Category: Hindi

MUMBAI: Delhi-based cinema exhibition major PVR Ltd has announced that its board has approved the merger of Leisure World, a promoter‘s closely held company, with itself.

Leisure World owns PVR Anupam multiplex, a prime property at Saket area in New Delhi.

PVR said in a filing that the board has also approved to appoint either Deloitte or Price Waterhouse (PWC) to get the valuation of PVR Ltd and Leisure World and to suggest the swap ratio.

PVR will also appoint AZB & Partners, advocates and solicitors, to carry out the due diligence of Leisure World, while Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj (JLL) and CB Richard Ellis (CBRE), the two property consultants, will be appointed to carry out their independent valuation and submit their report in respect of property PVR Anupam.

Law firm Restructuring Management Group will prepare the scheme of merger.

The board will also appoint a merchant banker for fairness certificate of the swap ratio.

MUMBAI: After tasting success with My Name Is Khan, Fox Star Studios India (FSSI) has announced its next project, Dum Maaro Dum, that it is going to co-produce with Ramesh Sippy Entertainment.

The film‘s title is supposedly derived from a popular song of the same name from Dev Anand’s highly successful film Hare Rama Hare Krishna.

Produced by Ramesh Sippy, the film is being directed by his son Rohan.

While the budget of the film has not been disclosed, it is said that the film will star Abhishek Bachchan along with Bipasha Basu. 

Dum, a thriller set in the drug underworld of Goa, will feature music by composer Pritam. The project marks the second time RSE has pacted with a Hollywood studio, following the banner‘s 2009 co-production “Chandni Chowk To China” with Warner Bros India, which was a commercial and critical failure.

Says FSSI CEO Vijay Singh, “It‘s an amazing script that we are all very excited about. It‘s going to be a film to watch out for in 2010.”

Adds Fox International Production head Sanford Panitch, “By teaming with My Name is Khan, we demonstrated our commitment to filmmaking in this region and our capabilities as a serious production entity in India. We are quite selective about the films and filmmakers that we partner with and we are extremely proud of our association with Rohan and Abhishek, which further reflects our ongoing commitment to partner with the best talent in the local market.”

MUMBAI: Corporate activity was growing in the entertainment sector in India and this would help in getting finance more easily in the years to come.

Filmmaker Bobby Bedi and some other speakers in a session moderated by KPMG Executive Director (M & E) Jehil Thakkar on ’Legal and Financial Framework to Boost the Entertainment Industry’ at Ficci Frames were unanimous that getting finance today was much easier than before but felt that there was still very little institutional funding for films.

Dina Dattani who is a consultant said the new trend in Hollywood was that it was reaching out to India as people wanted change.

Patricia Mayer who is a leading lawyer in the field of entertainment and media in the United States, said it was interesting that American filmmakers were running out of ideas and taking licences of films from other countries particularly in Europe to remake them in English. What was needed was new stories. Answering a question, she said Indian films that appealed to the diaspora succeeded overseas.

Bedi said the business model has to change if Indian films have to get funds. The main problem was that Indian films tended to recover their money over a large period and most banks including the Industrial Development Bank of India refused to give money for such long periods.

He said in answer to a question that there was no impediment to foreign money coming into India for funding films.

YES Bank Executive Vice President and Country Head for Media and Entertainment Karan Ahluwalia said banks were already introducing new forms of funding, such as a fund of infrastructure. He felt that the Government should support the National Films Development Corporation to help private filmmakers who could not seek help from studios.

Legal Consultant Ashni Parekh said amendments were needed in the Copyright Act to protect the copyright holder. Unfortunately, there was little implementation of this Act.

She said new forms of financial arrangements such as Completion Bonding had come in but were not very practical in a situation where films took so long to make. She regretted that most filmmakers taking finance did not do any documentation primarily because of relationships.
 

MUMBAI: Good screenplay and content are what make films click at the box-office and other factors are secondary, according to renowned filmmakers and script writers.

Addressing a session on ‘The Screenplay: The Missing Link’ at the ongoing Ficci Frames 2010, speakers were emphatic that greater attention should be paid to the content and to the script.

In fact, actor Shah Rukh Khan had said at the inaugural session that screenwriting should be treated as a science and not an art, and screenplay writers needed to sharpen their screen writing skills.

