Hindi
Shorgul……About nothing….
MUMBAI: Providing entertainment to the high priced admission rates paying audience seems to be no more the reason why many producers/ directors make films. That too in a country where each state charges entertainment tax at whim, and, which consists of a major portion of the admission rates.
Shorgul is another film that decides to coincide its content with the incidents that happened in a particular state, UP in this case, driven by communal politics. So the content is the routine say, a piece of local news from any vernacular media like a Hindu- Muslim boy girl romance, statue of a deity found in Muslim’s farm, just about anything that can tilt the balance of harmony between communities. In the process, the film also touches some of the more controversial events of the state.
A Hindu boy Anirudh Dave and a Muslim girl, SuhaGezen, are neighbours growing together. As they mature, Anirudh has fallen in love with Suha but it is one-sided and Suha treats this just as a friendship and she is soon to be engaged to be married to a Muslim boy, HitenTejwani.
The town has a gallery of politicians named so as to bear close resemblance to real life active politicians of UP. Jimmy Sherrill is a Hindu politician (modelled after SangeetSom) and member of the assembly. He is the kind armed with fuel and always on a lookout for fire to add to it. On the other side is Narendra Jha (representing Azam Khan). While, there is also a caricature of Amar Singh, Sanjay Suri plays the UP CM MIthilesh Yadav kind of role. While Jimmy and Jha ferment trouble using community card, there is also a saner, balancing factor in town in Ashutosh Rana, father of the lovelorn Hindu boy, Anirudh, who is respected by both the communities.
This is about as original as the makers get for rest of the events loosely woven together in the name of a political drama.The end is, as is the norm in such a film, about sermonizing, blaming mainly the politicians for muddying up the peace between the two communities. The film has a horde of talented actors in the cast and even as all of them do well, Ashutosh and Hiten stand out.
As for the commercial for Shorgul, the film promises none.
Producers: Swatantra Vijay Singh, Vyas Verma.
Directors: Pranav Kumar Singh, Jitentra Tiwari.
Cast: Jimmy Shergill, Ashutosh Rana, Narendra Jha, Anirudh Dave, HitenTejwani, Sanjay Suri, Eijaz Khan, SuhaGezen, Neetu Pandey, Hrishitaa Bhatt, Jay Shanker Pandey.
Hindi
UFO Cine Media Network unveils ‘India’s biggest cinema moment ever’
Dhurandhar 2 and Toxic tipped to deliver rare pan-India scale for brands
MUMBAI: UFO Cine Media Network is pitching an upcoming dual-film release weekend as what it calls the largest advertising opportunity cinema has offered in India, banking on an estimated 100 million cumulative footfalls nationwide.
The initiative, branded “India’s Biggest Cinema Moment Ever”, is anchored around the simultaneous release of Dhurandhar 2 – The Revenge and Toxic, two high-profile action films expected to dominate screens across regions and languages. Trade projections, supported by cinema measurement tool Procat, suggest the combined lifetime theatrical run could deliver one of the widest audience concentrations seen in recent years.
Dhurandhar 2 – The Revenge, an India–Pakistan spy thriller, is set to release in five languages, broadening its appeal across northern and southern markets. The franchise has already built a sizable multilingual following through theatrical runs and streaming platforms. Toxic, fronted by pan-India star Yash, is expected to draw heavy footfalls across southern circuits and beyond, buoyed by the actor’s proven box-office pull.
UFO, which operates an in-cinema advertising network spanning more than 4,100 theatres, is positioning the release window as a rare moment of synchronised national attention. Its footprint covers multiplexes and single screens across over 1,500 towns and cities, allowing advertisers to deploy campaigns at scale during a single weekend.
Executives at the company argue that cinema’s value lies not just in reach but in attention. Unlike digital or television, audiences are captive, emotionally engaged and free from distraction, they say, translating into stronger recall and measurable returns for brands. With advertisers increasingly focused on performance-led media planning, UFO is framing the dual release as comparable in scale to India’s largest broadcast and sporting properties.
Industry observers note that as theatrical exhibition expands deeper into Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets, such tentpole weekends are becoming anchor moments for annual media strategies. If Dhurandhar 2 – The Revenge and Toxic deliver as expected, the weekend could set new benchmarks not only for box office numbers, but also for cinema’s evolving role as a high-attention advertising medium.
