p 10 - The Echo Of India

PAGE-10
The Echo of India Kolkata Friday September 9, 2016
Don’t want to make career as an actor, says Anurag Kashyap
MUMBAI, SEPT 8 /--/ Anurag
Kashyap, for a change, is in front
of the camera and critics have
given his negative role in
Sonakshi Sinha-starrer "Akira" a
thumbs-up, but the director says
he is not keen to act on a regular
basis. The 43-year-old filmmaker, who has acted in the past
as well, enjoyed playing the villainous cop in A R Murugadoss'
film. He, however, does not see
himself as an actor.
"I will act only if I get
enough money, otherwise I don't
have any intention to act. I will
do acting only if the role is good
or someone gives me obscene
amount of money that solves
my other problems," Anurag
told PTI.
"I don't want to make a career as an actor. I don't mind acting, but my focus is on my films.
To take up more offers, I should
have time and when I have time,
the story and the role have to be
good," he expressed. The "Bombay Velvet" helmer previously
acted in films like "Black Friday", "No Smoking", "Dev.D",
"Gulaal" and "Shagird" among
others. On the response to this
role, Anurag said, "I have never
got so many calls and messages,
that too non-stop. Trade (analysts/critics) people are saying
stop him from making films, let
him do acting only." The "Gangs
of Wasseypur" director has done
a lot of theatre, but he thinks acting in films is completely different as it requires longer commitment.
"I don't get nervous, but it's a
longer commitment. I am scared
of making longer commitments.
It is not that the work (acting)
Asha Bhosle turns 83; sister Lata
Mangeshkar wishes her on Twitter
MUMBAI, SEPT 8 /--/ As veteran songstress Asha Bhosle
turned 83 on Thursday, melody queen Lata Mangeshkar gave
blessings and good wishes to her younger sister. "Namaskar.
Aaj meri choti behen Asha Bhosle ka Janamdin hai. Main
usko shubh aashirwad deti hun. Ishwar usko hamesha khush
rakhe. (Namaskar. Today is my younger sister Asha Bhosle's
birthday. I give all my blessings to her. May God always keep
her happy.)," tweeted Mangeshkar, 86. In another post,
Mangeshkar shared a video of Bhosle's track "O Haseena
Zulfonwali" from the 1966 film "Teesri Manzil". "Asha aur
(Mohammad) Rafi sahab ka gaya hua meri pasand ka ye geet
aap sabke liye (Sung by Asha and Rafi, that's my favourite
track for all of you)," she wrote.
Veteran actor Rishi Kapoor also wished the "Ek pardesi
mera dil" crooner on Twitter along with a photograph of
himself from the film "Rafoo Chakkar" in which he even
crooned some lines. "Happy Birthday Asha Bhonsle ji. Few
know I too have sung in her voice in the film 'Rafoo Chakkar'
(1975)," he tweeted. Punjabi singer Mika Singh also tweeted:
"Happy birthday to the legend and music guru Asha Bhosle
ji... May you live long blessed life. God bless you." Filmmaker
Ashoke Pandit also wished Bhosle by saying: "Wishing Asha
Bhosle ji a very happy musical Birthday. May God bless you
with loads of love and happiness." (PTI)
will get over in 15 days, but then
there is dubbing and promotions that you have to do, so, you
have to relive your character
again," he said. After acting,
Anurag realised actors are disciplined in terms of working hard
for the look and maintaining it
throughout the film.
He feels he doesn't have that
discipline. "Theatre is an actor's
medium. You just go on stage
and it's done in one take, while
for films you work for days or
months. Who will maintain continuity for four months? I don't
think I have the discipline of an
actor," he said.
"I can do something for 10 or
15 days in a row. To maintain
that look like the haircut, moustache and etc, I can't do it. When
I am working as a director, I eat
at odd times, I drink, so, when I
will get up my face will be tired
and dull," he said. Though he
finds acting easy, Anurag hates
the waiting time before a shot.
"Acting is not difficult for me, it
comes easily to me. I have done
serious acting in films before.
What is difficult is what to do
when your shot is over and you
are waiting for next shot.
‘Hindi filmmakers have
shown interest in my stories’
NEW DELHI, SEPT 8 /--/ National
Award-winning Bengali director Kaushik
Ganguly says many Bollywood producers
have approached him for collaborations
and he is looking at venturing into Hindi
films in the next two years. Ganguly is one
of the finest filmmakers of contemporary
Bengali cinema thanks to his films like
"Shabdo", "Arekti Premer Golpo",
"Chotoder Chobi", "Laptop" and "Apur
Panchali", all dealing with unusual subjects and themes. It is natural that big
Bollywood producers would want to invest
in his works, and the director-writer says
he is equally eager to bring stories to the
Hindi film viewers. "There are producers
who are connecting with me and asking for
two-three stories. They will be given because we have a solid bank of story ideas.
