#BNHAF Global Icon l Annie Minogue Interview Part 1

New York based singer, songwriter and founder of Annie Minogue Band, Annie Minogue won the coveted #BNHAF Global Icon Award at the 16th #BNHAF Awards and Festival, for her single, Sandbox.

Amit R Agarwal, Founder and Head of Jury of #BNHAF Awards and Festival said that he was amazed by the connect the single had with the audiences worldwide.

Talent Ka Maha Utsav presents Part 1 of the interview

 

 

ANNIE MINOGUE Write-up

Over a call, Annie told Agarwal about the Annie Minogue band (AMB), “The band’s driving and energizing sound, combines a gutsy rock attitude, great pop sensibility with a hint of the blues, reminiscent of some of rock’s greatest female icons”.

AMB lineup consists of Nick Saya (Drums), Nunzio Signore (Guitar & Vocals), Brian Karp (Bass), Kendall Scott (Keyboards) and Annie Minogue (Vocals). AMB has toured both nationally and regionally, and shared the stage with iconic artists like: Blues Traveler, The Smithereens, David Lee Roth, Chris Whitley, Dave Navarro, Black Eyed Peas, Soul Asylum, Los Lobos, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Eric Gales and numerous others.

AMB’s craft for songwriting, along with Annie’s powerfully expressive voice and the band’s dynamic rock sensibilities, have given the group firm roots within the music world, with the band’s music featured on film, TV, and radio such as: Lifetime Television, Sony Television, MSNBC, MTV, CBS, CW, WB, “Dawson’s Creek”, “Strong Medicine”, regional radio stations and the independent feature film “Out of the Black.”

Annie is also the co-creator and executive producer of two popular concert series. “Fair Play”, a concert series sponsored by City Winery that benefits the Bronx Immigration Partnership. Over the course of two shows, AMB has performed alongside artists like: Chris Difford from Squeeze, Robben Ford, David Poe, Tracy Bonham, Richard Barone, and Trixie Whitley.

On being asked, if AMB would like to perform in India? Annie gushed, “I would love to do that. Indians have a very deep-rooted connect with music and so do I, so my instinct says, it will be an immediate connect with Indians”. Annie thanked #BNHAF Awards and Festival for the coveted #BNHAF Global Icon Award and said she would definitely love to attend one of the gala editions of #BNHAF Awards and Festival.

Fighter l Not Just A Review

By: Honey Agarwal / Amit KumaR Agarwal

 

 

Fighter is a film based on Indian armed forces, Indian Air Force to be precise inspired by surgical strikes and Balakot air-strikes.

 

Shamsher Pathania alias Patty (Hrithik Roshan) is a Squadron Leader in the Indian Air Force and is the best fighter-pilot as the film tells us. Rakesh Jaisingh alias Rocky (Anil Kapoor) is his senior and he dislikes Pathania’s ways of working. Minal Rathore alias Minni (Deepika Padukone) is chopper-pilot in the force, eager to prove that women are no less than uniformed-men. Azhar Akhtar (Rishabh Ravinder Sawhney) is a terrorist, working hand-in-glove with Pakistan out to destroy India.

 

The narrative then weaves in the story, real-life incidents of Pulwama terrorist attack and Balakot air strikes; as Patty and his team go on to annihilate terrorists.

 

While the film is good, it lacks the mass-pleasing elements that make a film, blockbuster. The biggest elemnet of such a film are it's dialogues, here dialogues by Hussain Dalal and Abbas Dalal’s and additional dialogues by Biswapati Sarkar are plain ordinary. Of course one or two dialogues are punchy like the IOP - India Occupied Pakistan, but they are far away and too few.

 

Patriotic films that are blockbusters conventionally appeal to the masses. Fighter, because of the title and the treatment is more on the classy side. As such the sensibilities of the film are also metro or big-centers appealing. The business will not be like Pathaan, Gadar 2 or Animal as it won't do 500cr; but it is a hit film nevertheless.

 

Screenplay, many times seem disjointed. For example, when Pakistan PM says that free the Indian pilots, why is one pilot killed is not answered? Or the flight landing scene of NJ, though well-executed doesn't fit well in the narrative. In fact, the entire Training Academy, Hyderabad sequence seems force fit. Moreover, screenplay needed bit of rework.

