ITV

Category: Hindi

  • Indian filmmaker’s horror film enthralls Britishers

    MUMBAI: Indian filmmaker Nikhil Sablania‘s, horror film Siski (The Sigh) was screened on 4 September at the Portebello Film Festival, UK‘s biggest independent film festival in London.

    The film relates the story of a young, loving couple who shift into their new home only to find themselves surrounded by a series of supernatural incidents that leave them baffled and menaced. This eventually lead them to discover the murder of a little girl in the house, something that was so far unknown to the world but to those who had perpetrated it.


    The film received a terrific response at the festival and succeeded in enthralling the audience.

  • Advance booking of Jacko’s ‘This Is It’ from 27 September

    MUMBAI: In line with its global practice, Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) has announced that the advance booking of Michael Jackson‘s This Is It will begin on 27 September in India, a month before the film opens in multiplexes on 28 October.

    This Is It will be available worldwide for a limited two-week engagement beginning 28 October.

    In India, the film will release across India with over 150 prints. Tickets for all shows will be available for purchase in Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Bangalore.
    In Mumbai, moviegoers can purchase tickets by visiting select Fun, Fame and Cinemax properties as well or through online booking on their respective websites.


    Said SPE Films India managing director Kercy Daruwala, “We anticipate a major demand for this film because of the huge fan following of Michael Jackson in India and also because the film has a limited two-week engagement in theatres.


    “It‘s a once in a lifetime opportunity to see the King of Pop perform larger than life. We have a host of activities planned around the film which we will be revealing in the days leading to the release.”

    The film‘s world gala will be held in Los Angeles at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on 27 October. Other locations, including Moscow, Tokyo, Sydney, Paris and many other countries will host their own non-simultaneous premieres.

  • Cinepolis in three-year agreement with IBM to support its operations in India

    MUMBAI: IBM has announced a three-year IT services agreement with Cinepolis, one of the world‘s largest multiplex operator that is due to commence operations in India.

    The deal, inked last month, will involve IBM deploying, managing and supporting a scalable IT infrastructure essential for Cinepolis‘ roll-out plans. IBM‘s store roll out solution will allow Cinepolis to control operating expenses as well as swiftly develop and deploy new customer facing applications.


    Commenting on the deal IBM India territory executive north & east, general business Asia Vivek Malhotra said, “This is a very strategic win for IBM in the media & entertainment space. Accelerating time to market and reducing operational complexity for Cinepolis will be the key focus areas for IBM in this engagement.


    “Our industry experience and domestic market know-how will help a global leader like Cinepolis achieve success in the Indian market by focusing on its core business, cinemas.”


    Cinepolis has a goal of opening 500 screens in India by 2016. Of this, it is looking at making 130 screens go-live in eight cities over the next three years.

  • Rakesh Maria rolls piracy ball into producers’ court

    MUMBAI: Joint police commissioner Rakesh Maria is leaving no stone unturned to unearth the root cause of piracy. Going a step further, the commissioner gave a stern hearing to a film producers‘ delegation that had called upon him to get the latest on the What‘s Your Rashee? piracy racket.

    Talking to Indiantelevision.com, Maria said, “In my meeting with the film people, I told them in clear terms that some big players from the industry were definitely involved in piracy and have asked them to try and trace them.”


    During the interaction with the fraternity, the commissioner broadly laid out the modus operandi which the pirates have been following and asked the industry people to block leakages from laboratories and studios.


    Said Association of Motion Picture Producers and Television Programme (AMPTPP) senior vice president Vikas Mohan, “The meeting with the commissioner was vey fruitful. This has opened our eyes to the dangers that lie amongst us.


    “We have taken the matter very seriously and have convened a meeting of producers, distributors and lab owners on 29 September when we will discuss the matter and arrive at a new game plan. The momentum against piracy would not die down till we are able to eradicate piracy.”


    Association of Motion Picture Producers and Television Programme (AMPTPP) president Ratan Jain is of the view that entities like Adlabs and UFO Moviez cannot get away from this murky situation just by saying that their employees acted in their individual capacities. “Will I not have to take responsibility for a folly made by an employee of mine!,” he asked. Jain cautions that laboratories and studios have to tighten their belts and be answerable.


    On the other hand, Adlabs, UFO Moviez, Big Cinemas and Shemaroo, whose employees have been apprehended in the piracy case, have started tightening up and are taking no chances of further embarrassment.


    While officials at Adlabs are working out on ways to arrive at a solution to the matter by next week, people at UFO Moviez have also tightened their security and screening process.


