ITV

Category: Hindi

  • Shemaroo releases three music-based films

    MUMBAI: Shemaroo Entertainment has released three music-based films titled Heavy Metal – Louder than Life, Punk Attitude and HYPE.

    These films feature the evolution of the respective music genres – what it means to its hardcore listeners, their relationship with music and the bands they follow. Shemaroo has exclusively licensed this content from Fremantle Media.


    Heavy Metal focuses on fan following and listeners loyalty towards bands they follow like Metallica, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Pantera, Megadeth, and Twisted Sister.

    Directed by Dick Carruthers, the film‘s DVD comes with additional features on the timeline of metal bands and rare performance footage. Heavy Metal – Louder than Life Vol -1 & 2 is a two-DVD set, priced at Rs 499.


    Punk Attitude is directed by Don Letts. The DVD featuring Punk Rock legendary bands The Ramones, The Sex Pistols, MC5, New York Dolls, and The Stooges. Punk Attitude is also priced at Rs 499. Other contents include interviews and live performances of bands.


    HYPE, showcased at the Sundance Film Festival, is directed by Dough Pray. The DVD features Seattle‘s famous bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Mudhoney, Monomen and Seven Year Bitch. HYPE is priced at Rs 499 and comes along with interviews and live performances of bands.

    Says Shemaroo Entertainment Director Hiren Gada, “By releasing these great films on DVDs, we are reaching out to a group of music lovers who follow international bands and are looking forward to content that add meaning to their passion. The history of these musical movements will certainly bring delight to its followers.”

  • Indian Film Company keeps slate busy for 2009-10


    MUMBAI: Readying an investment of Rs 1.61 billion ($32.12 million), the Raghav Bahl-driven Indian Film Company (IFC) is lining up a busy 2009-10 schedule.


    Apart from the Bollywood crop, IFC’s pipeline includes remake of the Hollywood film “Italian Job” from Paramount Studios. Having acquired the rights, the film is currently in its scripting stage.


    IFC has acquired the rights for Shortkut – The Con Is On and Luck that are expected to hit the theatres this July and September.


    The AIM-listed company is also co-producing Loot, Striker, King Kaun, Kaun Bola, Life Partner, Road Movie, Paanch Pandav, It‘s A Wonderful Afterlife, Banda Yeh Bindass Hai and Tamil Unlimited.


    Director by Neeraj Vohra, Shortkut – The Con is On will release in July and casts Akshaye Khanna, Arshad Warsi and Amrita Rao. Directed by Soham Shah, Luck, meanwhile, is scheduled for an August release and casts Sanjay Dutt, Imran Khan and Danny Denzongpa.


    Life Partner will release in September this year. Both Kaun Bola and Banda Yeh Bindaas Hai will open in theatres in November.


    Loot and Striker are scheduled for a March 2010 release. Also in the pipeline are 7 Days in Paris, a romantic comedy directed by Sanjay Ghadvi that casts Imran Khan and Katrina Kaif as lead protagonists. The film is expected to release in April 2010.


    It‘s A Wonderful Afterlife, a co-production with director Gurinder Chadha, casts Shabana Azmi, Sendhil Ramamurthy (of Heroes fame) Shaheen Khan (Bend It Like Beckham) and British-Indian theatre actress Goldie Notay. The film is expected to hit the theatres in April 2010.


    The other productions are Game, Ishq Unplugged, Fruit ‘N‘ Nut and Bombay Velvet.


    Additionally, there are untitled projects with directors such as David Dhawan, Anees Bazmee, Sabal S Shekhawat, Shoham Shah, Amrit Sagar and Priyadarshan.


    “We will continue to focus on distribution and exploitation of quality content that entertains audiences and gives commercial returns,” IFC director and Network18 founder-promoter Raghav Bahl said. “The group has focused more on mounting its own productions in order to generate higher margins and profitability. The Group has recruited talented directors with established track records, who are working on projects in various stages of production including scripting, casting, shooting and post production.”

  • BBC Asian Network to broadcast live from Iifa Awards

    MUMBAI: BBC has announced that BBC Asian Network‘s Love Bollywood presenters Raj and Pablo will bring their show live from the International Indian Film Awards (IIFAs) in Macau, China, on 13 and 14 June.

    In its tenth year, the Awards are expected to attract Bollywood acts such as Amitabh Bachan, Ashwariya Rai Bachan, Hrithik Roshan, Shahid Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra to name just a few.


    The event will be hosted by Ritesh Deshmukh, Boman Irani and Lara Dutta.


    This year the event will also play host to British pop star Peter Andre who is reported to be performing some of his hit songs such as Mysterious Girl and Flava.


