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Director Manish Gupta reflects on his film The Stoneman Murders with Subhash K Jha.

In the era when mobile phones weren’t even dreamt of, characters in our films connected on landlines or not at all. Into this world of conditional connectivity crept a collage of crimes and confusion only because punishment, justice, and retribution were not linked closely enough. In The Stoneman Murders, writer-director Manish Gupta and co-producers Sheetal Talwar and Bobby Bedi take us into the anarchy of an era when technology was tenuous, and crime meant smuggling and racketeering rather than extortion and terrorism.

Serial killing is still an alien crime in India. The phenomenon made a rare appearance on our streets in the mid-1980s when an unidentified wacko went around bashing in the faces of sleeping pavement dwellers in the dead of night with a rock.

India’s first certifiable rock star from hell? It...

Every now and then, a serial or psychopath killer emerges from the dark alleys and haunt the world with gruesome killings and their modus operandi. More recently, a serial killer in Madhya Pradesh murdered 6 people.

The accused, Shiv Prasad Dhurve, named ‘The Stoneman’, was arrested from Bhopal after 10 teams of Sagar police with 250 personnel were given the task of nabbing him. The accused was arrested on the basis of CCTV footage, a sketch and Gps tracking.

He has confessed to his crimes saying that he was on a mission to murder security guards who used to sleep during their duty hours. His modus operandi was to bludgeon the heads of his victims with a stone or a heavy blunt object.

Over centuries, there have been several serial killers such as Jack The Ripper, Ted Bundy, Charles Sobhraj and several others who have caught the fancy of filmmakers and storytellers.

The...

Actor Vishwajeet Soni is popular as Prem Chaudhary in the sitcom series Bhabiji Ghar Par Hain!. Soni, who was earlier a mimicry artiste, says the comedy show has given him a new identity in the entertainment industry.

Prem Chaudhary is a buddy of Vibhuti, one of the protagonists, essayed by Aasif Sheikh. Prem is an impersonator of popular screen villain Prem Chopra, is rich but is always involved in illegal activities such as gambling and smuggling. Despite this, he helps Vibhuti in his bad times, though Vibhuti's wife Anita (Nehha Pendse) resents him.

Talking about his journey on the show, Soni said, "I got a call from the makers and they told me to do a character based on the personality of Prem Chopra ji. It's been around six years that I am still a part of the show. I would like to thank the entire cast and crew because they have supported me.

Reliance Home Video has launched true to subject & hard-hitting film Hostel on DVD and Vcd. Inspired by true life events, Hostel takes on the subject of sadistic ragging in Indian educational institutions. The film explores the psychology behind ragging and its disastrous effects on a student's psyche. Hostel is written and directed by Manish Gupta, who has scripted Sarkar (2005) and has directed The Stoneman Murders in the past. Manish has brought to light the sadistic practice that has become a ritual wherein students are beaten up, stripped, paraded naked, starved, tortured, molested and even raped by their seniors. The film is a shocking eye-opener about this evil practice and is a wake-up call for one and all.

Vatsal Seth, Tulip Joshi and Mukesh Tiwari form the essential cast of this action-packed film. The story unfolds when Karan (Vatsal Sheth) takes admission in an engineering college in the interiors of Maharashtra.

Reliance Home Video has launched true to subject & hard-hitting film Hostel on DVD and Vcd. Inspired by true life events, Hostel takes on the subject of sadistic ragging in Indian educational institutions. The film explores the psychology behind ragging and its disastrous effects on a student’s psyche. Hostel is written and directed by Manish Gupta, who has scripted Sarkar (2005) and has directed The Stoneman Murders in the past.

In my college, ragging used to be an innocuous activity. In fact, our very own professors would ask our seniors to rag us. We were made to sing songs and dance on benches. And everyone (including our professors) used to have a merry time! This was basically done to break the ice between the seniors and us. Even in our films, ragging is portrayed in a very humorous way. Munnabhai M.B.B.S and 3 Idiots didn’t depict ragging as a very grim issue. But there is a flip to this, and Manish Gupta (The Stoneman Murders) attempts to address the issue as a menace.

Writer-Director Manish Gupta who has a track record of writing hard-hitting, realistic films like Sarkar and The Stoneman Murders speaks about his next film Hostel. "Though I loved and thoroughly enjoyed Rajkumar Hirani's 3 Idiots and Munnabhai Mbbs, I was left a little dissatisfied at the way Ragging was portrayed in both films – since it was made to look funny. In my opinion, there's nothing funny about being stripped naked in front of the whole college and being tortured.

