ITV

Category: Hindi

  • Saif Ali Khan shoots special anti-smoking video to be played before screening of Go Goa Gone

    Saif Ali Khan shoots special anti-smoking video to be played before screening of Go Goa Gone

    MUMBAI: In response to protests by the National Organisation for Tobacco Eradication for showing Saif Ali Khan sporting a cigar in his mouth on the poster for his upcoming film Go Goa Gone, the actor has shot a special video to spread awareness about ills of tobacco.

    The video will play in the beginning of the movie where he plays the role of a cigar smoking Russian mafia lord Boris who turns into a zombie killer.

    Khan said, "I think smoking is a form of drug abuse. I do not believe in censorship, as in blanket banning. An appropriate age certificate must be set and then enforced. That is what the censor board is for. However, I understand with this freedom comes a social responsibility and I would like to warn the youth that smoking is a very dangerous habit."

    Earlier, health ministry had issued an order banning smoking scenes on screen, demanding that cigarette products be blurred or edited and such scenes be accompanied by a disclaimer.

    Speaking on the sidelines, producer and Khan‘s partner Dinesh Vijan said that initially Khan was reluctant to play a smoker onscreen.

    The film also stars actors Kunal Khemu, Vir Das, Anand Tiwary and Puja Gupta.

    The film, directed by Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK, will release on 10 May.

  • Himmatwala gets a lukewarm response at the BO

    Himmatwala gets a lukewarm response at the BO

    MUMBAI: Sajid Khan‘s remake of the 1983 hit Himmatwala failed to live up to expectations. With most of the audience and critics dismissing the movie, Himmatwala‘s chances at a thundering box office run seem bleak. Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter were flooded with jabs at the movie and the director with one of the jokes making the rounds in the trade being that Himmatwala is the first film to be titled after its viewer. The film had a weak opening compared to the hype and expectations and the collections fell further over the weekend collecting Rs 283 million for the first three days.

    Horror flick Aatma ended its first week with collections of Rs 83.5 million.

    Court room drama starring Boman Irani and Arshad Warsi Jolly LLB was steady in its second week adding Rs 91 million and took its 17 day total to Rs 278.5 million.

    Another south Indian remake that has backfired in recent times is Jackky Bhagnani satrrer Rangrezz which remained poor in its first week and managed to collect just Rs 61.5 million.
    Mere Dad Ki Maruti collected about Rs 25 million in its second week taking its 17 day total to Rs 101 million.

    Tigmanshu Dhulia‘s critically acclaimed and appreciated sequel to Saheb Biwi Gangster, Saheb Biwi Gangster Returns collected Rs 7.5 million in its third week to take its three week tally to Rs 214.5 million.

    Abhishek Kapoor‘s Kai Po Che which has been adapted from Chetan Bhagat‘s Three Mistakes of my Life collected Rs 11 million in its fifth week taking its total collection since releasing to Rs 486 million.

  • Mahesh Babu seeks right of Jolly LLB in Tamil and Telugu

    Mahesh Babu seeks right of Jolly LLB in Tamil and Telugu

    MUMBAI: Just two weeks since its release, the Boman Irani and Arshad Warsi-starrer Jolly LLB has found a prospective buyer in Telugu star Mahesh Babu.

    The actor-producer is said to have met the producers, Fox Star Studios, for the rights to remake the film in Telugu and Tamil thus making the Subhash Kapoor-helmed film one of the few Hindi films in recent times which could be remade by a south-based producer.

    Speaking to indiantelevision.com Fox Star Studios‘s CEO Vijay Singh said, "We are in talks for the remake rights of Jolly LLB in Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam. This is perhaps the first Hindi film the remake rights of which is being sought in all three languages within two weeks of release. At this stage, we can say we are extremely pleased with the way things are shaping up."

  • Bengali filmmaker makes film based on Delhi gang rape

    Bengali filmmaker makes film based on Delhi gang rape

    NEW DELHI: While a private television channel had been refused permission to telecast a crime show based on this theme, a Bengali filmmaker inspired by the December protests over the gang rape of a 23-year-old trainee physiotherapist in New Delhi is hoping his film would help change people‘s mindset.

    Milan Bhowmik says the message of his film is that anti-rape laws or street protests alone cannot stop a social menace, and the conscience of people needs to be changed.

    Bhowmik‘s film, titled "Nirbhoya" in Bengali, is based on media reports of the incident and his meeting with the victim‘s family, although the film would have fictional characters in West Bengal.