We have fantastic Bengali films and they
need to go national. People are in touch
with me and they are very sincere. "I am
eager to come to Hindi film audience and
connect to them. There are lovely subjects
waiting for them and it will be done within
two years," Ganguly told PTI on the sidelines of BRICS film festival here. Bengal,
Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and
Mahar ashtra have been chur ning out
quality films in the recent past, so much
so, that Hindi filmmakers have come forward to either back, adapt or promote
these movies. Ganguly is hopeful about
this trend and feels with time, Indian cinema will become more inclusive. "It
(inclusiveness) has already star ted. We
have a large herita ge of Bengali stories
which were taken by Hindi filmmakers in
the past. Like the works of Bimal Roy,
Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Shakti
Samanta... Today, Mahesh Bhatt is backing a film of Srijit Mukherji." The director says besides great stories, the fact that
shooting in Kolkata is quite cheap also attracts filmmakers to make movies there.
"Shooting a film in Kolkata is much
cheaper. Films like 'Piku' and 'Kahaani'
have been shot there. It cuts down on the
budget to a large extent and we have new
ideas."
Schumer
Schumer,, boyfriend Ben make red carpet debut
LOS ANGELES, SEPT 8 /-/ Actress Amy Schumer
and her boyfriend Ben
Hanisch made their red carpet debut as a couple. The
pair, who have been dating
for nine months, stepped
out together at GQ's Men of
the Year celebration at the
Tate Modern in London, re-
ported People magazine.
Schumer, 35, took to
Instagram to share the picture of their first red carpet
moment.
The "Trainwreck" star
looked pretty in a black
asymmetric one-shoulder
mini dress while Hanisch,
29, was dapper in a color co-
ordinated suit and tie. The
comedy star and her furniture designer boyfriend
made their relationship
public in January after
meeting on a dating app,
and have since been by
each other's sides for numerous events including
the Met Gala. (PTI)
"As a director, I am involved
round-the-clock in a film. As an
actor, you get two hours of waiting time between two shots. I
can't remove my make-up and
costumes. I can't read or do anything between shots as my mind
will get diverted from the scene
I was doing. So it's difficult," he
said.
Anurag said like everyone,
he initially wanted to become
an actor, but he decided he
would go for direction. "Doing
different role, like say in 'Akira',
would have given me a kick if it
happened in 1993 because I was
trying to be an actor. I have acted
in quite a few films as a lead and
people don't know about it. "In
the beginning, I did three-four
films as lead. Those films were
of so high quality that when I
saw it, I decided to call it quits as
CREATIVE WORLD
Big B, Aamir to Our stories come from people’s
star in 'Thugs ability to gossip: Vishvanathan
of Hindostan'
MUMBAI, SEPT 8 / --/
Megastar
Amitabh
Bachchan and Aamir Khan
are all set to come together
for Yash Raj Films' "T hugs
of Hindostan". Bachchan,
73, and Aamir will share the
screen space for the first
time in the movie, to be directed by "Dhoom 3" helmer
Vijay Krishna Acharya (Victor). The 51-year-old actor
said he is excited to work
with his icon, whom he has
admired all his life. "Finally
the moment I have been
waiting for has come... To
work with my icon, Mr
Bachchan! Thanks Adi,
Victor, for 'T hugs of
Hindostan'. I'm too thirlled
to be working with the actor
I have admired all my life,"
Aamir posted on Twitter.
The actor, who is geared up
for the release of biopic
"Dangal" which features
him in the lead role of
Mahavir Singh Phogat, will
start shooting for the YRF
project early next year. The
leading lady of the film is
yet to be announced soon.
"Thugs of Hindostan" is
slated to release on Diwali
2018. (PTI)
54 films to be screened at Shimla International Film Fest Miles Teller apologizes
SHIMLA, SEPT 8 /--/ Films from
around 22 countries would be screened
during the two-day International Film
festival of Shimla, being organised here
from October 1. The countries include
America, Russia, Japan, Iran, Dubai,
Argentina, Cyprus, Bangladesh,
Canada, Israel, France, Australia,
Belarus and Nepal among others. So far
54 films have have been registred for
the film festival being organised by Department of Language, Art and Culture, Himalayan Velocity and Department of Journalism and Mass Communication. International competition in
documentary, short and feature films
and animation films would be held
during the festival, Director of the film
festival Pushp Raj Thakur said. 'Nepal
Earthquake Heroes; Survivors and
Miracles' which depicts the live view
of Nepal earthquake 2015 and 'Outcast'
directed by Graham Colin from UK
which throws light on caste system in
India would be screened in the documentary category. In national category,
22 documentary, short films, and feature films will be premiered and the
filmmakers will present issues of their
states differently in a cinematic way,
he said. 'Hunt' film from Jharkhand by
BijjuTappo represents the conflicts
between Naxalism and security forces.
