The ten part web series is based on a simple premise of a Hitman (Sutherland) walking into a church wishing to confess to the Priest (Hurt). The gripping tale begins with the hitman telling the priest that he has killed several people and is about to kill one more tonight. When the priest refuses to get involved by hearing anymore of his confessions, Sutherland threatens to kill people from his congregation.

Backed against a wall, the priest listens to the hitman’s list of killings which is presented to us in a string of flashbacks. When the priest tries to convince him of his guilt, the hitman simply known as ‘the confessor’ refuses to acknowledge his crime. In the back and forth discussion that happens between the priest and the hitman, the priest ends up confessing to his past crimes, that of an abuser and being the cause of his wife’s death and his son’s trauma. A shocking revelation at the end makes for a fitting finale for a well-crafted short series.

The web series, unlike the norm, features best of talent in terms of actors, director, cinematography, editing, and a highly skilled production team that makes the series match some of the best motion pictures.

Catch Keifer Sutherland’s ‘The Confession’, yet another brilliant venture on the heels of 24 and Touch, tonight at 7.45 only on AXN India.

Neeraja Unni
Rangmunch.tv

Viraat is in love with every single one of Maanvi’s innocent, silly and child-like qualities and can’t imagine not being beside her in this testing phase of her life. He never got a chance to confess his love to her, but his actions have spoken loud and clear of the pure love he feels. Viraat’s love has been tested in this phase, and he has come out in shining colours!

To support her through her brutal cancer treatment, and show how much he cares for Maanvi, in a shocking turn of events, Viraat cuts his hair as a symbol of what he can do for her. For Viraat, love has no boundaries or limits and he doesn’t deter from going that extra mile every day, for the rest of his life, in order to keep Maanvi’s spirit alive.

“I have realized that hardships are faced by everyone in every walk of life, it’s just how you deal with it and the attitude you portray in beating all odds. Also if all of us come together and take that one small step to make a difference in an individual’s life we will be able to. Add life to their years and not years to their life. I am going to do my bit today to extend support to Maanvi and others also suffering from cancer,” says actor Kushal Tandon, who plays the role of Viraat in Ek Hazaaron Mein Meri Behna Hai.

Ek Hazaaron Mein Meri Behna Hai believes that ‘Zindagi ki had hoti hai, pyar ki nahin’, and true to that Viraat’s this big step has shown how far he can go to prove his love for Maanvi.

Tune in to Ek Hazaaron Mein Meri Behna Hain from Monday to Friday at 8.30pm only on Star Plus!

Edited by:

Swati Ghosh

While she was performing and showing off her thumkas to the audience, seated on the first row was her father - the very popular Shatrughan Sinha. She was so petrified and anxious about whether he would approve of her dance moves that she literally broke into a sweat.

The brave daughter of the brave daddy held the fort and completed the song as a true, thorough entertainer. While her performance was appreciated by one and all, we are yet to hear what her dad had to say.

Catch Sonakshi Sinha on IIFA Awards on July 7th at 8 pm only on Star Plus!

Edited by:

Swati Ghosh

The show focuses on the realm of the supernatural, events that are experienced by those who have lived to tell their story. It is a journey of ordinary people who have had extraordinary experiences. Through the depiction of real occurrences that have happened in India, Zee TV seeks to enlighten viewers and elucidate that which has become hidden beneath the many layers of misunderstanding. Starting on June 30 at 10:30 pm, ‘Fear Files’ tells stories of people who showed faith and incredible strength in the face of extreme fear.

This gripping, filmic and high-octane drama-documentary series brings to life the real stories of people who have lived through paranormal experiences that defy explanation. ‘Fear Files’ also introduces paranormal experts who are incredibly gifted in their fields of expertise, and see what no one else can. The paranormal experts like renowned Dr. Mehra Shrikhande will share a rationalist view on all unnatural phenomena including poltergeist activity, strange creature sightings, and unknown energy anomalies…the elements visualized or imagined are several but the experience is the same..Fear!!!

With a series of the most fascinating real life cases, Zee TV will recreate real incidents in an investigative and matter of fact approach which will set the show apart from all shows currently on Indian television. ‘Fear Files’, a 26 episode series, will feature incidents which will empower you to: debunk myths; identify possible explanations for strange experiences; feel confident of your conclusions about each experience and know how to live with paranormal and non-paranormal experiences. What sets ‘Fear Files’ apart is the video diary format in which it will be presented wherein real victims who have survived the incidents talk about their experiences as the incident is recreated.

