Actress Deepika Padukone will share screen space with Irrfan Khan once again after “Piku” for Vishal Bhardwaj’s yet untitled production. The filmmaker says the actress is a “rare” combination of a superstar and good actor.

“I think Deepika is one the finest actresses that we have in the country. She is combination of superstar and good actor. It’s a rare combination that a performer is a superstar and at the same time has great acting abilities. Deepika is one of them,” Bhardwaj said at a screening of short film “Kajal” in Mumbai on Tuesday.

The film will be directed by Honey Trehan who is a casting director and assistant director known for “Omkara”, “Udta Punjab” and “Kaminey”.

“I am more excited for my friend Honey Trehan who has been with me for last 20 years and he is very lucky that in his first film itself, he has got such fabulous cast. I am so happy and excited to produce this film. The film will go on floors in January,” Bhardwaj added.

The Irrfan and Deepika starrer is based on one of the chapters from S. Hussain Zaidi’s book “Mafia Queens of Mumbai”. Deepika will essay the role of feared mafia don Rahima Khan popularly known as Sapna Didi, while Irrfan will play a local gangster.

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Deepika will be working with Vishal for the first time and will start shooting for the film after completing Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s “Padmavati”.

The last film Bhardwaj directed was “Rangoon”.

IANS

Bollywood actor Shahid Kapoor, who will turn 36 on February 25, had a pre-birthday party here with wife Mira and a host of his friends from Bollywood. He had the “best” time, he says.

“#bestbirthdayever,” Shahid posted on Instagram, with an image featuring him with wife Mira, who was dressed in an Anita Dongre creation for the special occasion.

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The party, held here on Sunday, saw Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh, Karan Johar, Sonakshi Sinha, Vishal Bhardwaj, Sidharth Malhotra, Alia Bhatt, Katrina Kaif, Farah Khan, Sajid Nadiadwala, R. Balki, Gauri Shinde, and Varun Dhawan and others in attendance.

Shahid, who is awaiting the release of “Rangoon” and is loving his phase as father to daughter Misha, looked casual in a white t-shirt and jacket teamed with a pair of denims.

While Katrina went for an easy and breezy maxi dress, Deepika attended her “Padmavati” co-star’s party wearing a tank top with metallic pants, and Sonakshi kept it sporty in a racerback dress with a black sports jacket and sneakers.

Karan Johar was seen posing with Saif Ali Khan’s daughter Sara, whom he is reportedly going to launch as an actress with “Student Of The Year 2”.

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Actress Kangana Ranaut, who will be seen as ‘fearless Julia’, a leading actress who travels, performs and entertains soldiers of the British Indian Army in Vishal Bhardwaj’s period drama “Rangoon”, says the film is a perfect Women’s Day watch as it’s about a strong woman.

“In ‘Rangoon’, Julia is a strong female character and the story revolves around her. Therefore, I believe that this film is quite important for Women’s Day and perfect to enjoy on that occasion,” Kangana said on Monday night while interacting with media at Mumbai airport as she was leaving for Delhi.

Kangana Ranaut to interact with jawans in Jammu

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The movie has elements from the British era as it is based in the 1940s when India was fighting for independence.

The 29-year-old actress, who loves getting into the skin of her character, arrived at the airport in a vintage car, as ‘Jaanbaaz Julia’ is seen travelling an exquisite vintage car in the film.

“I felt very nice riding the vintage car. It’s a new experience for me,” Kangana said.

The actress will felicitate and interact with jawans at an army camp in Jammu on Tuesday.

About the promotion in the army camp, the actress said: “Going by the plot of the film, we are going to Jammu and Kashmir to promote the film. We will be promoting the film in between the army camp.”

Co-starring Saif Ali Khan and Shahid Kapoor, the film is due for release on February 24, ahead of International Women’s Day which falls on March 8.

IANS

The trailer of one of the most awaited movies of the year, Vishal Bhardwaj’s Rangoon has been released. The movie Stars Kangana Ranaut, Saif Ali Khan and Shahid Kapoor, the film is a set in Burma (Now, Myanmar) and as expected, it’s high on both emotions and intensity. 

While Saif Ali Khan plays a filmmaker in love with Kangana Ranaut, a popular actress of that time. On the behest of the British government, when she’s asked to visit the war-front to entertain the Indian soldiers, she meets Shahid Kapoor, an Indian soldier fighting the war. 

In true Vishal Bhardwaj style, there’s much grandeur in the trailer and amidst all the action, the underlying emotions are hard to miss. Also, you can definitely expect landmark performances from the cast. 

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Rangoon marks Vishal’s second collaboration with Saif after Omkara and his third outing with Shahid after Kaminey and Haider. It’s the first time however that he’s working with Kangana Ranaut.

