Mithun’s first Bhojpuri film creates record in Bihar

The recently-released Bhole Shankar, has created a new history in Bhojpuri cinema in just one week of its release. This, at a time when, Bihar was struck with floods and also the holy month of Ramzan. Even the makers were not sure if people would visit the theatres to watch the film. It is amazing that the film has collected over Rs. 30 lakhs in first week, a record for any Bhojpuri film in Bihar alone. The film has broken the all time big hit Vidhata’s record as well. Bhole Shankar, termed as the costliest film ever in Bhojpuri language, has Mithun Chakraborty working in a Bhojpuri film for the first time. What is interesting to note is that the film distributors association of the state has banned Mithun’s film in Bihar and Bhole Shankar was released in Bihar after its makers paid a hefty sum to Bihar Jharkhand Motion Picture Association.

Written and directed by senior film Journalist Pankaj Shukla, Bhole Shankar has been released by Abhay Sinha in Bihar and the credit for its success is being given to his marketing strategy. Another reason for its success is being attributed to its music by Dhananjay Mishap. Veteran singer Shailendra Singh lends his voice for Mithun Chakraborty after almost two decades. Dialogues of the film have become a rage in Bhojpuri belt. Looking at the response the film has got, producer Gulshan Bhatia has said that he would make more Bhojpuri films in future.

Mithun Chakraborty is presently away from the country shooting in South Africa for his next film, Luck. It may be noted that the makers of Bhole Shankar have declared to donate 10 percent of the film’s profit to the Bihar flood relief fund.

Here's a Maharashtra Diwas with a Bhojuri flavour

Famous UP folk artist Manoj Tiwari sang Bhojpuri songs during the Maharashtra Diwas celebration organised by the Uttar Prabha Sanstha. A keen ear to some of his songs and one couldn’t miss a distinct Maharashtrian flavour in the latest Bhojpuri extravaganza.

Tiwari’s performance was complete with traditional Maharashtrian white caps and Deputy Chief Minister RR Patil was also present at the event.

For the north Indian politicians of the Congress, this was another occasion to score a point in view of the ongoing political debate on north Indians versus Maharashtrians.

“The first people to support Marathi pride will be the north Indians. And we would always speak for our karmabhoomi,” Congress leader Kripashankar Singh proclaimed.

Bhojpuri songs praising Maharashtra, a modern day version of Lavani and a traditional welcome for Patil, all pointed at how Mumbai was a melting pot of north Indian and Maharashtrian cultures.

Gujarati boy, Surinam lass for Bhojpuri flick

VADODARA: A Gujarati film actor from Saurashtra, the Bhojpuri film industry and a beauty queen of Indian origin from Surinam in South America could well have come from different planets. But, they will soon share a very small space together - a movie screen.

Picture this: The first ever cross-border Bhojpuri film Saiyyan Chitchor will have Chandan Rathod, who is from Savarkundla, in the lead role. His leading lady is Fareisa Joemmanbaks from Surinam, whose mother has her roots in Bihar. Fareisa was crowned Filmy Miss India World-Wide 2007 held in Fords, New Jersey in April last year. And, this will be the first Bhojpuri film to premiere in Holland and Surinam before making it to movie halls in the Hindi heartland!

Chandan’s father Keshav Rathod — who has written scripts for Gujarati, Marathi and Bhojpuri films — has scripted this film too. However, he says Chandan bagged this film by chance. "The film crew was visiting Rajvansh Palace in Rajpipla in January for a shoot where I was working on a Gujarati film,” Chandan said. "The crew, however, could not go ahead with the shoot as Bhojpuri star Manoj Tiwari did not arrive for more than a week. Finally, they replaced Tiwari with me.” With a budget of Rs 1.5 crore, Saiyyan Chitchor is one among expensive Bhojpuri films.

"This is Fareisa’s first movie. She is a successful model and is now trying her luck in films. We also have another Dutch actor Narsingh Balwantsingh in the film,” Chandan said.

The producers decided to premiere the film in Surinam as it has a large Hindoestanen — Dutch word for Indians — population. "The film’s story revolves around rebirth, where the hero and heroine land up in Bihar from Holland, only to find that they were lovers in a previous birth who had been cruelly separated,” said Chandan.

