NEW DELHI: Remembering his late legendary father Sunil Dutt on his 92nd birth anniversary, actor Sanjay Dutt penned down an emotional note with a childhood picture featuring him with the veteran superstar. The ‘Munnabhai MBBS’ actor took to Twitter to post a candid monochrome picture in which Sanjay’s dotting father is holding his hands while both are seen smiling. “Always holding my hand through thick and thin. Love you Dad, Happy Birthday!” Sanjay Dutt wrote in the caption. Sunil Dutt, who began his Bollywood career in the 50s, is remembered for his performances in films like ‘Mother India’, ‘Sujata’, ‘Waqt’ and ‘Padosan.’

He got married to Nargis during the time their film ‘Mother India’ was about to be released. In 2005, the legendary actor passed away after a heart attack in his Mumbai home, two weeks prior to his 76th birthday. Meanwhile, on the work front, the ‘Kalank’ star who was last seen in ‘Sadak 2’ with Alia Bhatt and Aditya Roy Kapoor, awaits the release of action-drama ‘K.G.F Chapter 2’, and action-adventure ‘Shamshera’ in which he will be seen in the lead role alongside Ranbir Kapoor and Vaani Kapoor. He also has Aditya Chopra’s ‘Prithviraj’ that will also feature Akshay Kumar and Manushi Chillar in the pipeline.

Legendary actor Dilip Kumar was admitted to Hinduja Hospital in Mumbai on Sunday after he complained of breathing issues. After experiencing breathlessness, Dilip Kumar was taken to the hospital early morning on Sunday. Doctors are treating him and few tests have been done and waiting for reports.

A tweet was issued from Dilip Kumar’s official handle, “Dilip Sahab has been admitted to non-Covid PD Hinduja Hospital, Khar for routine tests and investigations. He’s had episodes of breathlessness. A team of healthcare workers led by Dr. Nitin Gokhale is attending to him. Please keep Sahab in your prayers and please stay safe.” The legendary actor was hospitalised last month and was discharged later.

Writer & director Harish Vyas has won the hearts of audience with his latest film Hum Bhi Akele Tum Bhi Akele starring Zareen Khan, Anshuman Jha & others. It is a film on LGBTQ community. His film “Angreji Me Kehte hai” also got a lot love and praise. Harish Vyas graduated in fine arts and worked as an art teacher in an old Delhi school. He made some documentaries, Tele-films, music videos and then he finally moved to Mumbai in 2006. After working as an assistant he made his first Punjabi film, Proper Patola which got released in 2014 staring Neeru Bajwa and others. In an interview with The Daily Guardian he shares his thoughts about his latest film.

How has the response been for your latest film ‘Hum Bhi Akele Tum Bhi Akele’ ?

The audiences are changing, they’re accepting new ideas and concepts, we had our doubts. But, after the film released, the audience reviews have been incredibly sweet and I am very happy with the love they’ve shown to the film. When you see your film is in the best five films of the week and some paper says it’s a hit. It sounds quite great. Did you expect that such a risque subject that you showed in the film will be accepted by audiences? Yes, the risque was there but that goes with every film I guess. I wanted to break the myths of the LGBTQ community, that’s why I didn’t stereotype the protagonists. I feel that if we represent the community as normally as we can, without making them seem different, then only we can start having conversations and make a change. Though the audiences are changing, they’re accepting new ideas and concepts, we had our doubts. But, after the film released, audience reviews have been incredibly sweet and I am very happy with the love they’ve shown to the film.

How do you find the OTT model of release? It is definitely great to showcase your films on OTT platforms, now they have bigger connectivity to the audience so your film reaches a larger audience. The best part is that you can tell your stories. When Angrezi Mein Kehte Hain released on Amazon Prime Video, I saw the film’s effect there. People loved it and now it’s becoming old wine, more people are watching it. Many times, I read the film’s reviews on Google, put up by people and sometimes they point out things that even I didn’t notice same thing is happening with Hum Bhi Akele Tum Bhi Akele too which is streaming on Disney+Hotstar.

What’s the one main difference between working in the Punjabi film industry & the Hindi film industry? Nothing much, Process of filmmaking is the same everywhere except the budget now Punjabi films industries making big-budget films too and due to our exposure to the world cinema now we all are on the same page only difference is equipment and budget and your sensibility

Water Burial has won the best film award on environment conservation at the 67th National Films Awards 2021. Inspired by the popular Assamese novel Saba Kota Manuh, which is written by Yeshe Dorjee Thongchi Ji, Water Burial is in Monpa dialect and has an intriguing storyline around a dark ritual of a local tribe in Arunachal Pradesh.

The film, which is directed by independent filmmaker Shantanu Sen, has garnered positive reviews for its uniqueness in portraying the rituals of the tribals of the Northeast and bringing the attention of the mainstream media towards it. Water Burial is presented by Sanjive Narain, Chief Managing Director of Prag News, produced by AM Television and co-produced by Faruque Iftikar.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma congratulated regional film producer Sanjive Narain after his film received the national award, Rajat Kamal, for Water Burial, on the occasion of World Environment Day. He said, “The film was extensively shot in Arunachal Pradesh and Karbi Anglong district of Assam. This is a huge honour for the people of Assam and the Northeast. I like to congratulate the producer Sanjive Narain and director Shantanu Sen for this great achievement.”

Assam Chief Minister tweeted, “Today on environment day , I would like to congratulate @Sanjive Narain , CMD of AM televisión for getting the National award # Swarn Kamal #‘ for the movie Water Burial , ‘Best film on Environment conservation in feature film category in india.”

