Aagadu

Aagadu () is a 2014 Indian Telugu-language action comedy film directed by Srinu Vaitla. Written by Anil Ravipudi, Upendra Madhav and Praveen Varma, the film was jointly produced by Ram Achanta, Gopi Achanta, and Anil Sunkara under their banner 14 Reels Entertainment. It features Mahesh Babu and Tamannaah in the lead roles and Sonu Sood, Rajendra Prasad, Ashish Vidyarthi, Nassar, Brahmanandam, Ajay, Vennela Kishore, and M. S. Narayana in supporting roles. Shruti Haasan made a special appearance in the film by performing an item number.
"Aagadu" marked S. Thaman 50th film as a music composer. K. V. Guhan provided the cinematography and M. R. Varma edited the film. Mahesh played the role of Shankar, an encounter specialist who is transferred to a village named Bukkapatnam as its circle inspector of police and is assigned the task of halt the plans of a power plant construction by Damodar (played by Sonu Sood), an influential crime boss as it is considered harmful to the natural resources of the locality. Shankar learns that Damodar is the reason behind his brother Bharath's death and seeks revenge.
"Aagadu" was produced on a budget of 650 million. Principal photography commenced on 28 November 2013 and lasted until 5 September 2014. The majority of the film was shot in and around Hyderabad. A few portions of the film were filmed in Mumbai, Gujarat, Bellary, and Kerala. Some song sequences were filmed in Ladakh, Switzerland and Ooty apart from Hyderabad and Bellary. The post-production phase, which lasted for 50 days, was wrapped up on 16 September 2014.
Released on 19 September 2014 in 2000 screens globally, "Aagadu" opened to decent critical reception and debuted with a positive response at the box office. Due to unfavourable word of mouth and competition from new releases, "Aagadu" ended up collecting a distributor share of 342.5 million globally and was declared a box-office bomb due to the high costs involved. However, "Aagadu" crossed the US$1 million mark at the United States box office in two days including its previews, which was considered a remarkable feat. The film was dubbed into Hindi as "Encounter Shankar", into Tamil as "Idhudhaanda Police", and into Malayalam as "Pokkiri Police".
Plot.
Shankar is an orphan raised by a sincere police officer named Rajarao. His son Bharath accidentally kills a kid, and Shankar takes the blame on him. Shankar is imprisoned, and Rajarao warns him not to meet him again. After graduating, Shankar is employed as a circle inspector of police. He is popularly referred to as "Encounter" Shankar because of his track record as an encounter specialist.
Shankar is transferred to Bukkapatnam town in Tadipatri, Ananthapur district. He is assigned the task of halting the illegal businesses of Damodar, an influential crime boss whose dream project is to build a power plant. Using his wits, Shankar destroys all the three main businesses of Damodar by trapping their respective in-charges. He brings a stay on the power project by bringing a few vital witnesses before the court of law, thereby earning Damodar's ire. On a parallel note, Shankar loves a sweet shop owner named Saroja who reciprocates his feelings at a later point of time.
A person named Shekhar approaches Shankar, and through him, he informs Mallikharjun, the local Superintendent of Police, that he is the witness of the murder of environmentalist Prakash by Damodar. Damodar influences all the witnesses including Shekhar before Shankar could arrest him. He later comes to know that Raja Rao's son Bharath, the previous district collector, committed suicide along with his wife, who was a friend of Prakash, because of defamation and personal attacks when Bharath tried to stop the power project.
Damodar held half of the share in the project whilst Mallikharjun and central minister Nagaraju held the remaining half share. Before committing suicide, Bharath revealed the truth behind Shankar's imprisonment to Raja Rao and unites them. Shankar seeks revenge, and with the help of a lawyer named Database Danayya, he gathers information regarding the power broker of this project named Delhi Suri, Mallikharjun, and Damodar's conservative girlfriend named Sukanya, who actually was an actress working in risqué films in the past.
By trapping initially and blackmailing later, Shankar gets hold of Delhi Suri with whose help, he creates a rift between Damodar and Nagaraju which leads to the latter's murder. By blackmailing Sukanya that they would reveal her past to Damodar, they trap Mallikharjun with her help and accuse him of a rape attempt on Sukanya. However, the fact that Mallikharjun was gay, which was concealed by him for a long time, was believed by none. He is murdered by eating poisoned food.
Damodar's brother Durga is killed by Damodar himself after Shankar pollutes his mind accusing Durga for attempting a murder on Damodar for his wealth. Meanwhile, Shankar and Saroja get engaged. Delhi Suri comes to know about Danayya and destroys his office. Danayya takes revenge by revealing Delhi Suri's role in the murders of the three people. When Damodar tries to kill Delhi Suri at his guest house, he is confronted by Shankar who kills him after a duel. Bharath receives posthumous recognition for his honesty, while Delhi Suri turns a police informer working under Shankar.
Production.
Origin and casting.
On the first anniversary of "Dookudu" (2011), its producers Ram Achanta, Gopi Achanta and Anil Sunkara announced on 23 September 2012 that they would bankroll a film featuring Mahesh Babu as the protagonist and directed by Srinu Vaitla under their banner 14 Reels Entertainment. Though initial reports stated that Vaitla would write the film's script with assistance from Gopimohan, he chose to work with new writers for developing the film's script further. Mahesh supported his decision, stating that this change would make the audience experience freshness and discover something new. Vaitla wanted to narrate a character-driven story with entertainment as priority. "Aagadu" was confirmed as the film's title in July 2013.
The core technical crew of "Dookudu" were retained for "Aagadu" as well. S. Thaman was signed to compose the music, which marked his 50th film as a music composer. K. V. Guhan and A. S. Prakash were chosen as the film's director of photography and art director respectively. M. R. Varma edited the film. The official launch ceremony of the film, initially planned on 16 October 2013, was postponed to 25 October 2013 by paying respect to Srihari who succumbed to liver cancer on 9 October 2013. The film was officially launched at Ramanaidu Studios with filmmakers D. Ramanaidu and Shyam Prasad Reddy attending the ceremony as the guests of honour.
Mahesh played the role of Shankar, an encounter specialist similar to the one he played in "Dookudu". This was the third time Mahesh played the role of a police officer in his career after "Pokiri" and "Dookudu". Tamannaah was signed as the female lead, and she played the role of a local sweet shop owner. She sported a traditional attire for her look in the film. Rajendra Prasad was chosen to play Mahesh's father in the film. Prakash Raj was selected to play a negative role in the film. He was later replaced with Sonu Sood due to his creative differences with Vaitla. Brahmaji played the role of an honest police constable. Shruti Haasan performed an item number in the film which was the first of her other similar special appearances. Brahmanandam was signed to play a supporting role. He performed a spoof of "Racha" (2011), "Legend" (2014) and "Race Gurram" (2014). Mahesh performed a spoof on the game show "Meelo Evaru Koteeswarudu".
Filming.
Principal photography commenced on 28 November 2013 at Hyderabad. Tamannaah joined the film's sets on 12 December 2013. A village set resembling Tadipatri was erected in Gujarat for the film's shoot to avoid local interference from crowds that would ensue if shot in Andhra Pradesh, where Mahesh is a star. Few key scenes including a fight sequence were shot at Nanakramguda in a large set. The next schedule stated at Bellary from 23 February 2014. Mahesh did not suffer any injuries during the film's shoot at Bellary, but took rest due to the stress he underwent. Filming continued at Hyderabad from 10 March 2014. Some comedy scenes were filmed on the principal cast. Few scenes were filmed at the Mount Opera in Hyderabad. Scenes featuring Mahesh, Prasad and Sood were filmed in early April 2014.
The film's flashback scenes were being shot at Chiran Fort Club in Hyderabad till 11 April 2014. The makers preferred Hyderabad to Jammu and Kashmir and Rajasthan for the remaining portions and 70% of the shoot was completed by late April 2014. After filming few portions at Ramoji Film City, the next schedule commenced at Ladakh on 20 May 2014. On its completion, majority of the film's shoot was wrapped up. After completion of the shoot there, filming continued at Ramoji Film City and Mumbai in June 2014. Some crucial scenes on Mahesh, Sood, and others were filmed there. The next schedule was planned in Bellary and Kerala from 22 June 2014. After its completion, the next schedule commenced in Hyderabad from 6 July 2014.
Some key scenes were filmed on Mahesh, Tamannaah, Sood and Brahmanandam in Hyderabad till 18 July 2014. The intermission action sequences featuring Mahesh, Sood and others were filmed at Ramoji Film City from the next day. The climax sequences were shot in August 2014 on Mahesh and other supporting cast at Rachakonda near Ramoji Film City. The remaining part of the climax sequences, including an action sequence on Mahesh and Sood, was filmed at the hilly areas in Ramoji Film City. After completing the schedule at Europe on 25 August 2014, the unit returned to Hyderabad three days later. Principal photography ended on 5 September 2014 at Ooty.
Song sequences.
The song "Aagadu" was filmed on Mahesh and few dancers at the Jindal Steel Factory, Bellary in October 2013. This became the first Telugu film to be shot there and also made the factory a notable location for the song shoots of Kannada films such as "Rana Vikrama" (2015), "Ranna" (2015), and "Mr. Airavata" (2015). Both the song and fight sequences were filmed in 23 days. Mahesh and the members of the film's unit had fallen sick and continued work using antibiotics. Mahesh called it the "most strenuous schedule I went through in my life", and added, "For every shot, they had to get the dust up to get the right visual. "Room kocchi snanam chesthe" () I would see only mud. It’s very dangerous".
