Category: Hindi

MUMBAI: The National Film Awards will be selected on a two-tier system.

It has also been decided that the total cash prize for the international film awards will go up to Rs 20 million and that of national film awards to Rs 10 million.

According to Directorate of Film Festivals (DFF) director general SM Khan, the films will first be seen by some regional level juries before the short-list being submitted to the national jury.

Each regional level juries will have a chairman and a member from outside the region. The other three members will be from within the region.

The regional level juries are North (English, Pujabi, Dogri, Urdu, Bhojpuri, Rajasthani and central Indian languages); West (Marathi, Hindi, Gujarati and Konkani); South in two groups (South one – Tamil and Malayalam, and South two – Telugu, Tulu and Kannada); and East – Bengali, Assamese, Oriya, and dialects spoken in northeast India).

The five chairpersons of the regional panels will be ex-officio members of the central jury, apart from a chairperson and five other members.

In the revamped format, new award categories for audiography, music direction, screenplay and dialogues have also been introduced. The category for best film in family welfare has been removed in view of the category on social issues.

Meanwhile, it was also announced that the format for the international film awards will see increased number of national entries (18 films from 15 earlier). And to extend the international competition, North American and European countries have also been added, besides countries from Asia, Africa and South America.

The new guidelines have been issued after considering the report from the Expert Committee on National Film Awards headed by eminent filmmaker and Member of Parliament Shyam Benegal. It has proposed a central jury and five regional juries to cover languages in different regions. It has also outlined guidelines for the regional jury composition. Other recommendations are being studied.

The Committee comprised Sharmila Tagore who also heads the Central Board of Film Certification, Rajiv Mehrotra of the Public Service Broadcasting Trust, Sai Paranjpye, Ashoke Vishwanathan, Vishal Bhardwaj, Nagesh Kukunoor, Mohan Agashe, Waheeda Rehman, Jahnu Baruah and Shaji N Karun. The Ministry is represented by the Joint Secretary (Films) DP Reddy as Member Secretary, and DFF director SM Khan.

The regional panels will begin screenings in Delhi on 19 August, while the central panel will sit from 1 September to select the best national awardees of 2009. The award ceremony may take place in the third week of October.

MUMBAI: Reliance Big Pictures will release the Gurdas Mann starrer film Chak Jawana (Punjabi) on 27 August.

Avers Reliance Big Pictures CEO Sanjeev Lamba, “Chak Jawana, not only has a director par-excellence but also explores some social practices that affect our society. We are proud to be associated with such meaningful cinema.”

Says debutant director Simerjit Singh, “The film takes a strong stand against the existent youth issues present in India and how would it be if lead well. The young generation has enormous capabilities to excel. It has some excellent performances and music and I am happy to associate with Reliance Big Pictures for such a beautiful film.”

Chak Jawana has been scripted by the director himself with Rupinder Chahal and has music by Jaidev Kumar.

MUMBAI: With The Expendables taking on Aamir Khan‘s Peepli [Live] this Friday, it will be a battle between a hardcore action flick and a satire.

While The Expendables has a huge line up of stars – Jason Statham, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Statham, Steve Austin, Mickey Rourke, Dolph Lundgren, Terry Crews and Jet Li, Peepli [Live] has no famed stars but is said to be strong in content.

The Expendables, distributed by Rajat Enterprises, will release across 400 screens in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu simultaneously on the same day as its international release, while Aamir Khan and UTV Motion Pictures‘ Peepli Live will release in approximately 600 theatres in India and 100 theatres across the world.

Avers Rajat Enterprises marketing consultant Ranjan Singh, “Usually, there is a gap between the international release and the Indian release of Hollywood films. We are very happy about the pre-release response the film has been getting and are confident that the film will work wonders.”

Aamir Khan had initially planned to open with 200 screens, but the reaction to the promos and trailers has encouraged the producer to scale up the number of prints.
Says Fun Cinemas COO Vishal Kapur, “Though Peepli Live doesn‘t have a known star cast, there is a lot of excitement among the moviegoers based on the film‘s promos. The Expendables will also do well going by the strong cast of the film.”

NEW DELHI: A large number of film personalities, critics, scholars, festival directors and programmers from Asia and other parts of the world are converging here for Imaging Asia, a cultural fest being held to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC). 

Eminent film critic and NETPAC President Aruna Vasudev said the four-day conference on The Culture and Politics of Asian Cinema from 19 August will through seven panel discussions focus on the specificity of film cultures and on the need to recognize and respect diversity while defining cinema; on the politics governing the cinema‘s evolving identity in the context of globalization and the shifts in technology against the dynamic landscapes of Asia; and about translating the cultural diversity from concept into practice.

The four-day seminar is being held in association with the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts.

There will be screening of 31Asian films that have won NETPAC awards at various festivals at four venues: the Instituto Cervantes, India Habitat Centre, the India International Centre, and the Alliance Française de Delhi.

The films being screened include those from India, Turkey, Iran, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, North and South Korea, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Japan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and a Palestine-France-Morocco-Germany co-production.

The NETPAC award instituted in 1994 is now presented at around 30 international film festivals. These festivals include Berlin, Rotterdam, Karlovy Vary, Jeonju, Pusan, Cinemalaya, Cinemanila, Bangkok, Barcelona, Estonia, Locarno, Antalya, Trivandrum, Mumbai, Abu Dhabi, Chongqing, Bursa, and Rome. The wide-ranging films reflecting cinematic trends in different countries are also award-winners at other prestigious festivals.

Oscar Pujol, Director of Instituto Cervantes said there is an annual Imaging India film festival in Spain which is very popular. He said there would be discussion on Asian Movies, Spanish Screens during the meet here.

