In the first five months of 2023, Anubhav Sinha managed to release as many as three films in cinemas. Faraaz, directed by Hansal Mehta, was the first release. This was followed by his directorial venture, Bheed, based on the sufferings of the migrants in the lockdown. Afwaah, directed by Sudhir Mishra, was recently released. These films didn’t click at the box office but got massive acclaim from most moviegoers and critics. Anubhav Sinha was in a relaxed mood as he spoke exclusively with Bollywood Hungama about these films, being one of the few brave voices in the industry and a lot more.

Your film, Afwaah, directed by Sudhir Mishra, was released on May 5. Interestingly, I have not come across a single person who has not liked the film. It got a unanimous positive response…
It’s beautiful to know. I wish more people had gone to the theatres to see it. But people are not going to the cinemas. What to do?

Do you feel Afwaah’s release in cinemas was too limited?
Yes, it was less than what should have ideally been. But then releasing a film has become so expensive, which is a discussion for another day. So yes, it wasn’t as many shows and as many screens as I would have liked. I guess, every film has its economics.

Also, it’s not like the shows were running packed on the first day of release. If there was an encouraging response from people on the release day, then increasing the number of shows would have been a phone call away. Unlike the good old days when we had to send physical prints, now it’s easier. Sadly, the theatrical response, whether it is for Afwaah or Bheed, wasn’t as encouraging that shows could be increased from Saturday onwards.

I guess it takes time for word to spread…
That’s not practical. If a film is running with three shows on a Friday and if those films are not doing well, the exhibitor doesn’t even ask you. He’ll simply reduce the show count. It’s beyond my control.

Faraaz also didn’t do well in cinemas but got a new lease of life on Netflix. Do you think that the same would happen with Bheed and Afwaah?
I hope so, with my fingers crossed. There was so much conversation around Bheed. It received fantastic reviews and response from those who saw it. So, I am hoping it gets viewership (on OTT).

Post-pandemic, do you feel the box-office scenario has changed? Thappad (2020) was released just before the lockdown and it collected Rs. 30 crores, despite the conventional subject. Do you feel Bheed and Afwaah would have fared better at the box office before 2020?
I don’t know. I keep asking other people these days, ‘If we release Article 15 (2019) now, will it work the way it did in 2019?’ Nobody has the answer. No one knows what’s going on!

2 years ago, you said in an interview that the Censor Board has been kind to you…
Not lately though!

I went through the cut list of both Afwaah and Bheed. Afwaah suffered innumerable cuts. As for Bheed, its list of cuts was shocking. Words like ‘Tablighi Jamaat’, ‘Corona Jihad’ etc. were deleted though they were important to the film’s narrative. Your thoughts? 
The censor experience of Bheed and Afwaah hasn’t been great. It was almost unfair.

And now you cannot even go to the FCAT (Film Certification Appellate Tribunal) aka the tribunal…
…Because there’s no tribunal. The biggest tragedy behind removing the tribunal is that now the only option to seek justice is to go to the courts. But going to court is so expensive and time-consuming. You have no control over when the hearing will be done or when the decision will be given. Even Faraaz went through its own journey of court cases. We never used it to publicize our film. And it was awfully expensive.

Was Afwaah delayed because of the Censor process? It was supposed to be released in March…
Yes. Afwaah and Bheed were almost together at the CBFC. We had to finish one battle first and then proceed to the other.

Do these experiences stress you out? Going forward, will you still make the film you want to make?
Oh yes. I’ve been like this for 9 years!

It is said that there’s a lot of emphasis on the box office. If a film doesn’t work, it doesn’t get the respect…
I don’t agree. On the contrary, a little later in time, it absolutely ceases to matter ki film ne box office pe kitna kiya tha. Uske baad film ki izzat zinda rehti hai. Do you know how much my first film Tum Bin (2001) collected? It ran in cinemas only for a week.

Maybe that was a different time. I am talking about the present-day scenario…
No. During those days, films would run for 15-20 weeks. There were no theatres for us. Also, Sholay (1975) did not do well in the first week. But those were the days when the exhibitors would hold on to the film. They would wait for the audience to get a whiff of what the film is. Nowadays, it’s very instant. If the 6 o’clock show doesn’t work, the theatre might cancel the 9 o’clock show. So, the exhibition sector has to reinvent itself. We have said enough about the kinds of films being made. But we haven’t talked about the exhibition, the cost of releasing a film, the method of the exhibition and some sort of monopoly in the exhibition sector.

Recently, there were reports of challenges in the exhibition sector and PVR and Inox shutting down around 50 cinemas…
Yes. The exhibition sector will have to work with the production sector. We cannot not hold hands. We will have to hold hands.

