Freida Pinto has signed on to “Surface” Season 2 at Apple, Variety has learned exclusively.
Pinto joins series star Gugu Mbatha-Raw as well as fellow new cast member Phil Dunster of “Ted Lasso” fame. As previously announced, “Surface” Season 2 will see Mbatha-Raw’s character Sophie return to her hometown of London and “rediscovering the unfinished relationships that have haunted her memories – as she finds out where she really came from, and what made her the flawed person she was.”
Pinto will play Grace, Quinn’s (Dunster) fiancé. Quinn is the troubled scion of the infamous Huntley family. As the soon-to-be newest member of the Huntley family, Grace is said to be “conflicted about what she’s really signing up for, and forms a special bond with Sophie.”
Pinto is best known to American audiences for her role in the Oscar-winning film “Slumdog Millionaire.” Her other film credits include “Trishna, “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,...
Pinto joins series star Gugu Mbatha-Raw as well as fellow new cast member Phil Dunster of “Ted Lasso” fame. As previously announced, “Surface” Season 2 will see Mbatha-Raw’s character Sophie return to her hometown of London and “rediscovering the unfinished relationships that have haunted her memories – as she finds out where she really came from, and what made her the flawed person she was.”
Pinto will play Grace, Quinn’s (Dunster) fiancé. Quinn is the troubled scion of the infamous Huntley family. As the soon-to-be newest member of the Huntley family, Grace is said to be “conflicted about what she’s really signing up for, and forms a special bond with Sophie.”
Pinto is best known to American audiences for her role in the Oscar-winning film “Slumdog Millionaire.” Her other film credits include “Trishna, “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,...
- 5/2/2023
- by Joe Otterson
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Freida Pinto is expanding her relationship with eOne, signing a first-look deal with the indie studio for her Freebird Films Entertainment. Under the pact, Freebird Films, run by Pinto and her producing partner Emily Verellen Strom, will develop series for broadcast, cable and streaming with a focus on content highlighting the experience of women – especially among diverse and underrepresented groups.
The deal comes as Pinto and Strom are developing as executive producers a limited series adaptation of Anuradha Bhagwati’s memoir Unbecoming for eOne, with Pinto attached to star. Freebird Films is also in negotiations for additional books and articles to adapt.
“We are delighted to partner with Freida and Emily in their vision to prioritize diverse stories about women for all audiences,” said Jacqueline Sacerio, eOne’s EVP Scripted Television. “Their combined world view and creative insight will mesh well with our goal of creating content that resonates with viewers everywhere.
The deal comes as Pinto and Strom are developing as executive producers a limited series adaptation of Anuradha Bhagwati’s memoir Unbecoming for eOne, with Pinto attached to star. Freebird Films is also in negotiations for additional books and articles to adapt.
“We are delighted to partner with Freida and Emily in their vision to prioritize diverse stories about women for all audiences,” said Jacqueline Sacerio, eOne’s EVP Scripted Television. “Their combined world view and creative insight will mesh well with our goal of creating content that resonates with viewers everywhere.
- 8/26/2021
- by Nellie Andreeva and Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
“Falling” will be the opening film of the 28th edition of the EnergaCamerimage Intl. Film Festival, which focuses on the art of cinematography. The film’s director Viggo Mortensen and cinematographer Marcel Zyskind will attend the opening, which takes place on Nov. 14 in Toruń, Poland.
The film, which will compete for Camerimage’s Golden Frog, centers on John, who lives with his partner, Eric, and their daughter, Mónica, in California, far from the traditional rural life he left behind years ago. John’s father, Willis, a headstrong man from a bygone era, lives alone on the isolated farm where John grew up. Willis’s mind is declining, so John brings him West, hoping that he and his sister, Sarah, can help their father find a home closer to them. Their best intentions ultimately run up against Willis’s angry refusal to change his way of life in any way.
The film stars Mortensen,...
The film, which will compete for Camerimage’s Golden Frog, centers on John, who lives with his partner, Eric, and their daughter, Mónica, in California, far from the traditional rural life he left behind years ago. John’s father, Willis, a headstrong man from a bygone era, lives alone on the isolated farm where John grew up. Willis’s mind is declining, so John brings him West, hoping that he and his sister, Sarah, can help their father find a home closer to them. Their best intentions ultimately run up against Willis’s angry refusal to change his way of life in any way.
The film stars Mortensen,...
- 10/14/2020
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
What better way to kick off a new month than a look at the many movies coming to Hulu? Ok, if you don’t have a Hulu subscription you might need an alternative. Maybe this list will convince you to take one out, though (not that I’m there salesperson). But enough patter, let’s crack on with it.
Here’s every new film that arrived on July 1st:
12 and Holding (2006)
2001 Maniacs (2005)
52 Pick-Up (1986)
A Bridge Too Far (1977)
A Complete History of My Sexual Failures (2009)
A Kid Like Jake (2018)
A Mighty Wind (2003)
A Storks Journey (2017)
An Eye for a Eye (1966)
The Axe Murders of Villisca (2017)
The Bellboy (1960)
Beloved (2012)
Best In Show (2000)
Between Us (2017)
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970)
Birdwatchers (2010)
Boogie Woogie (2010)
The Bounty (1984)
Brokedown Palace (1998)
Buffy, the Vampire Slayer (1992)
Bug (1975)
Buried (2010)
Cadaver (2009)
California Dreamin’ (2009)
Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter (1974)
Catcher Was A Spy (2018)
The Catechism Cataclysm (2011)
Change of Plans (2010)
Cheech & Chong...
Here’s every new film that arrived on July 1st:
12 and Holding (2006)
2001 Maniacs (2005)
52 Pick-Up (1986)
A Bridge Too Far (1977)
A Complete History of My Sexual Failures (2009)
A Kid Like Jake (2018)
A Mighty Wind (2003)
A Storks Journey (2017)
An Eye for a Eye (1966)
The Axe Murders of Villisca (2017)
The Bellboy (1960)
Beloved (2012)
Best In Show (2000)
Between Us (2017)
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970)
Birdwatchers (2010)
Boogie Woogie (2010)
The Bounty (1984)
Brokedown Palace (1998)
Buffy, the Vampire Slayer (1992)
Bug (1975)
Buried (2010)
Cadaver (2009)
California Dreamin’ (2009)
Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter (1974)
Catcher Was A Spy (2018)
The Catechism Cataclysm (2011)
Change of Plans (2010)
Cheech & Chong...
- 7/1/2020
- by Alex Crisp
- We Got This Covered
If you didn’t see his break-out role in one of the century’s best comedies, Four Lions, then we imagine Riz Ahmed first landed on your radar as the doomed assistant to Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler. Along with his high-profile performances in The Night Of, Rogue One, and Jason Bourne this year, one of the two Tiff films he has is the starring vehicle City of Tiny Lights, as noted in our fall festival preview.
Directed by Dredd‘s Pete Travis, it follows Ahmed as a London detective who gets entangled in a missing-girl case as a complex web of lies bubble up. We now have the first clip thanks to THR, which shows Ahmed on the case as he visits his ex-girlfriend at a local bar. Check out the clip below for the film also starring Cush Jumbo, James Floyd, Billie Piper, and Roshan Seth.
Tiff Synopsis:
Later this year,...
Directed by Dredd‘s Pete Travis, it follows Ahmed as a London detective who gets entangled in a missing-girl case as a complex web of lies bubble up. We now have the first clip thanks to THR, which shows Ahmed on the case as he visits his ex-girlfriend at a local bar. Check out the clip below for the film also starring Cush Jumbo, James Floyd, Billie Piper, and Roshan Seth.
Tiff Synopsis:
Later this year,...
- 8/31/2016
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The number of re-interpretations that Thomas Hardy's classic novel Tess Of The D'Urbevilles has gone through in cinema would certainly puzzle the litterateur. While director Michael Winter bottom's film version of the Hardy novel entitled Trishna with Freida Pinto in the lead is far removed from the original text, now one has come to know that the Indian version of the Hardy classic--to be released in several Indian languages including Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu-- is now going to be completely removed from what Winter bottom depicted in Trishna. According to sources close to the project, "The Indian producer of Trishna, Sunil Bohra has decided to completely re-vamp and re-edit the orginal. Trishna was a colossal flop in the West. Bohra sees a lot of potential in the story. He is re-structuring the film and adding an item song by Huma Qureshi." When contacted Bohra, to his credit, didn't...