    He admitted that it was the Delhi gang rape and the huge protest that rocked the nation which inspired the film but said the protests also provoked him to think if such an agitation alone can stop the crime.

    He also said incidents of rape had not shown a decline despite the protests and the change in law.

    Bhowmik said the film would have shots of the bus cruising through the streets of New Delhi and passing through several police checkpoints.

    While the filmmaker is little known outside West Bengal, the cast includes acting legend Soumitra Chatterjee.

    Bhowmik said filming for "Nirbhoya" is scheduled to finish next month and it would open in cinemas within a couple of months.

  • Himmatwala : No guts or glory

    Himmatwala : No guts or glory

    MUMBAI: Sajid Khan prefers to make entertainers but this time he decided to take a tried-and-tested formula and stick to it by remaking Himmatwala from 1983, which in turn was a remake of a Telugu hit, Ooriki Monagadu (1981). As was the case with the earlier version, this film too has a village backdrop. And instead of a contemporary setting which is how the main, multiplex and overseas audience likes it now, he has opted to keep it a 1983 story. However, by treating it like a spoof, the attempt to revisit the original is hurried and patchy and leaves it in a mess.

    Ajay Devgn has returned to Rampur to avenge his father‘s death caused by the village sarpanch, Mahesh Manjrekar, aided by his brother-in-law, Paresh Rawal. Manjrekar is a tyrant who has usurped the land and property of each and every villager and treats them like his slaves. Nobody dare oppose him. Years back he had framed Devgn‘s father, the local priest, and shamed him in front of people to the extent that he committed suicide. A young Devgn‘s attempt to kill him fails. The goons chase him and set fire to his house but he runs away after his mother, Zarina Wahab and sister goad him to.

    Devgn grows up in an orphanage in a big city and is informed that contrary to what he believed, his mother and sister are very much alive but in a bad shape. He decides to return to look after them as well as to avenge his father‘s death. Being a Devgn film, the original social musical is turned into an action movie. His skills are already established as a street fighter who brawls for money.

    Devgn, on his arrival to the village, starts the clean up first tackling Rawal and then, immediately, neutralising Manjrekar. What is the purpose of carrying on your film once your main villain is humiliated and defeated? None, really, and that is what happens with rest of the film. The villainy is now reduced to comic villains‘ scheming and plotting to little effect.

    If Manjrekar is a tyrant, his daughter, Tamannaah, is more so. When Devgn crosses her path, she sends goons after him. Of course, they are no match for this super-powerful man. Next, she lets loose a tiger on him. Things go wrong, and instead of her enemy, she is about to become the tiger‘s prey. Devgn stands between her and the tiger and saves her. Love happens. Songs and dance follow. When you are borrowing a film, you might as well dig a bit more and also take songs from the original. So we have two songs from the earlier Himmatwala. Thanks to Bappi Lahiri‘s racy score, these remain the only good tunes in the film.

    Since the villains are already neutralised, the fights are outsourced to a bunch of toughies. Street fighters are brought in to make the climax action-packed but when Devgn can‘t win against this well-armed bunch, who will save the family? It is time to invoke superpower, the Goddess Durga. The tiger, which Devgn had fought and later befriended, returns to chase the villains away. RIP Manmohan Desai.

    Himmatwala is badly scripted and the director does not seem to be serious about this film. As one of the dialogues in the films suggests, it is 1983 story so anything goes! That also seems to be director Sajid Khan‘s approach to the film. The climax is stretched. There is nothing much for actors to do. Devgn is happy being Himmatwala with action scenes. Tamannaah is okay. Manjrekar hams it up. Wahab is sincere. Whatever little entertainment the film offers is thanks to Rawal.

    Himmatwala will find it tough to sustain after the weekend as despite a holiday today, the opening is below par.

  • Sanjay Dutt not to seek pardon; Katju appeals to President for forgiveness on humanitarian grounds

    Sanjay Dutt not to seek pardon; Katju appeals to President for forgiveness on humanitarian grounds

    NEW DELHI: Even though actor Sanjay Dutt has said he would surrender when the time comes and would not be seeking pardon, Press Council of India Justice Markandey Katju has sent a written appeal to President Pranab Mukherjee seeking pardon for the actor and a 71-year old woman.

    Both Dutt and the woman were sentenced to five years in jail by the Supreme Court last week in a case related to the 1993 Bombay blasts. Dutt has already served eighteen months in prison.