Do you know Mulk (2018) didn’t go great at the box office? It did just about fine. But in the life of a film, the box office is the most minuscule factor that people remember. People would remember a film for its dialogue more than the box office. I have seen people say, ‘Yaar, who film mein kya dialogue tha’ or ‘Woh film mein kya gaana tha’ and not ‘Woh film ka kya box office tha’! So a little later in the life of a film, the weekend is immaterial. What’s important is how long the people will continue to relate to that film. That timelessness of an art is what matters.

What next?
I don’t know. I am working on some stories. I have been so busy. I just released Afwaah and now I will sit out and figure out

You have an anthology coming up. Will it be out in cinemas or on OTT?
Yes. It’s called Be Positive. It’ll be out on digital. It was never meant to be a theatrical release.

When will it be released?
We are figuring it out.

Do you think that in the days to come, it’ll be more difficult for filmmakers like you to have your own voice?
We’ll see. We’ll take it as it comes. Every time we move from one film to another, these talks come up. But then you can’t pre-empt a tragedy. You can only keep guessing and cross the bridge when we get there. Will I change my route to avoid the bridge? No. I would cross that bridge and then we’ll see.

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The Aryan Khan case is back in the spotlight after the CBI filed a case of corruption against Indian Revenue Service officer Sameer Wankhede and four others for allegedly collecting Rs 50 lakh from Aryan’s father, superstar Shah Rukh Khan. In a major development, the chats between Sameer Wankhede and Shah Rukh Khan got leaked to the press last week. It showed SRK pleading to the then-former zonal director of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) to release Aryan from prison. The chats were submitted by Sameer Wankhede to the Bombay High Court to prove his innocence and to make it clear that he never demanded a bribe from the star.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT), which probed the drug case, has reacted sharply to the fact that Wankhede communicated with Shah Rukh while Aryan was in custody. A senior officer, on condition of anonymity, spoke to Mid-Day and said, “We were not aware of the chats Wankhede had with SRK and he never informed the department. Indulging in such conversations with the family of the accused is a serious violation of the rules.” It was also reported in the article that an enquiry will be sought against Wankhede for this act.

The SIT also remarked that the charges against Aryan Khan were unjustified as no drugs were found in his possession. Further, SOPs were not followed and no blood test was done of Aryan.

Meanwhile, yesterday, that is, Monday, May 22, the Bombay High Court, too, spoke about the chats. The court accused Sameer Wankhede of leaking the chats while the matter is still subjudice. It also instructed him to not leak any further chats that can hinder the ongoing investigation.

Senior advocate Aabad Ponda, who represented Wankhede, however, made it clear that the officer had not leaked the chats and that the press accessed it from the petition he filed before the court. He also added that the chats were included in the affidavit to counter the corruption charges levelled at Wankhede. Ponda argued that why would the father of an accused address the officer as upright if the latter had asked for a bribe.

After hearing arguments of both sides, the Bombay High Court granted an extension of the interim protection to Sameer Wankhede until June 8. Yesterday, Wankhede also requested Mumbai Police Commissioner Vivek Phansalkar for protection for himself and his family after they received threats on social media.

Also Read: NCB officer involved in Aryan Khan drug case gets dismissed

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Another Korean drama is getting an Indian remake. Following the news of JioCinema working on Suspicious Partner adaptation, Karan Johar’s Dharmatic Entertainment and Guneet Monga’s Sikhya Entertainment are joining hands for the upcoming procedural drama Gyaarah Gyaaraah. The series is a Hindi adaptation of the Korean drama Signal, which originally starred Kim Hye Soo, Lee Je Hoon and Cho Jin Woong. In the Indian adaptation, Kritika Kamra, Raghav Juyal and Dhairya Karwa have been roped in for the lead roles.

It will be an investigative fantasy drama set at ZEE5 which will span across three decades and timelines – 1990, 2001 and 2016. The series Gyaarah Gyaarah is directed by Pagglait fame Umesh Bisht and co-written by Puja Banerji and Sunjoy Shekhar.

The K-drama is one of the most critically acclaimed drams of all time. As per Asian Wiki, Signal narrates the story of “Park Hae Yeong, who was a student in elementary school at the time, who saw a young girl being abducted on her way home from school fifteen years ago. The girl was discovered dead a few days later, but the authorities were unable to identify the killer. Hae Yeong eventually developed a distrust for the police. Hae Yeong is currently a police officer and criminal profiler after fifteen years. He comes across a walkie-talkie one day, which enables him to communicate with Detective Lee Jae Han who is in the past. Afterwards, in an effort to investigate unsolved crimes, police officers Cha So Hyun, Hae Yeong, and Jae Han set out on a voyage.”

The criminal case depicted in Signal is reportedly inspired by a true incident which occurred in South Korea’s Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province over the course of 1986 – 1991. Reports had stated that 10 women were allegedly raped and murdered within the 2 km radius of the province with victims ranging from a 13-year-old school girl to a 71-year-old grandmother.
ALSO READ: First poster of Ranveer Singh – Alia Bhatt starrer Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani to be launched on Karan Johar’s birthday

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Director Anurag Kashyap and his upcoming noir-police drama are in the headlines for various reasons, including its screening at the Cannes Film Festival 2023. Apart from this, the filmmaker recently stated that he reached out to Kennedy’s namesake Chiyaan Vikram for the film. However, he claimed that the latter did not respond. On Monday, the South star dropped a clarification tweet on the matter.

