Category: Hindi

MUMBAI: The 12th edition of the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards will take place in Toronto in June next year, making it the first North American city to host the awards ceremony.

Since the IIFA will be held at Toronto, many big names from the American film industry are being invited to attend. Of them is Cameron Diaz who will be sharing the dais with Amitabh Bachchan.

Says a source at the IIFA, “The IIFA organisers Wizcraft have already spoken to Diaz. Events are being planned to accommodate Bachchan and Diaz on the same platform for several discussions on the coming together of Bollywood and Hollywood.”

The IIFA will start off with a four-day festival and an industry forum.
 

MUMBAI: Directors of Film and Television are angered and up in arms against the amended copyright act.

Indian Film and Television Directors‘ Association (IFTDA) with its over 5,000 members have protested against the HRD ministry‘s parliamentary committee that has omitted the word ‘director‘ as the principal author from the list of beneficiaries in the revised Copyright Act.

Throughout the world, the film is considered as a work of art and treated as the director‘s personal vision. The European Union law protects the director‘s work like an original copyright holder. In America, director shares the bounty via residuals through the life of the film.

Comments director Krishna Shah, “American Directors‘ Guild is one of the most powerful trade bodies in Hollywood taking best possible care of its members. Where ever I may be, my copyright benefits from my earlier directorial ventures get passed on to me without fail. It is scary the way directors and their trade body out here get marginalized.”

Prominent film directors and representatives of IFTDA and their over 5000 members of Screen and TV directors and assistants feels insulted and humiliated by some of its associates from the film world misguiding/manipulating the concerned authorities for their ulterior motives. 

Says IFTDA CCO and Mumbai-based director Uday Shankar Pani, “Being refused of our very existence as the ‘author‘ of a film is like being convicted, sentenced without a trial. Our records show that time and again, IFTDA has written to ministry, referred by Maharashtra ex- CM Vilasrao Deshmukh and Union Minister Dr Veerappa Moily, pointing out our views and objections.

“Lack of any response and a sudden omission from the list proves a cleverly , manipulated ploy to keep the directors out. Such motives will only divide the film family in times to come and adversely affect the Indian Film Industry! Government should leave it to the film industry to sort out this issue among ourselves and then forward it to them for endorsement!”

Thus even the HRD Ministry that proposes to protect the rights of scriptwriters, lyricists, composers and sound recordists, has left out the film directors. Directors have got their heads together and are acting swiftly before the recommendations get tabled. They are determined to use all their power to keep up their prestige, honour by getting the copyright benefits.

If this is not done, the consequences to come in the future would be very bad. Come what may, director‘s will not leave their copyright and let some producers/actors/writers rule the game?

Grumbles director Mohan Siroya, “Now is not the time for mere seminars and discussions, but action. First thing is IFTDA, or similar bodies, if any, should immediately file a writ petition in the High Court or Supreme Court seeking directives not to pass the proposed amendments.”

Every one in the film industry says the man behind the ruckus is Javed Akhtar. “When it all started the ‘Principal Director‘ did appear on the top of the list of beneficiaries for copyright benefits. In the absence of any representation from Directors , they missed out being considered as ‘author‘ in the amended copyright Act by the parliamentary committee. Producers played a key role in getting the directors getting omitted from the list, ” Akhtar explains.
 

MUMBAI: Media research and consulting firm Ormax Media has launched ‘Stars India Love‘, a monthly Bollywood study that will track popularity of film stars.

As part of the study procedure, ‘Stars India Love‘ is conducted across five markets – Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Indore, among 2000 respondents every month, in the target group 15-34 years, SEC A and B. In the research, each respondent is asked to name his or her top two favorite male and female film stars each.

In the first track, conducted in November 2010, Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif have ranked as the most popular male and female star respectively. Among the female stars, Katrina (50 per cent share) is followed by Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (30% share). However the battle is tougher among males, with Salman (34 per cent share), closely followed by Shah Rukh Khan (31 per cent).

Among female stars, Kareena Kapoor, Kajol and Priyanka Chopra are on third, fourth and fifth place with 20 per cent, 18 per cent and 14 per cent share respectively. Whereas among the male stars, Aamir Khan (23 per cent), Hrithik Roshan (21 per cent) and Akshay Kumar (16 per cent) are among the top five list.

Speaking on the relevance of the monthly popularity tracking of Bollywood stars, Ormax Media CEO Shailesh Kapoor said, “With big releases every month and fresh stars constantly bursting on the seams, star popularity is a very dynamic parameter. Hence, a monthly track has wide usage across various industries.

