ITV

Category: Hindi

  • UTV, Star Middle East ink deal to promote What’s Your Raashee?, Wake Up Sid

    MUMBAI: UTV Motion Pictures has signed an exclusive deal with Star Middle East by which the latter will be its media partner for two of its upcoming films – What‘s Your Raashee? and Wake Up Sid.

    As a part of the deal, Star Middle East will telecast the making of What‘s Your Raashee? directed by Ashutosh Gowariker during the pre-release weekend exclusively on Star Plus and Star One.

    The film is scheduled for release on 25 September. There will also be a special contest hosted for What‘s Your Raashee?, where a costume worn by Priyanka Chopra in the film will be given as a prize to the winner.

    For Karan Johar‘s Wake Up Sid scheduled for release on 2 October, Star Middle East will play a special episode called Date With Sid in a Koffee with Karan format. This will be telecast during the pre-release weekend of the film on Star Plus and STAR One, exclusively.


    The making of Wake Up Sid will be telecast exclusively on these two channels, during the weekend of release. There will also be a special contest where a costume worn by Ranbir Kapoor in the film will be up for grabs.

    The telecast of all the contents will be promoted extensively on the Star Middle East channels.

    Said UTV International Distribution & Syndication VP Amrita Pandey said, “UTV‘s constant endeavour has been to reach out to as many film buffs across the world as possible and provide maximum access to them.


    What‘s Your Raashee? and Wake Up Sid are two of the most eagerly awaited films this year by two talented directors. We are proud to have entered into an exclusive deal with Star Middle East to give our fans there, a sneak peak into these much-awaited films and a chance to win the costumes worn by their favorite stars.”

    While What‘s Your Raashee? is a story revolving around a young Gujarati man in pursuit of his dream girl, with the catch to find her within ten days in order to save his family from an unforeseen ordeal, leading to an array of confusion, chaos and a hilarious joy ride, Wake Up Sid is the story of a lazy, unmotivated slacker from Mumbai whose life undergoes a series of changes after taking his final year college exams.

  • MIAAC announces opening, closing and centre-piece films

    MUMBAI: The Mahindra Indo-American Arts Council (MIAAC) Film Festival announced the opening, closing and centre-piece films of its 9th edition to be held in New York City from 11 to 15 November.

    Presented by the Indo-American Arts Council in collaboration with the Mahindra Group, MIAAC showcases the best of Indian cinema.


    Today‘s Special will open the film fete on 11 November, Santosh Sivan‘s Tahaan will be screened on 13 November and Antaheen – The Endless Wait will be shown on 15 November.


    While Today‘s Special is a heart-warming food comedy based in New York that brings together actors Aasif Mandvi, Naseerudin Shah and Madhur Jaffrey, Tahaan is about the adventures of a little boy and his pet donkey in militant Kashmir. Antaheen – The Endless Wait, set in modern day Kolkata, criss-crosses between the loves, passions and relationships of two actresses played by Sharmila Tagore and Aparna Sen.

    Celebrities who will represent these three films at the festival include the entire cast of Today‘s Special, Santosh Sivan, producer Vijay Amritraj, Aparna Sen, Sharmila Tagore, Kalyan Roy and director Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury.


    The complete lineup of films, programming and participating celebrities will be declared in the first week of October.

  • Harischandrachi Factory India’s official entry at the Oscars

    MUMBAI: Marathi film Harischandrachi Factory has been nominated as India‘s official entry to this year‘s Oscars in the Foreign Film Category. This was announced by the Film Federation of India (FFI) jury headed by veteran actress Asha Parekh.

    Sandeep Sawant‘s Shwaas (2004) was the last Marathi film to be at the Oscar.


    Initially twelve films were nominated but the jury unanimously voted for this film that shows the making of the country‘s first motion picture. Other films that were also in the running included Dev D, Dilli 6, Fashion, New York, Mee Shivajiraje Bhosale Boltoy, Kaminey, the to-be released What‘s Your Raashee? and the only offering from the South in T Hariharan‘s Malayalam film Pazhassi Raja starring Mamoothy.