The song "Bhelpuri" was filmed on the lead pair near Pangong Tso, Ladakh in May 2014 under the supervision of choreographer Dinesh. Few portions were filmed at Leh for ten days with great difficulty under the supervision of choreographer Prem Rakshith. Tamannaah called it "one of the most difficult songs I have ever done", adding that it is a "full on dance number, unlike a song in which you are walking away and looking pretty". During the shoot, the car used by Vaitla and his team got stuck in the Nubra Valley for seven hours. The manager lost his voice and the others developed severe headaches. The song was filmed for ten days at that altitude and Vaitla flew 300 people in a flight for the same.
The song "Junction Lo" was filmed on Mahesh and Haasan in a specially erected set at Ramoji Film City. It was choreographed by Rakshith and was wrapped up on 31 July 2014. Apart from Brahmanandam, 60 background dancers participated in the song's shoot. The song "Nari Nari" and a part of the song "Aaja Saroja" were filmed on Mahesh and Tamannaah at Switzerland. A motion control equipment weighing 800 kilograms was transported from Amsterdam to Switzerland for the shoot of the latter. When the Italian crew refused to come because of the weather in Switzerland, Vaitla filmed parts of the song at the hills and the waterfalls. The remaining portion of the song "Aaja Saroja" was filmed at Ooty, on whose completion the film's principal photography was wrapped up.
Post-production.
Post-production phase was scheduled to be wrapped up in 50 days. On 19 May 2014, a "puja" commemorated the beginning of the film's dubbing at Hyderabad. The supporting cast of the film completed dubbing for their parts in late August 2014, and Mahesh began dubbing for his role after returning from Europe. The dubbing was completed on 10 September 2014. "Aagadu" was passed with an 'U/A' certificate by the Central Board of Film Certification in mid September 2014. All the remaining post-production activities, including the final mixing, were wrapped up by 16 September 2014.
Music.
S. Thaman composed the film's music, which marked his 50th film as a music director. Bhaskarabhatla penned the lyrics for four of the six songs in the soundtrack album, with Sri Mani penning the lyrics for one song and another one being a mashup of the film's dialogues. Haasan provided vocals for the song "Junction Lo" which happens to be the item number she performed in the film. Lahari Music marketed the film's soundtrack. Director S. Shankar unveiled the soundtrack album of the film on 15 August 2014 at Shilpakala Vedika in Hyderabad. The soundtrack opened to positive reception from critics as well as audience and was commercially successful.
Release.
"Aagadu" was released on 19 September 2014 in 2000 screens across the globe. Eros International acquired the film's global distribution rights. The film was released in 150 screens across the United States, a record number for a Telugu film. Owing to Mahesh's popularity there, the makers offered to screen "Aagadu" in every university there and in other countries, if there are more than 100 students willing to watch the film. Efforts were made to release the film across the United States with subtitles.
"Aagadu" was released in 100 screens across countries like Australia, United Kingdom, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, etc. The premieres in United States were held on 18 September 2014. The advance booking commenced on 15 September 2014 and almost half of the tickets for all the shows on the release day were booked in three days. It also had a record release of 110 screens across North India, and was screened at 6:00 AM in fifteen selected screens across Hyderabad on the release day. "Aagadu" was dubbed into Hindi as "Encounter Shankar", and into Tamil as "Idhudhaanda Police".
Marketing.
The first look teaser was criticised by Pawan Kalyan fans for its similarities with "Gabbar Singh" (2012). Also, the dialogue, "Prathodu pululu, simhalu, enugulu, elakalatho yedhava comparisons. Elaparam ochestundi" () was considered by a section of the audience as a satire on the popular dialogues of other films. After the teaser's release, the fans of Mahesh and Kalyan had a verbal fight on the social platforms, with the latter calling it a "sequel to "Gabbar Singh"". Addressing the controversy, Mahesh later clarified that it is not personal in any way and is the "attitude of the character that is being portrayed on screen".
As a part of the film's promotion, a statewide contest named "Meelo Evaru Superstar SUPER SuperFan" was launched on 25 August 2014. Few Mahesh's fans were selected from Vishakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Khammam, Warangal, Tirupati and Kurnool from 2527 August. They played a specially designed game on Mahesh and his films and the one who answered most of the answers correctly was identified and shortlisted in each centre. Twelve people selected in this way were invited to the audio launch. These twelve played a game there and the winner was crowned by Mahesh himself as the "Superstar SUPER Superfan" with a special gift. A special train named "Superstar Express" was decorated with the film's posters. It travelled from Secunderabad to Vishakhapatnam.
The makers unfolded "The Aagadu belt" on 17 September 2014 at Vishakhapatnam in the presence of Mahesh's fans, important dignitaries, officials from local police and people who held the belt to create a record for the world's longest police belt. Few specially created promotional kits were distributed to Mahesh's fans there.
Home media.
After the release of the first look, Gemini TV acquired the satellite rights for 97.5 million, one of the highest amount ever paid for a Telugu film. It surpassed the record held by "Attarintiki Daredi" (2013) which had a satellite deal of 90 million. The film had its global television premiere on 14 January 2015 on the eve of Sankranthi festival. It managed to get a TRP rating of 12.24, performing better than Mahesh's previous film "" on television. "Aagadu" VCD, DVD and Blu-ray versions were marketed by Sri Balaji Videos.
Reception.
Critical reception.
According to "International Business Times India", "Aagadu" received decent reviews from the critics.
Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of "The Hindu" called "Aagadu" a "simple, oft-repeated cop vs. don story", and added, "The difference here is the don is reduced to a cardboard. For a mind game to be interesting, both players need to be smart and second guess the opponent’s next move, which doesn’t happen here. If one is looking for gags, "Aagadu" offers them in plenty. But try an overdose of this formula and it could be tiring." Suresh Kavirayani of "Deccan Chronicle" gave the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote, "Though this film has many similarities of Srinu Vaitla’s earlier films, but it’s Mahesh Babu who has the audience’s attention throughout. Watch it for him and more rely on him".
IndiaGlitz gave 3.25 out of 5 stars and commented, "In his attempt to make the film a fun ride all throughout, Vaitla commits a "Baadshah" folly with royal remorselessness". The reviewer called "Aagadu" a film where Mahesh and Vaitla "repeat themselves apparently because they are still enamoured of their previous outing". Karthik Pasupulate of "The Times of India" gave the film 3 out of 5 stars and called "Aagadu" "Dookudu 2.0" in operating system parlance. Pasupulate added that it seems more like a remake of "Dookudu" with a "much louder Mahesh Babu, more banal jokes, and a few superficial twists in the screenplay", and that the end product is "more slapstick than funny".
"Behindwoods" gave "Aagadu" 2 out of 5 stars and wrote, "The movie keeps going on and on with no exclusive build-up for the climax, before it get's [sic] over. "Aagadu" is too comically heightened and loses on the actual intent of the story". Rajitha S. of "The New Indian Express" wrote, "Inspite of an entertaining first half, "Aagadu" fizzles out in the second half and makes for an ordinary affair". Sify commented that Vaitla "has thrown the script of this film to the winds" and "relies on comedy, but at times it's too much", concluding that "Aagadu" "doesn't pass the muster" and is "definitely not a heavy weight film".
Box office.
"Aagadu" debuted with a positive response at the box office by crossing the US$1 million mark in two days including its paid previews at the United States box office. It collected 180.2 million in two days, which according to Indo-Asian News Service, was Mahesh's career best opener. By collecting a distributor share of 276 million in its first weekend globally, "Aagadu" became the second highest Telugu film with highest opening weekend figures. Due to unfavourable word of mouth, the film's business witnessed a drop and it collected 312 million in its first week, ending the week on an average note.
After the release of "Loukyam" and "Govindudu Andarivadele", "Aagadu" lost major portion of its screens. In its lifetime, "Aagadu" collected a distributor share of 342.5 million and was declared a box office bomb due to the high costs involved. It however managed to perform better than the year's other commercial failures "1: Nenokkadine" and "Rabhasa". "Aagadu" final distributor share figures of AP/Nizam, Karnataka, and the rest of Indian box office stood at 214 million, 37.5 million and 16 million respectively. It also collected 62.5 million at the United States box office and 12.5 million at the other international markets in its full run.
"Aagadu" failure was attributed to its similarities with "Dookudu" and other successful Telugu films. Escalation of budget was also considered as one of the reasons for the film's failure. Mahesh and Vaitla charged a remuneration of 180 million and 120 million respectively, due to which the film's budget stood at 650 million. Mahesh later acknowledged the film's failure and called it a "mistake". He added, "We were very excited during the scripting stage, and had envisioned it very differently. But unfortunately, things panned out differently. Perhaps, it's an error of judgement".


