मंगलवार, 6 जुलाई 2021

Sharad Kelkar, Amruta Khanvilkar, Tejaswini Pandit and others featured in Planet Marathi anthem saluting Marathi language



The launch of Planet Marathi OTT has turned the pages of history in Marathi entertainment. Being the first-ever Marathi OTT platform to stream exclusive Marathi content for the world, Planet Marathi has become a torch bearer for Marathi language. Ahead of the platform’s launch, Planet Marathi has launched an anthem saluting the pride of Marathi language.

 

The song features prominent Marathi faces from Marathi film and television fraternity. From leading actors and actresses, to directors and producers, the Planet Marathi Anthem is sung with insurmountable pride by every Marathi artist naming Vikram Gokhale, Sachin Pilgaonkar, Sharad Kelkar, Amruta Khanvilkar, Sonalee Kulkarni, Siddharth Jadhav, Tejaswini Pandit, Akshay Bardapurkar, Pushkar Shrotri, Subodh Bhave, Mrunmayee Deshpande, Priya Bapat, Mrinal Kulkarni, Prajakta Mali, Sanjay Jadhav, Abhijit Panse, Prasad Oak, Jitendra Joshi, Adhinath Kothare, Urmila Kanetkar, Sonali Khare, Bhargavi Chirmule, Parna Pethe, Smita Tambe, Gayatri Datar, Abhijeet Khandkekar, Siddharth Menon, Bhagyashree Milind, Neha Shitole, Deepti Devi, Sandeep Pathak, Nikhil Chavan, Tejas Barve, Surbhi Hande, Suvrat Joshi and Shivani Baokar are a part of the Planet Marathi Anthem.

  

Directed by Pushkar Shrotri, composed by Kaushal Inamdar, this invigorating song is penned by lyricist Sameer Samant. Mithilesh Patankar and Amit Padhye have arranged the musical treat. Swapnil Bandodkar, Adarsh Shinde, Yogita Godbole and Vaishali Made have crooned this pride invoking song with a backing from Suzanne D’mello and Leon D’souza.

 

Actor Sharad Kelkar, well appreciated for the recent release of The Family Man shared his thoughts on being a part of this anthem, said “Today Marathi industry is looked upon as a regional entertainment industry, whereas we are more than the language. We are part of a legacy that is centuries old. The planet Marathi anthem truly honors that legacy and so does this platform.”

 

Actress Amruta Khanvilkar commented, “Being a part of Planet Marathi Anthem was like being a part of Marathi history, culture, pride, and its heritage. It was an amazing experience to be sharing the screen with almost every Marathi superstar. Planet Marathi has taken a bold and revolutionary step towards strengthening the industry and binding us together. This song signifies that spirit of togetherness. Also talking about Akshay who comes with a strong vision and I trust with what he steps into.”

  

Actress Tejaswani Pandit who is recently creating a buzz for the web Samantar 2 said, “It is so exciting to be a part of this movement that Planet Marathi OTT has started. The movement of digital transformation in Marathi entertainment is marked by this anthem that speaks about the unified force that the Marathi entertainment industry is. I am so overwhelmed to be a part of this one big family that is steering the industry towards a better future.”

 

The visionary leader and CMD of Planet Marathi, Akshay Bardapurkar is beyond ecstatic to announce the launch of this anthem; he says, “Planet Marathi has always been on an endeavour to raise the bar for Marathi language, entertainment, art and talent. With the launch of our Planet Marathi OTT platform, we have redefined Marathi entertainment for the world. The new wave in Marathi has already begun, it is only right to coronate this landmark moment with an anthem that invokes the same pride in every Maharashtrian heart. I am grateful that every prominent face of the Marathi entertainment industry has proactively joined this movement. This industry has time and again demonstrated that we are one big family that steers the industry towards a glorious future. This anthem will surely inspire the audiences with the same comradery.”

 

The high-octane entertainer Planet Marathi OTT powered by Vistas Media Capital, promises a new wave of digital entertainment for Marathi audience. The eccentric platform with a fresh new identity will be launched with the release of first ever Marathi TVOD film June. The tri-fold launch on June 30th 2021 will mark the beginning of Planet Marathi OTTs revolutionary journey!

शुक्रवार, 18 जून 2021

Yash Narvekar & AKASA's Yaad Na Aana will strike a chord with those who have loved!



Singer and music composer, Yash Narvekar and singer, performer, and youth icon, AKASA have regaled listeners with their soul-stirring breakup song - Yaad Na Aana. Released by Sony Music India, the collaboration of the artists has garnered tremendous love from the listeners and much to their delight its video is out now.

