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Actor Emraan Hashmi, who is gearing up for his upcoming streaming series ‘Showtime’, feels that he is not fit to be a producer. The actor shared that he has only produced one film so far in his career but there too he was more of a “silent producer” as he was acting in it as well. The film in question is the 2019 film ‘Why Cheat India’. The actor confessed that he is more of a creative person than a finance-related one.

“I don’t think I’m fit to be a producer. I did produce one film, but I was more of a silent producer and was playing the actor also in it, so my producer self took a backseat. I am a more creative person than a business-minded person. I got a commerce degree, but there’s a running joke in my family that I wanted to be in arts,...

A picture of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan from “many moons ago” has been shared by photographer-producer Atul Kasbekar, which he says was from an ad shoot. Kasbekar took to Instagram, where he shared the old picture. It has Shah Rukh Khan sitting in the middle. It also has late filmmaker Pradeep Sarkar, Kasbekar and many others looking into the camera lens and smiling.

It seems the picture was taken around the time when Shah Rukh was working on or had the release of ‘Yes Boss’ in 1997 as Kasbekar had the song ‘Chand Taare’ from the film playing in the background.

Kasbekar wrote: “Post some ad shoot with Srk and @pradeepsarkar at my studio many moons ago The late Pradeep-da was an art director in those days with Contract Advtg in Delhi and we did loads of print work together.”

He added: “Also in frame the brilliant makeup artist @michelletung5, production designer Chetana Prabhu,...

Acclaimed Indian filmmaker Alankrita Shrivastava will direct a film about Pakistani model and social media star Qandeel Baloch, who was murdered in an honor killing in 2016.

Shrivastava, along with producers Vikas Sharma (“Toba Tek Singh”) and Sunny Khanna (“Why Cheat India”), has acquired the rights to the book “The Sensational Life and Death of Qandeel Baloch,” by Sanam Maher, published by Aleph, it was revealed ahead of the Cannes Film Market.

Shrivastava’s credits include feminist films “Lipstick Under My Burkha,” which was briefly banned in India in 2017, Busan selection “Dolly Kitty and Those Twinkling Stars” and Netflix series “Bombay Begums.”

Baloch, whose real name is Fouzia Azeem, had stoked controversy in Pakistan by living a Westernized lifestyle and posting her thoughts on social media, including Facebook and Twitter. Divorced from her husband, she had been nicknamed “Pakistan’s Kim Kardashian” and “Pakistan’s first social media star.”

“When Qandeel...

Vidya Balan (Tumhari Sulu), Pratik Gandhi (Scam 1992), Ileana D’ Cruz (Barfi!) and Never Have I Ever’s Sendhil Ramamurthy have been boarded to headline Applause Entertainment and Ellipsis Entertainment’s upcoming film. Ad filmmaker Shirsha Guha Thakurta is directing.

The project, which is currently filming in Mumbai and Ooty, marks the second collaboration between Applause and Ellipsis after Tahira Kashyap’s feature Sharma Ji Ki Beti.

Set for a 2022 release, the currently untitled movie is a progressive, uninhibited take on modern relationships. “The film is a sparkling, sophisticated romance that subverts all notions of love and fidelity in modern times,” said Sameer Nair, CEO at Applause Entertainment, the outfit which has produced hit digital shows such as Criminal Justice and Hostages.

Ellipsis partners Tanuj Garg, Atul Kasbekar and Swati Iyer have bankrolled critically-acclaimed titles such as Neerja and Why Cheat India. They described the new movie’s concept as “probably...

Emraan Hashmi is back with 2 major projects - Mumbai Saga and Chehre - ready for release. There are unconfirmed reports that suggest Emraan could play Salman Khan's villain in Tiger 3. He also has a supernatural thriller titled Ezra coming up.

As per modest trade estimates, the actor has Rs 200-250 crore riding on him. Emraan is more interested in the audience reaction to his upcoming mix of films.

"This year is interesting. I am very proud of these releases. There is Mumbai Saga, Chehre and the horror film, Ezra. It's a mixed bag and I am waiting for them to release and have people enjoy them. After 20 days of Mumbai Saga releasing, we have Chehre coming. I am looking forward to my films," he says.

His forthcoming roster is spread over the next several months and could define the shape of things to come for the actor, who...

Sony Pictures Films India, Ellipsis Entertainment and Aayush Maheshwari (“Baji” and “Ugly”) will co-produce “Looop Lapeta,” an official Bollywood remake of Tom Tykwer’s 1998 German film “Run Lola Run.”

