Latest news with #SudhirMishra
Hindustan Times
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Chaava and Jaat actor Viineet Kumar Singh: Lucknow has been important for my career
Actor Viineet Kumar Singh has shot extensively in Lucknow and his home state Uttar Pradesh. Last seen in Chhaava and Jaat, the actor has a strong connection with the state capital. 'While Varanasi is my janmabhoomi and Mumbai is my karmabhoomi, Lucknow, too, has a been really important for my upbringing. 'My first memory of moving out of Varanasi was coming to Lucknow. I came here as a mini (under 12) to play basketball at the KD Singh Babu Stadium. Big cars, tall buildings, big showrooms were all novelty for me. Then, there used to be Nixon Market near the stadium, which sold foreign goods at economical prices, where I shopped. So, whenever I get time during shoots, I go to the stadium for a while, take a stroll in the erstwhile basketball court and relive my memories. Bachpan se hi lagaav raha hai Lucknow se,' he says. The actor recalls, 'Later, I came here for a 21-day camp. I remember buying a purse for mummy, a T-shirt for papa and things related to sports for my brother and sisters. I spent all my money buying gifts for them. These are very fond and strong memories.' 'Rangbaaz (2022), my most successful OTT show so far, was shot entirely in Lucknow and Sitapur. Besides Bareilly and Varanasi, a portion of Mukkabaaz (2018) was also shot here. I extensively shot for Sudhir Mishra's DaasDev (2018) here, Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl (2020), and Match Fixing, which released earlier this year,' he says. Viineet adds, 'If we move bit further, Gangs of Wasseypur was 90% shot in Varanasi. My next with Anurag (Kashyap, director) sir Nishanchi has been extensively shot here in two schedules (the movie is in two parts). Lucknow is a very shoot-friendly place. Since I am also a writer, I make sure that all my stories have my state in some way or another. Kaafi yogdaan raha hai iss shehar ka meri journey mein.'
India.com
11-05-2025
- Business
- India.com
India's deadly supersonic cruise missile is five times deadlier and more dangerous now for enemy, the missile is..., it can now...
BrahMos Next Generation: The BrahMos Next Generation (NG) supersonic cruise missile, being developed for the first time in India, will enhance the strike capability of all three armed forces. It will weigh less than half of the current BrahMos missile in terms of weight and cost. More missiles can be loaded onto the Su-30 fighter aircraft than before. The first batch of the most advanced BrahMos-NG will be ready in the next year. Meanwhile, the first BrahMos missile currently in use has been completed. Its delivery will take place on Sunday, 11 May 2025. Dr. Sudhir Mishra, the then MD and CEO of BrahMos Aerospace, played a crucial role in setting up the BrahMos production unit in Lucknow. He is currently an advisor at DRDO. Dr. Mishra told about the features of this center while talking to Dainik Jagran. The production of BrahMos-NG is being undertaken as a joint venture between India and Russia. The existing BrahMos missile weighs 2900 kilograms, while the missile with NG technology will weigh only 1260 kilograms. With the modification, the Sukhoi aircraft will be able to load up to five missiles instead of one. Its range will be 300 km. The Army's system will be able to load six missiles instead of three at a time. The capacity of naval warships will also increase. Currently, BrahMos is produced in Thiruvananthapuram, Nagpur, Hyderabad, and Pilani. Lucknow will be its fifth production unit, but the NG technology missile will only be produced in Lucknow. Currently, 80 to 100 existing missiles are produced every year. In the next year, 100 to 150 NG missiles will begin to be produced. Then a total of 250 missiles of both types will be able to be produced each year. To meet the increasing demand for this missile from all three units of armed forces, the plan for establishing another production center was made and work commenced in December 2021.
