Not concerned about 'Mohenjo Daro' criticism: Hrithik

August 5, 2016

New Delhi, Aug 5: The trailer of "Mohenjo Daro" may have become a butt of jokes online and made historians cringe, but lead star Hrithik Roshan has brushed away the negativity saying the film will silence critics after its release.

HrithikThis is not the first time Hrithik's film has been accused of distorting historical facts.

His 2008 film, "Jodhaa Akbar", also directed by his "Mohenjo Daro" helmer Ashutosh Gowariker, was initially slammed for being historically inaccurate but that did not stop it from becoming box office success.

"I am not concerned about it (negativity around the trailer). This current situation reminds me of a time when Twitter was not there but when I played Akbar, I was in the spotlight right from the release of the first trailer.

"People said what I did was wrong as Akbar was only four feet ten inches tall, while I am over six feet. Also that I had light eyes, which Akbar did not," Hrithik said.

"People raised several objections about the film. And now who remembers that? They have all forgotten about it. Now when you talk about 'Jodhaa Akbar', you say how great the film was and how well it did."

The 42-year-old actor says the historians, who have raised objections about usage of lip colour on women, to the use of horses in certain scenes, are least of his concern as they are not the people who will go and watch the film in theatres on August 12.

"They are not our fans, who will go to cinemas to watch the film. These historians are voicing their opinion, they have no bearing on the film being good or bad. "They are talking about how they can have lipsticks but people of the Indus Valley used to crush rose petals and put it on their lips. Our film is fiction mixed with facts."

Hrithik says "Mohenjo Daro", which also features newcomer Pooja Hegde, is a simple love story set in the backdrop of the Indus Valley civilisation.

"It is a love story, a revenge drama in the backdrop of Indus Valley. It has not been made to teach people about Mohenjo Daro. It is like 'Titanic', which was not about how the ship works, it was about a love story with Titanic as the backdrop. That is where we are coming from."

"Mohenjo Daro" is Hrithik's second historically-themed film after "Jodhaa Akbar" but the actor says his upcoming movie was way more difficult to work on as it involved shooting in harsh conditions of Bhuj in Gujarat.

"It was in a lot of way tougher than 'Jodhaa' because of the setting we were put in, long hours on the sets in Bhuj. It was quite tiring."

Praising his co-star Hrithik says he was surprised to seen how confident the actress was right from the time of their first photo shoot for the film.

"The shooting conditions were tough but Pooja was unfazed. She gave her shots naturally and spontaneously. If it was my first film, I would go home, I couldn't have done it. She is very hard working."

"Mohenjo Daro", also stars Kabir Bedi, Arunoday Singh, Suhasini Mulay and Nitish Bharadwaj.

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Agencies
August 2,2020

Mumbai, Aug 2: Oscar-winning director Alfonso Cuaron has come aboard as an executive producer on filmmaker Chaitanya Tamhane's movie The Disciple. The Marathi feature is set to represent India at the 77th edition of the Venice Film Festival. It will be screened in the Competition section of the prestigious film gala.

The movie, which is Tamhane's follow-up to his National Award-winning feature Court, has also been selected for 2020 Toronto International Film Festival's official line-up.

"I met Chaitanya through a mentorship program where I had the opportunity to watch his very superb debut film, Court  I was immediately impressed by his sense of cinema and fearless confidence to tell stories.

"He was part of most of Roma's process and I jumped to the opportunity to be part of the process of his second film The Disciple. I believe Chaitanya is one of the most important new voices of contemporary cinema," Cuaron said in a statement.

Tamhane said he is honoured to have Cuaron aboard the film.

"It’s a bit surreal and an incredible honour for me to have one of the most recognised and acclaimed filmmakers in the world be part of 'The Disciple'. In some ways, this validation from Alfonso Cuaron is even more," he added.

The Disciple, a 127-minute long feature, stars Aditya Modak, Arun Dravid, Sumitra Bhave, and Kiran Yadnyopavit. It has been produced by “Sir” actor Vivek Gomber through his Zoo Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.

The Disciple marks Tamhane’s return to Venice after he won the Best Film - Orizzonti and Lion of the Future award for Court in 2014.

Court, a poignant commentary on India's judicial system, also won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in 2015 and was India's official entry for the Best Foreign Film at the 2016 Oscars.

Endeavor Content will sell North American rights and New Europe Film Sales boards the film as an international sales agent.

