ISRO made it Mission Possible- Jagan Shakti

Mission Mangal director Jagan Shakti on working in tandem with India's space agency to give shape to Akshay Kumar and Vidya Balan-starrer

It's not easy for a debut director to mount a film based on Mars Orbiter Mission, arguably Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) most ambitious project to date. If Jagan Shakti was lucky to find powerful artistes-Akshay Kumar, Vidya Balan, Taapsee Pannu, Sonakshi Sinha, Nithya Menen, Kirti Kulhari and Sharman Joshi —who believed in his vision, he also credits members of India's premier space agency for helping him tell the story of Mission Mangal.

Jagan Shakti says "My sister Sujata [Krishna] works there, so I did extensive interviews with the team of the Mangalyaan mission. ISRO was helpful in terms of giving us access to the material and scientists. The right balance between the art director and the VFX team helped us design the rocket, which was the most important component of the film. While we had the exact diagrams in possession, we couldn't have designed a similar-looking device.”

We asked him if he faced any hiccups, and he says, "We were keen to shoot in ISRO's premises [in Bengaluru] but they couldn't permit that for security reasons. But most of the key points about the mission are available on their website. In the end, we are making a thematic film with that mission as the backdrop. It's a story about how ordinary men and women, who take the same bus as we do and buy vegetables with us, are capable of being so extraordinary." Quiz him why he didn't design it as a biopic, and he reasons, "The mission was a collective victory, and to attribute its success to one person would not be fair to the rest."

Mission Mangal is about India’s first mission to Mars, also known as Mars Orbiter Mission. It was praised on a global level as one of the most cost effective inter planetary missions, and it achieved success in its very first attempt.

Directed by Jagan Shakti, Writer and Creative Director R Balki, Presented by Fox Star Studios, Produced by Cape of Good Films, Hope Productions and Fox Star Studios. Mission Mangal releases on Independence Day ( 15^th Aug)

Brand Ambassadors for support in its Attempt at a Guinness World Record in Goa

Asian Paralympic Cricket League approaches Sachin Tendulkar, Sonakshi Sinha, Vidya Balan & Salman Khan as brand ambassadors for support in its attempt at a Guinness World Record in Goa for World's Biggest Paralympic Cricket League

The Asian Paralympic Cricket League announced that it was teaming up with the organisers of the GCL 2019 to attempt aGuinness World Record for the World's Biggest Paralympic Cricket League. It has approached Bollywood stars Sonakshi Sinha, Vidya Balan, Salman Khan and his NGO Being Human in making the Guinness World Record for the World's Biggest Paralympic Cricket League a reality. Cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar has also been approached, sources familiar with the developments said.

The Goa Cricket League will now be known as Asian Paralympic Cricket League (in association with GCL 2019)

24 wheelchair cricket teams from different parts of India had already confirmed their participation in the Wheelchair Cricket Cup, which is part of the Goa Cricket League - GCL 2019. More than 60 differently-abled cricket teams along with 8 differently-abled women's cricket teams are participating in the event, Event Director & Chairman Flynn Remedios said, adding that theBoard of Disabled Cricket Association is now with GCL 2019 and will be a co-organiser of the Goa Cricket League along with the Disabled Sporting Society.

The GCL 2019, is slated to be one of the biggest sports events in the World till date, with  overall nearly 200 teams in the lineup, said Haroon Rasheed, Secretary of the Disabled Sporting Society. 

In addition, twenty one state-level Women's Cricket teams from different States of India will participate in the Goa Cricket League as part of the Women's Cricket Series to be held in Goa in March and April, Flynn Remedios said.

As part of the Goa Cricket League, an added international attraction will be the India-Bangladesh wheelchair cricket international match which will be held in the State on 31st March 2019. 

The Bangladesh team has been nominated by the Bangladesh Cricket Association, the national cricket body in the country. It will first arrive in Mumbai and will play the first match in Mumbai. The final match will be held in Goa on 31st March, Remedios said. 

This match is being supported by the Bangladesh Cricket Association - the official cricket body of Bangladesh and the Disabled Sporting Society of India (DSS). This is the first time in the history of Goa that an international wheelchair cricket match is being held in the state.

Alongside this international match, for the first time in Goan history, the State will play host to 24 wheelchair cricket teams from across the length and breadth of the nation who will be part of the Goa Cricket League - GCL - 2019. 

