Showing posts with label Shlok Sharma. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shlok Sharma. Show all posts
Shlok Sharma's film Two Sisters And A Husband has been selected for the Tribeca Film Festival
8:29 AM
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; April 21, 2022)
Shlok Sharma, who made his debut with Nawazuddin Siddiqui-starrer Haraamkhor (2015), has placed India’s name on the list of countries whose films will screen at the Tribeca Film Festival. Sharma’s Two Sisters And A Husband, co-written by Shilpa Srivastava, is India’s official entry to the New York festival in the International Narrative Competition section.
The filmmaker says, “It is an honour to be part of a festival that [will screen the works] of such celebrated filmmakers whose films we have grown up watching. My producer, Navin Shetty and I have dreamt of this opportunity. This story is close to my heart. It is based on a family in our proximity. While growing up, I continued to be intrigued by them, even though I hadn’t met them in years. I collaborated with Shilpa, and we kept revisiting the circumstances of these characters. Each time that I would visit them as a piece of fiction, I would be baffled by their reality. Their universality is their emotions — pure, unadulterated and relatable.”
The film will have its world premiere at the festival that runs from June 8 to 19. It is the only Indian film to have been selected at the festival.
Vikramaditya Motwane-Anurag Kashyap's film Zoo featuring Shweta Tripathi, shot entirely on a mobile
8:28 AM
Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; September 12, 2017)
It was a frustrating time for filmmaker Shlok Sharma and his leading actress, Shweta Tripathi, when their debut film Haraamkhor struggled to get a release date for four years. While Masaan went on to give Shweta’s her first acting credit in 2015, Haraamkhor was mired in controversies owing to its subject and struggled to find buyers. That’s when Shlok pitched another concept to the actress and the two rolled with India’s first feature film to be shot on an iPhone, Zoo.
Now, backed by producers Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane, the film is gearing up for its world premiere this October at the upcoming edition of the Busan International Film Festival. A dark, urban take on people trapped inside metaphorical cages, it has Shweta in the role of a drug-addled teen, Misha Mehta, who is constantly fighting her inner demons. Brahman Naman-actor Shashank Arora features as her drug dealer, the only person she interacts with regularly. “The film was shot over 30 days in Mumbai. To look like an addict, I gave up sugar and carbs for three months. I didn’t want people to see Shweta in the character at all,” the actress recalls, adding that she also lived in the room that features in the film. “Misha never leaves her room as she is spiralling down the rabbit hole of guilt. To get into character, I restricted myself to the same room. My urban avatar in Zoo is a far cry from the poetry-loving Shaalu Gupta of Masaan,” Shweta adds.
The 32-year-old actress points out that it is great to work with makers who are steadfast in their support to troubled films, like Guneet Monga stood by Haraamkhor. “Anurag and Vikram watched Zoo together and decided to back it. It brings a sense of validation when established makers back your film. Experimental cinema needs all the support it can get,” Shweta explains, pointing out that even though she’s moved on, Haraamkhor is still garnering accolades on the festival circuit. It will be screened at the South Asian Film Festival in Paris next month. “The festival feathers in the credits of your film are the greatest satisfaction,” she says.
Signing off on a philosophical note, the pint-sized actress says that Zoo holds the mirror to modern urban relationships in the age of social media, when youngsters are weaving their own reality and getting trapped in it too. “Society and family have a big role to play in who teenagers like Misha become. Everyone seems to be pulling each other down. We’re trying to tell an honest story about the increasing disconnect with the real world,” she says.