- 11/4/2014
- BollywoodHungama
Exclusive: After launching in June, newbie indie/art house distributor Cinelicious Pics has struck a deal to bring acclaimed five-and-a-half-hour Bollywood new wave crime epic Gangs of Wasseypur to North America. The film is the latest from Anurag Kashyap (Black Friday, Dev D, Ugly, and Michael Winterbottom’s Trishna), the Indian filmmaker whose bullets ‘n’ blood-soaked saga has earned him a reputation as the Scorsese/Tarantino of Bollywood. Kashyap co-wrote, produced, and directed the Godfather-esque pic tracking 70 violent years in the lives of two mafia families battling for control over the coal mining town of Wasseypur, based on the real-life gang wars […]...
- 7/7/2014
- Deadline
Far From the Madding Crowd
Director: Thomas Vinterberg
Writer: David Nicholls
Producer(s): Andrew Macdonald, Allon Reich
U.S. Distributor: Fox Searchlight Pictures
Cast: Carey Mulligan, Juno Temple, Michael Sheen, Matthias Schoenaerts
The literature of Thomas Hardy seems to be receiving a sort of cinematic revival, mostly thanks to Michael Winterbottom, who recently re-tooled Tess of the D’ubervilles with 2011’s Trishna (he also directed a version of Jude, 1995, and his 2000 film The Claim was based on The Mayor of Casterbridge). Now we’ll have Danish auteur Thomas Vinterberg revisiting Hardy’s Far From the Madding Crowd, which was famously adapted in 1967 by John Schlesinger, featuring Julie Christie, Alan Bates, Peter Finch, and Terence Stamp. So, there are some huge shoes to fill. We’re curious to see what Vinterberg does with the material, especially with Mulligan (who seems to be attracted to literary adaptations) filling in for Christie.
Director: Thomas Vinterberg
Writer: David Nicholls
Producer(s): Andrew Macdonald, Allon Reich
U.S. Distributor: Fox Searchlight Pictures
Cast: Carey Mulligan, Juno Temple, Michael Sheen, Matthias Schoenaerts
The literature of Thomas Hardy seems to be receiving a sort of cinematic revival, mostly thanks to Michael Winterbottom, who recently re-tooled Tess of the D’ubervilles with 2011’s Trishna (he also directed a version of Jude, 1995, and his 2000 film The Claim was based on The Mayor of Casterbridge). Now we’ll have Danish auteur Thomas Vinterberg revisiting Hardy’s Far From the Madding Crowd, which was famously adapted in 1967 by John Schlesinger, featuring Julie Christie, Alan Bates, Peter Finch, and Terence Stamp. So, there are some huge shoes to fill. We’re curious to see what Vinterberg does with the material, especially with Mulligan (who seems to be attracted to literary adaptations) filling in for Christie.
- 2/14/2014
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Check out the official trailer for Amma Asante’s Belle starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Sam Reid, Tom Wilkinson, Emily Watson, Tom Felton, Miranda Richardson and Matthew Goode.
Scheduled for a May 2014 release, the film was shown at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival to positive reviews.
Justin Chang (Variety): “The pleasures of Jane Austen and the horrors of the British slave trade make a surprisingly elegant fit in Amma Asante’s handsome period piece.” John Oursler (Sound on Sight): “Amma Asante’s Belle, a new entrant in the genre, strikes all the right notes.” John DeFore (The Hollywood Reporter): “Moviegoers should respond well when Fox Searchlight brings it to theaters next spring.”
I can’t wait to see this. Being a fan of period-piece dramas, Belle looks to be the perfect blend of courage, love and history.
Belle is inspired by the true story of Dido Elizabeth Belle (Gugu Mbatha-Raw...
Scheduled for a May 2014 release, the film was shown at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival to positive reviews.
Justin Chang (Variety): “The pleasures of Jane Austen and the horrors of the British slave trade make a surprisingly elegant fit in Amma Asante’s handsome period piece.” John Oursler (Sound on Sight): “Amma Asante’s Belle, a new entrant in the genre, strikes all the right notes.” John DeFore (The Hollywood Reporter): “Moviegoers should respond well when Fox Searchlight brings it to theaters next spring.”
I can’t wait to see this. Being a fan of period-piece dramas, Belle looks to be the perfect blend of courage, love and history.
Belle is inspired by the true story of Dido Elizabeth Belle (Gugu Mbatha-Raw...
- 10/15/2013
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Once again our brill media partners Indybrown.tv, Omkari and Ashanti Omkar bring us a special video interview, this time with Riz Ahmed. On screen, Riz Ahmed is best known for his intense performances in films such as Four Lions, Shifty and Trishna. Off-screen, under the name Riz Mc, he has been working a parallel career in hip hop. Ahmed once again took to the film stage and has been garnering rave, rave, rave reviews for his performance in Mira Nair’s The Reluctant Fundalmentalist. He is brilliant in the role of Changez, in a film that also boasts incredible actors like Liev Schreiber, Kate Hudson, Kiefer Sutherland and Om Puri. Now playing in the Us, the film opens in the UK on May 10th and it is one we say you must check out!
Check out what this rising star in cinema reveals to Ashanti Omkar about his biggest...
Check out what this rising star in cinema reveals to Ashanti Omkar about his biggest...
- 5/7/2013
- by Stacey Yount
- Bollyspice
More like an Avengers Assemble sequel than a tired third instalment, the reinvigorated action hero powers in at No 1
The winner
As Disney prepared Iron Man 3 for release, the question was always: would it perform like the first two instalments in the Tony Stark series, or could it fly close to the astonishing success of The Avengers last summer? Iron Man opened in May 2008 with £5.47m including £667,000 in previews. Iron Man 2 followed two years later with £7.66m including previews of £877,000, an increase of 40%. Then April 2012 saw The Avengers soar away with £15.78m, including £2.55m in previews – more than double the Iron Man 2 debut.
With £13.71m including £2.32m in previews, Iron Man 3 is 79% up on the opening of Iron Man 2 and just 13% down on the equivalent number for Avengers. In other words, the film has performed more like a sequel to Avengers than to the Iron Man movies.
The winner
As Disney prepared Iron Man 3 for release, the question was always: would it perform like the first two instalments in the Tony Stark series, or could it fly close to the astonishing success of The Avengers last summer? Iron Man opened in May 2008 with £5.47m including £667,000 in previews. Iron Man 2 followed two years later with £7.66m including previews of £877,000, an increase of 40%. Then April 2012 saw The Avengers soar away with £15.78m, including £2.55m in previews – more than double the Iron Man 2 debut.
With £13.71m including £2.32m in previews, Iron Man 3 is 79% up on the opening of Iron Man 2 and just 13% down on the equivalent number for Avengers. In other words, the film has performed more like a sequel to Avengers than to the Iron Man movies.
- 5/2/2013
- by Charles Gant
- The Guardian - Film News
At public school he threw a chair through a window. At Oxford he took on the black-tie brigade. Now Riz Ahmed is ready to shake up the film industry. But first he puts us right on a few things
Riz Ahmed is talking so fast, I can't keep up. He has opinions on everything, and he hurls them at you so enthusiastically, so ferociously, that before long you feel battered. Within seconds, he has taken me on a global tour of his favourite cities. New York? "It's become so gentrified that it's lacking in soul." London? "The most gloriously eclectic city in the world." Tokyo? "Everyone's beautiful, everything's futuristic, but it's ethnically homogeneous."
Then he's on to his theory about why London has such a thriving indie arts scene (because the mainstream is so establishment), why Mo Farah represents all that's great about Britain, the impact of cuts in arts funding for disadvantaged inner-city kids…...
Riz Ahmed is talking so fast, I can't keep up. He has opinions on everything, and he hurls them at you so enthusiastically, so ferociously, that before long you feel battered. Within seconds, he has taken me on a global tour of his favourite cities. New York? "It's become so gentrified that it's lacking in soul." London? "The most gloriously eclectic city in the world." Tokyo? "Everyone's beautiful, everything's futuristic, but it's ethnically homogeneous."
Then he's on to his theory about why London has such a thriving indie arts scene (because the mainstream is so establishment), why Mo Farah represents all that's great about Britain, the impact of cuts in arts funding for disadvantaged inner-city kids…...
