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Siraj Syed is the India Correspondent for FilmFestivals.com and a member of FIPRESCI, the International Federation of Film Critics. He is a Film Festival Correspondent since 1976, Film-critic since 1969 and a Feature-writer since 1970. He is also an acting and dialogue coach. @SirajHSyed
IFFI 2018, IV: To the Desert
The inspiration for ‘To the Desert’ came from a true news story I had read, about kidnapping in Patagonia. The film uses real-life settings of abandoned houses, employing thereby a documentary approach to film-making. It was an opportunity for me to get involved in the exotic landscape of Patagonia.
- Ulises Rosell, Director
The shooting for the movie was quite difficult as the weather conditions were hard; I always wanted to show Patagonia on the ci...
IFFI 2018, III: India’s Film Facilitation Office portal launched
India, a land of stories and a melting pot of emotions, narrates itself through breathtaking landscapes. It expresses itself via age-old, man-made splendours, like the Taj Mahal, the mythological narratives at the Ghats of River Ganges, and the cultural clans of the Seven Sister states in the North-East of India.
A Film Facilitation Office (FFO), set up by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, has been working t...
IFFI 2018, II: The Aspern Papers was the Opening Film
The Aspern Papers was the opening film of IFFI 2018, the 49th International Film Festival of India, Panaji, Goa, November 20-28, also marking its world première. Team Aspern got to address the first press conference of the festival, held at the Media Centre at the ground floor of the old Goa Medical College (GMC) building.
“It is a real honour for me to be in India, to present my film at this prestigious festival” said ...
IFFI 2018, I: The Winners
At the 49th International Film festival of India (IFFI), 2018, which concluded in Panaji, Goa, on the 28th of November, the following films and film personalities got the honours:
*Golden Peacock for Best Film: Donbass, Ukraine
*Silver Peacock for Best Director: Lijo Jose Pellisery, for Ee.Ma.Yau, India (Malayalam language)
*Special Jury Award: Director Milko Lazarov, for Aga (Germany)
*Silver Peacock for Best Actor (Male): Chemban Vinod, for Ee.Ma.Yau
*Silver P...
Mohalla Assi, Review: Holy river, unholy Babas
He’ll get there, eventually. Beginning with the TV serial Chanakya (321 BC-283 BC), about the life and times of the master strategist in the Maurya dynasty period (322 BC-185 BC), Dr. Chandraprakash Dwivedi gave us a good follow-up in the form of the feature film Pinjar, set in India’s partition, circa 1947. After three more period dramas, largely unseen, he now lands up in more recent history, with the 2004 story published in 2...
Boy Erased, Review: Let the gay have their way
Homosexuality is not a state of mind, a disease or a matter of choice. While we are getting increasingly aware of these facts in many parts of the world, there are at least 35 states in the USA where gay conversion centres try to rid the inmates of this ‘abnormality’ through therapy and methods that are both conventional and unconventional. The memoirs of one boy who was sent to such a home form the basis of Boy Erased, directed by ac...
Bergman showcase at IFFI 2018
2018 marks the centenary of Ingmar Bergman's birth. On this occasion, when the centenary celebrations are in full swing across the globe, IFFI 2018 will be showcasing 7 of the best films from his substantial filmography.
These films are Summer With Monika, Wild Strawberries, The Seventh Seal, Persona, Autumn Sonata, Fanny and Alexander, and Saraband.
In addition to these seven films, a documentary on Bergman titled Bergman Island, directed by Marie Nyrerod,...
Anna Ferraioli Ravel to be part of International Jury
at the 49th International Film Festival of India (IFFI), to be held in Panaji, Goa, during November 21-28.
State focus - Jharkhand
Jharkhand is a small state carved out of Bihar. Movies in the Jharkhand Package include Death in the Gunj, Ranchi Diaries and Begum Jaan.
Jharkhand Day will be celebrated on 24th November, 2018 as part of the festival.