Tilda Swinton

Katherine Matilda Swinton (born 5 November 1960) is a Scottish actress. She is known for her leading roles in independent film and occasional supporting roles in blockbusters. Nominated for numerous accolades, she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance in the 2007 film "Michael Clayton". She also won the British Academy Scotland Award as Best Actress for the 2003 film "Young Adam", and has received three Golden Globe Award nominations.
Swinton began her career in experimental films, directed by Derek Jarman, starting with "Caravaggio" (1986), followed by "The Last of England" (1988), "War Requiem" (1989), and "The Garden" (1990). Swinton won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival for her portrayal of Isabella of France in "Edward II" (1991). She next starred in Sally Potter's "Orlando" (1992), and was nominated for the European Film Award for Best Actress.
Swinton was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her performance in "The Deep End" (2001). She followed this with appearances in "Vanilla Sky" (2001), "Adaptation" (2002), "Constantine" (2005), "Michael Clayton" (2007), "Julia" (2008), and "I Am Love" (2009). She won the European Film Award for Best Actress and received a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for the psychological thriller "We Need to Talk About Kevin" (2011). She is also known for her performance as the White Witch in "The Chronicles of Narnia" series (2005–2010) and the Ancient One in the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise.
Swinton was given the Richard Harris Award by the British Independent Film Awards in recognition of her contributions to the British film industry. In 2013, she was given a special tribute by the Museum of Modern Art. In 2020, Swinton was named as a recipient of the British Film Institute Fellowship, the highest honour presented by the Institute which honours individuals in "recognition of their outstanding contribution to film or television culture," and was thirteenth in "The New York Times" list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century.
Early life.
Katherine Matilda Swinton was born on 5 November 1960 in London, the daughter of Judith Balfour (née Killen; 1929–2012) and Sir John Swinton (1925–2018), the Laird of Kimmerghame House. She has three brothers. Her father was a retired major general in the British Army, and was Lord Lieutenant of Berwickshire from 1989 to 2000. Her mother was Australian. Her paternal great-grandfather was a Scottish politician and herald, George Swinton, and her maternal great-great-grandfather was the Scottish botanist John Hutton Balfour.
The Swinton family is an ancient Anglo-Scots family that can trace its lineage to the Middle Ages. Swinton considers herself "first and foremost" a Scot.
Swinton attended three independent schools: Queen's Gate School in London, the West Heath Girls' School, and also Fettes College for a brief period. West Heath was an expensive boarding school, where she was a classmate and friend of Lady Diana Spencer (later Princess of Wales). As an adult, Swinton has spoken out against boarding schools, stating that West Heath was "a very lonely and isolating environment" and that she thinks boarding schools "are a very cruel setting in which to grow up and I don't feel children benefit from that type of education. Children need their parents and the love parents can provide." Swinton spent two years as a volunteer in South Africa and Kenya before University.
In 1983, Swinton graduated from New Hall at the University of Cambridge with a degree in Social and Political Sciences. While at Cambridge, she joined the Communist Party; she later joined the Scottish Socialist Party. It was in college that Swinton began performing on stage.
Career.
Acting.
Swinton joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1984, appearing in "Measure for Measure". She also worked with the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh, starring in "Mann ist Mann" by Manfred Karge in 1987. On television, she appeared as Julia in the 1986 mini-series "Zastrozzi: A Romance" based on the Gothic novel by Percy Bysshe Shelley. Her first film was "Caravaggio" in 1986, directed by Derek Jarman. She went on to star in several Jarman films, including "The Last of England" (1987), "War Requiem" (1989) opposite Laurence Olivier, and "Edward II" (1991), for which she won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the 1991 Venice Film Festival.
Swinton performed in the performance art piece "Volcano Saga" by Joan Jonas in 1989. The 28-minute video art piece is based on a 13th-century Icelandic Laxdeala Saga, and it tells a mythological myth of a young woman whose dreams tell of the future.
Swinton also played the title role in "Orlando", Sally Potter's film version of the novel by Virginia Woolf. The part allowed Swinton to explore matters of gender presentation onscreen, which reflected her lifelong interest in androgynous style. Swinton later reflected on the role in an interview accompanied by a striking photo shoot. "People talk about androgyny in all sorts of dull ways," said Swinton, noting that the recent rerelease of "Orlando" had her thinking again about its pliancy. She referred to 1920s French artist and playful gender-bender Claude Cahun: "Cahun looked at the limitlessness of an androgynous gesture, which I've always been interested in."
Recent years have seen Swinton move toward mainstream projects, including the leading role in the American film "The Deep End" (2001), in which she played the mother of a gay son she suspects of killing his boyfriend. For this performance, she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award. She appeared as a supporting character in the films "The Beach" (2000), featuring Leonardo DiCaprio, "Vanilla Sky" (2001), and as the archangel Gabriel in "Constantine". Swinton appeared in the British films "The Statement" (2003) and "Young Adam" (2003).
In 2005, Swinton performed as the White Witch Jadis, in the film version of ', and as Audrey Cobb in the Mike Mills film adaptation of the novel "Thumbsucker". Swinton later had cameos in "Narnias sequels ' and '.
In 2007, Swinton's performance as Karen Crowder in "Michael Clayton" earned her both a BAFTA award for Best Supporting Actress as well as the Oscar for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role at the 2008 80th Academy Awards, the film's sole win.
Swinton next appeared in the 2008 Coen Brothers film "Burn After Reading". Swinton said of the film, in which she played opposite George Clooney again: "I don't know if it will make anybody else laugh, but it really made us laugh while making it." She was cast in the role of Elizabeth Abbott in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button", alongside Cate Blanchett and Brad Pitt.
She had a starring role as the eponymous character in Erick Zonca's "Julia", which premiered at the 2008 Berlin International Film Festival and saw a .S. release in May 2009.
She starred in the film adaptation of the novel "We Need to Talk About Kevin", released in October 2011. She portrayed the mother of the title character, a teenage boy who commits a high school massacre.
In 2012, she was cast in Jim Jarmusch's "Only Lovers Left Alive". The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on 23 May 2013, and was released in the U.S. in the first half of 2014. She played Mason in the 2014 sci-fi film "Snowpiercer".
In 2015, she starred in Luca Guadagnino's thriller "A Bigger Splash", opposite Dakota Johnson, Matthias Schoenaerts and Ralph Fiennes.
Swinton also portrayed the Ancient One in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, appearing in the 2016 film "Doctor Strange" and the 2019 film "".
Swinton starred in Luca Guadagnino's 2018 remake of the horror film "Suspiria". She played several roles, and was credited as Lutz Ebersdorf.
Performance art.
In 1995, with producer Joanna Scanlan, Swinton developed a performance/installation live art piece in the Serpentine Gallery, London, where she was on display to the public for a week, asleep or apparently so, in a glass case, as a piece of performance art. The piece is sometimes wrongly credited to Cornelia Parker, whom Swinton invited to collaborate for the installation in London. The performance, titled "The Maybe", was repeated in 1996 at the Museo Barracco in Rome and in 2013 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Fashion.
Swinton has collaborated with the fashion designers Viktor & Rolf. She was the focus of their "One Woman Show" 2003, in which they made all the models look like copies of Swinton, and she read a poem (of her own) that included the line "There is only one you. Only one".
In 2013, she was named as one of the 50 best-dressed over 50 by "The Guardian". She was ranked one of the best dressed women in 2018 by fashion website Net-a-Porter.
Other projects.
In 1988, she was a member of the jury at the 38th Berlin International Film Festival. In 1993, she was a member of the jury at the 18th Moscow International Film Festival.
In 1996, she appeared in the music video for Orbital's "The Box".
In August 2006, she opened the new Screen Academy Scotland production centre in Edinburgh.
In July 2008, she founded the film festival Ballerina Ballroom Cinema of Dreams. The event took place in a ballroom in Nairn on Scotland's Moray Firth in August.
Swinton has collaborated with artist Patrick Wolf on his 2009 album "The Bachelor", contributing four spoken word pieces.
In 2009, Swinton and Mark Cousins embarked on a project where they mounted a 33.5-tonne portable cinema on a large truck, hauling it manually through the Scottish Highlands, creating a travelling independent film festival. The project was featured prominently in a documentary titled "Cinema Is Everywhere". The festival was repeated in 2011. In September 2009, Swinton joined a petition of Hollywood stars in support of Roman Polanski, and calling for his release from custody after he was detained in relation to his 1977 charge for drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl.
In 2012, Swinton appeared in Doug Aitken's "SONG 1", an outdoor video installation created for the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C. In November of the same year, she and Sandro Kopp made cameo appearances in episode 6 of the BBC comedy "Getting On".
Swinton co-founded Drumduan Upper School in Findhorn, Scotland in 2013 with Ian Sutherland McCook. Swinton and McCook's both had children who attended the Moray Steiner School, whose students graduate at age 14. They founded Drumduan partly to allow their children to continue their Steiner educations with neither grading nor tests. Swinton resigned as a director of Drumduan in April 2019.
In February 2013, she played the part of David Bowie's wife in the promotional video for his song "The Stars (Are Out Tonight)", directed by Floria Sigismondi. In July 2013, Swinton appeared photographed in front of Moscow's St. Basil's Cathedral holding a rainbow flag in support of the country's LGBT community, reportedly releasing a statement: "In solidarity. From Russia with love."
Personal life.
Although born in London and having attended various schools in England, Swinton describes her nationality as Scottish, citing her childhood, growing up in Scotland and Scottish aristocratic family background. In 1997, Swinton gave birth to twins, Honor and Xavier Swinton Byrne, with her then-partner John Byrne, a Scottish artist and playwright. She has lived in Scotland for over two decades, currently in Nairn, overlooking the Moray Firth in the Highland region of Scotland, with her children and partner Sandro Kopp, a German painter. In 2018, she stated her support for Scottish independence.
In a 2009 interview with "The WIP", Swinton said, "I'm probably a woman. I don't know if I could ever really say that I was a girl – I was kind of a boy for a long time. I don't know, who knows? It changes." In her work, she has "played with the idea of transformative gender" and enjoys "walking the tightrope of identity, of sexual identity, of gender identity."
In a 2021 interview with "Vogue", Swinton mentioned that she identifies as queer. She was quoted as saying "I'm very clear that queer is actually, for me anyway, to do with sensibility. I always felt I was queer – I was just looking for my queer circus, and I found it. And having found it, it’s my world." She further stated that her collaborations with several creative visionaries helped her to find a sense of familiar belonging.


Listin Stephen

Listin Stephen is an Indian film producer and distributor who works in Malayalam and Tamil film industries. He founded the film production company Magic Frames. His debut production was "Traffic" (2011), which heralded in a new age of film-making style into Malayalam cinema.
Career.
His debut production was "Traffic" (2011), which heralded in a new age of film-making style into Malayalam cinema. His second production was "Chaappa Kurish" (2011). While it encountered controversies, the film turned out to be a moderate commercial and critical hit. In 2012, he produced "Ustad Hotel" which won three National Film Awards, including the one for the Best Popular Film. Following the success of his films, he remade all three films in Tamil in association with R. Sarathkumar. Currently he is producing three Tamil films. His other production ventures are "Chirakodinja Kinavukal" and "Vimaanam".


Abbaigaru

Abbaigaru is a 1993 Indian Telugu-language comedy-drama film, produced by M. Narasimha Rao under Raasi Movies and directed by E. V. V. Satyanarayana. It stars Venkatesh, Meena and music composed by M. M. Keeravani. The film recorded as a "Super Hit" at the box office.
The movie is a remake of the 1987 Tamil movie "Enga Chinna Rasa", whose story was inspired by the Kannada novel "Mallammana Pavada" by B. Puttaswamayya, which incidentally went on to be adapted into a 1969 Kannada movie "Mallammana Pavaada". The screenplay of the Kannada movie was written by Telugu director P. Pullaiah based on his 1955 Telugu movie with similar story titled "Ardhangi", which itself was based on Maddipatla Suri's Telugu translation of the Bengali novel "Swayamsidda", written by Manilal Banerjee. "Swayamsiddha" went on to be made into a 1975 Bengali movie of same name. "Ardhangi" was remade in Tamil as "Pennin Perumai" and in Hindi twice as "Bahurani" in 1963 and as "Jyoti" in 1981. "Enga Chinna Rasa" also went on to be remade in Hindi as "Beta", in Kannada as "Annayya" and in Odia as "Santana" (1998). The film was dubbed in Tamil as "Chinna Yejaman".
Plot.
Dora Babu is the only child of a multi-millionaire Venkatraidu, who can provide his son with anything he wants, but he loves his mother who ends up dying and his only desire is his mother's love. Venkatraidu cheers him up by remarrying a woman Nagamani, a greedy lady who loves money, thinking that she will care for his son as her natural son. Nagamani and her brother make Venkatraidu paralyzed, consider him as a mental patient and eventually lock him in a room of the family home. Dora Babu becomes devoted to Nagamani, she raises Dora Babu as an uneducated boy since he does anything she says, loves her a lot does whatever she asks of him.
Dora Babu meets Sudhain a marriage and keeps following her. She is being abducted and assaulted at a fair, he rescues her. The two fall in love and despite the villagers believing she is no longer chaste, he marries her and goes to his mother. Nagamani hates that and separates them with her tactics. Sudha discovers that and her motherly love for Dora Babu is a ruse in an attempt to discredit the sanity of Venkatraidu, and thus is unable to interfere with the plan Nagamani has for the family fortune to be diverted to Dora Babu's step brother Murari, the real son of Nagamani who also shares his mother's greed. A battle of wills between the Nagamani and Sudha ensues.
Nagamani sees that her influence over the family is being challenged by Sudha who insists that Venkatraidu leave his prison and return to the family circle as there is nothing wrong with him. She makes Dora Babu aware of the intentions of his mother. Nagamani starts to abuse and embarrass Sudha with all the family members present. Sudha is ready to leave, but then, to protect her husband and her house from Nagamani's intentions, she decides to apologize to her mother-in-law. Sudha then cleverly starts exposing Nagamani's every effort and intention in a dignified manner so that her husband will not be offended.
Sudha becoming pregnant prompts Nagamani to attempt to kill her and her unborn child with poison. Sudha discovers this and tells her husband. He continues to refuse to believe the treachery although she takes an oath upon her unborn child's life. Dora Babu defends his mother and offers to prove that Sudha is wrong. Dora Babu drinks the milk, He comes to the realization that what Sudha said was all along his mother's intentions. In his usual innocent manner, he asks her why, when all she had to do was simply ask for the wealth—he would have happily agreed to give it all, his words so deeply touched Nagamani that she realises her cruelty has been directed at the only son, who all along had loved her.
Finally, the film concludes with Dora Babu recovering, agreeing to give up to his mother his worldly possessions and leaving home with his wife. At the last moment, Nagamani begs him not to leave, claiming to have learned the error of her ways. She tears up the legal papers and tells him that all she wants is nothing more than Dora Babu.
Soundtrack.
Music composed by M. M. Keeravani. Music released on SURYA Audio Company.
Other versions.
The story line has been inspiration for various movies and has had various remakes in Indian film industry.


