While in Lucknow recently for his concert, Farhan was heard confessing to people around him that he was most kicked about performing in the city.
A lot of his favourite poets come from Lucknow like Majas. Even his father, famous poet and lyricist Javed Akhtar originates from Lucknow.
Farhan recently had a 13 city tour across the country with his music band Farhan live where he also spoke about the cause closest to his heart, MARD.
The Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, along with his family have been exploring India during a current visit to the sub-continent.
Truedeau also attended the ‘Canada-India Celebration of Film’ event with his family, where he met Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan to discuss new co-production opportunities between the Hindi Film Industry and the Canadian Film Industry.
Khan has filmed for Karan Johar’s Kal Ho Naa Ho in the Canadian capital Toronto, which was despicted as New York in the movie. He has also performed in Toronto for the SLAM concert along with Deepika Padukone, Abhishek Bachchan and others.
Bollywood movies filmed in Canada include Thank You, Tum Bin, International Khiladi, Dr. Cabbie, Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi, Mr & Mrs Khiladi, Bewafaa and Humko Deewana Kar Gaye.
Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty ImagesThe Prime Minister also met and interacted with actors Aamir Khan and Farhan Akhtar at the event.
The London Indian Film Festival (LIFF, July 10-17) will host a Screen Talk with the multifaceted Farhan Akhtar and a Masterclass with the award-winning Santosh Sivan at the British Film Institute (BFI) Southbank.
Akhtar has come to the world’s attention over the last decade, as multiple award-winning director, producer, and actor, straddling an impressive range of roles, from long distance runners to rockstars. He also commands audiences of thousands, at his live music shows, as he continues to juggle a career as a musician and songwriter, with his incredibly successful film industry career. He started his career as director. His directorial debut, Dil Chahta Hai was a runaway hit. He went on to direct the remake of Don and its sequel, Don 2. Besides that he has produced many successful films. As an actor he has won critical acclaim for his performances in Rock On, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and Bhaag Milkha Bhaag.
Says Farhan Akhtar, “At its heart, Cinema is about sharing ones culture with the world. Be it on-screen or in representation of ones work. I look forward to sharing my experiences, memories and motivations.” The Screen Talk will be at the BFI Southbank on Wednesday 16th July.
Santosh Sivan is India’s most awarded cinematographer. He is also the only Indian member of the American Society of Cinematographers. He shot to prominence on the national stage with Mani Ratnam’s Thalapathi and is celebrated for his work on Roja, Dil Se, Iruvar and Kaala Pani. His international credits include Bride & Prejudice and Mistress of Spices. Sivan debuted as a director with Halo, followed by Malli, both films aimed at children. His next film, The Terrorist, premiered at BFI London Film Festival and was championed by John Malkovich, who ensured that it found global distribution.
Sivan says, “For a visual artist, the world is a stage. And the BFI is the centre stage.” The Masterclass is at the BFI Southbank on Friday 11th July.
LIFF events at the BFI also include UK Premieres of Qissa: The Tale of a Lonely Ghost on Saturday 12th July and Apur Panchali on Sunday 13th July. LIFF opens with Sold, executive produced by Emma Thompson and starring Gillian Anderson, on July 10, and closes with Hemalkasa, starring Nana Patekar on July 17.
LIFF partners include Pure Heaven, BFI, Cineworld, Grange Hotels, ICA, BAFTA, Asian Single Solution, DESIblitz.com, Asian Culture Vulture and Satyajit Ray Foundation.
T-Series has released a song promo from Shaadi Ke Side Effects featuring Vidya Balan and Farhan Akhtar.
Starring Farhan Akhtar and Vidya Balan, the film is directed by Saket Chaudhary and produced by Balaji Motion Pictures and Pritish Nandy Communications Ltd.
Synopsis: With time the intimacy in most marriages falls apart. But not Sid and Trisha’s marriage… They just can’t keep their hands of each other in spite of being married for years!
But Sid has a secret behind this: “When I make a mistake, I say sorry… And when my wife makes a mistake, I say sorry!”
This diffuses conflict in a marriage and prevents the slow death of intimacy. Then Trisha gets accidentally pregnant and expresses her desire to have a child. But Sid is not ready to bear the responsibility of fatherhood. His career as a musician has still not taken off. But in an effort to avoid conflict, he hides his reluctance. And agrees to have the child. This is just the start of issues that have creep in their marriage…
Do priorities change? What happens next is the BIG question mark!
Shaadi Ke Side Effects is a quirky and humorous story dealing with a serious issue of decision making and sharing in a married life!
Eros International will release the film in UK cinemas on 28th February 2013.
