Category: Hindi

MUMBAI: We Are Family, co-produced by Dharma Productions and UTV Motion Pictures, has collected Rs 27 million on Thursday by paid previews.

UTV, which holds the distribution rights of the movie, said in a statement that the Kajol, Kareena Kapoor and Arjun Rampal starrer movie had an excellent opening day on Thursday (2 September, Krishna Janmashtami) with special festival previews across India.

UTV said that it is the second highest benchmark ever for collections from paid previews on a limited release for a film.

The movie is a remake of the Susan Sarandon-Julia Roberts starrer Stepmom and is directed by debutant Siddharth Malhotra.

MUMBAI: Toronto, the financial capital of Canada, will be host to next year’s International Indian Film Academy Awards (IIFA).

Canada came out as a top choice to host the awards as it already has a large fan base for Bollywood films. Besides, the country also boasts a large Asian community.

The four-day event will take place between 16 and 19 June next year where besides the actual awards ceremony, there will be an industry conference and also a film festival.

With the IIFA to be staged there, it will be a great opportunity for Toronto to make a name for itself on the world stage. As many as 40,000 tourists are expected to descend on the city when the event takes place.

Since the ceremony was launched way back in 2000, the awards have been held in different international cities like Dubai, Amsterdam, Johannesburg, Bangkok and Colombo amongst others.

NEW DELHI: The ninth annual Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) has invited entries for its next edition slated from 12 to 17 April, 2011, at ArcLight Hollywood.

The festival will accept narratives, documentaries, shorts, music videos, experimental, children‘s and animated films of any length and format. Past IFFLA selections have featured everything from big-budget Bollywood musicals to internationally-produced independent shorts.

It has been clarified that an Indo-centric subject matter is not necessary and the Festival will encourage films of any subject matter from South Asian producers, writers and directors from all over the world.

IFFLA 2010 saw rise in attendance, publicity and increased support from major US studios. Over 7,500 attended the festival, which screened 36 films. IFFLA also provides filmmakers with exclusive access to distributors, agents, producers, and other entertainment professionals based in Hollywood.

Submission deadline is 7 January 2011 with reduced entry fees for films submitted before 12 November, 2010.

MUMBAI: Having tapped the Indian market by distributing films like Slumdog Millionaire and Quick Gun Murugun and co-producing Atiti Tum Kab Jaoge, Fox Star Srudios India is now foraying into the production of Tamil Films.

Said Fox Star CEO Vijay Singh, “This is the first Indian-language film besides Hindi that we are venturing into. As a principle, we want to do around five films a year and that could be in any Indian language. We want to make films that entertain and are commercially successful. Our constant endeavour is to focus on and pick those films, the content of which would attract the audience.”

To begin with, the studio will produce Tamil films in association with director A R Murugadoss‘ new production house named, A R Murugadoss Productions.

Murugadoss has directed five films namely Dheena, Ramana, Ghajini (Tamil & Hindi), Stalin and Ezham Arivu, of which four have been classified hits. Apart from the Hindi version of Ghajini, its Tamil version also received rave reviews.

Fox Star Studios global head Sanford will visit Chennai on 5 September to officially announce the entry of Fox Star in the Tamil film industry.

The first Tamil film to be produced under this collaboration would be directed by Murugadoss‘ long time associate Saravanan.
 

MUMBAI: We Are Family director Siddharth Malhotra has said that his next would be a father-daughter family comedy and would feature Rishi Kapoor as the father.

Though the daughter‘s role is up for grabs, the director wants to create cinematic history by casting Kareena Kapoor as the daughter.

Confirming the developments, Malhotra said, “Though I wanted to make my next with Kajol, she won‘t be doing any film for a year and a half. Hence, I‘m making a family comedy for which my script is ready. I‘ll make this family comedy before my film with Kadz.”

About casting Shahid Kapur in the Rishi Kapoor film, Malhotra averred: “I don‘t want to commit myself to casting Shahid until Karan Johar reads my script. But I know one thing, I‘ll present the actor like no one else has done.

MUMBAI: Rakyesh Omprakash Mehra is in plans to make a biopic of sporting hero Milkha Singh.

In his zeal to make the biopic, Mehra sought the advice of Amitabh Bachchan to further develop it.

In his blog, Bachchan has said that the subject has a huge potential to turn into a film. He believes that the life and times of the athlete can make a great biopic as “it involves humanity, patriotism, history and achievement against all odds” and “it tells a story of incredible tragedy and poetic justice.

“The inspirational story of Milkha Singh‘s life, having overcome the tragedy of watching his entire family being killed in front of his eyes during the riots in Pakistan, will make for a formidable and unforgettable masterpiece,” Bachchan adds.

With this in mind, Bachchan has suggested the name of Akshay Kumar to essay the role of Milkha Singh.
 

MUMBAI: The story of We Are Family is adapted from the Hollywood film, Step Mom. One wonders why borrow from there since the theme is a part of Indian folklore as well as tradition! 
 