Attarintiki Daredi (soundtrack)

Attarintiki Daredi is the feature film soundtrack of the 2013 film of the same name starring Pawan Kalyan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Pranitha Subhash. Directed by Trivikram Srinivas, the film's music and background score were composed by Devi Sri Prasad marking his immediate collaboration with Pawan Kalyan and Trivikram Srinivas Individually. The soundtrack consists of 6 songs and a bit song all composed by Devi Sri Prasad and Ramajogayya Sastry, Sri Mani and himself penning the lyrics. The album's release coincided with a promotional audio launch function on 19 July 2013 at Shilpakala Vedika in Hyderabad under high security arrangements on Aditya Music label.
Production.
In 2012, Trivikram hired his regular associate Devi Sri Prasad to compose music for this film with Pawan Kalyan thanks to the stupendous success of Jalsa which marked the trio's first collaboration which released in 2008. While scouting for the locations required for the film in Spain, the trio had the music sitting in Barcelona. Lyricist Sri Mani, in an interview to Sakshi Newspaper told that he wrote "Aaradugula Bullet" song challengingly as Trivikram asked him to write a song which satisfies both Hero's introduction and basic story line of the film. Devi Sri Prasad penned the lyrics for the song "Ninnu Chudagane" which he told in an interview as a bit boring song. The song "Ninnu Chudagane" was shot at Pollachi, Tamil Nadu in February while the songs "Kirraaku" and "Bapu Gari Bommo" were shot at Europe in June. In July the song "Its Time to Party" was shot at 7 acres property of Annapurna studios in which Pawan Kalyan, Samantha, Mumtaj, Hamsa Nandi and 100 others in the choreography of Ganesh Master. Pawan Kalyan was reported to croon for a folk song "Kaatama Rayuda", an old Traditional folk song earlier used in the 1940 film "Sumangali" whose tune was re-composed by Chittor V. Nagaiah and lyrics were re-written by Samudrala Raghavacharya which was confirmed by Devi Sri Prasad in his Twitter account after the release of the track. It was also informed later that Devi Sri Prasad would make a guest appearance in "Ninnu Chudagane" song written by him which was Trivikram's idea.
Later Aditya Music, who won the audio rights of the film, released an audio poster featuring Pawan Kalyan on 16 July 2013. Initially the film's audio was planned to be released directly into the market. However, after much speculation, it was revealed by Samantha that the film's audio would be released at Shilpakala Vedika in Hyderabad. On 19 July 2013 the audio was launched under very tight security arrangements with no chief guest and outsiders being invited and Pawan Kalyan, Samantha, Trivikram and rest of the film's unit celebrating the event along with the audience. After the audio released and became a huge hit, the recording video of "Kaatama Rayuda" was released into the Internet media featuring Pawan Kalyan, Devi Sri Prasad, Trivikram, B.V.S.N. Prasad. The song made waves in the social media in 48 hours with close to half a million hits on YouTube.
Reception.
The audio of the album received positive response. 123telugu.com gave a review stating "The audio album of Power Star Pawan Kalyan’s "Atharintiki Dharedhi" is a little different when compared to the usual tunes heard in Pawan’s films. In keeping with the unconventional title, the audio album is a lot more classy and subtle. There are no mass masala numbers. Bapu Gari Bomma, Aaradugula Bullet and Ninnu Chudagane are the best numbers from this album." IndiaGlitz gave a review stating "Attharintiki Daredi is easily the most awaited album of late. When DSP and Trivikram joined hands for Pawan Kalyan in 2008, it was nothing short of a sensation. Jalsa remains one of the best Telugu albums in the new century. Here is yet another dekko delivery, though not as eminently impressive as Jalsa, from the same team. A range of talented singers keep you hooked. Sree Mani and Rama Jogayya Sastry contributed some very interesting lines. But it is DSP's song that stands out." Telugu4.com gave a review stating "Overall The Songs are Superb. The music will rock the audience in the coming days. Awesomely composed by the young Music Director Devi Sri Prasad. Lyrics are super for all the songs." Cinema65.com gave a review stating "Finally What is say is..."Audio is Good.. But Not Reached My Expectations", Aradugula bullet song will be the Top track in the album which was written by new lyricist Sree Mani, DSP showed some Neglagence in composing songs for the hatrik film. When compared to Jalsa and Gabbar Singh these songs are not up to the Mark of Pawan Kalyan." Cinecorn.com gave a review stating "A mixed reaction arises which probably is the best thing that can be said for an album that comes with such humongous expectations. What this means is once the hype dies down the album will have a life of its own because the album is basically good. Lyrics play a major part in the album being good. Lyrics aren’t the award winning type, they are, to put it simply, very entertaining. Lastly if Gabbar Singh was a massy treat this is a classy treat." 143Cinema.com gave a review stating "Overall it a HIT album and the combo (Pawan Kalyan – Trivikram – DSP) never disappoints and fans get go crazy on Aaradugula, Kirrakke and its party time now. This is one of the DSP album you can’t skip."


Koratala Siva

Koratala Siva (born 15 June 1975) is an Indian film director and screenwriter. Koratala has directed four Telugu films, namely "Mirchi" (2013), "Srimanthudu" (2015), "Janatha Garage" (2016) and "Bharat Ane Nenu" (2018), and all four are commercial successes. He has received two Nandi Awards, and an IIFA Utsavam Award.
Early life and cinema.
Starting his early career working as a software engineer, Koratala worked as a screenwriting assistant under his uncle Posani Krishna Murali. Subsequently, he ventured into cinema as a dialogue writer for films such as "Okkadunnadu, Munna, Brindavanam," and "Oosaravelli."
Directorial career.
In 2013, he made his directorial debut with "Mirchi" starring Prabhas which was a box-office success. In 2015, he directed action-drama film "Srimanthudu", which was a commercial success, and has received three Filmfare Awards South, six IIFA Awards, and six SIIMA Awards.
His 2016 film "Janatha Garage" starred Mohanlal and Jr. NTR. The story follows operating a large automobile service center named "Janatha Garage" and undertaking law enforcement through their group of automobile mechanics, because the legal agencies were thought to be inadequate. The film grossed estimated 135 crore and earned a distributor's share amount of 60 crore in its first week of release. Koratala scored his third consecutive success as a director with the film.
He returned to direct Mahesh Babu in the political drama film "Bharat Ane Nenu" and continued his success streak at the box-office, with the film grossing 225 crore at the box-office. In early 2020, Koratala started filming his next, "Acharya" with Chiranjeevi in the lead.


Aadu Magaadra Bujji

Aadu Magaadra Bujji is a 2013 Indian Telugu-language romantic action comedy film directed by debutante director Krishna Reddy Gangadhasuu and starring Sudheer Babu, Asmita Sood and Poonam Kaur in the lead roles. The film is jointly produced by M Subbareddy and S N Reddy under SNR Films India Pvt Ltd and Colours & Claps Entertainments banner. Music is composed by Sri Kommineni.
Plot.
Siddhu (Sudheer), a naughty easy-going guy, falls in love with Indu (Asmita Sood). But Indu is the sister of Cherry (Ranadheer) who keeps on protecting his sister from others’ eyes. But on the other hand, Cherry loves Anjali (Poonam Kaur), the sister-in-law of a dangerous man Bujji aka Shankar (Ajay). How things move among these people, how Siddhu plays with Shankar forms the main story.
Production.
It was announced to Sudheer Babu to do this movie in March 2012. Shooting started on 11 May 2013. Krishna Reddy is debuting as director with this film in Telugu film industry. He earlier worked as co-director for S. S. Rajamouli films. The logo and first look of this film were released on 9 August 2013.
Audio.
Sri Kommineni composed the music. The film's audio was launched at Novotel Hyderabad Convention Centre, Hyderabad on 30 October 2013 by Prince Mahesh Babu through Shreyas Music and Krishna launched the theatrical trailer of the film. Vijaya Nirmala, Naresh, Gopichand Malineni, Veeru Potla and Bellamkonda Suresh attended the event. The audio received an enormously positive response from the critics as well as the public.
Release.
The film was released worldwide on 7 December 2013.


Kristiene Clarke

Kristiene Clarke is a documentary director, producer and academic. She is the first transgender filmmaker in the world to have created documentaries addressing the topic. She has had extensive education and training in various forms of filming and production, and over 70 flagship films to her name since she began directing and producing in 1988. Her work contains themes of cultural, political and sexual diversity and documents the lives and adversity of a variety of people from contrasting backgrounds. Throughout her work she strives to challenge stereotypes and ensure individuals' sexuality and trans identity are not withheld from them. She believes that analysing how the LGBT community is represented via media platforms such as books, TV and film can provide an insight into the contemporary values held within society. Clarke states that there is a popular assumption that transgender individuals are part of a homogeneous group with identical values, and through her filmmaking she aims to unhinge this notion.
Currently she resides in London, England with her dog, Harry and cat, Burt.
Career.
Clarke's career began in 1988 when she directed "Sex Change: Shock! Horror! Probe!" was aired on Channel 4. Primarily her films are designed to be aired on TV. Many of these have been shown on UK TV channels such as Channel 4, ITV (TV channel), Channel 5 (UK) as well as overseas platforms. Clarke also created work for the award-winning series Arena (TV series) that featured on BBC.
"The Truth about Gay Sex" (2001) directed by Clarke was screened at the 26th Frameline Film Festival, a San Francisco lesbian and gay film festival in 2002. The 49 minute film shot in Manchester's Gay Village, Canal Street (Manchester), intends to highlight how straight individuals lack knowledge of gay sex and strives to educate its audience with detailed advice and explanations. Tokyo International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival screened Clarke's 1994 documentary "Pointing Percy" in 1999.
Clarke worked as the event co-ordinater at the Aldeburgh Documentary Film Festival in 2011, which featured the most compelling and thought-provoking documentaries circulating the media at that time. During the festival Clarke's documentary "Shantytown Shakespeare" (2006) was screened and she conducted a masterclass for students.
"Sex Change: Shock! Horror! Probe!" (1988).
The film explores stigma's surrounding transgender individuals as well as documenting their struggle to be considered 'normal' people. The films delves into the cultural and political difficulties of transgender issues within society. It does this by questioning how gender was perceived at the time, as well as showing the process of being transgender after having surgery. The narrative stemmed from Clarke's anger towards the press' interest to know details surrounding Adèle Anderson's sexuality. Clarke says she decided on this title for the documentary in order to "...ridicule the tabloid headlines at the time.".
Clarke said that in the process of making the film and working with the cast that she felt encouraged to reflect upon her own transgender experience and the hardship she faced.
"Sandra Bernhard: Confessions of a Pretty Lady" (1994).
This is a mid-length film documenting comedian, Sandra Bernhard which explores various topics such as her sexuality and shows footage of her shoots for Playboy. Clarke showcases the entertainer by giving the audience the chance to "see the real woman behind the fabulous image". In the film Bernhard, her mother, Jeanette, and her aunt and uncle are interviewed. The film was originally made to be aired on the BBC for the documentary series Arena (TV series) however it was taken from the line-up that year.
Academia.
Clarke holds an academic position at the University of Kent teaching 'moving image production', in addition to this she is a mentor at Warnborough College. Clarke has also been a guest lecturer at many other academic institutions such as University of Manchester, University of London, Queen Mary University of London, Royal Holloway, University of London, and London School of Economics. Furthermore, Clarke also delivers masterclasses in cultural institutions worldwide.
Awards and nominations.
Kristiene Clarke has received awards for her directing and producing from various International Film Festivals.