The International Competition jury
The International Competition jury comprises John Irv...
Aspern Papers’s world premiere to open 49th IFFI
The 49th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) will be held in Goa from 20th to 28th November and will showcase 212 films from over 68 countries.
~The festival will open with the World Premiere of The Aspern Papers. The director Julien Landais and , including Jonathan Rhys Meyers (Golden Globe winner), Joely Richardson (Oscar-nominated actress), Morgane Polanski (actress and daughter of Roman Polanski) will be present at the screen...
Thugs of Hindostan, Review: Where are the thugs?
In the Hindostan of the early 1800s, as in most countries at any time in history, there were thugs. India, as Hindostan came to be called by the British, had an exactly similar term for these gentlemen, only the t in thug was hardened to sound like tug. Our story begins in 1795, when one small kingdom dared to withstand the marauding East India Company forces, led by John Clive.
There is one solitary thug in the film, who has an ambivalent att...
The Grinch, Review: You can’t steal Christmas
An entire film built around Christmas cannot but be happy and heart-tugging, which is what Grinch is. And since it is animated, anything and everything outrageous and impossible can be incorporated, with technical finesse. Obviously, the film will have special appeal to those who believe in Saint Nicholas, aka as Santa Claus. But others too will be won over by the charm and innocence, seasoned with guile and villainy.
The Grinch, who lives ...
Jack & Dil, Review: Love my dog? Shadow my wife!
Set in picturesque Goa, the film seems to an advert for Goa tourism, a certain brand of tea and a particular brand of kettle. A bunch of actors were most likely contracted for a period and taken to the Western Indian beach paradise state, where a cat and mouse game was played out under the garb of making a movie. Reasonably talented actors appear novices as the plot, of a suspicious husband hiring a novice to spy on his wife, unravels at a ...
Ekkees Taarekh Shubh Muhurat, Review: Marry-go-round
Set in the Hindu holy town of Mathura, with only old faithful Sanjay Mishra in the non-star cast, Ekkees Taarekh Shubh Muhurat (21st, an auspicious date) is the sleeper that wakes you up, the mouse that roared. Slice-of-life characters, with only the occasional over the top comedy, keep the film anchored to the ground and the audience entrenched their cushioned seats.
Girdhari Lal Sharma (Sanjay Mishra) is a priest-turned-mythology-storyte...
Lupt, Review: Vengeance, the soul purpose
A wafer thin story-line might have made it easier for the makers to deliver a supernatural ‘horror’ film, but there is little to take home from Lupt, except some good performances, led by an unlikely Javed Jaaferi, who, against the trend, has been cast as a ruthless business tycoon. The film is a revenge tale, like 99% of all horror films, but chooses to delve into the realm of souls rather than ghosts. But aren’t most ghosts disgrun...
Kaagaz ki kashti, Review: Surfing oceans of melody
It’s a tough call. What do you call a biopic on the life and times of singer-composer, late Jagjit Singh? Producer-director Brahmanand S. Siingh settles for Kaagaz ki kashti (Paperboat), deriving the title from one of Jagjit’s most popular numbers, a nazm (an Urdu poetry form), and adding a sub-heading, Jagjit Singh Come Alive. Though he sang all kinds of songs in a career spanning five decades, nazm was not what he was known for....
Badhaai Ho, Review: No age to have a baby
What if you discover that your mother is pregnant when you are 25 and in a steady relationship? Should you be happy? Sad? Feel outraged? Would you become the butt of jokes day in and day out? How would you deal with the development? Such is the off-beat premise of Badhaai Ho (Congratulations). [This review has been delayed for so many days due to serious issues with my computer, but the film, which was seen 10 days ago, deserves to be reviewed, and we...
