MUMBAI: The Jeddah Festival in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia that was scheduled to open was 25 July has been cancelled unexpectedly by city officials.
The festival had lined up 71 feature films from the Persian Gulf region and 15 short films from Europe.
While festival officials state that the event was cancelled because of lacked preparations, reports are on that pressures from conservative religious clerics had led the city to cancel it.
MUMBAI: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince has partnered with Bharti Airtel to unveil product offerings based on the film as part of its marketing initiative.
With the tie up in place, Airtel users can have access to games, wallpapers, ringtones and themes from the sixth installment of the Harry Potter series.
Bharti Airtel has the exclusive rights to the Harry Potter game based on the latest film that revolves around the adventures of Harry, Ron Weasely and Hermione Granger at Hogwarts.
Bharti Airtel also has the exclusive rights to wallpapers and animations of Harry, Ron and Hermione practicing wizardry. Currently, there are twelve Harry Potter wallpapers and animations on the Airtel website and 14 ringtones based on the soundtrack of the film.
Airtel customers can download Harry Potter games at Rs 50 and wallpapers, animations and ringtones at Rs 15 each.
MUMBAI: Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Anupam Kher‘s acting school ‘Actor Prepares‘ in Ahmedabad today. Speaking on the occasion Modi said, “I am very glad and overwhelmed that such kind of talent promotion took place in our state. If you look at the TV industry today, you will get to see the maximum of a Gujarati family and culture everywhere.”
Commending Kher‘s initiative Modi remarked,” Kher is the only actor in the world who has become a teacher while still actively pursuing his career.”
The acting school has a sizeable collection of films and books/journals to facilitate the learning of cinema. Actor Prepares also has a Talent Placement agency, which is constantly called upon by major film and television production companies to refer actors and actresses for their projects.
MUMBAI: In association with telecom major BSNL, Percept Picture Company and Bhandarkar Entertainment have launched India‘s first sneak preview of the movie, Jail, on BSNL Live today at Chandigarh.
Present on this occasion were director Madhur Bhandarkar, lead pair of the film Neil Nitin Mukesh, Mughda Godse and BSNL CMD Kuldeep Goyal.
BSNL offers a treat to 3G users who can watch films any time and any where according to their own convenience just by visiting BSNL Portal ‘BSNL Live‘.
Jail gives a ringside view of the world that exists inside the walls of the prison spread across our country. The film is a hard hitting yet sensitive tale of an ordinary man Parag Dixit, played by Neil Mukesh, who finds himself inside the four walls of a prison, thanks to a series of unfortunate events around him. The whole film is from his point of view and tells the stories of several other inmates of the prison.
Commented Madhur Bhandarkar, “I wanted a larger platform to share the promo of Jail and wanted it to be different from all my previous films and what larger than the 3G technology itself. I am excited as well as honoured. I think the promo is quite sensational and would catch the glimpse of some real shocking and reality shots.”
Speaking on the occasion, BSNL CMD Shri Kuldeep Goyal said, “We are proud to partner with Percept Picture Company and Bhandkar Entertainment to offer customers an unbelievable level of entertainment in the country for the first time with the first ever movie sneak preview of Jail via 3G services.
“It is a historical occasion for India that we are making 3G services available to the citizens of this country. Value added services like mobile television, mobile broadband and subsequent services like mobile commerce will help to save cost and time for the common man. And our association will be proved as a mile-stone in the beginning of new era of technology.”
MUMBAI: The 12th Rajiv Gandhi Awards in the Best Actor category will be presented to Shahid Kapoor.
Said Kapoor, “I could‘t believe my ears when I got the news about me being chosen for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi award. I think it‘s early in my career of getting this prestigious award. I am indeed humbled and honoured to have been chosen for the award.”
The earlier recipients for this award have been Sunita Williams, Sachin Tendulkar, Mukesh Ambani and Amitabh Bachchan among others.
The award function will be held in the second week of August.
MUMBAI: With the excellent opening garnered by Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Warner Bros Pictures International (WBPI) has claimed to have passed the $1 billion at the box-office in record time.
WBPI announced its international box-office receipts of more than $1.2 billion last month, making it the first among the Hollywood studios to reach the mark so early in the year. This achievement also marks the seventh time it has achieved the milestone.
However the WBPI claim has been disputed by Fox International, which is said to have passed $1 billion in the first week of April 1998, the year it distributed Titanic.
