ITV

Category: Hindi

  • Fame launches new property in Mumbai

    MUMBAI: Multiplex chain operator Fame Cinema has opened its new property in Kalyan, Mumbai.

    With this launch, Fame takes its all-India tally to 22 properties. The 5-screen multiplex has a total seating capacity of 46.


    Says Fame Cinemas Managing Director Shravan Shroff, “Kalyan is a very important market for us and we have been able to come up with one of our finest properties in Mumbai yet, for the patrons of this suburb.”


    With this property, Fame now has 10 cinemas in Mumbai with a total of 36 screens and 10,381 seats. In the all-India market, Fame has 79 screens with a seating capacity of 22,777 seats.

  • Cinemax launches new multiplex in Ahmedabad

    MUMBAI: Multiplex chain operator Cinemax has launched its new property in Ahmedabad, taking its tally up to four in Gujarat.

    The four-screen multiplex will be open to the audiences with movies like New York, Kambakkht Ishq, Ice Age 3 and Terminator Salvation, Cinemax said in a statement.


    The multiplex has a seating capacity of 987.


    With this new addition, Cinemax now has a total of 24 theatre properties, 74 screens and 20,320 seats across India.


    Cinemax India had earlier revealed its plans to invest between Rs 800 million to Rs 1 billion to roll out 50 screens in the current fiscal.
    The company‘s ambitious three-year plan is to add 300 screens over a period of three years, up from its current 74 screens across 25 properties.

  • Now, Actor Prepares in Ahmedabad

    MUMBAI: After having opened chapters in Chandigarh and London, Anupam Kher‘s acting school Actor Prepares is all set to launch in Ahmedabad on 20 July. The 2.5 acre campus has a swimming pool, a state -of -the-art gymnasium and a horse-riding school.

    “This phase of vigorous expansion reflects the high level of interest in Indian cinema and the entertainment business among the younger generation the world over,” says Kher, whose career spans a quarter century encompassing almost 400 films, adding, “I believe that acting, like any craft, can be taught, learnt and perfected in.”


    The popularity of his three-month full-time Actor Prepares programme is reflected in the fact that in Mumbai, it is running house full for the past one year and the rejection rate is almost 1:1.


    Scores of its alumni including Deepika Padukone have bagged roles in major Hindi and South Indian films.

  • K Sera Sera FY’09 net up 53% to Rs 606 million

    MUMBAI: K Sera Sera Productions Ltd. has reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 606.35 million for the fiscal year ended March 31 2009, up 53 per cent from Rs 399 million a year ago.

    Total income has jumped eight per cent to Rs 1.89 billion, from Rs 1.73 billion in FY‘08.


    Expenditure stands at Rs 1.56 billion, compared to Rs 1.2 billion a year ago, as cost of operations grew from Rs 1.11 billion to Rs 1.4 billion in FY‘09.


    The company has announced 10 films in its production pipeline for the year 2009-10 for which it has reportedly given advances of Rs 200 million to leading artists and directors.

  • Bhandarkar’s ‘Fashion’ first Hindi film at MIFF

    MUMBAI: Madhur Bhandarkar has added one more feather to his cap as his film Fashion became the first ever Bollywood film to be showcased at Moscow International Film Festival (MIFF).

    The festival, conducted to promote cultural exchanges and mutual understanding among nations and to develop further co-operation among filmmakers of the world, was being held in Moscow in the period of 19 to 28 June.


    The MIFF, recognised by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF), is in its 31st year and is held under support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation.


    Bhandarkar‘s Fashion was, in fact, chosen to inaugurate the Indian section of the festival yet proving him to be India‘s most applauded and outstanding filmmaker.


    On 20 June, Fashion was screened at the October Multiplex, Moscow and received a standing ovation from the Russian audience which was followed the next day by the lunch hosted by the Indian Ambassador to Russia Prabhat Prakash Shukla in Moscow, which was also attended by the veteran filmmaker Shyam Benegal.


    Madhur Bhandarkar was also present at the Gala-Opening of the Festival de Festivals held in St.Petersburg where again his film was screened on 26 June.

