Bollywood
The extraordinary tale :Netflix ‘Yeh Ballet’
The film is the sophomore directorial feature of Padma Shri awardee Sooni Taraporevala, who made ‘Little Zizou’ in 2009
The sun had set, and the orange lanterns and strung lights bobbed on the salty, sticky summer breeze at Worli Koliwada. Dancers in bright festive wear made their way through the serpentine lanes of the urban village to reach the sets of the Netflix original film Yeh Ballet – bedecked to shoot a Diwali celebration.
“This is a new perspective of the sea link from this side. It hasn’t been seen much on screen,” remarked producer Siddharth Roy Kapur, nodding towards the bridge over the glittering sea. His company, Roy Kapur Films is backing the project, the sophomore directorial feature of Padma Shri awardee Sooni Taraporevala, after their collaboration on The Namesake (2006) – a Mira Nair film built on Taraporevala’s screenplay.
Yeh Ballet, inspired by a true story, charts the journey of two young men named Nishu (Manish Chauhan) and the rebellious Asif (Achintya Bose) with Mumbai working class backgrounds pirouetting their way into international ballet schools under the guidance of an the ageing and eccentric Israeli-American ballet teacher – Saul (Julian Sands).
Incongruent elements
As the music blared over the speakers, the director stayed rather quiet while choreographer Shiamak Davar took the reins and guided actors Achintya and Mekhola Bose as they spiritedly danced across the set with the camera focused on them, with hordes of people cheering them on. On the sidelines, Sands and Chauhan laughed and moved to the music.
This is the Diwali celebration that the boys take their teacher to, and for the first time he’s dancing Bollywood,” shared writer-director Taraporevala, before pointing to Mekhola and adding without giving much away, “Her character is an enigma. She and Asif have a bond that’s based on dance.”Outside of ballet and Bollywood, the film pulls in elements from a number of dance-styles, “Because the real boys come from a hip-hop [and b-boying] background, and Bollywood is all around us. [So] the film has got a full palette of very incongruous dances and music,” said Taraporevala.
The director has offered a glimpse into this story before – in her 2017 14-minute documentary of the same name. “Dance is a rich person’s indulgence,” said Chauhan in the short (who plays himself in the Netflix film), over footage of him and young dancer Amiruddin Shah practicing their moves on a local train. The director picked Chauhan, Shah and their ballet master Yehuda Ma’or’s story to translate into a short Virtual Reality documentary, shot in 360-degrees, for filmmaker Anand Gandhi’s VR Lab.
“It totally fascinated me to read and hear about their stories – [seeing] what they achieved. [Ballet] is a very elite and niche world, [and] no boys dance ballet. [Yet] kids who never heard classical music [became] so good in two years that they got a scholarship to [London’s] The Royal Ballet [and the American Oregon Ballet Theatre] is just a phenomenal thing,” said the director, before continuing, “The documentary short film [was] a completely different beast from writing [and directing] a feature film. [With the feature] you take a kernel of truth and kind of blow it up.”
Fact meets fiction
A beaming Chauhan sits on the intersection between fact and fiction – essaying the character based on his story. When asked about his fairytale-like journey, Chauhan admitted, “I never wanted to become a dancer. I would hide in the school bathroom [when we had to dance]. But as a teenage boy I was introduced to power moves, and backflips seemed cool.”
Later, he saved up money, joined Ashley Lobo’s Danceworx Academy, and met Ma’or who saw the spark in his student. “I don’t know what he saw,” laughed Chauhan, “I didn’t know ballet, my English was bad, and all the [ballet] terminologies are in French.
Everything he said [went over my head]!” Ma’or once saw Chauhan practicing after class in front of the mirrors, said Chauhan, “So he stayed after class with me the next day, saying ‘I’ll teach you, because you’re doing it all wrong!’”
Achintya stepped in to play Asif (who is based on Shah) since Shah was (and is) training at the Royal Ballet School. “The research,” said Achintya, taking a second to think about the work that went into essaying his character, “was partially done. If there is an example that needs to be given [in a Danceworx class], it’s either Manish, or Amir, or both of them.”
Taraporevala revealed that Achintya trained in ballet for about six months under Cindy Jourdain, and also learnt b-boying for the role. His background, however, is in contemporary and jazz. Achintya also added that Asif is significantly different from the quiet, focused Shah.
Read More:From Socha Na Tha To Tamasha
What started as a murder mystery related to the death of the late actor Sushant Singh Rajput, has now turned into a hunt for Bollywood Drug Nexus. During the interrogation of Rhea Chakraborty, few of WhatsApp chat messages were retrieved which game indication to drug consumptions by the Late Actor as well as people linked to him. Many of A-list Bollywood actors and managers were summoned by Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) for questioning.