    Said UFO Moviez CEO Rajesh Mishra, “We have almost finalised our line of action in this matter and once we are done it, we will come out with a ‘white paper‘ that will be enough to show how concerned we are.”


    “To my knowledge the pirates have made Adlabs, Shemaroo and UFO Moviez a scapegoat while their operations were being carried on another level,” Mishra added.


    Said Shemaroo Entertainment vice president, Hiren Gada, “On our part, we have already tightened our security measures. We will not allow our name to be tarnished just like that.”

  • Films Division launches two schemes for making short films

    NEW DELHI: The Films Division has launched two schemes for making short films – one by private producers and the other as a public–private partnership with non-governmental organisations.

    Films Division chief producer Kuldeep Sinha said that the division was today making around 70-80 films on its own every year.The division was presently working on a marketing policy for its films.

    While regretting that his proposal for a documentary television channel had not been cleared so far by the Centre, he said that it was important to consider all aspects including the financial viability.

    Meanwhile, Sinha announced that a total of 7600 of the 8000 films in the archives of the division had been digitised and would not be processed for screening. He said that the division had also set up an International Digital Archive and acquired around 10,000 films in the matter.

    While the Museum of the Moving Image was to be constructed at the FD complex in Mumbai, the Delhi office will house a permanent gallery of cine equipments from the initialisation of filmmaking.

    Meanwhile, the eleventh edition of the Mumbai International Film Festival for Documentary, short and animation films in February next year will have only one competition section featuring both Indian and international films, unlike the practice of separate competitions for both the categories.

    Sinha, who is also MIFF director, said the award money would remain the same – Rs 2.8 million – and there would be an additional award for the Best Student Film in Video.

    The festival, which is held every alternate year, will take place between 3 and 9 February next year.


  • Paltadacho Munis wins critics award at TIFF

    MUMBAI: Debutant filmmaker Laxmikant Shetgaonkar added one more feather to India‘ cap when his NFDC sponsored Konkani film Paltadacho Munis (The Man Beyond the Bridge) won the international federation of film critics (FIPRESCI) award in the Discovery Section of the just concluded Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

    The film had been selected by the festival for the Discovery Section that comprised over 30 films from around the world, that were works by new and emerging filmmakers.


    The film is a story about the life of Vinayak, a lonely widowed forest guard, who one night comes across a filthy, unkempt and ill woman outside his house. He initially attempts to drive her away, but she keeps returning and a relationship slowly develops between the two. But Vinayak is ridiculed and ostracized by local villagers, who believe that his relationship with the woman is morally incorrect. The crux of the film is the struggle of Vinayak to give the woman a fair chance to rebuild her life in the orthodox community.

    Said National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) chairman Om Puri, “The Toronto International Film Festival is a major global platform for all kinds of cinema from around the world and this is an honor for India and for the first-time filmmaker. We hope to see more NFDC films making a mark and winning international awards for artistic excellence.”


    NFDC has so far produced films in 18 Indian languages.

  • Taj Enlighten screens ‘Gone with the Wind’ at the NCPA

    MUMBAI: The Taj Enlighten Film Society, in collaboration with the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) got together director Imtiaz Ali and one of the most beloved, enduring and popular romantic tales of all time Gone with the Wind for the city‘s film buffs.

    The film was screened as a part of the Enlighten-NCPA thematic film screenings called Films of Romance at the NCPA on 22 September.


    In line with its core essence of connoisseurship, this exercise was part of the ongoing endeavour of Taj Mahal to promote excellence in cinema in association with Enlighten Film Society.


    Released in 1939, Gone with the Wind is a historical epic starring Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Leslie Howard and a host of other stars. The film made box-office history and is said to be the highest grossing film of all time.


    Imtiaz Ali spoke about his relationship with Gone with the Wind the film that created history in more ways than one. The film was screened after Ali introduced the film to the audience.


    Since February 2009, the NCPA and the Enlighten Film Society have started a series of thematic monthly film screenings that are accompanied by critical discussions on film and the reality it reflects.

  • 1,325 films certified in 2008: AMPTPP

    MUMBAI: A total of 1,325 films were certified in the one-year period ending 31 December 2008, reveals Association of Motion Pictures & TV Programme Producers (AMPTPP).