  • TV syndication biz lifts Eros up in FY’09

    MUMBAI: Eros International Plc had a bad theatrical year with its film releases but stayed pre-tax profitable for the full year ended 31 March 2009 as its television syndication business to Indian broadcasters grew 94 per cent to $64 million.

    Profit before tax was up seven per cent to $48.4 million on a gross turnover of $156.7 million. The company said revenue was up 38.7 per cent from $113 million a year ago.


    Theatrical revenue fell from $52.1 million to $46.3 million, despite the number of releases during the year increasing to 70 (from 52 releases in 2008). Eros released 24 films globally, including Tamil and other regional movies.


    Eros saw growth in revenues from international television networks and aggregators for dubbed and original versions including German, Russian, Arabic and other languages dubbed or subtitled in 24 different languages.


    Says Eros chairman and chief executive Kishore Lulla, “I am delighted that Eros International has delivered strong revenue and profit growth for the third successive year, building on our core competency of content and distribution. Against a backdrop of an uncertain macro economic environment and adverse currency movements caused by the significant depreciation of the Indian rupee to the US dollar, with over 60 per cent of the Group‘s turnover coming from India, the underlying business has produced a very robust performance. The company will continue build its content portfolio and distribution network while focusing on cash conversion, effective management of costs and reducing net debt.”


    Revenues from new media grew by 69 per cent to $46.2million, driven largely by growth in video-on-demand deals with Comcast, Cablevision and other cable platforms, IPTV, mobile deals, DTH and internet platforms.


    Aimed at giving digital revenues a big push, the company released 11 music titles in the year which were monetised through ringtones and other revenue streams.


    Having already released two titles on Blu Ray format, Eros plans to release at least a further 50 titles on Blu Ray.


    Eros said over 50 per cent of the Group‘s turnover came from catalogue exploitation and regional content distribution.

    Eros expects cash flows to be healthy in FY‘10 as it has lined up a large slate of global releases like Kambakkth Ishq, Love Aaj Kal, Aladin, De Dhana Dhan and Veer. The production costs for the upcoming slate of movies are already substantially funded and the company aims to reduce its net debt over the next 12 months.

  • Budget: Film industry wants CVD exemption on raw stock

    NEW DELHI: The film industry, which had heaved a sigh of relief when the countervailing duty for unexposed colour films was abolished in 2002, is once again battling for a similar status since it was re-introduced in 2004.

    Although the raw stock is imported, the CVD was imposed over two decades earlier since the Hindustan Photo Films sliced the jumbo rolls into smaller ones.


    “CVD should be done away with since it was introduced to protect domestic manufacturers while raw film is imported,” says Mukesh Bhatt.


    Delegations of the film industry led by Film Federation of India President Jitendra Jain recently called on Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni in separate meetings to press various demands relating to the budget, and said though unexposed negatives are not produced within the country, the industry has been paying CVD. Though this was removed in 2002, it was re-imposed in 2004 at the rate of 16 per cent.


    While Soni told the delegation that she had already raised this issue with the Finance Minister, Mukherjee candidly told the delegation that he would listen to them patiently but could not make any commitment.



    The industry is also seeking parity in taxation amongst all media, as it feels the government is encouraging new technologies by offering them tax concessions while ignoring the film industry which was the biggest foreign exchange earner and one of the largest employers in the country. Soni assured the industry that she has sought exemption from service tax to the film industry.



    FFI Secretary General Supran Sen told indiantelevision.com that the industry was also seeking relief in Fringe Benefit Tax. The film industry has had to pay huge FBT in booking of hotels, travel and food even when traveling for professional work.



    The government has also been requested to consider relief on remittances abroad under Section 195B of the Income Tax Act as these are for professional work or for hiring foreign technicians.



    The industry wants advance tax and the interest levied under Section 234B and 234C to be made discretionary and not mandatory for the film industry as it often becomes difficult – particularly the months of December and January – since the profits from any film are subject to a high degree of uncertainty. .



    Tax deducted at source for licensing of copyright varies between 10.3 to 11.33 per cent, which the film industry feels is very high particularly for regional cinema. The film delegation asked the Minister to consider regrouping TDS that is levied upon the industry.



