Week In

John Hughes to be honoured
Late writer and director John Hughes will be honoured at the Traverse City Film festival. The Lansing native, who passed away last year at the age of 59, is this year's recipient of the Michigan Filmmaker Award. Jeff Daniels and Christine Lahti have been past recipients. The award is to be dedicated posthumously to Hughes during the festival's opening night next Tuesday.

Week Out

Exit stage
Who can forget the quirky and flirty bespectacled character of a photojournalist essayed so wonderfully by Ravi Baswani in Jane Bhi Do Yaron (JBDY). The actor passed away at the age of 64 last Tuesday afternoon in Haldwani after having suffered a massive heart attack. Baswani shot to instant fame in 1981 with his debut film Chashme Baddoor made by Sai Paranjpe. In the film, he plays Jai Lakhanpal, a cigarette-filching student whose nickname is Jomo, a flamboyant dresser who constantly chases girls. In a career spanning 30 years, Baswani acted in just 30 films. Known to be a tough guy to please, Baswani believed contemporary Hindi cinema lacked soul and that it was obsessed with glamour and glitz. While co-stars of JBDY adapted to the industry's ways after the film's success, Baswani stuck to his scruples and chose to perform in only a handful of films. Just before his death, the actorturned-director was planning to make a film on the life of a 10-year-old boy who lives with his grandmother in the hills. While a sequel to JBDY was in the pipeline, without Baswani, a key protagonist, the project may remain a distant dream.

Aamir lends his touch
Aamir Khan has carved a niche for himself in Bollywood. And keeping with his quintessential avant-garde style of filmmaking, he completed the shoot of Peepli Live without the help of any extras. The producers decided to shoot the villagers of Bhadwai (Madhya Pradesh) going about their daily chores. Mahmood, the casting director of the film, says that the idea was to try and make space for the villagers. So if a goat would be passing, they would allow it to be a part of the shot. Peepli Live is a satirical film about farmers offering to commit suicide so as to avail government compensation.