The All Goa State Cricket Cup -  GCL 2019 incorporating wheelchair cricket - albeit with different criteria compared to standard international cricket norms,  will be held at Shiroda and Ponda in the month of March & April with over 200 local teams participating, both in the Under-18 and Open categories together.

In addition to the wheelchair cricket teams, there will be 8 Blind Cricket teams, which will be part of the re-christened Asian Paralympic Cricket League

Registration for the same has already begun and more than 62 teams from all over Goa have already registered for the tournament in the open category. Registration for the U-18 category has already begun, said Remedios.

There will be special inter-state charity matches for Blind, Differently-Abled and Wheelchair cricketers along with TV and Bollywood celebrities and actors. The specially-abled teams will play exhibition matches only with the length of the pitch and the field being different.

This state-level tournament is being organised by the Goa State Differently-able, Wheelchair and Blind Sports Forum (GDWBSF)  in association with the International Differently-abled Sportspersons Forum. It is however not affiliated to the Goa Cricket Association.

“This is the first time that cricket matches for the Blind, Wheelchair and Differently-abled cricketers are being organised in Goa,” event co-organiser and media spokesperson Flynn Remedios said, adding that an India-Bangladesh Wheelchair cricket tournament was held in Mumbai last year with the visiting Bangladesh wheelchair cricket team being sponsored by the Bangladesh Cricket Association, the official national cricket body of the country.  

Last year at the India-Bangladesh Wheelchair cricket tournament, the  Indian team was captained by Ramesh Sartape of Maharashtra and the Bangladesh team was captained by Mohammad Mohasin. Suniel Shetty had inaugurated the event held at the Goregaon Sports Club in Mumbai.

We are in the process of inviting teams from all over India for the Blind, Wheelchair and Differently-abled cricket matches, said Remedios. The grand prize for the tournament will be Rs 5 lakh, with several other prizes for the participating and winning teams. The grand prize for the wheelchair cricket team will be Rs 2.5 lakh with the 1st prize for the winning team being Rs one lakh.

According to Remedios,  Wheelchair cricket teams from Goa, Delhi, Gujarat, Maharashtra,  Mumbai, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal have already confirmed their participation. Eight Blind cricket teams have confirmed their participation in the series.

Actor Vidya Balan visited Mata Amritanandamayi Ashram

Actor Vidya Balan  visited Mata Amritanandamayi Ashram at Nerul, Navi Mumbai on the occasion of the Brahmasthanam Festival.On the occasion, actor Vidya Balan along with Amma distributed sarees to the ladies of Ransai village in Panvel District, which is one of the 101 villages adopted by Amma.

The actor is an ardent devotee of Amma and has been attending her discourses for the past several years. She said ““I have been an ardent devotee of Amma since I was a child, and her way to dealing with situation through love has always fascinated me. Often I used to wonder as to why so many people throng to hear her in large numbers, but later I realised that devotees are bowled over by her simplicity and love. Amma’s religion is the religion of love, and it is around this philosophy I am trying to lead my life. To me, Amma is Love Incarnate, the Universal Mother who cradles the world in her all-encompassing embrace

Five reasons why biopic N.T.R: Mahanayakudu tops the list

Five reasons why biopic N.T.R: Mahanayakudu tops the list of a perfect movie-getaway!

Creating another cinematic benchmark, we have the much-awaited biopic on the legendary N.T. Rama Rao- Ex-Chief Minister Andhra Pradesh, whose life as the Demigod stands strong amidst the movie race.Directed by the acclaimed film-maker Krish Jagarlamudi, N.T.R: Mahanayakudu- after the successful theatrical landing of Part 1- N.T.R: Kathanayakudu, brings its sequel into the forefront.

N.T.R: Mahanayakudu develops from the point where its prequel had ended giving its audience a rich understanding of the journey. Advancing into his political plunge, the biopic is an amalgamation of five noteworthy mentions, that has added another dimension altogether.

1.      Narrative- Starring Nandamuri Balakrishna N.T. Rama Rao, the biopic convincingly brushes up through the life-span of the Telugu actor turned politician whose passion and valor for his State and people, made him the man of substance. From being a passionate actor to his reign into politics will surely leave you wanting for more.

2.      Vidya Balan in a powerful role- Making her place as the female lead in the film, Vidya Balan plays the wife ‘Basavatarakam’ whose presence in the journey is as important as other characters. We’re quite impressed by the fact that the actress has not just delivered mind-blowing performancesin her native cinema industry but also leaves a mark in the Tollywood.