Kashi—In Search of Ganga, Review: Searchomania and Schizophrenia
Suspense thriller it could be. It is not. Search for a sibling it could be. It is not. A film that takes the audience for a royal ride, it is. A classic case of the script and the direction tying up the story in knots, and then, not knowing how to unravel the Gordian knotty, only getting naughty and clever by half.
Lucknow-based journalist Devina meets Kaashi in Kaashi (another name for Varanasi or Banaras) and takes an ...
Gaon--The Village No More, Review: Here yesterday, Gaon today
Imagine a village cut-off from the country and the world. Totally, completely, fully, comprehensively cut off. Imagine community farming, imagine a community kitchen. Also imagine guru-shishya parampara (teacher-disciple oral tradition) education, without any tools. And imagine herbal medicine as the only method of disease treatment. Can you imagine this scenario in 2017? No, you can’t. Writer-director Gautam Singh Sigdar can...
Baazaar, Review: Insighter trading
Allahabad (now renamed Prayagraj) boy Rizwan Ahmed idolises stock market wolf Shakun Kothari and aims to become a billionaire tycoon like his hero. Baazaar then moves on to detail how unscrupulous and manipulative, even corrupt, Kothari is, and how all this impacts the small-town boy who has a sister to marry, and to live up to the expectations of an honest father who has just retired. Get ready for an insight into the world of stocks and shares, insider tra...
Hunter Killer, Review: Gerard Butler throws no punches, but there’s plenty of action
Most films about ships and submarines have too much jargon for the viewers to swallow and assimilate, while staying focused on the plot. Though Hunter Killer falls prey to such trappings, it is to its credit that there are some interesting twists in the plot, though they aren’t entirely new to the genre. Sadly, three or four plot points cannot make the narrative sustain the two hours plus length t...
Halloween, Review: Too much slashing, but all pointless
Murder can be mysterious and motivated, and the genre is called murder mystery. That is the Agatha Christie kind. Give the audiences a good murder mystery, filled with suspense, anytime. Murders that are gratis, committed serially, without motive, perpetrated by a psychopath killer, have been dealt with in films like Psychopath, The Boston Strangler, No Way to Treat a Lady and the Indian biopic on Raman Raghav, the head-smashing stone-ma...
The Great Indian Dysfunctional Family, Web series by ALT Balaji
After an accident during border duty, in which he suffers a foot injury, General Vikramjeet Ranaut settles down for a quiet and happy life with his wife Geeta, mother Premlata and mute son Mridul in his ancestral home in Coonoor. In his spare time, he trains some military cadets.
When his estranged brother Samar and sister-in-law Sonali return after 8 years, things spiral out of control. Samar had fled both the home and the army...
Fryday, Review: Thank Devil, It’s Friday
A water-purifier salesman has until Friday to make his first sale, or else face the sack. A ham actor has only the Friday to make his extra-marital catch, since his wife is away for just about a day. The twain meet at the actor’s home, where the married fan of the hero is about to give in to his seductive moves, and then all hell breaks loose.
Umpteen Gujarati and English plays in Mumbai have tried and tested the formula, usually with succ...
Helicopter Eela, Review: No copter, too much of Eela
An intriguing title, the film has nothing to do with helicopters. It is the story of a domineering and stubborn mother who has a fixation about her only son’s welfare and whereabouts. Trouble is he is twentyish and the last thing he needs or likes is being mothered all the time. Designed to showcase the talent of actress Kajol, and co-produced by hubby, actor Ajay Devgn, Helicopter Eela begins on a bright note and then peters down to ...
Tumbbad, Review: Hastaar the Horrible and the Dough Dolls
Tumbbad, named after the location where most of the action takes place, is a historical fantasy horror film, directed by debutant Rahi Anil Barve. Anand Gandhi, the director of Ship of Theseus, served as the creative director, co-writer and executive producer, with Adesh Prasad as co-director and co-writer. Tumbbad is jointly produced by lead actor Sohum Shah and Aanand L. Rai, among others. The film took six years to make and is path ...
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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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