Mr. Sukesh Motwani, Fiction Programming Head, Zee TV says, “‘Fear Files’ is not just another horror or crime show. It delivers a surprising and downright chilling look into the world of the paranormal by those who have experienced the other side. Using a mixture of intimate first-hand testimony, and gritty realistic drama, ‘Fear Files’ will transport viewers into a world turned upside-down by extraordinary, terrifying and sometimes life-threatening paranormal events. This series has a less sensationalized approach and our aim was to involve, engage and entertain the viewer and underplay the ‘scary element’ so that it looks more believable for the television audiences.

“‘Fear Files’ features true and astonishing stories of the paranormal, told by some of the people who lived through them. They are actual story tellers and their emotions don’t lie. The purpose is to bring the fear these people felt to your TV screens. And where real people have been hesitant to come in front of the camera, we have cast actors who will re-enact each experience with same passion and emotion. We will also have a paranormal expert on the show whose role will be to decode the myth or give a plausible explanation to the viewers as to why ‘the unbelievable occurrence’ happened!”

Producers of the show, Abhimanyu Singh from Contiloe Productions and Majid Aazam from Dreamz Images, have spent almost a year on researching the incidents to be showcased on ‘Fear Files’. Using the highest production values, the show will be presented in a new video diary format with a very polished and professional look. It is being shot in as many real locations as possible like Mumbai, Delhi, Ghaziabad/ Noida, Bhangarh (Rajasthan), Himachal Pradesh, Mussoorie, Haryana, Goa and Kolkata. ‘Fear Files’ will explore paranormal programming with unprecedented evidence on subjects including all kinds of supernatural beings and elements like – Vaastu, Djinn, Haunting, Possession, Yeti, Tulpas, Bhairavi, Dybbuk, Poltergist, Reincarnation, Tantric sacrifices, Astral projections/out of body experiences, Sixth Sense, life after death, electronic voice phenomena, haunting, informative and awe-inspiring stories, alternative healing, cryptozoology, the spiritual and metaphysical, just to name a few. Through the re-enactment of real life incidents, great interviews of people who experienced these, ‘Fear Files’ will bring you closer to some incredible events.

Get your dose of spine chilling entertainment on ‘Fear Files’, starting 30th June, every Saturday & Sunday at 10:30 PM. only on Zee TV!

Edited by:

Swati Ghosh

After a long long month, RK ki muh dikhai ho hi gayi. Finally saari kishtein khatam hui and sakhshat sampoorna RK made his smashing entry in a filmy style, that can easily make many a hearts go flutter. I am sure millions of female fans must be swooning over him and saying Hai maar daala, mar jaawaan etc etc. Well tussi aa aur chaa toh gaye but you have stepped in with oodles of airs and attitude.I must say this is the best entry for a male lead in any soap of recent times. So one full article on RK toh banta hai na boss!

What a bombastic jail sequence and the bhari bharkam onscreen dialogs of the character Dilawar! Like ‘Pinjre mein bandh sher ko toh chuha bhi angootha dikha sakta hai. Bediyaan kholo, phir aanka jaye ki tumhare daawe mein kitna dum hai aur hamari zurrat mein kitna zor’ and ‘Mai toh bas aadaab kehne aaya tha,bas’. A perfect double spicy tadka topping! Writers, you get a pat on your backs from me for penning such dialogs that very well portray the aura of superstardom around RK. The jail sequence is definitely a great tribute to Big B’s Kaaliya (Jailor-Dilawar convo) and the original Deewaar (Qaidi No. 786). Mazaa aa gaya-full time wasool! As expected, whole entry sequence was fabulous and it exceeded my expectations.

Like a true superstar, RK is not the one who refrains himself from throwing starry tantrums offscreen and lives up fully to a bad boy brattish image. Success has really gone into his head making him self-obsessed, so much that he uses the name RK to address himself. Beware, brain mein kahin chemical locha na ho jaye. He is too full of himself and the euphoria hasn’t died a bit in him. Hmmm cheeky remarks like ‘RK ke kutte ke saath bhi kaam karoge toh aabaad ho jaoge’ and ‘Iss duniya mein har ek cheez bikau hai, siwaye RK ke’ shout in favour of my statement. His words are drenched in pride and ego. He thinks ‘RK-sirf naam hi kaafi hai’.Tussi toh baddie baddie behave kar rahe ho. Madhu baby,to put him on the right track is going to be a herculean task for you.

Welcome Vivian, your hard work is showing in your performance. Keep it up and all the best for the show.

Questions ka pitara is popping up in my mind leaving me restless over the weekend: Kyaa hoga jab Madhu aur RK aayenge aamne saamne? Kyaa Madhu case wapas lene keliye maan jayegi? RK se panga Madhu ko bhari toh nahi padega? Kiska saath degi Madhu-apne zameer ka ya rishton ka? Kyaa hoga bangles ka? Kyaa RK and Madhu ke bangles ka ek hi size hai??? rofl..

