Hindi
Oscar winning director Ang Lee to visit India for ‘Life Of Pi’
NEW DELHI: Academy Award Winning Director Ang Lee is coming to India as part of a grand promotional tour for 20th Century Fox’s Oscar buzz generating festive release ‘Life Of Pi’ directed by him.
Fox Star Studios have earlier hosted eminent personalities such as Danny Boyle, Hugh Jackman and Titanic‘s Jon Landau in India.
India will be the first country to be visited by Lee – the film has an Indian angle since it stars Suraj Sharma, Tabu and Irrfan Khan.
Lee will also be presenting exclusive and unseen 20 minutes of the film in stunning 3D to media and prominent Bollywood personalities to showcase the extraordinary experience of watching the celebrated novel come to life onscreen.
The man behind some of the most prestigious and acclaimed films such as Sense and Sensibility (1995), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000, which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film), Hulk (2003), and Brokeback Mountain (for which he won an Academy Award for Best Director), Ang Lee will visit Mumbai and Chennai along with David Lee (Co-Producer of Life Of Pi), main lead and debutante Suraj Sharma, Tabu and Irrfan Khan.
Fox Star Studios CEO Vijay Singh said, “Ang is scheduled to arrive in India on 28 October 2012 for a two-city Mumbai-Chennai visit where he will also showcase exclusive visuals from the film for a select audience. This visit will also kick start the extravagant scale of activities planned, building on the excitement and anticipation that has been growing for ‘Life of Pi‘ since its trailer launch. Not only is it a stunning showcase of the immense acting talent and breathtaking locales of our country, it is also one of those rare works of cinema that transcends boundaries with its universal appeal.”
‘Life of Pi’ 3D release is scheduled on 23 November in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.
The film showcases stunning scenes with Sharma, and veterans Tabu and Khan in the film along with breathtakingly vibrant colours of Pondicherry and Munnar where the film was extensively shot.
From the Oscar winning director, Life of Pi 3D is the visually stunning tale of a boy who is adrift at sea in a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger after his family is drowned in a shipwreck. The Indian appeal of Ang Lee’s magnum opus is visible with every scene of the film right from the star cast to the locales and magical elements that combine to make this a special festive treat for fans!
The theatrical promo also featured the Indian stars, and the trailer immediately went viral with laudatory reactions pouring in on various social networking sites.
The film centers on Piscine Molitor Patel (Pi) who is raised in Pondicherry India with his family who run a zoo. They decide to immigrate to Canada, taking their animals along with them and set off on a huge freighter ship, steaming from India across the Pacific. But a terrible storm destroys the ship. The family and most of the animals perish. Pi survives, stranded on a lifeboat with several animals. Ultimately it is just Pi and a Bengal tiger who miraculously survive 227 days at sea.
Lee has shot ‘Life of Pi’ in 3D, utilising groundbreaking techniques to capture the story’s epic scope. India had much to rejoice when Lee chose 17-year-old newcomer Suraj Sharma to essay the role of Pi. Sharma lives with his mathematician parents in Delhi. He has no previous acting experience and was cast following an extensive, months-long search. Over 3000 young men auditioned for the part.
Not only is the film a global platform of Indian talent with its cast and crew, but some of India’s most scenic spots were tapped for the film, a first of its kind for a Hollywood film. Amidst racks of fabulous saris and colorful fabrics, many of which were used for the vibrant market scenes filmed in Pondicherry, India, where Pi spent his early years, there is a rich multicultural depth to the movie. One can see the countryside of Southern India in the hillside town of Munnar along with the French elegance of Pondicherry on 3D!
The film is based on Yann Martel’s book, one of the biggest publishing events of the past decade. The book has sold over seven million copies worldwide and continues to sell over 1,000 copies per week and has won the prestigious Mann Booker Prize, and was a New York Times bestseller for over a year.
Hindi
Zee5 and Applause Entertainment team up for whodunnit ‘Everybody Loves Sohrab Handa’
Rajat Kapoor directs star-studded murder mystery streaming from 10 April.
MUMBAI: Zee5 is serving up another killer collaboration and this time, the murder mystery comes with a generous side of dark humour and family dysfunction. The streaming platform has partnered with Applause Entertainment and Mithya Talkies to bring Everybody Loves Sohrab Handa, a fresh, twisted whodunnit written and directed by acclaimed filmmaker and actor Rajat Kapoor. The film will stream exclusively on Hindi Zee5 from 10 April.
The movie reimagines the classic murder mystery genre with a contemporary, darkly comic edge. It revolves around a group of friends and family who smile, drink, and celebrate together until the silence snaps and long-buried secrets spill out. The stellar ensemble cast includes Vinay Pathak, Ranvir Shorey, Waluscha De Sousa, Saurabh Shukla, Chandrachoor Rai, Neil Bhoopalam, Koel Purie, Palomi Ghosh, and Rajat Kapoor himself.
This latest offering continues the successful partnership between Zee5 and Applause Entertainment, which has previously delivered diverse hits such as Mithya, Bloody Brothers, and Jab Khuli Kitaab.
&TV Business Head of hindi Zee5 and chief channel officer Kaveri Das said, “Our collaboration with Applause Entertainment has consistently delivered distinct, high-impact storytelling. Everybody Loves Sohrab Handa is a natural progression, reinforcing our focus on genre-led content with a compelling whodunnit premise and a strong ensemble cast.”
Applause Entertainment business head for movies Sunil Chainani added, “This film adds yet another compelling layer to our slate with Rajat Kapoor’s unmistakable voice.”
Rajat Kapoor shared, “What interested me was not just the mechanics of a whodunnit, but the emotional violence that precedes physical violence. These are people who smile at each other, but there’s so much that is not said.”
The film promises razor-sharp writing, layered performances, and simmering tension, inviting viewers not just to solve the crime but to unravel the complex relationships at its heart.
If you love a good murder mystery served with wit and emotional depth, Everybody Loves Sohrab Handa looks set to be your next addictive watch. Mark your calendars, the whodunnit drops on Hindi Zee5 from 10 April.