“For an advertiser, it becomes imperative to know these changing trends, so that they can encash them in time for endorsement-related decisions. For TV channels, the findings can be useful inputs while deciding on celebrities for various reality shows. For film producers, it can affect casting and pricing decisions for upcoming film projects.”

Ormax Media had launched a similar tool in January, Small Wonders, a quarterly kids television study that ranks kids‘ favourite characters on television. In August 2009, it had launched a similar product for the Hindi GEC universe called ‘Characters India Loves‘, which is a quarterly study measuring the favourite television characters of Hindi GEC viewers.

MUMBAI: UTV Motion Pictures, the co-producers of Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif starrer Tees Maar Khan has claimed that the movie has found its place amongst the top three highest opening films ever, after Dabangg and 3Idiots.

The company said in a release that TMK‘s gross collection was Rs 630 million, while their net collection stands at Rs 420 million in India.

UTV also said that the film saw a great response overseas with large numbers like: In Pakistan, the film collected $58,000 again making it the highest opening day ever for a Hindi film in the country. In US the film grossed $850,000, in UK it brought in GBP 320,000 in the UAE the film grossed $550,000 while in Australia, the film broke all records with the highest opening day gross of $550,000.

MUMBAI: Tees Maar Khan, despite its ordinary merits and reports, makes the most of the Christmas weekend. Amply aided by its item number Sheela ki Jawani…. It takes tremendous opening at the box office; maintaining steady figures on Friday and Saturday at around Rs 130 million each. It registers a marginal drop on Sunday with Rs 117.5 million. While the weekend collections total up to Rs 375 million, the film starts a drastic slide as the new week begins with a drop in collections by more than 50 per cent.

Meanwhile, animation live action film Toonpur Ka Superhero fails to attract even kids, and Rajshri‘s blend of traditional family fare cum contemporary – Isi Life Mein- suffers on account of lack of face value and promotion. Both films fare poorly with no prospects any more.

Having opened to poor response, the three nondescript films released last week, Kaalo, 332 Mumbai To India and Payback join the also ran list with Mirch joining in despite ample appreciation from media as well as public.

No Problem has its share of problems at the box office adding just another Rs 74 million to its first week tally. In its two week of run, the movie has collected Rs 294 million.

Cashing in on open field, Band Baaja Baaraat managed to sustain through its second week and collected Rs 85 million, thereby taking the tally to Rs 185 million for two weeks. However, the film runs out of steam and is out of contention for another week.
 

MUMBAI: Director Bedabrato Pain‘s Chittagong has been garnering a lot of interest worldwide, with international distribution companies showing interest in the film, paving way for a bigger release.

The film, in all probability, would travel to film festivals like Cannes, Berlin, Toronto and Venice next year.

Set in the 1930s British India, Chittagong is a real life story of a 14-year old boy, Jhunku Roy and his journey to find where he belongs. Roy, who had without any thinking, had joined the freedom movement. After he was called a traitor by his peers, Roy was forced to confront doubts of his inner self as his world had turned upside down by then.

Co-produced by Shonali Bose, who had earlier directed Amu, the film has Manoj Bajpai and Barry John in pivotal roles.
 

MUMBAI: Karan Johar is planning to make a sequel of Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (K3G).

Recently, Amitabh Bachchan, in his blog, had come out with the fact that Johar was exploring the idea of making a sequel of K3G in the near future as he believes that there‘s still much to tell in the story.

“Karan and we were talking about cinema and other things. He visited Goa and a sudden impulse of making the sequel of Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham came to his mind, he felt that all the relevant characters were still around and ‘how‘,” wrote Bachchan on his blog.

The story of the sequel will primarily be about brothers, Rahul (played by SRK in original) and Rohan (played by Hrithik) and the problems they face while handling family business due to difference in their opinions and methods. The story progresses with how these differences wrecks havoc on their relationship and lead to a split between them.

Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, made on a budget of Rs 420 million, was not just the biggest hit of 2001 in India, but also the highest grossing Bollywood film overseas.

Besides Bachchan, K3G featured top stars like Shahrukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Kajol, Kareena Kapoor, and Jaya Bachchan in the lead roles.
 

MUMBAI: Inspire Multiplex (IMPL) has unveiled its first multiplex named My Cinemas at Kandivali, the western suburbs of Mumbai.

The multiplex has 668 seats and it claims of interiors of international standards, optimum mix of recliners and luxury seating, high levels of hygiene, varied food and beverage options and high and consistent service standards.

The company is also planning to launch its next property in Haridwar in the first quarter of the next year. The next property that My Cinemas will open in Q4 2010 would be in Bulgaria with four screens at a shopping mall in Pleven Bulgaria. The company is also sizing up the markets in Romania and Turkey.