BollyNewsUK can confirm that Eros International will be releasing Shaadi Ke Side Effects in UK cinemas on 28th February 2014.
Starring Farhan Akhtar and Vidya Balan, the film is directed by Saket Chaudhary and produced by Balaji Motion Pictures and Pritish Nandy Communications Ltd.
Synopsis:
With time the intimacy in most marriages falls apart. But not Sid and Trisha’s marriage… They just can’t keep their hands of each other in spite of being married for years!
But Sid has a secret behind this: “When I make a mistake, I say sorry… And when my wife makes a mistake, I say sorry!”
This diffuses conflict in a marriage and prevents the slow death of intimacy. Then Trisha gets accidentally pregnant and expresses her desire to have a child. But Sid is not ready to bear the responsibility of fatherhood. His career as a musician has still not taken off. But in an effort to avoid conflict, he hides his reluctance. And agrees to have the child. This is just the start of issues that have creep in their marriage…
Do priorities change? What happens next is the BIG question mark!
Shaadi Ke Side Effects is a quirky and humorous story dealing with a serious issue of decision making and sharing in a married life!
Watch the first song promo here:
DVK has partnered with the acclaimed film Bhaag Milkha Bhaag co-produced by Viacom18 Motion Pictures and ROMP Picture’s and distributed internationally by Reliance Entertainment, as the Global Partner for the film’s eagerly anticipated UK tour.
Taking place in July, the international tour for the film will see stars Farhan Akhtar and Sonam Kapoor, director of BAFTA nominated film Rang De Basanti Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, writer Prasoon Joshi and Milkha Singh himself in attendance.
Bhaag Milkha Bhaag tells the incredible true-life story of Milkha Singh, aka ‘The Flying Sikh’, who is forever enshrined in India’s psyche as one of the country’s most loved and esteemed sporting heroes. Many recall Milkha Singh as a world champion in the 400 meters, who infamously lost the penultimate race of his life – the 400 meters final at the Rome Olympics – but won in life.
Ever the innovative entrepreneur, Deepak Kuntawala recently chartered new territory when he established DVK Global Entertainment Investment, to nurture and finance unique global entertainment projects. The fund is governed by leading international law firm Mishcon De Reya and structured by the world’s largest professional services firm Pricewaterhouse Coopers. The fund’s first heavyweight project was its title sponsorship of An Evening with Pacino, which brought the award-winning icon Al Pacino to the London stage. The partnership with Bhaag Milkha Bhaag marks the fund’s official launch in July 2013 and its entry into the Indian film industry
Milkha Singh’s life is a portrait of professional triumph over personal tragedy. Bhaag Milkha Bhaag attempts to understand a catastrophic loss that was deemed a sure victory and explores through the darkness of disgrace Milkha Singh’s redemption and catharsis that came when he confronted his past. This iridescent tale winds through the plagues of a bloody civil war where Milkha’s family were brutally killed during the violent and tumultuous India-Pakistan Partition era resulting in a lost childhood, homelessness, to a life of petty crime and victories hard won and easily lost.
Bhaag Milkha Bhaag releases worldwide on 12th July 2013 through Reliance Entertainment.
In true Olympic spirit, athlete Milkha Singh, aka ‘The Flying Sikh’ is set to achieve new feats once again when his incredible life story is given the silver screen tsreatment in Viacom18 Motion Pictures’ film Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, releasing on 12th July 2013 through Viacom18 Motion Pictures.
Many recall Milkha Singh as a world champion in the 400 meters, who infamously lost the penultimate race of his life – the 400 meters final at the Rome Olympics – but won in LIFE.
Milkha Singh’s life is a portrait of professional triumph over personal tragedy. The film attempts to understand a catastrophic loss that was deemed a sure victory and explores through the darkness of disgrace Milkha Singh’s redemption and catharsis that came when he confronted his past.
This iridescent tale winds through the plagues of a bloody civil war where Milkha’s family were brutally killed during the tumultuous India-Pakistan Partition era resulting in a lost childhood, homelessness, a life of petty crime, right through to victories hard won and easily lost.
The film draws an intricate image of human trials, setbacks and fate leveraged against the sheer power of will as Milkha Singh evocatively illustrates that true victory lies in racing with one’s troubles and not in running away from them.
The film stars India’s most versatile multi-star, the critically acclaimed actor, producer, singer, writer, director and musician Farhan Akhtar [Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Luck By Chance] who essays the role of Milkha Singh for what is described as Farhan’s most demanding performance to date.
