turns to Guru Dutt for inspiration here. However, can Guru Dutt (Pyasa, Kaagaz Ke Phool) and a serial killer go hand-in-hand? Rather, one is reminded of films like The Boston Strangler and No Way to Treat a Lady. On the Guru Dutt front, he uses three songs from his films, taking them from the original sound-track and crediting the music to S.D. Burman, in all propriety. One Mohammed Rafi (the voice of Guru Dutt) song is sung in part by a female voice, which is out of place. There was no need to do that to an immortal hit.

Preceding the screening for the media, Balki organised a panel discussion on film criticism, at the theatre, that featured film-maker Anees Bazmee, writers/film-makers Krishna D.K. and Raj Nidimoru, venerated film trade analyst Komal Nahata, senior critic Anupama Chopra, Sucharita Tyagi and a couple of other speakers, and was moderated by Bharadwaj Rangan, another film critic. A lot was said in that hour-long conclave, but nothing could have prepared the panelists and the audience for what was to follow in the shape of Chup.

As far as the role of the police is concerned, it is a half-baked track. They are neither here nor there. And the weather-beaten threat of “The CBI will take over, unless you can crack this case in x number of days,” hovers large over Mathur, about which he can do little, except conclude that the mark on the forehead of victim number one was not an inverted equilateral triangle but an incomplete star, a star being the rating given (usually) at the end of a film review. Loathe to making any film without Amitabh Bachchan, Balki brings him in in Chup in cameo that any lesser mortal could have enacted as effectively. But AB has box-office gravitas that few can equal, and a very special relationship with Balki, so it does not come as a surprise. Though slickly directed, the genre, a first foray for the director who loves tackling different themes each time he wields the megaphone, does not show him as much in command as say Cheeni Kum and Paa. Gruesome blood-spilling, carving bloody rings on the body of dead victims, and stars on their forehead, spraying body parts along and near a railway track, etc., are surely difficult scenes to sit through. Even with an Adults Only certificate, such mayhem needed to be trimmed, and, perhaps, it has indeed been trimmed. Did we watch a sanitised version? How far did Balki actually go, only he knows.

Balki’s choice of cast is odd, to say the least. Sunny Deol is a little misfit as the Inspector (General?) of the Mumbai Police’s Crime Branch. Dulquer Salman, now 36, is an actor who has done films in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Hindustani, in a 10-year career that includes a quadruple role. But his choice as ‘Danny’ leaves something to be desired. At 34, Shreya Dhanwanthary matches Dulquer age-wise, but her acting skills are yet to be tested. Saranya Ponvannan, who plays Nila’s mother, is brought in gratis, with little to contribute to the narrative. Only Pooja Bhatt, as a psychiatrist, is a surprise packet.

Getting to performances proper, Sunny Deol is constricted by the ‘riddles’ he doles out to his deputy and the frustration he shows at facing the prospect of being taken off the case. If he is indeed the Inspector General, one wonders whether he would be doing all that he does, and being in mufti always. Dulquer Salman, with that rare first name, shows complete ease of rendition. Yet his permanent, indulgent grin, and the flat rendition of dialogue at the most crucial of times, come in the way. It was a good idea to cast him as a Catholic, which persona goes well with his visage. Watch out for him! Shreya Dhanwanthary has a comely screen presence, and, amazingly, an indulgent grin that matches Dulquer’s. While she shows no inhibitions in the scene where she seduces ‘Danny’, she needs to work more in Hindustani films to mature.

Pooja Bhatt does a decent job, though her role has limited scope and could have been better written. A veteran of the South, Saranya Ponvannan, in probably her Hindi debut, makes a good impression. If only her role had more to contribute to the story, in concrete terms…! Amitabh Bachchan is Amitabh Bachchan, as the actor of a film called The Third Umpire. You do not need a ball tracker to declare that even at 80, he is not out. He is never out.

