ITV

Category: Hindi

  • Fox Star Studios to release Quick Gun Murugan on 28 August

    MUMBAI: A character created by Channel V is now a feature film Quick Gun Murugan.


    Fox Star Studios has acquired the entire rights of the film and is set to release it on 28 August.

    Rajendra Prasad, a veteran Telugu actor, plays the title role and the film is directed by Shashank Ghosh, a former Channel V executive.

    Years ago in 1993, Ghosh made a series of spots on Murugran for Channel V. Anand Surapoor was carried away by the idea and decided to adapt it into a full-length film under the banner of Fat Fish Motion Pictures.


    “I worked on it for 18 months. The film has been shot in the style of a 70s Westerner though a lot of adaptation and thought went into modifying the cowboy-genre to suit modern sensibilities.”


    Ghosh made the character in a South Indianish style, yet possessing features of the ‘Wild West’ to make him look modern. “The film is a tribute to the South Indian genre of movies and I am eager to get the response from the western audiences once it hits the screens,” Ghosh adds.


    The film is shot in Mumbai, Hong Kong and Hyderabad. It has been shortlisted among the five films in the South Asian category at the London Film Festival to be held from 14 to 29 October.

  • Kannada film producers body threatens agitation

    BANGALORE: Members of the Kannada Film Producers Association (KFPA) staged a protest before the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) in Bangalore and have threatened an intense agitation if their issues have not been addressed within one month by the government and the KFCC.

    Among other things, Kannada film producers are demanding the re-implementation of the seven-week ban of release of films of other languages in the state. In 2004, the Karnataka state government had passed an order banning the release of other language films for seven weeks from the date of first release under tremendous pressure from the Kannada film industry. The Supreme Court had stayed the government order restricting the films on the basis of language.


    Most Kannada films are made on small budgets – about Rs 50 million or so each, as opposed to the Rs 500 million plus per film spent on producing Tamil and Telugu movies. Kannada film producers cannot compete with big bucks of this kind and fear that they will be wiped out.


    The producers’ fraternity was protesting the last Friday’s release of a Telugu blockbuster ‘Magadheera’ in 32 theaters – 26 in Bangalore and 6 in other parts of Karnataka. The distributor of the Telugu film is KFCC treasurer KV Vijaykumar. Besides expelling him from the chamber, the KFCC has directed Vijaykumar to restrict the film to 21 theaters only from this Friday onwards.


    ‘Magadheera’ stars politician and Bollywood and Telugu superstar Chiranjeevi’s 32-year-old son Ram Charan Teja in the main lead. The film is produced by Allu Aravind and directed by Rajamouli.

  • Adlabs plans to raise Rs 6 billion via rights issue

    MUMBAI: Adlabs Films Limited has approved raising up to Rs 6 billion via rights issue of shares.

    The funds would be utilised for expanding its exhibition screens to over 570 in the next one year, setting up art studios, buying equipment and for setting up media business process outsourcing units.

    Says Adlabs CEO Anil Arjun, “The proposed rights offering will facilitate the company to build on its strengths in the film and media space and provide an opportunity to the existing shareholders to participate in the growth.”


    Indiantelevision.com had earlier reported that Adlabs had plans to invest Rs 2 billion in FY‘10 including Rs 800 million for studio and was considering a rights issue to raise long term resources.


    Adlabs is setting up a 200,000 sq. ft. studio at Film City in Mumbai. The company is also establishing a 1200-member media BPO, specialising in content processing, image enhancement and restoration services. The screen count will go up from 428 screens in April ‘09 to over 570 screens in the next one year.


    “The funds raised through rights Issue will be used for expansion and growth opportunities including investment in various projects in India as well as overseas,” Adlabs said.


    The promoter group has offered to subscribe to any shares remaining unsubscribed by the shareholders.


    Adlabs has a presence across the segments of exhibition, film and media Services and television software.



  • Swine flu hits movie biz hard

    MUMBAI: After Pune, the Maharashtra government has ordered multiplex and theatre owners of Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai to keep their shutters down till Monday due to the swine flu scare.

    Movies that were slated to release this Friday – UTV Motion Pictures‘ Kaminey and Indian Film


    Company‘s Life Partner – will release only on Monday next in Mumbai and its suburbs.


    Says UTV Motion Pictures CEO Siddharth Roy Kapur, “We are going ahead with the worldwide release of Kaminey as per schedule. In Mumbai, we are following the government directives and will release the film as and when cinemas are permitted to screen.”


    This weekend would have been ideal for box office as the collections may have soared with the two big films and national holiday on 15 August. Love Aaj Kal has been already ruling at the box office.


    As per industry estimates, this shutdown would translate into a loss of approximately Rs 310- 350 million.


    “Since the swine flu scare, footfalls had started reducing but since the last two days, we have seen just between five to seven per cent occupancy,” Fun Cinemas CEO Vishal Kapur tells Indiantelevision.com.


    Meanwhile, shares of listed multiplex companies dipped on news that cinema theatres would down their shutters due to swine flu scare. Shares of PVR declined by 7 per cent to close at Rs 111, Inox fell 3.22 per cent to Rs 51.05, Cinemax by 2.81 per cent to Rs 51.95 and Fame India 1.80 per cent to Rs 19.10 on the BSE.

  • Knox Entertainment releases music of ‘Toss – A Flip of Destiny’

    MUMBAI: Knox Entertainment has launched the music of its forthcoming multi-starrer, Toss – A Flip of Destiny.


    The film, directed by Ramesh Khatkar, is slated for a nationwide release on 28 August.