Bhojpuri film wins Silver Bear at Berlin festival

PUNE: Even as Bhojpuri films continue to draw flak from those that will do anything to stop these films from being showed in theatres in Maharashtra, Bhojpuri cinema has just witnessed a quiet victory — far away from the glaring eyes of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena activists.

Udedh Bun a short film made by Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) student Siddharth Sinha, recently became the first Bhojpuri short film in any international film festival when it was selected for the ongoing Berlin International Film Festival. On Tuesday night it won a Silver Bear award for the best short film in the competition category — the first ever in the history of Bhojpuri cinema.

Sinha, who hails from a Bengali family, made this film in Bhojpuri out of sheer love for the language. "When an unborn hears a particular music or a song when it is in the womb it sometimes responds to such voices later in life. So is the case with me as I was born in Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh, where people speak Bhojpuri. Though I later shifted to Delhi at a very young age, Bhojpuri did make an impact on me," he told TOI in an exclusive interview from Berlin, shortly after winning the award.

"I would like to tag Bhojpuri films as 'folk films'. I think that is the reason they have become so popular among the Bhojpuri-speaking audience and also the general audience," he said.

Udedh Bun is a coming of age film of a teenage boy and two women in his life, his lover, a married woman waiting for her husband to return from the city where he works and his mother, at home and sick. The boy can't stand her sickness but is emotionally dependent on her. "Frankly, I have seen only one Bhojpuri film Nadiya Ke Par till date, but it made a huge impact on me owing to its simplicity and basic nature," says Sinha.

And though Sinha is currently working on a Hindi film, he is very keen on working on another Bhojpuri film in the future.

And what was the response to a Bhojpuri film at a festival as prestigious as the Berlin film festival? "Oh, people have received the film very well here. Mine was the only film from India at this competition. That's all the more reason for me to be proud of my country and FTII," Sinha says.

immortal bhojpuri song with all the rustic charm and essence of that soil.

Dear Readers, we are posting this song to give you a break from normal News reporting on Bihar Today.

One of the very few heart touching Bhojpuri songs. It reminds the village and happy life around the place.

Your comments and inputs are welcome. If any one would like to share some more classic songs please send it to us.

wow!! Kaa ispiderman bhaiyaa? tohun Bhojpuri seekh lelaaa!! LOL

See how ispiderman bhaiyaa is speaking Bhoijpuri in his New Movie SpiderMan 3.

Bhojpuri star's gesture for theatre blast victims

Ludhiana, Nov 10 - Manoj Tiwari, a Bhojpuri film actor, Saturday made a touching gesture as he called on the families of those who lost their lives in a bomb blast in a cinema hall here last month while watching his latest film.

Tiwari quietly made his way to this industrial city of Punjab to console the families of victims who lost their lives in the blast Oct 14.

Seven people, all of them migrants from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, were killed and several injured in the blast inside the Shringar cinema hall.

The victims were watching Tiwari's latest hit Bhojpuri film 'Janam Janam Ke Saath' when the bomb went off. Being a holiday, the cinema hall was full to the capacity.

Tiwari visited blast victim Hari Pal's family and later met the families of other victims at the theatre complex.

'We have lost our son. We cannot overcome that grief. But his (Tiwari's) coming here has moved us. Otherwise, who bothers for poor people?' said Trishu Prasad, father of Hari Pal.

Tiwari, accompanied by co-star Urvashi Chaudhary, consoled the family and even lightened the atmosphere by asking them about his movies.

The Bhojpuri star gave Rs.25,000 as aid to each of the families of the victims. He also promised help to those disabled in the blast.

'My compensation is not much and it is not going to compensate these families for the loss of their loved ones but I thought it was my duty to share their grief and to bring some joy to them,' the actor said.

Out of Ludhiana's 3.5 million population, nearly one-third is that of migrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Films in Bhojpuri, the language spoken in those parts, are regularly screened in some cinema halls.

Hundreds of his fans turned up at the theatre to see him.