In the original, Franka Potente is in a race against time, having just 20 minutes to get a large sum of money in order to save her boyfriend Moritz Moritz Bleibtreu’s life. The film won the audience award at Sundance, won seven prizes at the German Film Awards, scored a BAFTA nomination, and was Germany’s entry for the Oscars.

Taapsee Pannu, who starred in “Badla,” the hit 2019 Bollywood remake of 2016 Spanish film “The Invisible Guest,” will play the role originally played by Potente. Tahir Raj Bhasin (“Manto”) will reprise Bleibtreu’s role.

Aakash Bhatia (Amazon Prime Video series “Inside Edge”) will direct from a script by Vinay Chhawal (“Angrezi Medium”) and Ketan Pedgaonkar. Principal photography starts in April and the film has booked a Jan.

Taapsee Pannu and Tahir Raj Bhasin (Mardaani) will head the cast.

Sony Pictures Films India and Indian production house Ellipsis Entertainment are set to produce a Hindi-language remake of Tom Tykwer’s 1998 high-concept hit, Run Lola Run.

Indian actress Taapsee Pannu, renowned for roles in films such as Pink and Bull’s Eye, will head the cast, along with Tahir Raj Bhasin (Mardaani). Aayush Maheshwari, who first approached Ellipsis with the remake rights, will also produce.

Produced by Germany’s X-Filme Creative Pool, the original Run Lola Run starred Franka Potente as a woman who has 20 minutes to save her boyfriend’s life.

After almost three years, Emraan Hashmi has signed a horror film Ezra, which is the Hindi remake of a Malayalam horror film. The actor says the movie will push boundaries and promises "one hell of a spooky ride". Kumar Mangat Pathak and Abhishek Pathak's Hindi remake of the Prithviraj starrer horror film is being produced by Panorama Studios. It will be helmed by Jay Krishnan, who has directed the original Malayalam film as well.

The film will be shot in Mumbai and Mauritius. The casting for the female lead is underway.

"Horror is a genre with immense potential. A well-made horror film will always draw audiences in huge numbers to cinema halls," Emraan said in a statement.?

"With Ezra, we hope to push the boundaries further and give the audience an experience that they will never forget. I'm happy to be associating with Kumarji and Abhishek on this film...

Actor Shreyas Talpade, who is gearing up for the release of his next film titled Setters, has said that there are no similarities between his film and Emraan Hashmi starrer Why Cheat India. Shreyas Talpade, accompanied by his co-actors Aftab Shivdasani, Ishita Dutta, Sonnalli Seygall, director Ashwini Chaudhary and producers Vikash Mani and Narendra Hirawat, was interacting with the media at the trailer launch of his upcoming film in Mumbai on Thursday.

Setters sheds light on the mafia and corrupt practices prevailing in the Indian education system. Notably, Emraan Hashmi's recent release ?Why Cheat India also highlighted corruption in the education system.?

When asked about the similarities between the two films, Shreyas said, "I haven't watched Why Cheat India yet. People may try to find similarity between the two films but I feel both films are really different."

"The modus operandi of the people that we have shown in our film is very fascinating.

Singers Asees Kaur, Deedar Kaur and Prabhjee Kaur come together for the first time with a special wedding song which is released on Zee Music Company. The track, which is a mash up of popular wedding tracks like Madhaniya, Chidiya Da Chamba, Laung Gawacha and Mehendi, is sung by Asees Kaur and Deedar Kaur and the music video is directed by Prabhjee Kaur, who recently sang ?Stupid Saiyaan? from Why Cheat India.

It was a fun and novel experience says Asees Kaur, known to belt out chartbusters like Chogada, Tere Bin, Ankh Lad Jaave, Bolna and others, ?We were planning this for sometime now and its a project we are very passionate about. The track is very energetic and peppy and I hope the listeners enjoy it. It was Deedar's idea to come up with a collaboration. She is the mastermind behind it and we just loved the idea and came on board.

2019 began with a bang! The high profile press conference hosted by the producers of “Cheat India” with Aaditya Thackeray and producer Sanjay Raut, was explosive in the real sense of the word.

The Marathi version of “Thackeray” getting pushed from 23rd January to 25th January coincided with Cheat India getting advanced to 18th January.

This smart move will further augment the business prospects of Cheat India, which will gain by way of enjoying a clean first week and a lucrative Republic Day holiday in the second week.

Aaditya Thackeray’s friendship with the producers of Cheat India is a known fact. The young leader mentioned that he was actually a part of the scripting of Cheat India when the producers had picked his brains for research last year.

