#together for something phenomenal. reuniting the writer‚ the director‚ one of the stars and a fair amount of the supporting cast from 1976'

[mariocki]

The Cheap Detective (1978)

"Mr. Peckinpaugh? You look startled."

"Oh, no, it's just that, uh, you look like fourteen other dames that was here the other night."

"Yes, I know. They were my sister."

"Well, that explains the resemblance."

"Not to me. She was adopted."

"Yeah, well, so am I, but I don't look like your sister either."

[justapillowpetpanda]

Fantasia Festival 2024: Horror, Mike Flanagan & More!

The Fantasia International Film Festival will celebrate its upcoming 28th edition with an electrifying program of screenings, workshops, and launch events running from July 18 through August 4, 2024, returning to the Concordia Hall and J.A. de Sève cinemas, with additional screens and events at Montréal’s Cinémathèque Québécoise, Cinéma du Musée, Théâtre Plaza, and BBAM! Gallery. The festival website is now live with over 125 features and 200+ shorts available to be explored. Ticket pre-sales are now open. Plenty of excellent horror films and shorts are headed for audiences at the 28th Fantasia Festival. Let's examine some of the stories being told this year.

Mike Flanagan 2024 Career Achievement Award

For his imaginative and heartfelt horror visions; boundary-breaking achievements in making soulful, character-driven genre television commercially viable without compromises; and the extraordinary work he’s done in popularizing landmark authors to a new generation, Fantasia will be awarding their 2024 Cheval Noir career award to U.S. filmmaker Mike Flanagan. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wN1kyOUm8uk Flanagan is an artist Fantasia has adored since his first visit to the festival for the Canadian premiere of his haunting 2011 indie debut ABSENTIA, a foundational feature that contains all the core elements that have come to define the artist’s work: a unique perspective on occult possibilities, engrossing slow-burn storytelling approaches, inventively cinematic aesthetics, and above all else - deeply compassionate horror narratives built on agonizingly personal themes of loss. These elements have been consistent throughout his career, regardless of whether the work is a standalone creation or an adaptation of classic literature. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89UV8vmWXlY While it may strike some as odd to bestow an achievement award to an artist who’s almost certainly not yet reached a mid-career place, Flanagan has been so extraordinarily prolific and consistently brilliant in his output that the filmmaker has already accomplished several lifetimes of creation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_P8WCbhC6s Beyond being one of the most inspired storytelling voices of his generation, Mike Flanagan is a bona fide, culture-shifting master of horror, having changed the landscape of the genre since emerging on the scene in 2011. Since then, Flanagan has brought audiences such modern classics as OCULUS (2013), HUSH (2016), BEFORE I WAKE (2016), OUIJA: ORIGIN OF EVIL (2016), GERALD’S GAME (2017), and DOCTOR SLEEP (2019), as well as the Netflix miniseries events The Haunting of Hill House (2018), The Haunting of Bly Manor (2020), Midnight Mass (2021), The Midnight Club (2022), and The Fall of the House of Usher (2023). His next feature is the forthcoming Stephen King adaptation THE LIFE OF CHUCK (2024), starring Tom Hiddleston, Mark Hamill, and Chiwetel Ejiofor.

More Horror Arriving at Fantasia Festival

IN OUR BLOOD A perfectly calculated, slow-burn nightmare that opens with the feel of an indie doc and gradually evolves into something uniquely sinister, IN OUR BLOOD is the narrative feature debut of Oscar-nominated documentarian Pedro Kos (REBEL HEARTS, LEAD ME HOME). Nothing is as it seems when filmmaker Emily Wyland (a phenomenal Brittany O’Grady of HBO’s White Lotus) teams up with cinematographer Danny (E. J. Bonilla, FX’s The Old Man) to shoot an intimate documentary about reuniting with her mother (Alanna Ubach, HBO’s Euphoria) after a decade apart. When her mother suddenly goes missing, Emily and Danny must piece together increasingly disturbing clues, hoping to find her before it’s too late.

4PM  Inspired by the book “The Stranger Next Door” from critically acclaimed Belgian writer Amélie Nothomb, 4PM is a riveting psychological thriller from director Jay Song (THE NIGHTMARE) drenched in silent tension. Jeong-in (OLDBOY’s Oh Dal-su), is taking a break from his life as a teacher in his new countryside house when a written invitation to a neighbor (Jang Yeong-nam, PROJECT WOLF HUNTING) turns into a nightmare of excruciatingly awkward visits every day at 4PM.