The biggest flaw of the film is hero is shown subdued in the entire film, he only rises in the climax and he gets thunderous applause when he does. There should've been atleast two sequences in pre-interval as well. Or the hit song, Ishq Jaisa Kuch. What is the point of putting the song in the end, when half of the audiences have left. Instead, the scene where Deepika invites Hrithik over for coffee, could have followed by a kiss, lead in to song. Shot of sun rising, wailing of the air-siren and the film could-have continued. Simple script-doctoring.

 

Siddharth Anand's direction is good but not outstanding, reason is a weak script. Hrithik Roshan looks amazing, more so in the song Ishq Jaisa Kuch. Deepika Padukone after Pathaan, again performs her role very convincingly. Anil Kapoor, Karan Singh Grover, Akshay Oberoi lend good support. Rishabh Ravinder Sawhney as Azhar Akhtar is fair, though a film of this canvas needed a bigger villain; Pathaan wouldn;t have been Pathaan without John Abraham, right?

 

In spite of its positives and negatives, the film is a sure-shot watch on big-screen because

• It is for the entire family
• In spite of patriotism it steers clear of jingoism

and most importantly

• For the never-before seen aerial-action scenes on the Indian screens, which all said and done, can never be enjoyed on any OTT screening. Book your tickets now for this Fighter

Talennt Ka Maha Utsav powered by #BNHAF Awards and Festival l One-on-One Awardee Editions l Alicia Chiesa

 

 

Talent Ka Maha Utsav is elated to host #BNHAF One-on-One Awardee Editions with Alicia Chiesa, actress and model based in Italy. She was interested in making a career in entertainment industry since childhood. She readily took the offer to be a model in her teens. From modeling, very soon Alicia started her acting career.

 

One of Alicia's most notable work is in the top-rated Netflix series Yara in 2021. She won rave reviews for her role. She is currently riding high on the wave of the success of her latest show  ll Paradiso delle Signore in which she portrays one of the lead roles, Lucia Giorgi.

 

Watch her interview only on www.bol-news.com

Motivational Stories Series by Amit KumaR Agarwal

All great success stories of people that made it on their own have great struggle behind it. Fresh into journalism, I remember asking Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra about his struggle days and he quipped I don't even want to remember it!

The first in the series is the story of Sylvester Stallone - one of the most influential stars ever in motion-picture history.

 

www.bol-news.com founder, Amit kumaR Agarwal attends Cannes Film Festival

 

This story is pieced together, through various stories available in the public domain.

Sylvester Stallone was a struggling actor back in the day. At one point, he was so broke that he reportedly stole his wife’s jewelry and sold it. But this wasn't the end of the struggle, things got so bad that he even ended up homeless. He slept at the New York bus station for 3 days. Unable to pay rent or afford food.

 

Another low point was, when he tried to sell his dog at the liquor store to anyone; reason, Stallone didn’t have any money to feed his beloved dog anymore. He sold it for $25 only. He reportedly said he walked away crying.

 

Two weeks later, he saw a boxing match between Mohammed Ali and Chuck Wepner and voila that match gave him the inspiration to write the script for the now iconic movie, ROCKY.

 

But before Rocky became ROCKY, the script was just another of those million scripts that go from studio-execs to studio-execs awaiting production.

 

So did Stallone; with the script that he later told media, he wrote in only 20 hours!

Stallone tried to sell it and finally got an offer for $125,000 for the script; but Stallone was ambitious, he had just one condition or request - he wanted to star in the titular role in the movie. He wanted to be Rocky Balboa. The studio in question said a firm, NO.

 

Like every other studio, the studio wanted a saleable STAR to play the male lead.

 

Reportedly, the execs guffawed, "he looks funny and talks funnier”.

 

Stallone left with the script.

 

A few weeks later, the studio offered $250,000 for the script. Stallone refused.

 

They scaled-up the offer, because they wanted the script after realizing the written-materials' BO potential; but wanted to play safe, by not casting Stallone.

 

Now Stallone was firm, if they want the script, it is only with him in the lead.

 

Realizing that it's either Stallone's way or no way; the studio agreed. The offer was severely scaled-down though, $35,000 for the script and he be the star of the movie!

 

The rest is history!

 

Other than the Oscar wins; Stallone proved himself with a nomination for Best Actor at the Academy Awards. 

 

MORAL OF THE STORY!

No one knows what you are capable of except yourself!

People will judge you by how you look and by what you have.

Fight on!