If I knew this would happen, I would have cried earlier-Shweta Tripathi
8:08 AM
From casting to editing to acting, this fashion grad defines reinvention
Kunal Guha (MUMBAI MIRROR; December 18, 2016)
From a Disney star to breaking good on the indie circuit with last year’s arthouse hit Masaan, Shweta Tripathi is cherrypicking her roles. Her latest web series The Trip, also starring Lisa Haydon, Malika Dua and Sapna Pabbi, has her play a chirpy bride-to-be who embarks on a road trip for her bachelorette. Her long-awaited controversial release Haraamkhor, starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui, about an illicit relationship between a school teacher and his student, is also slated to release early next year. Having recently completed work on Shlok Sharma’s Zoo, Tripathi is happy that “everything is happening together” for her when we meet her at a Bandra café. “For a year, I went through a phase when little was happening,” she says, adding, “There were days of self-doubt. I would wake up and there would be nothing to do. A short film here and a commercial there but none of the big roles I auditioned for were coming through.” The 31-year-old remembers the day when she actually broke down in tears “and the very next day, things started happening”. “If I knew this would happen, I would have cried earlier,” she grins.
The Delhi born-and-bred NIFT graduate first came to Mumbai as photo editor for Femina. “I would call up celebrities to ask them the colour of the season. For me, it was such an important job,” says Tripathi, who initially wanted to pursue law and “make a difference”. Following a trailer editing stint with Pixion, and three failed and one successful attempt at Thespo (a theatre group youth festival), she got her first acting break via one of those big Mumbai clichés: she was spotted having Irish coffee at Prithvi theatre. “Somebody saw me there and asked me to come and audition for a TV show. And I did.” Before she knew it, she was cast as the lead in Kya Mast Hai Life, a role that demanded “hyper wali, excited wali acting”. A year-and-a-half and 130 episodes later, Tripathi was “done with GEC shows”. Unable to crack her dream role, she began assisting casting director Mukesh Chhabra, the man who is responsible for the mofussil funk that Anurag Kashyap’s cinema is known for. “I thought, so what if I’m not getting work, I could at least help my friends get work.” It was a job that got her to work with, among others, Michael Winterbottom, whom she assisted in Trishna (2011). “I learnt a lot from that experience. Riz Ahmed is a fabulous actor and it had the production designer of The Hurt Locker too,” she says with fond nostalgia.
Even though she debuted in Masaan, her first film was Haraamkhor — a role she pounced on, only to work with Nawazuddin Siddiqui. “I was blown by his performance in Kahaani and wanted to work with him. So, when Shlok (Sharma) offered me the role, I couldn’t refuse.” The film is been presently being reviewed by the CBFC, but Tripathi is a tad upset about the delay in its release. “Shlok says, every film has its journey. Besides, if this was my first film, people would say, it has Nawazuddin and that girl. Masaan has given me an identity,” she says of the film which was selected for Cannes.
Given that her upcoming release is about a 15-year-old girl falling in love with his married teacher, Tripathi isn’t worried. “My parents have watched it and have no issues, so how does it matter? Haraamkhor is bold because the subject is something people don’t talk about. For me, it was about telling a story, not showing a mirror to society,” says Tripathi, who was nervous during the screening of Masaan. “All our parents had come to watch it, and Vicky (Kaushal), Richa (Chadha) and I were holding hands throughout the screening,” says the actress, who had informed her parents about her kissing scene in the film prior to the screening. “My parents have always been very supportive. If I had to send money home and survive in Mumbai, I would never be able to do films like Masaan, Haraamkhor or Zoo,” she says.
Acting is not the only passion that this fashion communications graduate is pursuing. She is at present working on a photo series: her take on the navrasa or the nine emotions. “For disgust, I will paint my face white since it conveys how I feel about fairness creams,” she signs off.
From a Disney star to breaking good on the indie circuit with last year’s arthouse hit Masaan, Shweta Tripathi is cherrypicking her roles. Her latest web series The Trip, also starring Lisa Haydon, Malika Dua and Sapna Pabbi, has her play a chirpy bride-to-be who embarks on a road trip for her bachelorette. Her long-awaited controversial release Haraamkhor, starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui, about an illicit relationship between a school teacher and his student, is also slated to release early next year. Having recently completed work on Shlok Sharma’s Zoo, Tripathi is happy that “everything is happening together” for her when we meet her at a Bandra café. “For a year, I went through a phase when little was happening,” she says, adding, “There were days of self-doubt. I would wake up and there would be nothing to do. A short film here and a commercial there but none of the big roles I auditioned for were coming through.” The 31-year-old remembers the day when she actually broke down in tears “and the very next day, things started happening”. “If I knew this would happen, I would have cried earlier,” she grins.