Fritz and Friederike

Fritz and Friederike () is a 1952 West German comedy film directed by Géza von Bolváry and starring Liselotte Pulver, Albert Lieven, and Margarete Haagen.
The film's sets were designed by Heinrich Beisenherz and Alfred Bütow.


Pithapuram Nageswara Rao

Pithapuram Nageswara Rao (5 May 1930 – 5 March 1996) was an Indian playback singer who worked in the early period of Telugu cinema. He sang thousands of songs, mostly of a comedic nature, in the 1950s and 1960s along with Madhavapeddi Satyam and others. He also sang for a couple of movies in Kannada.
Brief life sketch.
Nageswara Rao was born on 5 May 1930 to Viswanadham and Appayyamma in Pithapuram, East Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh, India. His surname is "Patharlagadda"; but known since childhood with his birthplace Pithapuram. His father was a good drama actor. He also developed interest in acting during the school days. He not only acts but also used to sing from behind the screen to other less capable artists. He wanted to try his luck in cinema and ran away from home to Madras.
He got a chance to sing in "Mangala Sutram" (1946) at the age of 16 years. He later sang in "Chandralekha" (1948) of Gemini Studios, and since established in the field. He sang some thousands of songs mostly for Comedy characters. "Ayyayyo Jebulo Dabbulu Poyene" (Kula Gothralu, 1962), "Maa Oollo Oka Paduchundi" (Ave Kallu, 1967) He last time sang in "Bommarillu" (1978) as "Challani Ramayya Chakkani Seetamma".
He died on 5 March 1996.
Filmography.
These are some of the important songs he has voiced:


The Love Eterne

The Love Eterne is a 1963 Hong Kong musical film of the Huangmei opera genre directed by Li Han Hsiang. An adaptation of the classic Chinese story "Butterfly Lovers", it tells of the doomed romance between the male Liang Shanbo (portrayed by actress Ivy Ling Po, who also sang the character's vocals) and the cross-dressed female Zhu Yingtai (Betty Loh Ti, with singing dubbed by Tsin Ting).
The film won 6 awards at the 2nd Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan, including Best Picture. It was also selected as Hong Kong's entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 36th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.
Plot.
A young 16-year-old girl, Zhu Yingtai, managed to convince her parents to send her to college at Hangzhou on the condition that she went in the guise of a man. Along her journey to the college, she met 17-year-old Liang Shanbo who was attending the same school. They became sworn "brothers" and studied for three years together. Over this period of time, they formed a strong friendship. Yingtai gradually fell in love with Shanbo who, being a bookworm, never did discover what she was despite coming across a couple of oddities. When she was summoned home by her father, Yingtai revealed the truth to her headmaster's wife. Yingtai requested that she be the matchmaker for her and Shanbo and gave her a jade pendant as a token to be handed to Shanbo.
Shanbo walked with Yingtai for 18 miles to send off his sworn brother. She tried several times to hint to him her identity during the journey but to no avail, despite insulting him twice in her exacerbation with his denseness. Finally, she found a way and got his consent to matchmake him to her "twin sister". She exhorted him to seek out his fiancee soon before they reluctantly took leave of each other at the pavilion where they first met. Upon returning to school, Shanbo was restless and could not concentrate on his studies in the absence of his sworn brother. Seeing this, the headmaster's wife told him about Yingtai, gave him the jade pendant and bade him to go propose to her.
The joy of the reunion of the two came to naught when Yingtai told Shanbo he was three months too late. Her father had already betrothed her to the frivolous son of the powerful and wealthy Ma family. Shanbo, who was already ailing, was deeply grieved. He returned home and his health steadily deteriorated. Several days before her wedding day, he asked to see her again. When his servant returned instead with a token from her, it was the final blow. He sent his servant to Yingtai with a last gift and died. Yingtai was stricken with sorrow and forced her father to come to a compromise: to allow her to visit Shanbo's tomb on the way to her betrothed's home or she would not marry. At the tomb, she swore her undying love for Shanbo and that if they could not be together in life, she would rather be with him in death. A tornado sprang up and an earthquake split the tomb in two whereupon Yingtai threw herself into it. The whipping winds covered the tomb with sand. After the winds died down, two residual pieces of cloth from Yingtai's mourning clothes transform into two butterflies, and flutter away to the heavens.
Reception.
The story of "Liang Shanbo yu Zhu Yingtai" is a folk legend set during the period of the Jin Dynasty. There had been various film and TV renditions but the Shaw Brothers' version, directed by Li Han Hsiang, is the only adaptation that remains popular to this day. It is considered a quintessential "Huang Mei" film. In particular, the song 十八相送 ("Eighteen Miles Away") was popularized by the film.
The film won enormous popularity in Taiwan, breaking records at the box office in 1963, becoming the largest grossing film at that time. The songs and lyrics left an impression on audiences in almost all of Southeast Asia. In a tour of Taiwan that year, Ivy Ling Po created a pandemonium attracting over 200,000 fans. According to the film director Ang Lee, the film "became so popular in Taiwan that some claimed to have seen it 500 times. Lines of its dialogue became part of everyday conversation ... People would take two box lunches, go the theater and watch it all day long. My parents were watching it often. I remember the third time they went to see it, there was a typhoon coming, and they still left us at home. 'O.K., we're going to see this movie, bye.' ' ... The film was popular with everyone - from children and housewives to university intellectuals."


Duniyadari

Duniyadari (Marathi: दुनियादारी) is a 2013 Marathi film directed by Sanjay Jadhav. The film is about the journey of every one which eventually makes them realize the true face of life. It has been acclaimed by Marathi audience. Critical reception was positive. The film is based on a novel of the same name by the author Suhas Shirvalkar. This film gave a boost to the Marathi film industry. This is the only Indian film of the decade (2010-2020) which has completed 40 weeks in Cinemas.
It had the most collection at box office for a film in Marathi which was broken by "Timepass" in 2014 and again by "Lai Bhaari". The film was remade in Kannada in 2017 as "Noorondu Nenapu" and in Gujarati in 2017 as "Duniyadari". It ran for more than 100 days in Maharashtra.
Plot.
"Duniyadari" opens with grandma Shirin (Sai Tamhankar) with a streak of grey accompanying grandpa Pritam (Sushant Shelar) to Pune, grandchildren in tow. The story traces itself back to presumably the late 1970s (seen through the bell-bottom pants on the gentlemen and the polka-dot dresses and 'Asha Parekh' salwar kameezes on the ladies). Nothing is spelt out, but each character and its relevance in the plot is unveiled through the narrative that revolves around Shreyas Talwalkar (Swapnil Joshi). He is thrown into college in Pune on his mother's insistence. Under circumstances which are reminiscent of college life in the Hindi cinema of the 80s, Shreyas makes friends with DSP aka Digya (Ankush Choudhary) and his Katta gang. A do-gooder standing tall for friendships in the face of a creepy Saai (Jitendra Joshi), Shreyas becomes the voice of reason for the rustic gang.
He finds himself attracted to Shirin, but Meenu (Urmila Kanetkar) get attracted to Shreyas which creates a love triangle. Shirin is a student of Medical college and sister of Pritam. They are children of an MLA from Kolhapur, who hates Shirin, his own daughter. Shreyas accepts Meenu's proposal out of spite for Shirin (as she repeatedly turns down his advances) but is not sure about their future. Saai fixes his marriage with Shirin against her wish. Meenu later understands that Shreyas is deeply in love with Shirin. On Saai and Shirin's wedding day, Shreyas and his friends fight with Saai's gang. Finally Shirin marries Shreyas. She is aware that Shreyas is a patient of a deadly disease (probably blood cancer) and has only few remaining months of life. They are about to enter parenthood.
The film ends with a touching scene where all the friends, now in their early 50s, meet at the same katta of their college on Shreyas's birthday and express their feelings for him.
Production.
Sanjay Jadhav ace cameraman of films like "Dombivali Fast", "Jogwa", "Mumbai Meri Jaan" and director of "Checkmate", "Ringa Ringa", "Fakta Ladh Mhana" is the man behind the production house Dreaming 24/7. What makes "Duniyadari" more special with Jadhav's directing is the plot inspired from one of the all-time best seller's "Duniyadari" by eminent writer late Shri Suhas Shirvalkar. Though it is set in the 1970s, it remains related to today's youth.
Release.
"Duniyadari" was released in Maharashtra and Gujarat, Goa, Karnataka etc. acclaiming huge success outside Maharashtra. The film had a record 710 shows daily and more than 5,000 shows weekly across 270 theatres.
Reception.
The film has received highly positive reviews. "Duniyadari" is a huge financial success in Marathi film industry and an all-time blockbuster. ABP Majha, a Marathi news channel, gave 4 out of 5 stars acclaiming film for its story, direction and brilliant acting of all the actors.
Box Office.
Upon the release, the movie had slow start at the box office but positive word of mouth led to sold-out showings even after the tenth week of its release and the movie became the highest-grossing Marathi film of all time at that time, grossing . The film had run in cinema for 40 weeks. This is a unbroken record for the Indian film released in the decade 2010-2020.


