ITV

Category: Hindi

  • Government has no plans to restructure Films Division

    NEW DELHI: The Government has no plans to restructure the Films Division, but is adapting new technologies to keep it in line with the changing times.


    Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni told Parliament that the Division was digitising all its films to make them available easily to a larger audience. These will also be made available through newer technologies and different media like compact video discs and the Internet.



    Meanwhile, it is learnt that the Division has digitised 7443 films out of a total of 8131 movies in its archives.


    Ministry sources told indiantelevision.com that though the Expenditure Reforms Commission had recommended closure of the Division, the Ministry’s protest was considered by the Committee of Secretaries which in April 2004 recommended downsizing of the manpower in the Division.


    Consequently, the strength of the Division was reduced by 336 from 1177 in May 2002 to 841 at present. The Finance Ministry also gave its approval to this move.



    Meanwhile, the Division has launched a new scheme under the 11th Plan for production of documentary films with a plan allocation of Rs 200 million.



    The Division has a total plan outlay of Rs 161.43 million for production of in-house and outside production, apart from a Plan allocation of Rs 47 million for the Mumbai International Film Festival for Documentary, short and animation films held every two years. The next one is being held from 3 to 9 February 2010. In addition, there is a separate plan allocation of Rs 420 million for the Museum of the Moving Image being set up within the premises of the Division in Peddar Road in Mumbai.



    The annual allocation for the Division for the last three years was Rs 66.102 million in 2006-07, Rs 65.652 million in 2007-08, and Rs 53.257 million in 2008-09.



    The Division produced 46 films and 15 news magazines during 2008-09, as compared to 57 films and 11 news magazines the year before, and 48 films and 16 news magazines in 2006-07.

  • Inox joins other plexes to post Q1 loss

    MUMBAI: After Cinemax and Adlabs Films, it is Inox Leisure’s turn to slip into the red as first-quarter revenues went for a toss on account of the row with film producers.

    Inox posted a consolidated net loss of Rs 40.1 million for the quarter ended 30 June, as against a net profit of Rs 36.8 million a year ago, as it was hurt by low occupancy.


    Total revenue stood at Rs 345.1 million, down 33.67 per cent as producers froze their content to the multiplexes against a revenue-share dispute.


    Inox curtailed its expenses by 15.81 per cent to Rs 400.5 million, down from Rs 475.7 million in the prior-year quarter.


    The multiplex business segment had an operating loss of Rs 55.8 million, compared to an operating profit of Rs 48.3 million in the first quarter of FY‘09. Revenue from this segment was Rs 344.4 million, down from Rs 517 million. The capital deployed in the segment is Rs 3.27 billion.


    The film distribution segment, on the other hand, reduced the operating loss to Rs 1.7 million, from Rs 7.8 million in the same quarter of the previous fiscal. Revenue, however, dipped to Rs 1 million, from Rs 11.4 million a year ago.

  • FTII film for Venice Film Festival

    MUMBAI: A film made by the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune has made it to the Venice International Film Festival. The last film that was showed at the festival was Sant Tukaram in 1937.

    Aadmi Ki Aurat Aur Anya Kahaniyan (The man‘s woman and other stories) directed by Amit Dutta, an FTII graduate of the 2004 batch will premiere at the 66th edition of the festival to be held from 2 -12 September.


    Dutta has earlier won a number of awards for his short films including FIPRESCI Award at the Oberhausen Film Festival in Germany, the Gold Mikaldi at Bilbao in Spain and two National Awards from the Government of India, among others. Some of his earlier films include the diploma film Kramasha that earned him the Golden Conch at the Mumbai International Film Festival and the film Kshya Tra Ghya that won him the special jury award and the best audiography award at the National Awards in 2005-06.


    Aadmi Ki Aurat Aur Anya Kahaniyan the fourth in the series of films made after the revival of the acting course in 2005-06 has been selected in the competition section of Horizon.

  • Love Aaj Kal grosses Rs 620 million in opening weekend

    MUMBAI: Eros International‘s Love Aaj Kal has taken a good opening with the film grossing Rs 620 million worldwide in its opening weekend.

    While the movie mopped up Rs 470 million from India, it collected Rs 150 million from overseas.


    Incidentally, the film released across 1800 screens worldwide on 31 July with one of the highest number of daily shows across multiplexes.


    Says Eros International Senior VP – Distribution – India Nandu Ahuja, “As a distribution strategy we went out with more multiplex screens rather than single- screens for Love Aaj Kal as we knew it would fare well with those audiences. We are confident that the film is going to continue working its magic at the box-office and will go on to become of the biggest blockbusters in recent time.”