- 4/27/2013
- by Simon Hattenstone
- The Guardian - Film News
Opening last year’s Venice Film Festival, Mira Nair’s “The Reluctant Fundamentalist,” is an intriguing prospect. The film, an adaptation of the best-selling and acclaimed novel by Mohsin Hamed, had been under the radars of most until its selection, and aside from Kate Hudson, is mostly lacking in the starry names that normally attract attention to a festival. Fans of Nair (whose superb “Monsoon Wedding” won the Golden Lion in Venice in 2001) have been hoping for a return to form after her last film “Amelia,” disappointed. Was the film’s presence in such a prestigious slot a sign that she might have delivered? Unfortunately, despite a very fine central performance from ever-rising British actor Riz Ahmed (“Four Lions,” “Trishna”), not so much. The plot opens with the kidnapping of an American professor in Lahore, Pakistan, by an Islamic fundamentalist group, who demand a ransom and the release of prisoners in exchange for his freedom.
- 4/23/2013
- by Oliver Lyttelton
- The Playlist
The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (Iffla) announced its honorees for the sixth annual Industry Leadership Awards (Ila): Bela Bajaria, Executive Vice President, Universal Television, and producer Guneet Monga.
Bela Bajaria
The Industry Leadership Awards honor entertainment industry professionals (Us and India-based) who have had a significant impact on the entertainment industry as it relates to India and the diaspora. The awards will be presented at a gala luncheon on Thursday, April 11, 2013 at House of Blues in West Hollywood. The keynote address will be given by Andy Bird, Chairman of Walt Disney International and former Ila Honoree.
Bela Bajaria, a veteran network and cable television executive, was named Executive Vice President, Universal Television in August 2011. She oversees creative programming for a television studio responsible for hit series as “The Office,” “Parks and Recreation,” “30 Rock,” “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” “Grimm,” “Smash,” “Bates
Guneet Monga
Motel,” and “Parenthood.” The...
Bela Bajaria
The Industry Leadership Awards honor entertainment industry professionals (Us and India-based) who have had a significant impact on the entertainment industry as it relates to India and the diaspora. The awards will be presented at a gala luncheon on Thursday, April 11, 2013 at House of Blues in West Hollywood. The keynote address will be given by Andy Bird, Chairman of Walt Disney International and former Ila Honoree.
Bela Bajaria, a veteran network and cable television executive, was named Executive Vice President, Universal Television in August 2011. She oversees creative programming for a television studio responsible for hit series as “The Office,” “Parks and Recreation,” “30 Rock,” “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” “Grimm,” “Smash,” “Bates
Guneet Monga
Motel,” and “Parenthood.” The...
- 3/22/2013
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
So, with Steven Soderbergh stepping away from film sets to pursue other endeavors, whose going to replace him as the cinematic chameleon to follow? Well, how about Michael Winterbottom? In the past few years the Brit helmer has gone from scuzzy noir "The Killer Inside Me" to comedic road trip series "The Trip" to an India-set Thomas Hardy adaptation "Trishna" to an intimate character study with "Everyday." And now, his latest is a biopic on smut king and real estate baron Paul Raymond. Like we said, the guy doesn't like to repeat himself. A new trailer for the film has arrived giving a look into the world of erotica Winterbottom has put up on the big screen. Steve Coogan takes the title role of the pornographer, strip club owner and impresario who managed to accumulate a fortune of close to £650 million (or just over a billion dollars) after buying up...
- 3/6/2013
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
Here's the trailer for a new political thriller called The Reluctant Fundamentalist, which stars Kate Hudson, Kiefer Sutherland, Liev Schreiber, and Riz Ahmed (Trishna). The movie is an adaptation of Mohsin Hamid’s novel, and here's the synopsis:
We begin in 2011 in Lahore. At an outdoor café a Pakistani man named Changez (Riz Ahmed) tells Bobby (Liev Schreiber), an American journalist, about his experiences in the United States. Roll back ten years, and we find a younger Changez fresh from Princeton, seeking fortune and glory on Wall Street. The American Dream seems well within his grasp, complete with a smart and gorgeous artist girlfriend, Erica (Kate Hudson). But when the Twin Towers are attacked, a cultural divide slowly begins to crack open between Changez and Erica. Changez’s dream soon begins to slip into nightmare: profiled, wrongfully arrested, strip-searched and interrogated, he is transformed from a well-educated, upwardly mobile businessman...
We begin in 2011 in Lahore. At an outdoor café a Pakistani man named Changez (Riz Ahmed) tells Bobby (Liev Schreiber), an American journalist, about his experiences in the United States. Roll back ten years, and we find a younger Changez fresh from Princeton, seeking fortune and glory on Wall Street. The American Dream seems well within his grasp, complete with a smart and gorgeous artist girlfriend, Erica (Kate Hudson). But when the Twin Towers are attacked, a cultural divide slowly begins to crack open between Changez and Erica. Changez’s dream soon begins to slip into nightmare: profiled, wrongfully arrested, strip-searched and interrogated, he is transformed from a well-educated, upwardly mobile businessman...
- 2/21/2013
- by Joey Paur
- GeekTyrant
This looks really thrilling! I can’t wait for it to come to St. Louis. It looks like the director of Amelia and Monsoon Wedding has another hit. Mira Nair’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist is the bold adaptation of Mohsin Hamid’s international best-selling novel. Starring Riz Ahmed (“Trishna”), Kate Hudson, Kiefer Sutherland, and Liev Schreiber this gripping political thriller promises to be one of the most talked about films of the year. IFC Films is proud to be releasing the film on April 26th in New York at the IFC Center and in Los Angeles at the Landmark before a national rollout.
Plot synopsis:
We begin in 2011 in Lahore. At an outdoor café a Pakistani man named Changez (Riz Ahmed) tells Bobby (Liev Schreiber), an American journalist, about his experiences in the United States. Roll back ten years, and we find a younger Changez fresh from Princeton, seeking fortune and glory on Wall Street.
Plot synopsis:
We begin in 2011 in Lahore. At an outdoor café a Pakistani man named Changez (Riz Ahmed) tells Bobby (Liev Schreiber), an American journalist, about his experiences in the United States. Roll back ten years, and we find a younger Changez fresh from Princeton, seeking fortune and glory on Wall Street.
- 2/20/2013
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
It didn't take long for Steve Coogan and Michael Winterbottom's fourth collaboration The Look of Love , based on the life of London club owner and porn publisher Paul Raymond, known as "The King of Soho," to get scooped up by IFC Films who bought the North American rights on Sunday night. Previously Coogan starred in Winterbottom's 24 Hour Party People about Factory Records owner Tony Wilson, and then teamed with Winterbottom and Rob Brydon for Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story and 2011's The Trip . This will be Winterbottom's fourth film in a row to be distributed by IFC Films following The Killer Inside Me , The Trip and last year's Trishna . In between, Winterbottom finished his five-year dramatic project Everyday , which premiered at the Telluride...
- 1/21/2013
- Comingsoon.net
IFC Films has taken North American rights to Michael Winterbottom’s “The Look of Love,” which amounts to the first acquisition of a dramatic film at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. The Premieres section drama first screened Saturday night at the Eccles Theatre. Written by Matt Greenhalgh, “Look of Love” tells the real-life story of British adult magazine publisher Paul Raymond, who became one of the richest men in England. Often one to explore provocative subjects (and often with star Steve Coogan), Winterbottom returns to the festival for the first time since 2010, when his adaptation of the violent noir “The Killer Inside Me” stirred up strong reactions from viewers. IFC Films also released that film as well as recent Winterbottom works "Trishna" and "The Trip." Studiocanal and UTA repped the sale for the filmmakers. IFC Films sister company Sundance Selects acquired the documentaries "The...
- 1/21/2013
- by Jay A. Fernandez and Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Another year gone by and another lot of impressive newbies have arrived on the Bollywood scene to make their mark. Here are the Top 5 Female Debutants for the year 2012.