It was pointed out that in Hollywood, scriptwriting is a long process which sometimes takes as long as three years and is accompanied by research. As a result, the actual shooting does not take too much time since the screenplay is written with all details and this makes it easier for the director to shoot without hindrance.

But in India, scriptwriting is given very little importance. According to screen writer Kamlesh Pandey, of the several producers he had taken the script of Rang De Basanti, one had asked him after sitting on the script for a month: “Tell me, who is this Basanti?”, to which he had retorted: “Well this film is ‘Sholay’ from the perspective of Basanti.”

“This is the condition of screenwriters here. Let me tell you something. The Film Writers Association is fighting with the producers to pay a minimum of Rs 200,000 to a screenplay writer,” said noted lyricist, poet and screenwriter Javed Akhtar.

“Rather than concentrate on the script, producers are more interested about the stars, the locations and the technical expertise without appreciating that the screenplay is the foundation of a film. Mostly, films crumble at the box-office because their screenplays are weak,” Akhtar added.

Hollywood scriptwriter Steven de Souza agreed: “There in Hollywood we do not lay emphasis on stars but on stories – Avatar being the latest example”.

Responding to an oft-repeated question, Akhtar said “Stories are mostly written keeping in mind the 1200 multiplex screens the country has, despite the fact that these will cater to just 35 per cent of the population of the country, and the other 65 per cent reside in small towns or villages.

“Earlier, writers could not find any subject other than stories for gangster films. Now even that is saturated. Actual stories are happening in interiors but why is it that we do not source our stories from the hinterland?”, asked Akhtar.

De Souza said no one got down to making a film until the screenwriting is complete, whereas in India it is just the opposite.

“While an art director and a film editor sit ahead of the camera when the shoot happens, the scriptwriter is made to stand way behind the camera,” creenwriter Pandey complained.

Akhtar said, “Screenplay writers should get their right due and respect
as good stories paved the path of success at the box-office”.
 

MUMBAI: Sai Om Films’s Lahore has been denied a release in Pakistan.

The reason that the Pakistani authorities cite for the denial is the title of the film, which is being looked upon as creating problems in the neighbouring country. Another reason relates to a common perception that Indian films show Pakistan in a negative perspective.

Yet another initiative to defy all the boundaries and show the world that no war is bigger than the silence of peace has gone in vain. Based on the sport of ‘Kickboxing’, the film will release globally on 19 March 2010.

Though director Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan tried to take a step ahead in bringing down barriers and also took a daring decision of naming his film Lahore, all efforts now seem to be going against him.

Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures in India, Lahore stars a blend of talented actors like Farouque Sheikh, Nafisa Ali, Sushant Singh, Shraddha Nigam, Saurabh Shukla, Kelly Dorji, Sabyasachi Chakraborty, Late Nirmal Pandey and Mukesh Rishi.

Quips producer Vivek Khatkar, “I can understand the apprehensions that the concerned authorities of Pakistan have, but I can only say that we have made an International film and not just another Indian film. Only the language of the film is Hindi. It is a sports-based film and on general issues, which can be between any two nations and not only India-Pakistan. But the actual hero of the film is the emotions of a family and not that of just countries.”

MUMBAI: Inox opened its latest multiplex at Vishakhapatnam on 16 March, comprising six screens with 1166 seats including 37 luxurious recliner seats.

With this, Inox has in all 31 multiplexes and 115 screens in 22 cities across India.

Says Inox Leisure CEO Alok Tandon, “We hope that patrons will similarly continue to enjoy their experience at our latest offering – INOX at Varun Beach with its convenient location, easy accessibility, state-of-the-art facilities and high-end technology. We will soon launch our second multiplex in Vizag at the CMR Central Mall.”

Tickets at Inox in Varun Beach will be priced at a flat Rs. 100 for Executive Class and Rs. 150 for the Royale Class recliner seats. The programming mix will include Telugu, Hindi, English and other regional films.

Inox already has a 3-screen multiplex in Vijayawada and a six-screen multiplex in Hyderabad (GVK One Mall) and proposes to set up another two multiplexes comprising seven screens in Vishakhapatnam and a four-screen multiplex in Warangal.

