Mumbai’ madness makes waves at NY Shorts Fest!

Varadraj Swami, director, Akhbar Ka Ek Panna

Varadraj Swami and Shahzad Ahmad, the writers of Manjhi The Mountain Man recently tasted sweet success again when their short film Akhbar Ka Ek Panna won at the New York short Film Festival and Rasika Agashe won the Best Actor Award. The shorts is written by Shahzad Ahmad and Varadraj Swami and directed by Varadraj Swami as well.

A Still from Akhbar Ka Ek Panna

Interestingly, the film seems to be straight out of the life of the writers, who even after Manjhi await the world to know that they have been responsible for the research and dialogues of the acclaimed film.  Says the duo, “Metropolitan life brings with it urban chaos.  The stress and the need to prove oneself at every step is not just painful but at times suicidal. Success in a metro spells the beginning of a stressful journey, not the end. Here, at every step one needs to go through so many complications that it is not easy living the life. We are glad our feelings on the metro madness made sense even in New York.”

The writers plan to take the film on a world festival tour before embarking on their next. “This time it will be a feature,” discloses Varadraj. “You can say Akhbar Ka Ek Panna was the fourth leaf from our book, replete with exciting stories waiting to hit the celluloid.” The other short films by the duo are The Endless, Shades and Recession. "Our short films are our short stories coming to life," avers Shahzad Ahmad.

TAP Sakinaka opened its doors to one and all with the prestigious Karaoke World Championships

Satyajeet Dubey 

Shriya Tamang

Savio D'sa, Gaurav S Bajaj, Dillzan Wadia, Sandip Soparrkar, Lesle Lewis,
Kavitta Verma, Jeetendra Varma and Vikas Bhalla

It was time to grab the Mic… And take home the spotlight at Tap Restobar, Saki Naka as the amazing 14000 sq ft gigantic watering hole opened its doors to one and all with the prestigious Karaoke World Championships.

Mumbai’s party animals made a beeline for the place and how! Pretty and enterprising Shriya Tamang and Savio D’Sa played the perfect hosts to a fullhouse, as Lesle Lewis, Vikas Bhalla, Jimmy Felix, Sumeet Sachdeva took over the music for the evening with the karaoke champs. Choreographer  Sandip Soparrkar set the dance floor afire with lyricist Manoj Muntashir, actors Alecia Raut, Dalip Tahil, Satyajeet Dubey, Gaurav Bajaj, Dilzan Wadia, Kavitta Verma, Pradeep Rawat, Jeetu Verma, Yogesh Lakhani, Dj Shameless Mani, Bharat and Doris Godambe, Pratap Sarnaik and many others joining the celebrations with their presence.

Karaoke enthusiasts can now unleash their potential at the 6^th season of The Karaoke World Championships India, that besides making its mark in Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata & Goa, will see the national winners vie at the world finals in Vancouver, Canada amongst 40 other participating countries.

Besides a host of celebrities who will join KWC boasts of a robust panel of Judges from Ankit Tiwari, Suleiman Merchant, Jaaved Jafri, Lelse Lewis, Meet Brothers, Remo Fernandes, Manasi Scott, Shibani Kashyap, Suneeta Rao among others, while Tap boasts of an amazing array of mouthwatering cuisine, an exciting ambience and of course, the foot-tapping extravaganza on store at the dancefloor that has a life of its own.

A perfect match. And a perfect evening… And an energetic beginning of a lot of good things to come…

Rekha Chaudhari’s mission of Global Wellness

Global Wellness Ambassador of India Rekha Chaudhari

Smita Thackeray, Maharashtra Tourism Minister Ram Shinde and Global Wellness Ambassador of India Rekha Chaudhari

Global Wellness Day is a first officially branded Wellness Day in all the countries of the world dedicated to wellness and healthy living.  It is an international movement which is celebrated with the support of Global Wellness Ambassadors, who are entrepreneurs and wellness professionals as well.

This year, Rekha Chaudhari, the Global Wellness Ambassador for India, brought together personalities from the field of women and social welfare, holistic healing, beauty, sports, fitness and entertainment and music to convey the message of Wellness to Indians.

The event was graced by Smita Thackeray, well-known social activist and producer; Ram Shinde - Minister of Tourism, Maharashtra; eminent cricketer Vinod Kambli; versatile singer Shibani Kashyap; Dr Meghna Shah – Dean, The Other Song; Maya Paranjape; wellness entrepreneurs JC Kapur and Sangram Birje and Aditya Pratap Singh among many others.