5. Esha Gupta – Jannat 2
At no. 5 we have the dusky beauty who won everyone’s heart with the notorious ‘serial kisser’ in not one of but two films in her very first year. Esha won Miss Photogenic in the Femina Miss India contest in 2007 and featured in the Kingfisher Calendar in 2010, before being spotted and starring in her debut film. She had one of the busiest debut years with not one but three films, Jannat 2, Raaz 3 and Chakravyuh. Just when we thought she’d get the ‘Bhatt girl’ title she surprised us in the last release, a Prakash Jha directorial. Thus far she’s gotten mixed reviews for her performance however her appearance impressed us enough to warrant a position on this countdown.
5. Esha Gupta – Jannat 2
At no. 5 we have the dusky beauty who won everyone’s heart with the notorious ‘serial kisser’ in not one of but two films in her very first year. Esha won Miss Photogenic in the Femina Miss India contest in 2007 and featured in the Kingfisher Calendar in 2010, before being spotted and starring in her debut film. She had one of the busiest debut years with not one but three films, Jannat 2, Raaz 3 and Chakravyuh. Just when we thought she’d get the ‘Bhatt girl’ title she surprised us in the last release, a Prakash Jha directorial. Thus far she’s gotten mixed reviews for her performance however her appearance impressed us enough to warrant a position on this countdown.
- 1/11/2013
- by Neelofar Jamal
- Bollyspice
This Week on DVD and Blu-ray: The Amazing Spider-Man, Rec 3: Genesis, They Live: Collector’s Edition
Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man is the main release swinging into stores this week, but it won't actually arrive until Friday. In the meantime, you'll have to settle for some catalog releases and a handful of holiday flicks. Aardman's well-reviewed animated movie Arthur Christmas debuts on DVD and Blu-ray along with the Kung Fu Panda Holiday Special and a Blu-ray release of The Muppet Christmas Carol starring Michael Caine. Some noteworthy indie releases include [Rec] 3: Genesis, Fernando Meirelles' 360, and Michael Winterbottom's Trishna, and Universal also unveils their 25-movie 100th Anniversary Collection today. If that's not enough, Criterion is re-issuing Kurosawa's classic Rashomon while Shout! Factory offers up a high-definition version of John Carpenter's They Live. Will you be buying anything this week or are you all out of bubblegum? Check out the full list of new releases after the jump. Amazon.com Widgets
For More Daily Movie Goodness,...
For More Daily Movie Goodness,...
- 11/6/2012
- by Sean
- FilmJunk
The South Asian International Film Festival (Saiff),New York has started a new initiative titled South Asian Rising Star Film Awards to celebrate its ninth anniversary.
Nominees have been announced in nine categories for the first edition of the awards. A jury consisting of Indian film critic Rajeev Mansand; author, and journalist Anupama Chopra; Siddhartha Khosla who is the front-man of NY-based band Goldspot and a singer/songwriter; American actress and musician Janina Gavankar and American actor Maulik Pancholy will select the winners.
South Asian Rising Star Awards are presented by Saiff and HBO.
The award ceremony, to be held on October 23rd, will be co hosted by American adult entertainer and Bollywood actor Sunny Leone.
Here nominees are:-
Best Lead Actor:
1. Nawazuddin Siddiqui (Gangs of Wasseypur)
2. Mohammad Samad (Gattu)
3. Ayushman Khurana (Vicky Donor)
4. AshChandler(Love, Wrinkle Free)
5. Vinay Virmani (Breakaway)
Best Lead Actress:
1. Tanishtha Chatterjee (Dekh Indian Circus)
2. Humaima Malik...
Nominees have been announced in nine categories for the first edition of the awards. A jury consisting of Indian film critic Rajeev Mansand; author, and journalist Anupama Chopra; Siddhartha Khosla who is the front-man of NY-based band Goldspot and a singer/songwriter; American actress and musician Janina Gavankar and American actor Maulik Pancholy will select the winners.
South Asian Rising Star Awards are presented by Saiff and HBO.
The award ceremony, to be held on October 23rd, will be co hosted by American adult entertainer and Bollywood actor Sunny Leone.
Here nominees are:-
Best Lead Actor:
1. Nawazuddin Siddiqui (Gangs of Wasseypur)
2. Mohammad Samad (Gattu)
3. Ayushman Khurana (Vicky Donor)
4. AshChandler(Love, Wrinkle Free)
5. Vinay Virmani (Breakaway)
Best Lead Actress:
1. Tanishtha Chatterjee (Dekh Indian Circus)
2. Humaima Malik...
- 9/26/2012
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
Five brave films have made Tiff stand out in a very particular way for me this year. Usually I, among hordes of others, am busiest chasing down the next Academy Award contenders, the high priced U.S. acquisitions or the major sleeper of the festival. Those films are repeatedly covered by the trades, and my Rights Roundup will keep a running talley on all announced pickups worldwide of all the films.
These other brave films are the films which motivate our best filmmakers to create works of art in the first place of filmmaking on my charts.
I already covered Annemarie Jacir's newest film, When I Saw You (Isa: The Match Factory), about a young Palestinian boy in 1967 who, when placed in a Jordanian camp with his mother, insists on returning to his home to find his father. Annemarie is a beautifully determined Jordanian filmmaker who will make films which reflect our world's diversity, speaking out for women and children who would otherwise have no voice. Although there are several films dealing with these refugee camps of Palestinians which were supposed to be temporary but have remained in countries such as Lebanon and Jordan. for three generations, further marginalizing the dispossessed, this one stands out for me because it shows the woman and child in their own private spheres, marginalizing the male politics of the situation. The child's refusal to accept artificial barriers and borders triumphs in the end. That is the only hope for world unity.
Its opposite is realized in Costa Gavras' new film Capital, where money and corporate interests know no borders, and the socialist dream is turned on its head. This film was supported by the French; When I Saw You was supported by Abu Dhabi film funds. Both are important views of life in two vastly different segments of the world today. Will either see wide distribution? The Match Factory who has the most films in Toronto of any sales agent is selling the former and Elle Driver is selling the latter. We'll watch the sales on these two issue oriented dramas' sales.
Another film The Match Factory is handling is Hannah Arendt, directed by Margarethe von Trotta, another filmmaker who is fearless in facing deeply philosophical and important issue. Hannah Arendt, one of the greatest political analysts of the Xx° century, who coined the phrase, "the banality of evil" when she covered the Jerusalem trial of Adolph Eichmann in 1961, and, in so doing, lost many of her best friends, is here portrayed by Barbara Sukowa, who revives the 60s in the New York German Jewish intellectual milieu, reminding us of the days when the New School was tackling tough issues and New Yorker magazine was articulating issues of great importance which today are just as urgent as they were then. The nature of totalitarianism includes victims and oppressors in a cycle of silence which in turn, creates evil because no one speaks up to protest. It took Von Trotta 10 years to make this film in spite of her winning the Venice Fest's Golden Lion for Marianne and Juliane in 1981, a story sharing the theme that von Trotta uses throughout her works, that “the personal is political", or Barbara Sukowa's winning Best Actress for in Venice for the same movie and Best Actress at the 1986 Cannes Film Festival for her work in von Trotta's film Rosa Luxemburg. The New York of this story ("Paradise" as the most wonderful Barbara Sukowa named it in Hannah Arendt) is so well captured because Barbara Sukowa is not only the consummate German as seen in her roles in Fassbinder's films but is also a longtime New Yorker, married to the artist Robert Longo. In addition to those credentials, the scriptwriter is Pamela Katz who wrote Von Trotta's Rosenstrasse is also a New Yorker married to the German Dp Florian Ballhaus (The Devil Wears Prada), the son of the legendary Michael Ballhaus. They all live in the same New York that they inherited from the very people they recreate in the film!
And yet another brave film about a brave woman is The Patience Stone (Isa: Le Pacte) by Atik Rahimi which was just picked up for U.S. by Sony Pictures Classics which will ignite a lot more sales for Le Pacte and which puts it into the Best Foreign Language Academy Award company for 2012. So far, Brazil is the only buyer registered on Cinando. Watch the film on Cinando! It is pure poetry. Piers Handling himself recommended it and it was the buzz film of the festival. It is a movie which Muslim fundamentalists would never allow to be made; and they will hate it.