3.      Ensemble cast- Which movie fanatic will not go for a Rana Daggubati starrer film! The actor is seen in an important portrayal alongside other prominent names like Bharath, Sachin Khedekar, Kalyan Ram, Supriya Vinod, and others.

4.      Director- Radha Krishna Jagarlamudi aka Krish Jagarlamudi or popularly known as Krish is one of the finest film-makers in the business. Ever since his first film in 2008, the director has moved forwardbaggingseveral accolades including National Film Award on his way. Not to forget, he has given us a blockbuster film like ‘Gabbar Is Back’ in Bollywood.

5.      Music- Music composed by Koduri Marakathamani Keeravaani, popular as M. M. Keeravani in the industry, this ace composer-singer has Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi tracks to his merits. Soul stirring songs from the biopic like Venditera Dora, Ramanna Katha and Rajarshi will make you listen to them in a loop.

While we have so many noteworthy elements in the biopic, N.T.R: Mahanayakudu becomes a must watch for all the moviegoers this season. Released on February 22, the biopic is already creating sensation across verticals and if you haven’t watched it yet, this is the time to book your tickets right now.

Palam Silks is proud to be the official saree sponsor

Palam Silks is proud to be the official saree sponsor for the movie NTR Kathanayakudu. Ms Basavatarakam, NTR’s wife, played by Vidya Balan wore beautiful weaves of Palam Silks throughout the movie in Telugu, Hindi and Tamil versions. We have created a range of silk sarees called Tarakam Collection starting from 3,000 to 10,000 inspired form the sarees created for Vidya Balan.

NTR Kathanayakudu is based on events that took place in the 50’s. From our end, a lot of background work had to be done to analyse the styles of kanchipurams that were in trend nearly 70 years ago.

Keeping in mind that Mr NTR started his career from a modest background, we had to design very elegant cottons and printed silk for Vidya Balan in sober shades carrying the same whiff of sarees purchased from a nearby under-the-shade cozy saree shop, over well- established retail stores.

We created a lot of mauve, moss greens, marrons and purples, yellow and black combos with small borders. We used a lot of temples, border bhuttas, gold zari checks and annambhuttas with piping borders in gold zari. For few sarees we had attached small and medium stripes of gold border to make Vidya Balan look as traditional as possible in south Indian flavours. We have also styled the small borders in the shape of temple patterns, rudraksh pets and ikhat borders. Since Vidya Balan plays a very rich-in-character role, she looks absolutely regal in traditional kanchipurams.

Out of 100 sarees that were specially made for the movie, Ms Vidya Balan handpicked 30 to 40 sarees to suit her role in the movie. Since Palam had always promoted unusual kanchipurams since its inception, we ventured into a genre which was never experimented in the past 15 years. It was a great experience to create design pallet that has a touch of Palam and tradition in the collection.

Palam Silks has just launched a contest called “Vidya’s Choice” .All you have to do is, visit any of the stores in Chennai and check out Tarakam Collection. Pick your favorite saree from the collection and gift it on our behalf to the very beautiful Vidya Balan. If your saree matches Vidya’s choice, you will get a chance to meet Ms Vidya and gift the saree in person!

Jyotika’s Kaatrin Mozhi release postponed

Jyotika’s Kaatrin Mozhi release postponed to 

post-Diwali season

As it is well-known, the Hindi super hit film, ‘Tumhari Sulu’, starring Vidya Balan in a stellar performance, is now being remade in Tamil, as ‘Kaatrin Mozhi’ with Jyotika in the prominent role. Radha Mohan who made a great hit combo with Jyotika in the film ‘Mozhi’ is the director again!

So, this will be Jyotika’s next film after Chekka Chivantha Vaanam. Dhananjayan is the producer for Creative Entertainers and Distributors.

The cinematography is by Mahesh Muthuswamy while K. L. Pravin is the editor. Pon,. Parthipan writes the dialogues whereas A. H. Kashif, a nephew of A. R. Rahman composes the music.

The shooting scheduled have been completed. The post-production work is in the final stages. The 1st look of the film was a roaring success! It was announced earlier that the film would be released on 18th October.

However, the producer has now tweeted that the release is being delayed. Here is his message: “it's raining new films week after week. We scheduled for October 18 but looking at the list approved, it will be a hard battle to get proper theatres/shows. So we're postponing the release to November, post-Diwali. Will keep you updated. Thank you.”