The Delhi born-and-bred NIFT graduate first came to Mumbai as photo editor for Femina. “I would call up celebrities to ask them the colour of the season. For me, it was such an important job,” says Tripathi, who initially wanted to pursue law and “make a difference”. Following a trailer editing stint with Pixion, and three failed and one successful attempt at Thespo (a theatre group youth festival), she got her first acting break via one of those big Mumbai clichés: she was spotted having Irish coffee at Prithvi theatre. “Somebody saw me there and asked me to come and audition for a TV show. And I did.” Before she knew it, she was cast as the lead in Kya Mast Hai Life, a role that demanded “hyper wali, excited wali acting”. A year-and-a-half and 130 episodes later, Tripathi was “done with GEC shows”. Unable to crack her dream role, she began assisting casting director Mukesh Chhabra, the man who is responsible for the mofussil funk that Anurag Kashyap’s cinema is known for. “I thought, so what if I’m not getting work, I could at least help my friends get work.” It was a job that got her to work with, among others, Michael Winterbottom, whom she assisted in Trishna (2011). “I learnt a lot from that experience. Riz Ahmed is a fabulous actor and it had the production designer of The Hurt Locker too,” she says with fond nostalgia.
Even though she debuted in Masaan, her first film was Haraamkhor — a role she pounced on, only to work with Nawazuddin Siddiqui. “I was blown by his performance in Kahaani and wanted to work with him. So, when Shlok (Sharma) offered me the role, I couldn’t refuse.” The film is been presently being reviewed by the CBFC, but Tripathi is a tad upset about the delay in its release. “Shlok says, every film has its journey. Besides, if this was my first film, people would say, it has Nawazuddin and that girl. Masaan has given me an identity,” she says of the film which was selected for Cannes.
Given that her upcoming release is about a 15-year-old girl falling in love with his married teacher, Tripathi isn’t worried. “My parents have watched it and have no issues, so how does it matter? Haraamkhor is bold because the subject is something people don’t talk about. For me, it was about telling a story, not showing a mirror to society,” says Tripathi, who was nervous during the screening of Masaan. “All our parents had come to watch it, and Vicky (Kaushal), Richa (Chadha) and I were holding hands throughout the screening,” says the actress, who had informed her parents about her kissing scene in the film prior to the screening. “My parents have always been very supportive. If I had to send money home and survive in Mumbai, I would never be able to do films like Masaan, Haraamkhor or Zoo,” she says.
Acting is not the only passion that this fashion communications graduate is pursuing. She is at present working on a photo series: her take on the navrasa or the nine emotions. “For disgust, I will paint my face white since it conveys how I feel about fairness creams,” she signs off.
Anurag Kashyap’s new film with Shweta Tripathi, Zoo, has been shot entirely with an iPhone
8:38 AM
Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; November 30, 2016)
Anurag Kashyap and director Shlok Sharma have come together to produce a
film titled Zoo which has been shot entirely with an iphone 6s-plus.
Filmed in Mumbai earlier this year, it features Masaan actress Shweta
Tripathi as a drug addict and Misha Mehta who is involved in an
accident.It propagates the idea that while most of us think that we are safe and free, our minds are trapped by what’s happening in our daily lives.
Shweta confirmed the news to Mirror, saying, “Anurag has been the messiah of good cinema, he is always pushing us to do better. When we came up with this idea, his was the first door that we knocked on and Shlok and Anurag instantly came together to produce the film.”
Sharing the experience of shooting with a phone rather than a regular camera, the 31-year-old actress says that filming is more intimate with the former as there are no big cameras and attendants hovering around.
“The cellphone is so small that you can get lost in a scene and forget that there is someone capturing you. The challenge was that these were one-take scenes so we couldn’t afford to mess up. It was like a theatre exercise where we’d rehearse a scene, then check how it flowed on camera.”
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