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TIPS redoes Rahman’s Rangeela hit, Mangta hai kya, with new music video
It was a new venue for me, though not very far from my house. Located high above a leading footwear brand showroom on Linking Road, Santa Cruz, Bombay Adda (hangout) is a cosy place, just right for the size of the turnout on April 22. The occasion was the launch of the reprised version of A.R. Rahman’s hit from the film Rangeela, released 27 years ago, by TIPS Music, the company that had released the Rangeela ...
Jersey, Review: Down and out, yet 300 not out
A loser making it big in sports is the stuff that many films have been made on. This one tries to be different. Imagine a cricketer who quit the game years ago, is dead broke, and his government job has landed him under suspension. You can bet that he will make a comeback and reach a new zenith, however, it does not quite happen the way you might anticipate. Yes, his return to the game is a major twist, but the giant of a twist is reserved for the...
Operation Romeo, Review: Regaining consciousness and recharging consciences
When Neeraj Pandey, of A Wednesday fame, is co-producing a film, and it is titled Operation Romeo, you expect a taut thriller of the terrorist/spy genre. But Operation Romeo takes the ‘Operation’ part of its title to mean a set of planned moves by an individual, bereft of any spy/terrorist inclinations, though there is a crime of sorts involved, and some scenes do go for your jugular. ‘Romeo’ i...
An Actor’s Actor-Sanjeev Kumar: The Authorised Biography of Sanjeev Kumar
A riveting black and white picture of the late actor, in mid-close, looking a little to his right, greets you on the cover of this eminently readable biography of the actor, who, arguably, was an actor’s actor. And so, the authors, Mumbai-based Hanif Zaveri and Delhi-based Sumant Batra, are not exaggerating when they give him that exalted title. As far as the ‘authorised’ bit is concerned, the du...
KGF Chapter 2, Review: The audience as cannon fodder
One-and-a-half million residents in and around Kolar Gold Fields are either shooting their guns out or are learning how to do so. Gangsters in Mumbai and the Middle East are either shooting their guns out or are selling guns to other gangsters. The police and the army are either shooting their guns out in raids, or are waiting for orders to do so. Rocky and his coterie are either shooting their guns out at the bosses at KGF, Bad Boy Adheera...
Newton’s Pendulum: New tone in experimental terror curriculum
Time and again, film-makers, especially new film-makers, try to conduct experiments. They should know that by definition, an experimental film is not likely to have large audiences. Now here is a film that not only experiments, but it experiments with the psychotic thriller genre, and is a mere 27 minutes in duration. That reduces and restricts its appeal to select audiences. Moreover, it is titled Newton’s Pendulum, a ...
Never Kiss Your Best Friend, 2: Day of the pun, family fun, and well begun is half done
Four members of the cast of this ZEE5 OTT web series were present at the Taj Imperial Hotel, Mumbai, on 11 April, and another two joined through a video link, to be grilled by anchor Siddharth Kannan about the series, their roles, and their interactions during the making. They were joined by the director, and the five then fielded questions from the good media turnout. Nakuul Mehta, Anya Singh, Karan Wahi,...
Guilty Minds: Amazon Prime’s new series brings the court-room into your drawing room
A first in the genre for Amazon, the series dramatises ten court-room cases and encapsulates the proceedings, one in each episode. In real-life, court cases in India often take decades to reach conclusion, but directors Shefali Bhushan and co-director Jayant Digambar Somalkar make sure that each case reaches its end at the end of the episode. The series will start streaming on 22 April, can be seen by ...
Gajab Thai Gayo!, Review: Study in a Gujarati medium school, you could win Rs. 25 lakh
Defying any form of classification, Gujarati language film Gajab Thai Gayo! (It’s a Calamity, though calamity is perhaps too strong a translation of Gajab) moves in so many different directions that you end up failing to appreciate its novelty and path-breaking tracks. What appears to be a film on science-fiction constantly hammers the triple messages, that India and Indians have made huge contributio...