FRANKIE FREAKO! After the success of PSYCHO GOREMAN, FX artist and director Steven Kostanski hits back with the zany, over-the-top FRANKIE FREAKO! Starring Conor Sweeney and Adam Brooks of Astron-6 fame, the film follows a nerdy man who just isn’t cool. In an attempt to impress his wife and boss, he’s lured by a 1-900 TV ad to party with a strange little creature called Frankie Freako. All hell breaks loose when Conor calls and Frankie and his two friends wreak interdimensional havoc in Conor’s life.

BLACK EYED SUSAN  It’s been 21 long years since Scooter McCrae (SHATTER DEAD) released a new feature, and he’s lost none of his smart, transgressive bite. Desperate for work, Derek (Damian Maffei, THE STRANGERS: PREY AT NIGHT) accepts a job at a shady tech start-up, working intimately with Susan (Yvonne Emilie Thälker in a powerful debut role), a bleeding-edge BDSM sex doll meant to receive and appreciate sexual punishment as an integral part of her evolving AI. Shot on Super 16, BLACK EYED SUSAN counterbalances its dark, vulgar core with a surprisingly tender vulnerability, creating a lo-fi science-fiction landscape infused with surprising fragility, as legendary Italian composer Fabio Frizzi (THE BEYOND, ZOMBIE) lends the picture a lush, atmospheric backdrop.

CHAINSAWS WERE SINGING A true DIY passion project from Estonian filmmaker Sander Maran, CHAINSAWS WERE SINGING is a zany, blood-soaked musical about lovers split up by a chainsaw-wielding killer. Over a decade in the making, Saran not only directed but wrote, scored, shot, and edited this colorful murder-fest that’s part gory horror movie and part ridiculous musical. The camerawork is inventive, the editing slapstick, and the tone truly absurdist. Most importantly, though, the songs are incredibly catchy, with Sander clearly deeply indebted to Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s CANNIBAL! THE MUSICAL and Frank Oz’s LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS.

STEPPENWOLF  A bleakly pulverizing action thriller from celebrated Kazakh maverick Adilkhan Yerzhanov (THE GENTLE INDIFFERENCE OF THE WORLD, THE OWNERS) and Oscar nominated producer Alexander Rodnyansky (LEVIATHAN), STEPPENWOLF explodes off the screen with tension that will singe the flesh from your bones. Like a Kazakh MAD MAX directed by John Ford - or perhaps, THE SEARCHERS directed by George Miller - with a touch of Herman Hesse and classic samurai tales, STEPPENWOLF reinvents the codes of its inspirations with jolting doses of post-Soviet nihilism and morbid black humor. A desperate mother (Anna Starchenko, NARTAI) teams up with a psychopathic ex-cop (Berik Aitzhanov, GOLIATH, THE ASSAULT) to find her son who’s gone missing in a landscape consumed by riots and death.

HOUSE OF SAYURI Legendary J-horror director Koji Shiraishi (NOROI: THE CURSE) brings the genre to new levels of fun with HOUSE OF SAYURI. A vengeful ghost disseminates a family until a counterattack from a bold grandma brings a startling new dynamic into the house.

THE PARAGON Former Power Rangers director Michael Duignan’s utterly mad feature debut, THE PARAGON, electrifies with hilarity and trippy psychedelic visuals, delivers in the spirit of inspired low-budget New Zealand filmmaking that harkens back to early Peter Jackson. After experiencing a hit and run, an angry ex-tennis coach named Dutch (Benedict Wall, SHADOW IN THE CLOUD) embarks on a psychic training course to find the driver and get revenge. Alongside his witchy psychic coach Lyra (Florence Noble), Dutch must decide between being a victim of his fate or a slave to otherworldly evil in this spectacularly entertaining fantasy comedy where revenge becomes a cosmic experience. Co-starring an especially nuts Jonny Brugh (WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS).

THE CHAPEL The stunning sophomore feature from award-winning director Carlota Pereda (PIGGY), THE CHAPEL marks the fantastic return of atmospheric, character-driven supernatural Spanish horror. Emma (Maia Zaitegi) wants to learn how to communicate with the spirit of a little girl who has spent centuries trapped inside a chapel. She tries to convince Carol (THE ORPHANAGE’s Belen Rueda), a cynical and fake medium, to help her in the hopes that contacting the spirit may help her to remain close to her dying mother after she passes. What Carol doesn’t suspect is that Emma really does have “the gift” and, if she keeps on trying to use it without her guidance, she will be putting her young life at terrifying risk.