Producers: Hiroo Yash Johar and Karan Johar Director: Siddharth Malhotra Music: Shankar Ehasaan Loy Cast: Kajol, Kareena Kapoor, Arjun Rampal

It is a tradition which has been used in film stories in both cases such as, when a married woman with a husband and kids is dying it is usually her sister who takes her place. Same is the case when such married women can’t beget an offspring. The tradition works other way round too, in case of a male demise as has been depicted in films like Ek Chadar Maili Si (Hindi) or Diyar Vatu (Gujarati) to name two.

So what is different about We Are Family? We Are Family feign to be contemporary. In that the Indian family lives in a foreign land (for no apparent reason). The couple (Kajol and Arjun Rampal) with three kids is divorced but both care very much for the kids. This situation makes it convenient for the man to fall for another woman (Kareena Kapoor) and, since he cares a lot for his kids, also attempts to make his kids accept the new woman in his life. Arjun’s efforts to make his kids accept Kareena fail as the children revolt.

The rest of the story is as predictable too. The divorced wife, Kajol, is diagnosed with Cervical Cancer and given three months to live. So now it is her wanting Kareena to enter her family and her children to accept her before her time runs out!

With the story being so predictable, screenplay follows suit. There are no twists and turns, no surprises, nothing that would make an Indian movie lover stir! While the first half is boring, the second half adds some interest but not enough to stop the tedium setting in. The narrative is as interesting as a school kid’s zoo visit report! 

The story requires mainly Kajol to perform, rest needed to just be their real selves. Sadly, Kajol is one-dimensional here. Her chirpy, charming self is not a part of the story; her hyper, insecure sad self runs through the film, which may be good enough for critics but not her fans.

What is more, she looks jaded. Kareena Kapoor is okay. Arjun Rampal is a miscast; his performance is fair. Kids are cute, endearing, defiant, pests in turns, as has been seen in a hundred films. The music is noisy and wonders how many would identify with the Elvis Presley’s Jail House Rock! The film comes up with just one funny dialogue when the father-son talks. The photography is good.

We Are Family has a sob story counting on Kajol to carry it off. She can‘t, it is just not there in the script! Prospects look below par.

MUMBAI: Seventy nine-year old veteran actor-director Dilip Roy died of cancer in a private hospital In Kolkata on Thursday.

Roy, 79, left behind his wife and three sons.

Beginning his acting career with the Bengali film Sati Behula in 1954, Roy came up with remarkable performances in the numerous roles that he essayed in his over half a century stay with celluloid. 

Equally at ease portraying the hero or the villain, he also sparkled in a wide range of character roles with actors like Uttam Kumar, Soumitra Chatterjee, Suchitra Sen, Anil Chatterjee and Chhabi Biswas.

Some of his well-known films are Dui Purush, Apanjan, Abhaya O Srikanta, Kshudito Pashan, Arogya Niketan, Panna Hire Chuni, Jinder Bandi and Hanshuli Banker Upakatha.

Roy directed three movies like Devdas, Amrita Kumbher Sandhaney and Neelkantha.
 

MUMBAI: Producer Konda Krishnam Raju is all set to venture into India‘s first film on Jesus Christ to be shot in the Holy Land.

The film, to be made in three languages, is being made under the banner of Aditya Productions.

The film will focus on the childhood of Jesus, a contrast with other movies that depict the later years. The two-hour-15-minute biopic is to be directed by Singeetham Srinivasa Rao.

To be made at $30 million film will be one of India‘s highest budgeted. According to the director, the film with an all-Indian cast of child actors will be narrated in four languages. South Indian star Pawan Kalyan will narrate the Telugu and Malayalam versions while the search is on for the narrator of the Hindi version.

“This is the first presentation of this type in Bollywood history,” Raju said. The film been green signaled by the authorities in Israel to film in Bethlehem and Jericho.

American makeup artiste Christien Tinsley has been assigned the job to use special techniques to make the actors appear older. The filmmakers said they chose him because of his immaculate work in The Passion of the Christ that earned him an Oscar nomination.

The film that gets rolling in October will be released next year.
 

MUMBAI: On the auspicious occasion of Janmashtami, Cinemax India has launched a three-screen multiplex by the name of Shiv-Cinemax in Ahmedabad.

The multiplex has opened with the release of We are Family and Emotional Atyachar.

The multiplex has come up in place of an old landmark property on Ashram Road Shiv.

Says Cinemax India CEO Sunil Punjabi, “Shiv Cinemax will be a crown of our presence in Gujarat. We have opened to houseful shows on this auspicious day of Janmashtami.”

The multiplex, having a capacity of 657 seats including 75 recliner seats, (Screen I capacity – 353 patrons, Screen II capacity – 240 patrons and Screen III capacity – 64), offers its patrons a personalised cafe service while enjoying their favourite films.

Cinemax now runs six multiplexes in Gujarat and 21 screens with a capacity of 5442 seats in the state.

Shiv was a very popular single-screen cinema hall on Ashram Road, a landmark property which is now converted. The multiplex chain will now have a pan-India presence of 97 screens and 25,830 seats across 30 properties.