'I know you people will not be scared by such incidents. Those who have done this crime are afraid of the bond between the migrants and Punjabis,' the star said.

BANA Organizes Fun-filled Cultural Carnival in Houston

Bihar Association of North America (BANA) celebrated its annual “Cultural Carnival 2007” at Durgabari auditorium last Saturday with great success featuring more than 50 artists and over 400 people from Houston and the surrounding communities.

The cultural night was filled with variety show program with enticing dances and melodious songs of 14 different kinds and a drama performed on the well-known character of “Loha Singh”, a household name in Bihar.

Dr. Madhusudan Choudhary, the BANA President welcomed the guests including BANA past presidents, Jitendra Prasad, Prafull Kumar, Ram Mohan Mallik, Vijay Singh, and many others.

Many individuals and business houses including Tara Energy and Western Union came forward and generously sponsored this year's event.

BANA originally began with people living in the North America with roots in Bihar and now continues to bring together people from all over India with an ambition to preserve and promote social and cultural heritage by fostering academic and cultural excellence. It also contributes towards NGO work in India and is recognizing and awarding scholarships to youths in India and USA.

Three MCs, Shikha Sinha, Harsh Mishra, and Anish Bavishi enthusiastically conducted the first part of the program that included a classical dance recital by the children of BANA on Ganesh Bandana.

The program was carried forward by enchanting dances and vocal performances by children and adults. The cultural team tried to amalgamate classical dances to folk dances to modern day hip-hop.

Students of the Shivangini School of Dance enthralled the audience by their Kathak rendition on the song ““Radha Kaise Na Jale” from the movie Lagaan. The group dance by BANA ladies was a special attraction. The acrobatic based Bhangra and Dandia dance performance by the teen-aged boys was also the talk of the evening. A solo performance by Jhilmil Yadgamini depicting 60’s to 21st century of Bollywood dances was highly appreciated. The evening became melodious with the vocal performances of Mithuya Choudhary, Ira Kumar, and Nausha Asrar.

Ravi Kant Choudhary, the BANA secretary and the Coordinator of the Cultural Carnival 2007 thanked the participants, volunteers, parents, and attendees while also recognizing Mr. Nayyar Alam, the local radio host of “Music in the Box” at 1180 AM who did an excellent job in promoting the event over the air.

The next session of the program included an emotional drama “Loha Singh in Bandhan Toote Na” written and directed by Dr. Chandeshwar Sharma. The powerful performance kept the audience glued to their seats for the next two hours with many members of the audience in tears.

The play was dedicated to (late) Rameshwar Singh “Kashyap” who had originally conceived the characters of Loha Singh, Bulaki, Fatak Baba and Khaderan ko Mother. In Dr. Sharma’s own words “his play is an extension of Kashyap’s character that reflects the true nature of family bonding which makes us proud to be ‘Bihari’”.

While Chandeshwar Sharma himself portrayed the role of Loha Singh, Khaderan ko Mother was played by Prabha Singh. The character of Savitri, played by Pranati Mishra, depicted the cultural mix, pleasure, and pain of living in India and abroad.

Geetika Kamal played the role of Rupa while Dr Nausa Asrar acted as her alcoholic husband. Sanjeet Rai acted out the role of Fatak Baba and the character of Bulaki was played by Dr. Rajeev Kamal.

Among those who handled the stage and the technical aspects of the event included Anil Mishra, Kunjan Sharma, Mayank Gautam, Shikha Sharma, Pratyancha Sharma, Santosh Kumar, Alok Ranjan, and many others.

Source www.Patnadaily.com

BANA Organizes Fun-filled Cultural Carnival in Houston

Bihar Association of North America (BANA) celebrated its annual “Cultural Carnival 2007” at Durgabari auditorium last Saturday with great success featuring more than 50 artists and over 400 people from Houston and the surrounding communities.

The cultural night was filled with variety show program with enticing dances and melodious songs of 14 different kinds and a drama performed on the well-known character of “Loha Singh”, a household name in Bihar.

Dr. Madhusudan Choudhary, the BANA President welcomed the guests including BANA past presidents, Jitendra Prasad, Prafull Kumar, Ram Mohan Mallik, Vijay Singh, and many others.