    On 21 March, the apex court asked Dutt – convicted of illegal possession of weapons – to surrender within four weeks.

    Asked about Dutt‘s statement, Justice Katju said, "That makes no difference to me…I will appeal for him because he is not a terrorist and he has been in jail for 18 months. He has suffered a lot and in a way he has faced is punishment."

    A copy of the letter has also been sent to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde.

    Earlier, Justice Katju had written to the Maharashtra Governor, pointing out that Article 161 of the Constitution grants Governors and the President the authority to pardon or reduce a sentence. In his letter, he had said that the Supreme Court has not found Sanjay Dutt guilty for the 1993 bomb blasts, but only found him guilty of having in his possession a prohibited weapon without licence. He reiterated his stand today.

    When asked on what grounds he was seeking pardon for Mr Dutt, Justice Katju said that "public good is one of them, there can be many other considerations like humanitarian considerations for grant of pardon," and added that the order of the President and a Governor is not subject to judiciary review.

    Justice Katju also said that he had issued his appeal for Dutt without having interacted or spoken to the actor.

    "I have not talked to Sanjay Dutt, I have not contacted him, and he has not approached me. In my first appeal which I issued for pardon, I did it without contacting him," he said.

    Speaking out for the first time since the Supreme Court convicted him, 53-year old Dutt had appealed to the media for privacy and said: "…When I am not going for pardon, there is no debate."

    An emotional Dutt, who broke down while addressing the media in Mumbai, said he had the highest respect for the court. "This a very, very tough time," he said. "Just let me be in peace till I go in." He said he felt shattered.

    He said he loved his country. He also said he would be completing his work commitments.

  • Sachin Pilgaonkar launches daughter Shriya in Ekulti Ek

    Sachin Pilgaonkar launches daughter Shriya in Ekulti Ek

    MUMBAI: UFO Moviez India Ltd, the world‘s largest satellite-based digital cinema network has in association with Sushriya Chitra announced a first-of-its kind film marketing campaign for the upcoming Marathi film Ekulti Ek by way of a contest.

    Directed by veteran actor-director Sachin Pilgaonkar, Ekulti Ek will be the debut film for Sachin‘s daughter Shriya Pilgaonkar.

    As part of the contest, audiences (daughters) in UFO theatres will be invited to share their real life stories about what they have done for their fathers and winning father-daughter duos will be invited to participate in the film‘s promotion.

    "Every parent documents his/her child‘s every childhood memory in pictures. Even I did the same with Shriya. But now, she is all grown up girl and I decided to do something big for her. And that‘s my thought behind producing Ekulti Ek," averred Sachin.

    "I‘m happy and excited to partner with UFO Moviez on this unique contest to bring real-life father-daughter stories to Indian screens. Today, Indians are increasingly sensitised to respect, honour and appreciate the multiple roles women play in our lives.

    The father-daughter relationship is being explored in a special way in this film. By screening first-of-their-kind promos featuring daughters and dads in UFO digital theatres, we hope to establish a stronger connect with audiences," the filmmaker added.

    Said an excited Shriya Pilgaonkar, "Ekulti Ek is film in which my father‘s immeasurable experience and my rawness finds a beautiful balance."

  • Ranbir, Anushka to join Boman Irani in hosting TOIFA

    Ranbir, Anushka to join Boman Irani in hosting TOIFA

    MUMBAI: Bollywood heartthrobs Ranbir Kapoor and Anushka Sharma will join veteran actor Boman Irani in hosting the first Times of India Film Awards (TOIFA) in Vancouver.

    The TOIFA will take place on 6 April.

    The two heartthrobs have been pitted together in Anurag Kashyap‘s forthcoming film Bombay Velvet.

    Irani was most recently seen as a mean but popular lawyer in ‘Jolly LLB‘.

  • Weinstein Company acquires US distribution rights of YRF’s Grace of Monaco

    Weinstein Company acquires US distribution rights of YRF’s Grace of Monaco

    MUMBAI: The Weinstein Company (TWC) has acquired the US distribution rights of YRF Entertainment‘s upcoming international fare Grace Of Monaco produced by Uday Chopra.


    The film is directed by Olivier Dahan from a screenplay by Arash Amel. Pierre-Ange le Pogam of Stone Angels and Arash Amel are the co-producers.