We have known Madhu for a month now and I am sure that uske daawe mein bhi dum hai aur zurrat mein bhi zor! She has already dared to send bangles to the rayeeszaada. What is commendable is that her decision remains unaffected even if the reckless driver is RK-great going Madhu! I guess Madhu’s righteous nature will drive her to make noodles of the oodles of his attitude. Savdhaan RK, pehle tashan then Tai tai phiss na ho jaye!

Get ready RK, war is about to begin and the sound of bigul is falling on my ears. We as viewers have to sit back and enjoy the elane jung followed by the jung. Till then alvida. Happy weekend.

Here begins the countdown for the much awaited clash of the titans.Tic tic 1,tic tic 2…..kyunki picture abhi baaki hai doston!

Written by:

Shweta Singh

Making of Music…An experience in itself!

Shaleen Sharma: Show making is a creative endeavour which has several facets. Talk about story writing or character, choosing the right face to match the kind of character you have conceived, giving them that appearance through costumes and make up and mannerisms and visually taking them from those kind of angles and finally presenting them.

My role as a music director is very very small in comparison to the entire process as I happen to cater only to one area of show making and that being “music.” But even in this, one gets so caught up in the process, that one really does not think and analyse that clearly jitna ke aap retrospect mein kar sakte hai. It is so much easier to think in retrospect and give big ideas and talk very nice things about it.

Actually what happens is, you are sitting and thinking of that particular character or situation and there is a feeling which is associated with that and that feeling translates into music in some form. Now how that happens, God alone knows. Kaise ek emotion se music banjati hai, ya ek emotion se picture banjati hai, ya phir koi painting ban jati hai, that process nobody can tell. But definitely the right frame of mind or conducive frame of mind gives rise to imagination which translates into music spontaneously most of the time. It is not very well worked out and it cannot be worked out because formulas also have its limitations.

NBT Music Briefing…..

Shaleen Sharma: For this show we wanted a very intimate and uncluttered music. The thought we had was to make music that is very easy to understand and hum. “Tune kuch kaha, maine nahi suna, maine kuch kaha, tume nahi suna, Bina kahe he baat ho gayi.” In this idea itself there is so less talk, that musically we wanted it to be very sparse and very thin. Let it just be in its pristine and pure beauty rather than have 16 instruments trying to build it up. So there are pieces where we have an acoustic guitar and one voice going on. Musically the approach has been to keep it simple.

The first thing which Sudhir (the Producer, Sunshine Productions) said is that this is not a costume drama, this is not a mythological, this is not a social drama. This show is about a love story, an unconventional love story, so the feeling of the two people should translate musically into your hearts. For the viewers that love should come slowly. So for that music also has to be simple enough to understand.

Old Classic with a New Feel! 

Shaleen Sharma: Actually it was bit of a difficult thing for us. We had decided to take another route which was to create a completely new tune and a completely new sound and not stay with the original tune. We had thought we will create an entirely different sound and different tune to NBTNMKK.

We created a lot of tunes and we loved it and even the channel loved it. We did a lot of analysis and worked out 2-3 options. The new lyrics were written and changes were done. But then, it was felt that you have got a very good connect with the audience at large with an existing tag which the show carries already. Why should u not make use of a lovely song which is there? And somehow everybody understood this pretty soon.

During the launch of a show you want to take it with the most conventional heard tune which is the film tune as audience connect with it easily. But just using the film song will become boring. It’s a 1980’s song, it has got an 80’s kind of a feel to it, it has the typical Rajesh Roshan 1980 format which is very appealing in nostalgia but you don’t hear it morning, afternoon, and evening, every day for months together. You will start getting bored of it. So you need a fresh perspective, keeping the same tune and the connect there.

Since ours is a love story, very clearly a love story, we thought its best to go romantic. The original song Na Bole Tum is slightly a fun song. It is typically a March song. Now how to make this into a more romantic thing? The lyrics are romantic but musically it is not really very romantic. The tune, the song, the picturization, everything is light comedy, its not heavy romance. This particular show has got light comedy but its got a very romantic pivot. It is starting from there. So we needed to address that and get a very romantic version of this and this is what we set out to do. So we worked out the tune, the makers liked it and today everyone is singing it.

De Re Na: The Tune….

Shaleen Sharma: What really happens actually is that you sit and you compose and you have people who come in and give their inputs. Music also has one set of things which you do as prepared stuff, and then there are inputs from various other people who come in and try and fit into this frame work to the best of their abilities. What then happens is while you reject some of the inputs and accept a few, some inputs trigger a whole new set of things in you and then you work it out and do that. The tune De Re Na was one of those.

