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Akarsh Khurana, director of ‘Stand Up’ says, “This play is not about jokes but what goes into creating humour”!

CineBuster Online | Updated — Thu, 01 Feb 2024 08:09:01 +0000

For #AkarshKhurana, story-telling is an endless journey brimming with adventure and he has stamped his unique narrative style on the small and the big screen. The director of films like ‘#Karwaan’ and ‘#RashmiRocket’ also has a vast body of work as a theatre veteran and many of his teleplays including ‘#StandUp’ are in the #ZeeTheatre repository. Describing the process of directing ‘Stand Up,’ Akarsh shares, “The play is about a few people in a room who are dealing with their own unique personal and professional issues. This is a relatable theme irrespective of what the setting is. The story, in the end, isn’t about jokes but what goes into creating humour without becoming a joke yourself.”

‘Stand Up’ revolves around five budding comics who meet their mentor to prepare for a potentially life-changing and career-defining open-mic event. It is when they are trying to be at their funniest that they realise how tough it is to tell a joke without becoming an object of mockery. The story germinated in Akarsh while interacting with stand-up comedians at Mumbai’s Comedy Store where he has been part of regular group performances for approximately three years.

He recalls, “So there were times when we were sharing the green room with stand-up comics like Tanmay Bhatt, Rohan Joshi, and Aashish Shakya. It was very interesting to see that when they were working backstage, the air was not one of comedy always. It was also quite serious at times because like they say, comedy is a serious business. ”

As most of the characters in ‘Stand Up’ are struggling stand-up comedians, there was bound to be some humour but Akarsh insists that was not the goal. He explains, “The goal was really about writing a play about group dynamics between a competitive group of people that are making or trying to make a living by being funny. But you know the reality of that situation is not always funny. You may get into a competitive space with even people that you’ve hung out with, have learned from, or are friends with. There is such a desperate need to make your audience laugh, you know. So there’s this whole upside and downside of trying too hard to make something.

And finally, Akarsh managed to create a story that was not just about humor.” He concludes, “As I said earlier, it was never really supposed to be about the laughter. It was always supposed to be about a group of people who are trying to break away from the mundaneness of their lives by pursuing slightly more exciting opportunities to become stand-up comedians. There is that struggle and that desperation to kind of break away from a life that you are not necessarily enjoying to do something that looks like it could be enjoyable.”

The teleplay stars Abir Abrar, Adhaar Khurana, Omkar Kulkarni, Sarang Sathaye, Chaitnya Sharma, Kashin Shetty, Nipun Dharmadhikari and Zayn Khan. It will air on Airtel Spotlight, Dish TV Rangmanch Active, and D2H Rangmanch Active on January 29.

The post Akarsh Khurana, director of ‘Stand Up’ says, “This play is not about jokes but what goes into creating humour”! first appeared on Latest News, Breaking News, National News, World News, India News, Bollywood News, Business News, Politics News, Sports News, Entertainment News - CineBuster.

Zee Theatre’s new teleplay Gunehgaar is suspenseful drama about crime and retribution!

CineBuster Online | Updated — Tue, 13 Sep 2022 08:39:59 +0000

Actors #GajrajRao, #ShwetaBasuPrasad and #SumeetVyas team up for the first time for #ZeeTheatre’s ‘#Gunehgaar’. If thriller and suspense as a genre drives your entertainment needs, Zee Theatre has come up with its newest teleplay, Gunehgaar. This suspenseful drama about crime and retribution revolves around the life of three key personalities – a journalist, a cop, and a common man. Directed by #AkarshKhurana, ‘Gunehgaar’ introduces the versatile actor Gajraj Rao, the dazzling beauty Shweta Basu Prasad and the stellar actor Sumeet Vyas in prominent roles. To announce the launch of the play, an enticing and gripping Poster is released that hints at a truly engrossing narrative. The play will be available across major DTH platforms such as #TataPlay, #AirtelTV, #DishTV, and #D2h.

