Category: Hindi

MUMBAI: Buoyed by releases such as My Name is Khan and Knight & Day in the first half of the year, Fox Star Studios India has unveiled its movie slate for the next six months.

Come 6 August, audiences will witness director Nimrod Antal’s extravagant offering Predators. The film, starring Oscar-winner Adrien Brody (King Kong fame) along with Laurence Fishburne, Topher Grace Alice Braga and Walton Goggins, is also being dubbed in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.

On 27 August, Fox Star Studios will re-release James Cameron’s Avatar in Digital 3D and IMAX 3D.

24 September will have the release of Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, an American drama film directed by Oliver Stone. The film is a sequel to the 1987 Academy Award-winning film Wall Street. Up next would be Tony Scott’s Unstoppable, an action film that will release on 12 November.

December will mark the return of one of the popular franchises, The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader. The third part of this blockbuster series will release on 10 December in 3D. The release would be one of the biggest Hollywood releases ever in India with around 1000 prints across multiple languages including Hindi, Tamil and Telugu, Fox Star Studios India CEO Vijay Singh said.

Finally, ending the year would be Gulliver’s Travels, a film based on the 18th century novel of the same name by Jonathan Swift. This 3D live-action family adventure film, directed by Rob Letterman, will release on 31 December.

“We have a very exciting line up ahead and hope to increase the appeal for Hollywood content in India,” said Singh.

MUMBAI: Deepti Naval, better known for her roles in Junoon, Ek Baar Phir and Holi will now act in a Bengali film titled Asamapt (Incomplete), to be directed by debut director Sanjay Nag.

The film has Naval playing the centrifugal role of a mother who comes down to Kolkata to gather the belongings of her dead son.

While director Rituparno Ghosh stars in the film as an actor, Raima Sen stars in the film as Naval‘s dead son‘s associate.

The film is being produced by Sri Venkatesh Films.

MUMBAI: Inox Leisure has posted a first-quarter net profit of Rs 35.2 million, reversing the earlier-year‘s net loss of Rs 40.1 million, as movie supplies have improved though box office successes are still a rare commodity.

Inox reported a 132 per cent jump in revenue to Rs 803.6 million, from Rs 345.1 million a year ago. The comparison would not be accurate as the first quarter of the previous fiscal was hit by a prolonged row with film producers who froze fresh content during this period.

The company‘s expenses stood at Rs 727.7 million, from Rs 400.5 million in the year-ago period.

Inox Leisure director Deepak Asher said, “The first quarter results reinstate Inox’s firm ability to sustain a robust growth momentum and a profit leadership position in the multiplex industry. Going forward in the quarters ahead, with some interesting content lined-up and with our focus to create India’s largest network of state-of-the-art multiplexes across the country, we hope to maintain the growth momentum, deliver a world class film viewing experience to our patrons, and enhance value to our stakeholders.”

The Ebitda for the quarter was at Rs 130.1 million, from a negative of Rs 16.7 million a year ago.

During the quarter under review, Inox had 35 properties under its brand with 132 screens.

The multiplex business segment had an operating profit of Rs 74.2 million, compared to an operating loss of Rs 55.8 million in the first quarter of FY‘10. Revenue from this segment was Rs 803.9 million, up from Rs 344.4 million. The capital deployed in the segment is Rs 3.65 billion.
 

MUMBAI: B4U Pictures will release Balaji Telefilms‘ latest film Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai in the United Kingdom on 30 July with 23 prints.

Balaji Films will keep the Mumbai territory including Maharashtra.

The film, which is based on actual happenings in Mumbai in the 1970s, covers the growth of the Mumbai underworld, from crime and smuggling in its early stages through to its connection with international terrorism in recent times.

Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai follows the rise of Sultan (Ajay Devgan) and his differences with protégé Shoaib (Emraan Hashmi) who challenges his supremacy and usurps power to rule the murky underbelly of Mumbai.

Avers B4U Network Head of Film Division Sunil Shah, “B4U Pictures is proud to release Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai.”
 

MUMBAI: Music label Venus has acquired the Hindi audio rights of the Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai starrer Endhiran from Sun Pictures, a division of Sun TV Network.

Touted as one of the most expensive films with a heavy dose of special effects, the film‘s melodious music and sensational songs will take fans by storm. “Venus is synonymous with good music and this prestigious project is a feather in our cap,” said Venus Records & Tapes VP – Music Champak Jain.

The audio launch of the trilingual science fiction film that is expected to release in the last week of August will take place on 31 July in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

On the occasion, music maestro AR Rahman will give a special performance. Amitabh Bachchan is expected to attend the function.
 

