Category: Film

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Film

A businessman who acts in films

Mithun Rodwittiya is not a struggling actor – he ‘chose’ to do ‘Inkaar’, and is looking for serious, sensible roles.

Our idea of what a first film role means to an actor generally follows a formula popularised by masala entertainers of the 80s: the would-be actor leaves his hometown and comes to Mumbai following a film dream, lives with friends and survives on wada pav and chai, does the rounds of producers’ offices and waits years for the elusive break. When the break comes, he is older, wiser, and an instant hit.

Mithun Rodwittiya’s road to Bollywood was the exact opposite of this filmi roadmap. The Malad resident got a role in the Arjun Rampal-Chitrangada Singh release Inkaar after a fruitful stint in modelling. A successful feature and ramp model for about eight years now, Mithun (34) has worked with a lot of big brands in the country and has shot numerous TVCs, apart from walking the ramp for several top designers in their fashion shows. “I became very interested in pursuing a film career after I watched Kaminey,” he tells The Metrognome. “I watched the film and I kept thinking, ‘Hey, I want to do this…’”

However, the desire to face the camera had always been there, even before he decided to take the Bollywood plunge. “Shooting for TV commercials helped me understand the techniques of shooting. Also, I realised that I was very comfortable in front of the camera,” Mithun says. His first TVC was for Tata Indicom. “It was an interesting experience for me – you work with 80 to 90 people on the set, you have to fit within a role set out for you,” he explains, adding that facing the camera was something he consciously pushed himself into.

“I used to have stage fright as a child. So facing the camera was not something I set out to achieve as a personal challenge. I was simply curious to know what the process would be like for me,” he explains.

When Inkaar happened

“I had been working with some brilliant casting directors, and one of them was Nalini Rathnam, who excels at fitting an actor with the right role. I have a certain sensibility in film, and Nalini understands it. She told me about this role in a Sudhir Mishra film, where I would play a small but crucial role as the CEO of the ad agency’s biggest client. I was happy to accept,” Mithun says.

His role, though a small one that required just three days of shooting in Mumbai, proved to be a tremendous learning experience for him. “See, I’m in this out of a choice I made. I run a business and ideally, I want to be able to balance my work and films,” he says, explaining that he is an NID alumnus. “People on the set were stunned to know that I was from NID, that I had something to work on apart from the role I was playing in the film. A lot of people don’t have that. I decided to be a part of Inkaar because I would get to work with stalwarts like Sudhir Mishra and Deepti Naval.”

He says that Sudhir Mishra is “a taskmaster,” but a man with commendable clarity. “He knows exactly what he wants, right down to the most minute details on the set. But he is very approachable, and though I have no formal training in acting, he was very helpful and accommodating. He knows how to use his actors.”

How was it working with the cast? “Of all of them, I enjoyed working with Chitrangda Singh the most,” he says. “She is an extremely intelligent lady who takes her work seriously and is such a wonderful person to work with and be around.”

Now that Inkaar’s in the theatres and Mithun’s being recognised, he’s also receiving offers for roles in what he calls “the same kind of cinema as Inkaar.” He explains, “I don’t see myself running around in a field of sunflowers. I identify with the kind of roles that actors like Pankaj Kapur, Abhay Deol and Irfaan do. Since there is no pressure on me to accept any and every work that comes my way, I can choose the kind of roles I would be happiest doing,” he says.

He is now awaiting the release of his next film, in which he plays one of the leads. “It’s a comedy and it’s a good role,” he says. And does he see himself getting into acting full-time? “At this point, I’d have to say maybe, but ideally I’d like to always be in a position to choose to do films. I chose Inkaar because I knew that I would have dialogues and screen time with Deepti Naval, Arjun Rampal, Mohan Kapur. It’s not about the length of the role for me,” he says.

(Pictures courtesy Mithun Rodwittiya) 

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Film

May the best of the worst win

The Bollywood Razzies are here. In a year when Bollywood produced piles of rubbish, it’s tough to pick a winner.
by M | M@themetrognome.in

Have you heard of the The Ghanta and the Golden Kela? Before you call the moral police, let me clarify. These are the names of awards especially created for Bollywood. The Ghanta and Golden Kela Awards are the Indian counterparts of the Razzies (for Hollywood). Both the awards are independent and not related to each other. It doesn’t matter who gives them away or if the winners have the b**ls to collect them; what matters is that these awards symbolise the awakening of the janata and that Bollywood can no longer bullsh*t the audience without being b**chslapped in return.

