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Mr. Mani Shankar
Hyderabad based directors '16 December' is a never-before seen digital special effects film
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Hyderabad:
Hyderabad based Mani Shankar's debut Hindi feature film,'16 December'
has been released all over India on 22nd March by Columbia
Tristar. The film stars Milind Soman and model-turned-actress Dipannita
Sharma. The film also has Danny Denzongpa, Gulshan Grover, Sushant Singh playing key roles with a
special appearance by Aditi Govitrikar. The film is being produced
by iDream Production. The highlight of the movie is the 25 minutes
of never-before seen digital special effects.
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| The film's title
comes from the historical date of December 16, 1971 which is
Bangladesh's Victory Day and commemorates the day Bangladesh was
created. The date is only a reference point. It takes off from
the photograph of the Indian and Pakistani generals in Dhaka
signing the accord on that date. A day that turned the subcontinent's history and its
impact is still being felt. The film's setting is contemporary.
It takes on white-collar financial scams, contract killers and
terrorists. |
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Mr. Mani Shankar has made over 400 films, including music videos, corporate films, ad films, image building films and training films. In the process, winning several prestigious awards including the Golden Nandi award for best film and Nandi awards for best director, and best screenplay writer. In 1994, he created a series of music videos called
'Mujhko hai aasha.' It went on to air with demands of repeat telecast over the National networks. For the first time the music video format was used for image building purpose in Indian media.
In 1996, when insurgency was at its peak in Kashmir he was assigned by the Home ministry to make a music video with an anti terrorist message. The video was made with great risk in the heart of Dal Lake. This was screened over 3 thousand times by the Indian Government using it as serious anti terrorist message. It also featured several times on the BBC.
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In the same year he filmed an arduous travelogue in Tibet on the physical and spiritual journey to Kailash and
Manasarovar. To celebrate the fiftieth year of Indian Independence Mr. Mani
Shankar created an exclusive series of music videos aimed at the International satellite footprint of Southeast Asia. The Series
sponsored by Coca-Cola was called 'Meri Jaan Hindustan' and starred the biggest names in the Indian entertainment
industry- Kamal Haasan, Illaya Raaja, Nagarjuna, Lucky Ali,
Dr. L. Subramaniam, The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, M.M. Kreem, Remo
Fernandes, HariHaran, Vishal and Baba Sehgal.
Of these, one video with Lucky Ali was on the 'Kenwood MTV hit list' in the number one position for fourteen weeks, while the rest made it to the top ten for several weeks. The interesting aspect of this project was that the same music video also was on the top ten of Doordarshan Channel during that period. |
"Nee Kosam", and "Pasivada", two image building music videos made in telugu for the police department on 35mm for theater release got rave reviews from the press and public. These were subsequently made in Hindi for an all India release also.
He also made the official film on IT for the US President Bill Clinton during his visit to India and Hyderabad last year. President Clinton liked the short film so much that he actually asked for the master beta tape and took it aboard with him and also sent two personal letters of appreciation Mani
Shankar.
He runs his own production house Bhairav Films which is into short and documentary films, music videos, corporate films and TV
production. He prefers to work from his studio in Banjara Hills rather be influenced by the thought processes in Bollywood. Maju Kuriakose
Reachout's News Bureau
-March'
2002
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