Rajshri Productions revive mega-budget Tansen

Rajshri Productions' much coveted film Tansen, which was put on hold during the economic slump, is all set to be revived.
The big budget period drama, about legendary singer Tansen, one of the navratnas in Mughal emperor Akbar's court, will be directed by Satish Kaushik, who hopes to make a grand film now that the Barjatya's have given a green signal for the production.
"Number of films were hit by slowdown, worsening the situation in Bollywood. There were dozens of disasters that piled up in Bollywood which meant that there was no further progress on Tansen. It was a wait and watch game for everyone involved since Tansen was supposed to be a big budget extravaganza," Kaushik said.
Normally cost conscious Barjatyas were going all out with Tansen and planning to pitch it as one of the costliest Hindi films to be ever made. However, with recession looming large, the plans were put on hold.
But Kaushik, known for his romantic films like Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai, Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai and Tere Naam, says Tansen was never shelved.
"Recession hit the entire industry pretty hard and since Barjatyas never wanted to compromise on the quality and overall look of the film, we kept Tansen on hold. However, things have started looking better now and it is one of my much cherished dreams to make Tansen," Kaushik said.
Now that Tansen is back in news, it is a definite positive sign for the industry.
"However, it isn't as if the film is suddenly being brought out of cold storage. Though there was a momentary gap of close to a year. There was a lot happening in the background. We used this time to tighten the script. The production house and I were in constant touch throughout and along with
Irshad Kamil, who is writing the script, we are going all out to make Tansen a mega venture," said Kaushik.
The filmmaker, however does not want to divulge the details around the cast and plans for the film's shooting.

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Rajshri Productions revive mega-budget Tansen

Rajshri Productions' much coveted film Tansen, which was put on hold during the economic slump, is all set to be revived.
The big budget period drama, about legendary singer Tansen, one of the navratnas in Mughal emperor Akbar's court, will be directed by Satish Kaushik, who hopes to make a grand film now that the Barjatya's have given a green signal for the production.
"Number of films were hit by slowdown, worsening the situation in Bollywood. There were dozens of disasters that piled up in Bollywood which meant that there was no further progress on Tansen. It was a wait and watch game for everyone involved since Tansen was supposed to be a big budget extravaganza," Kaushik said.
Normally cost conscious Barjatyas were going all out with Tansen and planning to pitch it as one of the costliest Hindi films to be ever made. However, with recession looming large, the plans were put on hold.
But Kaushik, known for his romantic films like Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai, Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai and Tere Naam, says Tansen was never shelved.
"Recession hit the entire industry pretty hard and since Barjatyas never wanted to compromise on the quality and overall look of the film, we kept Tansen on hold. However, things have started looking better now and it is one of my much cherished dreams to make Tansen," Kaushik said.
Now that Tansen is back in news, it is a definite positive sign for the industry.
"However, it isn't as if the film is suddenly being brought out of cold storage. Though there was a momentary gap of close to a year. There was a lot happening in the background. We used this time to tighten the script. The production house and I were in constant touch throughout and along with
Irshad Kamil, who is writing the script, we are going all out to make Tansen a mega venture," said Kaushik.
The filmmaker, however does not want to divulge the details around the cast and plans for the film's shooting.

LINK

Road Movie Reviews (Raja Sen)

Raja Sen - 3/5

A long and winding ode

All roads lead to roam. Dev Benegal's new film, armed with a syntax-challenging title, is one of those wonderfully shot ruminations of a young clueless man trying to find himself.

He -- by which we mean both protagonist and filmmaker -- can't quite find his forte, but takes us along on a fanciful, unpredictable little diversion, a very pleasant hitchhike through bleak deserts we really ought to see more of.


The film is about slackjawed young loner Vishnu , played by Abhay Deol , an apathetic slacker who really doesn't seem to give a damn about anything. All he knows is that anything would be better than his actual stinking legacy -- he's a hair oil heir -- and escapes by way of delivering an old truck across Rajasthan .


On his way he encounters a motormouth chaiwallah determined on finding a better life, a grizzled old mechanic who knows the ways of the world and points them forward, and a comely young widow looking to forget.

In short, a perfectly family-photograph sized entourage heading to a makeshift Oz mela down the yellow brickless road.


It is, as you'd imagine, a charming film. Thanks mostly to Michel Amathieu's starkly stunning cinematography, the frames are what you take away from the film, frames of a blue, graffiti-led truck wheezing to a halt in the middle of Kutch, of a kid in a bright yellow tee-shirt and of a fat mechanic struggling to stand but never to smile.

The film is textured lovingly, the colours are beautiful and its slow, sluggish pace initially enchants as much as it eventually exasperates.


Yes, exasperates. For this film -- this pretty little waterless detour of a film -- falters because of inconsistency and the lack of a cohesive storyline.

It's neat and pretty and quite charming, but after a while shots of a truck framed by arid landscape begin to seem tiresome. There are moments of genuine surprise and cleverness, but these are often cancelled out by overdone moments, like an excessive fair that appears out of nowhere, or the unforgivably theatrical shot of filmstrips blowing in the wind.

Read more from HERE

Road Movie Reviews (Raja Sen)

Raja Sen - 3/5

A long and winding ode

All roads lead to roam. Dev Benegal's new film, armed with a syntax-challenging title, is one of those wonderfully shot ruminations of a young clueless man trying to find himself.

He -- by which we mean both protagonist and filmmaker -- can't quite find his forte, but takes us along on a fanciful, unpredictable little diversion, a very pleasant hitchhike through bleak deserts we really ought to see more of.


The film is about slackjawed young loner Vishnu , played by Abhay Deol , an apathetic slacker who really doesn't seem to give a damn about anything. All he knows is that anything would be better than his actual stinking legacy -- he's a hair oil heir -- and escapes by way of delivering an old truck across Rajasthan .


On his way he encounters a motormouth chaiwallah determined on finding a better life, a grizzled old mechanic who knows the ways of the world and points them forward, and a comely young widow looking to forget.

In short, a perfectly family-photograph sized entourage heading to a makeshift Oz mela down the yellow brickless road.


It is, as you'd imagine, a charming film. Thanks mostly to Michel Amathieu's starkly stunning cinematography, the frames are what you take away from the film, frames of a blue, graffiti-led truck wheezing to a halt in the middle of Kutch, of a kid in a bright yellow tee-shirt and of a fat mechanic struggling to stand but never to smile.

The film is textured lovingly, the colours are beautiful and its slow, sluggish pace initially enchants as much as it eventually exasperates.


Yes, exasperates. For this film -- this pretty little waterless detour of a film -- falters because of inconsistency and the lack of a cohesive storyline.

It's neat and pretty and quite charming, but after a while shots of a truck framed by arid landscape begin to seem tiresome. There are moments of genuine surprise and cleverness, but these are often cancelled out by overdone moments, like an excessive fair that appears out of nowhere, or the unforgivably theatrical shot of filmstrips blowing in the wind.

Read more from HERE