    Commenting on the deal, Dahan said: “It has been a wonderful experience to be working with Nicole, Tim, Frank, and the whole group. I am very happy now to share the experience with Monsieur Weinstein and the whole team at TWC. This is exciting.”
     
    Grace Of Monaco is set to release on 27 December. Its release has been based on the model the company used for the Academy Award winning Iron Lady.


    “More than thirty years after her death, Grace Kelly‘s story continues to be one of insurmountable allure and we are so happy Olivier Dahan has brought it new life,” said TWC Co-Chairman Harvey Weinstein. “As always, Nicole Kidman‘s commanding performance is the perfect portrait of a woman who was not only royalty, but who also remains a legend of the silver screen and fashion icon,” he added.


    Grace Of Monaco tells the story of efforts by the late Princess Grace of Monaco to make peace between her adopted country and France. The 33-year old Grace, having just given up an acting career to become Monaco‘s First Lady, maneuvered through a political minefield to resolve the situation.


    The film stars Academy Award winner Nicole Kidman in the lead role as Grace Kelly and Tim Roth as her husband Prince Rainier III. The film also features Frank Langella, Paz Vega, Parker Posey, Milo Ventimiglia and Derek Jacobi in supporting roles.


    Soumitra Chatterjee is ready; no for any shot of Sandip Roy. He is ready to face Abbey Lustgarten who is behind the camera. Do you know Abbey? This lady is in the charge of making special collections of Sayajit Ray‘s special 18 films. Soumitra is before Abbey to answer her questions about Apur Sanssar , Charulata and Kapurush O Mahapurush.


    Abbey is associated with Criterion Collection the role of which is to restore the classic films of Chap lion, Bergman, Kurosawa and others. If you are interested to view all these movies you can have the chance to visit them a new. Sandip Ray son of Satyajit Ray is overwhelmed while speaking about the American company. According to him the film would be digitally restored by the organisation.As a result the film will be morre dazzling and some shots that have not been viewed beforehand are to be viewed with the aid of their expertise.


    Besides these there are the dialogues of the persons who are associated with those films. It can be known from the page of the script what idea was tormenting the director at the very time.You can have the idea of costume, posters too. The added thing you are to get is the opinions of the specialists that will help you to make the film more comprehensible. Abbey Lustgarten informs.


    According to Sandip Ray the team of Abbey Lustgarten have come to India with perfect homework so it is not easy to dupe them by any means. Already the interview of Sharmila Tagore has been taken. In Kolkata Madhabi Mukhopadhyay, Ramesh Sen and Soumendu Roy have been contacted too from the part of the team.

  • Viacom 18’s G.I. JOE: Retaliation releasing in India ahead of international release

    Viacom 18’s G.I. JOE: Retaliation releasing in India ahead of international release

    MUMBAI: G.I. JOE: Retaliation, the follow-up to the 2009 release G.I. JOE: Rise of the Cobra, is releasing in India first ahead of its international release.

    Out in theaters on 27 March, director Jon M. Chu‘s movie stars an ensemble cast of biggies like Bruce Willis, Channing Tatum, Dwayne Johnson along with D.J. Cotrona, Adrianne Palicki, Ray Park, Jonathan Pryce and Ray Stevenson.

    Additionally, the team behind the film has associated with WWE for a very special contest and bonanza for fans.

    The contest will give audience an opportunity to see Dwayne ‘The Rock‘ Johnson aka the WWE Champion live in action and get an all expense paid trip to New York to watch Wrestle Mania 29, Hall of Fame & Fan Axxxess.

    The creative team of Viacom 18 Motion Pictures will leave no stone unturned to publicise the promos of the contest on a popular English movie channel, along with radio campaigns on top stations backed by outdoor hoardings as well.

    Says Viacom18 Motion Pictures head of marketing Rudrarup Datta, "Viacom18 Motion Pictures and & WWE India join hands in activating a nation wide contest with the international summer 3D blockbuster GI Joe-Retaliation starring Dwayne ‘The Rock‘ Johnson and Wrestle Mania 29. Dwayne who is the current WWE champion will be the face of the campaign.

    The campaign is built on the synergised attributes of "Raw Power", "Never say die attitude" and "Global scale" which is common to both the properties.

    As part of the promotion two "lucky" winners will get an All Expense paid trip to New York to witness Wrestle Mania on the 7 April in New York Live. People also stand a chance to win interesting official WWE merchandise and invites to a special WWE Party in Mumbai.