The multiplex chain has ambitious target to have 300 screens in the next three years.

IMPL director Amitabh Vardhan said, “There has been stagnated growth seen in this year. To come up with sustainable growth, we needed to go beyond the traditional marketing strategies. A radical innovation was needed and last year, the Inspire group began testing lower pricing structures at several cinema sites around the country, with huge success.

Our research has shown that nearly half of our customers find movie-going expensive and we want to get new audiences to experience the magic of cinema. We believe the changes will be a boost for local filmmakers as well, with not only more people being able to afford movies, but making it a far less risky purchase – and we hope people will be more adventurous in their choices.
 

Producers: Shirish Kunder, Ronnie Screwvala, Twinkle Khanna. Director: Farah Khan. Cast: Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Aksheye Khanna.

MUMBAI: It is a tricky job to define the genre of Tees Maar Khan. Is it a comedy, a caper movie, a crime film? It is none of these. When that happens, the film becomes mishmash and that is what this film is.

Taking a gag often used in many other films, that of carrying out a grand robbery in the guise of a film shooting, is the main theme of Tees Maar Khan and, to say the least, that is stretching a thin plot too far.

Akshay Kumar is a robber of repute who can break any lock and break out of shackles with ease. He is engaged by conjoined twins called Johri Brothers to steal a treasure worth Rs 5 billion weighing 10,000 kg, being transported by a train.

Akshay Kumar identifies a spot, a sleepy village called Dhulia, touching the railway tracks. He informs the village folk that he is there to shoot a film and asks them to be part of it. On the other hand, he talks Akshaye Khanna in to doing his film which he promises to be Oscar material.

Khanna is convinced it would have been him collecting an Oscar award instead of Anil Kapoor only if his secretary had informed him about Danny Boyle‘s call. Now Akshay Kumar is all set to rob the train carrying the 10,000 kg treasure.

The question is how to hold the film together and the audience engrossed while all this happens! And that is where the film lacks grossly. There are not enough gags or funny situations to fill the reels and those which are used are stale and lack punch.

For want of content, the film also incorporates an unnecessary song and a track of headless ghost; again very stale and not funny. The idea is ambitious that everybody should be funny and since there are no lines or gags for them, they rely on making faces and buffoonery. Attempts are made to fill up lack of content by roping in Salman Khan and Anil Kapoor for special appearances.

Sadly, Salman Khan‘s item number is a total waste. In fact, Tees Maar Khan loses steam about 15 minutes into the film after the song Sheela ki jawani and becomes intolerable post-interval.

The writing is very poor and lacking in imagination. Farah Khan, trying to do a Manmohan Desai, does not come anywhere close to the maestro; while Manmohan Desai dished out implausible ideas but made sure the audience was kept engrossed enough not to reflect, Farah‘s stuff here is banal.

Music is a give up after Sheela ki jawani. Background score is out of sync with the events. The film also lacks finesse, having been shot on shoddy sets and mostly on one outdoor location.

Akshay Kumar looks bad and adds to one‘s misery with bad performance. Katrina Kaif has nothing to do except hang around. Akshaye Khanna looks like the only one taking his job seriously. Rest are just props.

With Tees Maar Khaan, Farah Khan loses a lot of her goodwill with the audience. Being the first and probably only likely viewing option over the Christmas holidays, it may see the weekend through with some dignity but the fall from grace is imminent soon after.

                                 Toonpur Ka Superhero: A film excessively dependent on technology

Producers: Krishika Lulla and Kumar Mangat Pathak. Writer-Director: Kireet Khurana. Cast: Ajay Devgn, Kajol, Amey Pandya, Chinky Jaiswal.

Toonpur Ka Superhero is an animation film blended with live action. It is an experiment that is time consuming, costly, as well as excessively dependent on technology.

Besides the fact that the technology required is now available, there is also the availability of corporate finance for such a project which, otherwise, would be considered too risky to attempt by a standalone producer.

There is trouble brewing in Toonpur (Cartoon world) as the democracy has been destroyed and the reigns are taken over by Toonasurs (evil toons) and the Devtoons (good toons) are terrorised and made to suffer. The Devtoons need a saviour to free them from the tyranny of the Toonasurs since they, on their own, can‘t match the might of the Toonasurs. Their web search pinpoints film action hero Aditya (Ajay Devgn) whom they have seen doing all super hero acts on screen. By consensus, they kidnap Ajay Devgn and take him to their world.

