Hindi
Kanade bags first IFFLA Film Fund Development Grant
MUMBAI:Pune-based filmmaker Kranti Kanade, whose award-winning film ‘Mahek’ has been recommended for school children in Ohio and Toronto, is the recipient of the first Film Fund Development Grant of $10,000 announced by the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles.
The grant has been awarded in addition to Final Draft and Sony Creative software for his script ‘Against Itself’. This work will be showcased at a stage-reading during the Eighth annual IFFLA taking place from 20 to 25 April at ArcLight Hollywood in Los Angeles.
The script centers on a secular expatriate American schoolmaster in India who struggles against a tide of anti-Christian sentiment that threatens his students, his school and his life. “I am absolutely overcome with happiness by this beautiful news,” said Kanade. “I am truly grateful to IFFLA for giving me this award and this amazing opportunity.”
The development grant jury included acclaimed screenwriters Gill Dennis (‘Walk the Line’, ‘The Tatooed Soldier’), Anurag Kashyap (Dev D, Black Friday) and Sooni Taraporevala (The Namesake, Little Zizou).
Dennis said “This script is haunting, gripping, and gritty. Stunningly done, beautifully good, it dissects the great mess of our humanity with equal measures of humor and horror, while capturing the hectic multiplicity of India.”
IFFLA had shortlisted ten finalists to vie for the first Grant. Apart from Kanade, the other finalists were ‘Aravan’ by Raghu Jeganathan; ’Engineers of Rock’ by Sushrut Jain and John Thompson; ‘Love in the time of Genocide’ by Thenmozhi Soundararajan; ‘Scandalous!’ written by Claire Ince; ’Sebastian wants to remember’ by Vasant Nath; ‘The story of Ram’ by Ritesh Batra; ’Sweet Dreams’ by Avani Batra; an untitled desert war film by Richie Mehta; and ‘Untouchable Glory’ by Mo Ramchandani.
Kanade’s last film ‘Mahek’, made for the Children’s Film Society, India, has been suggested as a necessary tool for school children in Canadian schools, though it appears to have gone unrecognized within the country. The film in Hindi and English was made in 2007 and won awards in the United States and elsewhere.
In a project written by Ernest Agbuya on the initiative of the Teacher Advisory Committee of the Sprockets Toronto International Film Festival for Children, this film has been recommended to be shown to children from grades four to six. In the words of an educationist: “This is a wonderful film that celebrates the power of dreams and imagination as key forces for change, creativity, leadership, invention and guilt-free leisure.”
Reacting to the news, CFSI Chief Executive Officer Sushovan Banerjee told indiantelevision.com: “It is a matter of great pride and honour for CFSI that our film “Mahek” has founds its way into the school curriculum in Canada as well. Earlier it was introduced as part of the syllabus in Ohio University . Mahek is a film that is simple to understand, rich in content and beautifully portrays the power of dreams in our quest for excellence. Through the charming character of Mahek, the director has brought out the importance of imagination and how we all need to discover our inherent talents in order to achieve success. I only hope that after its success in US and Canada, Mahek will surely find its pride of place in Indian school curriculum as well.”
According to Agbuya, a key element in the plot is an essay competition in Mahek’s class. The full Writing strand of the Language Curriculum is relevant to the ideas presented in this Teacher Resource. There are science connections through references to Isaac Newton and James Watt, two scientists who made key contributions to the studies of energy and forces. Links can also be made to the Grade 3 study of Growth and Changes in Plants. One of the film’s key themes is perseverance, June’s trait for Character Education.
The film is about young Mahek who seems to be a failure in everything, until a woman claiming to be her fairy godmother tells the young girl to “Look within yourself and you’ll find your strengths.” A writing contest at school seems like the chance for Mahek to use her powerful imagination. The film celebrates the importance of imagination, self-confidence and perseverance, and reminds us that everybody is great at something.
Hindi
Dhurandhar the revenge storms past Rs 1,000 crore in a week, rewrites box office records
Aditya Dhar’s spy thriller sets fastest run to Rs 1,000 crore with record-breaking weekday hold
MUMBAI: The box office has a new juggernaut—and it is moving at breakneck speed. Dhurandhar the revenge has smashed past the Rs 1,000 crore mark worldwide in just a week, clocking a staggering Rs 1,088 crore and resetting the rules of the blockbuster game.
Backed by Jio Studios and B62 Studios, and directed by Aditya Dhar, the spy action sequel opened to the biggest weekend ever for an Indian film globally—and then refused to slow down. Unlike typical tentpole releases that taper off after Sunday, this one powered through the weekdays with rare muscle, posting Rs 64 crore on Monday, Rs 58 crore on Tuesday, Rs 49 crore on Wednesday and Rs 53 crore on Thursday.
The numbers stack up to a formidable first-week haul. India collections stand at Rs 690 crore nett and Rs 814 crore gross, while overseas markets have chipped in Rs 274 crore, taking the worldwide total to Rs 1,088 crore in just eight days.
The film’s opening weekend alone delivered Rs 466 crore, laying the foundation for what is now being billed as the fastest climb to the Rs 1,000 crore club in Indian cinema. Every single day of its first week has set fresh benchmarks, from the highest opening weekend to the strongest weekday hold—metrics that typically separate hits from phenomena.
A sequel to the earlier hit Dhurandhar, the film has not just built on its predecessor’s momentum but obliterated previous records, emerging as the biggest global blockbuster run by an Indian film to date.
At this pace, the film is not merely riding a wave—it is creating one.
