Star-studded statement for the lay citizen

Star-studded statement for the lay citizenHe has a knack for making political thrillers and with his next film Satyagraha, coming out Friday, director Prakash Jha will focus on the common man and highlight his aggression, struggle and demand for justice.If the promos are anything to go by, there will be intense performances by the ensemble cast led by Amitabh Bachchan. Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor, Arjun Rampal, Amrita Rao and Manoj Bajpayee also feature in the movie, which will be the solo Bollywood release this Friday, giving the political thriller an edge at the box office.The trailer of the movie gives an insight to the plot, which revolves around the character of Big B, who goes on indefinite hunger strike in the Gandhian way to demand justice.The scenes might remind the audience of the 2011 incident when social activist Anna Hazare went on a similar strike against the government. However, Jha has denied that Big B’s character is modelled on Hazare.In an interview, he said: “The film is not based on Anna Hazare and has nothing to do with the movement. The entire process of satyagraha comes from Gandhiji. Mr. Bachchan plays the role of a satyagrahi who believes in truth.”Primarily shot in Bhopal, Satyagraha has been produced by UTV Motion Pictures and it has reportedly been made on a budget of Rs50 crore.In times of aggressive promotional and marketing schemes, Jha emphasised on utilising the digital platform to spread the word about the film.However, it is unclear how big the impact of the movie will be as the screens have not been locked yet.The music of the movie has been given by musical duo of brothers Salim and Sulaiman Merchant. The song Raghupati raghav, sung by Rajiv Sundaresan, Shivam Pathak and Shweta Pandit, has been appreciated by the masses.A film is a mirror to the society and how convincingly and logically Satayagrah follows the plight of the common man, the weekend shall decide.I want to do a film on constipation: director

By Natalia Ningthoujam  After making films on terrorism and sperm donation, director Shoojit Sircar has started working on a new script on a totally new and unexpected subject — constipation!“I want to do a film on constipation. I’ve a fascination for constipation. I am working on the script,” Sircar said in an interview.The genre is yet to be decided, but there will be a humour element in it, he said. “I don’t know if it will be comedy or not, but it will be shown in a humorous way.”If his first movie, the critically acclaimed Yahaan revolved around Kashmir, Sircar offered a heavy dose of laughter in his successful movie Vicky Donor, which talked about an issue like sperm donation.The director likes to bring forward those stories that are interesting. His recently-released Madras Cafe is a spy thriller and he claims he has a knack for such subject. “I knew about the subject and I thought it is an interesting story that should be brought forward. That’s how I worked on the script (of Madras Cafe),” said Sircar.So far he might have stayed away from movies filled with glitz and glamour, but he said he won’t mind doing it if the story is good.“As long as it’s senseless I won’t do it. If glitz and glamour make sense, I’ll do it for sure. But if it’s mindless, I won’t be interested. It should have a good story,” he said.Sircar has tasted success, but admits he is yet to crack the hit formula.“I love to play with genres. I don’t have a hit formula. I am also trying and testing,” he said.The filmmaker considers the script of his films to be the hero, but admits enjoying a good bond with John Abraham, the lead actor and producer of Madras Cafe.“While we were working on the script (Madras Cafe), the Vicky Donor idea came up and we worked on that. After that we were ready with the script and we said let’s move on and make the film. That’s how the film came up and our partnership also went ahead,” said Sircar, whose Vicky Donor was also produced by John.“He doesn’t interfere in my job as a creative person. For marketing, I depend on him as I know nothing about it... I hope to carry on and do more good films with John,” he added.The two certainly make a great team, but the director had put one condition in front of the well-built actor before signing him for Madras Cafe.“The condition of doing the film was that he had to look thin. I told him that he should look like a part of the crowd. He agreed and we moved on,” said Sircar.Live-in ties no different from marriage: ParineetiParineeti Chopra, who will be seen in a live-in relationship with her onscreen boyfriend Sushant Singh Rajput in Shuddh Desi Romance, sees living together as a practical solution for busy couples who do not get time for each other.“I don’t think live-in relationships are different from marriage. Today, live-in relationships are more out of practicality,” Parineeti told reporters in a group interview.Giving an hypothetical example, she said: “I am an actress. If I get too late at work and if I want to meet my boyfriend, when do I meet him? Obviously, in the night. If I come back home and sleep in my place, people will say it’s not a live-in relationship. It’s all about our perception.“Whoever is not in a relationship, even there pre-martial sex exists. I myself want to know why is it different?” Although she supports it, Parineeti confesses her parents won’t be able to accept it.“My parents are very orthodox, so I may get scared to do this because they will feel bad. But actually, it is fine,” she said.Directed by Maneesh Sharma, Shuddh Desi Romance features also introduces Vaani Kapoor and it will come out September 6.— IANS