Pictured: Hunter Schafer, Credit: Neon CUCKOO A seventeen-year-old girl (Hunter Schafer, HBO’s Euphoria) is forced to move with her family to a resort where things are not what they seem in this astonishing mix of mix of domestic tension, body horror, and perverse science from the gifted director of LUZ. Co-starring Dan Stevens, Jessica Henwick, Marton Csókás, and Jan Bluthardt.

THE TENANTS  In a dystopian Seoul, office worker Shin-dong, threatened with eviction, rents out his bathroom to an eccentric couple whose strange behavior quickly escalates into a waking nightmare. A rising talent in the indie horror scene, writer-director Yoon Eun-kyoung creates a unique blend of soft science fiction, Kafkaesque absurdism, and dark comedy to highlight Korea’s very real social inequality problems. 

Special Book Launch - 'I Spit on Your Celluloid'

Source: Fantasia Festival HEIDI HONEYCUTT’S I SPIT ON YOUR CELLULOID: THE HISTORY OF WOMEN DIRECTING HORROR MOVIES (Headpress Books) Friday July 26, 5:15PM, Cinema J.A. DeSeve A legendary curator, historian, and critic, author Heidi Honeycutt co-founded the Etheria film Festival and has written for a vast number of publications and outlets, from Filmmaker, Ms. Magazine, Moviemaker, and Indiewire to Bloody Disgusting and Rue Morgue. Fantasia is hosting the World Premiere book launch of Honeycutt’s “I Spit on Your Celluloid: The History of Women Directing Horror Movies” (Headpress Books), a comprehensive 20-years-in-the-making work that covers the evolution of women in horror cinema from 1896 to the present day. The official book launch will be taking place with a special screening of Christina Hornisher’s once-thought-lost 1974 horror gem HOLLYWOOD 90028. Honeycutt will introduce the screening and advance copies of the book will be available for sale and signing.

Short Horror Films at Fantasia Festival 2024

ARE YOU AFRAID OF FANTASIA? 2024 Like the popular Canadian television series ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK? (1992-1996), this program is an international collection of horrific short films, many with comedic bite, and some dead serious. Amygdala (Sweden, dir. Oskar Johansson, Canadian Premiere) Coléoptère (France, dir. Martin Gouzou, Canadian Premiere) Dark Signals (USA, dir. Izzy Lee, Canadian Premiere) Hold Up (USA, dir. Ori Guendelman, World Premiere) Howl at the Dead (USA, dir. Gregg Bishop, Canadian Premiere) Monster Party (Canada, dir. Amara Burnett, World Premiere) Ouch! (USA, dir. Zach Kornfeld, International Premiere) Roger is a Serial Killer (USA, dir. Don Swaynos, International Premiere) Save Me (China, dir. Liu Di , International Premiere) Tinkerhell (United States of America, Noah Sterling, World Premiere) Read the full article

[britesparc]

Weekend Top Ten #290

Top Ten Thoughts on Close Encounters

Close Encounters of the Third Kind is my favourite film ever. I’m a huge Spielberg fan at the best of times, but to have a melange of cute kids, government conspiracy, alien invasion, awesome special effects, a magical score, Richard Dreyfus, AND Bob Balaban with a beard – why, it’s the perfect storm.

I’m absolutely sure I can trace a lot of my interests and preoccupations to this film. I first watched it when I was probably about ten or so – around about the time I first saw films like Blade Runner. It opened my mind to darker, more confusing sci-fi: sci-fi that may proffer answers but still allows us to ask our own questions. Despite its family-friendly aura, Close Encounters is a resolutely grown-up experience. And I’m gonna talk about why.

I went to see the spruced-up 4K restoration this week, and I decided to Top Ten-orise my thoughts on Spielberg’s masterpiece. Do please read and enjoy. I have rather gone to town this week.

It’s surprisingly bleak: Roy Neary’s breakdown is convincingly and hauntingly portrayed by Dreyfuss, and the resulting toll it takes on his family is difficult to watch; Barry Guiler’s abduction is suitably terrifying; and the whole film centres on a government willing to commit crimes to cover up the truth. There is a stream of uncomfortable darkness running through this film which belies its optimistic reputation.

People act badly for good reasons: Roy neglects his family and ultimately abandons them, but is chosen by the aliens, essentially an ambassador for our species, and presumably opens a door to future cooperation and communication; the government imprison, belittle, confuse, and terrify the populace in order to keep the aliens a secret, but it’s all so they can safely communicate with them; and the aliens themselves disrupt and arguably ruin multiple lives with their behaviour. The film seems to be saying that although we will end up in a place of peaceful cooperation, the road there will by necessity be dark and dangerous, and we won’t all make it.