With Catwoman, The Polar Express and Ocean‘s 12 among the forthcoming films to follow this year from WBPI, the studio could cross the $2 billion for the first time in history.
This is the fourth consecutive year WBPI has passed the $1 billion mark since it has been jointly headed up by distribution president Veronika Kwan-Rubinek and marketing president Sue Kroll.
The last time when WBPI grossed $ 1 billion was in 2004.
MUMBAI: Paramount Home Entertainment, a subsidiary of Paramount Pictures Corporation, is set to release Star Trek on DVD and blu-ray disc on 17 November.
Directed by JJ Abrams, Star Trek will be released on a three-disc Blu-ray with digital copy, two-disc DVD with digital copy and a single-disc DVD.
The two-disc DVD and three-disc Blu-ray include explorations of the reimagining of the franchise, the cast, the action sequences, the powerful score and the captivating aliens. They also include commentary by JJ Abrams, a gag reel and a digital copy of the film. Additionally, the discs also feature deleted scenes.
The movie earned over $375 million at the worldwide box office.
MUMBAI: Ultra has released the DVD of Elegy, a critically acclaimed film particularly for the performances of Academy Award winner Ben Kingsley and Penelope Cruz.
Elegy is the story of David Kepesh (Ben Kingsley), a cultural critic and professor. Previously married, he has a son who has never forgiven him for leaving his mother. His relationships with women are usually casual and brief. Assuming himself to be an independent and self-actualised individual, he encounters Consuela Castillo (Penélope Cruz), a beautiful and confident student who attends one of his lectures. She captures his attention like no other woman and they begin a serious relationship. David is also in a casual 20-year relationship with Caroline (Patricia Clarkson), another former student.
The DVD is priced at Rs 399 and is available at all music stores.
MUMBAI: Big Home Video, in association with Universal Pictures International Entertainment, has released the DVD of Frost/Nixon, the electrifying, untold story of one of the most unforgettable moments in history.
Frost/Nixon is the fascinating and suspenseful story of truth, accountability, secrets and lies. When disgraced President Richard Nixon agreed to an interview with jet-setting television personality David Frost, he thought he‘d found the key to saving his tarnished legacy.
Says Big Music & Home Entertainment CEO Kulmeet Makkar, “We are very pleased to bring you an epic battle for truth Frost/Nixon. The movie was nominated for 5 Academy awards, acclaimed by critics and hailed as one of the best films of the year and sure to be a collector‘s delight.”
The DVD of ‘Frost/Nixon is priced at Rs 599 while the VCD is priced at Rs 299. The DVD is replete with bonus features such as ‘Deleted Scenes‘, ‘The making of Frost/Nixon‘, ‘The Real Interview‘, ‘The Nixon Library‘ and ‘Feature Commentary‘ with director Ron Howard.
MUMBAI: The film industry is agog with excitement after the government of Maharashtra promulgated an ordinance to curb audio-video piracy, prescribing preventive detention and equating pirates with drug offenders.
The ordinance was notified after a plea by the entertainment industry to Chief Minister Ashok Chavan that it was losing an estimated 8,20,000 jobs and $4 billion annually in potential revenue due to piracy.
The ordinance, signed by Governor SC Jamir, has included audio-video piracy in the Maharashtra Prevention of Dangerous Activities Act (MPDA) which has provisions for preventive detention of likely perpetrators.
The ordinance categorises audio-video pirates with slumlords, bootleggers, drug offenders and dangerous persons, besides calling for the imprisonment of offenders for up to 12 months. But it is not yet clear whether one who is caught buying a piarted copy will also be apprehended under the Act.
“The ordinance is a landmark because it reflects the government‘s resolve to fight piracy on a war-footing,” says filmmaker Mukesh Bhatt.
Said Motion Picture Distributors. Association (India) Managing Director Rajiv Dalal, “We applaud the passage of this deterrent legislation that places piracy offenses under the Maharashtra state organised crime statute.
“Over the last several months, the release of the RAND report on ‘Film Piracy, Organised Crime and Terrorism‘ has established strong links between film piracy and organised crime/terrorist funding in India. This legislation is indeed timely and will significantly curb piracy and funding to organised criminal and terrorist syndicates in one of the most important global fim markets.”
With the promulgation of the ordinance, people in the film industry believe that stringent action would now be taken against violators of the law and this could witness the beginning of the end of piracy.