Hrishikesh Pandey gets hurt on the sets of Porus

Actor Hrishikesh Pandey recently got hurt on the sets of Siddharth Kumar Tewary's Porus. The actor got injured during a fight sequence recently. "There was a fight sequence which had me, my own son Hasti and step son Porus. I was running and the jimmy jib camera was also involved in the shot. I hurt my leg while doing it. I applied some first aid and I was okay by the end of the day. Whatever happens, the show must go on," says the actor.The actor is currently playing the role of Ripudaman and Sajjan Singh in the magnum opus. Ask him which character is tougher to play, and he says, "Ripudaman...He is quiet and intense. He can't take injustice. It's difficult not to emote on camera because all the time, as actors, we are expected to emote. I would say Ripudaman is like a Katappa of Bahubali, who is the senapati and an underdog. He is responsible for Porus' upbringing. I am enjoying my character so much. Hats off to Siddharth Kumar Tewary who has not left any stone un-turned for the show to succeed. For this show, I have learnt horse riding, rowing and sword fighting."

Comedian Bharti Singh to be seen in Sony SAB’s Aadat Se Majboor

Sony SAB’s Aadat Se Majboor is gaining popularity for its fresh and innovative storyline. The show has witnessed a lot of cameos in the show. The latest to make an appearance is the talented comedian Bharati Singh. In the upcoming episode, the whole City Chakkar gang Sam, Riya, JD and Sunny go to take Comedian Bharti Singh’s interview as a part of their assignment.  After the interview Bharti goes live on the stage when all of sudden in between her act a chandelier falls on her head. On one hand with JD (Rishab Chadha) and Sunny's (Anuj Pandit Sharma) alertness, Bharti is saved at the right time. While on the other, Ranjan (Haresh Raut) is spotted in the chandelier’s settings room. Ranjan gets accused and is caught by the security guards assuming he attempted to murder Bharti. Ranjan is taken under the police custody. The entire City Chakkar gang is trying hard to prove Ranjan's innocence.

Who tried to kill Bharati? Is Ranjan innocent? Commenting on the track Bharti Singh says, “I am playing myself in the show. My fiancee Harsh will also be a part of the show. We have never shared a stage together when it comes to acting so this time i am really excited and it a really special feeling for me. The fun we have in real life is what we would showcase on the show. I have worked with the Director Dharampal in the past and shooting with him is all fun. I hope the viewers will enjoy us together in the show.”

“The response for my chat show is brilliant: Vahbiz Dorabjee

Actor Vahbiz Dorabjee’s chat show Showbiz with Vahbiz, seems to have become a favourite among the television fraternity. Multiple celebrities have graced the show and have gone back after having a great time. Recently actor Surbhi Jyoti and Ridhi Dogra were guests on the talk show. Talking about this selection, Vahbiz says, “I had actually thought of inviting Surbhi Jyoti, Ridhi Dogra and Asha Negi, because all three of them are good friends and they share an awesome bonding. And I thought of the concept that three actresses can be good friends, would be nice. It's a very rare quality. So I wanted them to be the part of my show and they were also super excited to be on ‘Showbiz with Vahbiz’, only Asha couldn't make it.” She adds, “They brought in so many positive vibes. We had a great time and we chatted, chatted and chatted. Three women on a couch just imagine how much we chatted!” In fact, they have been great friends with Vahbiz as well. “I have been friends with them at least for four years. We had gone to Dubai also for an event. And we all had holiday also in Dubai. So we all have been very good friends for four years,” she says. The actor says that the feedback that she has got for the show has been phenomenal. “The response for my chat show is brilliant, especially the fans, I am connected with them and they are very excited to see their favourite stars, on the show. They keep writing to me, telling me who they want to see on my show,” she says. Ask her which is the best compliment that she has got for the show, and she says, “The best compliment I have got for the show is that I am just being myself and I am handling it very naturally. My school friend told me, ‘It’s as if you are sitting in front of me and talking to me.’ She knows me from childhood.”  

This is very different from shooting a fiction show, says Vahbiz. “It's much more chilled out and a lot of fun. Also, the shooting hours are lesser plus we are bonding with our friends playing games. so obviously, it's lots of fun,” she adds

Actor Rohit Suchanti goes missing from the sets of ‘Rishta Likhenge Hum Naya’

Rohit Suchanti, who essays the role of ‘Ratan Maan Singh’ in the recently launched show ‘Rishta Likhenge Hum Naya’, panicked everyone as he went missing from the set recently. While shooting on the set and just before he was to be called to shoot for a scene, the crew members incessantly started searching for Rohit all around sets. To an extent, the members even called up his close friends and family to know about his whereabouts until someone on the hunt heard loud knocks from one of the abandoned rooms only to know the actor was locked in there.Rohit who thought could get away with his prank, was visibly shaken with the whole incident as the room was an old one with locked windows and very old rustic doors. When he was rescued, everyone made the situation light and all have a great laugh at the end. A source close to the sets informs, “The actor has always been a prankster on and off sets which keeps the atmosphere lively. But recently while shooting for one of the sequence Rohit tried to pull off a prank turned out to be horrifying for him. After all the happening the cast and crew made fun of him. The actor vowed never to play a prank again”.

THE 2ND INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL & AWARDS MACAO

The 2nd International Film Festival & AwardsMacao (“IFFAM” or the “Film Festival”) will be staged from 8 to 14 December. The Organizing Committee announced the dazzling line-up of international film stars and directors including internationally-reputed action star Donnie Yen and rising Korean movie star D.O. as Talent Ambassadors, and internationally-acclaimed film director John Woo as Festival Ambassador.

