NEW DELHI: The Government has earned around Rs 5.28 million from shooting of films in the precincts of protected monuments during the last three years.
Culture minister Kumar Selja told Parliament that the income in 2011-12 was Rs 5.42 million.
The revenue earned in 2009-10 was Rs 4.11 million while it rose to Rs 5.74 million in 2010-11.
The minister denied that there was any plan to enhance the rates of filming and organising concerts at centrally protected monuments.
MUMBAI: PVR Ltd has announced the opening of the first multiplex at Rama Magneto the Mall in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh.
With this launch in Bilaspur, PVR now has eight screens and two multiplexes in two key cities of Chhattisgarh including four screens and 1212 seats in Raipur.
The 27,821 sq ft multiples will have a capacity of 792 seats and will provide an digital movie experience to the cine goers of the city at ticket prices ranging from Rs 70 to Rs 160.
PVR Ltd group president Pramod Arora said, “We are extremely delighted to launch PVR Cinemas in Bilaspur, the second largest city of the state of Chhattisgarh. The launch in Bilaspur is part of PVR Ltd.‘s organic growth strategy and is another step in its efforts in reaching out to patrons in tier II cities. We are looking forward to provide a world class movie experience to other centres in Chhattisgarh as well. Also we will be expanding to other cities like Pune, Mysore and are hoping to add another 64 screens by the end of this financial year. It is PVR‘s constant endeavour to reach out to our patrons across cities and create benchmarks in entertainment and we understand that Raipur has a discerning audience who are ready to experience the new and international cinematic wave”
Rama Magneto the Mall director Sandeep Agrawal said, “We are extremely pleased to form an association with PVR Cinemas. They are the leaders in the entertainment space and we are delighted with the opening of PVR Cinemas in our mall. The quality entertainment experience offered by PVR Digital Cinema will change the way the cinema lovers in the city will watch movies. With digital projection, high-quality sound system, and comfortable seats in all Audis, PVR will surely provide an ultimate movie experience to the people and we hope to receive a positive response from the people here.”
With the launch in Bilaspur, PVR stands at 188 screens in 43 cinemas in 13 states and 26 cities across India.
MUMBAI: Hyderabad-based DQ Entertainment has entered a global promotional partnership with Burger King Worldwide (BKW) that will commence from the summer of 2013.
The participating Burger King restaurants in more than 12,000 locations worldwide will launch an integrated marketing campaign meant to be highlighted by in-restaurant merchandising and promotional themed toys featuring The Jungle Book characters.
“Burger King is proud to feature The Jungle Book property to complement and enhance the excitement of our kids meal offerings during this promotional partnership,” said Burger King Corp. vice president, marketing and R&D, Latin America and Caribbean Jose R. Costa.
The Jungle Book promotion is based on The Jungle Book TV series – seasons 1 and 2, and The Jungle Book Feature Film that is currently being produced by DQE.
DQE chairman and CEO Tapaas Chakravarti said, “Burger King is the second largest hamburger chain in the world. With The Jungle Book airing successfully in territories such as the US, Canada, Germany, France and UK, this collaboration provides strong synergies and will further increase the fan base of this classic property.”
MUMBAI: Following the Centre‘s new rules on smoking scenes in films, director Madhur Bhandarkar has declared that his upcoming film Heroine will have an anti-smoking advertisement.
“In the beginning, Kareena will address the warning and also for the interval part as well,” Bhandarkar said.
It may be noted that recently, the Centre had informed the Supreme Court that it was bringing a new notification to regulate smoking scenes in films and television programmes. The notification would allow the smoking scenes, with statutory warnings alongside. Also, the film will have a 20-second anti-smoking promo at the beginning and again after the interval, it had observed.
Though she is quite excited, Kareena Kapoor, who plays the protagonist in the film, has not set any box office target. “We have not fixed any target, we want people to see the film and enjoy it. We are very excited about it. We are eager to know about the fate of the film,” she averred.
The film is set to release on 21 September.
