Category: Hindi

MUMBAI: Sony Pictures‘ 2012, the biggest-ever Hollywood release in India that opened today in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu is all set to break box-office records. In its opening day, the film grossed Rs. 56 million.

With a total of 676 prints in 716 screens across the country, 2012 is already creating records of sorts with theatres in cities such as Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Delhi NCR, Indore, Nagpur, Jaipur, Gwalior, Hyderabad, seeing full houses throughout the day.

Cinemas like Inox, Gold, Fame, Citypride and Mangala in Pune and PVR and Inox Garuda in Bangalore have reported a full house for three days from Friday to Sunday.

Comments Sony Pictures India managing director Kercy Daruwala, “While it is too early for hard numbers, judging from the good response, we are expecting the film to be one of the top-grossing Hollywood films of all time in the country following the steps of other blockbusters from our studio such as the Spider-Man series and Bond series.

“The huge marketing campaign around the film and the major human interest in the doomsday concept seem to be the cause of this scale of response from the audience.”
 

MUMBAI: Delhi-based cinema exhibition major PVR is acquiring DLF Group‘s cinema business in a stock-and-cash deal.

PVR said Friday it has reached an agreement with DLF Group to acquire DT Cinemas on a slump sale basis.

The multiplex operator will issue 2.56 million shares to DT Cinemas representing 10 per cent of the fully diluted paid up share capital of PVR Ltd and make a payment of Rs 202 million to fund the acquisition.

DT cinemas has a current portfolio of 29 screens with 26 screens currently operational and another three screens expected to commence operations in the next six months.

All the acquired cinemas are on long term lease in various mall developments being owned and operated by DLF Group.

As part of the overall alliance, PVR shall be offered exclusive rights to operate as a key anchor multiplex partner in all future mall developments of the DLF Group.

DLF has a huge portfolio of future mall developments planned in key markets in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Noida, Jallander and Lucknow.

Said PVR Ltd chairman and managing director Ajay Bijli, “The acquisition of DT Cinemas and long term strategic partnership with the prestigious DLF Group is part of our expansion strategy and will further enhance PVR‘s position as a leading multiplex operator in the country. PVR will now control 60 to 70 per cent of the market share in Delhi and Gurgaon. This will further strengthen PVR‘s position as one of the largest multiplex players in India.”

Meanwhile, PVR also said it will be issuing 2.56 million shares of the company on preferential basis at a price of Rs 165 per share, amounting to Rs 421.9 million or at a price to be determined as per SEBI (ICDR) Regulations, 2009 whichever is higher, to Major Cineplex Group Plc. of Thailand.

Major Cineplex Group Plc. is Thailand‘s leading lifestyle entertainment company with core business in multiplexes, film distribution, lifestyle neighborhood malls, bowling and karaoke, ice skating rink, fitness clubs and advertising media.

The company is also a joint venture partner with PVR in PVR bluO Entertainment Ltd.

MUMBAI: Morpheus Media Ventures (MMV), a boutique media firm, has acquired part ownership rights of Shah Rukh Khan‘s forthcoming film Dulha Mil Gaya.

MMV, that has acquired 50 per cent equity, will be the sole presenter of the film produced by Viveck Vaswani‘s Insight Productions.

“We will not only provide financial capital but also our network of distribution partners and marketing that will do justice to a film of this stature,” said MMV head Rajat Jhunjhunwala in a statement.

“While much has been said about the film, the team at Morpheus used its own judgment to evaluate the potential of movie and went ahead with the deal,” he averred.

Set in Punjab and the Caribbean, the film stars Sushmita Sen and Fardeen Khan besides Shah Rukh in a cameo. The film is the directorial debut of Muddassar Aziz.

MMV, involved in producing regional films, is exploring other avenues in the entertainment space. Currently, it has two Hindi and one Marathi films under production.

Based on true events the story is an emotional drama that transformed the city of Los Angeles.

The release of Changeling will also be promoted on Radio Mirchi. The radio partner will promote the home video launch via RJ mentions and contests.

At the retail front, exclusive offers have also been planned for women shoppers.

BIG Music & Home Entertainment CEO Kulmeet Makkar says, “We are very pleased to bring this dramatic and emotional film which is based on a true story. I am sure the Indian audiences and critics will agree that one cannot miss this excellent movie.”
 

MUMBAI: The recently concluded Mumbai Film Festival (MFF) registered more than 3,500 delegates during its 11th edition.

The number has increased by a considerable 70 per cent compared to the delegate registration last year. With the best 200 films from all over the world screening at this year‘s MFF, the response was overwhelming from delegates, guests and press alike.

