From the Archives of Tollywood Dhamaka: Thumbs Down for Bengali version of Gunday

Posted February 18, 2014 under Special Story By Annesh Bilas Thakur

Tollywood thumbs-down for Bengali version of 'Gunday'

I

n a not so rare act of solidarity, the entire Bengali Film Fraternity stood together to protest against the Bengali dubbed version of Bollywood giant Yash Raj Film's latest release - Gunday.

With actors, producers, technicians all coming together in protest, Tollywood unanimously called for a full ban on "content in another language being dubbed in Bengali".

A committee has been formed to oppose any program or film that belongs in another language and has been dubbed in Bengali, purely for financial reasons. Gunday, is perhaps not a victim but certainly the case in point! Interestingly, this protest was not there when a popular television network started airing a mythological show dubbed in Bengali!!

However, Tollywood veteran Prosenjit Chatterjee, who was present in the committees meeting which took place at Bharat Lakshmi Studios recently, said "It is like a struggle for survival all over again. We have gradually rebuild our industry, and this (films dubbed in Bengali) will only harm us."

Joining Prosenjit Chatterjee, were the likes of Parambrata Chatterjee, Kamaleshwar Mukherjee, Arindam Sil, Rajatava Dutta, Raj Chakrabarty, June Maliah, Sudeshna Roy, Indraadip Dasgupta, Satrajit Sen and many more.

Yash Raj Films however have refused to blink in the face of all the protest and have gone ahead with the theatrical release of Gunday's Bengali Version. Pritam Jalan, the regional distributor of YRF was quoted in a statement saying "Legally we have every right necessary to release the Bengali version and that is why we have gone ahead with it. The film has been doing well if not registering extraordinary business."

Throughout India, the film has done moderate business in it's opening weekend with collections of around Rs. 44 Crores.

Interestingly Arindam Sil, who was the Line Producer for the film's Kolkata chapter, has stood against the film's Bengali version. Our Little Birdie heard him say "The dubbing of the film in Bengali is unacceptable as this will only harm our own Industry!"

Here's hoping no one turns into "Gunday" in all these protests!

Tollywood, Gunday, Yash Raj Films, Bengali dubbed, Protests, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Parambrata Chatterjee, Kamaleshwar Mukherjee, Arindam Sil, Rajatava Dutta, Raj Chakrabarty, June Maliah, Sudeshna Roy, Indraadip Dasgupta, Satrajit Sen, Kolkata, Tollywood Dhamaka, Annesh Bilas Thakur

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Returning to Blog

12/01/2013

Today I make a return to the world of blogging almost a year later and finally I believe I will have more to write on this blog site as I intend to brush up my film review skills via this platform.

Today also marks the 150th Birth Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda who undoubtedly is still "modern" and even till date is ahead of the current generation... The Nation's Government has termed this day as "National Youth Day" but really, with almost the entire Youth of this Nation up in anger and protesting the various gender driven atrocities in the Indian Society, one goes on to wonder whether or not in these 150 years anyone has ever truly read or even minutely tried to fathom Swami Vivekananda's teachings.

One may argue that what other way is there to stage protests that will not fall unto deaf ears, but I must ask... whichever way the protest is... will it reach non-deaf ears? Even if it does, will the Youth be really interested in waking up to the Politics, taking the plunge in it and attempting a cleansing of this Country's tarnished image in terms of its flawed system?

Civil Society movements viz the Anna Hazare stir or the Candle Marches against Rape are all seemingly good TV segments for the over populated regional and english language News Channels. When will we stop the marches and actually try to be part of the System? Perhaps never!

Why you ask? Because at the very basic level we were all taught to be fending for ourselves and cuddling up in a ball to defend our own tail and not care for the fellow species? Last day I heard someone say, society and parents teach us these because its dictated by Animal Kingdom... no one sees one raccoon fight for another raccoon's rights.. same with humans from the system infested society like ours. I didn't know how to respond, guess God didn't do the right thing by giving us brains then.

Sad times indeed.

- Annesh Bilas Thakur

micro-blogging

well blogs have been here for a fair amount of time but i think the format of micro-blogging viz Facebook and Twitter is really interesting and has possibly been the game changer in this aspect.

Honestly, I have stopped using the blog site for expressing opinions on the films I see or the TV series I love because just a tweet or a fb status update brings my opinion into light for many many people .. they don't have to search the URL to my Blog Site and read it!

However perhaps micro-blogging has had people compromising on their skills of writing longer and elaborative versions of their opinions.

All we can do is now await a perhaps newer still version of blogging!

~ Annesh

My Quote on Pottermore.com and HP fandom

Pottermore, online interactive 'Harry Potter' experience, begins today

8/15/2011

Joanna Fantozzi

Beta version of the online game is open today to the first registrants

With the release of the final movie in the series: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, comes the end of this Harry Potter generation, and the book closes on the adventures at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. But for Potterheads, the gigantic Harry Potter fan base, it is not over, since the announcement of Pottermore, the online interactive experience that was announced by J.K. Rowling herself via YouTube.

Pottermore will officially be sending out letters of admission into the secretive online world in the fall, but fanatic Harry Potter enthusiasts have jumped the gun, and the first registrants began receiving access to the Beta version of the game today, during which game creators will accept feedback. According to Pottermore.com, a clue called a “Magical Quill” was distributed every day from July 31 through August 6. If you were able to solve the clue within a 24 hour period, and enter it into the address bar, the early registration page would appear, like magic.