'De re na’ was one such composition which was not decided by me at all. When we were doing alaaps for the title sequence, there was one section in which the two singers Shree and Pamela they were giving their voices for aalap. So typically what we do is we set up one set of notes and we set up one tune and we tell them ki aap yeh gayiye. Once they sing, we loop that tune 3 to 4 times depending on the length of them. Once that cycle finishes, we can re-start the same thing again from another point of view. The whole track can be played the way you like.

Phir ek point aaya jab unhone kaha ki "sir aisa try karte hai" and that’s when things started really adding on. First you tell them you do this, this, and this, after sometime they start interacting with you as artists, as musicians at a musical level. Improvisation happens right there. Pretty much the same thing happened with this girl Pamela. She said "iss mein sargam lein sir thoda." Toh maine kaha "sargam nahi lenge kyunki woh complicated hai." So then she said “achha toh phir tarana lete hai thoda sa.” I said ok lets give it a try. Then she started a little tarana 'de re na, de re na’.. aur wahan se mere dimaag mein trigger hogaya, par poori tarah bana nahi. Hum logon ne kuch kuch try kiya. Then Shree came, the male singer and he heard the stuff and then he said that “sir agar hum isey aise le toh kaisa rahega” and that’s when this whole de re na composition evolved.

 

Theme Music for Mohan Bhatnagar

Shaleen Sharma: Two things we employ in this kind of a situation. Firstly, not to give a grand theme. If you give a big grand theme with a character like Mohan then you are attaching baggage to his character, so we have not done that. Till date we don’t have a grand theme associated with our hero. He is not a larger than life character, so he does not have a larger than life theme. Secondly, there are small mnemonics used always musically to highlight his character. That is inconsistency with his cuteness and his flawed character overall; that flawed character which gets the people floored. Girls like flawed men and vice versa.

So how do you highlight these small nuances of Mohan by small incidents, since there is no big grand scheme? He is not Dilip Kumar of Naya Daur or Shahrukh Khan of Swadesh. You don’t have that design for him. He has got small moments and you like him because of that. So musically also we have kept small bits and small things for him, which give you that mazaa. Kahin par whistle aayegi. We have a harmonica piece too which we have not used still, but may use some time in the future. But no Mohan will not play harmonica as that would make his character too flawed (laughs out loudly) and I don’t think Mohan would like that idea either.

Kunal Karan Kapoor as an actor, as a person has also contributed a lot to this persona of Mohan the character. Aah!! Kunal is also a very interesting person offscreen. So it is very interesting to make music for him even otherwise.

An ear for Music is a Must for a Producer?

Shaleen Sharma: Actually this is a very very important question and you should definitely ask this to every music director. This is the most ill-judged and unknown thing, real factor in getting good music.

Why is it that all great directors and producers have got great soundtracks of most of their big hit films? You take a person like Raj Kapoor, Guru Dutt, Yash Chopra, Karan Johar or a contemporary guy like Imtiaz Ali. Why is it that their movies are a hit, and their songs are a hit too? Raj Kumar Hirani, Yash Chopra have changed their music directors and yet have managed to consistently get good music for their films. The reason being they really concentrate on music.

We have been musically working on this show 3 months before this show was actually commissioned. And two and a half months after that is when we actually recorded. So musically we have been talking about this show for about 5 months. So if you take that kind of preparation time and you have a good music director who is willing to do that and much much more importantly you have a producer-director who is willing to spend that much time, you are bound to get good stuff.

Whether you get good music or bad music is completely dependent on how much importance the producer and director gives to music in his show. If the producer director gives importance to music then he gets good stuff or else not. It is plain and simple. For good 20 days we were thinking about the right approach to one character, so a lot of thought process goes into this.

(As told to Swati Ghosh & Niharika Vidya Sagar)

Edited by:

Navyanka Varma & Swati Ghosh

A small wish, a simple dream, a desire like any other human being. But for Suguni, this is a big wish, out of reach dream and an unfulfilled desire, at the end of the day. Even as she tippy toes delicately along with her new found love, the precipice is deadly. Even as she hesitantly accepts her love for Vikram Thakur, she knows in her mind, this would be the biggest struggle of her life. Even as she envelops herself in Vikram Thakur’s promises and his essence of trust, her heart misses a beat, with fear, anticipation and trepidation.

