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ReviewThe film, based on litterateur and humanist Poornachandra Tejaswi’s short story, is a wholesome, precious watch in today’s world filled with division and hate.Sometime in 1973, when the world in retrospect seems way better than it was today, Poornachandra Tejaswi wrote a short story about a Muslim boy entering a Hindu-only government college in a place called Abachur. He’s seen as an alien, someone whose culture stands out, in a college filled with Hindus. The village is pretty and everything looks picture perfect, but there’s a deep undercurrent of resentment between the Hindus and Muslims there after a Hindu girl and a Muslim boy eloped. How will Musthafa (a fabulous Shishir Baikady) fit in? The teacher struggles to pronounce his name — Jamal Abdullah Mustafa Hussain — and director Shashank Soghal builds up every trope of Muslims that we have been fed over the years before breaking each...

Sandalwood The film is about a bickering, middle-class couple who are stuck together during the lockdown.Sanjana DeshpandeAmazon Prime VideoThe Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society author Mary Ann Shaffer once said, “Humour is the best way to make unbearable bearable.” The director-duo Esham and Haseen Khan’s film Ikkat is the embodiment of the quote. The title itself is indicative of how the lockdown was very suffocating as the world—in a blink of an eye—had come to a standstill. While the film is sure to give you a hearty laugh throughout the two-hour running time, the moment that remains etched in my mind is when Nagabhushana’s Vasu, who’s always nagging his wife, counting her shortcomings and bickering with her, stands by her when his distant relative (Sunder) slanders Bhoomi Shetty’s Janvi. Janvi and Vasu are a typical middle-class couple who live in a...

SandalwoodFilmmaker duo Esham and Haseen Khan, and lead pair Bhoomi Shetty and Nagabhushana Ns, talk about the inspiration and challenges of making 'Ikkatt', releasing on July 21.Sanjana DeshpandeAmazon Prime“We had many plans before the coronavirus pandemic hit us; with the lockdown, everything was stalled. We were juggling with many ideas, however, we thought of writing a story on the entire pandemic and the lockdown that ensued and that’s how Ikkat happened,” Esham and Haseen Khan, the makers of the upcoming Kannada comedy film Ikkat, tell Tnm. The film is the first in the Kannada industry, and one of the few Indian films that centre around Covid-19. The story of Ikkat is of a couple who constantly bicker, but are forced to be holed up together because of the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown. Cabin fever gets the best of them and hilarious situations ensue. Esham and Haseen say that...

SandalwoodSet against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, ‘Ikkat’ revolves around an unhappy married couple, forced to stay together during lockdown. Tnm StaffAmazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video announced on Friday, July 9, that popular Sandalwood actors Nagabhushan and Bhoomi Shetty’s Kannada movie Ikkat will be streaming on the Ott platform, as a part of its Prime day celebrations. Written, edited and directed by Esham and Haseen Khan, comedy flick Ikkat will be streaming on Amazon Prime Video from July 21. A Pawan Kumar Studios film and a Rocket Science Entertainment Production, Ikkat is a story set against the backdrop of the lockdown. The word Ikkat means ‘congestion’ or ‘to be in a tight situation’, bearing a resemblance with the lockdown. The story revolves around an unhappy married couple who are on the verge of getting a divorce, but are forced to spend time with each other when a nationwide lockdown...

SandalwoodThe song is part of Danish Sait's upcoming film ‘French Biriyani’ which is releasing on Amazon Prime Video.Alithea Stephanie MounikaScreengrabActor and comedian Danish Sait, who has become all the more famous for his much awaited one-minute videos of a Bengalurean’s life during the lockdown, premiered a fresh new track from his upcoming film French Biriyani, on Saturday. The number titled 'The Bengaluru Song' was released on YouTube. It’s a rap song along with a dance sequence which pays homage to various iconic locations in Bengaluru city, while Danish Sait drives through the city in his auto. The music video features many monuments in the city, including the Majestic bus stand, parts of Shivajinagar, various buildings in and around Cubbon Park including the state library and Karnataka High Court. It also pays homage to the statues of Tipu Sultan, Mahatma Gandhi and late Kannada actor Rajkumar. The...