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Humble Politician Nograj, Political Satire In Polyester-Khadi Attire
Humble Politician Nograj(Viacom Voot, Kannada, 10 Episodes)
Directed by Saad Khan
Rating: ***
There is a prime minister, played by the long-time-no-see Tiku Talsania who is constantly out of the country looking into “international affairs” and there is the president of party called The Family Run Party where the young leader keeps running to his mother for advice. They even speak in,ahem, Italian.
But no. This is not about the prickly political peccadillos at the Centre. This off-centre off-kilter political satire is just not bothered about its khadi attire. Comic actor Danish Sait who by now owns his (anything-but-humble) politician Nograj’s wobbly character, dip-dives into the despicable dirty games that politicians play, and comes up with some genuine if lowbrow, laughs.
But be warned: the laughter this time is as ground-level as it can get. If you are looking for edifying humour, look elsewhere. Here in Nograj’s world the laughter comes from a place of absolute self-serving asininity. Sample this: Nograj tells his ever-faithful assistant Manjunath(Vinay Chendoor) that he needs protection. Manjunath dutifully pulls out a condom from his bag.
“Put it on your head, because you are behaving like a dick,” barks Nograj. Well , okay then.
The knocks delivered on Indian democracy’s hardened knuckles are filled with chuckles, of not a very refined variety, I am afraid. The cheesy humour goes with the mood of dimwitted political horse-trading in the series.Yes, MLAs are taken to a resort and locked away. No it is not the last resort.
Director Saad Khan had earlier written the film version of the same protagonist political clown’s antics in 2018. Over there ,Nograj played by the delectably over-the-top Danish Sait who looks like a confounding cross between Pawan Malhotra and Dulquer Salman, wished to be an MLA. Now he wants to be the chief minister of Karnataka, no less.
I am pretty sure he would want to be the prime minister in the next season of this fair-to-fine politic aperitif with characters painted in such broad strokes of satire that they end up looking like cartoon strips come-alive , which I suspect, is what the team behind this beetle-leaf burlesque wanted it to be.
Humble Politician Nograj is fun when it isn’t trying to spoon-feed us with unnecessary information on how the jokes work.At one point the nosy female journalist, working for a channel called, ha ha, Paid NewsTV asks Nograj if he is a leeeetle jealous of his political opponent KGB(Prakash Belawadi), Nagraj dials KGB’s number and pretends to have a friendly conversation .
“Prank call,” he later whispers to his assistant.
As long as Nograj doesn’t think the audience is as stupid as some of his political adversaries, the series is fun.By the way is Nograj gay? There are hints all over that he is, his speech and manner. But then one never knows about these things,specially in politics.
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Shabana Azmi Breaks Her Wrist, Flies To Budapest For Spielberg

Shabana Azmi’s commitment to getting it right, no matter what it takes, is by now beyond legendary. She is known to go to extreme lengths for her characters, the quick-reference what-Shabana-can-do-for-a-role film being Shyam Benegal’s Mandi where she had put on 30 kgs to look like a ‘Madame’ and convey her message in a brothel.
Now , Shabana flies to Budapest on the night of 8 February in spite of having broken her wrist.
“What to do, I have to.I’ve to shoot another schedule of my second season of Halo(the series produced by Steven Spielberg) . There is no way I can postpone it. I am very upset with myself. It was such an unnecessary accident. I was in Jindal . I took a jump and landed with a fractured wrist, ” says Shabana angrily.
This is not the first fracture that Shabana has suffered in recent times. Before the wrist that’s broken now, she had broken the other wrist. And prior to that she had broken her shoulder.
“I’m supposed to be shooting till the 28th of February. And it’s all very tough physically rigorous scenes. I don’t know how I’m going to do it. I am really annoyed with myself for being careless.” Shabana sighed before signing off.
Knowing her the way I do,I can only say, nothing is impossible for Shabana Azmi.
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Shobita Dhulipala On Her Close Aquatic Connection To Her Character In The Night Manager

