Category: Hindi

MUMBAI: Deepak Segal, former Fox Television Studios India head, has joined Sahara One Motion Pictures.

“Segal has taken charge as head of Sahara One Motion Pictures from today,” says a Sahara official.

Segal will head Sahara‘s movie production arm. He has taken the position which was vacant after Gayatri Singh left the company a couple of months back.

Segal had quit the TV production house Fox Studios two months back.

Sahara One Media and Entertainment COO posistion is still lying vacant following the exit of Sanjay Chitale.

MUMBAI: Fame Cinemas has launched an online campaign, ‘Decode To Win,‘ for its valuable patrons booking their tickets through its official website, www.famecinemas.com.

Through this initiative, every customer buying tickets would get an assured gift that include Holiday Packages, Spa Vouchers, Jewellery Vouchers, Gym Vouchers, Bluetooth Speakers and much more.

States Fame Cinemas Vice President- Technology and VAS Arshad Kazi, “We are proud to launch ‘Decode To Win‘, the main objective behind which is to incentivise the customer who is booking on our website as 30 per cent of our ticket bookings happen online. With the introduction of this campaign, we anticipate an increase in the same as more people will book their tickets through our website. We are aiming to get a minimum of 50,950 transactions through this campaign.”
 

MUMBAI: Paa, an AB Corp presentation in association with Reliance Big Pictures, is set to cast an ‘Auro‘ spell when it releases in 700 screens worldwide on 4 December.
Reliance Big Pictures will release the film in 20 countries worldwide including India, UK, US, Canada, UAE, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and many others.

The film has followed a week-on-week 360 degree marketing and promotion campaign that kick-started with an innovative teaser and progressed to a novel and eye-catching promotion in multiplexes with Auro‘s on-screen photo slides that read ‘Please stand up for the national anthem or else I will tell my Paa‘, ‘Please switch off your mobile phone or else I will tell my Paa‘ and ‘Don‘t dirty the theatre or I‘ll tell my Paa‘ poster on trash cans.

There have been a couple of promotions that have been pressed into operation.
Idea Cellular has tied up with Paa for an activity-based on ‘Talk to Auro‘ concept, wherein callers can leave messages for Auro on an Idea number and in return receive calls from Auro on a pre-determined date. This will be promoted through a co-branded TV advertisement. Apart from this, ring back tones in Auro‘s voice and other value-added services too are available on the network.

Bajaj Allianz has tied up with the film for an integrated TV advertisement on ‘Child Plans‘ that has been interspersed with the film‘s promos and is currently on air on 24 prime television channels.

On November 14, Paa‘s TV promos carried a special message wishing all viewers Happy Children‘s Day and a mall activation invited father‘s with their children for day-long fun-filled activities.

Big FM is on board as the film‘s radio partner. To maintain the essence of the central character, the 13-year-old Auro has been speaking as himself to all radio and TV interactions while Abhishek Bachchan has been dressing up in his Paa get- up of a white kurta pyjama for all media interactions.

MUMBAI: Pritish Nandy Communication‘s (PNC) Ek Tho Chance will premiere at the 14th International Film Fest of Kerala to be held at Thiruvananthapuram from 11 to 18 December.

Said to be a comeback film of well-known director Saeed Mirza who made noted films like Ghashiram Kotwal, Arvind Desai Ki Ajeeb Dastaan, Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Ata Hai , Mohan Joshi Hazir Ho! and Salim Langde Pe Mat Ro among others, Ek Tho Chance stars Purab Kohli, Amrita Arora, Rajat Kapoor, Zafar Karachiwala, Vijay Raaz, Pawan Malhotra, Ali Fazal, Ashwini Kalsekar, Sadia Siddiqui, Saurabh Shukla and Vinay Pathak.

Ek Tho Chance refers to that one chance in this city to break free to state that ‘I am someone‘. There is wisdom, humour and nonsense in the film. The film gives a holistic vision of the city and its people and their lives.

Mirza‘s last film Naseem, made in 1966, won the National Award for Best Feature Film and was shown in the ‘Directors Fortnight‘ segment at the Cannes Film Festival.

PNC has already tied up with London-based Highpoint Media Group for the worldwide release of the film.

MUMBAI: Siddharth Sinha‘s film Twosome was awarded with the Hubert Bals award for most promising feature film project at the close of the three-day networking and project meetings at India‘s Film Bazaar held from 24 to 26 November.

