Four varied, but not-to-be missed films, release on Ster-Kinekor’s big screens during May
All the drama, romance, passion, vibrant colours, amazing music and superstars that Bollywood fans have come to love from their movies, will be out in full force in May. Four very different, but much anticipated movies are releasing on the big screen at select Ster-Kinekor cinemas over the next three weeks, promising something for everyone.
First up are two titles releasing this Friday, 12 May – one for those who love a good romcom with the right music, in the form of Meri Pyaari Bindu, while the other is a political drama, Sarkar 3, starring one of Bollywood’s biggest stars, Amitabh Bachchan. Another film with romance and drama at its core – Half Girlfriend – releases the following week on 19 May, while a film that pays tribute to India’s ‘God of Cricket’, Sir Sachin Tendulkar, in Sachin: A Billion Dream hits the cinema screens for a six from Friday, 26 May.
SARKAR 3 (12 May)
The third film in Ram Gopal Varma’s Sarkar trilogy chronicles the exploits of a powerful political figure. Annu Karkare (Yami Gautam) conspires and attempts to avenge the death of her father, for which she blames “Sarkar” (Amitabh Bachchan). Juxtaposed with the situation is Sarkar’s own personal battles with his volatile grandson Shivaji Nagre or “Cheeku” (Amit Sadh), while the political and corporate diaspora pose threats to Sarkar’s dominance. Assisted by his aide Gokul Satam (Ronit Roy), Sarkar deals with one of his greatest adversaries in the form of Michael Valya (Jackie Shroff) and the moody and seemingly violent politician Govind Deshpande (Manoj Bajpayee).
Directed by Ram Gopal Varma, and co written by Ram Gopal Varma and Nilesh Girkar, Sarkar 3 releases on 12 May at Ster-Kinekor Gateway in Durban, The Zone in Johannesburg and Forest Hill in Centurion. The film will also be released at two of Ster-Kinekor’s sites outside South Africa, at The Grove-Namibia in Windhoek, Namibia, and at Sam Levy in Harare, Zimbabwe.
MERI PYAARI BINDU (12 May)
Fed up with the lack of critical appreciation despite being a successful writer, Abhimanyu Roy (Ayushmann Khurrana) returns to his roots in Kolkata to write more meaningful literature and decides on an old-fashioned love story, which is now three years in the making. The problem is that this writer’s block is Bindu (Parineeti Chopra). How do you contain an unpredictable, crazy, restless, larger than life, live wire in the pages of a book?
But, where to begin and where to end? When Abhi comes across an old audio cassette of their favourite playlist, it sends him down memory lane. As he waltzes in and out of his past and present through the songs on the tape, he finally faces reality and reconnects with his roots, with his family and his novel starts writing itself… but, as with life, there are always a few surprises along the way!
Directed by Akshay Roy, Meri Pyaari Bindu will be screened at Ster-Kinekor at The Zone in Johannesburg, Forest Hill in Centurion and Gateway in Durban, from Friday, 12 May.
HALF GIRLFRIEND (19 May)
Half Girlfriend is based on the coming-of-age, young adult romantic novel by Indian author Chetan Bhagat. The film revolves around Madhav (Arjun Kapoor), who meets a girl named Riya (Shraddha Kapoor) and falls madly in love with her. However, Riya has other ideas. After struggling to convince her to be his girlfriend, Madhav has to contend with Riya’s half-hearted agreement to be his ‘half-girlfriend’.
Directed by Mohit Suri, Half Girlfriend also stars South African-born actor Greg Kriek as a US immigration officer, and features a great soundtrack.
The film releases on Friday, 19 May at Ster-Kinekor cinemas at The Zone in Rosebank, Sandton and Newtown Junction in Johannesburg, Forest Hill in Pretoria, Carnival City on the East Rand, Gateway in Durban and Cavendish in Cape Town. The film will also be released at two of Ster-Kinekor’s sites outside South Africa, at The Arcades in Lusaka, Zambia, and at Sam Levy in Harare, Zimbabwe.
SACHIN: A BILLION DREAMS (26 May)
55 days of training. One pair of trousers. This is Sachin…
This is the real-life tale of a small boy with big dreams, and his journey to become the ‘God of Cricket’ and the most celebrated sportsperson in his country, India, and around the world. He made his test debut in the national team at just 16 years of age, and his unmatched career as cricketer and captain was as a result of determination, hard work and passion.
In this biopic, Sachin Tendulkar stars as himself, alongside other Indian cricketing greats including Mahendra Singh (M.S.) Dhoni and Virender Sehwag, with Mayuresh Pem as Nitin Tendulkar and Mayur More as Ajit Tendulkar.
Small in stature but regarded as the ‘God of Cricket’ by cricket fans, Sachin is widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket, and is the leading run-scorer and century-maker in both the Test and One Day International formats of the game. He is considered to be the most complete batsman of his time, and is arguably the most popular cricketing icon the world has seen.
Directed by James Erskine, Sachin: A Billion Dreams will be screened at Ster-Kinekor The Zone in Johannesburg, Forest Hill in Centurion, Gateway in Durban and at Cavendish in Cape Town, from Friday, 26 May.
Created by Oscar-winning music composer AR Rahman, listen to the official Sachin anthem song here: https://youtu.be/udfTPSL92z0 – it achieved more than 2-million views in just 20hrs.
For more information on Sarkar 3, Meri Pyaari Bindu, Half Girlfriend and Sachin: A Billion Dreams, releasing at Ster-Kinekor cinemas during May, and to book tickets, visit www.sterkinekor.com or download the SK App on your smartphone. You can also book at the box office. For news and updates, go to Facebook: Ster-Kinekor Theatres | follow Ster-Kinekor on Twitter: @sterkinekor. For all queries, call Ticketline on 0861-Movies (668 437).
