Category: Hindi

CHENNAI: Reliance Big Pictures and partner Rakesh Roshan are readying the international version of Kites.

Brett Ratner, known for the Rush Hour series, Family Man and X-Men The Last Stand, is working on the English version of Kites and tailoring it to appeal it to an international audience.

The Hindi version of Kites is already complete. Directed by Anurag Basu, starring Hrithik Roshan and the Mexican stunner Barbara Mori, the film has both Hindi and English versions.

In the international markets, Kites will release with the English and Hindi version simultaneously where as in India, the film will release with the Hindi version.

“The film will see the widest possible release, both at national and international level. The release dates will be announced soon,” Reliance Big Pictures said.

Kites is a love story with precious moments and unexpected betrayal crossing barriers, boundaries and cultures. Shot in Las Vegas, Mumbai, New Mexico and Los Angeles Kites also stars Kangana Ranaut, Nick Brown and Kabir Bedi in pivotal roles with music composed by Rajesh Roshan.

CHENNAI: The South Indian cinema industry, which is heavily dependent on domestic theatrical revenues, is pegged at Rs 17.3 billion.

Telugu and Tamil movies contribute around Rs 7.7 billion each (45 per cent each), according to an Ernst & Young-Ficci report.

Malayalam movies make Rs 1.4 billion, or eight per cent share of the South Indian film market, while Kannada films earn Rs 0.5 billion (two per cent).

Almost 65 per cent of the revenues in the South Indian Film industry come from films exceeding budgets of Rs 70 million, the report, which looked at the fiscal ended 31 March 2009, said.

Forty per cent of the films made during FY‘09 didn’t get released. There is a need for better marketing of films which could start right from the inception of the film, especially in the international territories.

The domestic theatrical revenue stream is the most dominant, accounting for nearly three-fourth (around Rs 12.6 billion) of the total kitty. Efforts must be made to increase non-theatrical revenues, the report suggested.

“The four states have 50 per cent of the theatres in India. Almost 25 per cent (1,200 theatres) of the 5,000 theaters in the south are digital, a figure that is far higher than that of the rest of the country,” the report said.

Revenue from cable and satellite (C&S) television rights come next in the list, accounting for 17 per cent, or around Rs 3 billion, of the total revenue pie.

Also, there is a large untapped international market which is made up of the large global diaspora of people from South India who have to sometimes resort to viewing pirated copies because of unavailability of original copies. Thus revenues from international theatrical rights are confined to Rs 0.9 billion, or five per cent, of the total revenue pie.

Other revenue streams, which include music rights, domestic home video rights, Internet and mobile rights account for Rs 0.8 billion (5 per cent of the total revenue).

Among the top markets, Tamil Nadu is much dependent on the domestic theatrical releases as Rs 6.2 billion comes from this stream. The C&S TV rights in Tamil Nadu contribute just Rs 0.8 billion as the market has not seen new channel launches and is greatly dominated by Sun TV network.

Telugu movies earn more from the sale of TV telecast rights, perhaps led by the fact that the market has seen more channel launches. About Rs 1.8 billion comes from the sale of TV rights, according to the report.

The industry has immensely talented actors, artistes, technicians and crew members and adopts a disciplined approach, preplanning processes and adheres to schedules right from script to screen which leads to high productivity levels and overall lower costs of film making. “Spiralling production costs, however, need to be brought down,” the report said.

MUMBAI: Sanjay Bhutiani, who had joined BR Films as CEO in 2006, has quit the organisation.

In the current financial year, BR Films is scheduled to launch five feature films and a few television soaps for leading channels this year.

Prior to this, Bhutiani had kick-started Leo Burnett‘s Leo Entertainment and Percept‘s P9.

MUMBAI: Siliguri Cine Society, along with the West Bengal‘s information and culture department, will kick start the 10th Siliguri International Film Festival on 19 November.

The week-long festival will screen 18 foreign films, along with an Indian film at Dinabandhu Mancha in Siliguri. The film festival ends on 25 November.

Radio Misty 94.3FM has partnered with The 10th Siliguri International Film Festival  The film festival will be inaugurated by eminent director Tarun Majumdar.

“Documentary films based on environment, wildlife and other burning issues of the contemporary age will be shown during the festival. Apart from the 19 films, Madhumati and Do Bigha Amen, directed by Bimal Roy, will also be screened at Ramkinkar Hall during the event,” said Siliguri Cine Society chief patron and urban development minister Asok Bhattacharya.