The issue of religious fundamentalism was also treated with great delicacy in Mira Nair's story of cross cultural belief systems at odds. The Reluctant Fundamentalist (Isa: K5 International who also sold the great sleeper, The Visitors) stars Riz Ahmed, Kate Hudson, Liev Schreiber and Kiefer Sutherland. Riz Ahmed who also starred in Trishna is someone who you will want to see again, and I hope we see him soon! He graduated Oxford University with a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics and later enrolled into London's Central School of Speech and Drama. He's quoted in IMDb as saying, "[Oxford University] is socially unrepresentative about the real world. The first person I met, I asked to borrow a phone charger. She looked at me, laughed in my face, and told me with no irony or malice that I looked just like Ali G." Ironically, he reminds me of Gordon Warnicke who played Omar in My Beautiful Laundrette and who is British born of South American and German ancestry (and who is probably Jewish). IFC snapped up North American rights to this outstanding film in which Pakistan and Wall Street unite and divide as a smart young Pakistani enters the Hallowed Halls of the Ivy League, Big Business on Wall Street and High Society via Romance until September 11, 2001 shatters the illusions of peace and prosperity we all had been harboring.
There are many more brave and wonderful films which screened this year at Tiff, but for me, these were the ones I was honored to catch. I hope my readers get the chance to see these!
These other brave films are the films which motivate our best filmmakers to create works of art in the first place of filmmaking on my charts.
I already covered Annemarie Jacir's newest film, When I Saw You (Isa: The Match Factory), about a young Palestinian boy in 1967 who, when placed in a Jordanian camp with his mother, insists on returning to his home to find his father. Annemarie is a beautifully determined Jordanian filmmaker who will make films which reflect our world's diversity, speaking out for women and children who would otherwise have no voice. Although there are several films dealing with these refugee camps of Palestinians which were supposed to be temporary but have remained in countries such as Lebanon and Jordan. for three generations, further marginalizing the dispossessed, this one stands out for me because it shows the woman and child in their own private spheres, marginalizing the male politics of the situation. The child's refusal to accept artificial barriers and borders triumphs in the end. That is the only hope for world unity.
Its opposite is realized in Costa Gavras' new film Capital, where money and corporate interests know no borders, and the socialist dream is turned on its head. This film was supported by the French; When I Saw You was supported by Abu Dhabi film funds. Both are important views of life in two vastly different segments of the world today. Will either see wide distribution? The Match Factory who has the most films in Toronto of any sales agent is selling the former and Elle Driver is selling the latter. We'll watch the sales on these two issue oriented dramas' sales.
Another film The Match Factory is handling is Hannah Arendt, directed by Margarethe von Trotta, another filmmaker who is fearless in facing deeply philosophical and important issue. Hannah Arendt, one of the greatest political analysts of the Xx° century, who coined the phrase, "the banality of evil" when she covered the Jerusalem trial of Adolph Eichmann in 1961, and, in so doing, lost many of her best friends, is here portrayed by Barbara Sukowa, who revives the 60s in the New York German Jewish intellectual milieu, reminding us of the days when the New School was tackling tough issues and New Yorker magazine was articulating issues of great importance which today are just as urgent as they were then. The nature of totalitarianism includes victims and oppressors in a cycle of silence which in turn, creates evil because no one speaks up to protest. It took Von Trotta 10 years to make this film in spite of her winning the Venice Fest's Golden Lion for Marianne and Juliane in 1981, a story sharing the theme that von Trotta uses throughout her works, that “the personal is political", or Barbara Sukowa's winning Best Actress for in Venice for the same movie and Best Actress at the 1986 Cannes Film Festival for her work in von Trotta's film Rosa Luxemburg. The New York of this story ("Paradise" as the most wonderful Barbara Sukowa named it in Hannah Arendt) is so well captured because Barbara Sukowa is not only the consummate German as seen in her roles in Fassbinder's films but is also a longtime New Yorker, married to the artist Robert Longo. In addition to those credentials, the scriptwriter is Pamela Katz who wrote Von Trotta's Rosenstrasse is also a New Yorker married to the German Dp Florian Ballhaus (The Devil Wears Prada), the son of the legendary Michael Ballhaus. They all live in the same New York that they inherited from the very people they recreate in the film!
And yet another brave film about a brave woman is The Patience Stone (Isa: Le Pacte) by Atik Rahimi which was just picked up for U.S. by Sony Pictures Classics which will ignite a lot more sales for Le Pacte and which puts it into the Best Foreign Language Academy Award company for 2012. So far, Brazil is the only buyer registered on Cinando. Watch the film on Cinando! It is pure poetry. Piers Handling himself recommended it and it was the buzz film of the festival. It is a movie which Muslim fundamentalists would never allow to be made; and they will hate it.
The issue of religious fundamentalism was also treated with great delicacy in Mira Nair's story of cross cultural belief systems at odds. The Reluctant Fundamentalist (Isa: K5 International who also sold the great sleeper, The Visitors) stars Riz Ahmed, Kate Hudson, Liev Schreiber and Kiefer Sutherland. Riz Ahmed who also starred in Trishna is someone who you will want to see again, and I hope we see him soon! He graduated Oxford University with a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics and later enrolled into London's Central School of Speech and Drama. He's quoted in IMDb as saying, "[Oxford University] is socially unrepresentative about the real world. The first person I met, I asked to borrow a phone charger. She looked at me, laughed in my face, and told me with no irony or malice that I looked just like Ali G." Ironically, he reminds me of Gordon Warnicke who played Omar in My Beautiful Laundrette and who is British born of South American and German ancestry (and who is probably Jewish). IFC snapped up North American rights to this outstanding film in which Pakistan and Wall Street unite and divide as a smart young Pakistani enters the Hallowed Halls of the Ivy League, Big Business on Wall Street and High Society via Romance until September 11, 2001 shatters the illusions of peace and prosperity we all had been harboring.
There are many more brave and wonderful films which screened this year at Tiff, but for me, these were the ones I was honored to catch. I hope my readers get the chance to see these!
- 9/17/2012
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Michael Winterbottom is as varied a director as he is prolific. In just the last few years, he has directed a sweeping Indian epic (Trishna), a rollicking road trip comedy (The Trip), a globalization documentary (The Shock Doctrine), and a violent Hollywood crime drama (The Killer Inside Me). So it's no surprise that his latest, Everyday, is a divergence from any of these films, as well as different from much of anything that's been done lately at all. Set in rural England, Everyday is the story of the difficulties a family must face when the patriarch is imprisoned, leaving his wife to provide for their four young children. With a short prison term of only a few years, the promise of the father's release...
- 9/13/2012
- Screen Anarchy
While “The Master” and “Cloud Atlas” stormed Tiff this festival year with their sweeping performances and expansive themes (one film a little more successfully than the other, by most accounts...), it was inevitable that many other films, even from world-renowned directors, were going to fall under the radar. One such film is probably the latest from British helmer Michael Winterbottom – last seen adding to his ultra-prolific output with the drama “Trishna” – with his latest, the long-in-the-offing, “Everyday.” Filmed over the course of five years, with the casting of four real-life siblings (Shaun, Katrina, Stephanie, and Robert Kirk), Winterbottom has instead of simply letting a “7-Up” style documentary approach guide the narrative, used the elapsed time to provide detail and contrast to a plot that follows Karen (Shirley Henderson) dealing with her relationship with her jailed husband Ian (John Simm), in...
- 9/11/2012
- by Charlie Schmidlin
- The Playlist
The star of ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ Freida Pinto’s wild sex scene has taken the web with storm. The video shows Freida making brutal sex with her co-star Riz Ahmed in her upcoming film, ‘Trishna’. It shows that the boy wants to get every slice of Freida and gets too wild with her. The trailer shows that the boy has deep lust for the girl and indulged in some brutal love-making. The scene is so steamy and aggressive that the producer of the film has decided to come up with two versions of the movie, English and Hindi. For the Indian audience, they will cut few scenes of love-making while for the western audience they will keep the s...
- 8/29/2012
- Bollywoodmantra.com
Michael Winterbottom is a predictably unpredictable filmmaker – always zigging when you think he's going to zag, and taking on material that is uniform only in the sense that it's always very different and very challenging. Everything from his hardcore sex romp "9 Songs" to his sci-fi-ish "Code 46" to a bunch of movies that don't have numbers in the title (like his terrific Southern noir "The Killer Inside Me" and his ridiculously funny "The Trip"), Winterbottom constantly surprises and even if they aren't all classics (like his revisionist literary take "Trishna" from earlier this year), they're all interesting. And with the release of the teaser for his new film "Everyday," set to premiere at this year's Toronto International Film Festival, his trend for eclecticism seems to have continued unabated. Originally titled "Seven Days" (and later "Then Here and There"),...
