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Showing posts from June, 2022

Ron Howard’s upcoming film Thirteen Lives Will Release Globally on Prime Video Starting August 5, 2022

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Ron Howard’s upcoming film Thirteen Lives Will Release Globally on Prime Video Starting August 5, 2022 THIRTEEN LIVESPhoto Captions Pic 1(L to R) Thira ‘Aum’ Chutikul as Commander Kiet, Popetorn ‘Two’ Soonthornyanakijas Dr Karn, Joel Edgerton as Harry Harris, Colin Farrell as John Volanthen and Viggo Mortenson as Rick Stanton in THIRTEEN LIVESAMetro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures film.Photo credit: Vince Valitutti © 2022 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc.All Rights Reserved.Pic 2_RCDirector Ron Howard on the set of THIRTEEN LIVESAMetro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures film.Photo credit: Vince Valitutti © 2022 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc.All Rights Reserved. Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures Presents in Association with BRON Creative an Imagine Entertainment / Storyteller / Magnolia Mae Production a Ron Howard Film Launching Globally on Prime Video on August 5 Thirteen Lives recounts the incredible true story of the tremendous global effort to rescue a Thai soccer team who become

Jug Jugg Jeeyo #PicksAndPiques #FilmMovieDocumentaryReview #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit

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#PicksAndPiques #FilmMovieDocumentaryReview #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit Film: #JugJuggJeeyo Rating: * * Runtime: 120 mins Cast: #VarunDhawan #KiaraAdvani #AnilKapoor #NeetuKapoor #ManeishPaul #TiscaChopra #PrajaktaKoli Director: #RajMehta #DharmaProductions #HypePR #NilouferQureshi #KaranJohar Aiming to work up a storm about dysfunctional marriages in a contrary conservative set-up, Raj Mehta’s film takes the long lonely road of needless (excruciatingly tedious for the audience) extravagance (big fat Punjabi wedding style) to reach his selling point. After childhood pranks meant to establish age-old love, the unnecessarily long-drawn narrative in the first half focuses on never-ending joyless wedding celebrations before sending the young couple Kuku (Dhawan) and Naina(Advani) to Canada where they reach an impasse as a couple and decide to end it after one last salvo at faking it. The dramatic bits are all in the second half - some of it genuine and earnest(

Ittu Si Baat #PicksAndPiques #FilmMovieDocumentaryReview #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit

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#PicksAndPiques #FilmMovieDocumentaryReview #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit Film: #IttuSiBaat Rating: * Runtime: 110 mins Director - #AdnanAli Producer- #NarendraHirawat Cast- #GayatriBhardwaj #RaviChauhan #BhupendraJadawat #FaridaJalal #NeerajSood #SonaliSachdev #AtulShrivastava #MuskaanKhubchandani #TikuTalsania #ButterflyCommunications #YashaChandra #LaxmanUtekar #NHStudioz Yet another vacuous love story set in the Hindi heartland, portraying small-town folks as either dim-witted or avaricious. The romance just doesn’t make sense because it’s between an aspiring 20-year-old, intellectually naĂŻve, aspiring cricketer, Bittu, and a street smart, friendly neighborhood girl, Sapna, whose chance remark that she would say ‘I Love You’ to the guy who presents her with an iPhone sets Bittu off on a pursuit that is way beyond his means. A ridiculous storyline presented in a hackneyed and spurious fashion, this ‘ittu si baat’ makes you wonder what filmmakers are smoking

Dhappa - An ambitious Experiment that goes awry #PicksAndPiques #HindiEnglishTheatrePlayReview #JohnsonThomas #Theatrewala

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#PicksAndPiques #HindiEnglishTheatrePlayReview #JohnsonThomas #Theatrewala #AumTheatreProduction #NikitaKamdarPR An ambitious experiment that goes awry Play: Dhappa (Hide & Seek) Genre: Musical mystery Cast: Puneet Issar, Sharon Chandra , Pavitra Sarkar , Anuradha Athlekar Singers & Musicians : Ajitkumar Shrivastava, Amit Ranjan Srivastava, Radha Srivastava. Director/Writer/Producer : Akshay Mishra Rating: * * ½ Runtime : 180 mins Aum Theatre Production’s musical mystery ‘Dhappa’ Written, produced and directed by Akshay Mishra is an ambitious effort no doubt – set as it is in the 1950’s and influenced by the paranormal mystery films of Waheeda Rehman, Manoj Kumar and Sadhana. But not only that – the play focuses on a developing bond between a failed actor whose disrepute is far more widely publicized than his films or acting prowess and a writer whose idealistic outlook inspires him to make films that do justice to his vision. The narrative goes back and forth i

