The Oscars are on February 28, and it is finally time to let nominated titles The Revenant and Carol out of the bag. Also up are the gay-themed drama Aligarh and the comedy Tere Bin Laden 2.
Aligarh Hansal Mehta’s biopic uses the persecution of Aligarh Muslim University professor Shrinivas Ramchandra Siras to make a plea to decriminalise homosexuality. The professor was suspended in 2010 after he was caught with his lover in a sting operation. The movie captures the plight of the professor (Manoj Bajpayee) through the efforts of Deepu, a sympathetic reporter with The Indian Express. Deepu draws Siras out of his shell, and accompanies the professor through his legal battle to clear his name. Based on a story and screenplay by Apurva Asrani, who has also edited the movie.
The Revenant The patience of cinephiles who have resisted watching pirated copies of The Revenant is finally being rewarded. Alejandro Gonzales Innaritu’s big-screen experience, shot by the gifted Emmanuel Lubezki and based on Michael Punke’s novel of the same name, stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a fur trapper in early nineteenth-century America. Mauled by a grizzly bear, DiCaprio’s Hugh Glass is abandoned by a fellow trapper (Tom Hardy), but he survives and begins a long and arduous trek filled with determination and vengeful thoughts. The cast includes British indie darling Domhnall Gleeson. Nominated for several Oscars, with the odds in the favour of DiCaprio for Best Actor in a Leading Role, the movie is being released in India with minimal cuts.
Tere Bin Laden Dead or Alive Abhishek Sharma’s breakout hit Tere Bin Laden was about a television reporter with a no-name network using a lookalike of the Al Qaeda chief to score the biggest scoop of the decade. Bin Laden has died in the years between the 2010 movie and its sequel, but what if, as conspiracy theorists claim, he still breathes and walks on this earth? Pradhuman Singh returns in the new movie, also written and directed by Sharma. Singh has for company television actor Manish Paul, playing a Hindi film producer trying to score a biopic on the most wanted terrorist, and Sikander Kher as the American agent who has his own agenda.
Carol Todd Haynes’s adaptation of Patrica Highsmith’s 1952 novel The Price of Salt stars Cate Blanchett as a wealthy housewife in 1950s New York City who embarks on a forbidden affair with shop assistant Therese (Rooney Mara). Therese is in a half-hearted relationship with a male admirer, but once she locks eyes with Blanchett’s Carol on the eve of Christmas, her life changes forever. Both actresses are up for Oscars (Blanchett in the leading role and Mara for supporting), and the movie has also been nominated in the cinematography (Edward Lachman) and adapted screenplay categories.
Bollywood Diaries KD Satyam’s insider look at Hindi cinema follows the adventures of three aspirants. One works at a call centre, the second is a government employee in Bhilai, and the third is a prostitute from Kolkata. The common thread: all of them want their names on the marquee. The cast includes Raima Sen, Ashish Vidyarthi and Salim Diwan.
Gods of Egypt Alex Proyas (The Crow, I, Robot) directs this action fantasy set in ancient Egypt. The god of darkness, Set (Gerard Butler), takes command of the Egyptian empire, but he faces resistance from Bek (Brenton Thwaites), who has Horus (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) by his side. This visual effects spectacle’s main claim to fame thus far is its casting of white actors to play Egyptians, including Geoffrey Rush, Rufus Sewell and Elodie Yung.
Love Shagun A romantic comedy about JD (Anuj Sachdeva) who agrees to marry Tia (Nidhi Subbaiah) only to please his parents. He has divorce on his mind, but things don’t go according to plan.
Rhythm An inter-collegiate music and dance festival is the excuse to bring together the latest bunch of young hopefuls keen on launching their acting careers. A group of singers led by Avantika (Rinil Routh) decides to perform a song about the perfect guy, but Avantika hasn’t found him yet. Enter Rohan (Adeel Chaudhry) on a motorbike.
