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    Reviews

    “A cerebral joyride”
    Karan Johar, filmmaker on REDIFF

    “Among the most charming and creative Indian independent films”
    J Hurtado, TWITCH

    ★★★★✩
    “You don’t really need a big star cast… you don’t even need a big budget to get the techniques of filmmaking bang on…”
    Allen O Brien, TIMES OF INDIA

    ★★★★✩
    “An outstanding experience that doesn’t come by too often out of Indian cinema!”
    Shakti Salgaokar, DNA

    ★★★
    “This film can reach out the young, urban, upwardly mobile, but lonely, disconnected souls living anywhere in the world, not just India.”
    Namrata Joshi, OUTLOOK

    “I was blown away!”
    Aseem Chhabra, MUMBAI MIRROR

    “Good Night Good Morning is brilliant!”
    Rohit Vats, IBN-LIVE

    ★★★✩✩
    “Watch it because it’s a smart film.”
    Shubha Shetty Saha, MIDDAY

    ★★★✩✩
    “A small gem of a movie.”
    Sonia Chopra, SIFY

    ★★★✩✩
    “A charming flirtation to watch.”
    Shalini Langer, INDIAN EXPRESS

    “Interesting, intelligent & innovative”
    Pragya Tiwari, TEHELKA

    “Beyond good. Original, engrossing and entertaining”
    Roshni Mulchandani, BOLLYSPICE

    * * * * *
    Synopsis

    ‘Good Night Good Morning’ is a black and white, split-screen, conversation film about two strangers sharing an all-night phone call on New Year's night.

    Writer-Director Sudhish Kamath attempts to discover good old-fashioned romance in a technology-driven mobile world as the boy Turiya, driving from New York to Philadelphia with buddies, calls the enigmatic girl staying alone in her hotel room, after a brief encounter at the bar earlier in the night.

    The boy has his baggage of an eight-year-old failed relationship and the girl has her own demons to fight. Scarred by unpleasant memories, she prefers to travel on New Year's Eve.

    Anonymity could be comforting and such a situation could lead to an almost romance as two strangers go through the eight stages of a relationship – The Icebreaker, The Honeymoon, The Reality Check, The Break-up, The Patch-up, The Confiding, The Great Friendship, The Killing Confusion - all over one phone conversation.

    As they get closer to each other over the phone, they find themselves miles apart geographically when the film ends and it is time for her to board her flight. Will they just let it be a night they would cherish for the rest of their lives or do they want more?

    Good Night | Good Morning, starring Manu Narayan (Bombay Dreams, The Love Guru, Quarter Life Crisis) and Seema Rahmani (Loins of Punjab, Sins and Missed Call) also features New York based theatre actor Vasanth Santosham (Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain), screenwriter and film critic Raja Sen and adman Abhishek D Shah.

    Shot in black and white as a tribute to the era of talkies of the fifties, the film set to a jazzy score by musicians from UK (Jazz composer Ray Guntrip and singer Tina May collaborated for the song ‘Out of the Blue), the US (Manu Narayan and his creative partner Radovan scored two songs for the film – All That’s Beautiful Must Die and Fire while Gregory Generet provided his versions of two popular jazz standards – Once You’ve Been In Love and Moon Dance) and India (Sudeep and Jerry came up with a new live version of Strangers in the Night) was met with rave reviews from leading film critics.

    The film was released under the PVR Director’s Rare banner on January 20, 2012.

    Festivals & Screenings

    Mumbai Film Festival (MAMI), Mumbai 2010 World Premiere
    South Asian Intl Film Festival, New York, 2010 Intl Premiere
    Goa Film Alliance-IFFI, Goa, 2010 Spl Screening
    Chennai Intl Film Festival, Chennai, 2010 Official Selection
    Habitat Film Festival, New Delhi, 2011 Official Selection
    Transilvania Intl Film Festival, Cluj, 2011 Official Selection, 3.97/5 Audience Barometer
    International Film Festival, Delhi, 2011 Official Selection
    Noordelijk Film Festival, Netherlands, 2011 Official Selection, 7.11/10 Audience Barometer
    Mumbai Film Mart, Mumbai 2011, Market Screening
    Film Bazaar, IFFI-Goa, 2011, Market Screening
    Saarang Film Festival, IIT-Madras, 2012, Official Selection, 7.7/10 Audience Barometer