MUMBAI: Fresh from the hit status he got for his film I Hate Luv Storys, Anurag Kashyap is on course to premiere his new English film titled That Girl in Yellow Boots at the 35th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) that would be held from 9 to 19 September.

The film tells the story of Ruth (Kalki Koechlin), who is on a search of her father, a man she hardly knew but cannot forget. Desperation drives her to work without a permit at a massage parlour. Torn between several schisms, Mumbai becomes the backdrop for Ruth‘s quest as she struggles to find her independence and space even as she is sucked into the labyrinthine politics of the city‘s underbelly.

The film stars Kalki Koechlin, Naseeruddin Shah, Gulshan Devaiya, Shivkumar Subramaniam, Divya Jagdale, Kumud Mishra and Kartik Krishnan.

The film has been written by Kashyap along with Koechlin.

MUMBAI: Multiplex chain operator Fame India Ltd (Fame), which is in the news for a corporate battle between Reliance MediaWorks and Inox Leisure, has curtailed its first-quarter net loss as its revenue jumped 139.4 per cent.

The net loss for the three months ended June 2010 stood at Rs 36.62 million, as against a net loss of Rs 95.34 million a year ago.

The company noted that “figures for the quarter are not strictly comparable with the corresponding three-months in the previous period, on account of business interruption due to strike called by the united producers and distributors forum in the June quarter and on account of the service tax on rentals.”

Total income was at Rs 389.03 million, compared to Rs 162.51 million in the earlier year as movies were unavailable for release.

Meanwhile, total expenditure of the company increased to Rs 405.02 million, as against Rs 246.54 million in the previous fiscal.

The theatrical exhibition segment suffered an operating loss of Rs 4.05 million in the quarter as against an operating loss of Rs 74.53 million. Revenue from the segment was Rs 377.52 million, up from Rs 157.15 million a year ago.
 

MUMBAI: After directing him in two films, Cheeni Kum and Paa, Balki now wants Amitabh Bachchan to try something different and diverse, though not unique.

The ebulent director wants to see Bachchan in the role of a cricket commentrator. “It is my wish to see Amitabh Bachchan essaying the role of a cricket commentator in one of my films. I want to see and hear him giving commentary because in my opinion, Amitabh would excel at it,” he said.

The man behind several super successful ads like Surf Excel ‘Daag Achche Hain‘, Tata Tea ‘Jaago Re‘ and Idea‘s ‘Walk And Talk‘, not only spoke about advertisements but also his second passion, films and his favourite star Bachchan.

The director was addressing the media at IIM Lucknow and talking about the effects of advisements and ad films in general.
 

MUMBAI: For the first time in the history of Marathi films, debutante filmmaker Samrouddhi Porey has cast Americans in stellar roles.

The film titled Mala Aai Vhayacha Ahe is made on the issue of surrogacy in India. The subject is about India becoming the hotspot for childless foreigners looking for surrogate mother.

The movie has four-year old lead actor Aiden Barkley speaking Marathi throughout the film. There are two other foreigners in the film, Stacy Bee and Mat Barkley, father of Aiden.

Porey hesitates to divulge any details of the story saying that ‘the issue is very sensitive’. To a query as to how did she spot Aiden, Porey says, “ I spotted the boy in the market and immediately knew he was my lead. Though everyone tried to dissuade me doubting Aiden’s ability to speak Marathi, I went ahead and managed to convince his parents to give it a shot. And the rest is history.”

After months of working, Porey came to know that Aiden was born through a surrogate mother. Wasn’t she afraid that the touchy topic might hurt local sentiments? Porey explains, “ When making a film, we don’t intentionally want to hurt anybody’s feelings. However, it’s possible that after release, some people might get offended.”
 

MUMBAI: Multiplex operator Cinemax India has posted a net profit of Rs 10.9 million for the three months ended 30 June, a turnaround from a net loss of Rs 5.8 million in the year ago period.

Income from operations rose 106.47 per cent to Rs 523.2 million during the quarter under review, compared to Rs 253.4 million a year ago. The main reason behind last fiscal’s poor performance was no movie releases because of strike.

Total expenditure surged 56.1 per cent to Rs 438.8 million, as against Rs 277.9 million. Profit before tax (PBT) stood at Rs 5.9 million, as against a loss of Rs 90 million from the year ago period.

The company at present has 28 properties with 91 screens while it plans to open 10 more properties this fiscal with 38 screens.

Cinemax earned a revenue of Rs 507.3 million from theatrical exhibition and entertainment, as compared to Rs 240.9 million a year ago. It posted an operating profit of Rs 10.8 million (from operating loss of Rs 86 million) in the quarter. Capital deployed in the segment was Rs 1.89 billion.