Graham Greene was not only one of the greatest novelists of the 20th Century, but also a popular source for film plots. Seagull Bookstore is currently paying homage to both aspects of this beloved storyteller, to commemorate his birth centenary this year.

A book exhibition, with around 25 leading titles is on till August 6. Four films adapted from Greene’s works are also being screened over the next two weekends.

The Quiet American and The Heart of the Matter will be screened on August 6 and 7, respectively. The Third Man and The End of the Affair will follow next Friday and Saturday.

Unfortunately, the selection was restricted by limited availability, but the four should provide some solace to fans of the British author-journalist. The book selection, too, is restricted to the commonly available selection.

Michael Caine’s portrayal of London Times correspondent Thomas Fowler in The Quiet American is worth watching, not only for the rave reviews it got, but for the passion the actor put into the role.

Set in 1950s Vietnam and critical of US involvement in Indochina, it was put on the back burner by Miramax till Caine convinced the producers to have faith in the film. He finally won an Oscar nomination for best actor in 2003.

Catch the 1953 version of The Heart of the Matter, about a married police officer in war-torn West Africa who falls in love with another woman. If you miss it, watch out for Martin Scorsese, currently directing his version of this Greene classic.

The Third Man is a 1949 film noire based on Greene’s novella, which was apparently meant as a screenplay, never to be published. Greene himself believed that the film -- starring Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles -- was better than the “unfinished” story set in post-World War II Vienna.

The final film of the festival is The End of the Affair, starring Ralph Fiennes and Julianne Moore. The story is based on the writer’s real-life affair with Catherine Walston. The protagonist, Maurice Bendrix, falls in love with Sarah, his friend’s wife. Two years after she calls for an abrupt end to the affair, he meets her husband again and, fuelled by jealousy and grief, has Sarah followed. Keep your eyes on Moore...

Coming home to Tintin

The world’s most celebrated comic-strip reporter has turned 75. And, just in case you haven’t noticed, he is visiting our homes every week. Zee English has been beaming in the boy with the famous tuft of hair and the even more famous furry companion, created by Belgian artist Georges Rémi, also known as Hergé, for the magazine Le Petit Vingtième in 1929.

“Tintin is such a popular character with all age groups and what better time to celebrate his 75th birthday than now?” asks Abhijeet Saxena, business head, Zee English.

The show has been on air since June 17. But despite the channel’s feedback that it is “very popular amongst all age groups, mostly amongst kids and teenagers”, it has not caught on in Calcutta as yet, surely due to lack of Tintin talk on telly.

Though seven episodes are over, there is ample time to catch up with Professor Calculus and Captain Haddock and his crew in the rest of the series. “The show will be on air until March 2005,” informs Saxena. Like the original comic-strip, which has been translated into more than 50 languages, the television series too is originally a French production. It has been dubbed in English and distributed by Universal Studios worldwide.

The Adventures of Tintin is on view every Thursday. And coming up next in August are The Blue Lotus and The Black Island.

The half-hour date with Tintin and Snowy ticks off at 8.30 pm.

Back to Asimov

Will Smith: Cool cop

Billed as the biggest science fiction-cum-action film of the year, it hasn’t quite lived up to expectations in the US. I Robot might have been beaten at the box office by other films, but it still grossed almost $ 98 million in the first two weeks.

Ready to release in the city on August 13, the combination of actor Will Smith and director Alex Proyas is set to work some on-screen magic, with plenty of action and special effects.

But before the film based on a 1950 novel by sci-fi author Isaac Asimov even hits the halls, Star Movies has a sneak peek lined up this Sunday, at 9.30 pm.

Opening Night will offer an exclusive clip of the 20th Century Fox film set in the year 2035, starring Smith as cop Del Spooner and Bridget Moynahan as Susan Calvin, the scientist working for USR, the company manufacturing the robots.

The actor (and singer) plays a techno-phobic cop investigating a murder supposedly committed by a robot, Sonny, in an era where the mechanical beings do everything for humans. Because they are programmed to not hurt people — according to the three laws governing robotic behaviour laid down by Asimov — the murder, if committed by a robot, could have dangerous consequences.

Smith, a self-confessed gadget geek, is quoted in an interview in Wired magazine as saying: “What I love about I Robot is that the concept of ‘human logic’ is almost an oxymoron.”

If the trailer, broadcast on TV, is anything to go by, then it’s sure to be a thrill ride. But to make up your mind before you buy a ticket, tune in on August 8 for a glimpse of what the hype is all about. Also, watch out for more previews of upcoming films on Opening Night.

South slips east

The second Hooghly bridge, the banks of Ganga and the Victoria Memorial seem to have caught the fancy of Tamil film-makers. After Mani Rathnam trundled into town with a heavy-duty cast last year for Yuva — and blocked the better part of the bridge for the shoot — yet another Dravidian director is interested in capturing the Calcutta magic on screen. Only this time, it’s a Tamil film by a Tamil cast and crew. Director V.Z. Dhorai is scheduled to fly down with southern belle Gopika to can a few sequences for Tottijaya in mid-August. Starring Shilambarshan as the male lead, the film has Kalaituli S. Thanu (of Kamal Haasan’s Abhay fame) as producer.

Man of steel, Akki style

If Bollywood has Akshay Kumar, Tollywood has Tota Roy Chowdhury to match him — okay, not quite. At long last, Tollywood of tummy fame has found its fitness freak who prefers to work out religiously, flaunt his well-toned muscles and do his own stunts, like Akki himself.

The actor who shot to limelight as the soft-spoken Behari in Rituparno Ghosh’s Chokher Bali is gearing up to give his best in Tathagata Bhattacharya’s action-thriller Ispat.

“I will do my own stunts, as my director wants to present authentic martial arts,” says Tota, confident of his grounding in the world of kick ’n’ box.

So, before shooting starts in September, Tota is busy pumping up day in day out at his private gym. The Tolly top gun in tune with the times also makes it a point to surf the Net and read up magazines to keep abreast of his passion for action, and sometimes share it with the world.

Nagesh Kukunoor: Stumped

City blues

Calcutta does not always choose to see what the rest of India does. Or why should films that do rocking business in the rest of the country gross below par returns here? If Munnabhai MBBS’ poor run in the city made producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra send puzzled SMSs to acquaintances, cross-checking the figures from the distributors, the most recent example of the Calcuttan not going with the tide is Nagesh Kukunoor’s Hyderabad Blues 2. “The first week’s occupancy around the country was about 70 per cent, but in Calcutta it was just about 40 per cent,” informs Sanjeev Mehta, the India distribution head of UTV, the distributors of the film.

The story of Varun Naidu and Ashwini’s marital blues opened to three shows at INOX (Forum), three at INOX (City Centre), including a prime 3.55 pm afternoon slot, and two at 89 Cinemas, again including the evening show. By the end of the fourth week on July 30, it was down to just the morning show at INOX (Forum). This has come as quite a surprise to the maker of the film himself. “Hyderabad Blues did so well in the city. In fact, Calcutta responds well to my movies,” Kukunoor muses.

The exhibitors have their own theories — poor soundtrack, repeat of the cast of Hyderabad Blues which robbed it of a fresh look and tad too much Telugu. But the distributors say that the run is not over yet. “It has collected about Rs 1 crore, which makes it an average grosser,” Mehta says.