- 8/27/2012
- by Drew Taylor
- The Playlist
Although he’s released at least a film every year for the last decade, the prolific Michael Winterbottom (24 Hour Party People, The Killer Inside Me, Trishna) is yet again surprising us. For the last five years the director has been shooting the drama Everyday just a few weeks at a time, capturing a man (John Simm) who is incarcerated for drug smuggling, yet trying to maintain a relationship with his wife (Shirley Henderson) and four children. After years of work, he’s now set to premiere the film in just a few weeks at Tiff.
After the first photos were revealed last week, we’ve now get the first festival teaser which is made up of two clips. There’s not too much to go on, but we get a glimpse of a car ride (likely not one as funny as Winterbottom captured in his last film, The Trip) and...
After the first photos were revealed last week, we’ve now get the first festival teaser which is made up of two clips. There’s not too much to go on, but we get a glimpse of a car ride (likely not one as funny as Winterbottom captured in his last film, The Trip) and...
- 8/25/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
It's taken over a month to unveil the expansive, hugely exciting lineup for this year's Toronto International Film Festival, and with opening night (the premiere of Rian Johnson's "Looper") a little over two weeks away, the slate was finally completed this morning by a selection of announcements from the Masters, Mavericks and Discovery strands of the festival. And while many of the new films were already announced, there were still a couple of surprises in there, first and foremost a new film by Michael Winterbottom. The director, who was at Tiff last year with "Trishna," will unveil the world premiere of "Everyday," a made-for-tv project that's been shot over the course of five years, following a couple (John Simm and Shirley Henderson) struggling to carry on when he's sent to prison. The film will air on Channel 4 in the U.K. later this year, but the festival bow...
- 8/21/2012
- by Oliver Lyttelton
- The Playlist
Trishna
Directed by Michael Winterbottom
Written by Michael Winterbottom
United Kingdom, 2011
Capturing a character’s inner turmoil is always a challenge, but far more so in a movie than in a book. An author can go into massive detail on the page to tell us exactly how a character feels; a screenwriter and director has to either include voiceover narration or let the actors they’re working with convey a person’s deepest pain with dialogue and facial expressions. In Trishna, a modern-day retelling of Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles, writer and director Michael Winterbottom steers clear of narration, focusing instead on the actress playing the title character, Freida Pinto. While Pinto, and the film surrounding her, is beautiful to look at, much of Trishna’s struggle isn’t brought to life as well as it could be.
Trishna is a tragic love story set in India,...
Directed by Michael Winterbottom
Written by Michael Winterbottom
United Kingdom, 2011
Capturing a character’s inner turmoil is always a challenge, but far more so in a movie than in a book. An author can go into massive detail on the page to tell us exactly how a character feels; a screenwriter and director has to either include voiceover narration or let the actors they’re working with convey a person’s deepest pain with dialogue and facial expressions. In Trishna, a modern-day retelling of Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles, writer and director Michael Winterbottom steers clear of narration, focusing instead on the actress playing the title character, Freida Pinto. While Pinto, and the film surrounding her, is beautiful to look at, much of Trishna’s struggle isn’t brought to life as well as it could be.
Trishna is a tragic love story set in India,...
- 8/11/2012
- by Josh Spiegel
- SoundOnSight
After garnering a fantastic response whilst competing at the International Critics Week at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival, Peddlers, starring Gulshan Deviah, Siddharth Menon, Kriti Malhotra and Nimrat Kaur and directed by Vasan Bala, is all set to screen at the Tiff this year.
The film has been programmed for the City to City section with an aim to bring global cities to Toronto audiences, where the focus will be on Mumbai this year.
Produced by Guneet Monga and Anurag Kashyap, Peddlers has definitely been creating an impact with the buzz around it in India and in the international festival circuits. Speaking about the film, Guneet Monga says, “Tiff is among world’s top movie events, and is a gateway for international films into the North American region. We are very proud and honoured to have not one, but four of our films including Peddlers at the festival this year.
The film has been programmed for the City to City section with an aim to bring global cities to Toronto audiences, where the focus will be on Mumbai this year.
Produced by Guneet Monga and Anurag Kashyap, Peddlers has definitely been creating an impact with the buzz around it in India and in the international festival circuits. Speaking about the film, Guneet Monga says, “Tiff is among world’s top movie events, and is a gateway for international films into the North American region. We are very proud and honoured to have not one, but four of our films including Peddlers at the festival this year.
- 8/3/2012
- by Press Releases
- Bollyspice
While I absolutely respect what Michael Winterbottom’s Trishna attempts to say about gender roles, changing cultural norms, and the concept of responsibility in modern India, I found myself utterly disengaged by the material itself. The film asks us to invest in its story, subtext, and characters without providing anything compelling to invest in, a central paradox that cripples the film early on and compounds in significance until the poorly developed, overwrought conclusion.
An issue of perspective is, perhaps, the film’s most debilitating flaw. Trishna is, as the title suggests, our main character, and the film is, above all else, a chronicle of her experiences as she tries to navigate a complex and fluid social landscape. Yet the film is not told from her point-of-view, nor from the perspective of a friend or outsider. Neither still is the perspective omnipotent, for the majority of characters are mysterious and obscure,...
An issue of perspective is, perhaps, the film’s most debilitating flaw. Trishna is, as the title suggests, our main character, and the film is, above all else, a chronicle of her experiences as she tries to navigate a complex and fluid social landscape. Yet the film is not told from her point-of-view, nor from the perspective of a friend or outsider. Neither still is the perspective omnipotent, for the majority of characters are mysterious and obscure,...
- 7/27/2012
- by Jonathan R. Lack
- We Got This Covered
Based on the classic Thomas Hardy novel Tess of the D’Ubervilles, acclaimed director Michael Winterbottom has re-imagined this tragic story as Trishna and setting it in modern day India.
Synopsis: Trishna lives with her family in a village in Rajasthan, India’s largest state. As the eldest daughter, she works in a nearby resort to help pay the bills. Jay is the wealthy son of a property developer. When he takes up managing a resort at his father’s request, he meets Trishna at a dance and their fates cross. Jay finds every opportunity to win Trishna’s affection and she accepts his efforts with shy curiosity. But when the two move to Mumbai and become a couple, Jay’s deep family bond threatens the young lovers’ bliss. Trishna is a powerful look at the tension between ancient privilege and modern equality, between codes of urban and rural life...
Synopsis: Trishna lives with her family in a village in Rajasthan, India’s largest state. As the eldest daughter, she works in a nearby resort to help pay the bills. Jay is the wealthy son of a property developer. When he takes up managing a resort at his father’s request, he meets Trishna at a dance and their fates cross. Jay finds every opportunity to win Trishna’s affection and she accepts his efforts with shy curiosity. But when the two move to Mumbai and become a couple, Jay’s deep family bond threatens the young lovers’ bliss. Trishna is a powerful look at the tension between ancient privilege and modern equality, between codes of urban and rural life...
- 7/27/2012
- by Stacey Yount
- Bollyspice
Review by Dane Marti
Starring the spellbinding Indian actress, Freida Pinto, the film, Trishna impressively examines a modern relationship in all its complex angles – by turns, the story is tragic, realistic, subtle and entertaining: Nothing in this film seems plastic or contrived.
Neither as hyperkinetic as Slumdog Millionaire or as Hollywood-infused as Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes (two of Pinto’s earlier hit movies), this evocative film is a treat in more ways than one:
Trishna lives with her family in a rather poor village in an Indian state known as Rajasthan. She’s the oldest daughter and definitely the prettiest, although the entire world doesn’t stop and stare hungrily as she walks the countryside. The role could easily have been played by an average looking person and still worked as well. The reason why this actress was chosen for the role is that she is talented,...
Starring the spellbinding Indian actress, Freida Pinto, the film, Trishna impressively examines a modern relationship in all its complex angles – by turns, the story is tragic, realistic, subtle and entertaining: Nothing in this film seems plastic or contrived.
