The Asian Independent - January 2019

www.theasianindependent.co.uk
Mumbai, Be it black comedy thriller
“AndhaDhun” or light hearted comedy
film “Badhaai Ho” or horror comedy
“Stree”, the year of 2018 saw a string of
content driven and small budget movies
which have outperformed at the box-office,
and proved that Bollywood not only runs
on starry ventures and big-budget production.
So before the year ends, many
renowned filmmakers from the industry
have shared their favourite films of 2018.
Here’s the list of directors’ favourite
films of 2018:
Ashwini Iyer Tiwari: “AndhaDhun”,
“Patakha”, “Stree”, “Badhaai Ho” and
“Raazi” Ali Abbas Zafar: “Raazi”,
“Bhaddhai Ho” and “Sanju” Milap Zaveri:
“Padmaavat”, “Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety”,
“Badhaai Ho”, “AndhaDhun”, “Stree”,
“Parmanu – The Story of Pokhran”,
“KGF”, “Sanju”, “Baaghi 2”, “Hichki”,
“Raid”, “Sui Dhaaga” and of course my
own film “Satyamev Jayate”. Hansal
Mehta: “Stree”, “AndhaDhun” and “Star Is
ENTERTAINMENT
‘Iconoclast’ filmmaker Mrinal Sen dead
Kolkata, Legendary filmmaker
Mrinal Sen famed for his
ability to put searching questions
before the society — especially
the middle class, died at his south
Kolkata residence on Sunday following
old age complications,
family sources said.
Sen, 95, a widower, is survived
by his only son Kunal.
Sen, who was ailing for a long
time, breathed his last at his
Bhowanipore home around 10
a.m. after a cardiac arrest, his
family physician said. His demise
brings the curtains down on one
of the most glorious chapters of
filmmaking in India, where Sen
and late directors Satyajit Ray
and Ritwik Ghatak are revered as
the ‘trinity’ for giving birth to the
parallel (or new) cinema movement
in the country. The “trinity”
gave a new direction to the idea
of filmmaking in India, displaying
spontaneity, aesthetic sense
and deep knowledge of the medium,
that made the world look up
in wonder and respect at their
creations.
Born on May 14, 1923, at
Faridpur (now in Bangladesh),
Sen made his first Bengali film
“Rat Bhore” (The Dawn) in
1953, but it was his second directorial
effort “Neel Akasher
Niche” (Under the Blue Sky) that
received acclaim in the country
for its lyricism and humane qualities.
Sen followed it up with
“Baishey Shravan” (Wedding
Day), that earned him plaudits
from the critics beyond Indian
shores. In 1969, Sen worked on a
small budget provided by the
Central government to direct
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According to The Blast, Cassie, 32,
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“Bhuvan Shome” (Mr. Shome)
— a film regarded as an important
milestone in the new cinema
film movement in India.
A lifelong Leftist, who, however,
never took the membership
of any communist party in India,
Sen has left behind a rich repertoire
of 27 feature films, 14 shorts
and four documentaries during a
career spanning six decades.
Among his other venerated films
are “Interview” (1971), “Ek
Adhuri Kahani” (An Unfinished
Story, 1971), “Calcutta 71”
(1972), “Chorus” (1974),
“Mrigayaa” (in Hindi – The
Royal Hunt, 1976), “Oka Oori
Katha” (in Telugu – The
Outsiders, 1977), “Ek Din
Pratidin” (And Quiet Rolls the
Dawn, 1979), “Akaler Sandhane”
(In Search of Famine, 1980),
“Chalchitra” (The Kaleidoscope,
1981), “Kharij” (The Case Is
Closed, 1982), “Khandhar” (The
Ruins, 1983), “Genesis” (1986),
“Ek Din Achanak” (Suddenly,
One Day, 1989). His last film
“Aamaar Bhuvan” (This, My
Land) came in 2002. An intellectual
par excellence and a great
conversationist, Sen regaled in
calling himself an “iconoclast”
and “By accident, a maker of
films”. Widely feted, Sen
received the Padma Bhushan in
1981, the Dadasaheb Phalke —
the highest award in Indian cinema
— in 2005, the French government’s
Commandeur de l’ordre
des Arts et letters
(Commander of the Order of Arts
and Letters) in 2001, and Order
of Friendship from the Russian
government in the same year. He
was a member of the Rajya Sabha
from 1997 to 2003, and president
of the International Federation of
the Film Societies for some time.
Respected across the globe, Sen
served as a member of
International Jury at various film
festivals, including Cannes,
Venice, Berlin, Moscow, Karlovy
Vary, Tokyo, Tehran, Mannheim,
Nyon, Chicago, Ghent, Tunis and
Oberhausen. He came out with
his autobiography “Always
Being Born” in 2004. Condoling
Sen’s death, West Bengal Chief
Minister Mamata Banerjee said
“it is an irreparable loss to the
world of filmmaking”. Megastar
Amitabh Bachchan tweeted:
“Mrinal Sen no more… a most
amiable, distinguished creative
cinematic mind, contemporary of
Satyajit Ray and Rithik Ghatak. I
did my first ever voiceover in his
film ‘Bhuvan Shome’. Prayers
and condolences.”