Some of the actors who were Shraddha Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Sara Ali Khan, manager Krishnma Prakash and Kshitij Prasad. One round of questioning is already done by the NCB but it said that the actors may have to be questioned again. Many people took to social media to extend support towards the actors. Karan Johar, who is the owner of Dharma Productions after the arrest of Kshitij Prasad broke his silence about the drug case.
Latest Update
- Shraddha Kapoor who shared the big screen with Sushant Singh Rajput in Chhichhore confessed that Sushant Singh Rajput used to consume drugs in his vanity van during the process of filming but she vehemently denies consuming anything of that sort. When the NCB questioned her about the party that SSR threw in his Pawana guesthouse, she stated that the party had just weed and alcohol; no drugs were present in the scene.
- Deepika Padukone was questioned by NCB for 5 long hours where she accepted that the part related to WhatsApp group but denied drug consumption. NCB did not give the nuances of the interrogation.
- Krishnma Prakash is the former manager of Deepika Padukone who was part of the WhatsApp group where procuring hash was discussed.
- Sara Ali Khan’s name got involved with this drug case when Rhea Chakroborty claimed that Sara Ali Khan used to consume drugs along with her and SSR. When interrogated Sara Ali Khan denied consuming drugs but revealed that she dated the late actor briefly during their “Kedarnath” Shoot.
- Kshitij Prasad is a former producer of Dharmatic Entertainment – a sister concern of Dharma Productions was arrested in FIR 16/2020 of NCB Mumbai zonal unit. He was supposedly involved with the major drug peddlers of Mumbai region. When interrogated by NCB, Prasad stated that he only used to procure drugs for his own consumption.
Final Words
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) released a statement saying that the interrogation and the answers of the actors cannot be revealed, it will be directly submitted in the court. “The actresses have denied taking drugs. We may serve them a summons for further questioning if we find new evidence. Their questioning is over for now,” and that they think there might be a link between Shraddha Kapoor’s and Sara Ali Khan’s case. All the actors have denied using any form of drugs, they even went ahead to claim that they do not even indulge in the activity of smoking. The main aim of NCB is to bring down the “drug Nexus” that is functional in Bollywood.
On Wednesday, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC demolishes Kangana’s office. The demolition took place on the same day when the actress was returning Mumbai from Chandigarh. It was undertaken a few hours before her arrival in Mumbai. Mumbai police stopped the demolition and meanwhile, the actress approached the Mumbai high court. Many believe that the demolition is undertaken by shiv sena in response to the statement made by Kangana. In her statement, the actress said that she feel unsafe while returning to Mumbai to which few members of the shiv sena gave some heated statements.
Mumbai High court’s stay on demolition
Mumbai high court’s decision came as a relief for the actress. The high court ordered a stay on the demolition of building. kangana’s lawyer Rizwan Siddiqui said that everything BMC did was illegal along with entering the building. In its decision, the court said that declaring a property standing for so long illegal overnight is not right. The court slammed BMC saying that “it is clear that buildings that are unauthorized don’t come to notice overnight and it seems like BMC has suddenly woken up from the slumber “. The court also said that demolishing a building after issuing a 24-hr notice, that too when he actress is out of state and not giving her extra time, even after receiving written request is not justified”.
Kangana slammed Maha CM
In response to this, the 33-year old actress took it to the twitter saying,” My office was suddenly declared illegal in last 24 hours, they have destroyed everything inside and now I am getting threats that they will come to my house and break it as well, I am glad my judgment of movie mafia’s favorite world’s best CM was right”.
The actress also posted a video online slamming Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackrey and the movie mafia saying “Uddhav Thackeray, what do you think, that you have taken revenge by demolishing my building along with your movie mafia. Today, you have broken my house but your ego will be destroyed. It is a wheel of time, it will not be the same always. She said that she will awake the nation and will tell them about his wrongdoings.
Not only the demolition but before were the arrival of Kangana Ranaut at the Mumbai airport supporters of Shiv Sena and Karni sena also there. Where shiv Sena came to show their aggression for Kangana and threatening her not to come to Mumbai. Meanwhile, Karni sena came out in the support of the actress saying that they will protect her and will support her relentlessly.
Devendra Fadnavis of the opposition tweeted a video saying that nothing like this had ever happened in Maharashtra when people against the Government are attacked. It is important to know what is wrong and proper inquiry should be done if the building is actually illegal but should be done lawfully”.many Bollywood celebrities also came to the actor’s rescue saying that BMC’S action was unjust and an attack on her right to speak her mind with #deathofdemocracy trending on the internet.