The Barry Guiler scenes are straight-up A-grade horror: most film fans know the story of Spielberg’s Night Skies, an unmade pseudo-sequel to Close Encounters, that was a mash-up of alien invasion and home invasion and essentially morphed into both E.T. and Poltergeist. But here, the scenes of the aliens toying with and ultimately abducting Barry Guiler remain terrifying, Melinda Dillon’s performance as anguished mother Jillian conveys the horror of the situation. A reminder that Spielberg is an absolute master at tension and set-piece.

The scale is, frankly, enormous: there are at least three plot strands which cover multiple characters and several countries; there are sandstorms in Mexico, multiple vehicles in China, and a huge army of extras in India; there are abandoned aircraft and a boat in the desert; scores of drugged livestock; and, of course, the epic conclusion at Devil’s Tower. And this is before we discuss the ground-breaking special effects. This is the work of a ferociously confident young man (Spielberg was barely thirty) who knew exactly what he wanted to accomplish and grasped with both hands the opportunity afforded him following the surprise success of Jaws. The film is only 130 minutes long, but make no mistake, this is an epic.

The Lacombe strand is a fantastic detective story: when I first saw the film as a boy, I don’t think I quite grasped exactly what Lacombe, Laughlin, and the others were attempting to accomplish. I knew, obviously, that old, missing vehicles had started randomly re-appearing, and this was the work of aliens; but watching it again it struck me how well-constructed this branch of the story is. It is a gradual unravelling of the aliens’ actions and motivations, their previous history with Earth, and the asynchronous nature of their timeline. By making one character French and the other a newcomer to the situation, it keeps the audience relatively in the dark, the nature of the government’s work uncovered piece by piece with each fresh development. It is, in fact, a masterfully told detective story which reveals its true nature in parallel to the humane stories of Roy and Jillian.

In order to speak to aliens, mankind has to speak to each other: obviously one of the big themes of the film is mankind coming together in this glorious communion with alien life. But witness the aforementioned detective story: Lacombe and his team journey across the world speaking through multiple interpreters all the time, gathering information from Mexicans, Indians, and more. This is perfectly illustrated in the dynamic between Lacombe and his interpreter Laughlin. And once mankind has pieced together as much of the picture as they can, they then have to translate it into this universal language of music, revealed in John Williams’ iconic theme. Do-da-do-daa-dooooo.

The pace is perfect: with so many balls up in the air, it’s amazing how expertly tuned this film is; so many moving parts but it’s graceful, swift, with no drag whatsoever. The opening is slow-build tension, but once Roy has his encounter, it all kicks off, incident adding onto incident like so much mashed potato on a plate, building to a crescendo as Roy and Jillian, fugitives, sprint through the foliage around Devil’s Tower. And then the film stops: once they’re at the camp, everything slows right down again. It allows us to breathe, allows us to relax into the aliens’ visitation. There’s no real tension, no sense of threat; it’s a majestic, serene, otherworldly experience. A beautiful, perfect ending to this perennially optimistic dark conspiracy thriller.

The finale is purer Spielbergian optimism: I’ve already spoken about the darkness in the film, about the bad decisions and bad actions undertaken by its protagonists. But let’s be real – this is a film about wonder and hope, a film that promises no matter how bad it is down here, up there, things are pretty much great. It’s almost religious in its optimistic vision of the future. Mankind comes together at the end, all animosity forgotten, to join hands across the galaxy. Roy is embraced as a sort of surrogate star-child; the missing Barry is reunited with his mum; and Lacombe gets to communicate directly with the adorably babyfaced alien. Then, even as the credits roll, we follow the mothership back up, safe in the knowledge that they’re out there, that life persists and it is good.

The effects still hold up: as with Jaws, many of the more impressive moments are subtler: the lights rising behind Roy; the huge shadow gliding across the landscape; the UFOs that appear just as pinpricks of light. By imbuing lens flares with character and life, Spielberg ensures that they remain convincing even in a world of wall-to-wall photorealistic CGI. When we do finally see detailed craft – they are beautiful and sumptuously detailed, especially the mothership. But my favourite effect in the movie remains the moment a UFO flies over Roy’s truck and makes the gravity go haywire. I know how they did it, but it just looks so cool.