The Ghanta Awards are in their third year and the Golden Kelas are a little older at five. Both are very popular on social media and they encourage users to vote online. 2012 was one of the most creatively-challenged years for Bollywood, hence there is plenty to trash this time. But before I cast my precious vote to elect the best of the worst, let’s review the various categories and nominees in each award.

Worst Actor 2012

Akshay Kumar is a clear winner with four straight flops: Housefull 2, Rowdy Rathore, Joker and Khiladi 786. Ajay Devgn comes a close second with Son of Sardaar and Bol Bachchan in both the Awards. Surprisingly, Salman Khan only features in The Ghanta Awards list for Ek Tha Tiger and Dabangg 2. Kat got your tongue, Golden Kela?

Worst Actress 2012

Sonakshi Sinha for Rowdy Rathore, Joker, Son of Sardaar and Dabangg 2; basically everything she did. Katrina Kaif, Deepika, Bipasha, Priyanka Chopra are the rest of the nominations. Everyone, except for Kareena Kapoor, has made it to the lists this year.

 

Worst Film 2012

Oh, this one is tough. There are just five options for the Ghantas and six for Golden Kelas in the worst films category, but they could very well expand their list to include more from the pile of garbage Bollywood produced last year. I like Golden Kela’s list better. They’ve got the crapfest full on with Housefull 2, Son of Sardaar, Khiladi 786, Dabangg 2, Jab Tak Hai Jaan and Joker. All these films were headache-inducting tortures that took away 80 minutes of the audience’s lives. The Ghantas have Student of the Year on its list, but I think the audience deserves a special award for having sat through this film and lived to tell the tale.

Worst Director 2012

Let’s give Shirish Kunder a lifetime pass for the Worst Director Award in both these awards, along with free home delivery. The Golden Kela has Arbaaz Khan vying for this spot for Dabangg 2. Maybe it’s time Arbaazbhai renounces the world and goes back to his planet. Whenever he does go, he should also take Vikram Bhatt (Raaz 3, Dangerous Ishq) along.

Worst Song 2012

Wikipedia should catalogue this into a series. Even this year, as always, Bollywood will make a generous contribution to this. A special volume should be dedicated to our nasal champion Himeshbhai. All the songs of Khiladi 786 have the magical quality of inducing violent behaviour, enough to start a prison riot. *chops own ears off*

Worst Sequel 2012

Jannat, Raaz, Jism, Housefull and Dabaang should jointly accept the award and officially STOP MAKING ANY MORE SEQUELS! The end has no end. The Dabaang prequel will haunt us soon. *shudder*

Both the awards have other unusual and interesting categories, such as:

Golden Kela Awards:

– Most Atrocious Lyric Awards. My pick is ‘Po Po Po’ from Son of Sardaar.

– Why Are You Still Trying Award – For people like Jackie Bhagnani. “Jackie, who?” you ask. Sigh, never mind.

– Baawra Ho Gaya Hai Kya Award – And the winner is, the Indian audience for spending money on a ride to hell and back with this slushpile.

and the Ghanta Awards:

– Worst Rip-Off/Remake – Barfi!

– Worst Couple – Abhishek Bachchan with anyone, even a log of wood.

– WTF Was That – That one time where you almost threw your shoes at the screen, then remembered you were wearing Osho chappals, so you just closed your eyes instead.

– That’s Anything But Sexy – Tough one again, but nothing can beat the awful dance steps in the ‘Cheeni’ song from Department. Unfortunately, it doesn’t feature on the list.

But are these awards really an eye-opener for for our filmmakers? Will they stop and think about the trash they are serving the audience? I don’t think so. Maybe we need some kind of penalty, where the audience is entitled to a refund for a bad film. This will surely make them behave themselves in future.

Voting for both the awards is now open. You can log on to http://theghantas.com/vote/login.php and  http://goldenkela.com/voting/vote.php

Sharp as a tack and sitting on more hot scoops than she knows what to do with, M is a media professional with an eye on entertainment.

(Pictures courtesy galleryoneindia.in, wikimedia.org, hindi.way2movies.com)

Categories
Film

Let’s sex it up. Not.

M wonders how, despite rampant sexual harassment within it, Bollywood will address the subject in this Friday’s big film release.

Bollywood never ceases to amaze me. The Friday release this week is Inkaar (starring Arjun Rampal and Chitrangada Singh) and it delves into the subject of sexual harassment at the workplace, and how a man deals with allegations of abuse from a female colleague. I am keen to see how the film explores this issue, coming as it is from the horse’s mouth. Okay, I’ll come straight to the point.