Talking about this latest offering of Zee Theatre, Shailja Kejriwal, Chief Creative Officer, Special Projects, ZEEL, says, “This play is drawn from the finest traditions of the suspense genre and illustrates storytelling at its best. Akarsh has brought a Hitchcockian tenor to this story penned by Abhijit Guru and there is so much dramatic tension in the way the characters explore the true meaning of crime, guilt, and accountability. ‘Gunehgaar is a thorough entertainer. It is rich in crisp dialogue and the verbal sparring between characters is something that the audience will enjoy along with sterling performances by Gajraj Rao, Shweta Basu Prasad, and Sumeet Vyas.”

Bollywood’s favorite actor, Gajraj Rao who is working for the first time in a teleplay adds, “When Akarsh shared this idea, the story felt very interesting to me. Akarsh’s link with the grammar of theatre has remained unbroken and he knows very well how to interpret theatre for the small screen while keeping its nuances intact. I used to do theatre in Delhi but after coming to Mumbai, I didn’t get the opportunity to do so. This teleplay isn’t exactly like a stage show but it’s a worthy television counterpart. Also, I came on board because, for many years now, the Zee Theatre team has been working hard to bring theatre to the television audience. It seemed like a perfect opportunity to become a part of a truly unique experiment.”

Being drawn to the complexity of her character, Shweta Basu Prasad says, ” “What drew me to this teleplay was my character, the female protagonist. She has so many layers to her; she seems tough, ambitious, and driven. It is hard to make up your mind about just who she is. It was interesting to explore Mrinalini and her complexities.”

“What excited me is the treatment given to the whole set and the shoot. Initially, I wasn’t sure about this since I was working for the first time in a teleplay. But as we wrapped the play, I enjoyed the whole process. The audiences will get a good mix of Theatre as well as the essence of the camera. The play will certainly engage the viewers.”, concluded Sumeet Vyas.

Enjoy this intriguing journey of finding the real Gunehgaar by tuning into Tata Play Theatre on 24th September, Airtel Spotlight, and DishTV & D2h Rangmanch on 25th September.

The post Zee Theatre’s new teleplay Gunehgaar is suspenseful drama about crime and retribution! first appeared on Latest News, Breaking News, National News, World News, India News, Bollywood News, Business News, Politics News, Sports News, Entertainment News - CineBuster.

Rashmi Rocket actor Priyanshu Painyuli says that Akarsh Khurana’s adept direction has adde d a magical touch to the movie!

CineBuster Online | Updated — Thu, 07 Oct 2021 12:54:20 +0000

“For me it’s very important for a film to be successful but definitely loved and appreciated by audience”, says #PriyanshuPainyuli who will soon be seen in ‘#RashmiRocket’. #ZEE5 will soon bring forth an exciting sports drama Original film, ‘Rashmi Rocket’, headlined by the incredibly talented #TaapseePannu. #AkarshKhurana’s adept direction has added a magical touch to the movie. The movie is based on Rashmi, an incredibly fast runner who dreams of crossing the finish line as an athlete and making a mark for her country. However, she soon understands that the race to the finish line has multiple obstacles, and what seems like an athletic competition turns into her personal battle for respect, honour, and her individual identity. The central topic of the movie is gender testing in sports.

Every actor wants his project to be a huge success, however, the definition of success differs for each one of us. Similarly, Priyanshu Painyuli who plays a key role in the movie has a unique way of defining the success of a movie. He shares, “For me as an actor life has been about just keep trying and never giving up even after many failures which resonates with our line from Rashmi Rocket – ‘Haar jeet parinaam hain, Koshish humara kaam hain’. For me it’s very important for a film to be successful but definitely loved and appreciated by audience. If our film has made impact, it should have lasting impression and people should talk about it even later in life. It should affect them emotionally somewhere and that’s how I like the film and also my character to affect audience. That’s how I measure the success of a film basically when it has a lasting impact on people’s minds for long.”

That’s truly a novel way of defining success!