Adequate support comes from Rajeev Ravindranathan as Deputy Superintendent of Police, Srinivas Shetty, Adhyayan Suman as Purab Kapoor, Raja Sen (who is a co-writer) as Senior Film Critic, Dhruv Hiena Lohumi as Kartik, Bipin Nadkarni as Director General of Police, Crime Branch, Mumbai, Zahir Mirza as Nikhil, Rea Malhotra Mukhtyar as Richa, Pravishi Das as Reshma, Priyanka Karekar as Danny's mother, Pyarali Nayani as Nitin Srivastav, Veenu Khatri as Mrs. Srivastav, Nitin Srivastav's wife, Dogra as Parikshit Prabhu, Amit Chakravarthy as Irshaad Ali, Nilesh Ranade as Govind Pandey and Chandrakant Parulekar as Kaleem Bhai.

A lot of pastel shades are seen, and rightly so, since a lot of the action takes place in a flower-shop. Camera-work is by Vishal Sinha while the snipping and splicing is done by Nayan H. K. Bhadra. At 135 minutes, it is long for a murder mystery, but the temptation to show one more killing in a different set-up must have been too tempting to resist. Besides the S.D. Burman songs from Guru Dutt’s films of the mid-late 1950s, there are two other numbers, by Amit Trivedi and Sneha Khanwalkar. Background score by Aman Pant is loud on occasions, but what do you expect in a slasher movie?

Balki’s advice to all critics, via the film, is that you must see every film in the world, including Mongolian films, and remember all of them (a million, I hazard?) at the time of reviewing, to be able to tell whether the film at hand is a copy of any other film…and only then allot the stars, if you are to be considered a critic of merit. I must confess that he is asking for the impossible. Critics do not dole out advice on what a film-maker should do to become a film-maker of some standing. Then why should film-makers target critics? Aw…come one, it’s only a film, and I have given it a rating that is neither here nor there, so I presume I am safe.

Rating: ** ½

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V51sMMFMWqg

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Iran restricts internet as Mahsa Amini protest deaths mount and UN calls for investigation

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26th Ji.hlava announces first titles

Only six weeks are left until the start of the 26th Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival that will take place on October 25 to 30. The festival will bring new original documentaries, thematic retrospectives, the best in experimental filmmaking and a number of non-competitive programme sections. Over 40,000 viewers and 1,300 film professionals are expected to attend the 26th edition of this leading European documentary festival and the largest event of its kind in Central and Eastern Europe.   

The programme of the 26th Ji.hlava will offer so far the largest retrospective of the cinema of the Philippines shown outside Asia, a programme reflecting on the Russian aggression in Ukraine, “war” as a film theme, as well as new works by Armenian filmmaking legend Artavazd Peleshyan and Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa.

“It wouldn’t be accurate to say that Ji.hlava’s film programme was curtailed during the pandemic, but this year's edition is absolutely exceptional – both in terms of the international sections and in the highly popular Czech Joy competition showcasing Czech documentary films,” says festival director Marek Hovorka.“

Please find more details as well as the announced film titles in the enclosed press release.

For more news visit www.ji-hlava.com. To request journalist accreditations to the 26th Ji.hlava IDFF, please contact us at pressservice@ji-hlava.cz.

 

Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Cittador International Film Festival has live screening!

The live screening of the Cittador Film Festival 2022 will be held in the beautiful Studio Kino Lugner City Vienna on December 27, 2022. We show premiered short films up to 10 minutes in length. Entries are possible until December 15, 2022. 

More info on:https://iff.cittador.com and on https://filmfreeway.com/CittadorInternationalFilmFestival

 

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„When the Woodlark sings“ on the Top Film Awards – Tokyo!

Our film “When the Woodlark Sings” was selected at the Top Film Awards in Tokyo! Here are results:

Nominee – Best Feature; Nominee – Best Original Idea; Winner – Best Actress (Valentina Himmelbauer), Nominee – No Budget Spirit. We are happy and grateful!

Watch the film trailer on Youtube with English subtitles: https://youtu.be/oXuEJiN3rD0

More information about the film: https://heidelerche-film.cittador.com 

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The Scorched Forest-Part I-The Kindling, Review: The Killing Fields

The Scorched Forest-Part I-The Kindling, Review: The Killing Fields

A twenty-one years old man, whose father died in an accident, is at the bottom end of the class pyramid. Living in abject poverty, he, his mother and sister, work as daily-wage labourers and have a huge debt to repay to a money-lender. The ‘man’ of the house chops (removes) harmful thorns from the plants and trees in a field, for a paltry sum, which is barely enough to help keep the kitchen fires burning. This beginning will give you no clue of what is to come, or what The Scorched Forest-Part I-The Kindling is all about. It is about two gangs of contract killers in Mumbai, and their bitter, murderous rivalry. Familiar territory to Hindi film buffs, this Tamil film, which has the Tamil title of Vendhu Thanindhathu Kaadu (The Scorched Forest)-Part I-The Kindling in an English sub-titled version, was shown to the media on Friday night, a day after its release. It is a mixed bag, with some originality but largely repeated situations and events. Except for its length, at 165 minutes, it is watchable.