Aum Theatre Mumbai launches the play “Dhappa" starring Puneet Issar

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Aum Theatre Mumbai launched the premier show of the play “Dhappa, a 1950s based musical play starring Puneet Issar” a thriller Hindi play ion 18th June 2022 at St Andrew Theatre Bandra. Actor Puneet Issar, who is forever embedded in our minds as the great Duryodhan of B. R. Chopra’s TV series Mahabharat will be playing experimental role for the first time in theatre. The play is written and produced by Director Akshay Mishra and Sharon Chandra. Play Dhappa has a splendid set, vintage design costumes, a fantastic script, melodious songs and music, and dance that will captivate the audience. DHAPPA is a very meaningful and realistic play where one can relate to the sacrifices, repentance, passion, and perseverance enacted by the actors on stage. The play has 11 live songs performed by Radha Srivastav, Amit Srivastav- reality show winner and Ajith Srivastav, introduced background score with theme music in play, thriller and 2 Jaipur gharana thumri dance. The actor has transformed himse

Nikamma #PicksAndPiques #FilmMovieDocumentaryReview #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit

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#PicksAndPiques #FilmMovieDocumentaryReview #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit Film: #Nikamma Rating: * Runtime: 144 mins. Juvenile, a daft attempt at comedy action, this film has a terrible story, unintelligent dialogue, a pitiable screenplay, and is entirely too senseless to curry favor from an audience. The cast doesn’t have what it takes to make the experience any better. Best left alone… Director - #SabbirKhan #SonyPicturesInternational. #UniversalCommunications Writer - #VenuSriram Dialogues :#SanamjiTalwar Screenplay - #SabbirKhan Cinematography - #HariKVedantam Editor - #MananAjaySagar Music - #JohnStewartEduri #AmaalMallik #JavedMohsin #VipinPatwa #GourovDasgupta. Cast: #AbhimanyuDasani #SamirSoni #ShirleySetia #AbhimanyuSingh #ShilpaShetty

Bandon Mein Tha Dum #OTTDocumentarySeriesReview #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas

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#PicksAndPiques #OTTDocumentarySeriesReview #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #BandonMeinThaDum Rating: * * * (4 episodes 45 mins each) Director: #NeerajPandey #ShitalBhatia #SudipTiwari #Fridaystoryteller #bootroomsports #viacom18 #vootselect #posthouse #dnbstudiosbeyonddecibels #HeenalShah #AvaianWE An audio-visual memorial to the valour and grit displayed by the young inexperienced Indian side on their test tour to Australia, this compilation of match footage and candid conversations with #AjinkyaRahane, #RavichandranAshwin, #CheteshwarPujara, #MohammadSiraj, #RishabhPant and #HanumaVihari, their coaches, as well as journalists who covered the series, gives us an inside view as to what it took to win the historic 4 test series. The 4 episode 45 mins. per episode series aptly titled Skyfall, You only live twice, A view to a kill, License to kill, sheds light on how the team played tough and indomitable while navigating their way through injuries, inexperience, fier

Country Club to celebrate “International Yoga Day” for their members across the globe.

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Country Club to celebrate “International Yoga Day” for their members across the globe. Mr Rajeev Reddy CMD of Country Club has noted that Country Club has always been at the forefront when it came to the well being members. He went on to explain that to keep their members fit and healthy, Country club has gone well beyond the expectations and are providing hundreds of Fitness centres across the country, covering all the cities and towns in the very neighbourhoods of their members for the ease of convenience and accessibility. The founder of Country Club further elaborated that the Virtual yoga event of Country Club where over 0.2 million people performed 108 suryanamaskaras simultaneously was a great hit during the Covid times. "Now, for the 8th international yoga day, this year, we are planning another virtual yoga session ‘COUNTRY CLUB’s YOGA AT YOUR DOORSTEP’", Mr. Reddy announced. On 8th International Yoga Day Simran Ahuja, yoga Exponent will demonstrate 8 separate

Jana Gana Mana #MalayalamFilmReview #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReview #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit

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#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReview #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit Film: #JanaGanaMana #Malayalam Rating: * * * Runtime: 162 mins #MamtaMohandas #OvaisSingstar #PrithvirajSukumaran, #Sari #SurajVenjarumoodu #Mammootty #VincyAloshious #DhanyaAnanya #TomKottackakom #Netflix Director: #DijoJoseAntony Writer: #SharisMohammed Music: #JakesBejoy Cinematography: #SudeepElamon Editing: #SreejithSarang #MagicFrames #PrithvirajProductions As a college professor's brutal murder sparks student unrest, a cop launches an investigation while a lawyer seeks justice in the courtroom. A blisteringly paced, astutely crafted, twisty, gripping, socio-political-crime thriller drama, this one picks up every conceivable crime in current day history and loops it onto a politician’s sinister attempt to stay in power. It opens our eyes to how media, new media, police, administration, judiciary, and the system fall prey to the machinations of the man in power - to chill

Samrat Prithviraj, Major, Vikram #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit

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#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit Film ‘#SamratPrithviraj’ Rating: * Runtime: 133mins. Self-appointed historian for the right wing, Chandraprakash Dwivedi’ s divisive, distorted take on history, this period drama fails to arouse sentiment or amiability. One-note Tarzan Akshay Kumar’s attempt to emote is laughable. The attempt to spread propaganda via fake history is contemptible. The only way Prithviraj could have killed Ghori was if his ghost appeared 14 years later to do the needful (Prithviraj died – 1192 & Ghori died – 1206) This movie based on Chandravardai's book takes flight from fanciful poems written in praise of the so-called last Hindu King(yet another phony claim) by a courtier. It would have been better if Dwivedi had a disclaimer before the film claiming it to be a work of fiction. And what a pity the love factory has begun to peddle hate… #AkshayKumar #ManushiChhillar, #SonuSood #SanjayDutt #Aditya

17th Mumbai International Film Festival Promises to Come back with a Bigger Bang Next Time; Leaves Trail of Awards behind Best Documentary of the Festival - Dutch Film Turn Your Body to the Sun; Bags Golden Conch Non-feature filmmakers are self-motivated to make films that usually don’t have assured audience unl

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17th Mumbai International Film Festival Promises to Come back with a Bigger Bang Next Time; Leaves Trail of Awards behind Best Documentary of the Festival - Dutch Film Turn Your Body to the Sun; Bags Golden Conch Non-feature filmmakers are self-motivated to make films that usually don’t have assured audience unlike main stream films: Eminent Filmmaker Shyam Benegal MIFF should be made an annual Film Festival: Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari Mumbai, 4 June 2022 The 17th Mumbai International Film Festival, first edition post-pandemic, came to a close at Nehru Centre, Mumbai today, 04th June 2022. The festival for Documentary, Short and Animation Films came to a close with a grand closing ceremony in the presence of Chief Guest and Governor of Maharshtra, Bhagat Singh Koshyari. Dutch film Turn Your Body to the Sun bagged the Golden Conch for the Best Documentary of the Festival. This edition had many firsts including being the first edition to be on hybrid mode. The festival wit

How a film appeals to heart is important: National Jury of #MIFF2022

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How a film appeals to heart is important: National Jury of #MIFF2022 Mumbai, 3 June 2022 Overall content of films and how it appeals to heart is very important, opined National Jury members of #MIFF2022. The jury also commented that a lot of social issues came up in the films screened at Mumbai International Film Festival. They were interacting with media and delegates at the #MIFFDialogues held in connection with the festival. #MIFF2022 National Jury Members Sanjit Narwekar, Subhash Sehgal, Tareq Ahmed, Jayasree Bhattacharya and Ashley Ratnavibhushana participated in the conversation. Opening the #MIFFDialogue, documentary filmmaker and author Sanjit Narwekar said that the jury was near unanimous about all their decisions. “ Selection Committee should be commented that they made a wonderful choice of films. During screening, the first thing we looked in the films was the story and the impact it makes. Shots, filming, cinematography, editing, sound and other such technical aspect

Sound designer does the selective listening for audience

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Sound has the ability to define the space and meaning: Resul Pookutty Sound designer does the selective listening for audience Mumbai, 3 June 2022 Sound has the ability to define the space and meaning. Camera only catches a picture, which is abstract, with sound its meaning is defined, said Resul Pookutty. Addressing a masterclass on ‘Aesthetics of Sound in Cinema’ at the 17th Mumbai International Film Festival- MIFF 2022, Shri Pookutty said, “Sound generates the desired meaning in a film, as envisioned by the director. He further said that a sound designer does the selective listening for audience. “As a sound designer I select from umpteen numbers of sounds available with me and present a package to the audience, which becomes a holistic experience for them”, he added. Narrating his experience of the Oscar award winning film Slumdog Millionaire, Shri Pookutty said, human brain processes sound in a certain way, which a sound designer must understand. “I designed sound for

IDPA Open Forum MIFF2022 Diary

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IDPA Open Forum 1.00 pm. Day 1, 30th May 2022 MIFF 2022 held its first Open Forum organized and curated by IDPA at the Open Space seating located opposite JB hall at 1.00 pm. Panelists included filmmakers as well as OTT platform creators and distributors; Samir Modi CEO Pocket Films, Award-winning filmmaker Piyush Pande of ‘Mike’ and ‘Man who planted a Jungle’ fame, Sushil Kumar Agarwal, CEO, Ultra Media Entertainment Pvt. Ltd and Bharat Shitole award-winning filmmaker who is currently in the process of making ‘Adipurush’ based on the Ramayana. The discussion moderated by Ms. Swati Indulkar revolved around the business of creating, distributing and monetizing documentary films and further explored how OTT has affected the growth of this industry in a positive way. All panelists were of the opinion that documentaries have played an important role in bringing to life, real-life facts and events to the lay audience. At first Doordarshan and Films Division were the two main cente