 

Both the artists have been offering a variety of genres and styles to music lovers. Yash has powered many web series with his unique brand of music and has sung the monstrous hit Muqabla from Prabhudeva's Street Dancer 3, Mere Dil Mein from Half Girlfriend and the title song of Mubarakan with Badshah. The pop queen has chartbusters such Naagin, Naiyyo, and Shola to heart touching songs such as Dhoondti Firaan and Dil Na Jaaneya to her credit. She has also made headlines for her collab with Raftaar titled Main Sherni for the Vidya Balan-starrer Sherni.

 

Yaad Na Aana is a soul-stirring duet that houses the contribution of many talented musicians. It has been sung by Yash Narvekar and AKASA composed and written by the former, with drop melody by Taaruk, with live guitars by Charan and Roland Fernandes and with music supervision and live music arrangement and production by Amaal Mallik. It is a song that conveys that it's okay if partners drift away from each other. The song highlights that life is too short for bitter grudges and that it is greater than the relationships we lose.

 

Singer-Composer Yash Narvekar adds, "Yaad Na Aana is a very special song for me as it stands out from the music I've composed and written in the past. Can’t wait to see the response to this track as it’s one of my most heartfelt compositions of mine. Moreover, collaborating with AKASA and Amaal was one of the prime thrills of piecing this song together.”

 

Says AKASA, “I think independent music is one of the best carriers of stories told in a miniature format. With Yaad Na Aana, we've tried to capture the story that follows after love is lost between couples. The composition is fresh and being my first heartbreak song, singing this and collaborating with Yash was an amazing experience.”

 

Released by Sony Music India and directed by Sarthak and Bhargav, Yaad Na Aana features actors Pratik Deshmukh and Srishti Ganguli Rindani and it is now available on all streaming platforms

Abhishek Bachchan Adopts Tree With Saniya Saiyad & Vishwas Mote


 

BMC’s MEGA Vriksha campaign is proving to be a mega success with more and more citizens coming forward to clear the city’s lungs.

 

Actor Abhishek Bachchan who joined in by becoming the tree guardian of a Neem Plant, confessed his passion for gardening and expressed his ‘civic duty’ to plant more trees. Holding a Tulsi plant, gifted to him by Vishwas Mote – Asst Comm, BMC, singer Saniya Saiyad and Anusha Srinivasan Iyer of Make Earth Green Again MEGA Foundation, Abhishek spoke of how each citizen should plant and adopt trees.

 

Vishvas Mote added that it would be a great inspiration to see Abhishek, who walked a good ten minutes to reach the tree he was to plant, watch the tree grow, as he cycled past it everyday.

 

Saniya Saiyad spoke of how she felt honoured and privileged to be part of a movement that will transform the city into an oxygen belt, something that is the need of the hour. Anusha Srinivasan Iyer spoke of how this movement was attracting more and more citizens and role-models everyday and the process to make the city green was growing from strength to strength. 

 

Abhishek Bachchan, with his participation, became the latest celebrity to join Hema Malini, Shatrughan Sinha, Anupam Kher, Anil Kapoor,  Sonakshi Sinha, Poonam Sinha, Saniya Saiyad, Ranvir Shorey and son Haroon Shorey, Amit Behl, Dr. Aneel Kashi Murarka, Ashnoor Kaur, Advait Mote and MLA Shri Ameet Satam who are all proud tree parents!

 

World Environment Day 2021 marked the start of BMC’s ‘Be A Tree Parent' MEGA Vriksha Campaign. Instituted by the K West Ward Asst Commissioner Mr. Vishvas Mote, along with Anusha Srinivasan Iyer of Make Earth Green Again MEGA Foundation and Vriksha Nursery, the campaign involves and encourages societies and residents to adopt tree pits from the 348 Mumbai locations where trees had fallen in the K West Ward, post Cyclone Tauktae, and replant identified, fast-growing native tree species in those locations.

 

"Vishwas Mote, Asst Commissioner K West Ward is a visionary. It is thanks to his efforts, that we, at Make Earth Green Again MEGA Foundation, are helping make the vital difference of making our ward get back its lost green glory. The celeb participation and the ever-willing citizen support, as well as that of the police who are willingly planting trees, strengthen our resolve," expressed Anusha Srinivasan Iyer.