MUMBAI: Film buffs fond of old classics can now watch the country‘s first silent film Raja Harishchandra on DVD.
Produced by Dadasaheb Phalke, the film was first exhibited on 3 May 1913, is now being distributed in the DVD format by the city-based National Film Archives of India (NFAI), according to its director Prashant Pathrabe.
“The decision to make DVDs of the silent movies was taken in view of a long felt need to reach the general masses, who are interested in having an access to the historically significant work of pioneers of Indian cinema,” Pathrabe said in a statement.
Along with the Phalke film, five other silent films, that marked the beginning of the Indian film industry, would also be now available in DVD format.
Elaborating on the significance of the first film, produced by the father of Indian cinema, Pathrabe said, “Raja Harishchandra was made by Phalke overcoming all odds and financial difficulties and also social stigma attached to films a century ago. He was almost ex-communicated (in Maharashtra). He was unable to seek a heroine for his film and the female characters were enacted by men. One Salunke played the female role of Taramati in this mythological film.”
MUMBAI: Filmmaker Anthony E Zuiker‘s film has announced that his film Cybergeddon will premiere on 25 September. The film is produced by Zuiker‘s production company Dare to Pass in collaboration with Dolphin Digital Studios.
Cybergeddon will debut exclusively in over 25 countries and 10 languages on Yahoo! in a series of nine digital chapters – three per day over the course of three consecutive days.
“Cybergeddon is a cinematic experience that breaks traditional rules. With the global distribution arm of Yahoo!, we will give viewers a way to have more to do after watching the segments to gain more knowledge and further interact with the storyline and cast,” commented Zuiker.
The film is about the growing threat of cybercrime starring Olivier Martinez and Missy Peregrym. It follows the story of agent Chloe Jocelyn as she investigates a slew of seemingly unrelated cyberattacks with fellow agent Frank Parker and incarcerated master hacker Chase ‘Rabbit‘ Rosen. Chloe and her team must crack the worldwide cybercrime ring led by Gustov Dobreff before it is too late. In a world where everyone is connected, everyone is at risk.
The experience on Yahoo! includes an immersive site featuring additional clips that provide a deeper narrative with the characters, exclusive on-set photos, behind-the-scenes clips and interviews with the cast and crew. It will also host a special section where people can go to learn more about the stark realities of cybercrime.
MUMBAI: The Raaz legacy continues even after a decade. But when it comes to most Hindi films, sequels usually don‘t have anything to do with the predecessor except cashing in on the title of a successful film. Raaz3 3-D, like earlier films, is also a supernatural thriller. The story having little new to offer, the film‘s draw is the brand equity of the title, Emraan Hashmi and special effects in 3-D format.
It is a film awards ceremony and the one who has worshipped all the gods, kept all the mannats and tied all sorts of sacred threads, Bipasha Basu, rises to collect the award for the best actress even before any name is announced. When the name of the winner is announced, it is not her but a relative newcomer, Esha Gupta. Shattered Basu loses all her faith in God and takes to a totally anti-God route, that of the world of the dead, to help her dethrone Gupta and reclaim her top position in the film world.
Hashmi is a successful film director. He is the protégé of Basu, the number one heroine who has taken him from a spot boy and an assistant to the position of the topmost director. She has also been having an affair with him for some years away from the media glare. But while Hashmi is now on top, Basu is losing her ground gradually as Gupta takes over her place. Basu is fanatic about her status and at no cost would she let Gupta take it away. There is a reason beyond professional jealousy: Gupta is her half-sister, being the daughter of her father‘s paramour. Basu feels that Gupta has deprived her of all things that she could have got from her father, things that were rightfully hers. Her view is that Gupta not only took away her father and her benefits but is now also taking away her career.
Basu is advised that her gods have failed her and the only way she can get at Gupta is through the world of the dead. To execute her revenge with Gupta, she ropes in Hashmi as her accomplice. He is totally under her spell and madly in love with her. She wants Hashmi to cast Gupta in his next film and use the opportunity to serve her water from an evil soul. Every time Gupta is fed that water, she is subjected to bad dreams, hallucinations and other horrific experiences that drive her mad. This is Basu‘s ultimate objective: to convince the world that Gupta is insane so that her producers back out.