Radio Misty CEO Nishant Mittal said, “This is a proud moment for us to be a partner with International Film Festival. This is the biggest event for cine lovers on this region, where people can see films from all over world. We are making a big buzz around this festival. Apart from interviews of film makers RJ will talk about films to be screened in this event.”

MUMBAI: UTV Motion Pictures is set to release Kurbaan, a Dharma Productions film directed by Rensil D‘Silva, across 1700 screens globally.

Of these 1700, the film will hit approximately 1500 screens in India while the rest will be split across 24 countries overseas including UK, US, UAE and Australia.

Also, to create an aggressive promotional buzz, the film is being marketed with an extensive outdoor, TV and print campaign to ensure maximum visibility.

Said UTV Motion Pictures CEO Siddharth Roy Kapur, “We have immense faith in the films concept and its execution and have therefore supported it to the fullest in terms of marketing and distribution.”
 

MUMBAI: Roland Emmerich‘s disaster epic 2012 has grossed Rs. 191.5 million in its opening weekend in India. The film comes a close second to another Sony Pictures‘ release, Spider-Man 3, which opened with Rs 191.7 million in 2007.

2012 released simultaneously in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu across 715 screens with 676 prints.

Said Sony Pictures India MD Kercy Daruwala, “The film has performed well in both metros as well as smaller centres appealing to a large range of audiences, including families who are drawn to the personal family storyline.”

Commenting on the forthcoming weeks, he said, “Audiences are accepting that special effects can be enjoyed best in theatres. We expect the audiences who were not able to watch it due to houseful weekend shows to come in now. Moreover, the film has shown high potential for repeat viewing.”

Distributed worldwide by Columbia Pictures, the movie casts John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Danny Glover, Thandie Newton, Oliver Platt, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jimi Mistry and Woody Harrelson.
 

MUMBAI:A Kolkata-based film production, distribution and exhibition company is foraying into the multiplex business with 12 screens planned in West Bengal and Bhutan, indicating that there is still space for players outside the big corporates.

Priya Entertainment, the company that owns Priya Cinema in Kolkata, plans to invest between Rs 500-600 million for the 12 screens. It will roll out a six-screen Themeplex in Access Mall at Rajarhat near Kolkata on 25 December. Of the six screens, 4 of them will be theme-based.

“We plan to invest Rs 500-600 million, most of which will be through internal accruals. At Rajarhat, we will have theme-based screens. We will, forinstance, have a screen that has a ‘Egyptian‘ theme. The second has an ‘Underwater‘ theme, the third a ‘Galaxy‘ theme while the fourth has a ‘Caves‘ theme,” says Priya Entertainments general manager Chaity Ghosh.

Then there are two other projects – a 4-screen multiplex at Durgapur and a 2-screen multiplex at Thimpu in Bhutan that is being made by Tai Industries Ltd., Bhutan. “Priya Entertainment will run the multiplexes under a management contract basis,” conveys Ghosh.

Priya Entertainment also plans to open a multiplex in Sonapur in Kolkata. The land is owned by the company.

Priya Cinema, however, will not beconverted into a multiplex. “We don‘t find that there is any need to change the current single-screen into a multiplex because we upgrade our theatre from time-to-time and the cinema hall has all the required facilities today,” says Ghosh.

Priya Entertainment will price its multiplex tickets at a maximum rate of Rs 70 and a minimum of Rs 50. “We would be able to cut down costs by 40 per cent by monitoring our electricity and maintenance costs. With a moderate pricing, we think that we will increase our viewership and with a mere 20-25 per cent occupancy per day, would enable the company to break even in the first three years of operation,” avers Ghosh.

Priya Entertainment currently manages four multi-complexes in Bengal – Gitanjali Cultural Complex in Bolpur, two complexes in Burdwan (Shrishti Cultural Complex and Vidyasagar Memorial Hall) and one other in Dinajpur in North Bengal.

It may be noted that PEPL, under its production house Poornima Pictures, produced award-winning films like Goopi Gaayin Baagha Baayin, Aranyer Din Ratri, Hatey Bazare in the past while its distribution wing Piyali Films has been distributing films of UTV, Walt Disney, NDTV Lumiere, Warner, Sony Pictures and Paramount Pictures etc.
 

HYDERABAD: The 16th International Children‘s Film Festival kicked off with eminent personanilites from films and politics gracing the event. The festival was jointly inaugurated by Information & Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni and Andhra Pradesh CM K Rosaiah.