मंगलवार, 15 जून 2021

BTS SUCCESSFULLY WRAPS UP 2021 MUSTER SOWOOZOO


21st century Pop Icons BTS wrapped up their ‘BTS 2021 MUSTER SOWOOZOO’ that amassed 1.33 million viewers from 195 countries/regions across two days.

 

 

In celebration of their 8th anniversary, the septet held a two-day live-streamed fanmeet entitled BTS 2021 MUSTER SOWOOZOO on June 13 and 14. The festive event saw the band perform 15 songs, respectively, on an outdoor stage. True to the concept of “adventure,” the venue featured various planet installations and an entire stage in the form of the number ‘8’ that stands for both their 8th year since formation and the infinity sign.

 

 

The septet performed many of their recent releases including “Life Goes On,” “Butter,” “Dynamite,” “Stay” and “Fly To My Room”. The viewers also were treated to special performances of SUGA (Agust D)’s “Daechwita” and j-hope’s “Chicken Noodle Soup” with all seven members.

 

 

Apart from the multi-view system that enabled viewers to choose and watch from 6 different screens, the fanmeet added a sense of togetherness by incorporating interactive technologies such as ARMY IN ECHO and ARMY on Air. Instead of a live audience, the venue installed a big screen below the stage that showed ARMY all over the world enjoying the show. Pre-recordings of cheers by ARMY were also played alongside with the “Dis-ease,” “FIRE,” and “So What” stages.

 

 

BTS wrapped up the show with “Wishing on a star,” “You Never Walk Alone” and “Mikrokosmos.” The septet also took the time to say a few words to ARMY: "We had so much fun today. I can’t wait for that day when we can all breathe the same air in the same space. We hope the situation gets better as soon as possible so we can meet each other. Until that day, I hope you all stay strong.” They added, “The light shines brighter in the dark. Please remember that you and we look for each other, shining light upon one another.”

 

 

The band also announced the release of the single CD “Butter,” a gift that comes out on the day when the name ARMY was created, on July 9. The single CD will include “Butter,” which has stayed atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart for a third consecutive week, and a new track. Stay tuned for more exciting news to come.

 

About BTS

 

BTS, an acronym of Bangtan Sonyeondan or “Beyond the Scene,” is a Grammy-nominated South Korean group that has been capturing the hearts of millions of fans globally since its debut in June 2013. The members of BTS are RM, Jin, SUGA, j-hope, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook. Gaining recognition for their authentic and self-produced music, top-notch performances, and the way they interact with their fans, BTS has established themselves as “21st century Pop Icons” breaking countless world records. While imparting a positive influence through activities such as the LOVE MYSELF campaign and the UN ‘Speak Yourself’ speech, the band has mobilized millions of fans across the world (named ARMY), topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart three times in 2020 alone, performed multiple sold-out stadium shows across the world, and been named TIME’s Entertainer of the Year 2020. BTS has been nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for the 63rd Grammy Awards and recognized with numerous prestigious awards like the Billboard Music Awards, American Music Awards and MTV Video Music Awards.

सोमवार, 14 जून 2021

Celebrating 13 milestone years of Mr Kamal Haasan's Dasavatharam



Unsurpassable! A mile stone in Indian and Tamil Cinema! That is how synonymous this can get with Dasavatharam! How can someone even think of such a grand, glossy, brilliant, mind blowing screenplay at a time when film making wasn't developed enough to visualize its actual potential? But we do have a polymath who’s one of his kinds to do this and he did. The name is Kamal Haasan rightly called fondly by his fans as “Ulaga Nayagan “Celebrating 13 years of Dasavatharam here is an exclusive from his archive on the making.

A coveted file which makes more sense when released today than yesterday. When you make art for posterity do not expect sponsors to be in agreement .They are temporary and would think only for the moment. The greatest sponsors are artists themselves fortunately in history sponsors have also been connoisseurs for instance and hence it helped art. You cannot expect that from corporations in a hurry who work for a quarterly review. People with vision register in history. For instance the Mogul Emperor, the German Monarch, Ashoka ,Chola and many more down the line in history.

Thus spoke Kamal Haasan.

Dasavatharam -The Thought and Process:

Talking about embarking on this journey of making He begins by saying Dasavatharam was a script which was declined by many directors who said they didn't understand it, and quite unexpectedly Mr Ravikumar jumped at it. He immediately claimed it a winner on cards and was surprised that it was turned down and asked to make the film while on

a telephonic conversation with me at Eldams road. That's how the movie came into being!