Says Rekha Chaudhari, “Maharashtra has a wealth of destinations, amazing cuisine and of course Ayurveda. With health being the ultimate wealth, I strive to make Maharashtra the ultimate tourism destination. I already provide over 10000 rural women livelihood through my wellness movement. This will give more strength and opportunity to rural Maharashtra, and that is the need of the hour."

Said Ram Shinde, Hon Minister, Tourism, Maharashtra, "Rekha Chaudhari is a woman of great strength and substance. She has come from the heart of the villages of Maharastra and has grown to be a wellness entrepreneur who provides livelihood to many women. I am elated that she has been honoured as the Global Wellness Ambassador and I would like to extend our well wishes and congratulations to her. Let us all join and make wellness a way of life."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-xQCZE-FqQ

Kavitta Verma pits wits with Vivan-Akshara-Gurmeet in TP Aggarwal’s Lali Ki Shaadi Mein Laddoo Deewana

Kavitta Verma

She is pretty, she is vivacious, she is an actress who has proved her mettle matching steps and wits with Sanjay Dutt in Policegiri. Now, actress Kavitta Verma looks forward to her film Laali Ki Shadi Mein Laddoo Deewana, where she shares screen space as the parallel lead in the film with Akshara Haasan, Vivaan Shah and Gurmeet Choudhary. Produced under the banner of Star Entertainment Worldwide Pvt. Ltd by TP Aggarwal and Rahul Aggarwal, and written and directed by Manish Harishankar, the film is an entertainer revolving around a royal marriage.

“Laali Ki Shaadi Mein Laddoo Deewana is a very beautiful love story, replete with Indian values,” says Kavitta Verma. “In Policegiri, my dancing skills came to the fore. Here, you will see the actor in me. It is a tailormade role,” adds Kavitta Verma who is currently dubbing for the film. 

“Shot at the picturesque locations of Vadodara palace and in and around the city of Vadodara and Mumbai, Laali Ki Shadi Mein Laddoo Deewana is a sweet love story that talks about Indian values today,” elaborate producers T.P. Aggarwal and Rahul Aggarwal.

The film also stars Saurabh Shukla, Sanjay Mishra, Darshan Jariwala, Ravi Kishan, Suhasini Mulay, Kishori Shahane, Navni Parihar among others. Cinematographer Ravi Yadav has done the camera work with Steven Bernard as editor, the music is by Vipin Patwa, Revant Shergil and Arko, project designing by Shahid Khan, production designer Muneesh Sappal.

Laali Ki Shaadi Mein Laddoo Deewana is set for a release this Summer.

Prashantt Guptha’s jewel in the Johareez crown!

Actor Prashantt Guptha - Brand Ambassador, Johareez.com

Gajendra Kumar Gupta, Tinnu Anand and Prashantt Guptha 

Prashantt Guptha - Brand Ambassador, Johareez.com and Gajendra Kumar Gupta- CMD, Johareez.com

There was a time when jewellery and accessories were feminine terms. Things have now turned more towards men’s popularity. Keeping with the trend, Johareez.com has chosen actor Prashantt Guptha as the face of their men’s line and partnered with the Rajasthan International Film Festival, keeping in mind the popularity of the actor and the brand, both of which hail from the state.

Prashantt Guptha, an award-winning global actor, who is the face of international film festivals of the likes of Fog,SV from Silicon Valley and the Rajasthan Film Festival, and was seen as the main villain of Issaq, followed by Identity Card and 6-5=2  will soon be seen in Irada with Naseeruddin Shah, 19^th January with Deepti Naval and Sonam Kapoor-starrer Neerja among others, has been now chosen as the face of the Johareez’ men’s line.

Says Gajendra Gupta, the man behind Johareez.com, “the celebrity's likability quotient is high with Johareez.  We are extremely proud to have attached Prashantt Guptha, with us who has endorsed his very own line of men's jewellery connecting to his creative and aesthetic side.  Choosing Prashantt to endorse our brand has much to do with his rising popularity in Rajasthan, as he is a native of this state. His line of tungsten rings, stainless steel jewellery, along with men's precious silver diamond rings have been very popular sellers on Johareez.com.  Fad for fashion jewellery which is generally motivated from Bollywood and daily soap operas will add more demand in coming years.”