    Harischandrachi Factory is on the making of Raja Harishchandra, India‘s first
    full-length feature film made in 1913 by Dadasaheb Phalke.The low-budget period film was completed in January and since has bagged a series of international awards and honours.


    Executive producer of Harischandrachi Factory Shrirang Godbole quipped, “in a few days we will meet the authorities of the FFI and decide upon the strategy for the film‘s publicity.”


    The film is scheduled to release by the year-end.

  • Reel world takes Rs 160 bn hit from piracy, seeks stringent laws

    MUMBAI: Stung by a loss of Rs 160 billion to piracy in 2008, the Indian entertainment industry needs to work out an effective legal system to combat the menace. In short, the ‘reel world‘ should meaningfully shake hands with law.

    “We need to have more regulation of content and should create more stringent and effective laws to stop the infringement of intellectual property in TV and cinema. But this cannot be a unilateral affair. The industry, the government and the lawmakers need to mutually discuss and agree on this,” said Ministry of Information & Broadcasting joint secretary (films), V B Pyarelal, while speaking here today at the third edition of ‘Reel World and the Law,‘ an annual seminar organised by CII.


    The idea of the government working jointly with the stakeholders to create a common pool of resources was taken forward by Big Music vice president Sanjay Tandon. “Piracy is widespread through video, cable, internet and rentals. Effective Digital Rights Management is virtually impossible in today‘s world. We need a perfect sync between the reel world and the law in order to have a happy ending to all our stories,” he said.


    For making that happen, the industry has been ‘more barking‘ rather than putting in serious efforts. A common pool of capital is yet to be created. The different industry bodies also need to come under one umbrella.


    Moser Baer COO G Dhananjayan has come up with another solution. “Though we make optical discs, I am of the view that the government should levy a tax of an optical disc by Rs 10 that would make piracy unviable. In return, the government can give some kind of relief to the film industry by reducing the entertainment tax. This measure will, on one hand, help in killing piracy while on the other will make cinema going less costly.”



    Saying that there was an increased complexity in the industry today due to the advent of more sophisticated technology, more segmentation and the coming of social media, Eros International Films executive director Biren Ghose said that there were wider avenues today for producers to raise capital – the industry having moved from traditional to institutional capital. There is also extensive regulation.


    “But all this poses increased challenges for the industry. How does one protect intellectual property in an age of the internet and control content in television and films,” Ghose asked.



    However, AZB and Partners managing partner Zia Mody was of the view that the acid test for the government today was to strike a balance between zealous protection of the Copyright law and encouraging innovation and creativity.


    “Ten years ago, there was an apathetic approach towards legal aspects of intellectual property rights. Today there is increased realization of value and monetization and IP infringement,” she averred.

  • Excel releases X-Men Origins: Wolverine on DVD and Blu-ray

    MUMBAI: Excel Home Videos and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment have released X-Men Origins: Wolverine, starring Hugh Jackman, on Blu-ray disc and DVD.

    Directed by Gavin Hood (Rendition) and starring Hugh Jackman, the film is the fourth instalment of the X-Men film franchise and serves as a prequel to the previous instalments, being primarily set roughly ten to seventeen years before the film X-Men.

    This first chapter in the X-Men saga sinks its razor-sharp adamantium claws into the mysterious origins of Logan-Wolverine (Hugh Jackman): his epically violent and romantic past, his complex relationship with Victor Creed-Sabretooth (Liev Schreiber) and the ominous weapon X programme that unleashes his primal fury.

    The X-Men Origins: Wolverine is presented in widescreen on a 50GB dual-layer disc authored in BD-J with AVC (MPEG 4) compression with English 5.1 DTS HD master audio and has as an added feature: Wolverine Unleashed – deleted and alternate scenes.


    The DVD and Blu-ray disc is available at all leading stores for Rs 499 and Rs 1,199 respectively.