Muthuveeran is at his job when the forest suddenly catches fire. He manages to escape by jumping over some plants, lands on his back. It is later found that he has some 20-30 thorns, the very thorns he had removed, embedded in his back. Those deep, bleeding wounds do not cause the rustic lad Muthu much pain, but when the owner of the forest comes to his home and asks to be paid a large sum as compensation for the destruction of the forest, which, he claims, was caused by Muthu’s ‘beedee’ (a type of thin, smaller cigarette, made out of rolled leaves and tobacco, tied together; smoked by millions in India), Muthu threatens to chop him down with the sickle. For his part, the owner says he will teach Muthu a lesson he will never forget. This gets his mother very worried, because she fears anything could happen if her headstrong son decides to take on the wealthy landlord.

Next morning, she takes him to a relative, who lives some distance away. He has settled in Mumbai, but has come back to build a house in the village, having made it big in Mumbai. The mother asks her relative for help to get her son a job, considering he is a B.Sc. Sympathetic to her cause, he offers to help Muthu get a job in a nearby village, but the mother pleads with him to send him to Mumbai, far away from the wrath of the landlord, and he accepts her request and books him a train ticket. Muthu is asked to sleep in that house while his mother is told to go and fetch his identity papers.

Co-incidentally, Muthu over-hears a phone conversation between the man and someone in Mumbai, and suspects that his benefactor might be involved in some underworld dealings. Moreover, he sees a gun lying around, which confirms his suspicions. In the night, the man gives Muthu an envelope, and asks him to post it in the morning, “at any cost”. In the morning, it is found that the man committed suicide by hanging himself. Muthu takes the gun, decides to go to the address on the envelope and find his job. He also plans to investigate the matter of his mentor’s suicide.

This is probably the 20^th film written by B. Jeyamohan, putting together his Tamil, Malayalam and one Kannada efforts. His pen captures the raw earthiness of the village in the first few scenes very well, and then orchestrates the metamorphosis of that raw earthiness to cold, ruthless murders, by and in Mumbai’s South Indian gangs. Interestingly, the two gangs he has delineated are run by Tamilians (from the South Indian state of Tamilnadu) and Keralites (from Tamilnadu’s neighbouring state of Kerala), and there are no Maharashtrians, who are the locals in Mumbai, involved.

He brings in a lady called Durga, as the Big Boss’s spokes-person, who could be a South Indian, from the way she speaks, and the Big Boss, who has a Muslim name, Raoof, rather late into the story. While Durga intervenes in the mob rivalry, the Big Boss dishes out commands on video calls. Charting gangster operations and inter-gang rivalry is not a challenging proposition, but the crux lies in the detailing. One gang uses a ‘parotta’ (the South Indian version of the North Indian ‘paratha’; a flat, round, oily bread) shop-cum-restaurant as a front, while the other operates under the guise of a hair cutting salon.

Co-incidences are almost always the easy way to push a story forward, but here, the meeting of Muthu and Sridharan at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Train Terminus, both South Indians, both having come to Mumbai to escape poverty and seek jobs, both asking each other the way to their destinations, and the two landing up in opposing camps, one at the ‘parotta’ shop while the other at the salon, have a tremendous bearing on the story. Instead of becoming rivals, they become friends. Muthu will become a hoodlum in the Tamilian Kajee’s squad while Sridharan will end up being made to work as a sex slave to the gang’s boss, Kutty Nair. Coming to the woman in Muthu’s life, this track is an example of poorly written screenplay. Named Paavai and speaking good Hindi, she works in a ready-made garment shop, where Muthu goes to buy underwear. It is love at first sight for him, while she is guarded. How the relationship develops is probably among the weakest links in the tale.