Produced by Ronnie Screwvala, Neha Anand and Pranjal Khandhdiya, written by Nanda Periyasamy, Aniruddha Guha and Kanika Dhillon and directed by Akarsh Khurana, ‘Rashmi Rocket’ also stars Supriya Pathak, Abhishek Banerjee, Priyanshu Painyuli and Supriya Pilgaonkar.

The movie is set to premiere on ZEE5 on 15th October.

The post Rashmi Rocket actor Priyanshu Painyuli says that Akarsh Khurana’s adept direction has adde d a magical touch to the movie! first appeared on Latest News, Breaking News, National News, World News, India News, Bollywood News, Business News, Politics News, Sports News, Entertainment News - CineBuster.

Sumit Vyas and Nidhi Singh in a rib-tickling comedy “Wakaalat Frome Home”

CineBuster Online | Updated — Thu, 03 Sep 2020 15:20:32 +0000

Amazon Prime Video today unveiled the poster for its upcoming comedy show Wakaalat From Home releasing on September 10. The trailer will drop tomorrow. From the makers of Bluffmaster, the show is directed by Rohan Sippy and written by Anuvab Pal. Wakaalat From Home stars Sumeet Vyas ,Nidhi Singh, and Kubbra Sait in the lead role along with Gopal Datt, Anuvab Pal, Rit Bahadur Bayalkoti, Dipesh Bhujal, Akarsh Khurana in other prominent roles.

Wakaalat From Home is the story of Sujin and Radhika’s divorce. It is not amicable with claims and counterclaims. The judge decides, this not being a critical case, to move their court hearing to Zoom. Over 10 court sessions, while the lockdown ensues, their divorce case will be heard, while their lawyers have designs of their own.

Permanent Roommates Couples Sumit Vyas and Nidhi Singh are back with another rib-tickling comedy show “Wakaalat Frome Home” on Amazon Prime Video.

Watch the poster here: https://twitter.com/PrimeVideoIN/status/1301438148384153600?s=20

The post Sumit Vyas and Nidhi Singh in a rib-tickling comedy “Wakaalat Frome Home” first appeared on Latest News, Breaking News, National News, World News, India News, Bollywood News, Business News, Politics News, Sports News, Entertainment News - CineBuster.

Ronnie Screwvala, ‘RSVP gives platform to budding directors’

CineBuster Online | Updated — Thu, 20 Aug 2020 13:01:31 +0000

Ronnie Screwvala is known to back raw talent. That’s the reason many directors got break with his production house RSVP. Directors who marked their debut with RSVP are Aditya Dhar – URI: The surgical strike, Vasan Bala – Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota, Vinod Kapri – Pihu, Akarsh Khurana _ Karwaan, Sneha Taurani – Bhangra Paa Le, Anand Tiwari – Love Per Square foot, Honey Trehan – Raat Akeli Hai.

Recently, Honey Trehan made his directorial debut with Raat Akeli Hai and the likes of other directors namely Vasan Bala, Aditya Dhar also were earlier introduced by RSVP. Capturing how the production house’s vision works, here’s what the directors have to say.

In 2019, RSVP brought a pathbreaking project- ‘URI: The surgical strike’ and the world was introduced to Aditya Dhar, by RSVP. Talking about how Ronnie supports the vision and the algorithm behind his successful projects, Aditya Dhar shares, “He has always led the way to introduce great directors – be it Dibakar Bannerjee or Vikramaditya Motwane, Neeraj Pandey, Vasan Bala, Rajkumar Gupta etc. As soon as Ronnie read Uri, he was determined to make it happen, even though I was a first time director, Vicky had not done a solo lead commercial project before and war films were not considered commercially viable. Ronnie understands that films don’t flop because of stories, but because of bad mathematics.”

“He is more of a trend setter because at a time when films like Swades, Rang de Basanti, A Wednesday, Dev D, Barfi, Delhi Belly – were all considered commercially risky, Ronnie believed in the stories these films were telling, and backed them up wholeheartedly”, he adds.