  • Zee Studio to host premiere of ‘Vicky Cristina Barcelona’ at PVR

    MUMBAI: In collaboration with the distributors of the film Weg Entertainment, movie channel Zee Studio will host the premiere of the Oscar award-winning film Vicky Cristina Barcelona on 24 September at PVR Cinemas, Juhu, Mumbai.

    The film figures amongst Zee Studio‘s most prized acquisitions for the year and the channel will announce a date for the premiere of the film in the months to come.


    The brioadcaster adds that the premiere will be a wine-and-cheese affair peppered with performances by exotic flamenco dancers, followed by the screening of the film. The premiere is expected to attract the glitterati and the movers and shakers of the film and media fraternity.



    Directed by Woody Allen, Vicky Cristina Barcelona follows two girlfriends on a summer holiday in Spain who get enamored by the same painter, unaware that his ex-wife, with whom he has a tempestuous relationship, is about to re-enter the picture.


    The film stars Penelope Cruz, Scarlett Johansson, Javier Bardem and Rebecca Hall. Cruz won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

  • Cinemax launches new property in Mumbai

    MUMBAI: Multiplex chain operator Cinemax has opened its new property at R-Mall Odeon in Ghatkopar, Mumbai. The four-screen multiplex has a total seating capacity of 1250.

    The multiplex opens with screening of Wanted and Dil Bole Hadippa. Out of the four screens, currently two screens with seating capacity of 580 are operational. The remaining two screens with capacity of 670 seats will be operational soon.


    With this launch, Cinemax takes its all-India tally to 25 properties with 78 screens and 21550 seats.

  • Anupam Kher to address students at Cambridge University

    MUMBAI: Anupam Kher has added another feather to his cap. After being acknowledged as one of the finest actors and acting teachers in India, his accomplishments have reached the International audience as well.

    Kher has been invited by the Cambridge University to give a lecture to the students and participants of the 29th Cambridge Film Festival on 19 September. He will be speaking on ‘How to Build and Orchestrate Transnational Creative Networks’ to a varied audience of students, participants and other luminary’s from various fields.

    The Cambridge Film Festival has been committed to delivering high quality independent films to the widest possible audience.


    The lecture and panel discussions are running in tandem with the 29th Cambridge Film Festival established in 1977.

  • Shemaroo releases Shadow on home video

    MUMBAI: Shemaroo Entertainment has released Shadow on the home video.

    Directed by Rohit Nayyar, the film casts Nasser Khan as the lead protagonist. The other actors in the movie include Milind Soman, Hrishitaa Bhatt, Sonali Kulkarni and Sachin Khedekar.


    While the VCD is priced at Rs 99, the DVD costs Rs 199.


    The DVD also has additional features like ‘making of the film‘ and ‘interviews‘.

  • Easing of govt clearance attracts foreign filmmakers to India

     



    MUMBAI: Aided by a speedy clearance from the Indian government, foreign filmmakers are increasingly turning to India for shooting of their movies.



    The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has already approved 17 foreign movie projects this year.


    In 2008, the I&B Ministry had cleared 27 foreign film productions to shoot in different locations of India. This is similar to 2007, but higher from the figure of 22 projects in 2006.


    The Indian government has, thus, granted approval to 93 foreign film productions over the last three years.


    While 33 productions are of UK based organisations, 17 are of US origin. The other productions relate to France, Canada, Netherlands, Germany, Japan, Russia, Georgia, Italy, Israel, Bangladesh and Pakistan among others.


    The Oscar winning film Slumdog Millionaire was granted permission in the year 2007 under the original title of “Q&A”. The celebrated movie A Mighty Heart, featured at the Cannes Film Festival, was approved for shooting near Pune in 2006 with the star cast of Angelina Jolie.


    Goa, Jaipur, Ludhiana, Pune, Panchmarhi, Mumbai, Thane, Madh Island, Versova, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad are some of the preferred locations for foreign film shoots in India.


    The I&B Ministry has streamlined the procedure for granting permissions for shooting in India. The permission process normally takes not more than three weeks. The production houses are required to apply for permission of feature films in India to the I&B with details of their chosen locations and the script of the production.