    Love Aaj Kal has done exceedingly well in multiplexes as compared to single-screens. Commenting on the film‘s performance across his chain of cinemas, Aditya Shroff of Fame Cinemas said, “All previous records were smashed after highest collections were recorded at most of my cinemas.”


    Not only has Love Aaj Kal been faring well in the country, it is doing equally well in overseas too. Says Eros International President-Distribution – Europe and Africa Pranab Kapadia, “The film enjoys an all-time high opening in the UK of over 4,10,000 sterling pounds for the weekend. Box-office results in Australia show that Love Aaj Kal collected AUS $ 2,05,821, leaving behind the collections of previous hits. In Pakistan too, the film opened extremely well in Pakistan grossing Rs 10.5 million Pakistani rupees from 211 shows over the weekend.”

  • ‘What’s Your Raashee?’ to premiere at Toronto Film Festival

    MUMBAI: UTV‘s upcoming venture What‘s Your Raashee? will have its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival on 19 September.
    The movie, starring Harman Baweja and Priyanka Chopra in pivotal roles, has been directed by Ashutosh Gowariker.

    The film, based on a Gujarati novel ‘Kimball Ravenswood‘ by Madhu Rye, revolves around a young Gujarati man in pursuit of his dream girl with a catch to find her within ten days in order to save his family from an unforeseen ordeal. This leads to an array of confusion, chaos and a hilarious joy ride.


    The lyrics for the film has been penned by film Javed Akhtar while the music has been composed by Sohail Sen.

  • Film industry to grow at CAGR of 11.5% to touch Rs 184 bn in 2013: Pwc

    MUMBAI:The Indian Film industry will grow by 11.5 per cent over the next five years to reach Rs 184.3 billion in 2013, reveals a recent report by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

    After growing by 15.6 per cent in the period between 2004 to 2008, the Indian film industry will continue to see double digit growth. In 2008, the industry reported a growth of 11.5 per cent to Rs 107 billion, up from Rs 96 billion in 2007.


    Domestic box-office collections with a 76 per cent share at Rs 81.2 billion continued to be the largest contributor to the revenues of the industry. Overseas collections is steadily becoming an important component with a revenue of Rs 10 billion in 2008.


    The home video market also witnessed dynamic changes in the last four years, having achieved a growth rate of 14.3 per cent over the period from 2004 to 2008. The segment was estimated at Rs 5.8 billion in 2008 from Rs 7.4 billion in 2007, reflecting a 21 per cent decline from the prior year.


    Ancillary revenues too became increasingly important with a contribution of 9 per cent to the film industry pie in 2008. Within ancillary revenues, satellite rights contribute 75-80 per cent of the total revenue pie. Overall, ancillary revenues stood at Rs 10 billion in 2008, up from Rs 8.5 billion in 2007.



    Outlook for 2009-2013:


    The relative shares of the film industry are expected to shift marginally from the traditional revenues to the new emerging revenues.










    Projected growth of Indian Filmed Entertainment Industry 2009-13

    Source: Industry estimates and PwC analysis


    The domestic box-office segment is expected to grow at 10.2 per cent cumulatively over the next five years to reach an estimate of Rs 132 billion in 2013 from the present size of Rs 81 billion.


    The overseas collections are estimated to grow cumulatively at 12.5 per cent over the next 5 years to reach Rs 18 billion in 2013, from current size of Rs 10 billion in 2008.


    The home video market is expected to significantly shift in the next five years given the developments in last two years.Though an overall growth of 25 per cent is projected over the next five years, the home video segment is expected to be dominated by the physical sell-through segment in the next five years compared to the rental market now. The home video market is, thus, projected to reach
    Rs 17.9 billion in 2013, from the current size of Rs 5.9 billion in 2008, translating into a cumulative growth of 25 per cent over the five-year forecast period.


    If good content is made at a competitive price and if right marketing strategies are adopted, the film industry would be able to weather the current downturn phase, the report states.

  • Big Cinemas launches classified service to tap local advertisers

    MUMBAI: Big Cinemas, India‘s largest multiplex chain operator, has launched a classified service to tap local and regional advertisers.

    Branded as ‘Big Cinemas Classifieds‘, the service will provide advertisers the option to release their classified advertisements on the multiplex property screens through slides in the Mumbai and Navi Mumbai region for one week.


    For this, Big Cinemas has tied up with 40 local press depots in relevant catchment areas to provide connect options to the local retail advertisers.


    According to the multiplex chain, the service is part of Big Cinemas‘ strategic initiative to develop and promote cinema advertising as an effective advertising medium because of the reach, transparency and measurement of the medium.


