Dinesh Kamath’s column ‘New movie-releases in Navi Mumbai’ (Kochadaiiyan, Hawaa Hawaai, Million Dollar Arm, Manjunath Idiot Tha Saala, Mastram, Yeh Hai Bakrapur, Koyelaanchal and Khwaab) that was published in Newsband

New movie releases in Navi Mumbai

By Dinesh Kamath

Kochadaiiyan

Kochadaiiyaan (English: The king with a long, curly mane) is a 2014 Indian Tamil motion capture 3D computer-animated period film directed by Soundarya R. Ashwin and written by K. S. Ravikumar. The film will feature Rajinikanth enacting and voicing three lead roles, whilst R. Sarathkumar, Aadhi, Deepika Padukone, Shobana, Rukmini Vijayakumar, Jackie Shroff, and Nassar enact and voice supporting characters. The film has cinematography handled by Rajiv Menon whilst background score and soundtrack is composed by A. R. Rahman.

Kochadaiiyaan features the unique visual mastery of Photorealistic Performance Capture technology for the very first time in the history of Indian cinema. Superstar Rajini plays three roles as Kochadaiyaan, Raana and Sena.

 Kochadaiiyaan is an epic dramatization of good versus evil with South Indian megastar Rajinikanth in a larger than life depiction. The leading lady is Deepika Padukone accompanied by South India’s leading stars R. Sharath kumar, Nazar, Aadi, Shobana and Rukmini.

The film has Rajinikanth as Kochadaiiyaan, Rana and Sena, R. Sarathkumar as Sengodagan, Deepika Padukone as Princess Vadhana, Shobana as Yaahavi, Aadhi as Veera Mahendra, Jackie Shroff as Raja Mahendra, Nassar as Rishikodagan and Rukmini Vijayakumar as Yamuna.

Late actor Nagesh's likeness was also used in the film, by means of a 3D model, created using high-resolution images of him. Actors who sound like him were hired to voice his character while those who had a similar appearance to his, performed the character's performance capture scenes.

Hawaa Hawaai

Hawaa Hawaai is a Bollywood film directed by Amole Gupte. The film features Partho Gupte and Saqib Saleem. The film is produced by Fox Star Studios. The film is a commercial entertainer, and a tribute to people who dare to dream. Saqib Saleem is playing role of a skating coach in the film.

A combination of will and hope, Hawaa Hawaai is a film of substance. The film is a topsy-curvy ride which opens with a song that builds hope and will to do something substantial in life, and soon takes you to a life of deprivation and misery. Real world indeed. Arjun aka Raju (Partho) is the lead protagonist in the film along side Saqib Saleem who essays the role of Raju’s skating teacher. Raju comes from a poor family and is the only bread winner in the family. The film is about Raju’s efforts to learn skates along with his struggle to keep his family going. Saqib’s character though showcases immense potential, is slightly underplayed. Music adds life to this film. It has drama, emotions and most importantly a strong story line. This Drona-Ekalavya story is definitely worth a watch.

Million Dollar Arm

Million Dollar Arm is an American biographical sports drama film based on the true story of baseball pitchers Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel who were discovered by sports agent J.B. Bernstein after winning a reality show competition.

The film's music is composed by A.R. Rahman. The film is directed by Craig Gillespie and produced by Joe Roth, Mark Ciardi, and Gordon Gray for Walt Disney Pictures and developed by Neil and Michael Mandt.

The film has an interesting story. American sports agent J.B. Bernstein and his partner Ash go to India seeking baseball pitchers, using a reality show called Million Dollar Arm.

Million Dollar Arm is a feel-good movie that is based on a sidenote in modern baseball history, about a particularly far-flung search a hungry sports agent made for new prospects — and how he found two in India. That they had never even picked up a baseball before? Well, that was a minor issue. What was major was that they had some natural talent.

The film has Jon Hamm as J. B. Bernstein, Madhur Mittal as Dinesh Patel, Suraj Sharma as Rinku Singh, Lake Bell as Brenda Fenwick (formerly Brenda Paauwe), Aasif Mandvi as Ash Vasudevan, Bernstein's business partner, Alan Arkin as Ray Poitevint, a sports scout, Bill Paxton as Tom House and Allyn Rachel as Theresa, Bernstein's assistant.

A. R. Rahman composed the film's score, including the seven songs featured on the soundtrack album. The film has songs like Makhna, Million Dollar Dream, Unborn Children, We Could Be Kings, Taa Taa Tai, Keep The Hustle, Nimma Nimma, Bobbleheads, Never Give Up, Lucknow, Farewell, Desi Thoughts and First Tryout and Calling Scouts Again.

Manjunath Idiot Tha Saala

The film Manjunath Idiot Tha Saala brings to celluloid – Manjunath Shanmugam, an IIM Lucknow (2003 batch) alumnus who worked as a sales officer at Indian Oil Corporation and always stood for what was right. In a time and age where we keep cribbing about all the prevalent corruption around us, this man stood up against it and what he got in return were six bullets.

The movie is based on the true story of the IIM (Lucknow) graduate Manjunath Shanmugham, who was sales-marketing officer for Indian Oil Corporation and found corrupt practices going on at a petrol pump in Lakhimpur Kheri, UP. Rather than ignoring the oil adulteration or getting his palm greased for keeping his mouth shut, Manjunath did the right, honourable and incredibly brave thing. He took on the oil mafia and sealed the petrol pump. What did he get in return? An honest man who believed in doing his job right is gunned down by the oil mafia.