Written and to be directed by Sinha, Twosome is a story of two women – one a single working mother fighting to keep her apartment, and the other a young woman who falls in love with a pimp.

The project has been produced by Paris-based production house, Trompe Le Monde.

Sinha was one of the 10 Indian filmmakers who had projects selected for the main section of Film Bazaar, an event organised by India‘s National Film Development Corporation (NFDC).

His project, along with four others like Onir‘s I Am, Ben Rekhi‘s Keep Off The Grass and Sandeep Varma‘s Manjunath have been selected to take part in next year‘s Cinemart.

The NFDC will support the producers of all four projects to attend the Rotterdam film festival‘s projects market in January.

In addition to the financing side of Film Bazaar, six projects took part in Screenwriters‘ Lab, four were analysed in a Work-In-Progress Lab while five Indian and an equal number of European projects were part at the Media programme-backed initiative Primexchange.

All this activity, in addition to a series of presentations and seminars, resulted in a
Film Bazaar is held during the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), which this year opened with Chinese director He Ping‘s Wheat on 23 November and goes on up to 3 December, with Pedro Almodovar‘s Broken Embraces being the closing film.

MUMBAI: Eight French films will be part of the second Rendezvous with French Cinema in India to be held at the Fun Cinemas, from 2 to 6 December.

Taking part in the event will be French directors like Cédric Klapisch, Catherine Corsini, Cédric Kahn, Jean-Paul Salomé, David Morley, Abel Ferry, Rémi Bezançon, actresses Déborah François, Hél?ne de Fougerolles and Fanny Valette and actor Tahar Rahim among others. 

Commenting on the strength of this year‘s selection, Unifrance says in a statement, “The film selection, mixing works from renowned filmmakers with films from promising new talents, offers a large panorama of contemporary French cinema. Its ambition is to seduce, move, provoke, surprise and thrill moviegoers that are increasingly open to foreign films.”

The Rendezvous with French Cinema in India has been organised by Embassy of France in India and Unifrance will showcase the creations of today‘s France, the resilience and vibrancy of its film industry.

PANAJI: Noted filmmaker Jahnu Barua has demanded that pubcaster Doordarshan should reserve a weekly slot for short films so that these filmmakers get an outlet.

A lot of ground needs to be covered to propagate documentary film viewing in India, Barua said, adding that a movement needs to be built to create understanding of the short film format.

Barua feels that with the advent of technical ease, there is a spurt in short filmmaking but there is lack of awareness and outlets.

Barua, who is the president of Indian Documentary Producers Association, disclosed that IDPA was emphasizing the concept of documentary as education to generate interest among youth. In this connection many educational institutions are being contacted and are being provided technical support for promoting documentary film viewing. A Guwahati College will hold documentary film festival from 17th to 19th December, he said.

In a reply to a question on market for documentary, Barua said a lot of activities are taking place in avenues like Film Bazaar of IFFI, but he lamented the lack of interest by Indian buyers.

Association Vice-President Ramesh Tekwani underlined the growing market for content in emerging platforms like mobile phones. However, he was emphatic that without a viable plan for financial returns, the movement will not reach the desired level. He expressed concern that Indian television channels have not developed a viable system of commissioning documentaries. Due to its fragmented nature, it is increasingly difficult to measure the economic contribution of documentaries in the content market, he added.

IDPA Goa coordinator Gurudas Kamat said there is rise in Goa’s participation in the short film centre of IFFI and the Association is undertaking a special drive to increase the membership of Goan filmmakers. He also said technical seminars on various aspects of filmmaking are also being organized in the educational institutes in the state.

PANAJI: The annual Film Bazaar, organised by the National Film Development Corporation, concluded with several countries such as the United Kingdom showing interest films produced by the Corporation.

There was also considerable progress in co-production discussions with foreign filmmakers, with nine Indian films shortlisted for this purpose.

The Bazaar was held for three days to coincide with the 40th International Film Festival of India which commenced on 23 November and will continue till 3 December. About 200 Indian and foreign films are being screened in various sections.

NFDC managing director Nina Lath Gupta told indiantelevision.com that there had been sales to the United Kingdom and talks had been initiated with some others. She also said the NFDC had for the first time made forays into new and non-traditional markets as well. She said the results were being processed and would be in a position to give more details later.