The Andhra CM said that the state government had made a commitment to build a children’s film complex in the state. The Children’s Film Society, India, which organizes the Festival every alternate year, should be moved to Hyderabad.

Meanwhile, Soni pointed out that the Telegu film ‘Amulyam’ had occupied a prominent place in the Festival in 2007. She said the cultural programme and cinema had been responsible for removing barriers and creating synergies with love and affection, and living up to the mandate of Pandit Nehru’s objective in setting up the CFSI, of children becoming global citizens.

Rosaiah reminisced about the cinema of early days which had value-based messages. He hailed Nehru’s vision in setting up the CFSI, describing the first Prime Minister as the architect of modern India.

Andhra Information and PR Minister Dr J Geeta Reddy stated that the Festival, which had been organized by the CFSI in cooperation with the Andhra Pradesh State Film, Television and Theatre Development Corporation and the city of Hyderabad, would be bringing the best entertainment to children beaming films across eleven screens in eight cinema houses.

Eminent lyricist and filmmaker Gulzar, who has now taken to writing books for children, called upon everyone concerned to ensure that the creative films made by CFSI over the years should be released.

CFSI chairperson and actress Nandita Das wished all the children a very happy children’s day and also introduced the international and children juries who would judge the films in the International Competition and the Asian Panorama – the first time when Asian films are being adjudged separately.

The joyous momoment was somewhat spoilt by former Union Minister and eminent filmmaker Dasari Narayana Rao who accused the Central Government of being unfair to filmmakers from Andhra Pradesh.

Others present included Vishal Bhardwaj, film stars Venkatesh and Illeana, child actor Darsheel Safary, filmmaker Jahnu Barua, I & B Joint secretary (Films) V B Pyarelal, CFSI Chief Executive Officer Sushovan Banerjee, and jury members Nagesh Kukunoor, Ashish Vidyarthi and Revathy.

The entire programme concluded with the screening of the Austrian film ‘Mozart in China’ by director Bernd Neuburger which has been shot in China.

MUMBAI: Every father- son, son- father relationship will explore new horizons starting 14 November till the release of Paa on 4 December as the marketing strategy with ‘Paa and I‘ kick starts.

Paa, made by AB Corp along with Saraswati Creations in association with Big Pictures and produced by MAD Entertainment, is one of the most awaited films of recent times with it generating huge interest amongst filmgoers.

In order to make Children‘s Day a day of celebration, in phase I of the campaign, relationship activities have been planned at Oberoi Mall, Goregaon and Nirmal Lifestyle, Mulund in Mumbai on 14 and 15 November where fathers and children can get together to engage themselves in various fun-filled activities and get lucky with Paa merchandise.

Those who miss the fun that weekend can catch it on the subsequent weekends till the release of the film at various other malls in the city. The campaign will be held on 21 and 22 November at Inorbit Mall and Phoenix Mills and on 28 and 29 November at Infinti Mall.

As a part of its consumer engagement promotion strategy the ‘Paa and I‘ campaign has been aimed at going beyond standard hygiene practices of print, media, TV promos and outdoors to break the clutter and grab the audience‘s attention by leveraging the concept that the average man will best connect with – the relationship of a father and a son.
 

MUMBAI: No one can deny that there are a couple of illegal stalls outside the Andheri railway station catering to pirated discs.

T-Series, acting on a tip-off, in association with the Intellectual Property Cell of the Economic Offence Wing, Mumbai Police, helped raid a stall at the Andheri railway station recently.

The raid, conducted under the supervision of Joint Commissioner of Police (crime branch) Rakesh Maria and DCP Enforcement Sheela Sahil, was headed by the anti-piracy cell of T-Series Vijay Kamble and his team.

The seized pirated discs included those of Wanted, Blue, Main Aurr Mrs Khanna, London Dreams as well as software and MP3 CDs. 

Six people who were caught red handed trading these discs were taken to police custody. The accused were booked under Sections 51, 52(A), 63, 68(A) of Copyright Act along with sections 292(2) A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for sale of obscene material and section 420 of IPC.

The seizure accounted for 1855 Hindi film discs, 2645 English film discs, 490 Marathi film discs, 2040 software discs, 1040 MP3s song CDs and 490 pornographic movie discs and the value of the seized materials was to the tune of Rs 0.4 million.

Said T-Series creative director Divya Khosla Kumar, “We have always been a serious player in this industry and to make music work among the masses. It is important that it makes money for the music companies who invest so much on songs and song picturisations.

“The current matter is subjudice and hence, we will not be able to comment on it.”