Fight for your place in history. Fight for your glory. Never ever give up!

Even if it means selling all your clothes and sleeping with the dogs, it’s okay!

As long as your dreams are alive, your hope is alive, your story is not over.

Keep up the fight. Go get it!

Hanu Man l Not Just A Review

By: Honey Agarwal / Amit kumaR Agarwal

 

 

Hanu Man is an Indian super-hero film that fuses ancient Indian beliefs with modern scientific-innovation. Is the fusion seamless to deliver a film worth a watch. Read on.

 

Hanu Man is an interesting blend of ancient Indian belief of a pearl (mani) formed from the blood-drop of God Hanuman. This huge pearl gives super-powers to anyone in possession of the pearl. Hanumanth (Teja Sajja) is a young man, who gets super-powers, which he ultimately uses to fight injustice and save the world from Michael (Vinay Rai), who wants to use the powers for his own selfish interests. 

 

Prasanth Varma deserves full marks not only for penning an interesting story, but also getting it developed into an engaging screenplay. The film hooks right from the first frame. Though the screenplay is not seamless, yet the incidents are very engaging that audiences overlook these small inconsistencies.

 

Prasanth has created many sequences to bring the house-down and the climax ends on such a high that audiences are already waiting for the sequel.

 

Almost everyone has acted well, but the principal cast deserves a special mention. Teja Sajja, Amritha Aiyer, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Getup Srinu stand out in the cast.

 

Telugu film dubbed in Hindi; Hindi version has taken an average start at the box-office because none of the actors are known in the north-India, but the business of Hindi-version is bound to grow.

Merry Christmas l Not Just A Review

By: Honey Agarwal / Amit kumaR Agarwal

 

 

Andha Dhun is one of the best crime-thriller / black-comedy fusion to roll out of Indian Film Industry, the only two films that I recall from the last two-decades in it's league are Sankat City (Hindi) and Neram (Malyalam). Will the highly anticipated Merry Christmas, stand-up to this troika?

 

Before writing about Merry Christmas, let me confess, I am a diehard fan of Sriram Raghavan not only for giving two of my all time favs Johnny Gaddar and Andha Dhun; but also, endorsing through his films that 70's were the platinum-era of Hindi Cinema, we all are told repeatedly about the golden-era, 50's and 60's; but no one gives 70's it's due, Sriram does that in film after film!

 

Naturally, my expectations with Merry Christmas were very, very high!

 

An abused wife wants azaadi from her sadist husband. She uses an ardent admirer to help her out. Police closes in, the ardent admirer takes the fall.

 

This is a common plot in many novels and films, just four months back we saw this plot in Jaane Jaan where Jaideep Ahlawat perfected the act of the admirer.

 

Problem with Merry Christmas is, unlike Andha Dhun the pace is missing; twists and turns are there, but they are not as strong and deftly written as in Andha Dhun. The comparison with Jaane Jaan also pales Merry Christmas. All these factors result in an underwhelming film.

 

Frankly, as an audience you ought to root for Vijay Sethupathi's character, but you don't. Though, Katrina Kaif has done a good job, but that is not enough. The factors mentioned above will definitely restrain the film from scoring even half of the Andha Dhun numbers.

 

In the end my list of Sriram's films is rated below:

1. Johnny Gaddar and Andha Dhun

2. Ek Hasina Thi

3. Badlapur

4. Merry Christmas

5. Agent Vinod

 

If you take the cue, Merry Viewing!

VP Jagdeep Dhankhar inaugurates NCC Republic Day Camp 2024

The Vice-President, Jagdeep Dhankhar inaugurated NCC Republic Day Camp 2024. Lauding the NCC for heralding a new era of youth development and national progress by channelizing the youth's energy for positivity. Describing NCC cadets as important stakeholders in the rise of Bharat, VP said that they are role models for the nation's youth.

Addressing the gathering during inauguration of NCC Republic Day Camp-2024 in New Delhi, Dhankhar fondly recalled his days as an NCC cadet underlining that “the cadet spirit is eternal and lasting”.

Urging the cadets to maintain the highest standards of dignity, he exhorted them to work with the enthusiasm, valor, and dedication to make our Bharat a truly developed nation & a world leader by 2047. “The qualities of discipline and patriotism must remain alive in your hearts, this is the greatest tribute we can pay to our motherland,” he told them.