Gupta said co-production projects take longer to finalise as those who come here have to hold discussions with others back home.

She claimed that there was ‘a world of difference’ compared to last year’s budget because it was more business-oriented this time. 

Answering another question, she admitted that the NFDC had stopped production for many years but had re-entered this field in 2007 and had so far made eight films in different languages.

The Bazaar was attended by more than 350 delegates from 20 countries spread over 3 days and witnessed some successful meetings of filmmakers with International and National co-producers, bankers, agents and other potential financiers from India and abroad in the Co- Production Segment.

Prominent Exhibitors like Pixion, Toonz Animation, Hong Kong Trade Development Corporation, Magic Lantern Foundations and others participated in the Bazaar. International Partners like Europa Cinemas, American Film Institute’s project 20/20, CineMart, BingerLab, Locarno Film Festival and others also had an active presence in the Bazaar.

The NFDC Knowledge Series was launched in Film Bazaar this Year and included discussions with Mani Ratnam, Om Puri , Manish Acharya, Prashant Pethe and presentations by Dina Dattani on Decoding India’s audio visual on production treaties with UK, Brazil, Germany, Italy and France. This included International Film Financing by Juliane Schulze, Partner in Peacefulfish, and Digital Distribution on web and mobile platforms by Janet Brown of Cinetic Rights Management.

Representatives from international film festivals like Cannes Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, Cannes’ Semaine de la Critique and Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles interacted with delegates in connection with the forthcoming editions of these festivals.

The Bazaar was aimed to create opportunities for networking and business for producers, filmmakers and distributors from across the world.

The feature films selected this year for the Co production Market were ‘Ceylon’ by Santosh Sivan; ‘I Am’ by Onirban; ‘Inside-Out’ by Ketan Mehta; ‘Keep off the Grass’ by Ben Rekhi; ‘Manjunath’ by Sandeep Varma; ‘Obsession’ by Suman Ghosh, ‘The Return of the Tiger’ by Mike Pandey; ‘The Virgin Goddess’ by K.N.T. Sastry, and ‘Twosome’ by Siddharth Sinha.
 

NEW DELHI: The Nightingale of India, the renowned Lata Mangeshkar, is to receive the French government’s Insignia of Officier de la Légion d’Honneur (Officer of the Legion of Honour).

The living legend will be decorated during an official ceremony hosted by French Ambassador Jérôme Bonnafont on 2 December on the occasion of the opening of the French Film Festival being held from 2nd to 6th December in Mumbai as part of the French cultural Festival “Bonjour India”.

“France has a tradition of supporting artists from all over the world. Bestowing the insignia of Officer of the Legion of Honour on Lata Mangeshkar is a recognition of her incomparable singing career,” Bonnafont said in a statement.

The “Légion d‘Honneur” (Legion of Honour) is the highest distinction that can be conferred by the French Republic on a French citizen as well as on a foreigner. The Order of the Legion of Honour was instituted in 1802 by Napoléon Bonaparte.

Some famous personalities who have been awarded this honour include Steven Spielberg and Gérard Depardieu. In India, the late Satyajit Ray, Lata Mangeshkar, and Amitabh Bachchan are some of the famous Indian cinema personalities who have been bestowed this honour. Another Indian woman to be honoured by the French Government was senior film critic Aruna Vasudev when she was chosen to receive the Chevalier (Knight) of the Order of Arts and Letters in 2002.

MUMBAI: Directors of four films produced by Reliance Big Pictures namely M S Sathyu, Shaji Karun, Rituparno Ghosh are in Goa to promote their films Ijjodu,Kutty Shrank Janala and Shob Charitro Kalponik that are part of the Indian Panorama section at the 40th International Film Festival of India (IFFI).

M S Sathyu has directed the Kannada film Ijjodu, Shaji Karun helmed Malayalam film Kutty Shrank while Rituparno Ghosh made Bengali films Shob Charitro Kalponik and Janala.

All the four filmmakers are known for their craftsmanship and deft handling of subjects and themes and have been feted across the globe having received international acclaim.

Says Big Pictures CEO Sanjeev Lamba, “We are committed to producing great regional cinema,” says Sanjeev Lamba, CEO BIG Pictures. “India has a great reservoir of creative talent. Every state, every region has something very special to offer and we are working with an array of very talented film makers.”