Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn, known for doing unusual stunt scenes, has a new competitor.
If Devgn could balance himself on two cars, two bikes and even ride two horses (as in his upcoming film, Son of Sardar,) Rajamouli’s Makkhi, will surprise viewers with its antics on screen.
For this Hindi version of Rajamouli’s Eaga, Devgn has lent his voice as narrator of the story. Despite his hectic schedule, Devgn found time to work on this film and even waived his fee.
The director, a fan of Devgn, decided to incorporate a new scene in the Hindi version. Keeping in line with Devgn’s image, Makkhi, the hero of the story, is shown riding on two other house-flies, a la Devgn style.
“For a film like Makkhi, it is important that the audience leave the theatre with warmth in their hearts and a smile on their faces. So we came up with the idea of making the makkhi dance for the end credits. A Makkhi riding on two house-flies is the cherry on the top,” says Rajamouli.
Banking Hours 10-4 is a thriller
Malayalam director K. Madhu, known for suspense thrillers (remember Oru CBI Diary Kurippu and Nadiya Kolapetta Rathri), returns with another action story, this time about a bank robbery.
Titled Banking Hours 10-4, the film has Anoop Menon playing the lead and Meghna Raj as a cop. Madhu said he was drawn to this story, penned by duo Sumesh and Amal, for its fresh appeal.
Shot in Kochi, the story takes place inside a bank.
“The challenge lay in working with 23 actors,” said Madhu who assisted renowned director M. Krishnan Nair till 1986 before debuting with ‘Malarum Kiliyum.’
Madhu is working with Menon for the first time.
“Anoop is a talented artiste and has a script sense being a writer himself,” he said. “It was comfortable directing him.”
Jayaram-starrer Manthrikan is a horror flick
Malayalam director Anil Kumar brings to you ‘Manthrikan,’ a story of magic and suspense.
“This is a horror story with doses of humour,” says Kumar.
Produced by Anand Kumar and starring Jayaram, Poonam Bajwa in the lead roles, this is Kumar’s 33rd film.
In 2002, Kumar had made ‘Pakalpooram,’ another story of the same genre.
“The success of that film goaded me to work on this story,” said the director.
‘Manthrikan,’ is the story of Mukundan Unni, son of a wizard, who does not follow in his father’s footsteps but chooses to engage in farming instead. Due to a turn of events, Unni is left with no option but to resort to magic powers that he learned from his father in order to trap a witch that has escaped.
“This is Unni’s travel story as he undertakes a journey from his village in Gundalpet in Karnataka to Kerala and Coorg.”
Having worked with Jayaram in eight films, he says, “We share a good chemistry. Jayaram’s good sense of humour enabled him to improvise scenes on the sets.”
Jayaram plays Unni and Bajwa plays his love interest. Other members of the cast include Suraj Venjaramoodu, Riaz Khan, Muktha George, Ramesh Pisharody and Kalabhavan Shajon.
Coming close on the heels of ‘Manthrikan is ‘Hide & Seek,’ a story of a young married couple who find themselves drifting apart as their work takes priority.
Kumar has just wrapped up a biopic of late Silk Smitha, titled, ‘Climax,’ featuring Sana Khan as the protagonist.
FICCI holds media and entertainment conclave in Chennai
The 4th edition of the FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry) annual Media and Entertainment Business Conclave (MEBC) will be held in Chennai on October 16-17.
Commemorating one hundred years of cinema, this two days event promises workshops on screen-writing to be conducted by Kamal Haasan, (who is also the Chairman of FICCI MEBC), K. Hariharan, (Director of L.V. Prasad Film & Television Academy), Singeetam Srinivas Rao, (noted Telegu director), Rohan Sippy and Saurabh Shukla from Bollywood.
A masterclass on the post production of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part 2) will be conducted by Nicolas Aithadi, renowned VFX Supervisor from Hollywood. There will be a digital film making workshop with RED camera. A special session titled ‘Story of Sound,’ will be a lesson on the advancement in audio technology and the evolution of cinema sound. Key speakers at this session includes Academy award winner Resul Pookutty.
Srinivas Mohan, VFX Supervisor, will deliver a talk on the making of the Rajnikanth starrer, “Enthiran” (“Robot” in its Hindi version).
Luminaries from the Indian film industry including Gulzar, Priyadarshan, Mohan Lal, Mammootty and Anurag Kashyap will be at the conclave. Oscar winning producer Barrie Osborne of ‘The Lord of the Rings,’ trilogy will grace the occasion.
FICCI is the largest and oldest apex business chamber in India founded by Mahatma Gandhi as a non-profit initative to boost Indian industry in the pre-independence era. FICCI works in association with the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting of India to bring in policy changes.
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