After endless, staggered titles, one reads that the film is directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon, who also owns an advertising agency. Menon was born in Kerala to a Keralite father and Tamilian mother, and grew-up in Tamilnadu. This fact must have stood to his great advantage in characterisations. In between all the mayhem, he gives enough scope to his main artistes, and a few supporting cast, to get under the skins of their characters. The ease with which poker-faced Muthu, using a gun for the first time, starts shooting effortlessly, and gets all eight shots bang on target, resulting in eight corpses, is unconvincing. As is the ambivalent attitude of Paavai, who seems to dilly-dally at first, then accepts Muthu’s advances, then pulls back again, then turns a deaf ear to his gun-toting and order-killing side, and agrees to marry him.

Menon must be commended for bringing back the lip-sync songs, a genre that is fast dying, although they stick out like sore thumbs with the brutal ambience in which they find their own niche. Watch the lead pair sing the lines, oblivious of the world around them, as they stand or walk or travel, with only the lines rendered, facing each other. The beginning and interlude music is left to have its own effect.

Perhaps Gautham Vasudev Menon felt that to counter-balance the gory gunning and throat-slitting, he needed to have several other non-violent tracks. The beginning was one such non-violent component. Then there is the romance. We then have the friendship between Muthu and Sridharan, next comes the camaraderie between Muthu and an older lieutenant of his own gang. Also included is a love story between Sridharan and Sapna, who works for his boss as a maid. I am avoiding mentioning the deviant sex slave angle is detail, which, quite obviously, has been almost totally removed by the sensors. A few lines of tell-tale dialogue remain. Granted the screenplay would have dictated these tracks, but Menon could have used directorial discretion. As it stands, all this has meant adding extra minutes to the story, which, in the end, strikes you as a chronicle of horrific crimes committed by the two gangs and the less than token presence of the police, not an emotional drama. Incidentally, Gautham directed the Hindi film Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Men, released at the turn of the century, a remake of his first Tamil film. One critic has accused Menon of copying scenes from Hongkong-based master director Wong Kar Wai’s films, an accusation that I cannot either second or dismiss, because no such scenes come to my mind at the time of writing this review.

Muthuveeran comes alive due to a greatly restrained performance by Silambarasan Thesingu Rajendar (STR), actor, director, writer, composer, dancer, music director, lyricist and playback singer, son of director T. Rajendar. I am sure he needs a few more vocations to add to his CV! On the other hand, this also means he has to be poker-faced and exhibit no, or very little, emotion, necessary activity for any actor. Aged 39, he plays a 21 year-old, and that is asking for too much. His lady love, Paavai, is played by Sidhhi Idnani, and one could wager that Sidhhi is not a Sindhi or a Kachchhee. And one could lose. Her parents are Ashok Idnani and Falguni Dave, but so far, she has worked only in Gujarati (Falguni is Gujarati), Tamil and Telugu films, none in Hindi. She is comely, buxom and shows potential. Raadhika Sarathkumar (daughter of Tamil actor, late M.R. Radha) plays Muthu’s mother, and if her not-too-old pictures are anything to go by, this 59 year-old may soon be cast in roles that do not involve sobbing and wailing (she must have done many of those already), which is what she is made to do, mainly, in The Scorched Forest, Part I-The Kindling.

Siddique as Kutty Nair, alias Kuttybhai is interestingly portrayed, as a person who likes challenges, but depends on his retinue to implement his dirty deeds. He is also fond of Sridharan, and makes him dress as his kept woman, which is how he treats him too. Neeraj Madhav earns a lot of sympathy as the weak-willed man, Sridharan, who, in any case, has no choice, but dares to fall in love with his boss’s maid. Appukutty plays the diminutive Saravanan well. A surprise package is Jaffer Sadiq A. as Rawther, though it beats me why a reputed shooter/contract killer should resort to using the knife and jumping up and down cup-boards. There is a lot of Hindi spoken in the film and one of the actors playing a native Hindi speaker is Deepak Dutt Sharma. Others in the cast are Delhi Ganesh, Aadithya Baasker, Aangelina Abraham, Bava Chelladurai, Kavithalaya Krishnan, Tulasi, Sara, Richard James Peter, Phathmen, Manikandan, Geeta Kailsam, Shrisha, Ajmina Kassim, Jaisinth, Sathya and Shivamani as the Big Boss, Raoofbhai.