This is totally Spielberg’s vision: I know first-hand that TV and film are collaborative artforms, but there’s definitely something to be said for auteur theory. Because this is, unquestionably, the vision of Steven Spielberg. How many of his preoccupations are referenced: aliens; everyday heroes; children; blue-collar American families; earnest men in suits; and even World War II, in the shape of the returned aircraft. He is credited as director and writer, one of only two times he’s taken on both roles in his filmmaking career (the other being A.I.). he is even credited as coming up with the visual effects concepts – clearly, he was deeply, personally, phenomenally invested in this movie. The success of Jaws opened so many doors for him, he could do more or less whatever he wanted, and this is what he chose to do. More than the themes, more than his stylistic traits (the use of god-lights and silhouettes, for instance), more than John Williams or Richard Dreyfus, what makes Close Encounters quintessential Spielberg is that, at the end of the day, across the whole universe, it’s a story of broken and divided people reuniting. It’s got the most optimistic, happy ending of his career (Roy’s neglected family notwithstanding). It’s beautiful, serene, fantastical, and majestic. Like Jaws, Raiders, and E.T., the film is more-or-less perfect, or at least as perfect as a film has any right to be. And I finally got to see it on the big screen. Yay for me.

[salmankhanholics]

★ SALMAN KHAN GIVES THE GIFT OF HOPE WITH HIS BIG EID RELEASE TUBELIGHT !

June 21, 2017

By Asjad Nazir

THE king of the Bollywood box office, Salman Khan has been ruling over Eid for a number of years with a series of box office blockbusters that have delighted fans around the world. He continues the annual tradition of gifting fans a high profile film for Eid with his latest release Tubelight, which presents him in a never before seen way.

The popular actor plays a simple man in the powerful Kabir Khan-directed drama about hope, which is set in the 1962 Sino-Indian war and also stars popular Chinese actress Zhu Zhu. Not surprisingly the Bollywood adaptation of Hollywood film Little Boy is expected to clock up big numbers and add to the incredible run the superstar has been on. Eastern Eye caught up with Salman to talk about his amazing success, Tubelight, his leading lady, taking risks, heroism, late actress Reema Lagoo and more.

You have achieved an incredible amount in cinema, what keeps the passion so strong?

Every time a fan doesn’t like me or somebody says “his previous film was much better”, that gives me the motivation to fight back and when people are praising my work by saying things like “that was a really nice film”, “you looked really good”, “you acted really well” that, again gives me the same amount of motivation to do much better. I use both, the negatives and the positives to give myself the boost and the drive.

In terms of consistency across the last seven years, you are the king of the Bollywood box office. Does that put pressure on you?

Every film does put pressure on you because it’s not only about you its all these hundreds, thousands and millions of fans who go to watch a movie, fans that save their money and expect that particular film to be better than the previous one. They expect to be entertained, have a great time and come out really happy wanting to see the film again. But financially, there are many people who put lots of money into the film so it’s our responsibility that they should not lose any money; if these people are making me money, our motive, principle and goal would be to try and make them as much money as possible.

You have had a high hit rate in recent years, what has been your formula for success?

I don’t think there’s any formula for success. I just believe that I’ve been lucky and that the timing has been really good. The selection of the scripts I have chosen to work on, the directors and the teams have been brilliant and they’ve done all the hard work. Hence, the movies have done well.

What did you like about Tubelight’s concept?

I like the simplicity, the emotion between brothers, the screenplay, story, the characters of Laxman and Bharat Singh Bisht. And since I’ve worked with the director earlier in two films I know his capability of how much more he can enhance the written script.

Tell us about the story and your character.

It’s a very genuine character. He’s simple, not physically and emotionally strong, but he believes in himself and keeps his belief really focused that his brother is going to come back to him one day.

You haven’t played a character like this before, how did you approach creating it?

These characters are really difficult to play. So when you’re doing your first and second film, you can very easily play these characters because you’re vulnerable, shy of the camera and very unsure of yourself, so there’s a lot of innocence and a lot of vulnerability in you. You’re a novice at that point of time so these characters perhaps, would be a lot simpler to play than now since one has played action hero roles, comedy roles. One has done films like Wanted and Dabanggwith the larger than life characters, so from there to go down to a really simple, innocent, slow character is the most difficult thing to do. Because today at this given moment, I don’t think like Laxman Singh Bisht at all, my thinking has totally changed. So if something like this had come during Maine Pyar Kiya it would have just been me, but now, this side of me. I had to really dig very deep to bring this person out of me. This person was buried somewhere, deep down and this script has brought him back up.

Fans are used to seeing the heroic tough Salman, did you think it would be a risk?

No. Heroism doesn’t only mean that you’re physically strong and you’re beating up 10 people. Heroism basically means that what you set out to do, you do. And either you could do it emotionally or with strategy or with sheer strength. But here, he’s done it with his heart and I don’t think there’s any emotion that is tougher than the emotion of the heart.