    BBC Asian Network will be embracing Bollywood fever by launching the first Bollywood Player. This will syndicate the best Bollywood content from the Network on to the web, giving audiences the latest photos, star interviews and features.


    The material will include interviews from the stars, content from shows such as Love Bollywood, with film news, gossip and reviews from various showbiz commentators from across BBC Asian Network including Malini Agarwal and the Asian Network‘s Entertainment Reporter Shabnam Mahmood.


    Bollywood content will be on the Bollywood Player during the Iifas. The site will be updated daily with pictures and video footage with backstage interviews.

  • ’99’ grosses Rs 170.7 million in three weeks

    MUMBAI: After a three-week gross box-office collection amounting to
    Rs 170.7 million, 99 continues to hold strong in its fourth week too playing in 225 screens, despite the fact that five new films released last Friday.

    Made on a modest budget of Rs 80 million, the film was released on 15 May. Audience reactions and strong word-of-mouth helped the film to sustain collections right through the third week of release.


    Playing in 225 screens in week 4, the film has had a startlingly low drop week-on-week, and has surprised even the filmmakers. The film grossed Rs 76 million from 430 screens, Rs 53 million from 358 screens and Rs 42 million from 252 screens worldwide in its first three weeks respectively. The net box-office collection was Rs 54 million for week 1,
    Rs 38 million for week 2 and Rs 29.8 million for week 3, bringing the total net box-office for 3 weeks to 121.7 million.


    Commenting on the film‘s performance, producers Anupam Mittal and Aditya Shastri say, “The film has exceeded our expectations and we‘re pleased with the results. The film is in its fourth week and is still going very strong.”


    99 is a story inspired by real events in 1999 and 2000. It is as much “what could have been” as it is “what really happened.” In other words, it is historical action. It spans a few genres, it is slick, fast-paced, realistic and, importantly, very funny.


    The movie is an unpredictable and hilarious ride spread over two cities with colourful characters, unbelievable circumstances, small-time crooks, big-time conspiracies, fateful car crashes, loads of coffee, a briefcase full of money, a budding romance and a historical controversy brewing in the background.

  • NDTV Lumiere screens The Orphanage in Chandigarh

    MUMBAI: NDTV Lumi?re has begun its theatrical releases at Chandigarh with the critically-acclaimed Spanish thriller, The Orphanage.

    After successful theatrical releases across eight cities in India, Chandigarh happens to be the latest world cinema destination in India. The Orphanage is now showing at 10.35 p.m. at Fun Cinemas, Mani Majra.


    Commented NDTV Lumiere business head Dhruvank Vaidya, “We are very excited to start our theatrical releases in Chandigarh beginning with The Orphanage which was the highest grossing film in Spain in 2007 and was its official entry to the Oscars.


    “We are confident that film lovers in Chandigarh who currently don‘t have easy access to contemporary world cinema will greatly enjoy watching this film. With releases starting in Chandigarh, NDTV Lumiere further extends its association with Fun Cinemas.”


    Says Fun Cinemas senior VP, marketing, Shirish Handa, “Fun Cinemas is delighted to strengthen its relationship with NDTV Lumiere by hosting their movies in Chandigarh. Through this platform, we will be able to expose the audience of Chandigarh to world-class cinema rich in film-making craft and new, unexplored narratives. At Fun Cinemas we try to bring to the audience new experiences on this big screen and this is a continuation of that effort.”



    The recipient of the Barcelona Awards 2007 for Best Film and Best Actor, among 7 others, The Orphanage produced by the renowned Guillermo Del Toro and starring Spanish actress Bel?n Rueda and Geraldine Chaplin (grand-daughter of Charlie Chaplin) has been directed by the award-winning filmmaker Juan Antonio Bayona.

  • Eros and Everest Entertainment to produce four Marathi films

    MUMBAI: After the tremendous success of Mee Shivaji Raje Bhosale Boltoy, Eros International and Everest Entertainment have come together again to produce four more Marathi films.

    Following on from Mee Shivaji Raje Bhosale Boltoy, Eros will be releasing Patta Cut, a film by Mahesh Manjrekar, on 18 September along with Everest Entertainment. Additionally, the companies are also developing three more Marathi films over the next 12 months.


    Mee Shivaji Raje Bhosale Boltoy is the first Marathi film that has got the highest ever collection for a Marathi film so far by grossing around Rs 180 million at the box office.

  • Compact Disc inks deal with BBC Films to co-produce film

    MUMBAI: Compact Disc India has signed a joint venture deal with BBC Films to co-produce Blame It On The Bhangra.