A highlight of the film is the music by A.R. Rahman, both the background score and the five songs. These include a couple of soft romantic duets, and one about the lives of gangsters, without the preponderance of electronic instruments. One of the songs is titled ‘Malippoo’ while another is called ‘Marakuma nenjam’. We hear a lot of strings in the score, which is a Rahman characteristic. Both the cinematography by Siddhartha Nuni and editing by Anthony could have been better. Part of the credit for the fluid action scenes must go to American Lee Whittaker, as also part of the discredit for too much action, and causing too much confusion, with dozens of persons battling it out on more than one occasion in a single frame. The second half does become a little predictable in its action content.

With a long list of home-grown and imported gangster films, some excellently made, some just watchable, as their ‘peers’, B. Jeyamohan and Gautham Vasudev Menon had their work cut out for them. They have managed to make a movie that should be seen. It does not have the physiognomies of one that will shake-up the system and announce its arrival with a 21-gun salute. But blazing guns, choppers, knives and filling fields it has aplenty.

Rating: ** ½

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtJsH5--wkM

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Cheetahs arrive to India after more than 70-year absence

After going extinct in India over 70 years ago, cheetahs are finally making a comeback in the country with a new reintroduction program.

Siya, Review: We didn’t see ya

Siya, Review: We didn’t see ya

A man who has produced 12 films, including masterpieces like Masaan and Newton, over the last eight years, decides to make his directorial debut under his own banner, Drishyam Films (Drishyam means ‘scene’), at the age of 49. His name is Manish Mundra. All eyes are on him. What subject has he chosen? Who are the actors? How will be his treatment of the script, and so on. And then comes the invitation to attend the première of Siya. There was a show earlier, when I was in Georgia, and obviously, could not attend. Since the release was delayed by a few weeks, they decided to invite members of the press, who might not have seen the film then, to see it at the première. As the film unfolded, we discovered that it dealt with the plight of a rape, and captive, repeated gang-rape, victim, named Siya, and the police-legislator nexus that denied her justice. We saw Siya, Mr. Manish Mundra, we didn’t see ya, meaning we did not see much of the director’s touch.

In a very small town in Uttar Pradesh (UP) lives a girl named Siya Singh. She had to give-up her schooling after studying till the sixth grade due to family responsibilities. She practically does all the chores in her home, including going out to buy provisions and taking her handicapped brother to school on a cycle. Three ruffians try to accost her every time she passes by on her cycle, with rape on their minds. These include the son of the local Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA). One day, they almost have their way, but for the timely arrival on a scooter, of Mahendra Mallah, a lawyer, who works in NOIDA, and who is on a visit to the village. But the next time around, he is not there to save her. She is caught, dragged into a car, and taken away by the four devilish souls.

When she does not return home till late at night, the family, helped by Mahendra, tries to lodge a police complaint, called a First Information Report (FIR), about her disappearance, but the cops refuse. Such refusal is common in many parts of the country. In some instances, it is due to the fact that a written complaint would come on record and the custodians of law would have to investigate the case, which, some lazy police officers, are loathe to do. In other cases, they do not register the complaint if any prominent personality is involved as an accused, a personality who could create problems for them, or if they are already ‘on the take’ of such personalities.

Mahendra, who is neither related to Siya nor a close family friend, takes the initiative and forces the law machinery into action. Siya is found, several days after being kidnapped and kept as a sex slave of the MLA’s son and his friends. The MLA is furious, for elections are round the corner, and this time, he hopes to contest the seat of a Member of Parliament (MP), a national position, as against the local (state) post of MLA. He, however, acts to protect his son, and threatens the girl, her family, Mahendra and his family of dire consequences if they press charges or go to court.

Who wouldn’t sympathise with a young girl being subjected to what Siya was? And who would have anything but contempt for the politician, his son, the son’s buddies and the local police, who all gang-up to silence two families, in order to save their names, and remove obstacles to political designs? Question is, “Where is the novelty in this theme?” Haven’t we seen a slew of films on such themes before? Does the mere choice of a subject that resonates with a large part of the population of the country ensure that a good film will automatically come out of it? Certainly not. Yes, the film is realistic and could have been based on a real incident. Yet, again, where is the cinematic treatment that this subject, or any subject, deserves? Writers Haider Rizvi, Manish Mundra and Samaah have some explaining to do.