Vijay Prakash

Vijay Prakash is an Indian singer and music composer. He has given his voice for Hindi films such as "Blue", "Yuvvraaj", "Swades", "Kaal", "Lakshya", "Matrubhoomi", "Tere Naam", "Cheeni Kum", "Raavan" and "Force". He has also performed in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Marathi movies. He is one of the judges for the Kannada reality show "Sa Re Ga Ma Pa" on Zee Kannada. He has also performed shows with Zakir Hussain. He won the Karnataka Government's 'Best Playback Singer' award for the year 2016 for the song "Nammooralli Chaligaladalli" from the film "Beautiful Manasugalu".
He is also one of four artists credited for the song "Jai Ho", which won the 2008 Academy Award for Best Original Song. Specifically, he sang the portion with the words "Jai Ho" that takes an extended high pitch at numerous junctures of the song. The song also won a Grammy Award in the category "Best Song Written For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media." He has also won the very prestigious Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Artist – Kannada twice for the songs "Gatiya Ilidu" from the Kannada film Ulidavaru Kandante and "Belageddu Yara Mukhava" from Kirik Party.
Early life.
He was born in Mysore, India to Carnatic Artists Lopamudra and Late L. Ramasesha, and is himself trained in Carnatic music. He was trained carnatic classic music by Bellary.M.Raghavendra
Career.
After moving to Mumbai in 1996, he became a student of Suresh Wadkar. Prakash was a participant in the program "Sa Re Ga Ma" on Zee TV, hosted by Sonu Nigam. He made it to the mega-finals in 1999. Later he compered "Sa Re Ga Ma Pa" on Zee Kannada. He got his first break in Hindi cinema with the film "" in 2002, and his first song for A. R. Rahman was in Ashutosh Gowariker's "Swades", followed by the same composer's Tamil title track for the movie "New". His song "Kavite" in Kannada movie "Gaalipata" too became famous.
He has done backing vocals for about 25 foreign films, including the film Couples Retreat, with music by A. R. Rahmaan. He has recorded for ads like "Kabhi chatpataa" for Knorr Soups and "Na sar jhuka hain kabhi" for HDFC Life Insurance. In 2008 he sang the "Condom a capella" ringtone composed by Rupert Fernandes and produced by the BBC World Service Trust for an Indian safe sex campaign. In 2009, his song, "Jai Ho"(Only chorus, original song sung by Sukhwinder Singh), won the 2008 Academy Award for Best Original Song.
He was one of the Judges in Confident Star Singer 2 (Kannada), which aired on Asianet Suvarna in 2009.
He has sung "Om Sivoham", a Sanskrit song penned by Vaali and composed by Ilaiyaraaja which was the main theme song of 2009 Tamil film Naan Kadavul.
In 2010, he became a regular artist under composer A. R. Rahman, as he performed several of his numbers such as "Hosanna" ("Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya, Ye Maaya Chesave"), "Beera Beera, Veera Veera (in Tamil & Telugu Versions)" ("Raavan & Raavanan"), "Powerstar" ("Komaram Puli") and "Kadhal Anukkal" ("Enthiran").
Prakash has debuted as a music composer for the 2013 Kannada film "Andar Bahar" starring Shivrajkumar.
He also won the Vijay Music Awards for the Best Male Playback for the song "Hosanna" from "Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa".
In 2013, he appeared as one of the artists in Coke Studio @ MTV.
In 2013, his song 'Khaali , written by lyricist Yograj Bhat, went viral on social media. The song 'Hoge' that he has sung for the film 'Nam Life Story' in Kannada is also going viral.
In 2018, the song 'Bombe Helutaite' from the film " Raajakumara " inspired by the song 'Aadisi nodu bilisi nodu' from the film " Kasturi Nivasa " became one of the industry evergreen songs. It was written by Santhosh Anandaram.
In 2021, the duo created another magical
song dedicated to the student-teacher relationship named 'Paatashala' in the film " Yuvarathnaa ".
Prakash was also the brand ambassador of Nissan Evalia 'moves like music' campaign, which featured six young prominent artists of India.
He is one of the very few Indian musicians who have had the honour of performing at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, USA.


B. V. Nandini Reddy

B. V. Nandini Reddy is an Indian film director who works in Tollywood. She debuted with 2011 Telugu film, "Ala Modalaindi".
Early life.
Nandini Reddy was born in Hyderabad. Her father Bharath. V. Reddy was a chartered accountant settled in Bangalore. The family hailed from Chittoor district and her mother Roopa Reddy is from the Pingle family hailing from Warangal district. Nandini has a younger brother.
Reddy was educated at St. Ann's High School, Secunderabad, and earned a degree at Women's College, Koti. She also holds a master's degree in politic science from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She was active in dramatics, elocution and cricket throughout her school and college years. She is also one of the judges in a Telugu reality TV show "Adhurs".
Career.
Reddy was introduced to Gangaraju Gunnam through a mutual friend and in 1995 she worked on his children's movie "Little Soldiers" as an Assistant Director. After that film was released, cinematographer Rasool Ellore introduced her to Krishna Vamsi, who refused at the time to take her into his team. She was idle for a year before being offered work on the Kannada film "Santhi Santhi Santhi". Actress Ramya Krishnan then persuaded Vamsi to take her for his next project, "Chandralekha". She became an integral part of Vamsi's team up to and including the filming of "Shakti", a Hindi remake of "Anthahpuram".
Vamsi sent Reddy to Daggubati Suresh Babu, with whom she has worked for Suresh Productions.
in 2019, she directed her fourth film Oh! Baby, starring Samantha Akkineni. Produced by People's Media Productions and Guru Films along with Suresh Productions, this is the second time Samantha and Reddy worked together.


Nightmare in Badham County

Nightmare in Badham County is a 1976 American women-in-prison television film directed by John Llewellyn Moxey and starring Chuck Connors, Deborah Raffin, and Lynne Moody. Its plot follows two female college students from California who, while traveling cross-country, are remanded to a women's prison farm in a corrupt Southern town.
The film was so popular in China that it was released in cinemas and Raffin became the first Western actress to make a promotional tour of the country, after which she became an unofficial ambassador helping China make deals with Hollywood.
Plot.
While driving on a cross-country summer trip, two UCLA students, Cathy and Diane, get a flat tire in a rural Southern community. A local, George, helps the women put on the spare tire, during which they are confronted by the local sheriff, Slim Danen, who is standoffish toward the women. The women again rebuff Danen at a diner while getting their car fixed. After being told their car's water pump needs replaced, the women leave the car at the shop overnight and camp in the woods. In the middle of the night, Danen arrives and arrests the women for trespassing, and remands them to the county jail.
That night, Danen sexually assaults Diane while Cathy witnesses the attack from a separate cell. At their hearing the next day, the corrupt local judge informs Cathy and Diane that they owe a significant amount of money for their car repairs, which both contest. During the hearing, Diane tells the judge that Danen raped her. The women are subsequently sent to Badham County Farm, a working prison farm, to serve a 30-day sentence. There they are overseen by Superintendent Dancer an three female guards, Dulcie, Smitty, and Greer. Cathy is horrified when she learns that the women's residence halls are racially segregated, resulting in Cathy being housed with all white women, and Diane placed in an all-black ward.
Cathy and Diana witness a number of atrocities committed at the farm, including the guards humiliating and abusing the inmates, and using racial epithets. Diane is taken under the wing of Sara, a longtime inmate at the farm. Cathy's sentence is extended by sixty days after she is implicated in a fight while working in the fields. A short time later, Cathy and several other inmates are allowed to leave for the day to serve drinks and wait on members of the local high society at an elite party, under the supervision of Dancer. Cathy attempts to ask for help from numerous attendees, but they all ignore her pleas. In the house, Cathy surreptitiously attempts to phone her parents in Philadelphia, but is caught by Dulcie. Dulcie, who is sympathetic to Cathy, only gives a mere warning, but after Smitty and Greer hear of the attempt, they bind Cathy's arms in the middle of the night and flagellate her.
Diane attempts to flee the prison by hiding on a bus transferring visitors back to town, but is caught and placed in solitary confinement. While delivering produce from the farm to the local diner, Cathy pleads with a waitress there to contact her parents, and writes down their contact information. The waitress, who remembers Cathy and Diane eating at the diner, is sympathetic to her. When leaving town in the prison truck, Cathy watches as the gas station proprietor passes by in her car. Later that night, Smitty confronts Cathy with the note she wrote to the waitress, and threatens Cathy with an extended sentence if she attempts to escape again.
Together, Cathy and Diane manage to devise an escape attempt together, planning to retrieve Cathy's car in town, which has a spare key hidden beneath the bumper. Diane distracts Danen by speeding with Cathy's car, allowing Cathy enough time to call her parents from a phone booth. The plan works as Cathy is able to reach her family, but Diane subsequently goes missing. Cathy's father arrives the next day to pick her up, and Cathy demands that Diane be freed, but Danen and Dancer refute having any knowledge of her whereabouts, insisting she escaped. After she is freed from the farm, Cathy visits Sara in the working fields, and asks her if she has seen Diane. Sara tearfully informs Cathy that she witnessed the workers burying Diane's body in a unmarked grave, among various others belonging to inmates who attempted to escape.
Release.
The film was released in the Untied States as an ABC movie-of-the-week in 1976, while an extended theatrical cut, running 100 minutes, was released internationally.


Nandi Award for Best First Film of a Director

The Nandi Award for Best Debut Director winners since 1986:


Thakkali Srinivasan

Thakkali Srinivasan is an Indian film director, musician and producer who has worked on Tamil films, often involving horror or murder mystery plotlines.
Career.
Thakkali Srinivasan began his career off as a producer and made the science fiction film "Nalaya Manithan" (1989) directed by Velu Prabhakaran. The success of the film prompted him to produce a sequel titled "Adhisaya Manithan" (1990) with a different cast, and the project did not perform as well commercially. He had also composed music for the films, along with Premi, forming the Premi-Srini duo largely supported by another music director Manachanallur Giridharan. Subsequently, he directed two films in the 1990s, the horror film "Jenma Natchathiram" (1991) with Nassar and the murder mystery film, "Witness" (1995) with Raghuvaran in the lead role. He began work on the production of a Pandiarajan-starrer titled "Maaruvedam" in the late 1990s, but the film was later shelved.
In 2001, he made "Asokavanam", another murder mystery film featuring Livignston, Sriman and Riyaz Khan and won mixed reviews for his work. A critic from The Hindu noted that "the script is good in the first half but sags in the second". He later began working on a film titled "Satrumun Kidaitha Thagaval" (2009) featuring Kanal Kannan, but was replaced midway through production by a debutant director, Bhuvanai Kannan. His latest release was "Aduthathu" (2011), a thriller about reality show contestants on a desert island, starring Sriman in the lead role.


Theri (soundtrack)

Theri (English: Spark) is the soundtrack album composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar, for the 2016 Tamil action film of the same name, written and directed by Atlee Kumar and produced by S. Thanu, starring Vijay, Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Amy Jackson in the lead roles, while Mahendran, Prabhu and Raadhika play supporting characters. Pulamaipithan, Na. Muthukumar, Pa. Vijay, Kabilan, Rokesh, R. Thiyagarajan and Arunraja Kamaraj wrote the lyrics for the songs. The audio rights of the film, were acquired by Think Music. The album was launched on 20 March 2016, and received positive reviews from critics.
Production.
This film marks the second collaboration of G. V. Prakash Kumar with both Atlee and Vijay, after "Raja Rani" and "Thalaivaa". It is G. V. Prakash's 50th film as a music composer. Both the composer and director went to Goa in March 2015 for a music composing session. Uthara Unnikrishnan recorded one song and Deva has recorded the introduction song for the film. Vijay recorded the song "Chella Kutti" along with Neeti Mohan. T. Rajendar has also recorded one song for the film. The Sanskrit verses in the song "En Jeevan" were written by L. Anandhan, a Sanskrit teacher at Modern Senior Secondary.
Release.
The audio launch event for the film took place on 20 March 2016 at Sathyam Cinemas, Chennai with Vijay, director Atlee, composer G. V. Prakash Kumar, producer Thanu and other film's cast and crew, attended the event. Samantha did not attend the audio launch. Actor Vijay gave an impressive and enthralling speech at the event. The event was telecasted on Star Vijay on 3 April 2016.
Background score.
The original background score was released on 22 June 2016, coinciding with Vijay's birthday. The album features 23 tracks in total.
Reception.
"Behindwoods" gave the album a rating of 3.25 out of 5, stating that "GV Prakash and Atlee combination after a very successful outing in Raja Rani have shown that they are an addition to musically successful director-music director pair with Theri." and gave a verdict "An amalgamation of some mass and class tunes, tailor made for Vijay!" "Sify" gave the album a rating of 4 out of 5, and summarised it as "Commercial cocktail in store for both Vijay & GV’s fans!" "Indiaglitz" gave the album a rating of 3.75 out of 5. "BollywoodLife" rated with 3.5 out of 5, stars with a statement "GV Prakash delivers an impressive, dynamic album that Vijay fans will really enjoy!"
Legacy.
The song "Eena Meena Teeka" was reused in the Sinhala film "Goree" (2019).