Ajay Devgn, however popular he may be with his fans, has his worst critics at home. His kids chide him for being a fake superhero since the stunts he did on screen and got all the laurels for were actually done by his duplicate. Having landed in Toonpur, Ajay Devgn thinks that finally this was his chance to save the good toons (from his children‘s favourite cartoon show, we are told as if in an after thought!) and prove to be a real and not only a reel hero.

A children‘s film can no more be made to cater to a particular age group; it would be wiser to design it according to intellectual levels. Toonpur Ka Superhero falls short on this count and dishes out more juvenile stuff. While Ajay Devgn‘s character merits a detailed introduction, the toon world, its characters and that they are his kids‘ favourite, comes out of the blue. It is not as if the cartoon characters were popular with kids and kids identified with.

The cartoon characters are an inspired mix of a few from popular comic books like Asterix & Obelix to caricatures of various lingual regions of India to some real life people; like Gappu, inspired by Cacofonix, is supposed to be a caricature of Bappi Lahiri as if kids today would get the joke on him. The climax is interesting but hurried through; also the first of three games, that of Wild West duals; how many kids are familiar with the Wild West today?

Ajay Devgn is okay, Kajol, Amey Pandya and Chinky Jaiswal have little to do. Technically the film is near perfect. Writer-director Kireet Khurana surely deserves kudos for his direction if not for writing. Music is functional and full of Punjabi flavour which one can‘t fathom why!! Dialogue is average.

 

                                   Keeping traditional fare alive, Rajshris try to go contemporary

Producers: Kamal Kumar Barjatya, Rajkumar Barjatya, Ajit Kumar Barjatya. Director: Vidhi Kasliwal. Cast: Akshay Oberoi, Sandeepa Dhar, Mohnish Behl, Shagufta Ali, Prachi Shah

Isi Life Mein has the Rajshri brand embossed all over it; a typical small and happy khandan where every person touches the feet of the elderly person and waits for aadesh (orders) from an elder even to sit down for a meal. This seemingly affluent family is compact and loves to continue its image of a community leader and philanthropist.
Having had their way so far with the family setting, Rajshris try to go contemporary and the film even has a F*** word! In a way, the film is a marriage of the Rajshri‘s family fare with the contemporary.

The film is about a traditional small town girl, Sandeepa Dhar, coming to Mumbai, getting in to a college, joining a clique and finding a vocation (drama in this case) and soon the city way of life. She turns in to a Pepsi swigging thoroughly modern Millie. There is some dance and frolic in a kind of college atmosphere no real collegian can identify with but that‘s how it is in films! Meanwhile, the romance has blossomed between the girl and her senior, Akshay Oberoi, a passionate dramatist.

When the modern part comes to end, the traditional Rajshri side takes over again. The girl is to be married off into a respected family (gharana). The respected gharana turns out to be bad guys and the hero, Akshay Oberoi, is the right guy for the girl. Dramatically, the baraat is sent back from the mandap.

Isi Life Mein shows up to be an outcome of economically budgeted film; tacky sets and faceless supporting cast gives it away. There are good parts in song and dance sequences and while the clique is shown having fun. There are also some touching emotional scenes.

Akshay Oberoi alternates between a troubled or an awestruck look throughout. Sandeepa Dhar keeps twitching her nose and making eyes all along in an attempt to look cute. Mohnish Behl also limits his expression to one. Shagufta Ali does well. Supporting cast is okay.

Direction is patchy. Music is peppy with good orchestration.

Isi Life Mein faces major oppositions this week and will find it very tough to sustain.

NEW DELHI: Refusing to stay the release of Toonpur Ka Suoerhero, the Delhi High Court said that a disclaimer should be carried to the effect that an animated character in the movie is not a depiction of renowned music composer-cum-singer Bappi Lahiri.

The Court passed the order on a plea by the music composer-singer seeking a stay on the film‘s screening and deletion of the character ‘Guppy‘, saying it resembled to him and wrongly gave the impression that he is part of the movie.
Justice S Ravindra Bhat asked director Kireet Khurana, distributor Eros International Entertainment and producers Big Screen Entertainment and Climb Media to prevent any impression that ‘Guppy‘ is a depiction of Lahiri.

The Court also asked the producers to maintain all accounts of the revenue of the film made with Rs 350 million and directed them to submit before it on a quarterly basis. The filmmakers informed the Court that Rs 80 million has been spent on publicity.

The Court restrained the producer from merchandising and distributing T-shirts, clocks containing the similarity of character ‘Guppy‘ for the film‘s promotion.

The Court was hearing an injunction suit filed by Lahiri alleging that the producers and director did not obtain permission from him before projecting his identity in the film.