When the Hindi film industry releases a film on sexual harassment, I want to see a disclaimer at the start of the film stating: ‘This film is not a piece of fiction and is based on real life instances from the producer/director/executive producer, etcetera’s lives. Due to the brief duration of the film, all the victims and their stories could not be covered. Viewers’ discretion is advised.’

The following is a true story.

An executive producer (EP) of a major film broadcasting house was fired and immediately hired by another broadcasting company. Like they say, one man’s dirt is another man’s treasure. Well, this guy did have loads of dirt on him. To begin with, he was fired or to put it politely, “asked to leave” because of the constant complains of sexual harassment he meted out to his female colleagues. In fact, tales of his behaviour were known to all and sundry in the industry. This didn’t stop him from doing the same at his new workplace. He believed that when you work at a film production company, you are expected to flirt a little to keep the atmosphere ‘light’.

He also believed that wearing a skirt to work makes the female colleague ‘available’ and that she’s ‘looking for some action’. So, he thought he did the right thing by constantly passing nasty remarks about their appearance and their clothes at the workplace. He even told stories about how he was popular amongst starlets, and how they sent him titillating pictures of themselves on his Blackberry Messenger.

Sometimes, he would even tell his males colleague to “go for it” and ask the superiors if they were “screwing” their subordinates (of course, the subordinates were women). He would narrate numerous stories about how, at his previous organisation, he would conduct ‘screen tests’ at hotel rooms and put the tab on the production budget. Stories about him luring young, struggling actresses and taking advantage of them were aplenty. He would drool at new faces and purposely set up meetings at the office to prove he was the alpha-male of the pack; the other men in office would wonder what they had to do to be as charming with the ladies as he was.

Of course, he also had stories of the industry to tell. The most disturbing incident he narrated was of an industry head honcho. He didn’t name the Person, but said that he was once present at a party at this Person’s house. After the guests left at around 4 am, this Person, intoxicated, walked straight into the domestic help’s room and locked the door from the inside. He stepped out of the room a few minutes later and crashed on the couch in the living room. The Person’s wife, who had watched him step in and out of the help’s room, got up, walked into her bedroom, came out with a bundle of rupee notes and when to the help’s room. She walked out again without uttering a word to anyone.

Coming back to Mr EP; he didn’t stay in the new organisation for long either. The women in the new organisation also complained to the bosses. The reason for his exit is still unclear, with most reports hinting at ‘under-performance’. In one year, Mr EP had walked all over the production house’s already non-existent work culture; he was insensitive and loathsome and everybody knew about it and tolerated it. This is exactly what perplexes me; when Bollywood turns around and makes a movie on sexual harassment. The industry that sells dreams is also known for its debauchery and immorality, and men like Mr EP reinforce the cynical view one already holds against the entire fraternity.

I am very keen to know what the filmmakers have depicted in Inkaar and how far-off or close it is to the ground realities of  filmy battlegrounds. I’ll watch this one to gauge Bollywood’s point of view on the subject.

Sharp as a tack and sitting on more hot scoops than she knows what to do with, M is a media professional with an eye on entertainment.

(Picture courtesy sabhot.com)

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Film

Follow me, Like me, please…

M writes on how films use Social Media to create a (mostly false) hype about how good their product is.

We are socially connected with our friends, colleagues, acquaintance and many strangers. These strangers could be anyone: a stalker, an innocent bystander, a brand prowling on your activities and at times, it could be Bollywood. Social Media has been actively used to promote films and ‘engage’ audiences more than ever. This fad started almost two years ago, when filmmakers decided to jump on the Stay Connected bandwagon that picked up momentum almost overnight in our country.

This created opportunities for small mom-and-pop shops to mushroom under the title of Social Media Experts and make quick bucks. Many of them managed to swindle the brands first, and then the filmmakers.  Here’s how this works:  once the agency is hired, the objective is defined – ‘X’ number of fans on Social Media  Portals must be achieved. Then the agency, which works with a vendor, goes all out to ensure that the fan base amplifies daily. The release date of the film arrives and the agency gets paid if they keep its promise.

But how does the agency keep its promise? The vendor hires people to create fake profiles and accounts to ‘Like’ or ‘Follow’ the film page. Of course, there are also some real people who interact with these accounts, but fake profiles are required to fulfil the commitment. This method of ‘engaging’ with the audience is widely used across the fraternity, and constantly enhanced.

Agency services are not limited to merely increasing the fan base. Some agencies, at an additional cost, provide the option of ‘deleting’ negative interactions from Social Media and Video Streaming Sites. When the film fails to please a user, which happens a lot these days, he or she is most likely to leave a negative comment on the film’s page. Now, in a democracy, with Freedom of Speech and all that jazz, this is quite understandable. But it is not acceptable to the filmmaker. So all negative comments are summarily executed the moment they are out.

