Bangalore boy Saad Khan’s Hindi thriller Station, features city locations, cast and crew. He has also given a new meaning to ‘direct marketing’, thinks BHUMIKA K. as he goes to malls to talk to possible audiences

Adirector uses his gift of the gab to market his Indie film — he stands in a mall talking to passersby, telling them about his film and urging them to watch it. “I’ve been doing this for the last three days and I must have met about 300 people already. About 20 of them bought their ticket online, standing with me, from their phones!,” says filmmaker Saad Khan. That, now, is his station in life.

Khan’s debut feature film Station , which he claims is the first Hindi movie to come out of Bangalore, releases this Friday with the PVR Director’s Rare label attached to it. Khan expresses the same fears and apprehensions any independent filmmaker today, disadvantaged in the sea of marketing gimmicks that bigger films with A-list stars have. “It’s harrowing, seeing independent films being taken off screens because there are only 10 or 15 people at each show,” says the Bangalore-boy. “Mine is an independent film. We don’t have stars, we don’t have Sunny Leone. I think in my next film, I will have six item numbers…the audience is conditioned to having known faces bring them to a film,” he says evidently frustrated.

A mechanical engineer from M.S. Ramaiah College and with no film background, Khan studied filmmaking in the U.S.A. His short film Another Kind of Black was screened at the 2008 Cannes short film category. While still in college here in India, he got interested in theatre, and wrote and directed plays.

He returned from America to land the enviable position of associate director with Bollywood’s Ashutosh Gowariker on Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Se . When he came home to Bangalore on a break, everyone he spoke to, kept telling him about the vast talent pool in Bangalore. He never returned to Mumbai, and instead decided to set up CenterStage in 2011 that started off holding film acting workshops. Today they’ve expanded to create, among other things, the improvisational comedy show, The Improv.

Station has been long in the making — the cast of the film is drawn from CenterStage, with the training module for the actors starting in 2011. “Every actor in my film has done theatre. Many of them have acted in commercials. We in fact did elaborate rehearsals before the shoot,” says Saad. The film took almost two years to make.

The film, a Hindi thriller, centres around three psychotic assassins at a waiting room in a deserted railway station. “I love the psychology of a criminal’s perspective…the unravelling of the plot is as enjoyable. We had three editors on board and did nearly 40 cuts so that the narrative won’t be slack,” says Saad. “My actors didn’t shave or bathe for days to get the feel of their character right. They walked empty roads at night, sat at small local bars to observe people around them…they came to rehearsal in a dark state of mind.” He chose to make the film in Hindi “because the film’s visual language and narrative could be driven by it. I didn’t think three assassins could talk English, and I don’t speak Kannada fluently. Moreover Hindi appeals to most of the movie-going audience.” None of his actors spoke Hindi fluently either so they were language coached before dubbing for themselves!

On board Station are actors Siddhanth K. Sundar, model Sameer Kevin Roy, Hardik Sha an actor who’s also the co-producer, and produced by venture capitalist Sumit Ghosh. The film also has a 19-year-old associate producer Neal Bafna, a student of Christ University, who dealt with the everyday logistics of payment of the crew etc. The director however won’t disclose at which railway station they shot. Neither will he reveal the budget.

The film was shot at various locations in Bangalore including Bull Temple Road, Frazer Town, V.V. Puram, Rajajinagar “and wherever the Metro construction is taking place” says Saad.

Bangalore is a place with a heart, he says, recalling how on one of the nights, when the shoot went well into 3 a.m., and they were all craving tea. “We didn’t have caterers because that would be an additional cost. All we would have at that time of the shoot would be chai and biscuit. So a kind lady in the neighbourhood where we shot made us tea at that hour in the morning!”

Station releases March 28 in PVR in Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Delhi, Pune, Kolkata, Ranchi, and Ahmedabad.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / by Bhumika K / March 26th, 2014

Mysore :

The creative hands of three alumni of city’s Chamarajendra Academy of Visual Arts (CAVA), has given a dried Bottle Palm (Hyophorbe Lagenicaules) tree the shape of a ‘ROCKET’ at a park opposite Hemavathi School in T.K. Layout in city.

The three alumni of CAVA who have been credited for the concept are Shivaprasad, working as a Graphic Designer at AIISH; Obaiah, who is pursuing his Master of Fine Arts (MFA) at Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata and Ravishankar, an artist at Ripple Fragrances of Ranga Rao and Sons Group.

Shivaprasad, speaking to SOM, said that he frequently visits the park as he lives nearby and thought of doing something creative when he saw the dried Bottle Palm tree at the park.

He further said that M.N. Satyanandavittu, Gen. Secretary of Sri Tulasi Parisara Nairmalya Samsthe in T.K. Layout approached him to do something creative out of the dried tree.

Shivaprasad then discussed it with his friends Ravishankar and Obaiah about the same, who in-turn readily expressed their willingness to join him in creating this piece of art.

The trio initially thought of turning the tree into a bottle or a pencil, but zeroed in on the rocket, considering the interests of kids who frequent the park.

From Tree to Rocket: A coat of Plaster of Paris (PoP) was applied before painting the tree with white and red colours. The rocket also evokes a sense of patriotism with the tri-colour painted in the middle with ‘India’ written in bold letters. The park has been drawing huge crowds of people of all age, wanting to have a glimpse of the creativity of the artists and clicking photographs standing next to it.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / March 19th, 2014

So the board exams are around the corner, and obviously students are busy studying! But Rakshitha Harimurthy from St Mary’s High School, Giorgia Valenti and Nikhila Nandgopal from Bangalore International School are doing more than just studying, they are scorching the ramps.

Bengaluru seems to be going the Paris way, when it comes to launching teenage models into the glamorous world of fashion.

Nikhila Nandgopal, a 12th standard student is being grooming for a coveted beauty pageant. “I am one of the 25 finalists and am really kicked,” says the model who has been walking the ramp for almost three years now.

“Bengaluru is the launch pad. It is a testing ground that preps you for the bigger runways. I was so intimidated by all the models, the first time I walked and I was quite starstruck. But the fraternity here is so relaxed and welcoming that it helps you grow as a model,” says this lass who is gunning for a business school abroad.

Incidentally, Bollywood stars Deepika Padukone and Anushka Sharma started modeling in namma Bengaluru in their teens.

While Nikhila was noticed during a summer pageant in one of the city clubs, Rakshitha began her career by walking for a designer and then going on to win the Mega Model Hunt last year.

“Studies aren’t really a problem at the moment considering I never leave anything for the last moment,” she says in an easy-breezy tone.

This 17-year-old who is looking forward to start her own fashion label someday reveals that her friends are her biggest supporters and she has a bit of celebrity status going on in her school.

“I am loving the attention. My friends try and make it for most of my shows and they are immensely proud of me,” she says with pride.

Diya Prabhakar is another 14-year-old who though based in Singapore, comes here during her summer break to model. This dusky, leggy and curly haired lass, has grabbed quite a few eyeballs with her style and elegance on the stage.

Fortunately for these teens, their parents too are supportive. Says 15-year-old Giorgia, “My mom used to model and she asked me to give it a shot after she saw me walking in heels at a store,” says this Italian girl who is settled here.

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Lifestyle> Fashion-Beauty / DC / Zoya Philip / March 06th, 2014