Watch the trailer below:

The week-long celebration of film, entertainment and culture came to an end here as the Jio MAMI 18th Mumbai Film Festival wrapped up with a prize distribution ceremony.

Graced by Amrita Fadnavis, wife of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, the audience experienced a beautiful evening on Thursday that not only awarded deserving filmmakers but also the authors of film literature.

It was a star studded evening with many personalities from the film fraternity present including Vinod Chopra, Raju Hirani, Richa Chadda, Ayan Mukherjee, Kunal Kapoor, Abhay Deol, Kabir Khan, Vishal Bhardwaj, Sonam Kapoor, Zoya Akhtar among others.

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As lyricist Kausar Munir mentioned that film writing is a genre of literature that has not been considered as a part of mainstream literature, this time the festival opened the door for books in English, Hindi and other language to encourage more authors.

While “Naya Dur Ka Naya Cinema” by Priyadarshan got the best book award in Hindi, Mekhala Sengupta’s book “Kanan Devi, The First Superstar of Indian Cinema” won the best book in English category.

Keeping the importance of film history and literature in mind, the festival awarded film writer Anil Bhargav (Hindi) and Jay Arjun Singh (English) as Excellence in Best Writing category for their book “Bhartiya Cinemas Ki Itihaas” and “The World of Hrishikesh Mukherjee: The Filmmaker Everyone Loves”, respectively.

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Actress Sonam Kapoor said, “Being a voracious reader, I believe that a good story is a key element of many things. Our Bollywood films are changing and now we celebrate content more. Even my film Aisha was based on a book.”

“Most of my favourite films like ‘The Godfather’, ‘Gone with The Wind’ is based on books. So I support and really appreciate the initiative by Jio MAMI,” she added.

This year the festival turned out to be very special for Konkona Sen Sharma. As she made her debut this year as a filmmaker with “The Death Of Gunj”, she won the best Indian Female Director Award.

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On the other hand, “Lipstick Under My Burkha” won the Best Film on Gender Equality Award and Konkona received the award on the behalf of the team.

The much anticipated independent film /short films category turned out to be very promising this year with some brilliant pieces of cinematic work.

While “Mumbai’s Mahuva” by Santosh Amble won the Golden Gateway on Dimensions Mumbai category, “The Saleman” won the Audience Choice Award.

“Lady Of The Lake” by Haobam Paban Kumar won the Golden Gateway from India Gold category, whereas in international competition section young French filmmaker Davy Chou won the Golden Gateway for his film “Diamond Island”.

Kiran Rao, the chairperson of Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival closed the ceremony with a vote of thanks to all the sponsors and teammates declaring the date of next year’s festival to be between November 12 to 19, 2017.

IANS

Karan Johar on Thursday at a press conference of 18th MAMI film festival announced an award for female filmmakers to encourage more gender equality in Indian cinema.
Karan Johar said, “We are also thrilled to announce a special award this year called the MAMI MasterCard Best Indian Female Filmmaker 2016 award. This award for Rs 15 lakh is also for Indian films only. This award aims to strengthen the female voice in Indian cinema.”

“Over the last five years, we’ve made some progress here but it’s much too little. The representation of both genders onscreen can only benefit with the inclusion of more female voices. This award is a step toward that.”

Over 180 films from 54 countries, including features, documentaries, short films to be showcased at the festival. The Film Festival will honour director and screenwriter Sai Paranjpye and acclaimed filmmaker, Jia Zhangke with Excellence in Cinema Award.

Filmmaker Vishal Bharadwaj said, “Our Indian Excellence in Cinema award goes to filmmaker Sai Paranjpye. Sai Paranjpye’s career has spanned over four decades. Her films are milestones in Indian cinema. Sai’s cinema is defined by certain humanity.

“Her films didn’t have oversized heroes and villains. She told slice of life stories about common people. Her work continues to inspire generations of filmmakers.”

The 18th JIO MAMI Film Festival which was unveiled on Thursday in a press conference witnessed actor Kangana Ranaut along with the Board of Trustees – Karan Johar, Zoya Akhtar, Rohan Sippy, Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane, Siddharth Roy Kapur, Manish Mundra, Vishal Bhardwaj and Dibakar Banerjee with Star Co-chairperson, Kiran Rao and Festival Director Anupama Chopra.

Festival Co-Chairperson, Kiran Rao said, “It’s been a very exciting year for the Academy. Firstly, we are now a year around presence. We launched the MAMI Film Club in May with a conversation between Sir Ian McKellen and Aamir. We have followed that up with India premieres of films such as Brahman Naman and India in a Day. The Academy is committed to bringing you great film content and conversations not just in October but through the year.”

The Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival with Star is less than a month away from offering the city a movie extravaganza unlike any other. The festival is set to kick off on 20th October.

IANS