    Soni has supported the demand by the Ficci for a 10-year tax holiday for the emerging sectors such as gaming, animation and visual effects.

  • Terminator Salvation grosses Rs 47 mn in opening weekend in India

    MUMBAI: Sony Pictures‘ Terminator Salvation has grossed Rs 47 million at the box office in India in its opening weekend.

    Set in post-apocalyptic 2018, Terminator Salvation focuses on the war between humanity and Skynet. John Connor is the man fated to lead the human resistance against Skynet and its army of Terminators. But the future that Connor was raised to believe in is altered in part by the appearance of Marcus Wright, a stranger whose last memory is of being on death row.


    Connor must decide whether Marcus has been sent from the future, or rescued from the past. As Skynet prepares its final onslaught, Connor and Marcus both embark on an odyssey that takes them into the heart of Skynet‘s operations, where they uncover the terrible secret behind the possible annihilation of mankind.


    Said SPE Films Managing Director Kercy Daruwala, “We are pleased to report that Terminator Salvation has grossed Rs. 47 million in its opening weekend. The film is working as per our high expectations. The special effects and action sequences in the film are sort of that audiences have not yet seen before and this instalment of the Terminator series. Being an action-packed film, and part of the extremely popular Terminator series, we see huge potential for this film in English as well as dubbed languages such as Hindi, Tamil and Telugu as well.”

  • Big Pictures to release ‘Sikandar’ on 21 August

    MUMBAI: Big Pictures, the motion pictures wing of Reliance Big Entertainment, is gearing up to release Sikandar on 21 August. The film stars Parzaan Dastur, Ayesha Kapur of Black fame along with R Madhavan, Sanjay Suri and Arunoday Singh in key roles. Written and directed by Piyush Jha, the film is presented by Big Pictures in association with Sudhir Mishra.

    The film is the story about a 14-year-old boy who has a dream to play football for the National team, but this adolescent‘s life changes drastically when he comes across a gun and gets drawn into the web of militants, power and violence.

    Avers Big Pictures Chief Operating Officer Mahesh Ramanathan, “Sikandar is a first-of its-kind exploration into the source and antecedents of terrorism. The film is a gripping eye-opener and Piyush has explored a complex subject sensitively. The film is bound to attract family audiences.


    “Watch out for the Dhoop Ke Sikkey song, one of Prasoon‘s most facile pieces of work brilliantly composed by Shankar, Ehsaan & Loy. It‘s a potent recipe to go with the holiday mood. Parzan and Ayesha have delivered riveting performances. Big Pictures is proud to present one of its first home productions to worldwide audiences”.

  • Transformers to release in 3 local languages in India on 10 June


    MUMBAI: Having set box-office records across the globe, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is set for a wide release in India on 10 July.
    The movie will release in three Indian languages including Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. “We will be releasing the film in English and in three local languages in India. We will release with a total of 200 prints all over the country. Besides multiplexes, we will also release the film in single-screen theatres,” says Paramount Pictures marketing head Jacinto Fernandes.


    The film that has Shia LaBeouf in the lead opened across the world, setting the fourth highest all-time international weekend gross. It grabbed the number one spot in the UK with a five-day gross of $10.2million from 505 locations. It also had the biggest of 58 openings in China where the film recorded all-time highest opening gross for an English language film with a weekend total of $21.9mn from 1,009 locations.


    Transfomers also set a new all-time highest opening in Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand. Elsewhere, there were huge openings in Korea, Australia and Russia with the film out-performing the first edition by 41, 80 and 69 per cent respectively.


    Meanwhile the IMAX edition, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: The IMAX Experience, directed by Michael Bay and featuring scenes filmed with IMAX(R) cameras, posted strong opening results too.


    The film raked in an estimated $14.4 million coming from 169 IMAX(R) theatres in the USA for a per-screen average of over $85,000 during the five-day opening from 24 June to 28 June.


    The film has already set records for the biggest IMAX opening in international markets including China, Australia and France. The film‘s worldwide IMAX total has reached $18.3 million till the last weekend.