    Theatrical Release, January 20, 2012 through PVR

    Mumbai
    Delhi
    Gurgaon
    Ahmedabad
    Bangalore
    Chennai
    Hyderabad (January 27)

    * * * * *

    More information: IMDB | Facebook | Youtube | Wikipedia | Website

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Browsing Tags abdul kalam

I am Kalam: To Kalam, with love

August 6, 2011 · by sudhishkamath

Genre: Drama

Director: Nila Madhab Panda

Cast: Harsh Mayar, Hussan Saad, Pitobash, Gulshan Grover

Storyline: A street smart underprivileged kid befriends a rich Rajput prince and dreams of going to school

Bottomline: A thank you letter to former President Kalam for inspiring children

If someone were to take the most inspiring ideas from the books of APJ Abdul Kalam and made a movie to show its applications in contemporary India, it would be a lot like Nila Madhab Panda’s I am Kalam, a hit at festivals around the world. The film was rated 4.40 on 5 by audiences at the Transilvania International Film Festival recently.

“An ignited mind is the most powerful resource on earth, above the earth and under the earth”

Street smart Chottu (Harsh Mayar), who works in a Rajasthani dhaba that caters to the haveli-turned-hotel, catches Kalam’s address on TV and becomes an ignited mind. He already had a passion for books and education and dreamt of becoming one of those television models sporting ties on TV. But now, he finds a role model in the President and gives himself a name. Kalam.

“The right kind of education on moral values will upgrade the society and the country”

Little Kalam does not lie. He does not steal. He stands up for friends. He works hard and wants to earn to fund his own education. He’s a great example for kids. And this is one reason you must take your kids to watch this film.

“The ‘dream-thought-action’ philosophy is what I would like to be inculcated in each and every student.”

When Kalam catches the President’s four-step path to success (Dreams. Action Plan. Hard Work. Courage), he transforms into a student. So what if he’s not in school.

“A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle.”

The game changers in Kalam’s life happen through the friendless young rich Rajput prince (Hussan Saad) and a foreign tourist Lucy who share their knowledge with him. While the Prince teaches him English, the tourist teaches him French and the young lad himself teaches them everything he knows – from Hindi to Camel riding to lesser known aspects about India. The village in Rajasthan becomes a microcosm for what India represents today with one feet firmly in the past and one in the present. The haveli may open itself up to tourists but is still unwilling to go all out and start cooking in the palace to cater to them.

“Give one hour a day exclusively for book reading and you will become a knowledge centre in a few years.”

Kalam becomes a knowledge centre in months and shows great promise of becoming a leader. The filmmaker wants to ensure that we don’t dismiss this off as idealism and shows us change in Kalam, slowly and steadily. He learns simple things that any of us can in a matter of minutes – whether it’s about making tea, or wearing a tie, to basic greetings in different languages. And he connects everything he learns from people with what he reads in books.

“Music and dance can be used as an instrument for ensuring global peace and act as a binding force.”

There’s a beautiful scene in the middle of the film when a whole group joins in an impromptu jamming session led by Chottu. There’s a guitarist, there are folk artistes and there’s a foreigner playing an Indian string instrument.

“If India is to become developed by 2020, it will do so only by riding on the shoulders of the young.”

Thankfully, the change in Kalam does not happen because of the foreigner. It happens because of children. They overcome their obstacles and speak up for what they want by initiating a dialogue with the older generation.

“What matters in this life more than winning for ourselves is helping others win”

Kalam does not care about winning himself. He is confident. He knows he will reach his destination some day. And wants his best friend to win, whether it is a French test or a Hindi elocution contest in school.

“It is not a disgrace to not reach the stars, but it is a disgrace to have no stars to reach for.”

While many Indian youth (like Pitobash as Luvtund) grow up idolising film stars, we are really lucky to have Kalam. And it’s a good thing that someone made a film to give kids a role model, someone they can become.

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