For the unversed, Kashyap revealed that the film was initially written with popular South superstar Chiyaan Vikram in mind, as his nickname is Kennedy. In an interview with Film Companion during the Cannes Film Festival, Kashyap expressed that he had reached out to Vikram, but received no response. Consequently, he approached Rahul Bhat for the role, who enthusiastically accepted and dedicated eight months of his life to the film.

Coming back to Vikram’s tweet, he wrote, “Dear @anuragkashyap72 , Just revisiting our conversation from over a year ago for the sake of our friends and well wishers on social media. When I heard from another actor that you had tried to reach me for this film & that you felt I hadn’t responded to you, I called you myself immediately and explained that I hadn’t gotten any mail or msg from you as the mail id that you had contacted me on was no longer active and my number had changed almost 2 years before that. As I said during that phone call, I’m very excited for your film Kennedy and even more so because it has my name. I wish you great times ahead.”

Replying to the National Award-winning actor, Anurag clarified the situation regarding his earlier comments. He explained that after learning from another actor that he had been trying to contact Chiyaan Vikram, Vikram personally called him and they discovered that there had been a mix-up with their WhatsApp numbers. Vikram expressed interest in reading the script, but unfortunately, at that time, they were already locked and just a month away from the shooting.

Absolutely right Boss sir. For the information of people, when he found from another actor that I was trying to reach to him he called me directly and we realised that he had a different WhatsApp number. He gave me his correct information to reach out and even showed interest in… https://t.co/1xmImitvHY
— Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) May 22, 2023

Kashyap mentioned that Vikram graciously gave his blessings for the film to be named Kennedy. He emphasized that his earlier interview was simply about the backstory of how the film acquired its title and there was no need for any overreaction. He also assured that both he and Chiyaan Vikram have a long-standing relationship, dating back to the days before Sethu, and they are unlikely to retire without collaborating on a project together.

Also Read: Anurag Kashyap reveals that he reached out to Kennedy namesake Chiyaan Vikram for the film; says, “He never responded”

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Popular model and actor Aditya Singh Rajput, who garnered fame with his stint in Splitsvilla 9, was found dead in the washroom of his 11th-floor apartment in Mumbai. Reportedly, he succumbed to a drug overdose. He was 32.

The shocking incident came to light when a friend discovered Aditya’s lifeless body and immediately sought help from the building watchman. According to a report by Indian Today, they rushed him to a nearby hospital, but unfortunately, he was declared dead on arrival. The circumstances surrounding his death point to a possible case of a drug overdose.

For the unversed, Aditya Singh Rajput had made a name for himself in the entertainment industry, starting off as a model and then transitioning into acting. He played a significant role in launching fresh faces and had established strong connections within the industry. He had worked on numerous brand campaigns alongside various actors, showcasing his talent and versatility. His sudden demise has sent shockwaves throughout the industry, leaving his colleagues and friends in disbelief.

Originally, from Delhi, Aditya made his mark in the film industry with notable appearances in movies like Krantiveer and Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara. He also had a prolific career in the world of advertising, featuring in approximately 300 advertisements. In addition, he participated in popular reality shows such as Splitsvilla 9 and was involved in several television projects like Love, Ashiqui, Code Red, Aawaz Season 9, Bad Boy Season 4, and more.

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Sohum Shah is currently getting rave reviews for his act as the cop Kailash Parghi in Amazon Prime Video’s recently released web series Dahaad. The show, which also stars Sonakshi Sinha, Gulshan Devaiah and Vijay Varma in pivotal roles, has been impressing the viewers.

Shah is also a producer and is known for producing the iconic and acclaimed Tumbbad. He also has an interesting upcoming movie as a producer. Sharing details exclusively with Bollywood Hungama, Shah said, “I am producing a film, which is very big. It’s a period film set in 1918 and it’s a love story. It’s about a man who returns from the first World War. The Spanish Flu is spread at that time. I am very excited for this film. It’s my dream project. It will begin shoot.”

During the same conversation, Shah also revealed about his plans of making Tumbbad into a franchise. “We really wish to make Tumbbad 2 and 3,” he had said. “It is not being made right now. It is being written. It has been five years since Tumbbad released. We are trying but we haven’t cracked an idea till now. Definitely, we would like to make Tumbbad 2. But we don’t wish to make it just because the first film did well. We should feel that the story is of the level of the first film. It should do justice (to the first film). When you receive so much love from people, it becomes your responsibility.”

Also Read: EXCLUSIVE: Sohum Shah reveals, “I used to feel scared to even order a coffee but I am now giving interviews, it has been a wonderful journey”

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