“I registered on day one [of registration], within the first 20 minutes actually!” said Annesh Thakur, of Calcutta, India, and creator of the Facebook fan page for "Hogwarts Will Always Welcome You Home."

The Facebook page for "Hogwarts Will Always Welcome You Home" is a quote from the famous tear-jerker speech that J.K. Rowling gave at the London premiere of the final movie, and is just one of the hundreds and hundreds of Facebook fan pages dedicated to the famous wizard.

The Harry Potter fan base, aptly called "Potter heads" scrambled to be the first in line to receive access to the new online game. Potter heads hail from countries all over the world. In fact most of the administrators of the "Hogwarts Will Always Welcome You Home" Facebook page are from India, though a few live in Australia and the United States.

“In India, Harry Potter is pretty big, however, it is not a magnum-opus,” said Annesh Thakur, of Harry Potter’s popularity in his country. Even though Harry Potter may be most well-known in the U.K. and the States, the enthusiasm of international fans more than makes up for it.

“[My friends and I] hang out in the fiction section of the library where there are six copies of the fifth book, luckily that's my favorite!” said Nayla Hamilton of Australia, who is known as “Draco" on "Hogwarts Will Always Welcome You Home."

Another administrator, Prerona Sanyal of India, who is known as ~$Hermione$~, claims that “my life is Harry Potter. I can associate almost anything with the world of Potter.”

The introduction of Pottermore has created fan frenzy almost akin to the release of aHarry Potter book, and has re-kindled the fervor that many thought would die down after the books and films were over.

According to The Leaky Cauldron, Pottermore will be available in multiple languages, and is described as “an interactive illustrated companion to the books” that will feature new material written by Rowling. Other features will include members being sorted into houses, House Cup competitions, and the ability to brew potions.

Pottermore will officially open in October when registration will be open to all.

[link: http://thecelebritycafe.com/feature/pottermore-online-interactive-harry-potter-experience-begins-today-08-15-2011 ]

NEERA the Film

27 February 2011

10AM to 12 Noon

• Screening of Harishchandrachi Factory

12Noon to 2PM

• Film Making workshop by Paresh Mokashi, Director, Harishchandrachi Factory

3PM to 5:30 PM

Film Screening

• U Turn

• Let There Be Light

• Lukka Chuppi

• Neera

• Dvandva – The Duel

• Umbartha

• Swapna Bhangur

• Main Zindagi Hoon

• SMS

• Parivartan

• Life Drops

5:30PM to 6PM

• Closing Ceremony

link:

http://www.shortfilmfest.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=48&Itemid=55

TELEPHONE - InFocus 2009

Welcome!! The Winners !! :) HATKE prize:

• To Jaanvar Kaun? - Silky Agarwal, Kalyan Yasaswi, Srinidhi Raghavan, Priyanka Das, Rahul Manigram, Smajish Joseph...

Photography:

• 1. M. Adithya (Sri Venkateshwara College of Fine Arts)
• 2. G. Uday Kumar (Sri Venkateshwara College of Fine Arts)

Ad films and PSAs:

• 1. Rajagiri Goparaju for "LEPROSY" (Sri Venkateshwara College of Fine Arts)
• 2. Anirudh Janak for "ASHES TO ASHES" (Aurora Degree College, Hyderabad)

Short Films:

1. 1. Annesh Bilas Thakur, Debabrata Bhattacharjee, Ateesh Chattopadhyay for "TELEPHONE" (St. Xavier's College, Kolkata)
2. 2. Anirudh Anand, Arpan Mukherjee, Praneet Chandra for "RANG: THE HIDDEN COLORS" (Bhavan's Vivekananda College, Sainikpuri)

Crew Judges for the event

1. Mr. Arvind Chenji, known photographer in town, is the owner of Chenji Communications. He is amongst the few photographers from India who worked for the much-acclaimed National Geographic Channel. He hails from Osmania University, Hyderabad.
2. Mr. P. V. Satheesh, Director, Deccan Development Society, is one of the first generation T.V. producers in the country. He is the pioneer of Participatory Video, or what in DDS is the People’s video. This has given the DDS members the control over the media they consume. And they are doing wonders.
3. Mr. Vijay Marur is a well known name among media professionals in town. He presently owns Vijay Marur Communications. In the past, he has been the Director and CEO at DC Interactive (P) Ltd. and Managing Director at Javelin Mediaworx Ltd. He has been a student of IIM, Bangalore and Loyola College,

FILM FESTIVAL

Till September 30 at Nandan 2; 5 pm - 8 pm: St Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Calcutta, in collaboration with Nandan, presents a St Xavier’s College Student Film Festival, The Looking Glass 2010. Today: Palindrome(at 5.15 pm) by Chitrangada Chakraborty; Pablo (at 5.25 pm) by Anirban Ghosh; Voice (at 6 pm) by Soumyajit Majumdar; White Noise (at 6.20 pm) by Ahana Chakraborty & Pritha Biswas; Telephone (at 6.50 pm) by Annesh Bilas Thakur; With a Pinch of Salt (at 7.05 pm) by Satyaki Kundu & Priyam Dasgupta; and Red Eye (at 7.15 pm) by Tiyasha Dutta Paul. - The Telegraph Metro | Wednesday , September 29 , 2010 | Link: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100929/jsp/calcutta/story_12995521.jsp