Many individuals and business houses including Tara Energy and Western Union came forward and generously sponsored this year's event.

BANA originally began with people living in the North America with roots in Bihar and now continues to bring together people from all over India with an ambition to preserve and promote social and cultural heritage by fostering academic and cultural excellence. It also contributes towards NGO work in India and is recognizing and awarding scholarships to youths in India and USA.

Three MCs, Shikha Sinha, Harsh Mishra, and Anish Bavishi enthusiastically conducted the first part of the program that included a classical dance recital by the children of BANA on Ganesh Bandana.

The program was carried forward by enchanting dances and vocal performances by children and adults. The cultural team tried to amalgamate classical dances to folk dances to modern day hip-hop.

Students of the Shivangini School of Dance enthralled the audience by their Kathak rendition on the song ““Radha Kaise Na Jale” from the movie Lagaan. The group dance by BANA ladies was a special attraction. The acrobatic based Bhangra and Dandia dance performance by the teen-aged boys was also the talk of the evening. A solo performance by Jhilmil Yadgamini depicting 60’s to 21st century of Bollywood dances was highly appreciated. The evening became melodious with the vocal performances of Mithuya Choudhary, Ira Kumar, and Nausha Asrar.

Ravi Kant Choudhary, the BANA secretary and the Coordinator of the Cultural Carnival 2007 thanked the participants, volunteers, parents, and attendees while also recognizing Mr. Nayyar Alam, the local radio host of “Music in the Box” at 1180 AM who did an excellent job in promoting the event over the air.

The next session of the program included an emotional drama “Loha Singh in Bandhan Toote Na” written and directed by Dr. Chandeshwar Sharma. The powerful performance kept the audience glued to their seats for the next two hours with many members of the audience in tears.

The play was dedicated to (late) Rameshwar Singh “Kashyap” who had originally conceived the characters of Loha Singh, Bulaki, Fatak Baba and Khaderan ko Mother. In Dr. Sharma’s own words “his play is an extension of Kashyap’s character that reflects the true nature of family bonding which makes us proud to be ‘Bihari’”.

While Chandeshwar Sharma himself portrayed the role of Loha Singh, Khaderan ko Mother was played by Prabha Singh. The character of Savitri, played by Pranati Mishra, depicted the cultural mix, pleasure, and pain of living in India and abroad.

Geetika Kamal played the role of Rupa while Dr Nausa Asrar acted as her alcoholic husband. Sanjeet Rai acted out the role of Fatak Baba and the character of Bulaki was played by Dr. Rajeev Kamal.

Among those who handled the stage and the technical aspects of the event included Anil Mishra, Kunjan Sharma, Mayank Gautam, Shikha Sharma, Pratyancha Sharma, Santosh Kumar, Alok Ranjan, and many others.

Go to Previous Page

'Bhojpuri flicks like oxygen for Ludhiana cinema halls'

When Bhojpuri film Sasura Bada Paisewala hit the jackpot in May 2004, it not only revived the comatose regional genre but also helped it expand to new frontiers such as Punjab. And distributors say that Ludhiana, where a Sunday bomb explosion left six dead during the screening of a Bhojpuri film, now accounts for about 60% of the genre’s entire collection in the territory.

According to distributors, Bhojpuri films were earlier shown only in a couple of Ludhiana movie halls, Swarn and Nirmal. Now they are also screened in theatres like Arora Palace, Basant, Society, Shingar, Deepak and many others. The Naulakha theatre strategically shifted to Bhojpuri films earlier this year. ‘‘It has helped increase their footfalls. In Ludhiana, for some single screen cinema halls on the verge of closure, Bhojpuri films have acted like oxygen,’’ says film distributor Ajay Bhanot. Adds another distributor of the regional genre Jagjit Singh, ‘‘Punjab is now a regular and popular circuit for Bhojpuri films.’’