The Hindu
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
‘Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi' director Sudhir Mishra: I'm not always on the side of my characters
'No critic asks me why I name a film set around the Emergency after a Ghalib couplet,' wonders Sudhir Mishra amid an intense conversation. Two decades after Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi, a tale of unfulfilled desires set against the Emergency and the Naxalite Movement stirred our souls, director Sudhir Mishra is mounting another drama set against the politically volatile period. Spread over eight episodes, the title Summer of '77 sounds like HKA in long form. The deep fissures on Mishra's face give way to a gentle smile. 'It is about six-seven characters from different social backgrounds involved in the JP Movement who question the idea of India handed over to them by their fathers. It is about rebellion, relationships, and politics in between. It is set in a space where old structures were breaking and new women were emerging to claim rights over their bodies. They no longer wanted to be owned by a relationship or a man. Some were much more experimental in their worldview than today's women.' It is not HKA, he avers, but as the filmmaker is the same, he says, the audience will see a part of him, his viewpoint on life. 'While HKA veers towards the Naxalite movement, Summer of '77 is about the movement started by Jai Prakash Narayan. In HKA, the three characters hail from a niche class, which we can call Indian desis for want of a better word, who struggle to find their own India. Here, the characters come from the mainstream middle class, and they are reacting to their India being taken away from them. That is how it speaks to today's audience.' Mishra says he was too young in the 1970s, but his elder brother and uncles were very much interested. Few know that Mishra's maternal grandfather, D.P. Mishra, was a freedom fighter and a staunch congressman who served as the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh in the 1960s. 'He walked out of Congress in 1974 because he could not take what was happening in the party. Part of the series is based on his recollection of the period, which he wrote about in the third volume of his autobiography. I have also used the reflections of youth leaders of the period, like Ramesh Dixit, who started as a leftist and then moved to the socialist fold. Then there are observations of academics like Pushpesh Pant that helped me structure the base of the narrative before imagination took over.' These days, the Emergency period has become a tool for filmmakers to comment on today's politics. 'It is important because the repercussions of that period are being felt now. Most of today's events are determined by the politics of that period,' argues Mishra, who was part of the jury at the Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards this year, where political plays were well received. Not interested in mere recreation of the past, the filmmaker says, in his universe, 'Emergency becomes a metaphor for the thought that every time a political establishment imposes itself, there is a reaction to it.' He underlines that HKA stays fresh because it is about 'young people anytime, anywhere, reacting to the world that confronts them.' They want to realise their potential, but they don't follow the path offered to them. The title, he says, represents Mirza Ghalib's influence on him. 'It is a kind of Sufi view of life. I am not always on the side of my characters. The idealists get scared after watching themselves in the darkness of the theatre. Extreme radicals get miffed.' Right from Aditya (Nirmal Pandey) in Is Raat Ki Subhah Nahin to Vikram Malhotra (Kay Kay Menon) in HKA, Ayyan Mani (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) in Serious Men, and Rahab (Nawaz) in Afwaah, Mishra doesn't put his male protagonists, hailing from varied social groups, on a pedestal. More than the heroes, it is Mishra's muses like Geeta in HKA or Chameli that seem more in control of the situation. 'I find women more decisive. They understand loss better. They are willing to admit mistakes more than men.. They are open to accepting what life offers and embracing it. They make for emotionally richer characters,' Mishra muses. It is not that he doesn't understand his male protagonists. 'My men are not weak, but they are frail. They are softer. They make mistakes.' A section of the audience and film stars, he feels, have a problem with that kind of expression. 'I don't think there is any such thing as a permanent hero. Everybody is a hero in some time frame.' For instance, he says, Rahab lives in a liberal bubble of literary fests. 'That world doesn't open the door for him when he needs it the most. This narrative of finding permanent heroes has destroyed the world. The thought that a hero will come to change the world is flawed. Narratives programmed for a happily ever after scenario, and there is light at the end of the tunnel, don't often prepare you for life. They become like advertisements for fairness creams.' On Anurag Kashyap shifting base to South India Reflecting on his disciple and friend Anurag Kashyap shifting base to South India, Mishra says it seems the Mumbai film industry's atmosphere was proving stifling for him. 'He is reinventing himself. It is not that he has given up hope. His next film, Nishanchi, is set in Uttar Pradesh. I found the statement a bit extreme. I love him, he loves me, but he doesn't listen to me. He is close to South Indian filmmakers and doesn't believe in the North-South divide. He is among the first to discuss the need for a pan Indian cinema.' Mishra feels like the filmmakers, film critics also need to understand life. 'Most people who write about films set in the North don't seem to understand the peculiarities of the region. For instance, in Afwaah, one prominent critic questioned how the villagers didn't identify Vicky, not realising that he is one small-time MLA in one area of Rajasthan out of 200 in the State.' Recalling his experience with Chameli, Mishra says not many saw the plot as an impossible situation that talks about the right of a sex worker to say no and overlooked how the film navigates the relationship between her and the pimp. 'The film's success was largely reduced to two songs, Saat Samundar and Bhagey Re Man. They are very nice songs, but there was much more.' Mishra has delved into mainstream space with films like Calcutta Mail, but it has not been a satisfying experience. 'The only way to make a good film is to make one that you would like to watch yourself. The directors who make mainstream films are in sync with the audience of those films. They should not pretend in the evening that they are superior to the audience. They are the audience!' On his way forward, Mishra says he has decided to go back to being the boy who made Dharavi in 1991. 'I want to make films without caring; not going into elaborate systems of Bombay that make cinema expensive, but the investment doesn't reflect on screen. If you watch Malayalam cinema, they pick up rich subjects, but they are not necessarily big-budget.'