President of the IFFAM Organizing Committee SennaFernandes expressed, “IFFAM is such a young and vibrant film festival brimming with new possibilities and potentials to tap into. With our theme of this year – “A New Avenue to the World of Films”, we aspire to tailor a high-quality programme fuelled by fresh new elements to fascinate our audience, as we strive for the vision to forge IFFAM into a prestigious brand in the world.”

Strong jury line-up

This year’s international jury comprises 5 distinguished figures, presided by French director Laurent Cantet. President Cantet attended the Institut Des HautesÉtudesCinématographiques and received the Palme d'Or for his film “Entre les murs” at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, in addition to the César Award. Other jury members include famed Chinese American actress Joan Chen, Austrian director Jessica Hausner, United Kingdom author Lawrence Osborne and Singaporean director Royston Tan. With their expertise, the jury will select winners for Best Film, Jury Prize, Best Director, Best Actor Award, Best Actress Award, Award for Best New Young Actor or Actress, Award for Best Screenplay, Award for Best Technical Contribution and other awards from the 10 films in the Competition section.

Opening Film to offer a good laugh

On the night of the Opening Ceremony, family movie “Paddington 2” will be shown as the Opening Film, starring famous English actor Hugh Grant in this sequel of the widely acclaimed movie “Paddington” (2014), based on the well-loved character in the United Kingdom – Paddington.

Over 40 international films come into spotlight

In this edition, more than 40 international films will be screened through the Competition section, Gala, Flying Daggers, Best of Fest Panorama, “Crossfire”, Special Presentation and more. 10 films are selected to pit against each other in the Competition section, including “Beast” (UK), “The Cakemaker” (Israel/Germany), “Custody” (France), “Foxtrot” (Israel/Germany/France/ Switzerland), “The Hungry” (UK/India), “Borg McEnroe” (Sweden/Denmark/Finland), “Hunting Season” (Argentina/USA/France/Germany/Qatar), “My Pure Land” (UK), “Three Peaks” (Germany/Italy) and “Wrath of Silence” (China). UK war film “Journey’s End” will be featured in the Gala section; while 2 Hollywood films – “The Shape of Water” and “Suburbicon”, both being screened in the 74th Venice International Film Festival, will be shown in the Hollywood Special Presentation section. The “Crossfire” will present classic genre films selected by 6 heavyweight directors, namely ShekharKapur (India), Im Sang Soo (Korea), PenekRatanaruang (Thailand), Martin Koolhoven (Netherland), Guillermo Del Toro (Mexico) and Ivan Sen (Australia). Furthermore, directed by Macao director, “Love is Colder than Death” will be screened in the Macao Special Presentation section. To go in line with the recent designation of Macao as UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy, the Organizing Committee specifically arranged two movies related to gastronomy to be shown during the Film Festival: “The Last Recipe” and “The Cakemaker”.

IFFAM features internationally-famous action star Donnie Yen and rising Korean movie star D.O. as new Talent Ambassadors

The Organizing Committee proudly announced during the press conference that internationally-famous action star Donnie Yen and rising Korean star D.O. will also come into the spotlight as Talent Ambassadors in the upcoming Film Festival, following Hollywood star Jeremy Renner, who starred as Hawkeye in the Marvel film, and famous film actress in Asia, Miriam Yeung. All four Talent Ambassadors are prominent film stars with their own respective accomplishments in the Chinese and Western film industries. Jeremy Renner, D.O. and Miriam Yeung will be attending the Opening Ceremony, while Donnie Yen will mark his presence at the Award Ceremony on 14 December.

Two Master classes unfold a vast world of potentials

The highly-anticipated Masterclasses will explore innovative film elements and tap into new potentials, helping young people to venture forth into the world of films and reach their dreams. A highlight in the inaugural edition of IFFAM, the Masterclasses provided an interactive exchange platform for industry professionals and local audience. Carrying on this year, the Masterclasses have invited internationally-acclaimed film director John Woo and famous Hong Kong director Pang Ho-Cheung to share their skills and experiences as keynote speakers and help young aspirers to gain insights into filmmaking and a deeper understanding of the film industry. Through sharing and dialogues, the Masterclasses will inspire young minds for the advantage of the industry.

Nurturing local new blood with the British Film Institute

Following the success of the BFI Film Academy Project co-organized by IFFAM and the British Film Institute (BFI) last year, the upcoming Film Festival will once again offer this film-shooting training programme, providing opportunities for budding local filmmakers to engage in international filmmaking experience and exchange perspectives with their European counterparts, thus fostering cultural exchange, broadening their mindset and diversifying their professional development. 24 of Macao’s most promising young filmmakers will participate in this programme working together to produce two short films. They will be led by industry professionals from the BFI. Students will be offered a specific role based on their skill and experience, and work together to produce two films that will be screened at the IFFAM. Participants will have 9 days and a small production budget to produce the films.

Supporting Local View Power to grow local filmmaking talent

With the direction of “New Platform, New Perspectives” in mind, IFFAM offers full support to the latest edition of Local View Power by offering a platform to screen the outstanding works supported by this programme. Organized by the Macao Cultural Centre, Local View Power has supported more than 90 local film productions in the last decade. The Film Festival will include these local films supported by the Local View Power programme for the first time, with the aspiration to help promising local filmmakers in their pursuit of dreams to create innovative film works, encourage local youth to pursue career paths as independent filmmakers and impel the local film industry to move forward.

Over 400 film industry professionals and media to attend the Industry Hub

This year’s IFFAM Industry Hub will be held in the Macao Cultural Centre, offering a platform for industry professionals to exchange with one another and tap into the vast business opportunities of the industry together. The Organizing Committee will invite over 250 industry professionals from more than 20 countries and regions in addition to 165 media from 36 countries and regions to participate in the event.

For more details of the 2nd IFFAM, please visit http://iffamacao.com/en/.