Cultural and Sports Minister of Assam, Bimal Bora said, “Water Burial deserves Swarn Kamal for its portrayal of relationships between human being and the nation. Assam has always been rich in national resources with potential of becoming of the key global players on climate change issues. Sanjive Narain and Shantanu Sen and the team have explored the cultural practices of Northeast by bringing one such ritual into focus. Besides lot of courage is required to portray a dark ritual of one of the tribes. Hats off to the team for the extensive research work.”

The opening line of the Preamble of the United States Declaration of Independence emphatically reads, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Yes, it is one of the most important documents in human history, but unfortunately when it says that “all men are equal” it merely implies the White people. While referring to the contradiction between the aforementioned claim that “all men are created equal” and the existence of slavery in the United States, English abolitionist Thomas Day famously wrote, “If there be an object truly ridiculous in nature, it is an American patriot, signing resolutions of independency with the one hand, and with the other brandishing a whip over his affrighted slaves.” In the 19th century, the Declaration took on a special significance for the abolitionist movement.

The Academy Award-winning director Barry Jenkins unequivocally addresses the above contradiction in the opening episode of his 10-part Amazon Prime Video series The Underground Railroad in a chilling sequence wherein a Black slave is being mercilessly punished for trying to run away from a cotton plantation by his White master in the antebellum American South. “You’ve hardly touched your food, Mr. Churchill,” the slaver inquires his guest. “Oh, pardon me, but I don’t understand how one can eat… while a man’s flesh is being ripped from his body,” the guest hesitantly replies. “Well, Mr. Churchill, your first mistake… uh, a nigger and a man are two entirely different things. A man can think, reason and love. Niggers simply do not have the capacity for such things. As such, it is important to provide them with restrictions and directions on how to comport themselves. And when these restrictions and directions are not abided by, it is just as important to make an example of them,” the slaver avers.

As disturbing as these words may sound today, they correctly sum up the bigotry, prejudice, and sadistic cruelty with which the White Supremacists treated their Black slaves back in the day. Kudos to Barry Jenkins and his team of writers for not trying to use euphemisms as it is a piece of oft-forgotten history that needs to be told, especially today when movements like Black Lives Matter are paving the way for new conversations about racism and equality. The Underground Railroad, based on a 2016 Pulitzer winning alternative history novel of the same name by Colson Whitehead, follows two slaves, Cora and Caesar, who try and escape from a cotton plantation in the deep southern state of Georgia. They are chased by a ruthless slave catcher named Arnold Ridgeway who will stop at nothing in order to complete his task. Cora and Caesar’s only hope is the Underground Railroad—a rail transport system with safe houses and secret routes operated by a network of abolitionists to help the enslaved African-Americans escape to freedom.

The Underground Railroad is nothing like anything that you would have ever seen before. There is such blood curdling brutality on display that you would wish that you could somehow personally help these poor men and women suffering because of being caught in the throes of slavery. If you think that you have already seen the worst side of slavery in films such as 12 Years a Slave and Django Unchained, just wait till you see a horrifying execution of a Black slave at the hands of his White master in first episode of the series. The episode (as well as the series on a whole) depicts some deeply disturbing scenes that are not meant for the faint-hearted.

But, thankfully, the USP of the series is not the sadistic cruelty that’s on display. Yes, the source material is brilliant but more than anything it is Barry Jenkins who makes the series absolutely breathtaking to watch despite all the gore and brutality. He makes every frame look like a painting (credit must also go to cinematographer James Laxton, his frequent collaborator). Jenkins and Laxton employ a technique wherein they frequently show characters standing still before the camera while looking at us. Not to mention the immersive sound design by his regular composer Nicholas Britell who ingeniously blends his beautiful score with the real sounds of footsteps, cracking of the whip, rustling of the wind, crackling of the fire, churn of the steam engine, ticking of the clocks, neighing of the horses, trilling of the crickets, chirping of the birds, and buzzing of the flies to create a poignant symphony of emotions that help create a sense of heightened realism brilliantly contrasting with sparsely used moments of magic realism.

Jenkins yet again succeeds in eliciting wonderful performances from his actors. Remember, he gave us a film like Moonlight only 5 years ago. And now he brings to us a sprawling series (it’s been four years in the making) which brings us face to face with a mostly unseen side of the antebellum American South, oozing with nostalgia, revulsion, fear, and hope that’s beautifully laced with magic realism. Here is a work of immense beauty and pain that cannot just be watched, for it needs to be felt first and experienced.

MUMBAI: Bollywood actor Kartik Aaryan is all set to woo his fans with his acting stint in the short film, titled ‘Silvat’.

On Friday, Kartik took to Instagram and shared a glimpse of his performance in the movie, which is written by Faraz Arif Ansari and directed by Tanuja Chandra. “Silvat. Forever grateful to @tanuja__chandra ma’am for this amazing experience,” Kartik wrote in the caption. For the uninitiated, ‘Silvat’ was earlier released under Zeal For Unity festival 2016. It is now all set to stream on Zee5.

The film is about a woman, Noor (Meher Mistry), whose husband works in the Middle East and has not visited her in years. And in wait for her husband, she falls in love with a Muslim boy, Anwar (Kartik). Kartik reportedly shot for ‘Silvat’ during his initial years in the film industry.

The film’s trailer has garnered a lot of love from the audience. “Khubsurat. I am looking forward to it,” Pakistani actor Saba Qamar, who played Irrfan Khan’s wife in ‘Hindi Medium’, commented. “This looks so beautiful. It must be a great story,” a fan commented on Kartik’s post. Apart from this, Kartik will also be seen in other films — including ‘Dhamaka’ and ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2’. Lately, he made headlines when reports speculated that the makers of ‘Dostana 2’ have dropped him from the film.