Most of the time I work alone and like to take the opinion of seniors and well wishers while on a project. For Dasavatharam it wasn’t any different and thus I wanted to take Mr Mukta Srinivasan's opinion as he has string instincts and is a brilliant short story writer. In Nayakan, thanks to Mr Mukta, the Heroine's character was beautifully written as a young girl who prepares her exams while being an inmate in a brothel. He heard the Dasavatharam script and he said "Kamal you must watch over the film closely as its your idea and goes further and says foster it like your child. They will kill the child otherwise if you only decide to walk in and out of shoot". I took his advice and spent all my time on it.

Once I finished the logline with Mr Mukta Srinivasan, the director was still skeptical about the way the script was written. We had Mr Sujata, Mr Madhan, Mr Ramesh Arvind, Mr Crazy Mohan all sit with us for a narration and I answered all the questions they kept asking. It was a very important exercises as they are all are experts and have the expertise to analyze the script. My biggest support was from Mr Sujatha who said “you got it bang on man". The rest were new to the ideation, scale and budget .

The Beginning:

Any producer would have found it ridiculous that the director and I went to the US for 21 days to do make up tests for all the looks, but we did it. Mr Michael Westmore bent over backwards and did a stupendous job during the trial. Every day for 21 days was hard work and one time Mr Michael also pushed himself in helping me with wiring

me for a photo shoot held me too as I wanted to try a kick a certain way. Sometimes I did two different looks /make ups as we were building the makeup in layers and it was done in a lab. During the process Mr Ravikumar realized the full scope of the looks and immediately engaged a photographer for $250 a day to record each look.

Our producer was enthusiastic to immediately release all of the 10 looks in the media. However I had to stop him by telling him that people would not find a need to go to a cabaret or a strip tease if the advertising posters had images from the final climax and there is nothing further to entice them in! I knew we had something precious and convinced him to hold back and am grateful he understood then. I had taken to heart the advice of Mr Mukta Srinivasan to closely guard my baby and just kept doing that.

Towards the ends of the filming, during the tsunami sequence we realized we needed a crore more to achieve the visuals written by me for the climax. Now people nonchalantly talk about 20 to 30 crores , but back then it was huge . I offered to rewrite the script without the tsunami and end it with the train sequence, but the butterfly effect would have been lost. But I was willing to do it’s I had to have an alternative our producer You must remember here that I once made a film named Vikram which was then called 'oru kodi rubai kanavu', but within two decades it was about a crore more for just one sequence, but that's the evolution of cinema with technology. However, Mr Ravikumar had fully understood the script and fought tooth and nail to get the climax done as scripted originally and we spent the additional 1 crore. I gave Mr Ravichandran some of my rights to the film as I ALWAYS invest in my movies and we were partners in the film and he had seen my vision to fruition and we pulled off what was near impossible then.

That's how Dasavatharam was made and saw completion.

The Technicians :

Everyone was pushed to their limits during to achieve the project ; Ms Gauthami's contribution , art director Mr Sameer Chanda did the first 10 minutes of the film and left , Mr Thota Tharani picked up from there followed by Mr Prabhakar who did the airport sequences they all did a fabulous job . I remember that Mr Jeeva was supposed to be the cinematographer but couldn't take up the project. We had so many other good technicians who weren't able to come on board.The entire concept of the film was new and challenging, like just the first 10 minutes sequence in re creating a period cost 2.5 crores which was new to everyone. I am not being myopic to budgets, it is just that I am grateful to each and every technician who stood by me and made me achieve my vision. Be it art directors, stunt directors as some of the Stunt sequences were like never before, the CG team who we used to quarrel with over budgets as they wanted 2 million and we used to ask them to show us a khadi Gramodyog way of achieving the output and that's why due the lack of budgets some portions of CG might not look the way it is supposed to have looked. All of my technicians helped me complete the project through all the insults, quarrels, stressful environment etc and I am grateful to them and on the other hand, I would never forget or forgive those technicians who gave up and ran away like rats ditching the project. If you believe in something, it can always be achieved and example from way before is Aboorva Sagotharargal. It was not done by just a number crunching producer, but a visionary too. So also Pushpak, which had two visionaries and a businessman as producers helming it and hence it was done in a small tight budget and yielded great results.