This year, actor Dineshlal Yadav’s film, ‘‘Nirahua Rickshawala’’, became the genre’s biggest grosser ever in Punjab overtaking superhits, ‘‘Sasura...’’ and ‘‘Panditji Batain Na Biyah Kab Hoi’’ (Tell me panditji, when shall I get married). Distributors estimate that the movie is likely to gross over Rs 30 lakh from the territory. Bhojpuri films are also regularly shown in other Punjab towns such as Jalandhar, Amritsar, Bhatinda and Mohali.

Distributors point out that Bihar and eastern UP’s migrant labour population is the primary audience for these films. Shingar, where the blast took place, is in the centre of the town’s famous hosiery industry where thousands of migrants work. Bhanot estimates that about 5% of the genre’s audience is also Punjabi. ‘‘Some of them are young Punjabis who watch these films for fun. Another section is the local Punjabi labour class who interact with the migrant population and develop a familiarity with the language,’’ he says.

Bhanot believes out that the audience in Punjab prefers a different kind of Bhojpuri movie. ‘‘Back in Bihar and east UP, the core Bhojpuri audience wants clean family socials. But the viewership here is largely made of young, single men who prefer spicier stuff,’’ he says.

The audience was watching ‘‘Janam Janam Ke Saath’’ when the blast took place. The film has four of the hottest stars of Bhojpuri films: Manoj Tiwari, Ravi Kissen, Naghma and Bhagyashree. Industry sources say the film has done business worth Rs 2 lakh in the first three days since its Friday release.

‘‘It is doing well,’’ says Delhi-based distributor Joginder Mahajan. Mahajan, who has been distributing Bhojpuri films in the capital for the past three years says, that the regional genre has grown significantly in NCR too. ‘‘Earlier they were only shown in the morning, now they get regular shows and in many more theatres,” he says.

The Delhi-based distributor also points out that some theatre owners are averse to screening Bhojpuri films because they feel it will negatively affect the image of the cinema hall. ‘‘That its audience doesn’t have the purchasing power to boost canteen sales also goes against them,’’ he says.

The Dutch touch, Bollywood style

For the first time in the history of Indian film-making, Hindustani-Dutch artists will play a role in an Indian film. Narsingh Balwantsingh (shown here), Fareisa Joemmanbaks and Kiran Sukul will be making their Indian film debut in Saiyaan Chitchor (Eternal Love).

The film in which major Bhojpuri artists Manoj Tiwari and Nagma will be starring is scheduled to start shooting in September 2007 in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar (North India) and the mega filmcity complex in Mumbai. It should be released in December 2007. Eternal Love will be in the Bhojpuri language, spoken by both the Hindustani in the Netherlands and in Suriname.

"Tu Hamar Hau "

Two Bhojpuri film superstars "fought" over the "possession" of the third superstar here at a city hotel on Tuesday and the movie buffs enjoyed it. The occasion was the release of a Bhojpuri film. The film is a triangular love story, starring Manoj Tiwari Mridul, Ravi Kishan and Nagma. "This is the costliest-ever Bhojpuri film and it is for the first time that three superstars — Manoj Tiwari, Ravi Kishan and Nagma — are working together in a film. The film is not a remake of Sunny Deol-Shah Rukh Khan blockbuster 'Darr', but it is inspired by it," said film producer Kamal Rashid. Manoj and Ravi Kishan are two main protagonists of the film and they fall in love with the same girl, Nagma. They are at daggers drawn because both want to marry the same girl. The film's name "Tu Hamaar Hau" tells all about the storyline. Manoj, while talking to mediapersons here on Tuesday, clarified there is no "tension" between Ravi Kishan and him. "It is quite another thing that I sometimes touch Ravi's cheeks. But then, he is a native of Jaunpur (UP) and my 'sasural' happens to be there," Manoj jokingly said. Ravi, however, "disagreed", saying he calls Manoj "bhaiya" and does not consider himself as someone from his (Manoj's) "sasural". Talking about the Bhojpuri film industry, Ravi said: "Bhojpuri film industry was 'laawaris'. It did not get any help from Bihar or UP or Maharashtra government. It grew up only because of the love of Bhojpuri-loving people." Interestingly, when Manoj told the audience, "I belong to you", Nagma teased him, saying, "Tu hamaar hau."