Recollecting a piece of advice tendered by him to the NCC Cadets last year, Dhankhar was delighted to note their impactful involvement in Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, digital transactions, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, and environmental contribution. “NCC ensures your organic growth as ambassadors for national awareness campaigns, fostering integration across cultural, religious, and geographical lines,” he observed.

Commending the increased female participation within the NCC, Dhankhar stated that female cadets will proudly march down the Kartavya Path in two exclusive contingents with two female bands on this Republic Day.

During the inauguration of NCC Camp, VP also visited flag area which displayed tableaus of different NCC directorates. Thereafter Shri Dhankhar visited the NCC’s ‘Hall of Fame’ and witnessed mesmerising cultural performance by the cadets.

Dr Sudesh Dhankhar, Lieutenant General Gurbirpal Singh, AVSM, VSM, Director General, NCC, senior officials from tri-services, NCC cadets from across the country participated in the ceremony.

Press Release l INDIAN NAVY'S MISSION DEPLOYED PLATFORMS RESPOND TO HIJACKING INCIDENT IN THE ARABIAN SEA

Indian Navy's Mission Deployed platforms responded swiftly to a maritime incident in Arabian Sea involving a hijacking attempt onboard Liberia Flagged bulk carrier. The vessel had sent a message on UKMTO portal indicating boarding by approximately five to six unknown armed personnel in the evening on 04 Jan 24.

Responding swiftly to the developing situation, Indian Navy launched a Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) and has diverted INS Chennai deployed for Maritime Security Operations to assist the vessel.

The aircraft overflew the vessel on early morning of January 5, 2024 and established contact with the vessel, ascertaining the Safety of the crew.

Naval aircraft continues to monitor movement and INS Chennai is closing the vessel to render assistance.

The overall situation is being closely monitored, in coordination with other agencies/ MNF in the area.

The Indian Navy remains committed to ensuring safety of merchant shipping in the region along with international partners and friendly foreign countries.

Press Release l Record 1 crore registrations for Pariksha Pe Charcha 2024

 

The 7th edition of PM Narendra Modi’s Interaction Programme with school students, teachers and parents "Pariksha Pe Charcha 2024” has recorded, till today, a massive over 1 crore registration on the MyGov portal. This shows the extensive enthusiasm among students nationwide, eager to participate in this distinctive event and interact with the Prime Minister.

 

Prime Minister, Narendra Modi conceptualized this unique interactive program - Pariksha Pe Charcha (PPC) - wherein students, parents, and teachers from across the nation and also from overseas interact with him to discuss anxieties related to examinations and life after school. This event was organized successfully for the last six years by the Department of School Education & Literacy, Ministry of Education.

This year, the programme will be held on 29 January 2024, from 11 am onwards in a town-hall format at Bharat Mandapam, ITPO, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. Nearly 4000 participants will be interacting with the Prime Minister in the programme. Two students and a teacher from each of the States and UTs and winners of the Kala Utsav and the Veer Gatha competition may be invited as special guests for the main event.

The online MCQ competition is live on the MyGov portal between 11th December 2023 to 12th January 2024 for students of classes 6th to 12th, Teachers, and Parents to participate in the contest. As of 5th January 2024, over 90 lakh students, more than 8 lakh teachers and around 2 Lakh parents have registered so far.

Pariksha Pe Charcha is part of the larger movement - ‘Exam Warriors’ - led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to create a stress-free atmosphere for youngsters.

 

It is a movement that is driven by PM's efforts to bring together students, parents, teachers and the society to foster an environment where the unique individuality of each child is celebrated, encouraged and allowed to express itself fully. Inspiring this movement is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's path-breaking, bestselling book 'Exam Warriors'.

With this in mind, as a precursor to the main event, starting from 12th January 2024, i.e. Youth Day, till 23rd January 2024, a bouquet of activities shall be organized at school level which will include joyful learning activities like  marathon run,  music competition, meme competition, nukkad natak, student-anchor-Student-guest discussions, etc.  On the last day, 23rd January 2024 i.e. birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Jayanti, a Painting Competition shall be organized in 500 districts across the country. The topics shall include Chandrayan, the sporting success of India, etc. – which show-case how examinations can be an Utsav of Life.

About 2050 participants shall be selected on the basis of their Questions on the MyGov portal and will be presented with a special Pariksha Pe Charcha kit comprising of Exam Warriors book in Hindi and English, written by the Prime Minister, and a certificate.