Dark, sombre atmosphere running through, the protagonists facing attack after attack, police atrocities mounting…yes, but why is there no effort to surprise the audience? Where are the twists? More of the same cannot be called twists. Once you see Mahendra driving a car for the first time, and the girl sitting in it, it is an ominous sign, and sure enough the director obliges. Some things, however, must be appreciated. The slow tracking shot of the girl’s house, showing various members of the family little by little, in positions that describe their persona; the circling of the boys’ hiding place by police cars, shot using drone-mounted cameras; the climactic shot, that leaves you with some hope amidst tons of despair; the casting of an older actor as Mahendra and the conscious attempt not to show any romantic link-up between them; Mahendra shown to be practicing as a Notary, not a criminal lawyer, which would have been the obvious choice; the case being initially heard by a woman judge, who makes scathing comments about the police (but these lead to nowhere, which is a big let-down). Siya is easily among the post pessimistic films made in recent memory.

Playing Siya (the name is a variant of the character from the Raamaayan, Seeta) is Pooja Pandey. Except for a couple of scenes with her brother, she does not get to show many emotions. Suffering and devastated, she maintains the semblance of a stoic look on her face, determined to try and get justice. Winning a lot of sympathy might even win her a few prizes, but it is largely a uni-dimensional role. Scoring better is Vineet Kumar Singh as Mahendra, a man who gambles with his life so that one girl from his village can bring her rapists to justice. As he said at the première, if 200 Mahendras rise when any girl in a small town or village is raped, this curse will go away forever. Quite obviously, that is better said than done.

Acting by the supporting cast is generally acceptable. These include Rudra Pratap Singh Chaudhary, Dev Chauhan, Madhvendra Jha, Anuradha Kalia, Shubham Kumar, Deepak Tiwari, Lajjawati Mishra, Nidhi Mishra, Yogesh Pandey, Ambarish Saxena, Rajshree Seem, Aradhya Sen, Aruna Soni and Rajnish Yadav. ‘Produced by’ credit is not Manish’s, it is Raghav Gupta. Cinematography by Rafey Mehmood and Subranshu Kumar Das and editing by Manendra Singh Lodhi are two credits that must get their due.

Siya is a very disturbing film, all of 117 minutes long. There is little relief or entertainment quotient in the movie. It does not tell you anything that you do not already know, but reconfirms that barbarism prevails in the 21st century India we live in. And going back to what Vineet said at the première, to save one Siya, we will need 200 Mahendras to rise in arms, to the refrains of ‘Maatee kahey kumbhaarsey, too kya raundey mohey?’

Rating: * ½

Trailer: https://youtu.be/fYhbW4I-Lwc

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Jahaan Chaar Yaar, Review: 4 oppressed wives and 1 dead, naked, male stripper

Jahaan Chaar Yaar, Review: 4 oppressed wives and 1 dead, naked, male stripper

Sometimes, you don’t realise you have made a fairly good beginning and deviate into unnecessary trappings. Sometimes you don’t realise that it ain’t broke, so don’t fix it. Sometimes you start tinkering with the engine, and don’t realise that the problem is that you have run out of petrol (read ‘ideas’). On the other hand, you might realise that you have run out of petrol and there is no gas station around (drought of ideas), so you think tinkering with the engine (read paddings, add-ons) might help. Or you try to fix it in other ways, ways that will only damage the vehicle and not take you farther. Jahaan Chaar Yaar is a classic case of the latter premise. They had a pretty good thing going, then they decided to shoot off at a tangent. In the process, they lost the way (read ‘plot’). They added ingredients where none were required, and, when they have consumed the dish, connoisseurs (audiences, critics) aren’t quite sure whether this was the main course or the dessert. That’s bad cooking.