The looks and the makeup :

Mr Westmore is a master of his craft and believes in least intervention with reality while creating a look and I consider him my Guru. He delves into the script completely and works on the looks. So much so he asked me why I had decided to name the samurai Shingen Narahachi and I had to explain to him how I am weaving in mythology and this character was an analogy to the Narasimma avatar and hence 'Shingen' like 'Narasinghar’It was amazing how he made my round eyes into beautiful Asian flat eyes to give me the perfect look for the character. Naidu was so simple yet went up a notch because of the accent. Mr Westmore's contribution to the film is equivalent to mine. Mr Westmore was the 11th Avatar of the film, without him the other 10 would not have been possible. The easiest to carry off was Naidu and the most debilitating was Krishna paati. For the latter he gave me a cataract eye and I couldn't see. I was like a tortured animal and wanted the scenes with the paati character to finish soon. It used to excruciatingly painful everytime there would be a delay due to technical issues.

Those apart now am going to talk about the actual “FIRST LOOK” of a few of the characters

I preferred this Bhuvaraghavan but the team were too surprised or probably they did not recognise me at all,but I have many friends who look like that too but this was denied for various reasons .Though it was a personal favourite of Mr Mike and me but we ended up having a more handsome looking Bhuvaraghavan .For me personally handsome

was never about that face but that is what cinema loves so we decided on a slightly more cosmetic look for Bhuvaraghavan.

The cliché look of what a scientist looks like in Tamil cinema was a bespectacled nerdy guy almost okayed a wig slapped on head that looked more like a scholarly cap than hair. Mike and I decided not to tamper with that and I felt that’s the only part where I play myself but for various other characters I had to shave my head based on schedule so unfortunately I landed up with a wig well done for the days I can see through it now but then it seemed convincing, so went with that. otherwise I would have settled for Govind who was balding which Mike would have pulled off like a wizard that he is.

Balram Naidu wigs took 2 redos and finally ended up taking 2months making us nervously teeter on the edge of breaking a schedule but it landed on time. My personal trainer who’s been with me for years did not recognise me as he stood beside Balram while the shot was being prepped. I wore the least prosthetic pieces for Naidu. Applause to the wig maker and Michael Westmore once again.

The director wasn’t happy with this version of Mr Bush because he was looking for a hero with every character I was also looking for villains as a writer and Bush was an international villain according to me.

Unforgettable moments:

Most unforgettable was the first sequence where in I had come up with a lot of the designs as the others didn't know how to visualise or present it but I already had lessons out of experience from Maruthanayagam and taking notes from on not over building anything unrealistically but keep it believable. For example the two guards standing on either sides of the elephant was designed by me. It was novel for us, but done in history where in the bodyguards would protect the king while on an elephant. It is basically two footboards on either sides and the elephant actually felt very comfortable with the footboards pressing into it. We wanted to make a masterpiece and we didn't look at money or fame, just our contribution to the art of cinema. We had various Stunt directors supporting us which can be seen in various styles portrayed through the film as Fletcher's stunts had to be different from the Samurai and tat from the first and all this within a shoe string budget.

The Music:

Lots of music directors found the script uninteresting and I was confused by their reactions. Worried by this, the producer said he will suggest names and suggest Mr Himesh Reshammiya and added on Ms Mallika Sherawat too as his suggestion. Mr Himesh did a wonderful job with the music when it was a time the press wasn't very supportive of him. He delivered surprises like Mukunda Mukunda and Kallai matum kandal which were big hits and wasn't like anything he did before. He allowed me to render the palandu palandu bit and added it as a overlap to his music. I was very embarrassed as I was conducting a group of singers here to record it and send it to him. We never worked together again, but he proved a point with his good work then. The BGM was by

Mr DSP who was a bundle of energy and fun to work with. Exemplary points were when Naidu realizes Srinivasulu is Telugu where it isn't subtlety but on the top humor. We had so much fun working together that we decided to carry on the collaboration with him, the director and myself on to Manmadhan Ambu.

We did not have good budgets for any of the artists/ technicians who came from overseas as with the conversion rates it was much lower to what they would get otherwise, but no one complained. Everyone worked with enthusiasm and enjoyed the process of being a part of a novel project.

But going back on the memories now, Dasavatharam was a master class for me on every technical aspect . There were many masters to teach and learn from and cinema was the ultimate master and very forgiving when we failed in some parts, definitely more forgiving than the audience who made it a hit. I can say I learnt democracy during the making of this film. The project would not have been possible with just me , or just Mr Ravikumar or Mr Ravichandran or just Mr Westmore. It is all of us together that made it happen.

Actors who aced the Anti-Hero roles on screen

  Bollywood has always loved its heroes, but it's the anti-heroes, the flawed, unpredictable, and dangerous ones, who often steal the sh...