Final words
The demolition undertaken by BMC has been stayed by the court. But a lot of political debate has started and the silencing people against government. Whether the action of BMC is justified and dragging politics in every issue is a good decision or just a threat of democracy.
Looks like several dislikes on the youtube video is the new generation’s way of protest. Recently, Sadak 2 hit the milestone of being the most disliked videos. The newly released song “ Beyonce Sharma Jayegi “ from the Bollywood movie Khaali peeli could be the next winner. Filmmaker of the movies recently launched the song starring Ananya Pandey and Ishaan Khattar. The song is getting special attention specifically one of the lyrics, “Tujhe dekh ke goriya, Beyonce bhi Sharma jayegi”, which translates to “with one look at you, oh fair lady. Even Beyonce will be embarrassed”.
Indians apologized to Beyoncé
This song has taken a Strom over internet by netizens giving all sorts of disagreements for the song. Trending on the internet is “we are sorry Beyonce”, people have said that what kind of embarrassment this song talks about? The second-hand embarrassment of Beyonce or the embarrassment of Indians that lead them to apologize to Beyonce.
Keeping aside the humour, the song has also raised questions over the racism in Bollywood which is clearly reflected in Bollywood movies and songs which was forever prevalent and continues to date. The idea of Bollywood selling the word”gori or goriya” is the clear remark of widespread racism and portrayal of fair as beautiful and being dark as “ugly” has long continued in Bollywood.The famous song from old times “hum kale hain to kya Hua, Dil wale hain” meaning, “it doesn’t matter if I am black, since I have a big heart” shows the prevalence of racism rooted way back and looks like the trend away from being over.
Netizens slammed Bollywood over racism
Netizens have described the song as extremely regressive and racist as it uses the colour to degrade a woman. The people are very upset with Bollywood for promoting the comparison based on colour. “How can they write lyrics like that using the fair as an adjective while comparing a black woman? Are we still having this discussion in 2020”? Some even jokingly said that Beyonce has a record of never losing any lawsuit and warned Zee Music Company, in case Beyonce decides to sue them.
Some even slammed Bollywood saying that supporting the movement of “black lives matter” and then releasing a song like this. People said that it is a serious issue and reflects the problem in India where “fair” is described as feminine beauty and a standard of beauty. People described Bollywood as one of the major reasons and promoters of this kind of behaviour.
In regard, to all these debates going on, Khali Pelli director Maqbool Khan said that the song is not racist. He said that he apologizes if anyone felt offended”. He said that the song doesn’t discriminate on skin colour. He said Goriya is a casual word often and traditionally used to address an Indian girl in movies and songs. Which is actually the problem people are talking about.
People are however not satisfied as the problem they highlighted has been stated as something normal by the makers of the film.
Bollywood, which has a very prominent impact on Indian people and many others around the world. Being such a big industry, Bollywood needs to be more careful and not normalize such issues. Racism is a big problem and offensive songs like these are alarming.
The trailer of Sadak 2, comeback film of Mahesh Bhatt has become the most disliked video on YouTube with 5M Dislikes in 24 hours. The movie has set up this record after beating PewDiePie’s video. The trailer has released backlash of public not only on YouTube but also on other social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and Twitter due to the ongoing debate on Bollywood vs Nepotism. The trailer has become the 7th most disliked video o YouTube and the most disliked video in 24 hours.
Overview of Sadak 2
Sadak 2 is the sequel to Mahesh Bhatt’s movie Sadak which was released in 1991. Sadak featured Sanjay Dutt and Pooja Bhatt. Sadak 2 is Mahesh Bhatt’s comeback film which I a sequel to Sadak. It is starring Alia Bhatt, Aditya Roy Kapoor and Sanjay Dutt. The trailer of the movie was released on YouTube on 12 August while the movie will be released on 28 August on Disney + Hotstar.
Most Disliked Video
Sadak 2 is the 7th most disliked video on YouTube. It has also set the record of getting most dislikes in 24 hours on YouTube after beating PewDiePie. Within a day of the release, the trailer got 5.3 million dislikes. The video has 16 million views with only 294k likes. This result in a very significant like-dislike ratio that is, 94.75%. The trailer of Sadak 2 has the highest dislike percentage on YouTube. And this is quite clear looking at the like-dislike ratio of the trailer. Presently, the most disliked video on YouTube is YouTube’s own video that is, YouTube Rewind 2018: Everyone Controls Rewind. This video has 18.18 Million dislikes.
