The ongoing struggle with violence against women is at the heart of the low-key but quietly affecting drama, ajii (or Granny), in competition at Biff’s New Currents section. Director Devashish Makhija refers to his spare sophomore effort, following 2013’s Oonga, as an Indian spin on a Korean revenge thriller, and in some ways it is, but Makhija and co-writer Mirat Trivedi have more on their minds that gloriously gory stabbings and ultra-brutal beatings. Assured and oddly dispassionate, but not unsympathetic, ajji is a sure bet for both broad spectrum and niche festivals, and could find art house audiences around the...
- 10/16/2017
- by Elizabeth Kerr
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
When a ten-year-old slum kid is brutally raped and left for dead, her elderly grandmother takes matters into her own hands. Fuelled by a lifetime of oppression and injustice, trapped in a social hierarchy in which the rich and powerful are untouchable, “ajji” (literally "granny") vows to have her revenge. Written and directed by Devashish Makhija, a successful short filmmaker whose only previous feature is 2013's Oonga, ajji takes a straightforward revenge story and infuses it with savage social commentary. Living on the fringes of society, eking out a living however they can - even if that means breaking the law - ajji’s family are ordinary, hardworking people. But when young Manda (Sharvani Suryavanshi) is violated, they all suddenly fall under the scrutiny of the...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 10/14/2017
- Screen Anarchy
The Busan International Film Festival is about a month away and with their recent lineup announcement we are starting to see lots of exciting promotional material for the upcoming films. India is very well represented in this year's Busan lineup, with eleven films altogether, including new projects from Anurag Kashyap (Mukkabaaz/The Brawler), Hansal Mehta (Omerta), Shlok Sharma (Zoo) and SS Rajamouli's worldwide blockbuster Baahubali: The Conclusion. However, one of the most exciting for me is the world premiere of Devashish Makhija's sophomore feature, Ajji (Granny). In 2012, Makhija directed a little film called Oonga, about a young boy inspired by a performance of the Ramayana who turns himself into Lord Ram and his attempt to save his town from Maoist Naxalite rebels. The story is...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 9/12/2017
- Screen Anarchy
I'm a huge fan of both director Devashish Makhija and actor Manoj Bajpayee, so when I heard that they'd made a film together I rushed to find it. The resulting product, a short titled Taandav, is absolutely fantastic. While shorts often get short shrift when we talk about independent films, and most are only ever seen at film festivals, in India the paradigm is shifting a bit and shorts have become a more accepted form of expression in the cinema. A little bit about the main talent here before I go any further. Devashish Makhija first came to my attention almost three years ago as the director of an Oriya language film titled Oonga. The film played the New York Indian Film Festival in 2013...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
- 2/9/2016
- Screen Anarchy
Abhishek Kapoor’s Kai Po Che will open the 13th edition of the River to River Florence Indian Film Festival. Besides, the festival will host a tribute to actress Shabana Azmi and screen some of the films that she has acted in – Fire by Deepa Mehta, Ankur by Shyam Benegal and City of Joy by Roland Joffe.
The festival that showcases Indian feature films, documentaries and shorts will be held from November 22-28, 2013 in Florence, Italy.
Five feature films will compete in the Feature Films Competition. The Coffin Maker by Veena Bakshi, Monsoon Shootout by Amit Kumar, Lessons in Forgetting by Unni Vijayan, Heroine by Madhur Bhandarkar and Oonga by Devashish Makhija.
The documentaries in Documentary Competition are Finding Carlton – Uncover the Story of Jazz by Susheel Kurien, A Man Who Planted The Jungle by Piyush Pande, Beyond Bollywood by Adam Dow, Scattered Windows, Connected Doors by Ziba Bhagwagar and Roohi Dixit,...
The festival that showcases Indian feature films, documentaries and shorts will be held from November 22-28, 2013 in Florence, Italy.
Five feature films will compete in the Feature Films Competition. The Coffin Maker by Veena Bakshi, Monsoon Shootout by Amit Kumar, Lessons in Forgetting by Unni Vijayan, Heroine by Madhur Bhandarkar and Oonga by Devashish Makhija.
The documentaries in Documentary Competition are Finding Carlton – Uncover the Story of Jazz by Susheel Kurien, A Man Who Planted The Jungle by Piyush Pande, Beyond Bollywood by Adam Dow, Scattered Windows, Connected Doors by Ziba Bhagwagar and Roohi Dixit,...
- 11/20/2013
- by Editorial Team
- DearCinema.com
Lee Daniels’ The Butler will open the 15th Mumbai Film Festival (October 17-24), which will screen more than 200 films from 65 countries and award $220,000 in cash prizes.
Presented by Reliance Entertainment and organised by the Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (Mami), the festival features four competitions sections, including the India Gold competition for Indian features (see full line-up below).
The International Competition for First Features has selected 13 films including Kim Morduant’s The Rocket; Singapore’s Oscar submission Ilo Ilo, directed by Anthony Chen; UK director Paul Wright’s For Those In Peril; and Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Don Jon.
The International Competition jury is headed by Bruce Beresford, while Asghar Farhadi is presiding over the India Gold jury; Indian director Hansal Mehta (Shahid) is heading the Celebrate Age jury, and Shoojit Sircar (Vicky Donor) is heading the Dimensions Mumbai jury.
The World Cinema section includes festival hits such as Abdellatif Kechiche’s Blue Is The Warmest Color, [link...
Presented by Reliance Entertainment and organised by the Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (Mami), the festival features four competitions sections, including the India Gold competition for Indian features (see full line-up below).
The International Competition for First Features has selected 13 films including Kim Morduant’s The Rocket; Singapore’s Oscar submission Ilo Ilo, directed by Anthony Chen; UK director Paul Wright’s For Those In Peril; and Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Don Jon.