    Written and directed by Paul Angunawela, the budget of the film is pegged at
    Rs 297 million.


    Says Compact Disc India chairman Suresh Kumar, “We plan to release the film by mid-2010. BBC Films has already signed a distribution deal with Lionsgate for the UK territory. We are, however, still to finalise on the distributors for the Indian and Canadian markets.


    Blame It On The Bhangra talks about a British-Asian girl who disguises herself as a boy in the hope of winning the tournament and claiming the ultimate Bhangra glory.


    David Thompson, former head of BBC Films from Origin Pictures, is the co-producer of Blame It On The Bhangra.

  • Chandigarh-made animation film wins multiple global awards

    NEW DELHI: ‘The Eyes of Silence’, an animation film made by two animators on two computers working a Chandigarh-based studio, has become the first Indian animation film to win five international awards and get screened in as many as 11 international film festivals.

    Produced by Virtual Realms Productions, the five-minute film won the highly coveted Accolade Award of Merit in Animation at The Accolade 2009, Best Animation Award at the Rockport Film Festival 2008, Aloha Award for Excellence in filmmaking


    at the Honolulu International Film Festival 2009, Silver award for Best Animation at the Lake arrowhead Film Festival 2009, and Best Drama & Animation at the Firstglance Hollywood Film Festival 2009, apart from being showcased at Festival de Cannes 2009 under Showcase for Emerging Filmmakers.



    The film made in 3D technology has been screened in festivals in the United States, France, Russia, Germany, Italy and Egypt among other countries.


    Avi Sidhu and Navneet Kinger, both partners in the studio, worked part time on the film all the while handling their main business. ‘The Eyes of Silence’ is very different from the traditional animation films. It explores the genre of photorealistic and drives home the point that animation is a medium for kids and adults to enjoy equally. The film dwells on a sensitive topic through a short story about basic human emotions set in a modern world where hate and war for religion rages. The story revolves around an introspecting terrorist who is an explosives expert and has been given a mission to carry out. With the help of international affiliates, he departs on the journey of a lifetime. The terrorist is one with a humane heart and a thoughtful mind and hence realizes that someone being killed here is like someone losing his life back home.



    The movie simply tries to drive the point that violence spawns violence and it leads to a chain reaction. Sanity prevails only when you pause and analyze the grim truth behind your actions and decide to make a change.



  • Big Pictures to release ‘Kal Kissne Dekha’ in 510 screens worldwide

    MUMBAI

    : Big Pictures, the motion pictures brand of Reliance Big Entertainment, is all set to release Vashu Bhagnani‘s Kal Kissne Dekha worldwide on 12 June. The film will release in 510 screens worldwide. While it will release in 460 screens in India, it will release in 50 screens overseas.

    Overseas, the film is being released in the USA, UK, UAE, Singapore, Mauritius and Fiji, with a further increase in locations in subsequent weeks.


    Says Big Pictures Head of Domestic Distribution Kamal Gianchandani, “Kal Kissne Dekha is this summer‘s first major Hindi film to release in all multiplexes and single screens. With a view to get optimum penetration in the market, we are releasing the film in over 460 screens domestically.”

    It may be noted that prior to Kal Kissne Dekha, Big Pictures launched debutant actors like Farhan Akhtar in Rock On, Neil Nitin Mukesh in Johnny Gaddar and Harman Baweja in Lovestory 2050.


    Produced by Vashu Bhagnani, the film is written and directed by Vivek Sharma and has music by Sajid- Wajid.



  • Habib Tanvir no more

    MUMBAI: Habib Tanvir, one of the most popular Hindi playwrights, theatre director, poet and actor, pased away on 8 June at Bhopal after a three-week long illness. Writer of plays like Agra Bazar (1954) and Charandas Chor (1975), Tanvir was pioneer in Hindi theatre.

    Says seasoned writer Amrk Gill who‘s written films like Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Machis, The Jungle Book and Ek Chadar Maili Si , “He was mostly known for his work with Chhattisgarhi tribals, at Naya Theatre, a theatre company he founded in 1959 in Bhopal.


    “Born on 1 September 1932, Tanvir had most of his education from England and Europe and was a learned person having learnt dramatics at the Royal Academy of dramatics. A great human being Tanvir was one of the founder members of IMPPA.


    A leftist by thought, Tanvir‘s plays were mostly based on the ideology. With his demise, an era has come to an end.”


    Incidentally, Tanvir was associated with plays like Gaon ka Naam Sasural, Mor Naam Damad and Kamdeo ka Apna Basant and Ritu ka Sapna.


    Tanvir was one of the most influential theatre personalities of our times and would always be remembered for reviving the folk theatre and folk art forms.