What was the biggest challenge you faced while working on Tubelight?

My first two days were the toughest because when we start a movie, we either begin with a song or some scene in between, so those two days are the most crucial days of your character or where the movie is going to go. If you go wrong in those two days and you don’t understand that you’ve gone wrong then the whole character goes pear shaped. So, there’s a film that I shot where I went wrong in the first three days and then thought “What am I doing?” so we reshot three days of work we had done earlier and I got the character right. For this film, I had read the script and heard it three times over. I know people like my friends who are very simple and nice people. I’ve kept on looking at them and studying them so I knew the first two days were correct. I didn’t know where I was going so I did one take where I enacted the character louder and another take where it was slightly subdued, so when we saw the rushes we realised which of them were the right character to portray.

What is your favourite moment in Tubelight?

There are lots of moments. The screenplay has so many twists and turns, which I can’t share with you right now because if I share them with you now then I’ve opened the screenplay of the movie. But, apart from the script, I think, brothers working together, working with Kabir for the third time and my mother being the producer of this film after Bajrangi Bhaijaan; all of this makes it our duty to give it our best. For Kabir, Sohail (Khan), my mother and me, at this stage do not want our names to go down, so we try our best and work our hardest to see that people like the movie.

What makes your working relationship with Kabir Khan so strong?

After having worked with Kabir in three films we understand each other well. We share a great comfort level. Our understanding of films is very different. His approach is more realistic as he comes from documentary filmmaking. On the other hand, I am into commercial Bollywood. Perhaps that is why when these two meet, a new style is born.

Tell us about your leading lady Zhu Zhu?

It was actually a learning experience. Since she’s Chinese, I wondered whether she spoke in English but because she’s done Marco Polo and lots of stuff in Hollywood, we didn’t have a problem communicating at all because she spoke in a proper American accent. She’s funny, witty, very professional and extremely hard working. She learnt all her Hindi dialogues before she even came down. With Hindi dialogues, she also understood the meaning of every Hindi word because she got them translated into English. So she understands the English lines as well as the Hindi lines. She used to do the English lines in rehearsal and in takes she used to do the Hindi lines. Like this, she understood the meaning of the lines and was not just saying random stuff. If people told her to give a pause here or get a tear in your eye here, she’d know it and do it perfectly. She knew the Hindi lines like she would speak English or Chinese.

What is your favourite song in the film?

Right now it is Radio and Naach Meri Jaan, which are really nice songs. There are another three songs that are going to come up and they’re also phenomenal. The music of this film is really good, emotional, touching, sweet, full of life and joyous, like celebratory music.

Tubelight revolves around the power of believing, have you ever used that in your own life?

All the time. If I don’t believe in something, I don’t even touch it.

How can people get more involved with your Being Human charity?

Now we’re tying up something with Tubelight. Once we tie it up, we’ll let you know what we’re doing because every time I’ve been asked the question “How do we help?” So you’re already helping by asking. My answer to this is: look left, look right and give it to the most deserving person or towards the person’s education or to a hospital where somebody needs healthcare. Education and healthcare are the two top priorities in the world.

What is your greatest unfulfilled ambition?

I have no idea.

Reema Lagoo tragically passed away recently. We will always associate her with you most. What are your fondest memories of her?

I know. That’s really sad. I’ve done more than six films where she’s played my mother so I had a great time with her. On screen she was a mother, but off screen she was like a friend. She had that motherly quality and it’s so sad that I wasn’t here when she passed away. When VK sir, Vinod Khanna, passed away, I wasn’t here and I’ve not met the family yet, but when I come back now I will do that. Everyone was tweeting and posting stuff on Facebook and I just didn’t have the heart to do that.

How will you be celebrating Eid this year?

With my parents!

Why should we see Tubelight?

If you want to go and have fun with your family, if you want to get reunited, if you want to cry a little bit, laugh a lot, feel really good about yourself, see a really cool movie then I think this is the one that you might want to go watch.

Why do you love cinema?

I’ve been born in this film industry. My father tried to be an actor, he did about twenty-four films and it didn’t work. He became a screenplay writer. My eyes have opened in this industry; there’s nothing better that I could do apart from films and I don’t do that well either so I just can’t imagine how bad I’d be at all the other things.

Please give a message for your fans?

Be good. Stay out of trouble.

Tubelight is in cinemas now

Eastern Eye

[londontheatre]

While 2016 provided London with some fabulous new productions, 2017 looks to continue with another exciting year for West End theatre. Many theatregoers will be looking forward to the Broadway exports – An American in Paris and 42nd Street.