Prashantt Guptha is elated about this home-connect with Rajasthan that seems to be constantly evolving itself.  “You can say, total connect. Rajasthan is my native state,” says Prashantt with pride. “First, Rohit Verma chose me because of this connect. He found my looks apt for a royal prince and last year RIFF bestowed upon me The Pride of Rajasthan Award. I guess it's just my state and its people showing their love and support by granting me honours and opportunities. Likewise goes for johareez.com, the superb online jewellery and watch portal with its HQ in Rajasthan, which has me as the face of its men's collection. I just finished shooting this campaign and it felt great wearing men's jewellery that is very trendy and stylish. And obviously since this campaign again brought me closer to my roots.” 

Interestingly, the men’s jewellery market is a small sector as compared to women's bridal or fashion jewellery segment, but is slowly gaining momentum as more and more men are showing interest in accessorizing them with jewellery. More and more men, especially in the metro cities are buying and wearing jewellery as daily accessories.

“With recent shift in jewellery consumption trends, women prefer wearing hair ornaments, chokers, single-earrings, multiple rings on one hand, & historical inspired jewellery ornaments.  Given the young demographic which is shopping for latest looks online and increasing choice online – we estimate that Fashion category will see 400% growth in the next 3 years and rival electronics and mobile category in GMV,” explains Gupta.

NATIONAL SUPPORT FOR BOLLYWOOD STRIKE!!!

Film and TV producers from Mumbai may not be able to even exercise the option of working outside Mumbai as the Apex body of all six major Film Federation Workers AIFEC has declared unconditional support for the strike. In a major show of support for the FWICE, the AIFEC core committee in its emergency meeting passed a resolution supporting the strike call by the Fwice and declared that their members would support the strike in any and every way possible. 

The AIFEC Gen. Secretary Shri B. Unnikrishnan, the renowned director from the Malayalam industry, stated that he had gone through the basic charter of demanded of the Fwice and was surprised and shocked that the producers had problems with signing it. He said " It seems that they (the producers ) are focussed on their own profits without caring at all for the health and welfare of their workers" While lauding the initiative of the Fwice the AIFEC President Shri G. Shiva (Fefsi) said that demands like no work beyond a 12 hour shift, 2 nd Sunday as compulsory holiday, demands for basic safety, sanitation and security to ensure dignity of women at the workplace cannot even be debated"

The Fwice President Shri Kamlesh Pandey was very vehement in stating that the attitude and dealings of most producers showed scant respect for human rights and labour laws. Due to there being no guidelines for functioning they have been taking the workers for a ride. Shri Amit Behl (Sr. Vice President Fwice) stated that the situation has reached a boil where the artistes, workers & technicians did not want to take any more. People were collapsing on the sets and being hospitalised. Governmental labour laws were thrown out of the window to just show more profits.

With the hardening of stands of both the sides, the battle lines are drawn and it remains to be seen what the future holds in store for all concerned.

NATIONAL SUPPORT FOR BOLLYWOOD STRIKE!!!

Film and TV producers from Mumbai may not be able to even exercise the option of working outside Mumbai as the Apex body of all six major Film Federation Workers AIFEC has declared unconditional support for the strike. In a major show of support for the FWICE, the AIFEC core committee in its emergency meeting passed a resolution supporting the strike call by the Fwice and declared that their members would support the strike in any and every way possible. 

The AIFEC Gen. Secretary Shri B. Unnikrishnan, the renowned director from the Malayalam industry, stated that he had gone through the basic charter of demanded of the Fwice and was surprised and shocked that the producers had problems with signing it. He said " It seems that they (the producers ) are focussed on their own profits without caring at all for the health and welfare of their workers" While lauding the initiative of the Fwice the AIFEC President Shri G. Shiva (Fefsi) said that demands like no work beyond a 12 hour shift, 2 nd Sunday as compulsory holiday, demands for basic safety, sanitation and security to ensure dignity of women at the workplace cannot even be debated"

The Fwice President Shri Kamlesh Pandey was very vehement in stating that the attitude and dealings of most producers showed scant respect for human rights and labour laws. Due to there being no guidelines for functioning they have been taking the workers for a ride. Shri Amit Behl (Sr. Vice President Fwice) stated that the situation has reached a boil where the artistes, workers & technicians did not want to take any more. People were collapsing on the sets and being hospitalised. Governmental labour laws were thrown out of the window to just show more profits.

With the hardening of stands of both the sides, the battle lines are drawn and it remains to be seen what the future holds in store for all concerned.