Writer-Director Manish Gupta who has a track record of writing hard-hitting, realistic films like Sarkar and The Stoneman Murders speaks about his next film Hostel. "Though I loved and thoroughly enjoyed Rajkumar Hirani's 3 Idiots and Munnabhai Mbbs, I was left a little dissatisfied at the way Ragging was portrayed in both films - since it was made to look funny. In my opinion, there's nothing funny about being stripped naked in front of the whole college and being tortured.

India is badly affected by ragging, a form of abuse on newcomers to educational institutions and has reportedly caused at least 30 deaths in the last 7 years. This year alone 10 students have lost their lives due to the brutal practice of Ragging. Hostel is the only movie that addresses the issue of ragging. Hostel is a story inspired by true life events of various boys' hostels especially Aman Kachroo who had died a year back. Hostel is a film about a student played by Vatsal Sheth who enters a notorious hostel and is ragged by his seniors. It's not just about one incident but a string of incidents and is a hard-hitting reality-action film. It shows how students are tortured and harassed in the name of ragging. 'Ragging' is a sadistic practice that has become a ritual in most of the Indian hostels. Sadly, the students who are a victim of...

Manish Gupta, writer of Sarkar and director to The Stoneman Murders is back yet again with a hard-hitting film all about hostel life in India. Ragging, which is a well-known problem in India, has recently caught the eye of many social activists as the number of students who commit suicide after extreme ragging or bullying, simply find themselves helpless. Gupta takes on this serious issue with his upcoming film Hostel. While the cast is relatively unknown, the plot seems relative to current times. Check out a teaser from the film.

If you don't know Manish Gupta, you'll really wish you did. The writer of a number of critically acclaimed films, with Sarkar taking top honors in his career graph, is one of the most real and honest filmmakers around, as I very quickly learnt. When he realized that other directors weren't doing justice to his films, the writer took it upon himself to start direction. It was then that Gupta wrote and directed the murder mystery, The Stoneman Murders. The film didn't do as well as it should have at the box office but gained Gupta much critical acclaim. Next in line is Gupta's film on the heinous 26/11 Mumbai Terror Attacks titled, Mumbai v/s Ajmal Kasab. The film intends to fully divulge the real reasons behind the 26/11 attacks and incidents leading up to the horrific night that lasted over 60 hours long. Manish Gupta talks to BollySpice in a tell-all...

Post his success with Sarkar and critical acclaimed received for The Stoneman Murders, Manish Gupta’s next film will be based on the 26/11 heinous attacks and Ajmal Kasab. While the film is facing some budget issues, it is scheduled to hit the floors any day and the cast is yet to be finalized.

The writer promises a film filled with "credible proof" and most of his script is based on factual evidence he has accumulated from a reputed crime reporter as well as the 40-page court document and from local journalists who have attended the court hearings. "The script of the film is ready and is backed by credible proof. I know how sensitive the topic is and thus I have ensured that Kasab is not glamorized or sympathized with in my film," clarifies the writer-director

The reason for making the film was simple, "Nobody really knows why 26/11 happened. Only...

Now such a blatant scene with a dialogue like that was never used in any mainstream Indian movie before this. No wonder it came as a shocker.

So when it was done, the Indian censor board was like stunned big time and decided to do something about it quickly.

Anyway the self appointed guardians of morality need chances like that to snip scenes in movies, and this was going way too far and provoking them.

We’re talking of realistic filmmaker Manish Gupta’s ‘Hostel’. He’s made ‘The Stoneman Murders’ which wasn’t that well received and he decided to become more real this time around.

The buzz is that the film revolves around a bunch of students living in a hostel based on a story the director.

Movie Review: The Stone Man; Star Cast: Kay Kay Menon, Arbaaz Khan, Rukhsar and Vikram Gokhale; Director: Manish Gupta; Rating: ***

The film takes place in the city of Mumbai, where serial killings are taking place at a rapid pace. The serial killer, who has been named ‘Stoneman’ by the media - due to the way he kills people, has already claimed his fifth victim. Still, the case seems to be of little interest to Mumbai Police force. However, there is one person in, rather out of, the police who deems it to be of great importance - suspended sub-inspector.