Sometimes, I feel that filmmakers have their delicate brains wrapped in bubble wrap, to protect themselves from harsh realities. It’s actually quite simple. If you work hard on your product, you should release it with confidence and let the feedback flow. If people hate it, take the hate and make a better film next time. The more you try to protect your film, the more irate your audience becomes.

One particular film star, an A-lister who hasn’t tasted success in a while, was completely anal about the reviews of his film. His film was released during Diwali and the marketing teams, after delegating work to the Social Media Agency with strict instructions to remove every negative comment the moment it was published, were on a long break.  The film was touted as a big ticket release owing especially to its special effects.

Bas, the film released and the floodgates opened. The flow of negative reviews was something beyond anybody’s control. The film star was pissed off and a special meeting was called, despite everyone’s holiday. After an hour of futile brainstorming on how to control the damage, a very creative idea was touted: “Team, use your BBM/WhatsApp and personal Social Media accounts to promote the film.” Of course, 20 positive remarks were easily outnumbered by the thousands of highly negative ones, and the final verdict was a ton of unhappiness all around.

The latest innovation in seeding positivity amongst filmgoers takes deviousness to the next level. Agencies ‘gratify’ users who already have a large following to promote a film. These users then regularly talk about the film and how entertaining it is. The followers give credit to their reviews and fall prey to the hype. So the next time you see a first-rate review of a crappy film in your newsfeed, don’t be fooled. It’s time you review who you follow.

Sharp as a tack and sitting on more hot scoops than she knows what to do with, M is a media professional with an eye on entertainment.

(Picture courtesy blog.iwearyourshirt.com)

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Film

Bollywood returns

This year, a rash of sequels to popular Hindi franchises and remakes of classics are set to hit the screen. Rejoice! (or not)
by M | M@themetrognome.in

This is going to be another year full of Entertainment, Entertainment, Entertainment and Repeat. Buckle up, the Bollywood Express is set to take you on a joyride of sequels this year. Here is a list of sequels one should anticipate (or avoid):

Race 2: ‘Lat lag gayi’ director ko bakwas bananeki. The songs of Race 2 are enough to make me switch off the TV for good. One would require high levels of sedation to sit through this one, and in particular, watch Saif Ali Khan dance with a Katrina Kaif lookalike…oh wait, that’s Jacqueline Fernandez.

Murder 3: I am still confused between Murder and Raaz. I’ll tell you why, with a pop quiz: Which one starred Sunny Leone? See, even you had to think! Anyway, the new girl in the latest installment of this franchise is Sara Loren. Rumour has it that she is a Pakistani actress previously known as Mona Lizza.

Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster Returns: My first reaction: What for? My second reaction: Seriously, what for? This one doesn’t star Mahie Gill, from the looks of things. It’s still got Jimmy Shergill and Randeep Hooda, though.

Yamla Pagla Deewana 2: Okay, so the first one did well at the box office. Wonder what the father-son trio has got up their sleeves this time. Watch this one solely for Dharam paaji.

Once Upon a Time Again: One point deducted for the lame title, one point bonus for the fresh casting. This one’s got Akshay Kumar and Imran Khan.

Ragini MMS 2: All the Sunny Leone fans –yes, all 10 of you – rejoice!

Krrish 3: First there was Koi Mil Gaya, then came Krrish and now Krrish 3. Where is Krrish 2? Maybe he was abducted by aliens?

Dhoom 3: Back in Action: After watching Talaash, I would avoid betting on this one. Aamir Khan as the villian? Not a very believable idea. And Uday Chopra is in this one too, which somehow makes it worse. And don’t even get me started on Bachchan Jr. Why didn’t the world just end in 2012?

Singham 2: This one retains the hit pair of Ajay Devgn and director Rohit Shetty. Expect a masala comedy with Marathi catch-phrases.

Ghayal Returns: It could be difficult to top the original effort, but Sunny Deol will surely pack a powerhouse performance.

Dedh Ishqiya: Madhuri is back! A sequel to Ishqiya, the filmmakers are unable to find a replacement for Kangna Ranaut, who was part of the cast for this film but who later backed out because of “date issues.” I wonder which other actress would brave up to sharing screen space with Ms Dixit.

Raajneeti 2: There’s no dearth of material for this one. The cast is yet to be decided, but I have high expectations from Prakash Jha.