Neither as hyperkinetic as Slumdog Millionaire or as Hollywood-infused as Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes (two of Pinto’s earlier hit movies), this evocative film is a treat in more ways than one:
Trishna lives with her family in a rather poor village in an Indian state known as Rajasthan. She’s the oldest daughter and definitely the prettiest, although the entire world doesn’t stop and stare hungrily as she walks the countryside. The role could easily have been played by an average looking person and still worked as well. The reason why this actress was chosen for the role is that she is talented,...
- 7/27/2012
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Toronto International Film Festival 2012: Opening Press Conference – Galas and Special Presentations
Today the Toronto International Film Festival (Tiff) began unveiling the films that will feature as part of this year’s festival line-up. Piers Handling, CEO and Director of Tiff, and Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director of the festival revealed the films that will be screened as Galas and Special Presentations at the 37th Toronto International Film Festival.
Fans of South Asian and diaspora cinema will, no doubt, be delighted to learn that there are several films to be featured this year. Probably one of the most anticipated films for South Asian film fans is Deepa Mehta’s Midnight’s Children, the film adaptation of Salman Rushdie’s award-winning novel, which will have its World Premiere at TIFF2012. Mehta’s film stars Satya Bhabha (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) as the protagonist Saleem Sinai, and features a cast well known to fans of South Asian cinema, including Shriya Saran, Darsheel Safary (Taare Zameen Paar), Anupam Kher,...
Fans of South Asian and diaspora cinema will, no doubt, be delighted to learn that there are several films to be featured this year. Probably one of the most anticipated films for South Asian film fans is Deepa Mehta’s Midnight’s Children, the film adaptation of Salman Rushdie’s award-winning novel, which will have its World Premiere at TIFF2012. Mehta’s film stars Satya Bhabha (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) as the protagonist Saleem Sinai, and features a cast well known to fans of South Asian cinema, including Shriya Saran, Darsheel Safary (Taare Zameen Paar), Anupam Kher,...
- 7/24/2012
- by Katherine Matthews
- Bollyspice
As the summer season begins to wind down, it’s time to start looking toward the especially strong fall line-up. With that, we’ve got the first news of a fall film festival opener, coming from the 69th Venice Film Festival. Toronto will follow-up tomorrow with news of their major gala and special presentations, but the Italian festival, which officially kicks off the fall film festival season, has given its opening slot to Mira Nair‘s next drama The Reluctant Fundamentalist. [Venice]
Far away from Amelia, Nair’s last film and a failed attempt at a Hollywood biopic, this project is described as “riveting international political thriller.” Led by Riz Ahmed (last seen in Trishna, who gave a great performance in the dark comedy Four Lions), he’s joined by a partial American cast including Kate Hudson, Kiefer Sutherland and Liev Schreiber and Martin Donovan.
While it isn’t a new film from Paul Thomas Anderson,...
Far away from Amelia, Nair’s last film and a failed attempt at a Hollywood biopic, this project is described as “riveting international political thriller.” Led by Riz Ahmed (last seen in Trishna, who gave a great performance in the dark comedy Four Lions), he’s joined by a partial American cast including Kate Hudson, Kiefer Sutherland and Liev Schreiber and Martin Donovan.
While it isn’t a new film from Paul Thomas Anderson,...
- 7/23/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
Trishna
Written and directed by Michael Winterbottom
UK, 2011
Among contemporary cinema’s more versatile and prolific directors, one of the few sources of inspiration Michael Winterbottom has repeatedly returned to is the work of Thomas Hardy. Jude, his 1996 adaptation of Hardy’s Jude the Obscure, was effectively his breakthrough film; 2000’s The Claim, meanwhile, was loosely based on The Mayor of Casterbridge, applying content from that novel’s Victorian England setting to an American western. Winterbottom’s latest Hardy adaptation, Trishna, has more in common with that latter film in that it transfers the source material of Tess of the d’Urbervilles to a different setting and culture. Set in India, Trishna differs from both of the director’s previous Hardy adaptations in that it tries to apply the source’s themes and narrative to the contemporary version of its setting. The result is not very successful.
While it would...
Written and directed by Michael Winterbottom
UK, 2011
Among contemporary cinema’s more versatile and prolific directors, one of the few sources of inspiration Michael Winterbottom has repeatedly returned to is the work of Thomas Hardy. Jude, his 1996 adaptation of Hardy’s Jude the Obscure, was effectively his breakthrough film; 2000’s The Claim, meanwhile, was loosely based on The Mayor of Casterbridge, applying content from that novel’s Victorian England setting to an American western. Winterbottom’s latest Hardy adaptation, Trishna, has more in common with that latter film in that it transfers the source material of Tess of the d’Urbervilles to a different setting and culture. Set in India, Trishna differs from both of the director’s previous Hardy adaptations in that it tries to apply the source’s themes and narrative to the contemporary version of its setting. The result is not very successful.
While it would...
- 7/22/2012
- by Josh Slater-Williams
- SoundOnSight
Chicago – Transitions are one of the juiciest themes to have in a film, as a character or circumstance takes a path from one way-of-life to another. Director Michael Winterbottom has created “Trishna,” a story based on a 19th Century British novel, but woven into the present day India. Frieda Pinto (“Slumdog Millionaire”) stars as the title character.
Rating: 3.5/5.0
By relating the tale of a rural Indian girl, and her life cycle from the trap of an old way of subsistence to the glitz of the new urban centers like Mumbai, Winterbottom expresses a fascinating portrait of new and traditional male/female roles in India. They are still being figured out everywhere, but in these more ancient cultures change comes at a pace of a glacier. But like a glacier, what is left behind it is the transition, a hope for female equality and a new definition for love. The change...
Rating: 3.5/5.0
By relating the tale of a rural Indian girl, and her life cycle from the trap of an old way of subsistence to the glitz of the new urban centers like Mumbai, Winterbottom expresses a fascinating portrait of new and traditional male/female roles in India. They are still being figured out everywhere, but in these more ancient cultures change comes at a pace of a glacier. But like a glacier, what is left behind it is the transition, a hope for female equality and a new definition for love. The change...
- 7/21/2012
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Michael Winterbottom’s Trishna (2011) is based on Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles. Set in present day Rajasthan and Mumbai, Freida Pinto plays the title character of ‘Trishna’. A beautiful 19-year-old who is the daughter of a poor driver, Trishna falls in love with the affluent Jay (Riz Ahmed). Their love however, is not so simple.
Having had the opportunity to work alongside Winterbottom as chief translator for Trishna, I was mesmerised by Pinto’s character. All at once she was fragile and delicate, yet she held a fire and self determination within her. Trishna is a character which perhaps can be related to by anyone. The question of family honour and shame seemed to hang in the background as Trishna lived her life through the different shades of her love story with Jay. Winterbottom has touched on the delicate issue of daughters being the pride and honour of an Indian family.
Having had the opportunity to work alongside Winterbottom as chief translator for Trishna, I was mesmerised by Pinto’s character. All at once she was fragile and delicate, yet she held a fire and self determination within her. Trishna is a character which perhaps can be related to by anyone. The question of family honour and shame seemed to hang in the background as Trishna lived her life through the different shades of her love story with Jay. Winterbottom has touched on the delicate issue of daughters being the pride and honour of an Indian family.
- 7/19/2012
- by Aashi Gahlot
- Bollyspice
New York, July 16: Freida Pinto, who became an overnight star after the success of "Slumdog Millionaire" has described her latest flick "Trishna" a beautiful, yet tragic tale.
The movie, which is an adaptation of Thomas Hardy's 19th century novel 'Tess of the d'Urbervilles', has been directed by Michael Winterbottom
The flick is set in rural Rajasthan and narrates a tale of a village girl torn between.
The movie, which is an adaptation of Thomas Hardy's 19th century novel 'Tess of the d'Urbervilles', has been directed by Michael Winterbottom
The flick is set in rural Rajasthan and narrates a tale of a village girl torn between.
- 7/16/2012
- by Shiva Prakash
- RealBollywood.com
Transplanting the well-loved, tragic romance of Tess of the D’Urbervilles to India, Michael Winterbottom (A Mighty Heart, The Trip) trains his masterful lense towards one of the brightest young stars of a generation, Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire), in Trishna. Pinto soars in her most revealing performance yet–the eldest daughter or a poor family in Rajasthan, India. She works in a nearby resort to help pay the bills. Jay (Riz Ahmed, Four Lions) is the wealthy son of a property developer who takes up managing the resort at his father’s request. When he meets Trishna at a dance, their fates become intertwined. Jay finds every opportunity to win Trishna’s affection and she accepts his efforts with shy curiosity. But when the two move to Mumbai and become a couple, Jay’s deep family bond threatens the young lovers’ bliss.