Four girls, Shivangi, Mansi, Sakina (a Muslim name) and Neha, who go the same school in Uttar Pradesh (UP) and are classmates, are also best of friends. After school, they all get married. While three of them live in Uttar Pradesh, the fourth is in Mumbai. The three in UP, Shivangi, Mansi and Sakina, are facing issues of maltreatment, forced drudgery, discrimination and unfaithfulness, among others. Then comes the news that their fourth ‘member’, Neha, is seriously ill in Mumbai. The three decide to visit her in Mumbai, although they have never travelled alone to any place before. It takes some convincing, but the men and the elders in the family relent in the end. Soon, they pack their bags and books seats in the same compartment of a train bound for Mumbai.

Along the journey, a mysterious woman enters the compartment with her face covered and takes a seat right next to them. She reveals herself to be Neha. Moreover, she is hale and hearty, and not sick at all. Soon Neha tells them that this was a ruse to get them away from their families, and for all four of them to visit Goa, to let their hair down, for once. Mumbai was never on the agenda, and sure enough, the four land in Goa. They drink, enjoy waddling in the sea and have a ball. In Goa they meet a man, Ribhu, now married, who, as a schoolboy, had propositioned Shivangi, and even tried to force himself upon her, but he has confessed that incident to his wife, who is with him, and it is now a matter of the past. At the beach, they meet Peter Gomes, a drifter, who claims he is Australian and his girl-friend has broken-up with him. One thing leads to another, and soon enough, he is at their resort, atop a table, doing a striptease. Then there is a gunshot fired, and Peter falls down, dead as a Dodo.

It's like a case of split personality, with writer-director Kamal Pandey, who helmed at least two TV series in the last 11 years and wrote some half-a-dozen film stories, besides the odd ‘dialogue’ credit. That would make this film his debut outing. Or, he is inspired by two films, not one. I am unable to recall the films that might have triggered off this script, but I am sure there are at least two. One need only look as far as Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2012), which was the story of three male pals who set off on a vacation to Spain, substituted by Goa here. Two had Hindu names while a third had a Muslim moniker. Rings a bell? In Spain, they were floored by a Senorita called Laila, here they are captivated by Senor Petrola, rather, Peter.

Actually, the inspiration begins with the title, borrowed from a super-hit song included in a super-hit Amitabh Bachchan film, released some 40 years ago. What he is offering under the title Jahaan Chaar Yaar (‘Where Four Pals’, literally) is two films for the price of one ticket, but neither is complete or satisfying. One cannot really complain about the title, because the story indeed revolves around four pals, albeit female, whereas the Bachchan song had his own gender in mind.

Quite often, it seems that the girls are having a really good time, but is the audience? After veering off the track, Pandey brings in the Goa Police, the enmity and rivalry between the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) there, Hudda, and Inspector Madhukar Rane, and the search for Peter’s killer. This begins on an absolutely tasteless note and peters (pun intended) down to Shivangi addressing the Inspector as “Bhaiyya”, every-time she talks to him, and his taking umbrage at being so addressed. Also, the women always refuse to do whatever he tells/orders them to, but when told what he will do to force them to comply, they sheepishly get into compliance mode, post haste. These lines would have passed muster, had they not been repeated ad nauseam, till they do not remain funny, but, in fact, turn irritating.

Problem is, even if the confused and messy second half is sawed off from the film, there is nothing to really hold your interest. Wives forced into drudgery and unfaithful husbands, which premises constitute the first half, have been the staple of films in the 40s through 80s, and of television serials since the 1990s. There is no novelty, not even an attempt at innovation, when presenting such a beaten track.

Swara Bhaskar is Shivangi, and the film opens with a shot of her washing a pile of clothes. Known for doing roles that are associated with bravado, she makes an effort to fit into this contrasting character. Her voice and the stiff upper lip don’t help, but she succeeds at least partially. The other three, Pooja Chopra (Sakina), Shikha Talsania (Neha) and Meher Vij (Mansi), underplay, as their roles demand, in the first half. Pooja, though, shrieks a bit too much and her dialogue is not clear in a couple of places, making me lose the storyline for a few seconds. Come the second half, they all either go over the top or appear to put on pretentious expressions. As Inspector Madhukar Rane, Girish Kulkarni is slick and suave, with the occasional dash of humour, but it is a poorly conceived role. DCP Hudda, played by Manish Chaudhari, though physically in character, is a caricature. As Tanya, Simran Gupta shows no promise.