Aashiqui 2: Mohit Suri, of Kalyug fame, is one of the youngest directors on the block. His version of the cult film will be interesting to watch. This one stars Shakti Kapoor’s daughter Shraddha Kapoor and Aditya Roy Kapoor (of Guzaarish and Action Replay); both are surprisingly pleasant on screen.

Apart from sequels, there are remakes too. Classics like Chashme Buddoor, Himmatwala and Zanjeer will be recreated with the same or adapted storylines. Eid and Diwali releases this year are locked-in as well – with Salman’s Sher Khan and Shah Rukh’s Chennai Express respectively.

Here’s a little trivia on how production houses lock the dates. The head honchos along with the marketing teams sit down with Kalnirnay calendars and mark the auspicious dates. The festive days like Ramazan, Eid, Diwali and Christmas are locked almost two years in advance. The rest of the year is filtered for Ekadashis and Amavasyas. The team then slots the film slate in order of priority. Higher budgets, bigger stars get ultra-auspicious release dates.  The auspicious days are said to bring in more box office moolah, especially from up North. And thus, deciding a release date is no rocket science.

The year looks crowded for Bollywood, I hope it’s auspicious too. If not, we will always have 2014 and a sequel to Krrish 3 called Krrish 5. Maybe the Roshans are superstitious about even numbers. Hmmm.

Sharp as a tack and sitting on more hot scoops than she knows what to do with, M is a media professional with an eye on entertainment.

(Pictures courtesy santabanta.com and koimoi.com)

Categories
Film

Spare us the horror

The way Bollywood decides to make a horror film is a nightmare in itself, for both writers and the audience.
by M | M@themetrognome.in

Before I throw in my two cents’ worth on the subject, do watch this promo of a ‘horror’ movie scheduled to release this Friday.

 

 

 

Can’t stop laughing, right? Wonder what would happen if the makers of this film had decided to make a comedy.

Horror as a genre is very demanding to make. The director has to be very articulate with the finer nuances in creating ‘that scene’ which will get you to the edge of your seat. Some filmmakers in the Hindi film industry have given us masterpieces in horror, while others have just inflicted horror on us.

So how does one decide to experiment with this less sought-after genre?

Let me illustrate the general trend with just one recent example. This is a true story:

This tale begins with a good script and a young passionate director and his partner (a strictly professional relationship). The duo was overzealous in its idea to make a horror movie. Note that in this story, it is not the actual plotline of the film that is important, but rather, what happens to it in time.

So anyway, the duo left no stone unturned to lock in every single detail of the script before the narration.

Enter the producer. This guy claimed to be a Dark Knight fan, and never mind if he didn’t know who Christopher Nolan was. Hence, his feedback post the first narration went something like this, “Great, great. This is very good. I actually got goosebumps just listening to it. But what if we remove the ghost and make a thriller…the hero’s friend can be the murderer. Let’s see how that goes, change it a bit.”

An additional reason for removing the ghost from the horror film, in case the producer hadn’t made himself very clear already, was, “People don’t like horror movie these days, look what happened to Ram Gopal Verma’s Phoonk. It doesn’t work in India.” It is, of course, another matter that anything RGV touches these days turns into poop; the only time he got it right was with Bhoot.

The duo, their enthusiasm deflated, now worked on the script to make it a Whodunit. But if it was so easy to pull a taut thriller out of thin air, we would all be creating our own versions of Sherlock Holmes. Expectedly, Script Narration Round 2 didn’t  go well either, since the story lacked the twist-in-the-tale ending. They toyed around with the story for many days, but in vain.

The producer, by now impatient, decided to address the duo with another gem of an idea, which went something like this: “Maybe we should go back to the ghostwala plot, since you guys are unable to make this a non-ghost story. Also, a climax where you reveal the ghost will not require an explanation… look at Paranormal Activity.” This change of heart was not out of sympathy or love for the struggling writers…Vikram Bhatt had just announced Raaz 3, so now horror films suddenly had the potential to work at the box office.

The producer continued, “You guys should watch The Grudge, The Ring and other English horror movies for the climax. It’s unbelievable.”

The script was accordingly revised multiple times over the next two months and now it was nowhere close to the original draft. The damage was done, and the duo by now just wanted just to get done with this Godforsaken film. The producer, meanwhile, was still wondering about the ending of the film, and was torn between Basic Instinct and Shutter Island – never mind that both are thrillers and not horror films.

Finally, the last scene of the film was decided. Since making a choice was not easy, it shall accommodate both the Hollywood films.

So how does it end, you ask? You shall know next year. *winks *

Sharp as a tack and sitting on more hot scoops than she knows what to do with, M is a media professional with an eye on entertainment.

(Picture courtesy fanpop.com)

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