Trailer talk
It has literally been a week of trailers. After a series of mini-trails and songs, a three-minute trailer of Imtiaz Ali’s Jab Harry Met Sejal was launched on Friday. By now, with the mini-trails the team has already made sure to create enough buzz. It can seem like a new promotional mechanism, but Shah Rukh Khan, who had joined the launch through video conference from Los Angeles, had his own take.
"Two things are very important in our film—the characters of Harry and Sejal created by Imtiaz, so their introduction was really important; and the music by Pritam of which the audience should be aware of," he said, somewhere being completely aware that the story that the trailer reveals is “just a love story” like many other love stories. "Halanki kahaani mein apni ek newness jaroor hai (Even though the story has its own novelty)," he said.
He seems right. While the songs are really hummable (especially Safar) and tap-worthy (Butterfly) and the mini-trailers have been a delight to watch, clocking huge number of views, the trailer seems to give a usual story of love. We are just hoping that Ali has embedded enough twist and turn and drama in it to keep the audience engaged.
Sweet like Barfi, the trailer of Bareilly Ki Barfi has received a really good response. Directed by Ashwini Iyer Tiwari, whose last film Nil Battey Sanatta was one of the most refreshing films of 2016, Bareilly Ki Barfi looks equally fresh despite a tried and tested formula. The film, written by Nitesh Tiwari and Shreyas Jain (they earlier collaborated for Dangal), is set in Bareilly and is the story of the rebel Bitti (Kriti Sanon). Ayushmann plays a grey character, and Rajkummar Rao essays the role of a guy-next-door-turned badass-romeo.
While talking to us on the sidelines of the trailer launch, Ayushmann said that he thoroughly enjoyed working with Ashwini. "I am playing a mean character like this for the first time. It was fun," he said. He was a great fan of Ashwini’s last film and admires the efforts she puts into her work.
Amole Gupte is back with doing what he does best—placing a child character at the center of the story and work around it. After directing the hugely adorable Stanley Ka Dabba (2010) and the inspirational Hawa Hawai (2014), Gupte is ready with Sniff (an Eros International film), which he has written and directed. Eight-year-old Sunny Gill (Khushmeet Gill) can’t smell, he suffers from anosmia, but a laboratory accident enhances his sniffing abilities, making him a crime fighter.
The directorial debut of national award-winning cinematographer, Shanker Raman (Frozen, Peepli Live) is about a real estate baron, Kehri Singh, who runs his business ‘Preet Real Estate’ in his daughter’s name. She is his lucky charm, while he sidelines his oldest son, Nikki Singh, as he considers him a brash, insolent, good for nothing, and bad luck. Driven by his need to pay off a large debt to a local bookie, Nikki sets off a chilling chain of events, that unwittingly force his cold-blooded father to confront his buried past.
Shraddha Kapoor-starrer Haseena Parkar chronicles Haseena Parkar's journey from her early days as Dawood Ibrahim's sister and later as Aapa—a result of the brutalities she endured because she was Dawood Ibrahim's sister. Shraddha Kapoor isn’t very convincing as Parkar, but since the film is directed by Apporva Lakhia—an experienced hand in gangster sagas—a lot can be expected from it. Shradha’s brother, Sidhant Kapoor is playing the role of Dawood Ibrahim, and it would be interesting to see how their chemistry pans out in the film.
Chester Bennigton’s suicide left everyone shocked
The popular frontman of Linkin Park, Chester Bennington, committed suicide on Thursday leaving his family, friends and fans shocked. Bennigton, close to Soundgarden vocalist Chris Cornell (the latter committed suicide in May), would have turned 53 today. Chester had written about Cornell's death, "You have inspired me in ways you could never have known... I can't imagine a world without you in it."
As musician George Shrouder puts it in a tweet, “Depression is hard to understand. But if it can kill Robin Williams, Chris Cornell and Chester Bennington I’d say it’s pretty damn real.”
The nepotism debate seems unending
After Kangana Ranaut’s comment on nepotism on Koffee With Karan earlier this year, the nepotism debate seems to be unending. Last weekend, Varun Dhawan, Karan Johar and Saif Ali Khan at the IIFA Awards in New York indulged in some banter to make a joke about nepotism. The issue which has now blown out of proportion has led each one of the three people coming out a apologising in their own ways. Saif Ali Khan also wrote an open letter in an English daily, saying that he has personally apologised to Kangana and also that the real flagbearer of nepotism is the media. “Look at how they treat Taimur, Shahid’s daughter Misha or even Shah Rukh’s son AbRam. They photograph them and hype them up to be the next big thing and the child has no choice. From a young age they have to deal with being celebrities, which they don’t really deserve, before they can even speak or talk, leave alone understand what is happening,” he further wrote.
The debate has gone on for too long to have a conclusion with different actors having different takes on the issue. If Ranbir Kapoor confesses to be a “result of nepotism”, Karan Johar seems to be too hurt by Kangana’s comment on his show. While Kangana has often hit back with a deserving response to every jibe made at her and her honest, yet hard-hitting comments, she has been quiet so far. We will only have to wait and watch if she wants to keep the debate going. The ball rests in her court.