Reason for dislikes
The main reason behind such a high percentage of dislike on the trailer of Sadak 2 is that it has been due to the ongoing debate on Bollywood Vs Nepotism. After the demise of young and talented actor Sushant Singh Rajput, various theories regarding nepotism and favouritism in Bollywood were put forward. Due to this reason, netizens gave a social call to boycott nepotism in Bollywood and support actual talent. As the movie has been directed by Mahesh Bhatt starring his own daughter Alia Bhatt, netizens began to circulate messages on the social media platform to boycott the movie as a part of nepotism. The aggravation of netizens is clearly visible through the like-dislike ratio of the trailer.
Final Words
The trailer of Sadak 2 has received a large number of dislikes within just one day of its release. But we can not ignore the fact the actors like Alia Bhatt and Aditya Roy Kapoor have given great performances in their previous movies. If the dislikes are based on the honest review of the public regarding the movie and acting of the actors, then it is totally fine but if it is based on emotions and sentiments then it might create major problems for certain big banners and some stars kids who are good actors in reality.
Every week, Bollywood movies are released. But only a few timeless Bollywood movies always remain close to the heart of the viewer. These movies are suitable to watch anytime. During quarantine, we all are bored of trying out ways to pass our time. What about appreciating some great movies of all the time? Here is a list of some timeless Bollywood movies which you can watch and reminisce older times.
Dil Chahta Hai (2001)
Dil Chahta Hai is a movie based on the bond of friendship that three friends share. All them have different personalities and different approaches towards life but they all are still connected due to their bond. The movie was released in 2001 but even today, it is one of the most liked movies by viewers. Dil Chahta has been directed by Farhan Akhtar. The cast of the movie includes Amir Khan, Akshay Khanna, Saif Ali Khanna, Pretty Zinta, Dimple Kapadia, Ayub Khan, Sonali Kulkarni, Rajat Kapoor, Ahmed Khan and Suhasini Mulay.
Swades (2004)
Released in 2004, Swades is one of the best movies produced in India. The movie is about an Americanized NRI who works as a scientist in NASA. He travels back to his country India and looks for his beloved nanny who raised him. In the later part of the movie, he advocates reforms for this village. The movie is directed by Ashutosh Gowariker. The cast of the movie includes Shah Rukh Khan, Gayatri Joshi, Kishori Balla, Rajesh Vivek, Farukh Jaffer, Smith Seth and Daya Shankar Pandey. Swades was one of the movies which is considered very much ahead of its time. It is one of the classics of Bollywood cinema which is a must-watch.
Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011)
Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara is one of the best Bollywood movies ever released. A road trip, three childhood friends and life-lessons. The movie is about living your life, falling in love, celebrating friendship and combating your worst fears. The movie has been directed by Zoya Akhtar. The Cast of the movie includes Hritik Roshan. Abhay Deol, Farhan Akhtar, Katrina Kaif, Kalki Koechlin, Naseeruddin Shah and Ariadna Cabrol. Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara was appreciated a lot by the millennial generation. It is still one of the best movies and can be watched anytime.
Dil Dhadakne Do (2015)
At the end of the day, a family is what matters the most. Dil Dhadakne Do is a movie based on this notion only and introduces the Mehta family where every family member holds a troubled relationship with the other family members. However, no one wants to talk it out. Their life takes on a cruise which changed their lives forever and taught them valuable life lessons. The director of the movie is Zoya Akhtar and the main cast of the movie includes Priyanka Chopra, Farhan Akhtar, Anil Kapoor, Ranveer Singh, Anushka Sharma, Shefali Shah and Rahul Bose. DIl Dhadakne Do is all time one of the best comedy family drama movies ever.
Taare Zameen Par (2007)
Taare Zameen Par released in 2007 is the story of Ishan, a little boy who is sent to boarding school as he is not able to score good grades in the school. Ishan who suffers from dyslexia was constantly punished for not performing well. However, a new teacher Ram Shankar Nikumbh in the boarding school identifies his problem and help him discover his hidden talent. The movie when released addresses the issue of dyslexia and excessive pressure on students to perform well in academics. It left many parents in tears and is still regarded as one of the best movies ever. The movie was directed by Amir Khan and Amole Gupte. The Main Cast of the movie includes Darsheel Safary, Aamir Khan, Tisca Chopra, Tanay Chheda, Vipin Sarma, Sachet Engineer and Girija Oak.
Bollywood is a treasure full of a beautiful and timeless piece of arts. The need is to explore them out. The above-mentioned movies are based on different topics. Where Movies like Swades and Dil Chahta Hai were regarded as movies ahead of the time, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and Dil Dhadakne Do are perfect releases. But all of these movies are equally good and must watch.