Eminent art historian Rajive Sethi said there will be performances of traditional picture story-telling from India, Indonesia, Malaysia, China and Iran, underlining the forms of pre-cinema that existed in Asia before the technical invention of cinema. In addition, there are exhibitions of paintings, installations and video installations related to the cinema and to Asia, and performances organized by Asian Heritage Foundation and Indian Council for Cultural Relations.

Around 35 internationally-renowned film personalities specializing in Asian cinema have been invited to speak at the conference. Led by Aruna Vasudev, they include Pusan Festival Director Kim Dong-ho, renowned filmmakers Xie Fei (China), Garin Nugroho (Indonesia) and Adoor Gopalakrishnan.
 

MUMBAI: Vinay Apte, remembered for his roles in Raajneeti, Veer, Dashavatar and Ek Chalis Li Last Local, has turned producer and has signed Amitabh Bachchan and Gulshan Groverfor his ambitious film based on the life of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

While Grover will play antagonist Adil Shah, Bachchan will play Shahaji Bhonsle, father of King Shivaji. 

The hunt is now on for an actor who would play Shivaji. The film will have a 6-pack, bare-chested, all muscular man playing the great Maratha.

The film will go on the floors in October for which a set will be erected at Nitin Desai’s studio in Karjat.

It may be recollected that a couple of months ago Nilesh Rane, son of Maharashtra revenue Minister Narayan Rane, signed Soham Shah to direct a 3D film on Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj with Sanjay Dutt essaying the pivotal role.

MUMBAI: Director Siddharth Anand will co-produce a mature love story along with Saif Ali Khan with the latter playing his age.

“Yes I‘m turning producer with my next film with Saif. We will be co-producing the film,” Anand said in a statement. 

The director has signed Priyanka Chopra to play the female lead in the film that will go on the floors in 2011. This is the first time Khan and Chopra will share screen space.

Anand has worked with Khan in two Yash Raj Films – Salaam Namastey and Ta Ra Rum Pum.

MUMBAI: Aisha, co-produced by PVR Pictures and Anil Kapoor Films Company, has grossed Rs 260 million at the box office in its first week of release.

The movie was released in 475 screens across India (244 analogue prints and remaining digital), while oversees it hit 180 screens with 129 analogue prints.

PVR Pictures Head – Worldwide Distribution Deepak Sharma said, “We are delighted with Aisha‘s initial response at the box office and expect the film to set a new benchmark for female protagonist centric films in India.”

MUMBAI: India‘s first film on serious gay relationship Sanjay Sharma‘s Dunno Y…Na Jaane Kyun will soon get a theatrical release in Germany, Austria, Italy and Switzerland. 

While blockbusters are targeted at Indians settled abroad, Dunno Y…Na Jaane Kyun will target the audience at large.

While the first phase of the release would begin in September, the second phase will be in November.
 

MUMBAI: As if the tribute to his brother Deepak who was a squadron leader in the Indian Air Force was not enough in his earlier films like Border and LOC, J P Dutta wishes to repeat that theme again. He is soon starting work on the final film that will complete his war trilogy.

Dutta’s film will feature the likes of Sanjay Dutt, Sunil Shetty, Anil Kapoor, Irrfan Khan and Naseeruddin Shah. The director is also in talks with Akshay Kumar, Saif Ali Khan and Abhishek Bachchan.

Dutta had subconsciously dedicated all his war films to brother Deepak who died while on duty. In fact Dutta’s first film as a director, Sarhad, was in memory of his brother but it could never be completed.

Despite the belief that war films don’t work these days, Dutta seems optimistic as he describes his new war film “as the most challenging one he has ever made” as it’s going to be a very expensive project.

Presently, Dutta is busy meeting officials of various ministries of the Indian government to attain permission to shoot the film in war-sensitive areas. Admits Dutta, “While I was making Border and LOC, the Indian government was very kind to me as they co-operated a lot with me. They probably think that I know what I am doing when I’m dealing with the topic of war.”
Dutta is hopeful of receiving the same level of support from the government as he did with his previous projects.
 

MUMBAI: It‘s the first time in the history of 20th Century Fox that the Indian market has featured in the top 10 International markets in the World, and with Predators it is three in a row for Fox Star.

Racing ahead of Despicable Me that released on 6 February, Predators, a film distributed by Fox Star Studios in India, grossed Rs 53 million in its opening weekend. So much so, the opening of Predators was much better than the opening of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse that released last week.

With its sophisticated special effects and thrilling action sequences, the film has already outperformed the lifetime collections of its predecessors – Predator and Alien vs. Predator series globally.

Produced by Robert Rodriguez, Predators has also proved to be a hit with the vernacular audiences, with the film‘s Hindi, Tamil and Telugu versions running to packed houses.

In fact, the film‘s Tamil and Telugu versions have got one of the best openings for a Hollywood film so far this year, leading ahead of Inception, Salt and Iron Man.

In single screens around the country, the movie‘s performance was much better than Aisha.

The success of Predators marks a hat trick of hit films for Fox Star Studios India within two months with the studio‘s previous two releases – The A-Team that grossed Rs 110 million and Knight and Day that made Rs 160 million.

Says Fox Star Studios India CEO Vijay Singh, “Predators has once again thrilled audiences and the response to the Hindi, Tamil and Telugu versions is exceptionally good. With important releases like Wall Street 2 and Narnia 3 in the pipeline, we look forward to further strengthening our No.1 position at the Indian box- office.”

After Predators, Fox Star Studios will continue entertaining audiences with a string of interesting releases like Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (releases 24 September), Unstoppable (releases 2 November), 3D film The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader (releases 10 December) and Gulliver‘s Travels that releases on 31 December.