Vibha Chhibber needs no effort to portray the torturing mother-in-law. As Ribhu (a rare name, if there was one), Palash Prajapati (I am assuming this is the adult Ribhu) is there only to facilitate a flashback and a recreation of the scene, when, as a teenager, he had tried to ask Shivangi for sex on the school campus, of course, at a lonely spot. Cast as Neha’s husband Ashish is Ali Quli Mirza, and since his character is behind the scenes most of the time, nothing further shall be said about him. Also in the cast are Niharika Chouksey, Akash Dhar, Mitansh Mehra, Suraj Singh Sinsinwar, Garima Agarwal, Sakshi Mhadolkar and Neeraj Singh Rajput.

One of the producers of the film, chart-busting singer Mika Singh appears on screen and sings two songs well, ‘What the luck’ and ‘Aesee kee taesee’. The girls join him in one of these, and shake their legs and more. No record could be found of the actor playing Peter Gomes (I have yet to hear of an Australian with the surname ‘Gomes’; on the other hand, there are at least a thousand, or several thousand, Gomes in Goa itself, and in Mangalore). Ballu Saluja is the editor, but there is no point in blaming him for all the wrongdoings, even keeping the length to an ennui-generating 126 minutes, whereas 96 would suffice.

When you are setting off on such a beaten track, with four oppressed married women as your protagonists, you better make sure the journey is entertaining, and having a stripper do the full Monty (I am certain the censors have ‘cut’ all the revealing parts) is not an ‘entertaining’ choice to engage with the audience.           

Rating: * ½

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oYd3PJJN-4

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New Documentary Thirst Trap by Atlanta Filmmaker Sensei Chop Reveals Truth About ‘Water Boy' Culture

Atlanta-born filmmaker and music artist Sensei Chop’s first film, the documentary Thirst Trap, has launched this month on Tubi, Amazon Prime Video and other streaming platforms. The film is currently being submitted to festivals.

Chop directed, produced, wrote, edited, narrated and served as director of photography of the important film that sheds light on the ‘water boy’ culture in Atlanta, Georgia. The film features Meka Pless, the mother of Jalaani, her only son, a water boy who was fatally shot over ten dollars, as well as water boy entrepreneurs Joshua Dixion and Quintez Dixion.

Quintex Dixion and Joshua Dixion

Official trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RB6oTHUq17s

 

 

Chop comments, “Two things I'm very passionate about is storytelling and my home city of Atlanta. Growing up, we would spend hours on the block everyday telling all types of stories. It didn't matter if the stories were new, old or exaggerated, we just loved hearing and telling them. I think that's a universal thing when building bonds, storytelling.”

“This film, which is my first, combines the two things I'm passionate about. Between my car being stolen and my mom going missing for a week, it would be an understatement to say I went through some things while creating this documentary but now it's done. It's a dope feeling to be able to share an Atlanta story with the world, told my way,” he adds.

An accomplished music artist, Thirst Trap marks Chop’s first major film project. A pivotal part of Chop’s artistry relies on his unique ability to combine his passion for rap with film. Where others have to focus on one outlet to express themselves, he is lucky enough to blend both elements with little to no effort. As a rapper, he shines through with his wordplay and delivery and as a shooter, he’s able to bring full visions to life. Now, with both in his arsenal, Chop is looking to take the creative industry by storm. 

Growing up in Atlanta, Georgia, Chop, whose real name is Chris Nichols, was exposed to the richness of the city and quickly gained the confidence to start rapping under the name Poke Chop at just 12 years old. With the same stage name, he recorded a few songs with seasoned rapper Kevin Gates but held his own under his moniker. Listeners to his music would describe his style as conversational with each track sounding as if he’s talking directly to his audience. This is evident on his single Expensive Glass, where the title acts as a reference to the lenses found in film. Keeping in line with his love for shooting visuals, his new documentary Thirst Trap is available now on Tubi, Amazon Prime and other streaming platforms.

Instagram: @SenseiChop Twitter: @SenseiChop Facebook: @senseichop

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Wall Street dodged a rail strike, but there's trouble ahead

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British pound hits a 37-year low as UK economy skids

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China and Russia present united front at summit as Ukraine war risks exposing regional divisions

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