Heropanti 2: Tiger does not roar, but croons, courtesy A.R. Rahman
Young, macho, human weapon and dazzling dancer Tiger Shroff has sung a song in his latest film, Heropanti 2, titles Miss Hairaan. Is that taking you by surprise and making you hairan? It shouldn’t, because this is not the first time that Tiger has ventured into musical territory. Jai Hemant ‘Tiger’ Shroff has lent his voice to a handful of tracks, including Casanova and Vande Mataram, which got very popular a...
KGF Chapter 2: Cinépolis IMAX, Seawoods, Navi Mumbai to be launched with Yash-starrer
One ‘crazy’ fan, a man apparently in his late twenties, stood outside the Seawoods Grand Central in Navi (New) Mumbai, belting out dialogue from KGF 1 and expressing his absolute devotion to the lead actor, Yash. He said he had travelled all the way from Varanasi, a distance of 1,500 kms, to meet the superstar, and would not go away until he got a chance to meet Yash. This was happening on...
RIFF, 08, 2022, 12: A talk show on Raj Kapoor-The Master at Work
On Tuesday, the fifth day of the Rajasthan International Film Festival (RIFF) 2022, a talk show was held on the topic "Cinema and Books - A Boundless Relationship". The basis of the discussion was the book "Raj Kapoor: The Master at Work", written by Rahul Rawail, who worked as assistant director to the late genius for several years. Since then he has carved a niche for himself as a director of great merit, b...
RIFF, 08, 2022, 11: Regional language films create investment platform and boost tourism
On the fourth day of Rajasthan International Film Festival (RIFF) on Monday, a talk show on "Culture and Tourism Promotion Through Cinema" was also organised. Indian Cinema's trade analyst Komal Nahta, film-maker and director Rajendra Gupta, film-maker N.R. Godha, actor Charles Thomson and producer-director-editor-exhibitor N. Chandra shared their views in this talk show.
Komal Nahta said...
A Hero, Review: On the see-saw of truth and lies
Out on parole, a jailbird becomes a hero overnight, without lifting a finger. It wouldn’t be much of a story if it ended there, and it doesn’t. There are twists and turns, quite like a suspense thriller, only here there is no murder nor any serious crime committed. That’s the operative word. Serious. Is lying a crime? Is repeated lying a serious crime? Is lying to garnish a truth a very serious crime? Iranian master Asghar Far...
RIFF 08, 2022, 10: Challenges and Future of Regional and Rajasthani Language and Films
On the third day of Rajasthan International Film Festival (RIFF), Jodhpur, a talk show was held on the subject Challenges and Future of Regional and Rajasthani Language and Films
In this talk show, Ramesh Bohrana, Theatre Artiste and Film Actor Shailendra Vyas, Vice President of Rajasthan Mela Authority and French Film Director and Writer Fabienne Le Houérou, who has made a full length documentary o...
RIFF 08, 2022, 09: Films for change in society
As a regular feature, the Rajasthan International Film Festival (RIFF) holds Talk Shows, on the lines of the Open Forum, conducted by the Federation of Film Societies of India, at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI). In the first talk show, ‘Films for change in society’, held on 26 March 2022, Bollywood trade analyst Komal Nahta, Indian film producer, writer and director Chandrashekhar Narvekar (N. Chandra), famous Indian...
Book Review: The Master at Work, by Rahul Rawail, a Masterly Work
How many 15 somethings would be offered chances to work as assistants to legendary directors like Raj Kapoor (RK)? Rahul Rawail was 15 going on 16 when he came on board with the master, who was then making Mera Naam Joker, and stayed on to assist him in Bobby. Over the next few years, Rahul earned his spurs the hard way, for RK was a genius who did not use conventional teaching methods, did not suffer fools and was not easy to ...
RIFF 08, 2022, 08: Awards and rewards at the colourful closing ceremony
The Closing Ceremony and Award Night of the 8th Rajasthan International Film Festival (RIFF), 2022, was held at the Jaswant Thada Lawn, at the foot of the Mehrangarh Fort, Jodhpur, on 30 March. It included a colorful cultural dance programme, to mark Rajasthan Diwas, the Founding Day of the State of Rajasthan. Nagar Nigam (Municipal Council) North Mayor Ms. Kunti Deora Parihar was present on the occasion as the chief gu...