Thus Manjunath is being described as the extraordinary story of an ordinary man. It has a satirical grabline: Idiot Tha Saala!

The film features Divya Dutta, Yashpal Sharma, Seema Biswas, Kishore Kadamin supporting roles. The actor in the titular role has been kept well under wraps till now.

Manjunath is written and directed by Sandeep A Varma. The film is made under the banner of Viacom18 Motion Pictures.

Mastram

Mastram is a 2013 Bollywood "fictional biography" film directed by Akhilesh Jaiswal starring Kapil Dubey and Rahul Bagga. The film is about a reluctant pornographic writer who aspires to be a litterateur, is inspired by the anonymous author of popular pulp fiction and sex stories in Hindi, only known as Mastram.

The film has an interesting plot. Rajaram (Rahul Bagga), a small town bank clerk who dreams of travelling to Delhi and becoming a reputed writer. His litterateur aspirations are supported by none except his wife Renu (Tara-Alisha Berry). He leaves his job to become a full-time writer, but cannot find a publisher for his book. One publisher agrees only if he would add sensational elements or masala to his dull tale. He is unable to decode masala until he meets Chacha, an eccentric, old village idiot who shows him the spicier side of life. He adopts the pseudonym of Mastram and churns out his pornographic novel series, which becomes a best selling cake. He gets successful however all credits are attributed to Mastram not Rajaram.

Yeh Hai Bakrapur

Yeh hai Bakrapur is a social satire set against the backdrop of rural India. A multi-layered film, it is based on the complex belief systems that prevail in Indian society and the conflicts that ensue thereon.

The film's story revolves around the family of the Qureshis and their pet animal goat. Circumstances result in the goat acquiring rock star status in his village and beyond. Soon enough, people are fighting for a piece of the live goat, named shaik asif. A rollicking climax ensues that provides the perfect finale to the mayhem that preceded it.

The film has actors like Anshuman Jha, Asif Basra, Suruchi Aulakh, Faiz Khan, Yoshika Verma, Shameem Khan, Amit Sial (Cameo), Utkarsh Majumdar (Cameo) and actors from Sutradhar Theatre company from Hyderabad.

Koyelaanchal

Koyelaanchal is a Hindi-language Indian feature film produced and directed by Ashu Trikha, starring Vinod Khanna, Suniel Shetty, Vipinno and Roopali Krishnarao.

The film has an interesting plot. Koyelaanchal unveils itself through Saryu Bhan Singh (Vinod Khanna), an ex-owner turned Mafioso of the region, who through his sheer brutality & blatant defiance of law of the land, forces the people & the authorities to acknowledge him as their ‘maalik’. Any protest, any voice of dissent against him is dealt with spine chilling violence of epic proportions.

Things get a bit difficult to handle for Saryu Bhan Singh when an upright District Collector Nisheeth Kumar (Suniel Shetty) takes charge of the region and starts asking him questions that no one dared ask him before. Caught amidst labor revolts & naxal uprisings, the last thing Saryu Bhan Singh wanted was to make enemies with the top government officer of his region. He sends his most lethal human weapon, Karua (Vipinno) to scare Nisheeth Kumar off to silence.

But the mission don’t-kill-just-scare-him goes horribly wrong when Karua ends up fatally injuring Nisheeth’s wife. What happens hereafter tells a thrilling & heart-rending story of how the real power doesn’t always flow through the barrels of guns but through the tender touches of a child, love of a mother & heartfelt prayers of the hapless millions.

The film has Vinod Khanna as Saryu Bhan Singh aka Maalik, Sunil Shetty as Nisheeth Kumar, Vipinno as Karua, Roopali Krishnarao, Purva Parag, Deepraj Rana, Brij Gopal, Kannan Arunachalam, Biswanath Basu, Himayat Ali and Master Manjeet Singh.

Khwaab

Khwaab is a romance cum drama movie. The movie is based on the story of two athletes. It is the story of the athletes who struggle for their dream. The movie is directed by Zaid Ali Khan and produced by Moraad Ali Khan. Moraad Ali Khan is one of the top ten shooter of India and was awarded Arjuna Award in 1996. The movie speaks about the struggles that an athlete has to face in the actual life.

The movie stars Navdip Singh and Simer Motiani in the lead roles. Music is by Sandeep Chowta and Sajjad Ali Chandwa.

The movie has an interesting plot. The story revolves around two athletes with their struggles, dreams and inspirations, the journey in the large bureaucratic world of Indian sports, their ambition and passion to achieve their dreams, a question why the country with 1.2 billion population cannot produce medal winner athletes and how their talent are wasted by the politicians and bureaucrats who are hungry for power.

Thus Khwaab is the story of an athlete and her struggle to succeed in the cut-throat, debauched and mired world of Indian sports. Khwaabb is a realistic depiction of the Indian sporting scenario focussing on swimming and athletics. It captures the dream and emotions of aspiring sportsmen.

Khwaabb has some scintillating music tracks given by music director Sandeep Chowta who has composed the title track for the film sung by Sonu Nigam. The track uses some of the best international musicians including Virgil Donati. Apart from the title track Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Shreya Ghoshal and Kailash Kher have sung the other songs in the movie which have been composed by Music Director Sajjad Ali Chandwani.