'Shrouded Paradise' is the film which
tells story of flood in Kashmir directed
by Jalal Ud Din Baba. World renowned
cinematographer Stanzin Dorje from
Ladakh will present his film 'Shepherdess of Glaciers', narrating the story
of shepherdess of Ladakh- how they
survive in adverse geographical conditions. 'Nisheedhi' will represent the
Telangana issue and 'Naked Wheels'
will characterize the transgender issues, Thakur said. Three films by the
students of State Institute of Film and
Television Rohtak in Haryana will be
screened while Marathi Film
'Chaukhat' will motivate the audience
to think above the common lines, he
said. The festival would also witness
premiere of a short film 'Laal Hota
Darakht' directed by Dr Dev Kanya
Thakur based on the short story of SR
Harnot. 'The Infinite Space' by
Sidharth Chauhan from Shimla will
throw light on the some of the learnings
of Budhism in Bhoti language. Short
films 'Meera' directed by Satyender
Rana and Diksha Jain from Mandi and
'Dost' from Bilaspur by Piyush Kanga
would also be premiered in the festival. (PTI)
for his blonde hair
LOS ANGELES, SEPT 8 /-/ Over a month after he
dyed his hair and eyebrows blonde, and got
criticized for it, actor
Miles Teller has apologized for colouring his
hair. The "War Dogs" actor shared on Twitter an
apology and a picture of
him going back to brunette. "Dear Internet,
I'm sorry I dyed my hair
blonde. I never meant to
hurt you. Please accept
this apology," "The Fantastic Four" star wrote
alongside a photo of him
with his freshly dyed
brown hair.
Teller, natur al br unette, sent the internet
into a frenzy earlier this
summer
when
he
debuted his blonde locks
at the ESPY Awa rd s.
Most of his fans hated
his new look. The actor
had dyed his hair blonde
an actor!!" he quipped. Owing to
the films he has done as an actor,
Anurag understands the medium of acting very well.
"I have always enjoyed being on stage and I understand
the medium. If you are good at
anything and you can enjoy
then it's great. I could never
translate that on camera," he
said. "But because I am a director I have become comfortable
with camera. What you see now
in 'Akira', I, as an actor, couldn't
have been able to do it 15 years
ago," he opined. Anurag did not
let his director's side come in
the way while he was acting. "I
would go on sets of the film as
an actor. I would want my director to trust and believe me and
go with me, so I did just that. A
film is made with the conviction
of the director," he added. (PTI)
for a role in his
upcoming film "Granite
Mountain". Based on a
real-life group of firefighters that courageously
battled
the
deadly Yar nell Hill Fire
in 2013, the movie features him as the only
firefighter who survived
the incident. (PTI)
NEW DELHI, SEPT 8 /--/
Eminent author and social
scientist Shiv Visvanathan
believes India's repository
of fascinating stories and
storytellers come from its
people's proclivity to gossip. In his recent book
"Theaters of Democracy:
Between the epic and the
everyday", a compilation of
selected essays written
over two decades for several newspapers and magazines and published by
H a r p e r C o l l i n s ,
Visvanathan has explored
this phenomenon. "I realised that the power of dissent and social science lies
in the Indian ability to gossip. And suddenly I wanted
my social science to be gossipy and this is what this
book is about," says the author. The anthology, edited
by Chandan Gowda, is an
eclectic mix of essays that
serves as a guide for understanding modern India and
hold out a distinct way of
looking at the Indian society.
Its recent launch here
was followed by a panel discussion with the author, columnist and writer Santosh
Desai, filmmaker Amar
Kanwar among others. The
book engages with diverse
issues like the new dimensions of violence, the value
of dissent, creativity in
popular culture and the
pathologies of nationalism
and religious fundamentalism. A combination of wit,
irony and analytical brilliance, it also offers novel
portraits of politicians,
sport, film personalities,
and intellectuals. Attempting to explore the nature of
language of social sciences
in India, which has been
largely
"boring,"
Visvanathan says it is imperative to tell stories from
the science's history which
is "fascinating and playful."
"I think deep down the
problem of Indian elite is
that it's boring. I wanted to
explore the nature of language, the question of science, the problem of storytelling and the fact that India is full of such fascinating storytellers. I think we
need storytelling about riots, genocides and about stories of development," he
says. According to him, the
best analysis of a critical
period as the Emergency
was one that could be heard
from common people who
travelled in buses then. "If
you want to listen to the best
analysis of that period, go to
those buses at that time," he
says. Desai feels that it is the
author's innocence with
which he views the world,
that offers readers an opportunity to develop an alternate perspective.
"He looks at the world
with great innocence that
has the ability to view
things from a completely
new vantage point," he says.
Kanwar says the book is a
"compilation of interconnected paradigms that underscore the ethical imagination of the reader." "With
all modernity the book is a
traditional form of storytelling which creates shifts
in the mind of the reader.
"You can move from need to
desire to expectation, parallels and the issues of everyday lives that we are confronting daily. The writings
create roots for comprehension which you can choose to
use or not," says Kanwar.
(PTI)