“Ronnie has an amazing sense of creativity and fantastic business acumen. His analytic mind knows what works and what doesn’t. He is always so open and receptive to the ever-shifting culture, to a point where he can converse just as effortlessly with a teenager as he would with someone far older than he is. With no ego whatsoever, his straightforward attitude and a brilliant sense of humour makes him a great collaborator. At every step of the way, he has facilitated the greatest creative freedom to me. Even though he is one of the country’s biggest producers, he is still available to his team even at the wee hours of the night.”

Vasan Bala who brought the unique action-comedy flick, Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota expresses, “An extremely pragmatic personality but has over the years backed so many risky propositions. You never associate him with run of the mill anything, be it movies be it his other businesses. It will always be fuzed with a sense of adventure and human storytelling. I could make my childhood Kung Fu Movie dream only with him. Don’t think anyone else even came close to understanding what I wanted to do.”

Director Nitish Tewari tells, “It has always been a pleasure to work with Ronnie sir. He understands his director’s vision and gives him/her full support and space to be able to achieve it. On top of that the warmth he exudes makes it very easy to work with him.”

Having worked on multiple projects together, Rajkumar Gupta says, “Have worked with Ronnie in three film Aamir(my debut), No one killed Jessica and Ghanchakkar. The first two film were very unconventional, were films that no other producer would have backed. He did. He backed other films with wonderful filmmakers that otherwise would not have got made. It shows Ronnie’s vision, the trust he has on script, film, filmmaker and the creative process. I remember an incident – when Ronnie saw the rough cut of No One Killed Jessica, no body was sure how the film was, he came out hugged me and said – we have a winner in our hands! The point I am trying to make – he has vision, he is brave, he has respect and understanding of creative process of film making. It won’t be an overstatement to say – he has been a trendsetter by backing films that no other producer had.That too ten years back.I had a wonderful time collaborating with him.”

Ronnie Screwvala spearheads the production house, RSVP and has brought a trail of classics with Directors who are now celebrated names. We await more collaborations between the directors and the production, as they continue to give podium to new talent.

The post Ronnie Screwvala, ‘RSVP gives platform to budding directors’ first appeared on Latest News, Breaking News, National News, World News, India News, Bollywood News, Business News, Politics News, Sports News, Entertainment News - CineBuster.

Ronnie Screwvala is an one-off independent-minded visionary producer

CineBuster Online | Updated — Mon, 10 Aug 2020 13:44:52 +0000

Having started off as an actor and producer of English plays, Ronnie Screwvala has come a long way.

He has been associated with 80+ movies and number of television productions and still going strong. This is what makes Ronnie Screwvala a successful and an efficient producer.

Standing tall as one of the most important producers, Ronnie Screwvala is an one-off independent-minded visioner giving life to some good quality content. His is the perfect job for an all-rounder with an interest in the big screen.

Having a deep knowledge about cinema and understanding the demand of the audiences helps Ronnie to share not only his resources but also his inputs. He shares a great rapport with all his directors which is why most of them prefer to keep working with him and his production house for their next ventures. In Fact his input and his connection with his directors is to a level where they ask for Ronnie’s advice and his powerful words influence their decision. His experience and his rapport with other crew members of the movie also acts as an aided benefit to the director.

Key responsibilities of a successful producer involves ensuring that movie production runs smoothly and that the film is completed on-time and in-budget, Ronnie fulfils all these and much more. A director’s collaboration with a particular production house determines half of the movie’s future and association with Ronnie Screwvala is a matter of esteemed privilege.

A successful producer’s job is to keep everything in line while collaborating creatively with the director to deliver the best possible film. With Ronnie on board, one can be assured that it won’t be anything short of a qualitative project.

Ronnie Screwvala’s RSVP Movie’s upcoming projects are ‘Rashmi Rocket‘, starring Taapsee Pannu which is directed by Akarsh Khurana and ‘Sam Manekshaw’, starring Vicky Kaushal, directed by Meghna Gulzar.

The post Ronnie Screwvala is an one-off independent-minded visionary producer first appeared on Latest News, Breaking News, National News, World News, India News, Bollywood News, Business News, Politics News, Sports News, Entertainment News - CineBuster.