Sobhita Dhulipala has constantly tried to make an impression with her intriguing performances and roles. In The Night Manager she slips into the mysterious role of Kaveri.
Talking about her character, Sobhita Dhulipala says , “There’s a certain intrigue to Kaveri. On better days, you feel like you get a sense of who she is, but you could never be too sure of what she is.”
Being a water person Sobhita enjoyed her character’s aqueous antecedents, “There is a very visible parallel that’s drawn between Kaveri and water throughout the show.They both can be so gentle, so nourishing, but also very tumultuous and deep. Kaveri seems like that. She has this tenderness as well as a current within her.”
Sobhita comes from an aquatic family and feels a deep affinity to water. “I have in the past been compared with water’s energy and I thought it was a tremendous compliment. So, to be able to give form to that feeling, that connection I feel with it..it’s great. My father is a sailor. And I spent many of my younger years at sea, also the home I grow up in was by the shore. I also love the name Kaveri and I always thought when I have my own child, I’d name him/her by a river! So, I think there’s, resonance, all of it really comes together for me.”
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The Romantics Adi Chopra’s Show All The Way

Netflix’s The Romantics profiling the legend Yash Chopra in four episodes , happened only because Netflix gave complete creative control to Yash Chopra’s son Aditya Chopra, the scion of the Yash Raj family.
A source very close to the project reveals, “If it wasn’t for Adi’s nod, the project wouldn’t have happened. He not only greenlighted the project, he also personally supervised every aspect of the project. Smriti Mundhra is on board as the director of The Romantics. But it is Adi who decided what goes, and what not.”
Apparently the thirty-five interviewees speaking on Yash Chopra in The Romantics were all personally approved by Adi Chopra who also agreed to do his first video interview ever for the docu-pic on his distinguished dad.
Adi Chopra’s one and only print interview was with film critic/editor Khalid Mohamed.
The Romantics starts streaming on Netflix on Valentine’s Day February 14.
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I’m very excited to be doing my OTT debut: Shahid Kapoor

As Shahid Kapoor Gets Ready To Make His Digital Debut, He Takes Time Off For A Q & A With Subhash K Jha
Farzi is your first foray into the OTT space. How would you describe the experience? Is it any different from doing the films for the big screen?
I’m very excited to be doing my OTT debut, as everybody calls it. I think I did it because I love the directors Raj and DK and their work, and I actually really really liked the idea and the concept behind Farzi, the world of counterfeiting . I felt Sunny was a character that was as challenging as some of my most challenging characters as I’ve done yet. So I immediately wanted to do it.
And was it any different shooting for an OTT series?
Of course, it’s different because you’re watching the character over five to six hours as opposed to maybe two to two and a half hours. So it’s a deeper, wider opportunity to bring a character to life, that’s it.
Farzi gave you the opportunity to work with the great Vijay Sethupathi and also the creators Raj and DK. So what was that experience like?
With Raj and DK, I’ve loved Family Man very much and we’ve met over time and always wanted to collaborate. So I was really looking forward to it. In fact, I asked them if they have a show because they were calling me for a movie because they didn’t really expect… they didn’t think after Kabir Singh, I’d like to do something like that , or whatever. But I actually asked them for it and probed for it, and then they actually told me about this concept which we had discussed as a movie earlier.
So why was the feature film converted into a digital series?
It was just too elaborate to turn into a movie, to fit into a movie. It was only extremely sensible of them to turn it into a show because it deserves that much screen time.
What was it like working with Vijay Sethupathi?
With Vijay sir, it’s been a pleasure. And I want to see how people receive the show. He’s a fantastic actor who has always rediscovered himself and given people completely different experiences when he has come on the big screen. So it’s a privilege to have him on the show. And I had a blast working with him.
Shahid, it’s been twenty years since you started as a leading man. How do you look back on your career so far?
I feel very fortunate to still be here. And I feel grateful that people find my work relevant. I feel there’s a lot more that I would like to do. And I think I am as charged as I was at the age of 21, giving my first shot, as I am today. And I think that’s the best part of the entire journey, that I still am as excited and as curious to get on that film floor and give my next shot. I think that’s what drives any artist.
Tell me about your forthcoming projects?
I’ve got Farzi coming out on 10 Feb. And then there’s a movie with Ali Abbas Zafar, which is an action thriller, a slick action fun film, which will come out in the middle of this year. And then there’s a high-concept quirky love story that I’m doing with Maddock Films, which is directed by a new director. His name is Amit Joshi. It has me and Kriti Sanon in it, and Dharam ji and Dimple ma’am and various other very talented people.
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