    Says Khatkar, “The music in this film is not like what you see in others films. I have interpreted music with narrative. For example the theme song ‘Rupaiya‘ has a cup of tea featured in it and the music narrates the feelings and emotions of the cup. There is another song in which I asked the actors to sing because everyone sings to describe their emotions and for that one dosen‘t have to be a professional singer.”


    The film has music by Sandesh Shandilya and Siddhartha Suhas. The star cast of the film includes Rannvijay Singh, Ashmit Patel, Prashant Raj, Aarti Chabria, Shruti Gera, Madhurima and Ramesh Khatkar.

  • PPC to release PNC’s ‘Raat Gayi Baat Gayi’

    MUMBAI: Percept Picture Company (PPC) will release Pritish Nandy Communication‘s Raat Gayi Baat Gayi in theatres.

    The film, an outlandish comedy directed by Saurabh Shukla, stars Rajat Kapoor, Vinay Pathak, Dalip Tahil, Irawati, Harshe Mayadev, Anu Menon, Navniit Nisshan, Aamir Bashir, Neha Dhupia, Ranvir Shorey, Makarand Deshpande and Sudhir Mishra.


    Says PPC Director – IPR Management Ashok Ahuja, “Raat Gayi Baat Gayi, that is planned to be released on 9 October, will be offering differentiated entertainment to the discerning audiences. This will be PPC‘s second project with PNC after Ugly aur Pagli.”

  • Shemaroo releases ‘8 x 10 Tasveer’ on home video

    MUMBAI: Shemaroo Entertainment has released 8 x 10 Tasveer on home video.

    The DVD has bonus features that include ‘Making of the Film‘ and ‘Theatrical Promos.‘


    The VCDs and DVDs are priced at Rs. 99 and Rs. 299 respectively.


    Produced by Percept Picture Company (PPC), the film is a story about Jai Puri, (Akshay Kumar), who possesses supernatural powers, is of Indian origin and works as a forest ranger in Canada. His life is shattered by a loss of a very important person in his life. This personal tragedy leads him to use his unique supernatural power to unravel the mystery behind the murder.

    Besides starring Akshay Kumar, the film has Ayesha Takia, Javed Jaffery, Rushad Rana and Girish Karnad and Sharmila Tagore.

  • Lions Gate in a five-year deal with Redbox

    MUMBAI: Leading independent filmed entertainment studio Lions Gate has, through a five-year deal, agreed to supply rental kiosk company Redbox with movie discs on the same day they are offered for retail sale.

    The deal, running from 1 September to 31 August 2014, will help Lions Gate‘s business by getting its DVDs into the market early without hurting its traditional DVD sales. Lions Gate, however, has the option of exiting the deal after two years.


    Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. now becomes the latest film studio to agree to supply DVDs at $1-per-night to Redbox. With the deal in place, Redbox, which rents DVDs from more than 17,000 bright-red automated kiosks at grocery stores and other storefronts across the United States, should gross about $200-300 million in revenue over its lifetime, according to Lions Gate President Steve Beeks.

    It is estimated that Redbox will pay Lions Gate $158 million over the period of the deal.

    Hoping to preserve demand for higher-priced DVD purchases, other Hollywood studios including News Corp‘s 20th Century Fox and Universal Pictures have asked Lions Gate to desist supplying DVDs to the kiosk unless it agrees to delay rentals for more than a month after DVDs are put up on the shelves for sale.

  • Shangri-La Pictures signs $100 million film fund deal

    MUMBAI: Shangri-La Pictures has stitched a $100 million film fund deal to finance a number of English commercial films for global distribution over the next three years.

    As part of the agreement, a joint venture company based in Singapore has been formed between Shangri-La Pictures and Upside Down Entertainment. The venture will be financed by US-based Quixotic Media Group. The production of all projects in the film slate will be spearheaded by Shangri-La Pictures.


    The first project to be produced through the fund will be SIN-JIN, a modern day action hero / adventure story, adapted from a comic book of the same name.


    SIN-JIN will be directed by award winning director / cinematographer John Radel and produced by Singaporean producer Calvin Tan. The film is scheduled for a late 2010 worldwide release.


    Said SIN-JIN director and Shangri-La Pictures co-director John Radel, “The aim of the fund is to create films set in Asia that can sell to international audiences, and we feel now is the right time to take the Asian films and target the mainstream audiences.”


    Some of the projects that the company will distribute include My Life With You, Reason To Live, Dying To Believe and Return To Shangri-La.

  • Malayalam film set to premiere at Montreal film fest

    MUMBAI: The Montreal World Film Festival, which is kicking off on 27 August, will see the premiere of Malayalam film Kutty Srank (The Sailor of Hearts) on the opening day.

    The film will be screened in the “World Greats” section of the 12-day festival.



    Directed by noted filmmaker Shaji N Karun, the film revolves around a mariner (Srank) played by Malayalam superstar Mammootty. Kamalini Mukherjee, Padmapriya and Sri Lankan actress Meenakumari are playing lead female artiste in the movie.



    Kutty Srank is a short-tempered, lonely, but law-abiding boatman whose work leads him to travel the back waters of Kerala. One day, when the local police station discovers an unidentified body washed ashore, three women come forward claiming it to be the dead body of Kutty Srank. Each of the three women – a rich women aspiring to be a Buddhist nun, a convict, and a mute – claim to be Srank‘s wife.


    Director Shaji N Karun is coming back after a long pause with this film, and he tells the story of the mariner and his voyages through the eyes of the three women.


    Kutty Srank is produced by Reliance Big Picture and Mega production house in Malayalam, and will be released later in India.