Invited guests also increased this year with the festival hosting close to 100 visitors – 50 international guests (international film directors, actors, buyers, international film festival directors etc) and 40 Indian guests (Indian film directors, actors, buyers etc) that is three times the number of visitors the festival hosted last year.

Said Mumbai Film Festival Director Srinivasan Narayanan, “The robust movie line-up, ardent support from all our trustees and the cinema lovers of Mumbai have made this festival a huge success. We are extremely pleased with the overwhelming response that the 11th Mumbai Film Festival has garnered. We have successfully raised the bar and set a benchmark.” 

The Film Business Centre, in its very first year of inception, saw an overwhelming response as it facilitated business opportunities between interested parties. The India DVD rights of the most talked about international film- Antichrist was clinched by Enlighten Film Company and discussions for licensing Indian films to Greece took place in the business centre. Some visiting directors discussed production and co-production possibilities with Indian counterparts.

The UK Film Council unveiled their distribution plan for independent British films in India. Government of Meghalaya and Tourism Department of Meghalaya invited Indian and foreign filmmakers to shoot their films in the virgin locales of their State.

Lastly, the brand new initiative Mumbai Young Critics and youth-centric Dimensions Mumbai were runaway hits. The student jury interacted with the visiting filmmakers and personalities, watched the films and finally conferred the Mumbai Young Critics award on the Iranian film Whisper With The Wind.
 

MUMBAI: Anil Kapoor and Irrfan Khan will be honoured at the ongoing 33rd Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) 2009.

The duo will be honoured along with model-turned-actor Arfie Lamba, among the stars of the multiple Oscar-award winning movie Slumdog Millionaire at the festival that got underway last Tuesday.

India being the special guest of honour at the gala, around 25 Indian films will be screened during the festival. The festival opened with Yash Raj Films‘ New York. 

Directed by Kabir Khan, the film stars John Abraham, Katrina Kaif, Neil Nitin Mukesh in the lead apart from Irrfan Khan who plays an important role.

Recently screened at the Pusan International Film Festival, New York released in over 900 screens worldwide 26 June. It is a contemporary story of three young friends whose lives are turned upside down by post-9/11 prejudices.

Malayalam filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan heads the three-member jury while Victor Okhai and Nour El Sherif are the other members.

Hollywood stars like Samuel L. Jackson, Lucy Liu and Tom Berenger are also attending the festival.
 

NEW DELHI: Over eighty films from around twenty countries are to be screened during the 16th International Children’s Film Festival commencing here on Children’s Day, 14 November.

The films include 15 films in the international competition, 18 in the Asian Panorama, 36 in Children’s World, sixteen films made by children for UNICEF, and a package of German shorts. A five-member international and ten-member child juries will judge both sections.

The Festival is being organized by the Children’s Film Society, India, in collaboration with the Andhra Pradesh State Film, Theatre and Television Development Corporation. The Festival, which will have its inauguration and closing ceremonies at the Lalitha Kala Thoranam, will close on 20 November.

Andhra Pradesh Information Minister J Geetha Reddy said at a press meet here that Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni and Andhra Chief Minister K Rosaiah will be present at the inauguration which will be managed by children. Filmmakers Gulzar and Vishal Bhardwaj are also expected to be present, in addition to stars like Venkatesh, Nagarjuna, Trishna and Darsheel Safary.

She said a mini-film festival would also be held in the Andhra Bhavan in Delhi.
CFSI Chairperson Nandita Das said the jury members include Nagesh Kukunoor, Revathy Menon, Ashish Vidyarthi, Geetanjali Rao, and Dr Shanta Sinha of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights.

She announced that the opening film will be ‘Mozart in China’ after a cultural programme by the Children.

She gave an assurance that Hyderabad will continue to remain the permanent venue for the Festival.

Ms Karin Hulshrof who represented UNICEF said around 15 films made by children from India and overseas will be shown in a special package put together by UNICEF at the 16th ICFF to mark the twentieth anniversary of the Convention of the Rights of the Child. The Convention was signed on 20 November twenty years earlier.

She said the films in the package had been made by child reporters on issues affecting them. She reflected that children were able to make better films when they were able to talk to other kids and adults candidly. There will be a workshop on training children as reporters during the Festival.

A total of around sixty delegates were coming from overseas for the Festival, which is held every second year and alternates with the Mumbai International Film Festival for Documentary, Short and Animation Films (being held in February 2010).

Das said the Festival will also have an open forum on different subjects everyday. Two of the subjects for the open forums would include discussions on introducing films in school curriculum, and what constituted a children’s film.

Nagesh Kukunoor who was present said cinema was an extremely strong platform to get the message across. But he regretted that children’s films do not sell that well.

