Khandaani Shafakhana all set to break sex-related taboos In India

Khandaani Shafakhana is an upcoming film starring Sonakshi Sinha in the lead which talks about something that’s least discussed in this country of 1.35 billion. Yes, sex!

The slice-of-life movie tells the story of a small town Punjabi girl named Baby Bedi who inherits a sex clinic from her uncle. Through her journey,  the film makes the audience reflect on why sex still remains a taboo in most parts of the country, and builds a campaign to break the stigma around sex in our society.

The makers have taken a funny approach to analyse and showcase how the taboo of sex and problems related to it affect the general well-being of nearly everyone in our society. Not just that, we get a glimpse of how a patriarchal society reacts to a girl advocating and treating sexual issues openly.

Talking about the same, Sonakshi says, "The reason I chose to do this film is the subject and how relevant it is even in today's day and age. I am glad that Shilpi decided to make a film about the sex taboo in our country... its a very brave attempt. I would like to encourage people to follow Baby Bedi's tagline that is, Sharmao mat, Baat toh karo!"

Director Shilpi Dasgupta adds, "It’s quite astonishing that Indians seem to have lengthy debates on pretty much everything under the sun. Except, you know.. this subject. Well, it was time we talked about sex. I believe the more open we get about it, the sooner we will transform into a healthier society.”

The film also stars Varun Sharma and Badshah, who is making his debut on the silver screen.

Gulshan Kumar & T-Series present, KHANDAANI SHAFAKHANA, a Sundial production. Produced by Bhushan Kumar, Mahaveer Jain, Mrighdeep Singh Lamba, Divya Khosla Kumar, directed by Shilpi Dasgupta, the film is all set to release on 2nd August 2019.

Zee Studios to present superstars Sudeep & Suniel Shetty’s action drama Pehlwaan

      

      Widest release for a Kannada film in non-South Indian markets

Zee Studios has joined hands with RRR Motion Pictures to present the upcoming highly-anticipated action drama Pehlwaan headlined by Kannada superstar Sudeep and Bollywood star Suniel Shetty, who marks his debut in Kannada films.

A desi family entertainer with super-stylized action, bouts of comedy and hi-octane drama brings back the superhit actor-director duo of Sudeep and S Krishna together for the second time after their blockbuster success of Hebbuli. Directed by S Krishna, the much ambitious action drama is a universal story of a wrestler who fights for pride, love and his sport, the film also stars Sushant Singh, Aakanksha Singh among others.

Zee Studios will release dubbed-versions of the action drama in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam along with the original Kannada version in over 1000 screens in non-South Indian markets and the film will release in over 2500 screens across India.

Kannada superstar Sudeep shared, “A good collaboration is always a reward. When it comes in the name of Zee Studios, it isn't just a collaboration, it's a strength as well. It's unseen hands around the team, saying, ‘we are with you’. Thank you, Zee Studios, for joining us in this Journey.”

Actor Suniel Shetty commented, “It is great news! Of course, it ensures a huge release for Pehlwaan even in Hindi. Zee Studios is by far one of the biggest production and distribution houses. So excited and looking forward to a fantastic release. 5 languages itself I think is big and 2500+ screens across India, that is a huge release."

Director S Krishna commented on the announcement, “Pehlwaan has a universal theme which will connect with everyone. It is a sports action drama with a lot of heart in it. I am glad that Zee Studios liked the content and releasing it across North India.”

Shariq Patel, CEO, Zee Studios added, “It’s exciting to partner with director Krishna and the amazing cast on this powerful film that has the perfect mix of action, comedy and drama—a complete entertainer that you can watch with your family. We want to expand into the South Indian film industry, and bringing this universal, aspirational and powerful story, Pehlwaan, to a wide-base audience is the first step towards that. We will showcase the film on a huge scale by giving it the widest release for any Kannada film in non-South Indian markets.” 

Producer Swapna Krishna added, “We are overwhelmed to have Zee Studios on board as our partner for theatrical release of Pehlwaan. We are also excited & looking forward to take Pehlwaan across North India, Nepal & Bhutan in all 5 languages through Zee studios.” 

The studio will also release the film in Nepal and Bhutan. Makers will announce the release date soon.

yFX’s Sherry Bharda Invited to be an Academy Member

Yash Raj Films’ clutter-breaking visual effects division yFX has reason to celebrate as one of its' founding member, Sherry Bharda, has been invited by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences to join as a member. This puts Sherry in an acclaimed group of pioneers in the field of visual effects. As a seasoned VFX expert, Sherry has worked on innumerable films in her career, including visual spectacles like Sultan, Tiger Zinda Hai, Sui Dhaaga-Made in India, Thugs of Hindostan, Uri: The Surgical Strike and Bharat. 