The Spessart Inn

The Spessart Inn () is a 1958 West German musical comedy film directed by Kurt Hoffmann. It starred Liselotte Pulver and Carlos Thompson.
Plot.
In the late years of the 18th century, Felix and Peter, two journeymen, are travelling across the Spessart hills to Würzburg. Scared of the bandits that plague these parts, especially after a brief encounter with them, the two are glad to find an inn in the middle of the forest. However, it turns out that they have wandered into a den of thieves. The owners are in league with the bandits, who this very night plan to abduct Franziska, the Comtesse von Sandau, who is travelling through the forest with a group including her fiancé, Baron Sperling. Their coach is waylaid by a trap and the bandits direct them to the nearby inn. The waitress warns the journeymen of impending danger and they pass on the warning to the nobles. During the night, the brigands arrive. To escape, the Comtesse switches places with Felix and, in a man's clothes, escapes with Peter. Felix (as Comtesse), Franziska's maid and the pastor are taken to the bandits' lair. The bandits send Baron Sperling on his way to carry the demand for 20,000 Gulden to Graf Sandau, Franziska's father.
When Franziska arrives at her father's castle, he refuses to pay the ransom for the commoner who has taken his daughter's place. Instead, Graf Sandau decides to send the military against the bandits. Franziska thus rides to the bandits' lair and pretends to be a highwayman herself. The bandit leader accepts her as a henchman, but makes her sleep in his hut. In the morning he discovers her true identity but keeps this information from his men.
When Graf Sandau finds out that the Comtesse has gone to the bandits he sends Baron Sperling to the inn with the ransom money. The soldiers shadow him but the plan to follow the bandits back to their lair fails. Meanwhile, at the bandits' lair, their corporal finds out that the "Comtesse" they have imprisoned is a man. Franziska, on the pretense that she wants to find out the truth about the prisoner, switches back places with Felix, which saves his life but makes her a prisoner. The corporal wants to kill her and a confrontation ensues. The leader sides with the prisoners and during the fight, the parson escapes. The soldiers find the bandits' lair, but the leader snatches the Comtesse and rides off.
Franziska conceals the bandit leader in her father's castle. He reveals to her that he is in fact the son of an Italian Count from whom Graf Sandau borrowed money in the past, which he never repaid. After his father's death he came to Germany to regain his money from Graf Sandau, but before he could do so he was taken prisoner by the bandits. They forced him to join their band and eventually he became their leader. The planned abduction of the Comtesse was intended to make Graf Sandau finally pay the money he owed.
The soldiers search the castle and the bandit leader flees. However, he returns and elopes with Franziska who was about to marry Baron Sperling—a purely financial match set up by her father. The bandit leader/count takes Franziska in lieu of the money he is owed and they drive off in a wagon.
Production.
The script was based on an 1826 novella by Wilhelm Hauff and written by Heinz Pauck and Luiselotte Enderle. Curt Hanno Gutbrod also worked on the script. An earlier film version of Hauff's story had been released in 1923, directed by Adolf Wenter and starring Friedrich Berger and Ellen Kürty.
The film was shot at the Bavaria Studios in Munich with sets designed by the art directors Robert Herlth and Kurt Herlth. "Schloss Mespelbrunn", actually located within the Spessart hills, was used as the castle of Graf Sandau. Another location was the market square of Miltenberg, a town between the Spessart and the Odenwald.
Release.
"The Spessart Inn" premiered on 15 January 1958 at the Gloria-Palast in Berlin.
The film was entered into the 1958 Cannes Film Festival and nominated for the Palme d'Or.
Kurt Hoffmann's "The Haunted Castle" and "Glorious Times at the Spessart Inn" were sequels of a sort to this film.
Reception.
The Filmbewertungsstelle awarded the film "Prädikat: Wertvoll". It also received the in 1958. In 1960 it was awarded a "Bambi" for "Artistically Best Film of the Year" and in 1961 the "Preis der deutschen Filmkritik" for "Best Film".
Liselotte Pulver received the "Filmband in Silber" for "Best Actress" at the Deutscher Filmpreis in 1958 for her role as Franziska.
The "Lexikon des internationalen Films" calls the film "a colourful, delightfully spooky and cheerful film with a parodistic touch".
More recently, theatres in several towns in Germany, including Mespelbrunn, Fulda or Donauwörth have staged plays/musicals that were based on the film or at least included some of the elements it had added to Hauff's original story.


Ved Shankar

Vedshanker is an Indian music composer. A former student of A. R. Rahman's school. he made his debut in the Tamil film "Paalai" (2010) and then made a breakthrough with his work in "Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom" (2012).
Career.
Ved Shankar was a student of A. R. Rahman’s KM Music Conservatory, and was one of 15 students selected for training in western classical music at North Eastern University, Boston, funded by the U.S. Department of State. He then trained as a sound designer and was nominated for the META award for Most Innovative Sound Design 2012, be completing his MBA at IIPM, Chennai. His first album was for the period film, "Paalai" (2011), and then worked on the album for "Madhubana Kadai" (2012). Ved Shankar made his breakthrough with his work in Balaji Tharaneetharan's "Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom", which on critical acclaim and performed well at the box office. Moreover, his work in the promotional song "Crazy Penne" featuring Andrea Jeremiah also won critical acclaim, and he was featured in a list of top music directors in a year end ranking by Behindwoods.com in 2012.


Lesle Lewis (composer)

Leslee Lewis is an Indian singer and composer known for his work with Hariharan as the duo "Colonial Cousins". They won the MTV Asia Viewer's Choice Award and then the U.S. Billboard Viewer's Choice Award for 'Colonial Cousins', their debut album. He conceived and created all the music for Coke Studio, MTV India debut season.
Popularly known as 'Lezz' in the industry, Leslee Lewis is one of the first Indian composers to have introduced the Indian audiences to Rock and Pop music. Leslee's creative side comes as an inherited value from his father, P L Raj, noted choreographer from the film industry.
With an aim to give the audiences a taste of varied music flavors, he has been successful in keeping his originality intact with advertisement jingles, film music and other forms of modern music.
Early life.
Leslee Lewis is the son of P. L. Raj, a prolific film choreographer. He was educated at St. Mary's High School, Mt. Abu in Rajasthan.
As a child, Leslee was greatly influenced by The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton and with further working on his musical capabilities bagged the opportunity of recording with renowned music directors.
He played guitar at the Cafe Royal, Oberoi Towers, Mumbai and recorded with Kalyanji–Anandji, Laxmikant–Pyarelal, R. D. Burman and Louis Banks.
Biography.
Jingles.
From 1987 he composed advertising jingles and was nominated for awards from the Indian Academy of Advertising Film Art (IAAFA). In 1989 received an award for his work. He went on to make some famous jingles such as Doodh-Doodh-Doodh (Piyo full glass), Mango Fruity fresh and juicy, Thumbs up taste the thunder, Santoor Santoor, etc.
Mainstream Music.
Lewis remixed Asha Bhonsle's album "Rahul and I" and composed songs for "Janam samjha karo, O mere sona, Piya Tu- ab toh aaja". He also composed and produced the music for "Paree Hu Main" by Suneeta Rao, "Bombay Girl" by Alisha Chinai and for KK's album "Pal". He even composed songs such as Bombay Girl and De De- Mujh Ko for Alisha Chinai.
He also launched indipop boy band A Band of Boys and gave music for their hit songs such as Meri Neendh, Gori and Aa Jaa Meri Jaan.
In 1998, Lewis recorded his first solo album, "Haseena". He composed the score for the Hindi films "Mela" and "Jahd" and the Tamil films "Modhi Vilayadu" and "Chikku Bukku".
Colonial Cousins.
Lewis first worked with ghazal singer Hariharan in 1992, creating a jingle. They formed "Colonial Cousins" in 1996 and recorded an album, "Colonial Cousins". They were the first Indian act to be featured on "MTV Unplugged". It won the MTV Indian Viewers' Choice award and Billboard Award for the Best Asian Music Group. They released the albums "The Way We Do It" (1998) and "Aatma" (2001) and composed the soundtrack for the Tamil films "Modhi Vilayadu" and "Chikku Bukku".


London River

London River is a 2009 British-French drama film, written and produced by Franco-Algerian film director Rachid Bouchareb. Starring Brenda Blethyn and Sotigui Kouyaté, it centres on the journey of two people searching for their children after the 7 July 2005 London bombings.
Plot.
In July 2005, British Protestant Falklands war widow Elisabeth Sommers (Blethyn), who is a Guernsey farmer, and Francophone African Muslim Ousmane (Kouyaté) are strangers who meet in London. She is searching for her daughter, and he for his son, following the London bombings. Neither is close to their missing child.
They fear that the daughter and son were killed in the bombings. They discover that they were a couple who lived together in a flat in London who planned to travel to France, but were killed by Hasib Hussain when the bus they were travelling on exploded in Tavistock Square.
It was shot in the UK and France. London locations include Harringay and Finsbury Park, in particular Blackstock Road.
Critical reception.
The film premiered at the 59th Berlin International Film Festival on 10 February 2009.
The film received mixed reviews. The "Evening Standard's" Derek Malcolm gave the film four stars out of five, stating: "Bouchareb's portrait of London after the terrorist attacks is startlingly accurate and there's a genuine feel for all of the players. Ken Loach couldn't have done much better. This is a film no Londoner should miss: humane, stunningly acted, it will be a gross injustice if it doesn't win a prize from Tilda Swinton's Berlin jury".
Kaleem Aftab, writing in "The Independent" called "London River" the "most talked about film at the Berlin Film Festival", but argued that "it was only [Sotigui] Kouyate's performance that lifted an otherwise dull and predictable film that avoided any meaningful discussion about the effect of the terrorist attack around which the story was shaped".
Having seen the Berlin premiere, "Variety's" Jay Weissberg stated that the film "trumpets political correctness far more loudly than this intimate drama can stand. Though the ending proves effective, Bouchareb and his co-scripters employ simplistic stereotypes and obvious counterpoints that shouldn't need to be spelled out so literally. Still, with its heart in the right place and the majestic presence of Malian thesp Sotigui Kouyate, the pic will get a decent international run before heading to its originally skedded home on the smallscreen".
"The Hollywood Reporter's" Deborah Young states that "French director Rachid Bouchareb ("Days of Glory") brings great sensitivity to the fictionalized tale, which goes a step beyond the obvious in its description of England's multiracial society scarred by deep-seated prejudice but capable of change. Without glossing over the tale's hard edges, the film ends on a positive note of ethnic tolerance that should make it more accessible to audiences".
Awards.
Sotigui Kouyaté won the Silver Bear Award for Best Actor at the 59th Berlin International Film Festival for his performance in the film. The film also won a Special Mention by the Ecumenical Jury.