Mr Sushovan Banerjee, Chief Executive Officer of the CFSI, said around 16,000 children from different schools were expected to come for the festival, and at least two child delegates had come from each state in the country. He said there will be two shows everyday at Indira Priyardarshini for blind children. These will be CFSI films with audio description facilities.

APSFTTDC Managing Director C Parthasarthi said after this festival, the films will be taken to several districts to be shown there. The Corporation will acquire the films from the CFSI.

The Festival films will be screened in Prasad Multiplex and eight other screens. The open Forum will also be at Prasad’s Multiplex.
 

MUMBAI: With an aim to promote the ensuing annual International Film Festival of India to be held at the end of this month in Goa, the Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG) has launched a contest -‘T20 of Indian Cinema‘ to rate the top 20 among the 40,000 odd films that have been made in the country since the beginning of cinema in India 96 years ago.

The contest that began on 10 November shall end on 29 November is being run on a made-for-the-occasion website www.t20ofindiancinema.com and is open to all.

The first twenty entries that match a master list merged from the choices of 10 prominent directors and an equal number of film critics from different film regions in the country will win for the entrant an all expenses paid trip to Goa. The first twenty entries that match the best film will also fetch a similar award.

Says ESG CEO Manoj Srivastava, “We want to create an awareness about the richness of Indian cinema to today‘s youth who are not even aware about the films made in the seventies and eighties.” 

“Next year‘s edition will call for the best 20 male actors, the year after that the best twenty female actors and then during the centennial year we will have a contest to rate the best twenty directors,” Srivastava adds.

“A contest such as this will definitely spread awareness about Kannada cinema, especially if one or more of Kannada films are picked among the top twenty best films ever made in India,” said Kannada Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) president and female actor Jaimala.

“It is an opportunity to bring awareness about the greatness of Kannada cinema and culture across the world,” she added.

ESG is the nodal agency appointed by the Government of Goa in 2004 in the auspices of the IFFI and its main objective is to frame a policy to help cultivate Goa into a world-class international entertainment nerve center of India and to work towards building global visibility and branding for the IFFI.
 

MUMBAI: The 40th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) that will run from 23 November to 3 December will screen four major productions of Reliance Big Pictures in the Indian Panorama Section. These are Shob Charitro Kalponik, Ijjodu, Janala and Kutty Srank.

Directed by Rituparno Ghosh, Shob Charitro Kalponik, starring Bipasha Basu and Prosenjit, follows the journey of a woman‘s recollection of her marriage and her radical steps outside it.

Ijjod, directed by the veteran MS Sathyu and starring national award winner actress Meera Jasmine and Anirudh, is a story of young photo journalist‘s brief encounter with a woman of substance.

Buddhadeb Dasgupta‘s Janala touches on the nostalgia of childhood and the quest to get back to the roots while struggling to keep one‘s neck above the waters of the present day muck.

Shaji Karun‘s Kutty Srank, starring Mamooty, Kamilini Mukherjee, Padmapriya and Meenakumari, brings out three distinct personalities of a dead boatman from the perspective of three women each of whom claims to be his wife.

Said Reliance Big Pictures COO Mahesh Ramanathan, “The unprecedented success of Reliance Big Pictures at international festivals has extended to the home turf as well. Our films have been honored in 35 top cities around the globe within the last one year.”

MUMBAI: PVR Pictures and Ashutosh Gowariker Productions (AGPPL) yesterday launched their next offering, Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey, with a muhurat on a set in Goa.

Starring Abhishek Bachchan and Deepika Padukone, Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey is a period thriller based on a book ‘Do And Die‘ by Manini Chatterjee about the Chittagong Uprising of 1930.

Said PVR chairman and managing director Ajay Bijli, “We are very proud to be associated with AGPPL for Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey. We are excited about the story idea and have tremendous faith that Ashutosh and his team will make a great film that will be remembered in the years to come.”

The film, presented by AGPPL and PVR Pictures, will be jointly produced by Ajay Bijli, Sanjeev Bijli and Sunita Gowariker.

Commented AGPPL producer Sunita Gowariker, “Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey is a film for which AGPPL and PVR Pictures have come together for the first time with their ‘Jee‘ and ‘Jaan‘.

“We are excited to collaborate with them as our partners/ co-producers for this film. PVR being great exhibitors we look forward to a great association with both Ajay and Sanjeev Bijli.”

MUMBAI: Cinemax, the largest multiplex chain in Mumbai, has launched its third and largest property in Nashik.

The new Cinemax property at Nashik will have a total of 1016 seats with 5 screens. The multiplex will also host 117 recliner seats. Cinemax already has two properties operational in Nashik.

The new multiplex will have the Cinemax benchmarked technology, lighting, acoustic sound system.

With this launch, the total number of Cinemax properties goes up to 17 in Maharashtra.