Mujib-The Making of a Nation, Review: How to fit three decades in three hours Sheikh Mujib-ur-Rehman, the tall, towering personality who was the single most important leader of East Pakistan, and largely responsible for the creation of BanglaDesh, served as President of his free country during 25 January 1975-15 August 1975, a period of only eight months. In an unfortunate co-incidence, he died on the Independence Day of India. Indian producer-director-actor I.S. Johar made a film called Joi ...

Bharateeyans-The New Blood, Review: Overboard, gored, bored Preminchukundam Raa, Premante Idera, Kalisundam Raa, Eeswar (2002 film), Lahiri Lahirilo, Sardukupodaam Randi, Nagaram Nidrapotunna Vela and Sakhiya. These are not the names of the characters or cast of Bharateeyans-The New Blood, but the names of films written by Deena Raj, collaborating with Dr. Shankar Naidu Adsumilli, a well-known surgeon based in the USA. Deena Raj teams with Naidu again for his directorial debut, at age 53, Bha...

Behno aor bhaiyo, let us celebrate, Ameen Sayani has just turned 90! Today is his 90th birthday. When you are 90, you have seen it all, been there, done that. But the spark is still present, and he has been recording advertisements and content well into his 80s. As can be expected, health is an issue, and assignments have gradually come down to a trickle in the last decade. Not many wanted a man in his 80s as the voice of a product, service or film. But it is amazing that the assignments h...

Modi Ji Ki Beti, Trailer launch: What’s in a surname? Modi is not a common a surname as Shah, Patel and Mehta in India and Smith in England. But, in India, it happens to be the surname of Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India. That should work in favour of persons with such a surname, only Narendra Modi has no children. Film, TV and theatre actress Avani Modi, who comes from a small town in Gujarat, and has worked mainly in Tamil and Gujarati films, faced a queer situation when it...

Siraj Syed reviews Biddu’s autobiography, Made in India: Lone Trojan’s Adventures of a Lifetime That life-time has now seen 72 summers. Karnataka-born world musician Biddu Appaiah, with Coorgi nativity, has chased his recent summers from London, to Spain, to Mumbai to Goa, every year. For one who strongly believes that musicians should retire at 65, including greats like Paul McCartney, he has just about lived up to his conviction. The only creative work he has done in the last se...

Bangistan, Review: Citizen Wong Kar-Wai meets Raging Bull at FcDonald’s If references, allusions and name-dropping could make a film watchable, Bangistan would have arrived with a bang. Sadly for debutant director Karan Anshuman, that récipé fails to tickle the taste-buds, and the film turns out be a dish that is half un-cooked and half over-cooked. Why he chose to use crutches like parodying the title of Orson Welles’ all-time masterpiece, Citizen Kane, poking fun a...