    Says Big Cinemas business head – cinema sales Arun Tyagi, “Cinema advertising is an extremely effective low-cost and high-impact advertising medium offering local, regional and national capabilities to an engaged and seated audience. With the launch of the classified service, we are giving local retail advertisers a promotion option beyond the print media.”


    Apart from the on-screen presentation options, Big Cinemas also offers innovative
    off-screen consumer-connect options like pillar branding, audi and exit door branding, floor stickers, ticket jackets, seat branding, washroom mirror branding and staircase and waterbody branding among others.


    The multiplex chain currently operates 457 screens that include properties in the US, Netherlands and Malaysia.

  • Multiplex strike scripts Adlabs’ Q1 net loss

    MUMBAI: Put to financial stress by the row with film producers, multiplex operators have posted dismal first-quarter performances. With PricewaterhouseCoopers estimating the total loss of the Indian cinema industry during the strike period – which consumed 80 per cent of the quarter – at Rs 3.5 billion, the listed multiplex companies are slipping into the red.

    After Cinemax, which suffered a net loss of Rs 5.8 million for the quarter ended 30 June, the next to feel the pinch is Adlabs Films.


    The Reliance ADAG company has posted a consolidated net loss of Rs 636.96 million for the quarter ended 30 June, as against a net profit of Rs 23.24 million a year ago.


    The company has clarified that this quarter is not comparable with “any period” on account of the deadlock between the producers, distributors and exhibitors on several issues “due to which there were no new Hindi movie releases for 80 per cent period of the quarter.”


    Consolidated net revenue stood at Rs 1.05 billion, down 54.23 per cent. The company also posted negative EBITDA from operations at Rs 90 million for the quarter under review.


    Adlabs curtailed its expenses by 34.78 per cent to Rs 1.48 billion, down from Rs 2.27 billion in the prior-year quarter.


    Theatrical exhibition business suffered the worst blow with operating loss standing at Rs 298.88, compared to an operating profit of Rs 8.47 million in the first quarter of FY‘09. Revenue from this segment was Rs 708.73 million, down from Rs 776.86 million. The capital deployed in the segment is Rs 10.32 billion.


    The film production and distribution segment took a hit in operating profit as it reduced to Rs 12.80 million, from Rs 109.16 million in the same quarter of the previous fiscal. Revenue dipped to Rs 70.81 million (from Rs 693.02 million).


    In the film facilities business, operating profit declined to Rs 15.08 million, from Rs 100.46 in the prior year, due to paucity of film releases. The revenue in the segment fell marginally to Rs 288.89 million, as against Rs 299.09 million in the year-ago period. The segment employed a capital of Rs 3.33 billion.


    Buoyed by a sharp recovery in July with movie screenings returning, Adlabs expects the momentum to continue for the rest of the fiscal. Says Adlabs CEO Anil Arjun, “It is very encouraging that movies released thereafter (post strike) have seen a strong box office. The line-up of movies for the remaining year is strong and we except the performance of July to be maintained through the year. Adlabs has made strategic investments and scaled up business operations. We expect to benefit from the strong momentum in the film and media industry.”

  • NFDC sets aside Rs 300 million for regional films

    NEW DELHI:The National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) has set aside Rs 300 million for financing films in various regional languages from its Eleventh Plan allocation.

    NFDC has made a provision of Rs 65 million this fiscal towards funding of regional movies, same as last year.



    As part of preserving good classic regional films, all state film archives have been asked to deposit any film material lying with them to the National Film Archive of India (NFAI).


    This move comes on the heels of the Government‘s ambitious project of digitising and restoring films available in NFAI to avoid permanent loss of the film heritage.


    Last year, the NFAI weeded out 15,565 reels as they were declared as unserviceable. This followed the report of the Committee constituted by NFAI in February 2003 for this purpose. After completing the necessary formalities, the material was disposed of in July 2008.


    Though a few old titles had to be weeded out, these films may still be available with the concerned producers, directors or the laboratories.

  • Government working on new national film policy

    NEW DELHI: The Government is planning to set up a committee to suggest a policy framework for the development of the film industry.


    This plan, however, is at a nascent stage, Information and Broadcasting Ministry sources tell Indiantelevision.com.



    The last major report was the Working Group on National Film Policy 1980, headed by KS Karanth, which was largely ignored.


    The present laws relating to cinema including the Cinematograph Act 1952 are based in the Film Enquiry Committee 1951 (also known as the Patil Committee Report).



    Even the first ever such report – The Indian Cinematograph Committee (1927-28) – was largely ignored by the British government.



    However, the State Information Ministers Conference (SIMCON) held from time to time has taken some decisions, though these have seldom been implemented.