For a simple and innocent girl like Suguni, brought up as a bedni, shackled to the age old traditions and customs, nurtured by a culture that believes in living the life of a mistress to the wealthy Thakurs, falling in love with a Thakur and dreaming of a happy married life, is a crime in itself. Bounded by a culture that breathes and lives in misguided atrocities, will Suguni ever reach the “promised land”? Society can be very cruel and knows perfectly well how to kill a person. Society can be very jealous and the fear of any change can bury a person’s dreams and aspirations. Society as a whole has its dangerous methods, more subtle than death.

Will Vikram Thakur be the victim of these subtle methods? He is no stranger to the consequences of his decision to marry Suguni. The revolt starts at home and eats into the village. The people are like stew, and if you do not stir it up once in a while, a layer of scum floats to the top.  And both Vikram Thakur and Suguni, sure have stirred up the stew pretty vigorously! Now we just wait as the members of the village take sides to add more spice to the stew.

Vikram Thakur is very clear in his mind of his intentions to marry Suguni. He was successful in putting to rest, the fears that Gulabiya had for her daughter and for him. He is definitive of his feelings and love for Suguni, to have put his sister in place and rebuked her to venture outside of her regressive thinking. Vikram Thakur has made promises according to his hopes, but we have to wait and see if he will perform according to the fears lurking on the horizon or follow his heart.

The smart Vikram Thakur is already going through subtle changes. Now that his love for Suguni is out in the open for takers, you can literally feel his restlessness; you can feel his immediate want to wed Suguni before a storm erupts; you can sense his anxiety when he looks at Suguni willing her not to change her mind as she gets humiliated at every turn in the haveli. He knows that Suguni will be caught in the crossfire of the darts that would be thrown at her.

Life is stranger than fiction. Fiction takes a page out of reality. A vicious cycle of destiny, fate and luck, merging reality and fiction, we as humans, have no choice but ride out the brutalities of the society. Every once in a while a we get a welcome respite in the form a Vikram Thakur, and we wish for our dreams to come true. And even this welcome respite is often riddled with ifs and whys of life. When we live our life filled with injustice and disrespect, any rainbow on the horizon would be seen with skepticism and uncertainty.

Vikram Thakur’s love and respect for Suguni sees no boundaries as yet. When you fall in love, is when your bank of wishes wants to be drawn out. But then again, Vikram Thakur’s wish to marry Suguni is like a goal without a plan. Even for someone as powerful as Vikram Thakur, the subtle dangers of been in constant presence of regressive people is no less a death. He just fell in love, not even giving a second thought to any consequences. He believes with all his heart, he is Suguni’s savior and knight in shining armor. Then again as Gulabiya retorts to her family, “Byaah abhi nahi hui hai……”

As for Suguni, I wonder if she really loves Vikram Thakur, or is she in love with the idea of being in love or is Vikram Thakur her only ray of hope to the “Promised Land” and did her respect for Vikram really transcend into love? Vikram on his part, be able to withstand the hatred from within his home, and be the rock solid support and not get pulled into the bloody politics of the Bundelkhand?

There are a lot of questions. There is a lot at stake. There is lot of possibilities for the taking. There will be a lot of anguish and despair for the cruel to feast on. I ‘wish’ for the story to take a pleasant turn, so as not to shred the faith and hope of the bednis, for a better life.

Gulki Joshi, Varun Badola and Narayani Shastri – fantastic encore and center stage performance of love, hurt, confidence, humbleness, respect, helplessness and the ultimate fear of the unknown.

Alima Livsletlivs
Rangmunch.tv

Furthermore, the shows have created characters which have now become household names, thanks to their enormous popularity and of course, acting talent. This coupled with clean and wholesome entertainment has helped the channel to develop a strong emotional connect with its viewers.

Taking this a step further SAB brings ‘SAB Ke Anokhe Awards’ that celebrate and honour entertaining & endearing characters from various SAB TV shows. It is a pioneering and unique comedy awards show that will have host of interesting categories like the funniest laughter, funniest walk, the most talkative character, most Anokhi jodi and other unique categories that will be introduced during the awards ceremony. The glittering awards ceremony will be telecast on SAB TV on July 15th at 8pm.

SAB Ke Anokhe Awards will be produced by Vipul. D. Shah from Optimystix. The magnificent award ceremony will be anchored by entertaining and popular TV artists Shweta Tiwari, Gaurav Chopra, Sunil Grover and Jay Soni. The awards will feature a variety of special performances by various SAB artists interspersed with stand-up acts by accomplished artists like Shekhar Suman, musical performances by talented singers like Mika and host of other surprises that will entertain the SAB TV viewers!!!

So do tune into SAB KE ANOKHE AWARDS on July 15th at 8pm only on SAB TV.

Edited by:

Swati Ghosh