Here are a few productions that will be opening in London during 2017. There will, of course, be many more exciting productions, established and new, to get along to see in London’s West End and Off-West End venues.

The Glass Menagerie at the Duke of York’s Theatre – opens 26th January 2017 This new musical comedy has brought together the writing talents of Gary Barlow and Tim Firth who grew up in the same village in the North of England and have been friends for 25 years. The Girls originally opened at The Grand Theatre in Leeds and The Lowry Theatre, Salford where it received standing ovations at every performance. Time is the longest distance between two places. Following a multi Tony Award-nominated run on Broadway, Oliver and Tony Award-winning director John Tiffany (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Parts One and Two, Let the Right One In, Black Watch) revives his visionary staging of Tennessee Williams’ heart-rending masterpiece about a family struggling to survive on hopes and dreams.

A domineering mother. A daughter lost in a world of her own. A son desperate to leave. Former Southern Belle Amanda Wingfield, played by Tony Award-winning Broadway icon Cherry Jones, enlists the help of son Tom (Michael Esper) to find a husband for her fragile daughter Laura (Kate O’Flynn). But will the long-awaited ‘gentleman caller’ (Brian J. Smith) fulfil or shatter the family’s delicate dreams?

Sex With Strangers at the Hampstead Theatre opens with 27 Jan 2017 ‘Look, I’m giving you another chance to show the world how talented you are. Take it. It’s worth the risk’

Olivia, an attractive and talented but underappreciated mid-career writer, is unexpectedly trapped overnight in a secluded, snowed-in B&B with Ethan, an equally attractive and wildly successful young blogger.

Her latest novel is an unsung masterpiece; his blog is being made into a movie. She prefers books; he prefers eBooks. She is anonymous; he has half a million Twitter followers. But opposites soon attract passionately as each realise they want more of what the other has. But the closer they get, the more they must confront the murky side of ambition, success and Wi-Fi…

Laura Eason’s smart comedy is a multifaceted love story packed with hidden ambitions, soaring desires and secret agendas.

Peter DuBois reunites with Emilia Fox following sell-out hit Rapture, Blister, Burn in 2014. His other directing credits include All New People (West End) and Becky Shaw (Almeida).

The Girls at the Phoenix Theatre – opens 28th January 2017 The Girls is the true story of the Yorkshire Calendar Girls – a group of ordinary ladies who achieved something extraordinary.

This new musical comedy has brought together the writing talents of Gary Barlow and Tim Firth who grew up in the same village in the North of England and have been friends for 25 years. The Girls originally opened at The Grand Theatre in Leeds and The Lowry Theatre, Salford where it received standing ovations at every performance.

The ‘Girls’ will be played by Debbie Chazen as Ruth, Sophie-Louse Dann as Celia, Michele Dotrice as Jessie, Claire Machin as Cora, Claire Moore as Chris and Joanna Riding as Annie.

Travesties at the Apollo Theatre – opens 3rd February 2017 The Menier Chocolate Factory’s current revival of Tom Stoppard’s Travesties will transfer to the West End’s Apollo Theatre, beginning performances on 3 February 2017. The revival stars Tom Hollander as Henry Carr alongside Amy Morgan as Gwendolen, Freddie Fox as Tristan Tzara, Clare Foster and Forbes Masson.

Tom Stoppard’s dazzling comedy of art, love and revolution features James Joyce, Tristan Tzara and Lenin as remembered – and misremembered – by Henry Carr, a minor British diplomat in Zurich 1917. When Gwendolen and Cecily wander in from The Importance of Being Earnest Henry’s mind wanders too. He knows he was Algernon in a production in Zurich. But who was the other one? The original production of Travesties won the Evening Standard award for Best Comedy and the Tony award for Best Play. This first London revival in over 20 years will be directed by Patrick Marber and will star Tom Hollander.

The Miser at the Garrick Theatre – opens 1st March 2017 Actor, writer, presenter, comedian and two-time Olivier award-winner Griff Rhys Jones returns to the West End alongside BAFTA and British Comedy Award-winning comedian Lee Mack, who is making his West End debut in this hilarious new adaptation by Sean Foley and Phil Porter of Moliere’s classic comedy, The Miser opening at the Garrick Theatre from 1 March 2017.

Griff Rhys Jones has most recently been seen on stage as Fagin in Cameron Mackintosh’s Oliver, and previously in Feydeau’s An Absolute Turkey.

Lee Mack is best known for his television and stand-up work. He is team captain on popular BBC panel show Would I Lie To You and a regular host on Have I Got News For You, Nevermind the Buzzcocks and 8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown.