Attack-Part 1, Review: Dawn of a new Ira
Ira is the new Artificial Intelligence set-up, inspired by Alexa, that is implanted in a soldier who has been paralysed as a result of a bullet wound, converting him into a cyborg. That concept was milked over years in Hollywood films like The Terminator (1984), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003), Terminator Genisys (2015), and Terminator: Dark Fate (2019). Then there was the Universal Soldier series, Universal...
Jalsa, Review: The feisty anchor, their devoted maid, her teenaged daughter and a ghastly accident
If there was a contest for the most misleading film names, Jalsa (celebration) would stand a good chance of making it to the top, with the title emanating from the last few minutes, having no connection to the two hours that have gone before it. And though the film is being touted as an Amazon Prime Original Film, with T-Series and Abundantia as production partners, why did I get the feel throug...
Bachchan Paandey, Review: Gangsters are best played by real-life gangsters
Why would you choose a name like Bachchan Pandey, unless you thought you could cash-in on the franchises called Amitabh Bachchan (name of a real life actor) and Chulbul Pandey (name of a reel-life character, played in several movies by Salman Khan)? Point is, does a superstar himself, like Akshay Kumar, who plays the title role, need these props? Leaving the Paandey behind, ‘Bachchan’ is made to speak some ...
Incomparable Shachin Dev Burman: HQ Chowdhury’s labour of love, about the man and his music
It is not often that one gets to hear about a book and its author first, and gets to spend some enriching time with the author afterwards, before getting an autographed copy of his book, as a gift. And to think this happened 2,500 km away from my city of Mumbai, in the capital of Bangladesh, Dhaka, at Chowdhury’s posh guest house, seems almost unreal. Reading Incomparable Sachin Dev Burman ...
RIFF 08, 2022, 07: Third and final list of selected films released
The Third and the final list of the officially selected films to be shown at the 8th Rajasthan International Film Festival (RIFF) was released this week. It includes Student Hindi short film Riddle, Directed and Produced by Umang Patel, Rajasthani Short Film Mhari Pyari Baisa, Directed and Produced by Narpat Singh Gaur, Hindi short film Tooti Chappal, Directed and Produced by Kuldeep Vyas, two Hindi Music Video Albums by Kunal...
Radhe Shyam, Review: Goodness gracious, how flirtatious!
At its core, Radhe Shyam rakes-up an interesting debate, between destiny and those exceptions who surmount their pre-ordained destiny, and, in some cases, defy it. For destiny, read ‘predictions based on palmistry’. And yet, it tilts the balance strongly in favour of destiny, putting forth emphatically the theory that 99% of us cannot escape what has been written on our palms. Had this been the track that the screenplay deve...
Music Forever: Long performing music duo L-P, alias Laxmikant-Pyarelal
Ajay Poundarik is neither a writer nor a journalist. But if he is anything, he is a fanatic admirer of the work of the music composer duo of Hindi films, Laxmikant and Pyarelal, better known as L-P. LP, which, in music parlance, is an acronym for Long Playing Record, is a term that fits them like the proverbial glove. They were indeed a long-playing pair, to be sure.
As a tribute to his ‘deities’, Poundarik ...
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About Siraj Syed
 Syed Siraj
(Siraj Associates)
Siraj Syed is a film-critic since 1970 and a Former President of the Freelance Film Journalists' Combine of India.
He is the India Correspondent of FilmFestivals.com and a member of FIPRESCI, the international Federation of Film Critics, Munich, Germany
Siraj Syed has contributed over 1,015 articles on cinema, international film festivals, conventions, exhibitions, etc., most recently, at IFFI (Goa), MIFF (Mumbai), MFF/MAMI (Mumbai) and CommunicAsia (Singapore). He often edits film festival daily bulletins.
He is also an actor and a dubbing artiste. Further, he has been teaching media, acting and dubbing at over 30 institutes in India and Singapore, since 1984.
Bandra West, Mumbai India View my profileSend me a message
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