He is joined by Sonam Kapoor [Saawariya, I Hate Luv Storys, Aisha (Indian version of Jane Austen’s classic Emma)], Art Malik [BBC1’s Holby City], Rebecca Breeds [Home and Away] and is directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra (director of the Bafta nominated film Rang De Basanti, Delhi-6).
The inspirational story is penned by Prasoon Joshi and the soundtrack is composed by the award-winning trio Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy.
Bhaag Milkha Bhaag will see Milkha fly, fall and rise, bruise his soul but not his will to survive. Bhaag Milkha Bhaag releases worldwide on 12th July 2013.
Farhan Akhtar speaks about his upcoming directorial venture DON 2.
Tell us something about Don 2.
I really don’t know what to say about the film as that way I will be giving out the whole story. It has been fun, challenging yet a satisfying journey so far to make this movie. I was guilty of saying that I won’t probably make a sequel of Don, but my obsession with the character got the better of me. With amazing help and support and almost a sharing of vision with Ritesh (Sidhwani, producer) and Shah Rukh and rest of the team, I could not help but make Don 2.
Who is the ‘King’ of Don 2: The King is Back?
The King of Don 2 is undoubtedly Shah Rukh Khan.
Did you consult your father and writer Javed Akhtar on the script of Don 2?
Whatever film I write, I give it to him (Javed Akhtar) to read. I want him to give his feedback on screenplay, dialogues. He is somebody who is extremely experienced, somebody who is very good with the art and craft of writing; and fortunately I have this kind of access to him. It makes sense for me to use him and I use him to get feedback on not only this, but every script.
When you were making Don: The Chase Begins Again, you consulted Salim Khan (Salim-Javed being the screenplay writer of Amitabh Bachchan’s Don in 1978). Did you do the same this time too?
I had gone to him to request him to give permission to make the film. I thought it was important that people who worked on the earlier film be happy with the remake we had made. So I met him regarding that, not the screenplay or such things. He was very, very kind and completely wished us all the best for the remake. Hopefully that applies to the sequel as well.
In the 2006 film, you retained some of the dialogues from the 1978 film like Don Ko Pakadna Mushkil Hi Nahi Namumkin Hai. Are you trying some new lines in the sequel or want to carry forward the legacy?
There are other dialogues in the film of course. For us, the line you just spoke about, strike a chord. But who knows, may be some other dialogue Don says in Don 2, might match out to the audience. While writing dialogues and thinking about the style of the dialogues, I knew that the approach has to be to write it in a way that films of that time (1970s) were written, where people spoke with a bit of theatrical sense. There was a lot more drama in the lines. So I maintained the approach as it gives you good feeling and also makes the film sound different. It takes you back to the times when you got to see films like this where you know every dialogue was a DIALOGUE. So it is written with that in mind. But again, whatever people take from that, is upto them. There are fun lines in the film, hopefully they will enjoy.
Did you ever think of another actor for Don, had Shah Rukh said ‘no’ to you?
I don’t even want to think about that. When I started out to make the film, I wanted Shah Rukh to play the character and he loved the part. Beyond that, I stopped thinking about any other actor as I got the person I wanted for my film.
Social networking sites are flooding comments since Don 2 trailer was put on Youtube. What is the best compliment you have got so far?
The best compliment I have got about the film so far is ‘Thank You for making Don 2’…that’s the sweetest thing one can say with minimum words.
Why did Don 2 take so long in the making (five years)?
Well, it was a challenging but extremely satisfying journey. I was guilty of declaring that I won’t make a sequel for Don 2, but once I spoke to Ritesh Sidhwani and Shah Rukh Khan, I could conceive it.
Why have you decided to make the film in 3D?
The film is not shot with the 3D camera. But when we saw that there is a possibility to make it in 3D, we gave it a shot. The people at Reliance made a demo and it looked very good. Technology has advanced a great deal; it is great to watch the film in 3D as well.
So who is Farhan the actor’s favourite actor?
I like many actors. All actors have their own strengths. But I do enjoy watching Hrithik Roshan, Aamir Khan and Ajay Devgn purely for the fact that when you see their body of work and the body of work of most other actors, you notice that these guys bring something new to the table by way of a story or character. I love the way Ajay keeps reinventing himself as an actor. I would hate to watch the same kind of performance over and over again. An actor must keep challenging himself if he wishes to have a really long innings. Even as a filmmaker, I believe in mixing genres. A film must be entertaining. When I say entertaining, I don’t mean that you should only make people laugh. You can enthrall them with drama or comedy. There should be a sense of variety in storytelling and performance.
Reliance Entertainment will be releasing Don 2 in the UK on the 21st December 2011. The film is produced by Ritesh Sidhwani, Farhan Akhtar and Shah Rukh Khan.