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News Network
July 23,2020

Mumbai, Jul 23: Mumbai Police will soon issue summons to actor Kangana Ranaut to record her statement in connection with the case related to the suicide of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, officials said on Thursday.

A day after Sushant Singh Rajput's suicide, Kangana Ranaut had released a two-minute video speaking highly of the deceased actor and accusing certain sections of the film industry of not acknowledging the star's talent.

She had also said that some of the last social media posts by the actor made it evident that he was struggling to survive in the industry.

According to the police, statements of 39 people, including film critic Rajeev Masand, director-producer Sanjay Leela Bhansali, and filmmaker Aditya Chopra have been recorded in the investigation so far.

The Mumbai Police had recently said the statements of three psychiatrists and one psychotherapist have been recorded in connection with the suicide investigation.

Rajput was found dead in his Mumbai residence on June 14.

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Agencies
August 4,2020

New York, Aug 4: National Award-winning documentary "Son Rise" and Geetu Mohandas-directed "Moothon" were among the films that took home the big honours at the 20th New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF), which switched to a virtual edition this year amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Over 45 feature-length narratives, shorts and documentaries from the Indian subcontinent were showcased at the festival’s virtual edition that ran for 10 days beginning July 24.

The films programmed were in various languages including Assamese, Bengali, Haryanvi, Hindi, English, Ladakhi, Maithili, Malayalam, Marathi, Nepali and Tamil.

The award ceremony for the festival was held virtually Sunday, with the filmmakers, cast, award winners and festival officials joining from across India and the US.

The award for the Best Documentary (Short) went to Saurav Vishnu-directed "Tailing Pond", which highlights the "horrifying effects of uranium extraction on the health of the indigenous population" of Jadugoda, Jharkhand.

"Son Rise" by Vibha Bakshi won the award for Best Documentary (Feature).

The documentary had won the National Award for the Best non-feature film in 2019 and was among the two centrepieces hosted by the festival this year. NYIFF called "Son Rise" “a powerful documentary about patriarchy in Haryana and efforts by a few good men to bring meaningful change in the society.”

The award for Best Short (Narrative) went to Sanat Ganu's "Arabian Nights". The narrative focuses on a child, his imaginary friend and a family that attends a conference where the attendees believe the earth is flat.

Director and scriptwriter Sudhanshu Saria accepted the award for Best Screenplay for "Knock Knock Knock". Saria’s screenplay “explores the lonely life of a man, an unlikely friendship that may or may not be real.”

Sanjana Dipu won the award for Best Child Actor for "Moothon" for her performance of a teenager in search of a brother.

Garggi Ananthan won the Best Actress award for her role as Kalyani in the film "Run Kalyani" and the Best Actor award went to Malayalam star Nivin Pauly for "Moothon". The award for the Best Director went to 23-year old Achal Mishra for "Gamak Ghar".

"Moothon" won the award for Best Film and its director Mohandas accepted the award for the film, which is "about love and loss that travels from the quiet, lush beaches of Lakshadweep to the mad hustle-bustle of the streets of Mumbai."

Produced by award-winning Indian film director and writer Anurag Kashyap, "Moothon" had premiered at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival.

NYIFF festival director Aseem Chhabra said that the process of searching for films for the festival began last fall and they were ready to showcase them to audiences in New York in April but had to change plans for the festival due to the pandemic.

"I know the best way to enjoy films is in a theatre with the audience and have live interactions, conversations. But the virtual festival is the next best option and in the process, we have been able to reach out to a much larger audience in the US, North America as well in several other countries.”

NYIFF said that a virtual edition expanded the reach of the festival and audiences from 95 countries were able to access and view the films.

Dr Nirmal Mattoo, Chairman of the Indo-American Arts Council, co-founder and owner of Atlantic Dialysis Management services, the largest private dialysis provider in New York State, said NYIFF works with an independent jury - filmmakers, film professors, writers and critics.

Indo-American Arts Council (IAAC), the leading cultural organisation, presents the festival.

"The Covid-19 pandemic has forced the closure of theatres but we believe that in such trying times arts, including films are even more important for the community’s well-being. So, this year we have decided to bring the films directly into your living rooms.” IAAC Vice-Chairman Rakesh Kaul had said.

The New York Indian Film Festival is the oldest Indian film event in North America. Over the years, the festival has held New York premieres of a wide range of films, many of them critically acclaimed, including "Monsoon Wedding", "The Namesake", "Slumdog Millionaire", "Shahid", "Dum Laga Ke Haisha" and "Gangs of Wasseypur". 

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