Stepping Out at the Vaudeville Theatre – opens 1st March 2017 Amanda Holden heads a phenomenal cast in this wonderfully funny and heart-warming comedy which charts the lives of seven women and one man attempting to tap their troubles away at a weekly dancing class. Initially all thumbs and left feet, the group is just getting to grip with the basics when they are asked to take part in a charity gala…

Over the course of several months we meet the group, and all of them have a story to tell, There’s haughty Vera, mouthy Maxine and uptight Andy; bubbly Sylvia and shy Dorothy; eager Lynne and cheerful Rose and, of course, Geoffrey. At the piano is the dour Mrs Fraser and spurring them all on, the ever-patient Mavis.

Directed by triple Olivier Award winner Maria Friedman, the stellar cast also includes Angela Griffin, Tracy-Ann Oberman, Tamzin Outhwaite and Nicola Stephenson.

An American in Paris at the Dominion Theatre – opens 4th March 2017 Acclaimed as “a perfect integration of dance, romance and classic Gershwin” (The New York Times), An American In Paris is the award-winning, thrillingly staged and astonishingly danced Broadway musical featuring some of the greatest music and lyrics ever written.

Jerry Mulligan is an American GI striving to make it as a painter in a city suddenly bursting with hope and possibility. Following a chance encounter with a beautiful young dancer named Lise, the streets of Paris become the backdrop to a sensuous, modern romance of art, friendship and love in the aftermath of war.

Performed by a company of over 50 actors, dancers and musicians, and directed and choreographed by Olivier and Tony® Award-winner Christopher Wheeldon, this stunning re-imagining of the Oscar® winning film played a sold out, world premiere engagement at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris before transferring triumphantly to Broadway, where it became the most awarded musical of the year.

This “breathtakingly beautiful staging of the MGM musical” (The Independent), features many of George and Ira Gershwin’s most popular and timeless songs, including I Got Rhythm, ’S Wonderful and They Can’t Take That Away From Me, together with George Gershwin’s sublime compositions Concerto in F and An American in Paris.

42nd Street at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane – opens 20th March 2017 Broadway’s biggest show on the West End’s biggest stage 42nd STREET is the song and dance, American dream fable of Broadway. Young Peggy Sawyer is fresh off the bus from small-town America and just another face in the chorus line on Broadway’s newest show. But when the leading lady gets injured, Peggy might just have the shot at stardom she’s always dreamed of…

Broadway’s Biggest Show featuring the iconic songs 42nd Street, We’re In The Money, Lullaby of Broadway, Shuffle Off To Buffalo, Dames, I Only Have Eyes For You. 42nd STREET arrives on the West End’s biggest stage, Theatre Royal Drury Lane, Spring 2017.

Grammy Award winner Sheena Easton joins an all singing, high-kicking cast as Dorothy Brock with Tom Lister as Julian Marsh and Clare Halse as Peggy Sawyer.

BU21 (Trafalgar Studios, 4th January – 18th February 2017) Following its award nominated, sell-out run at Theatre503, Stuart Slade’s BU21 follows six Londoners in the aftermath of a fictitious terrorist attack, based on real testimonies gathered from a variety of terrorist incidents including the 7/7 bombings, 9/11, the Paris attacks and the 2013 Westgate shopping mall attack.

Compagnie XY’s It’s Not Yet Midnight… (Roundhouse, 10th – 23rd April 2017) French Compagnie XY, one of the leading contemporary circus companies in the world, will return to London for the UK premiere of their spectacular new show. With 20 acrobats onstage, this poetic and jaw-dropping spectacle embraces the fleeting, exhilarating moment of euphoria, the state of weightlessness and then the inevitable fall that is part of the daily life of an acrobat.

Dirty Great Love Story (Arts Theatre, 18th January – 18th March 2017) Fringe First Award-winning Dirty Great Love Story will make its anticipated West End debut at the Arts Theatre. This brilliant new production, written by Richard March and Katie Bonna, combines drama and poetry, rhythm and rhyme in this laugh-a-minute exploration of modern romance.

La Ronde (The Bunker, 11th February – 11th March 2017) Collaborative Artists will open Season Two at The Bunker with a bold reimagining of Arthur Schnitzler’s infamous classic La Ronde in a new adaption by Max Gill. La Ronde features a stellar cast, including Lauren Samuels, Alex Vlahos, Leemore Marret Jr and Amanda Wilkin, as it embraces life’s game of chance as fate decides the cast’s roles every night and throughout the play. With over three thousand different versions of the show, what will your story be?

What are YOU looking forward to seeing in 2017?

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