Gupta starts losing grip on her life and is driven to the point where, at one party, she imagines a horde of cockroaches attacking her while she is in the loo. Exasperated, she streaks across the floor, making a dash for the open arena full of invitees; a just case for everyone to brand her as mad. Hashmi sees her plight but he is guilty of being a party to this treatment of Gupta. The inevitable happens and he falls for the vulnerable Gupta, something that Basu had not counted on.
The story is predictable so it is for the 3-D and special effects to make the difference in this film. And, though Raaz 3 is not really scary, it does manage to give the viewer a jolt a few times thanks to its well-executed special effects. In fact, Raaz3 is a 3-D film with finesse thanks to Prasad and the supervision by the Weta experts. Photography is very good. While the background score by Raju Singh is effective, one can‘t say much about the songs, which have limited appeal. Vikram Bhatt has handled the film well despite having few characters to play with. The film offers the best role to Basu and she emerges tops despite playing a negative role. Hashmi is his usual self. Gupta does a satisfactory job.
Raaz3 3-D has opened to a very good response at multiplexes and should continue to hold its own to end the weekend on a happy note.
MUMBAI: The eagerly awaited 14th Mumbai Film Festival, Academy of Moving Image (MAMI) and Reliance Entertainment initiative will be held from 18 to 25 October.
The festival will be held in the south of Mumbai, heart of the City with NCPA and INOX as the festival venue. This development comes with growing demand from cinema enthusiasts to accommodate them in larger number, thereby expand the cinematic and cultural threshold and enrich their film festival experience.
To celebrate 100 years of Indian Cinema, Mumbai Film Festival has introduced a Competition section called “India Gold 2012” for Indian films with a cumulative cash reward of Rs 15 Lakh.
The Festival will pay tribute to Italian Cinema through a special selection of films in the Celebration of Italian Cinema, organized in collaboration with the Embassy of Italy in India and Mr. Italo Spinelli.
The package will include films from all major directors. Restored Italian classics ‘Maciste‘ (1915) and ‘Inferno‘ (1911) will form part of the package of restored world classics that will be screened during the Mumbai Film Festival.
Nine silent movies will be screened with live music at the 14th Mumbai Film Festival in order to celebrate 100 years of Indian cinema and to bring back the era of silent cinema. This will give the audience an idea of what early Indian cinema was like.
In addition to screening the best of World cinema to foster a climate of good cinema, the 14th Mumbai Film Festival aims to scale up its Film Market, the Mumbai Film Mart this year.
MUMBAI: The second edition of the Indian Film Festival at the Hague in Netherlands has arranged a retrospective of Shyam Benegal in which five of the noted director‘s films would be screened.
The films that would be screened are Ankur (1973), Bhumika (1976), Suraj ka Satvan Ghoda (1993), Sardari Begum (1996) and Zubeida (2001).
Other films that would be screened at the festival include Adaminte Makan Abu (Abu Son of Adam) by Salim Ahmed, Anhey Ghorhey Da Daan (Alms for the Blind Horse) by Gurvinder Singh, Chillar Party by Nitesh Tiwari and Vikas Bahl and Rajan Khosa‘s Gattu.
The second edition of the festival will be held from 3 to 7 October.
MUMBAI: India will be the guest of honour at the 35th Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival which will be held from 1-9 February next year.
Jacques Curtil, from the festival team, will soon be traveling to Kolkata, Chennai and Pune to view films and establish further contacts for the preparation of the Indian retrospective programmes at the festival.
The winning short films from Clermont-Ferrand will be screened in the above mentioned three cities in September.
The Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival, to be held from 1 to 9 February 2013, is one of the most important short film festivals in the world and the second largest film festival in France after Cannes in terms of audience and professional attendance.