ITV

Category: Hindi

  • PVR acquires distribution rights of All The Best for Mysore, Tamilnadu

    MUMBAI: PVR Pictures Ltd has taken over the distribution rights of Ajay Devgan Films‘ production All The Best across Mysore and Tamil Nadu.

    Said PVR Distribution Head Gaurav Varma, “The production house may have known that we are strong in Mysore and Tamil Nadu abd may that is the reason they gave us those areas for distribution. Like Ashtavinayak thought us fit that we were strong in the North and hence save us the distribution rights of Blue for Delhi, UP and Punjab.”

    All The Best that stars Ajay Devgn, Sanjay Dutt, Bipasha Basu, Fardeen Khan and Mugdha Godse and is releasing on 16 October along with Blue.

    All The Best is a rib-tickling comedy resulting from mistaken identities and hilarious goof-ups packed in some breath-taking locales, extravagant sets and a carnival of colours.

  • Manna Dey gets Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2007

    MUMBAI: Veteran singer Manna Dey was today named as the recipient of the country‘s highest honour in cinema, Dadasaheb Phalke Award, for the year 2007.

    The award was announced by the Information & Broadcasting Ministry in recognition of Dey‘s contribution to film and classical music spanning more than five decades.


    The award has been named after DG Phalke, who made the country‘s first indigenous feature film Raja Harishchandra in 1913 and is, therefore, known as the “Father of Indian Cinema”.


    The award announcement for 2007 has been delayed in view of a court case pending in the Delhi High Court relating to the National Film Awards on which the judgment had come early this year.


    Prabodh Chandra Dey, born on 1 May 1919 and better known by his nickname Manna Dey, is one of the greatest playback singers in Hindi and Bengali films. Along with Mohammed Rafi, Kishore Kumar and Mukesh he dominated Indian film playback music from the 1950s to the 1970s. He has recorded more than 3500 songs over the course of his career.

  • Shree Ashtavinayak plans to raise $150 mn in tough conditions

    MUMBAI: Film production and distribution company Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision is planning to raise up to $150 million (Rs 7.21 billion).

    The board has approved the fund-raising plan and is considering various routes including GDR (global depository receipts), ADR (American Depository Receipts) and FCCBs (Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds).


    The funding will be mainly towards film production. The company plans to make five films a year for the next three years. The company is set to release Blue, a mega budget movie, in mid-October.


    Analysts say the raising of $150 million will be very tough as the market cap of the company will not support it. “The amount to be raised will be significantly lower than this. The company has only taken an enabling resolution for raising up to $150 million,” an analyst at a brokering firm points out.

  • War against video pirates getting fierce

    MUMBAI: The war against video pirates is increasing by the day. On Sunday, crime branch officials arrested five more persons from Ahmedabad and Mumbai respectively actively involved in the heinous act. Reportedly, these people were big suppliers of pirated DVDs all over the country.


    The first group made copies of yet-to-be-released films when they were sent to laboratories for post-production processing jobs. They then sent those to their Pakistani associates through the web who would again copy and circulate them in other Asian countries.


    The second group bribed loaders when they were assigned to deliver the film reels to theatres in districts. The accused paid money and took the reels to Andheri studios and then got them copied in DVDs for circulation.


    The three arrested from Ahmedabad have been identified as Chirag Raval, Mois Roopwala and Rahul Mehta, while the duo picked up in the city are Imran Shaikh alias Wasim and Ashfak Baig.


    Said Association of Motion Picture Producers and Television Programme (AMPTPP) senior vice president Vikas Mohan, “The police is strongly after the pirates and I am confident that the way they are moving around in search of the pirates, very soon the industry will heave a sigh of relief.”


    The social service branch of the Mumbai police busted a video piracy racket last week and arrested eight persons, including Adlabs business development manager Durgadas Bhakta, UFO associate vice-president Rajesh Choudhary, Reliance Big Pictures manager (overseas distributions) Neerav Shah and Shemaroo overseas distribution head Nagda Kalapi.


    The number of persons arrested in the case now stands at 13. Crime branch sleuths say that more arrests were likely in a day or two.

  • K Sera Sera board approves stake sale to Times Group

    MUMBAI: The board of K Sera Sera Productions Ltd, the film production company, has approved the issuance of convertible warrants to Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd (BCCL).


    Indiantelevision.com had reported first that BCCL, the company that owns The Times of India Group, is planning to pick up a 10 per cent stake in K Sera Sera.


    K Sera Sera said the board at its meeting held on 26 September approved the “issue of fully convertible warrants on preferential basis to the Times Group- Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd.”



    The company also announced that the board has approved issue of optionally convertible redeemable bonds to Global Trade Finance towards settlement of their dues in full.