Trishna opens in St. Louis Friday, July 27th at Landmark.S Tivoli Theatre.
Trishna opens in St. Louis Friday, July 27th at Landmark.S Tivoli Theatre.
- 7/15/2012
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Washington, July 15: Freida Pinto, who became an overnight celebrity after the multiple-Oscar winning "Slumdog Millionaire", views her new film "Trishna" as a "very beautiful and yet tragic" tale of a village girl torn between her traditional upbringing and the dreams of a girl from modern India.
Based on Thomas Hardy's classic "Tess of the d'Urbervilles", British filmmaker Michael Winterbottom's newest film is set in rural Rajasthan. It has Pinto playing the title role of Trishna, an auto-rickshaw driver's daughter.
Based on Thomas Hardy's classic "Tess of the d'Urbervilles", British filmmaker Michael Winterbottom's newest film is set in rural Rajasthan. It has Pinto playing the title role of Trishna, an auto-rickshaw driver's daughter.
- 7/15/2012
- by Ketali Mehta
- RealBollywood.com
With the weekend on the horizon it looks like Ice Age: Continental Drift is going to threaten a $50 million opening despite the fact Fox was trying to shuttle out there nothing more than a high-$30 million result to lower expectations. Yeah, right. After $16.5 million on Friday, the pic is looking decent so far and overall should fair better than the last installment's $66.7 million over its first six days after opening on a Tuesday in 2009. Ice Age, however, is already a massive hit worldwide, bringing in over $235 million internationally before even hitting domestic theaters. The film has made approximately $254.5 million so far on a budget I've seen reported around $85-100 million. Either way, I think an Ice Age 5 has already got to be in the works. In second is last weekend's #1, The Amazing Spider-Man which is looking at a solid 50% drop after last weekend's $62 million bow. Last weekend's other new release,...
- 7/14/2012
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
It's impossible to predict filmmaker Michael Winterbottom's next move, other than to assume it will be nothing like his last. The English director went from the graphic music-driven romance 9 Songs to the cheeky esoteric comedy Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story to the harrowing documentary The Road to Guantanamo. More recently, he made the controversial and sickeningly violent The Killer Inside Me, then followed it up with the jaunty buddy comedy/travel doc The Trip, now with Trishna he has translated Thomas Hardy's novel Tess of the d'Urbervilles, which was set in 1870s England, into a sensual drama set in contemporary India. Freida Pinto stars as the title character, the lowly daughter of an auto rickshaw owner who enters into a doomed romance with the son of a wealth real estate developer. Riz Ahmed of Four Lions co-stars as her lover. While the first trailer reveled in...
- 7/14/2012
- cinemablend.com
New York, July 14: Indian actor Freida Pinto took New York City by storm with a glamorous red carpet premiere of her new film "Trishna" which released Friday at the IFC Centre and Lincoln Plaza in New York and The Landmark in Los Angeles.
Other guests attending the July 10 premiere at the IFC Centre in downtown Manhattan included actress Meg Ryan, music mogul Russell Simmons, actor Billy Connolly, and fashion designers Calvin Klein and.
Other guests attending the July 10 premiere at the IFC Centre in downtown Manhattan included actress Meg Ryan, music mogul Russell Simmons, actor Billy Connolly, and fashion designers Calvin Klein and.
- 7/14/2012
- by Ketali Mehta
- RealBollywood.com
Let's take a moment to step away from the fervor and chaos of Comic-Con to tout a limited release film worth seeking out this weekend. Granted, the box office will be slow with the only new wide release being Ice Age: Continental Drift, giving you the perfect opportunity to check out Trishna. What is Trishna? Directed by acclaimed English director Michael Winterbottom, Trishna is a loose adaptation of the classic Thomas Hardy novel Tess of the D'Urbervilles, set in modern-day India. The film stars Freida Pinto in the title role as a 19-year-old woman from a poor village who wins the attention of a young man from a rich family, played by Riz Ahemd. The film follows her journey as she experiences the different cultures of her country, moving between her small village to the...
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- 7/13/2012
- by affiliates@fandango.com
- Fandango
For more than twenty years, Michael Winterbottom has kept up a restless pace, directing almost a movie a year. So he can’t be faulted for being lazy or blocked. And there’s always thoughtfulness, a sense of purpose at the core of everything he’s attempted. But, perhaps as a symptom of his assembly-line approach to his filmmaking, Winterbottom’s track record is, by and large, pretty mixed. For every In this World and A Mighty Heart, he’s churned out half-baked product like Code 46, 9 Songs and his latest, Trishna Winterbottom’s adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Ubervilles....
- 7/13/2012
- Pastemagazine.com
This is the truth.
The truth love has taught me.
My love, you showed me how the world really is.
(from one of Amit Trivedi’s very fine original songs from Trishna)
Michael Winterbottom’s latest film, Trishna, is an adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s novel Tess of the D’Urbervilles. Winterbottom, of course, is no stranger to Hardy’s stories, having previously adapted both Jude the Obscure (Jude) and The Mayor of Casterbridge (The Claim). Whereas Jude was a fairly faithful retelling of the book, at least as far as the setting was concerned, The Claim played with the setting, moving it to California during the 19th century gold rush. And such is the case with Trishna, too. Winterbottom retains the essential theme, that of a young woman whose life is controlled by social constraints and the vagaries of fate, but he takes the brilliant step of moving it...
The truth love has taught me.
My love, you showed me how the world really is.
(from one of Amit Trivedi’s very fine original songs from Trishna)
Michael Winterbottom’s latest film, Trishna, is an adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s novel Tess of the D’Urbervilles. Winterbottom, of course, is no stranger to Hardy’s stories, having previously adapted both Jude the Obscure (Jude) and The Mayor of Casterbridge (The Claim). Whereas Jude was a fairly faithful retelling of the book, at least as far as the setting was concerned, The Claim played with the setting, moving it to California during the 19th century gold rush. And such is the case with Trishna, too. Winterbottom retains the essential theme, that of a young woman whose life is controlled by social constraints and the vagaries of fate, but he takes the brilliant step of moving it...
- 7/13/2012
- by Katherine Matthews
- Bollyspice
[In view of the film's limited theatrical release in the U.S. starting today, we revisit our review from the 2011 London International Film Festival.] Even in Michael Winterbottom's prolific and varied film career, it is probably inevitable that he would again tackle an adaptation of a classic english novel, and (as is befitting his Britishness) make a film set in India. His latest film is a modern retelling of Thomas Hardy's novel Tess of the D'Ubervilles. And while certain adjustments are made, the basic message of the novel remains the same in the film: men are untrustworthy, selfish jerks. The Indian setting might seem at first to be a cultural judgement, but Trishna's story is one that most women could relate to in some...
- 7/13/2012
- Screen Anarchy
Freida Pinto took New York City by storm with the glamorous red carpet premiere of her new film Trishna which releases on July 13 at the IFC Center and Lincoln Plaza in New York and The Landmark in Los Angeles. Directed by Michael Winterbottom and co-starring Riz Ahmed, the Rajasthan-set drama won acclaim at the Toronto International Film Festival and the Tribeca Film Festival and now releases in theaters. On July 20, it will release in additional U.S. cities including San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, Seattle, San Diego, and Washington D.C.
Based on Thomas Hardy’s classic novel Tess of the D’Ubervilles, master filmmaker Michael Winterbottom’s newest film Trishna stars Freida Pinto in the title role. Trishna lives with her family in a village in Rajasthan, India’s largest state. As the eldest daughter, she works in a nearby resort to help pay the bills. Jay (Riz Ahmed, Four Lions...
Based on Thomas Hardy’s classic novel Tess of the D’Ubervilles, master filmmaker Michael Winterbottom’s newest film Trishna stars Freida Pinto in the title role. Trishna lives with her family in a village in Rajasthan, India’s largest state. As the eldest daughter, she works in a nearby resort to help pay the bills. Jay (Riz Ahmed, Four Lions...
- 7/13/2012
- by Stacey Yount
- Bollyspice
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