    Of the total films certified, 248 were in Hindi, 175 in Tamil, 286 in Telugu, 88 in Malayalam, 162 in Kannada, 66 in Bengali, 49 in Gujarati, 116 in Marathi, 10 in English, 20 in Oriya, 5 in Assamese, 3 in Konkani, 4 in Rajasthani, 68 in Bhojpuri, 11 in Punjabi, 2 in Lambani and 1 each in Chattisgarhi, Kortha, Santhali, Avadhi, Uttaranchali, Kumaoni, Korborok and Kodava.


    Meanwhile, the AMPTPP is holding its annual general meeting on 24 September to elect eight members to the Governing Council.


    The members who will retire include Subhash Ghai, Kamal Kumar Barjatya, Bharat Shah, Gordhan Tanwani, Karan Johar, Manish Goswami, Afzal Khan and Smriti Irani. These members who comprise one third of the Governing Council retire as they have been longest in office than other members in the Council.

  • UTV’s What’s Your Rashee well received at Toronto film fest

    MUMBAI: UTV and Ashutosh Gowariker‘s forthcoming romantic comedy What‘s Your Raashee? had its world premiere on 19 September at the Toronto Film Festival.

    Stars of the film Harman Baweja and Priyanka Chopra, along with Gowariker and producers Ronnie Screwvala and Sunita A. Gowariker graced the premiere.


    Commenting on the overwhelming response the film got at its screening, UTV Motion Pictures CEO Siddharth Roy Kapur said, “What‘s your Raashee? has indeed made us proud with the stupendous response it received at the festival. Being one of the most anticipated films of the year, we are looking forward to an equally exciting response worldwide.”


    Averred Gowariker, “I feel especially privileged and honoured to be at the same festival twice – in this case, the Toronto Film Festival. I was here with Lagaan in 2001.


    “This time around what is special is that What‘s Your Rashee? is premiering at TIFF. So I was looking forward to the premiere where an audience close to 2000 viewed the film.”


    What‘s Your Raashee? based on a Gujarati novel ‘Kimball Ravenswood‘ by Madhu Rye is a story revolving around a young Gujarati man in pursuit of his dream girl with the catch to find her within 10 days in order to save his family from an unforeseen ordeal, which leads to an array of confusion, chaos and a hilarious joy ride.



  • Piracy net: Adlabs denies involvement; UFO sacks employee

    MUMBAI: In Saturday‘s raid to unearth piracy of the to-be-released film What‘s Your Rashee?, six people were apprehended by the social service unit of the Mumbai Crime Branch.

    The pirates revealed the names of some distributors who gave them information on the soon-to-be-released films and even helped procure copies of master prints.

    Crime Branch chief Rakesh Maria had reportedly said that this is the handiwork of people within the industry but they are still verifying their exact role and involvement. Maria thought didn‘t disclose their names.

    During investigation, names of two personnel, one from Adlabs and the other from UFO Moviez had cropped up. One of them was Adlabs business development manager Durgadas Bhakta while the other was UFO Moviez vice president (operations and digital mastering), Rajesh Chowdhry.

    While Adlabs processed What‘s Your Rashee?, UFO was entrusted with the job of digitising the film and releasing it in multiplexes by uplinking it to the satellite. Chowdhry allegedly made a copy of the film on his laptop and wrote it on a DVD.

    Ruling out any foul play from their end, a spokesperson of Adlabs said, “Adlabs‘ Film Processing Lab, Digital Lab, Digital Cinema Mastering facility as well as Adlabs‘ preview theatre are the only facilities in India to be accredited by FACT (Federation Against Copyright Theft). Our security measures and FACT‘s recognition, place Adlabs as one of the most protected and safe environments for motion picture handling.

    “The incident regarding What‘s Your Rashee is not attributable to us in any manner. The film prints are recorded for and under the best possible security measures.”




    Taking a harder look at the string of incidents involving its name, UFO Moviez India Ltd. has dismissed Chowdhry from its services with immediate effect.


    UFO Moviez spokesperson Charuhas Satam, in a release, has thanked crime branch officials for nabbing the criminal element from his company and extended his company‘s full co-operation to the police in further investigations.


    The release states that it is significant to note that one of the pirated movies Aage Se Right was never released on UFO platform indicating that there are lapses elsewhere. “Nevertheless, it appears that this individual who was responsible for the content processing and had access to content before encryption prior to ingestion on UFO platform, may have misused his authority and betrayed the trust entrusted by the company on him.”


    According to Satam, UFO has communicated to the producers‘ fraternity separately and assured them that their business interests and intellectual property are of paramount importance to the company. “This unfortunate incident is in no way a challenge to the robustness of the fortress like digital security established by the UFO digital delivery platform.”