The International Competition jury is headed by Bruce Beresford, while Asghar Farhadi is presiding over the India Gold jury; Indian director Hansal Mehta (Shahid) is heading the Celebrate Age jury, and Shoojit Sircar (Vicky Donor) is heading the Dimensions Mumbai jury.
The World Cinema section includes festival hits such as Abdellatif Kechiche’s Blue Is The Warmest Color, [link...
- 9/26/2013
- by lizshackleton@gmail.com (Liz Shackleton)
- ScreenDaily
Lee Daniels’ The Butler will open the 15th Mumbai Film Festival (October 17-24), which will screen more than 200 films from 65 countries and award $220,000 in cash prizes.
Presented by Reliance Entertainment and organised by the Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (Mami), the festival features four competitions sections, including the India Gold competition for Indian features (see full line-up below).
The International Competition for First Features has selected 13 films including Kim Morduant’s The Rocket; Singapore’s Oscar submission Ilo Ilo, directed by Anthony Chen; UK director Paul Wright’s For Those In Peril; and Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Don Jon.
The International Competition jury is headed by Bruce Beresford, while Asghar Farhadi is presiding over the India Gold jury; Indian director Hansal Mehta (Shahid) is heading the Celebrate Age jury, and Shoojit Sircar (Vicky Donor) is heading the Dimensions Mumbai jury.
The World Cinema section includes festival hits such as Abdellatif Kechiche’s Blue Is The Warmest Color, [link...
Presented by Reliance Entertainment and organised by the Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (Mami), the festival features four competitions sections, including the India Gold competition for Indian features (see full line-up below).
The International Competition for First Features has selected 13 films including Kim Morduant’s The Rocket; Singapore’s Oscar submission Ilo Ilo, directed by Anthony Chen; UK director Paul Wright’s For Those In Peril; and Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Don Jon.
The International Competition jury is headed by Bruce Beresford, while Asghar Farhadi is presiding over the India Gold jury; Indian director Hansal Mehta (Shahid) is heading the Celebrate Age jury, and Shoojit Sircar (Vicky Donor) is heading the Dimensions Mumbai jury.
The World Cinema section includes festival hits such as Abdellatif Kechiche’s Blue Is The Warmest Color, [link...
- 9/26/2013
- by lizshackleton@gmail.com (Liz Shackleton)
- ScreenDaily
Yesterday we gave you an overview about the exciting London Indian Film Festival that is running from July 18th to the 24th. Today we thought we would give you the full list of films and events that will be featured at the Beyond Bollywood film festival!
Films
B.A. Pass | Dir. Ajay Bahl | Hindi, Punjabi, with English subtitles
The Graduate meets film noir in this sizzling tale of seduction and betrayal where a young man is seduced by a gorgeous cougar who leaves him entranced, that is until she farms him out to entertain her lady friends with dangerous consequences. The film’s steamy trailer drew millions of hits on YouTube and the eroticism of the film has drawn the ire of India’s moral police.
Bombay Talkies | Dirs. Karan Johar, Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Bannerjee, Anurag Kashyap | Hindi, Marathi with English subtitles | Closing Film.
Mumbai’s spectacular homage to 100 years of...
Films
B.A. Pass | Dir. Ajay Bahl | Hindi, Punjabi, with English subtitles
The Graduate meets film noir in this sizzling tale of seduction and betrayal where a young man is seduced by a gorgeous cougar who leaves him entranced, that is until she farms him out to entertain her lady friends with dangerous consequences. The film’s steamy trailer drew millions of hits on YouTube and the eroticism of the film has drawn the ire of India’s moral police.
Bombay Talkies | Dirs. Karan Johar, Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Bannerjee, Anurag Kashyap | Hindi, Marathi with English subtitles | Closing Film.
Mumbai’s spectacular homage to 100 years of...
- 6/28/2013
- by Stacey Yount
- Bollyspice
Amit Kumar’s Monsoon Shootout will be the opening night film of the 4th edition of the London Indian Film Festival (July 18-25).
Closing the festival will be Bombay Talkies directed by Anurag Kashyap, Dibakar Banerjee, Karan Johar and Zoya Akhtar. Both these films premiered at the Cannes Film Festival this year.
The centrepiece ‘In conversation’ on Saturday 20th July at the BFI Southbank, will be with Actor Irrfan Khan talking to award winning director of Senna, Asif Kapadia. Read Irrfan Khan to conduct Masterclass at London Indian Film Festival
Adoor Gopalakrishnan will conduct a Masterclass ‘Life in Pictures’ on July 19.
The winner of the annual Satyajit Ray short film competition will be announced at the end of the festival.
Complete list of films to be screened at London Indian Film Festival:
Monsoon Shootout by Amit Kumar
Bombay Talkies by Anurag Kashyap, Dibakar Banerjee, Karan Johar and Zoya Akhtar
Pune...
Closing the festival will be Bombay Talkies directed by Anurag Kashyap, Dibakar Banerjee, Karan Johar and Zoya Akhtar. Both these films premiered at the Cannes Film Festival this year.
The centrepiece ‘In conversation’ on Saturday 20th July at the BFI Southbank, will be with Actor Irrfan Khan talking to award winning director of Senna, Asif Kapadia. Read Irrfan Khan to conduct Masterclass at London Indian Film Festival
Adoor Gopalakrishnan will conduct a Masterclass ‘Life in Pictures’ on July 19.
The winner of the annual Satyajit Ray short film competition will be announced at the end of the festival.
Complete list of films to be screened at London Indian Film Festival:
Monsoon Shootout by Amit Kumar
Bombay Talkies by Anurag Kashyap, Dibakar Banerjee, Karan Johar and Zoya Akhtar
Pune...
- 6/28/2013
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
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