Time of India
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Pahalgam, Gulmarg, Sonamarg, Srinagar: The Kashmir you've mostly seen on screen
For Bollywood, Kashmir has often meant snowy peaks, chinars, and shikaras. The scenic sites of Pahalgam, Sonamarg and Gulmarg are among the most frequently filmed locations in Indian cinema. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Be it the likes of Roja to the recently released Ground Zero, the valley has been woven into our filmi narratives – often becoming a character in itself. Even this year, multiple productions were lined up for shoots in Pahalgam. However, in the wake of the recent terror attack in Baisaran, film shoots might be affected. We revisit the films that were shot in these scenic locales. Many scenes of Bajrangi Bhaijaan were shot in Kashmir Various scenes from the 2016 film Fitoor were shot in Dal Lake, Pahalgam, Betaab Valley, Gulmarg and the Mughal Gardens Scenes from Tanaav were shot in Srinagar, Pahalgam and Sonamarg Talking about shooting in Kashmir, Sudhir Mishra, who shot his series Tanaav there, told us recently that people were really welcoming, 'I just love Kashmiris. They are really compassionate people. The people in Kashmir are really warm, but they are also very sad, so you have to work with that rhythm. I tried to bring out the human aspect. After making Tanaav, I understand Kashmir better. I emotionally connected with Kashmir through the characters. When I direct, I have to feel the pain of the mother, the brother, the son. Conflict zones are complex.' Speaking about films on Kashmir and how he managed to avoid controversies while making a series about the region, he says, 'Most films about Kashmir are made by outsiders, and I don't think many of them have a deep enough connection to the place in real ways. If your purpose is not to offend, and you approach things without bias – seeing things as they are – I don't think anyone gets offended.' Segments of Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani were shot in Pahalgam The show Tanaav captured Kashmir by focusing on the emotional and human side of the region rather than just the conflict 'Laila Majnu was filmed in Khilanmarg, Pahalgam, Srinagar' The beauty of Kashmir was the backdrop for not only classics such as Kashmir Ki Kali (1964) and Kabhi Kabhie (1976), but the 2018 release Laila Majnu. A staff member at a cinema in Srinagar says, 'When we re-released Laila Majnu last year, it was houseful for months. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The film has shown the culture and tradition of Kashmir. Kashmiri youngsters could relate to it, and they see the film as their own. It was shot in Nishat Bagh, Zero Bridge, Nigeen Lake, Khilanmarg and Pahalgam, and people from across Kashmir came to watch the film.' 'More than 80% of Ground Zero was shot in Kashmir' Arhan Bagati, co-producer of Ground Zero, shares, 'Initially, many locations were being discussed for Ground Zero. My reaction was, 'Why not Kashmir?' Because it is a film set in Kashmir. I thought the authentic way to do the film was by shooting in Kashmir and going to actual locations. We went to the locations where the encounter happened. That authenticity can't be created with CGI. More than 80% of Ground Zero was shot in Kashmir. The administration was extremely helpful, the LG supported it, and the J&K Police was indispensable through the entire process – not just showing us where the actual encounter happened, but also in giving us access to the locations.' The valley through Indian cinema in the recent years • In 2014, Fitoor was shot at Srinagar's Dal Lake and Pahalgam • In 2014, Alia Bhatt's Highway was also shot in Pahalgam's Aru Valley • The qawwali scene of Bajrangi Bhaijaan was shot at Aishmuqam Shrine. The film's end was shot in the Baisaran Valley • Ground Zero was filmed across Kashmir • Shah Rukh Khan's Jab Tak Hai Jaan was shot in Betaab Valley, around the Lidder River, Aru Valley, and Baisaran. The Jiya Re sequence was filmed in and around Betaab Valley • Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone shot segments of Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013) in Pahalgam Gurez, Machil also open up for filming: J&K Film Policy 2024 In recent years, Ground Zero, Sam Bahadur, and Laila Majnu were all filmed in Pahalgam. The Jammu and Kashmir Film Policy 2024 aimed to give filmmakers easier access to the region. It opened up scenic areas closer to the Line of Control (LoC) including Gurez, Machil, and Tangdhar for the first time in several decades. 'A well-nurtured film industry can be a major source of wealth creation, employment generation, and an effective tool and platform for the preservation of culture and the expression of the people of Jammu & Kashmir,' it states.
