[ItzToday.com] Peepli Live watched by PM Manmohan Singh |
- Peepli Live watched by PM Manmohan Singh
- Arjun Rampal on 'We are Family' (Interview)
- Peepli Live have no link with farmers: documentary makers
| Peepli Live watched by PM Manmohan Singh Posted: 29 Aug 2010 11:25 PM PDT  Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday evening watched Bollywood star Aamir Khan's production "Peepli Live" at his 7 Race Course Road residence, an official said."Dr. Singh watched the film with interest," the official in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) told IANS after the special screening of the film. "Peepli Live" is a political satire based on farmers' suicides and the superfluous approach by media on issue. Manmohan Singh's wife Gursharan Kaur, his family members and some close friends also watched the film at the special screening. Aamir, the film's director Anusha Rizvi, distributor Ronnie Screwala and actors Raghuvir Yadav and Omkar Das Manikpuri were also present, the official said. According to Congress sources, several party leaders had recommended the film to the prime minister. Earlier, Aamir had held a screening of "Peepli Live" for senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L.K. Advani and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray. 
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| Arjun Rampal on 'We are Family' (Interview) Posted: 29 Aug 2010 11:20 PM PDT  Arjun Rampal, who plays a divorcee with three kids in his upcoming movie "We Are Family", claims the film will break the image of the stepmom who is more often than not portrayed in a negative light in Hindi movies."It's the children who suffer. You will see what happens to children and that's the message we are going to give through the film. The film is about the whole dynamics of everything," Arjun, 37, who himself comes from a broken family, told IANS in an interview. "The film breaks the mould of a stereotype that stepmoms are like wicked witch, the way it has been portrayed on the silver screen so far. The film is not about that; it's about the crisis and how love prevails over everything and finally new relationships could also be made and I think that's the beauty of the film. "I come from a broken home; so I work much harder to make my marriage work. I have been, by the grace of god, very happy. I have a very nice family." Directed by Siddharth Malhotra, "We Are Family" is a Hindi adaptation of 1998 Hollywood hit "Stepmom" and Kajol and Kareena reprise the roles of Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon respectively. Arjun insists it was not easy to act in an adaptation. "This is not an easy film to act in. Already very strong performances had been given by Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon, but it's wonderful to see how Kajol and Kareena bring their own to their characters. They bring a lot more of themselves and change it around so much that it makes it so watchable, enduring and beautiful," Arjun said. The actor, who recently gave super hit political thriller "Raajneeti", maintains men too have some responsibility in women-centric films. "There are some responsibilities on men in women-centric films, hope I have fulfilled it. (Laughs) In the original 'Stepmom', Ed Harris played the character I am playing here and I think it was an older character and the way it was written, it had some restrictions. "It's not a complete remake, but an adaptation. The way Siddharth has interpreted characters in his film is a new part of the film and I think that is something which I really enjoyed doing," said Arjun. The National Award-winning actor, who has two daughters with model wife Mehr Jessia, found it easy to play a dad of three children. "It was rally easy to play a father because I am a father myself. Karan, on seeing the film, said my body language with the children was fabulous," said the actor who teamed up with child actors Aanchal Munjal, Nominath Ginsburg and Diya Sonecha. "I have seen Kajol how she is with her daughter Nysa, very hands-on, very protective, takes care of her every single thing and she is like that in the film as well. Kareena has no children, her awkwardness creating a relationship with kids came out very naturally." Scheduled for a Sep 2 release, the film has been produced by Karan Johar who went through the right channel to get the rights to remake it in Hindi. "The stories are needed to be told. It's better to take it and be noble enough to say this is what we are adapting from, rather calling it an original idea. But working on an original subject is a lot more exciting. I think adaptation is tougher because once you do it, immediately comparisons are drawn," said Arjun He is all praise for first time director Siddharth. "Siddharth was fantastic. He brought in so much dignity. This film could be very melodramatic - he has given a lot of realism in it. Handling all by himself and get what he wants made us feel proud of him," said Arjun. 
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| Peepli Live have no link with farmers: documentary makers Posted: 29 Aug 2010 11:15 PM PDT  What is common between Anwar Jamal and Prashant Pethe? They have made features and documentaries on farmers and do not believe that "Peepli Live" has much to do with the acute problems faced by India's farming community."'Peepli Live' is a film about the insensitive middle class, the media, politicians, etc. Nowhere is it a film about farmers. Where are the causes that lead to his condition, his problems with seeds, monsoon, pesticides, etc.? The real issues of farmers are never touched upon," says Jamal, director of the moving documentary "Harvest of Grief" on farmer suicides in Punjab. While most know Punjab as the land of plenty of green and yellow fields, big glasses of lassi and butter, thanks to Bollywood, not many know that in the last 20 years, over 40,000 farmers have committed suicide in the state. This is what Anwar's film that has been shown in festivals across the world deals with. According to a report, 200,000 farmers have ended their lives since 1997 and it is said the rise in indebtedness is the root cause of farmer suicides. Deepa Bhatia's "Nero's Guests" is a gut wrenching documentary that shows the contrast between city life, and that of farmers in the country. The film, which took her five years to make, travels to the farmer suicide capital of the world - the Vidarbha region of eastern Maharashtra - with journalist P. Sainath, the man credited with bringing the issue into urban attention. Deepa, a reputed editor of Bollywood, says, "Farmer suicide is a crisis of huge magnitude that has not got adequate space either in the media or in the mind of the middle class. Sadly, most urban people don't engage with society. I wanted to understand the issue and having known P. Sainath, I found in him the right means to approach the subject." Deepa had collected over 500 hours of footage for this hour-long documentary. Satish Manwar, director of what is by far the most popular feature film on farmer suicides and also the most poignant - the Marathi film "Gabhricha Paus" (The Damned Rain) -, says, "India has diverse groups who do not interact with each other. Farmers are one such group about whom the rest of the nation doesn't care much. "But it is an issue waiting to explode and unless we as a society pay attention to it, it will snowball into a major internal crisis." The desire to engage was what prompted Satish, himself from the dry Vidarbha region, to slog for four years before he found a financier. "It was a 'different' and difficult subject which no one was willing to fund. Finally after a producer backed out, Prashant Pethe produced it." This black comedy about a wife, who, distraught by a neighbour's suicide, does her best to keep her farmer husband in high spirits, proved to be a critical and commercial hit and has recovered its money. But even Satish feels that "Peepli Live" is not really about farmer suicides. Yet, neither he nor anyone else has any complaints about "Peepli Live" as a film and believe the very fact that it got made is a cause for celebration. It no doubt brings farmers' plight into the limelight. They now want to ask the people "what do you do, now that you know?" "You have to decide that for yourself. I can only show you and I have. There are so many issues; just start engaging with life around you and do what you can," says Deepa. 
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