Commented Thackeray, “First people will watch Cheat India and get frustrated with our system! Then they will watch Thackeray and get inspired to do something!

Current sensation Guru Randhawa, renowned for chartbusters like “High Rated Gabru”, “Ban Ja Rani”, “Suit Suit” and “Lahore”, has joined Emraan Hashmi in cheating India.

Having scored an ace with the trailer and posters, the makers of the film, “Cheat India”, have unveiled their next trump card. An explosive promotional track, “Daaru Wargi”, featuring Emraan and Guru together for the first time.

Potentially the next club anthem of 2019, the video shows the devolution of innocent students into a wild life of debauchery, instigated by Hashmi’s character. The producers have ensured that the video draws a distinct parallel with some elements in the film.

The video of “Daaru Wargi” has been directed by Nitin Parmar, an associate of “Neerja” director Ram Madhvani.

Check it out!

Cheat India releases worldwide on January 25, 2019.

Icymi here is the triller too!

Ellipsis Entertainment founded by Ace Photographer Atul Kasbekar and Corporate Media Honcho Tanuj Garg successfully made its mark in Indian Film Industry with its films like “Neeraja”, “Tumhari Sulu” and “Raid”. It is a production house known for bringing out content-driven cinema in the commercial space. Their stories are easily identifiable Indian middle class.

For their next offering “Cheat India” they joined hands with popular star actor “Imran Hashmi” who is first-time producing the film. Imran was recently seen in “Tigers” which found digital release on the ZEE5 streaming platform. After raising awareness about frauds in health care industry in “Tigers”, he seems to be talking about frauds in the education sector in “Cheat India” trailer. Unlike “Tigers” where he was a crusader, here he plays the bad guy who is absolutely unapologetic about his actions.

The film is written by and directed by Soumik Sen and presented by T-series Films.

Inspired by true events and facts and coming from the makers of Tumhari Sulu, Neerja and Raid, the forthcoming Cheat India starring Emraan Hashmi will bare the malpractices in India’s education system.

It’s controversial tagline, ‘Nakal Mein Hi Akal Hai’, clearly points towards the rampant malpractices in the country’s financially lucrative education sector. The film is directed by Soumik Sen who says, “This film is for every Indian student who is under pressure to excel in a competitive environment. Today’s youth will hugely relate to Cheat India.”

Star Emraan Hashmi says that the film was a first-of-its-kind for him, besides being topical and relevant for students and parents. “The script and title of Cheat India are supremely powerful. This is among the most engaging and riveting stories I’ve read in a while and I am thrilled to be essaying what I believe will be a landmark role in my filmography.

Ellipsis Entertainment, spearheaded by Tanuj Garg and Atul Kasbekar, has established itself as a content powerhouse having previously made award winning motion pictures like ‘Neerja’ and ‘Tumhari Sulu’.

On Ellipsis’ upcoming production ‘Cheat India’ (jointly produced by T-Series and Emraan Hashmi Films), in their efforts to be ecologically friendly, Ellipsis associated with Milton to provide Unisteel bottles to the crew for drinking water on set.

Milton’s Unisteel bottles kept the film’s cast and crew hydrated with cool water in spite of the blistering heat of Lucknow.

Ellipsis partner Atul Kasbekar said, “Apart from being eco-friendly, the bottle design is very stylish and sturdy and hence it is handy to carry around on the sets. Everyone from Emraan, to our director Soumik, down to the light-men and setting crew, were given individual numbered bottles in different colors, which the crew decorated and made their own! In fact, I now...

Produced by Ellipsis Entertainment, Emraan Hashmi Films and T-Series, the shoot of the keenly awaited Emraan Hashmi-starrer Cheat India, directed by Soumik Sen began filming yesterday in Lucknow.

Cheat India, is a never-seen-before peek into the vagaries of the Indian education system. Clearly aimed at Indian students, this edge-of-the-seat Emraan Hashmi-starrer have cast more than 70 actors from Up, including real students from various colleges and universities.

The makers released an interesting video of Emraan playing with the alphabets of ‘Teach’, which ironically, are the same as those of ‘Cheat’.

Hashmi’s naughty wink at the end leaves you wondering whether he’s the hunter or the villain!

Let the exams begin ! #CheatIndia @EmraanHFilms @EllipsisEntt @TSeries #cheatindia . All the best @bangdu pic.twitter.com/eygvB4NLrS

— emraan hashmi (@emraanhashmi) July 25, 2018

Cheat India is set to hit the silver screen on 25th January 2019.