Over the course of the past two decades, She has steadily built up an expertise in visual effects and film technology, with many achievements to her credit. She began her career as CG artist and graphics supervisor at Western Outdoor, a premier post production studio. Here she worked on thousands of commercials and  films like Mohabbatein, Mission Kashmir and the Oscar nominated Lagaan. She also had a stellar run as Creative Supervisor at Tata Elxsi’s Visual Computing Labs for 14 years. As one of the key VFX supervisors, she has to her credit films like Rang De Basanti, the Dhoom franchise, Ek Tha Tiger, Taare Zameen Par, Jodha Akbar, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, and Neerja amongst many others. Her international visual effects projects include films like The Darkest Hour, Gulliver’s Travels, Jack the Giant Slayer and HBO’s TV show Luck. She was also the Finaling Supervisor on two Disney productions - Roadside Romeo, India’s first full-length 3D animation feature and Arjun, a 3D animated feature.                                                                             

Sherry joined yFX in 2016 as a founding member, and has gone on to do what she does best - delivering stellar VFX. With a great eye and a solid foundation in the wide gamut of disciplines encompassing this field, She and her team have gone on to receive several top industry awards for their pioneering work. They have won the President of India (National) Award thrice, and she has also been nominated at the VES (Visual Effects Society, USA) Awards for Outstanding Work in an animated feature film. That she has been invited to join the world’s most prestigious film Academy, is a duly deserved honour, as Sherry Bharda is a game changing professional and one of the key individuals who have been responsible for the growth of VFX in India.

National Award Winning Rima Das 'Bulbul Can Sing' heads to be the opening night film of the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne

Rima Das has proven her mettle as an Indian director travelling with her cinema globally, earning several honours and accolades. Her most popular film, Village Rockstars was an Assamese language film which won the National Award for Best Feature Film in 2018 and was even India’s official entry from the country to the Oscars. Rima Das has since then been a leading name globally taking Indian cinema to new heights and accomplishing new feats.

Now her new feature, Bulbul Can Sing is all set to be the opening night film of the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne 2019. The annual festival which takes place in the cultural capital of he Victorian state in Australia will be celebrating its decade long initiative to promote Indian cinema in the land down under. After a successful nine editions, for its opening night the festival will be showcasing Das’ film which showcases the stories of three teenagers who are trying to come to terms with their sexual identities while dealing with the ideals and morales of the villagers.

Rima’s Bulbul Can Sing will be officially opening the festival with a screening on 8th August. The festival will be celebrating its 10th year with the central theme of courage this year and will commence on 8th August and concluding on 17th August.

When asked Rima she said, "I love the enthusiasm and exuberance of an opening night. So excited that Bulbul Can Sing is the opening night film at Indian Film Festival of Melbourne. Special thanks to the organisers. The film has truly been special for me as a filmmaker. I’m looking forward to the Australian premiere of the film and interacting with the audiences there and having  a conversation with them on cinema”.

Preetisheel Singh designs dual looks for South superstar Vijay

After recently designing mother and daughter looks for Madhuri Dixit for an advertisement, National Award-winning makeup, hair and prosthetic designer Preetisheel Singh, has now designed dual looks for Southern superstar Vijay for his upcoming Tamil flick Bigil. 

Preetisheel, who also received rave reviews recently for curating the looks for Ranveer Singh as Alauddin Khilji in Padmaavat, Amitabh Bachchan and Rishi Kapoor in 102 Not Out, Ayushman Khurrana in Andhadhun and Nawazuddin Siddiqui in and as Thackeray, is excited as the first look poster of Bigil is out. 

She has good reason to be. Because Vijay's look in the film is unlike anything he has done before. The Southern hearththrob will be seen in two different avatars of father and son in the film directed by Atlee and having music by AR Rahman. 

"Hours of study have gone into building the character designs," says Preetisheel. "We didn’t want to lose the authenticity of the character or miss out on the aura projected by the legendary Vijay. Keeping this in mind, for the father's role, we added wrinkles around his laugh lines and on his forehead, using special-effects make-up. Along with that, we gave him salt 'n pepper hair which gave a classier touch." 

For his son’s character, Vijay was given "the trendy look that footballers of the current generation carry,” informs Preetisheel. She mentions that the superstar is a pleasure to work with. “Very humble and down-to-earth, Vijay not only showers trust, but patiently allows the team to work without interference. Both the actor and director put full faith in our vision and art, and that has immensely helped," she concludes. 

Apart from Bigil, Preetisheel is looking forward to many films, including the Akshay Kumar-starrer Housefull 4, Kangana Ranaut-starrer Panga, Nawazuddin Siddiqui-Radhika Apte-starrer Raat Akeli Hai and Nitesh Tiwari's Chhichhore; for which she has designed multiple young and old-age looks for an ensemble lead cast.