Famous Bengali filmmaker
Buddhadeb Dasgupta termed
Sen’s death as “the end of an
era”. Acclaimed Bengali actorfilmmaker
Aparna Sen, who
worked in three films made by
Sen, said more than a director and
a colleague, he was like a family
member. Film and stage actor
Kaushik Sen, who debuted in
Sen’s film “Ek Din Pratidin” as a
child actor, was at a loss for
words. “My relationship with
Mrinal Sen was very personal…
cannot say much at this point. I
learnt a lot of technical things
about acting and filmmaking
from him. I first acted in front of
the camera because of him and
my first film was also directed by
him. I have also acted in the last
film made by him,” Kaushik said.
Veteran actor Ranjit Mullick,
who also made his acting debut
under Sen, grieved at the “painful
news”. “Mrinal Sen’s name is
pronounced with stalwarts like
Satyajit Ray and Ritwik Ghatak
in the same breath. I cannot
believe he is no more. It is a
painful news. He had a great
sense of humour,” Ranjit said.
These are my favourites : Directors
select their favourite films of 2018
Born”. I am also very proud of my own
“Omerta”. Suresh Triveni: “AndhaDhun”,
“Badhaai Ho”, “Manto”, “Mitron”(thought
it was underrated), “Raazi”, “Tumbbad”,
“Soorma”, “Mulk”, “October”and “Love
Sonia”. Saket Chowdhary: “Tumbbad”,
“Manto”, “Badhaai Ho”, “Stree”, “Raazi”
and “AndhaDhun”.
Raj Nidimoru: “AndhaDhun” and
“Tumbbad”. Amit Sharma: “Raazi”, I
couldn’t watch the other films as I was
shooting my own “Badhaai Ho”. Sriram
Raghavan: “Raazi”, “Tumbbad”,
“October”, “Manto” and “Stree”. My
“AndhaDhun” was to originally release
with “Stree”. Thankfully it didn’t.
Onir: “Village Rockstar”,
“AndhaDhun”, “Stree”, “Badhaai Ho”,
“Mulk” and my own film “Kuch Bheege
Alfaaz”.
January 2019
17
Actress Parul Yadav hails
#MeToo movement as
‘POSITIVE CHANGE’
Mumbai, Actress Parul Yadav, who is playing the lead role in
the Kannada remake of the Bollywood film “Queen”, says from
removing the accused
from his position to
creating collective consciousness
among people
regarding sexual
harassment at the
workplace,
#MeToo
movement is a positive
change in every workplace
including film
industry.
“The voice of
women has been suppressed
for years, it is
great to see how stories
of injustice, humiliation
and harassment not
only come out in the
media but also legal
action has been taken.
There are film directors
who had to stop working unless the legal process gets over. Now no
member of the fraternity can get away after committing a crime like
sexual harassment,” Parul said in an interaction with IANS. Parul
has been working in the south Indian film industry for quite some
time and has received many awards for her Kannada films. In the
Indian film industry, several actresses like Malayalam actress
Parvathy, Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut, Nandita Das and
Renuka Shahane, among many others, supported the #MeToo
movement whereas actress Tanushree Dutta was one of the prominent
voices to come forward with her story of sexual harassment
against veteran actor Nana Patekar.
Parul said: “This is one of such movements that has given
women a voice to take stand against injustice…so that the workplace
becomes more secure for all of us.”
Asked about if the actress has ever spoken to Vikas Behl, the
director of “Queen” who is also accused of sexual harassment, the
actress said: “When we decided to remake the film in a different
language, I had spoken to him once and that’s it. He said that it
would be better if I do not watch the film because that might influence
me prompt me to copy the original performance, which none
of us wants.” The original film “Queen” that released in 2014, has
now four versions – Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. While
Parul will be playing the Kannada version, Kajal Aggarwal,
Tamannaah and Manjima Mohan will be in the lead role in Tamil,
Telugu and Malayalam versions, respectively. The film is slated to
release in 2019.
Big B, Anushka hail team
India after MCG Test win
Mumbai, Megastar Amitabh Bachchan and actress Anushka
Sharma on Sunday congratulated Indian cricket team for its victory
over Australia in the third Test match in Melbourne.
“Yeah! India wins! Well done Team India…,” Amitabh posted
on Instagram along with a photograph of the team celebrating their
win on field. In the post, the “Pink” actor also wrote a short poem
in Hindi, praising cricketers Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and
Rishabh Pant for their commendable performances.
Indian team defeated Australia by 137 runs in the third cricket
Test to take a 2-1 lead in the four-match series at the Melbourne
Cricket Ground (MCG) on Sunday. This is also the first time that
India have taken the lead in a Test series in Australia. Anushka, wife
of Kohli, also took to social media to express her happiness over the
team’s win. She posted a video clip of the match on Instagram story
and called it a “historic win”.