Dayanidhi Azhagiri

Dhayanidhi Azhagiri is an Indian Tamil cinema producer and distributor. He is the owner of the Cloud Nine Movies banner. His grandfather is M. Karunanidhi, the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. His father is M. K. Alagiri, the former Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers.
Personal life.
Dayanidhi married Chennai-based Advocate Anusha on 18 November 2010.
They have a son named Rudra Dev
Controversy.
A case has been filed against Dayanidhi in connection with an estimated Rs.16,000 crore mining scam. His bank accounts have been frozen, a look out notice has been issued against him and he is also being looked for by the Immigration Department. He has been absconding.
A district court in Madurai has issued a non bailable warrant against Dayanidhi in connection with the illegal granite quarrying scam. All his relatives have claimed ignorance about his whereabouts. TN police is contemplating to declare him as a proclaimed offender.


Madhu Ambat

Madhu Ambat is an Indian cinematographer. He is known for his work in films such as "Amaram", "Anjali", and "Makaramanju". He currently resides in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He has won the National Film Award for Best Cinematography thrice. He is a member of the Indian Society of Cinematographers (ISC).
Personal life.
Madhu Ambat was born on 6 March 1949 in Ernakulam to Ambat Sulochana and Prof K. Bhagyanath and he is the grandson of Ambat Sivarama Menon. He is a graduate and holds a diploma from the Film Institute of India, Poona, from where he graduated in 1973, securing a gold medal.
Madhu's father, K. Bhagyanath, resigned as a Professor of English to be a full-time magician. Bhagyanath was also an amateur photographer. Bhagyanath and his wife Sulochana believed that one should take the profession one liked best. Madhu got admission in IIT and at the same time he selected in Pune Film Institute. Despite of all hindrances from the relatives, Madhu's parents allowed him to join in the Film institute, and he sustained the faith of his parents on him by achieving a gold medal at the institute. And all these helped Madhu take cinematography as his profession. Madhu, who started his career with a documentary for famous director Ramu Kariat, has been cinematographer for over 120 films. His younger sister is the renowned actress and dancer Vidhubala.
Career.
After graduating from the Pune Film Institute, Madhu Ambat entered the film industry in 1973, photographing a documentary for Ramu Kariat. In a career spread over 35 years, he has been the cinematographer for a number of notable films winning many awards.
Ambat also heads a non-profit making research organization "Fantasia Centre for Research and Development of Cinema". This newly started organization strives to develop an atmosphere for research in cinema and to spread a film culture.
In 2003, he completed "1:1.6 An Ode to Lost Love", his debut film as a director.


Make Your Move (film)

Make Your Move (formerly called Cobu 3D, also known as Make Your Move 3D), is a "Romeo and Juliet"-inspired 2013 South Korean-American independent dance film starring K-pop singer BoA and ballroom dancer Derek Hough. The film was directed by Duane Adler who wrote the script for the movies "Save the Last Dance" (2001) and "Step Up" (2006). Hough took season twelve off of the show "Dancing with the Stars" to star in the film, which was shot in New York City and Toronto during the spring of 2011. Aside from the lead stars, singer Yunho from TVXQ has a cameo appearance. The film was choreographed by Tabitha and Napoleon D'umo, Yako Miyamoto, and Nick Gonzalez.
A preview of the film was shown at KCON 2012, a Korean entertainment convention, in Irvine, California. Songs from the movie's soundtrack were played at the convention as well including three by the groups Girls' Generation, F(x) and TVXQ.
The film was released in 2013. According to IMDb, it was released in Norway, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Denmark in the summer. It was released in the United Arab Emirates, South Korea, and the United States in 2014.
Reception.
"Make Your Move" has received mixed reviews from critics. , the film holds a 38% approval rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on 16 reviews with an average rating of 4.76/10. Metacritic calculated a score of 40 out of 100 based on 9 reviews, which signifies mixed or average reviews.
Sara Stewart of the "New York Post" gave the film one out of four stars, saying "The dancing's fine here, but there's little else to distinguish "Make Your Move", an entirely generic drama in which two characters actually say to one another, 'What if this doesn't work?' 'It has to.' It doesn't."
Inkoo Kang of the "Los Angeles Times" said "[Make Your Move]'s core dance styles are a wonderfully frenetic fusion of tap and hip-hop and a truly novel blend of Japanese taiko drumming and K-pop girl-group choreography. Whenever actor Derek Hough and BoA stop leaping and twirling, though, "Make Your Move" is an underwritten mess."
Frank Scheck of "The Hollywood Reporter" said "Undemanding young audiences will hardly mind the one-note characterizations, formulaic storyline and banal dialogue even as they'll relate to the frequent nods to text messaging and YouTube videos gone viral... Hough's dancing is far more impressive than his acting, and BoA, despite her perky sexiness, is an even less compelling screen presence. But they certainly move well together, and that's pretty much all that matters here..."
Stephanie Merry of "The Washington Post" said "Although the bit of bedroom footwork was more laugh-inducing than anything, some of the dancing really is spectacular. Scenes from the competing clubs include impressive choreography and gravity-defying moves. If only the poorly delivered, trite dialogue and predictable plot aimed as high."


Keep It Up, Jack

Keep It Up, Jack is a 1974 British sex comedy film directed by Derek Ford and produced by Michael L. Green. Jack James (Mark Jones), an unsuccessful music hall entertainer and drag artist, inherits a brothel from his late aunt, and impersonates her in order to seduce the female clients. The film also exists in a version with hardcore inserts, but there is no suggestion that any of the credited cast participated in it.


T. P. Gajendran

T. P. Gajendran (born 25 January 1955) is an Indian film director and actor who plays minor roles. He is the son of Tuticorin MR.Perumal. Yesteryear Actress T. P. Muthulakshmi was his Sister in law, also played huge role in his childhood upbringing
Career.
In the early 2000s, Gajendran directed a series of medium-budget family comedy drama films featuring Prabhu in titular lead roles. "Budget Padmanabhan" (2000), "Middle Class Madhavan" (2001) and "Banda Paramasivam" (2003) released in quick succession, while a fourth film "Aasai Vachen Unmele" was shelved after a few schedules. He also attempted to make a Hindu devotional film, owing to the trend in Tamil cinema during 2001, but "Karppoora Naayagi" featuring Roja and Bhanupriya was later shelved.
In 2015, he was chosen as the president of Cinema Technicians Association (CTA).


T. S. Raghavendra

T. S. Raghavendra (19 September 1945 – 30 January 2020) was an Indian actor, playback singer and occasional music director who concentrated on Tamil-language films. As an actor, he was known as the father character of actress Revathi in "Vaidehi Kathirunthal".
He also gave music for a few films like "Uyir" (old Tamil film), "Padikkatha Paadam" and "Yaaga Saalai".
Personal life.
His wife Sulochana is also a singer His daughter Shekinah Shawn (born Prasanna Raghavendar) who is popular as an Opera singer and daughter Kalpana is also playback singer.


Vijay Award for Best Supporting Actor

The Vijay for Best Supporting Actor is given by STAR Vijay as part of its annual Vijay Awards ceremony for Tamil (Kollywood) films.
The list.
Here is a list of the award winners and the films for which they won.


Harlem Rides the Range

Harlem Rides the Range is a 1939 American black cowboy film directed by Richard C. Kahn. It followed the groundbreaking 1937 Western musical film "Harlem on the Prairie".
Plot.
Bob Blake (Herb Jeffries) and his sidekick Dusty (Lucius Brooks) are two cowboys riding across the countryside in search of adventure. They come across a ranch where it appears a murder has taken place but they find the victim of the crime, Jim Dennison (Leonard Christmas), still alive. Dennison is hiding in fear of his life after what had taken place at the ranch. Bob sees a picture of the rancher's daughter Margaret (Artie Young) and falls in love at first sight; he cannot stop talking about how beautiful the girl in the picture is. Bob drops a glove when he leaves the ranch, which causes problems later.
The villain, Bradley (Clarence Brooks), wants to seize the ranch after terrorizing Dennison. Bob sets out to save Margaret and narrowly escapes a plot to frame him for the murder of one of the ranch foremen, Jim Connors (Tom Southern). Bradley uses Bob's dropped glove as part of the frameup. Bob is sent to jail, but is able to escape and tries to find Margaret. After a fight, Bob saves Margaret and they enjoy the romantic moment Bob had imagined when he first saw her picture. The ranch is saved; the story ends with Bob and Margaret together at last, and Bradley put in his place.
Set.
Sets for all-black movies (especially Westerns) were difficult to come by; "Harlem Rides the Range" (and other Herb Jeffries films) were shot at the Murray's Dude Ranch in Apple Valley, California. Originally established to give urban youth and their families the western experience, the ranch fell on hard times during the Great Depression and had become an interracial dude ranch which catered to film stars as well as ordinary families. The ranch's renewed popularity again enabled the Murrays to return to their original mission of helping inner city youth.


The Danish Experience

The Danish Experience (or "A Danish Experience/Experiment") ("Al-Tagroba Al-Danemarkeya" or "El tagrubah el danemarkiyyah") (Arabic: التجربة الدنماركية) is a popular 2003 Egyptian comedy film starring Adel Emam and Nicole Saba.
Plot.
Adel Imam stars as Qadri, a widower and newly appointed government minister, whose four grown sons live with him. In her first acting gig, Lebanese singer Nicole Saba plays the buxom-blonde role of Danish student Aneta Henry Gothenburg, visiting Egypt for the first time to pursue her studies. She stays with Qadri and his family. Highlighting cultural differences in comedic fashion (among other things, free-spirited Aneta tries to teach Qadri's sons about sex, and intrudes on a government meeting dressed as a bellydancer), Qadri eventually falls for Aneta, but so do his sons. After a blowup, he finally chooses to stay with his sons.
Reception.
In January 2004, "Asharq Al-Awsat" reported that the film was the second-highest grossing Egyptian film of 2003, with revenue exceeding L.E. 13 million, not counting foreign distribution. The film was considered to be an "enormous success." It was also the highest grossing film in Lebanon for the year.
The scanty clothing and sexually-open nature of Saba's character in an Arabic language film caused some criticism. Saba noted that the film shows the differences in two cultures, and "the entire film was daring, but at the same time respectful."