MUMBAI: Independent film producers in the US face a tough road ahead. Fewer banks are lending, financial terms are spun into complex cobwebs, some studios like Paramount Vantage are shutting shop, independent films are made to hunt hard for buyers and the DVD business is in a state of slumber.

“I am confident that there enough people with passion who will make films on important issues. Having said that there is the danger that four years down the line there might be less variety in terms of Hollywood content,” said Hollywood producer Lawrence Bender during his keynote at the Ficci Frames convention here today.

Bender, whose new documentary about the dangers of nuclear proliferation is being released in the US in July, said he made An Inconvenient Turth with Al Gore believing that it would make a difference to the world.
 

MUMBAI: Reliance MediaWorks has expanded its post production business, signing a pact with Japan’s largest firm in this segment, Imagica Corp.

As part of the alliance, the companies would provide facilities like film restoration, image processing and enhancement and HD conversion services to Japanese broadcasters and studios.

Imagica Corp offers a range of services such as film processing and printing, inter-media transfer, digital and optical composite, VFX, CGI, editing and sound services, DVD authoring and duplication and image restoration.

Says Reliance MediaWorks CEO Anil Arjun, “By combining Imagica’s local leadership, know-how and expertise with our experience and versatile technology we are geared to provide next generation services to the Japanese film makers and broadcasters. Also, Japanese movies have always been a true embodiment of their rich imperial culture and by offering restoration services in Japan we are honored to have the opportunity to revive some of these classic movies.”

The Japanese outfit would work closely with Reliance MediaWork’s LA-based subsidiary Lowry Digital, Hollywood’s leading film restoration facility that has handled the digital restoration of picture elements for Akira Kurosawa’s 1950 Academy Award winning masterpiece Rashomon that first brought Japanese cinema to prominence in the West.

Lowry Digital has handled projects for leading studios like Walt Disney, Paramount Pictures, MGM and 20th Century Fox and entertainment leaders like George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and James Cameron and has handled the restoration of footage sent back to Earth from Apollo 11, for NASA.

Reliance MediaWorks currently has a dominant and comprehensive presence in film services like motion picture processing and DI; visual effects; film restoration and image enhancement; 2D to 3D conversion; digital mastering: studios and equipment rentals.

MUMBAI: Eminent filmmaker Yash Chopra, who is chairperson of the Ficci Entertainment Committee, said today that the film industry was planning to mark the centenary of Indian cinema in a major manner in 2013.

He announced at the inauguration of Ficci Frames 2010 that the centenary celebrations were being launched from this meet.

Seeking support of the state government and Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, he said cinema had seen its birth in Maharashtra with the making of the first indigenous feature film ‘Raja Harishchandra’ by D G Phalke (known as Dadasaheb Phalke) in 1913.

He also said the film industry was passing through great crisis and needed support. He said that the police was generally efficient but greater help was needed to curb piracy which was threatening the very existence of the industry.
 

MUMBAI: Bollywood Badshah Shah Rukh Khan today stressed the need for greater synergy between Hollywood and Bollywood but said what India needs is expertise and experience more than investments.

In his keynote address, Shah Rukh listed some fields in which this could be achieved: treating screenplay writing as a science and not merely an art; using VFX and animation to its full potential; and improving the science of marketing to build a symbiotic relationship with Hollywood.

Khan staunchly defended the star system in India and the United States and said this had sustained the cinemas in the two countries.

Khan referred to Jim Gianopolous of Fox Entertainment quoting him on seeing films being akin to brushing teeth in the morning in India and said entertainment had become the most important need of the people in India after ‘roti, kapda aur makaan’.

He said entertainment was being seen as the backbone of the economy with the country moving forward positively. He also referred to many Indian film conglomerates like UTV, Reliance ADAG and Studio18 teaming up with Hollywood giants to make films and said this emphasized the need for synergy.

He strongly criticized the use of the word cross-over films and said he had never been able to understand what it implied. At the same time, he said that Indian films could not cross the seven seas unless they learnt that three-hour films full of song and dance will not necessary sell in other countries. There was clearly a need for quid pro quo from the side of Hollywood as well, and so producers from there should be allowed to make films here.