Indian Express
22-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi turns 20: One of the best campus movies, this one is for the ages
It is amongst the best campus movies made not just in India, but internationally. Sudhir Mishra catches the zeitgeist of DU (Delhi University) in the early 70s– not just as a lookbook, with the exaggerated Bachchan hair cuts and the 48 inch bell-bottoms—but also the way the cool kids back then used to talk, hang out (no, they didn't just 'hang'), and do other fun stuff, including sit in on dharnas and feel very political while cutting classes, dreaming of the revolution. The idealistic Geeta (Chitrangada Singh) is madly in love with Siddharth aka Sid (Kay Kay), the privileged, entitled bungalow-dweller (these days, he'd be dubbed, straight off, anti-national, not just because he runs off to join the Naxal movement but because he is born into Lutyens Delhi), who goes off to fight against 'injustice and oppression'. Vikram (Shiney Ahuja) is the not-so-well-off street-smart fixer, as that most Dilli of all Dilli characters. There's also Ram Kapoor as the good-hearted 'babu' (bureaucrat), who adds to the slate of terrific acting in the movie. Hazaaron is a very Dilli film, a wonderfully life-like reflection of the Capital of the late 60s, and 70s, when sections of it were a hot-bed of hot-headed rebels who learnt how to 'lal salaam' like they meant it, with some following it up to actually fight the good fight in villages, and many, predictably, coming right back to their lives of liveried comfort. ALSO READ | Sudhir Mishra reveals Basu Chatterjee 'rejected' Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi from National Awards consideration: 'Unka haq tha' It's also a strongly political film, which, without being pedantic, trains its lens on the many Indias which collide with each other, and disrupt age-old power equations before being forced to find their level. There's unrest in the air, Emergency is around the corner, and our trio is learning how to come of age, in that most turbulent era, where erstwhile princes, and sharp commoners rub elbows while figuring out how to survive, and thrive. Very few parts of the film appear dated. The backdrop of the misty winter mornings in Delhi, the wispy smoke rising off joints in grungy rooms with the mandatory Che posters, the furtive couplings of young lovers, the heat rising off the ground in the villages, the cracks in the idealism and the naivete that the young all over the world wear as an armour, the harsh lessons life hands out to us when no one is looking, all of it feels as fresh and urgent as it did back when it came out in 2005. The performances are all top-notch. Kay Kay Menon was the only one who had had some acting experience; the sultry Chitrangada, rocking her crumpled 'sooti' cotton saris, was immediately dubbed the new Smita Patil, and Shiney (who has since disappeared, after being convicted for sexual assault of his domestic help) who was brilliant as the guy who always wants more, whose moral compass is shaky, but whose only redeeming feature is his love for Geeta, which remains unshaken. And finally, tell me, does anyone forget the time when they were young and foolish, and madly in love, and passionate about poetry, while, of course, determined to change the world? The film's music is sublime: 'Baawra Mann', written by Swanand Kirkire, composed by Shantanu Moitra, and sung by Shubha Mudgal, is a song for the ages.