  • Oscar-winning director Megan Mylan coming to India

    MUMBAI: Megan Mylan, who won the Oscar earlier this year for the short film Smile Pinki based on treatment given to Indian children with cleft lip deformity, is coming to India next week on a five-city tour to celebrate her victory.


    The film was made by her for the non-governmental international organisation Smile Train.


    During her tour, Megan will share the Indian story with audiences across the country and help thousands of children across India suffering with clefts. The film is a celebration of Indians helping Indians and the work of the Smile Train.



    Director Megan Mylan, along with the children profiled in the film and the surgeon Dr. Subodh Kumar Singh, will tour with the film. They will travel to Mumbai on 1 October, Chennai (6th), Bangalore (7th), Delhi (8th), and Varanasi (9th).



    The journey kicks-off in Mumbai with a star-studded red carpet premiere. It will conclude in Varanasi, the sacred city where it was filmed. Each city will have a premiere event followed by a special one-week engagement open to the public.

  • Big rush for Jackson’s ‘This Is It’

    MUMBAI: Tickets for Michael Jackson’s forthcoming documentary film, This Is It, which went up for sale on 27 September, were snapped up within two hours in the US.

    In California, the demand for the film was tremendous. Fans had queued up three days ahead to make sure that they got one of 3,000 tickets to the Los Angeles shows.


    The film has been collated from more than 100 hours of behind-the-scenes footage, featuring the singer rehearsing a number of his songs for the show. It will open to the public on October 28 and will be in cinemas worldwide for a limited two-week run.








    The film will contain behind the scenes footage of Jackson backstage, on stage and directing his team as he created his 50 shows.

    It will also contain interviews with friends of Jackson and 3-D sequences originally filmed as part of the concert performance. Candid and private scenes involving Jackson and his crew have been confirmed.


    In India too, fans of Michael Jackson thronged theatres to grab tickets before they could be sold out.


    Says SPE Films India director Kercy Daruwala, “ We have seen a major demand of This Is It. In days to come, before the film could release, we have a number of promotional activities lined up.”

  • Taj Enlighten Film Society organises docu film fest

    MUMBAI: The Taj Enlighten Film Society is to present a documentary film festival from 4 to 25 October that would screen Indian documentaries.

    The first film of the festival would be Flow, a researched documentary on the future of fresh water resources on our Planet. The other film is War and Peace which is filmed over three tumultuous years in India, Pakistan, Japan and the USA following nuclear tests in the Indian sub-continent.


    Two other films to be screened at the Festival are Gaurav Jani‘s One Crazy Ride ( about a motorcycle expedition on uncharted roads across the Himalayan state of Arunachal Pradesh) and Rakesh Sharma‘s controversial film, Final Solution. The screenings of these films would be held at Cinemax and Metro Big Cinemas.


    Said Big Cinemas COO Tushar Dhingra, “Global awareness among Indian audiences has made them desirous for distinct international experiences. By screening world cinema and globally renowned documentaries in association with Enlighten Film Society at Metro Big Cinemas we are not just providing an enriching cultural experience to our guests but also giving them a chance to enjoy world class portfolio of unmatched films on the big screen.”

  • Barah Aana selected for Chicago film fest

    MUMBAI: Raja Menon‘s Barah Aana, starring Naseeruddin Shah, Vijay Raaz, and Arjun Mathur, has been selected to feature at the 45th Chicago International Film Festival.

    The critically acclaimed film will find a place in the World Cinema section that has earlier showcased filmmakers as Wong Kar Wai and Majid Majidi.


    The film will also showcase at other festivals in places like New Jersey, Seattle, and New York between October and November. Then it would be showcased in the European festival circuit.


    The Chicago International Film Festival is one of North America‘s most prestigious and oldest film festivals.

  • Temasek offloads 13.5% in Fame India


    MUMBAI: Temasek Holdings, an Asia investment company headquartered in Singapore, has sold 13.5 per cent stake in multiplex chain operator Fame India for around Rs 141 million, according to market sources.


    In a block deal, Temasek sold 4.7 million shares of Fame India at Rs 30 per share. According to shareholding data till 30 June, Temasek held 9.05 per cent through subsidiary company Aranda Investments Mauritius Pte. Ltd and 4.45 per cent via Dunearn Investments Mauritius Pte Ltd.


    Temasek had acquired part of the stake at Rs 62.5 per cent.


    Though the market speculated on PVR Ltd being the buyer, company officials denied that. The PVR scrip has been on a bull run for the last couple of days and ended Friday at Rs 152.75, up 2.76 per cent from the previous day‘s close on the BSE.


    Market sources said the buying was not done by strategic but by financial investors. Two name being floated are Shail Investments and Gulshan Investment.


    Shares of Fame India ended Friday at Rs 30.75, up 4.95 per cent from the previous day‘s close.