ITV

Category: Hindi

  • Wanted to release on 7 August

    MUMBAI: Boney Kapoor‘s latest production Wanted will hit the theatres pan India on 7 August.

    The film, staring Salman Khan, Ayesha Takia, Vinod Khanna, Mahesh Manjrekar, Mehak and South Indian star Prakash Raja, marks the directorial debut of choreographer/actor Prabhu Deva.


    The music of the film has been composed by the duo Sajid-Wajid.


    Meanwhile, the other two films from the Boney Kapoor production stable, Milenge Milenge and It‘s my life, are slated to release sometime in September-October.

  • AR Rahman to score ‘Couples Retreat’ for Universal Pictures

    MUMBAI: Oscar-winning composer AR Rahman will compose the score to the Universal Pictures‘ upcoming comedy Couples Retreat.

    This announcement marks Rahman‘s first foray into composing music for an American comedy film.



    Rahman won two Academy Awards for ‘Best Original Score‘ for his work on Slumdog Millionaire and ‘Best Original Song‘ for Jai Ho. Rahman also became the first Indian artist to win a Golden Globe for Best Original Score and took home numerous awards including the Critics Choice Award, Los Angeles Film Critics Award and a Bafta for Slumdog Millionaire.


    Couples Retreat is directed by Peter Billingsley and stars Vince Vaughn, Jason Bateman, Jon Favreau, Malin Akerman, Kristin Davis, Kristen Bell and Faizon Love. Based on an original idea of Vaughn‘s, the comedy follows four Midwestern couples who embark on a journey to a tropical island resort.


    While one of the couples is there to work on their marriage, the other three set out to jet ski, spa and enjoy some fun in the sun. They soon discover that participation in the resort‘s couples therapy is not optional. Suddenly, their group-rate vacation comes at a price. What follows is a look at real world problems faced by all couples.

  • Maverick Productions ventures into Malayalam films

    MUMBAI: After successfully releasing its first Hindi film Aloo Chaat that recently celebrated 50 days and also making a Kannada film Housefull, actor Anuj Saxena‘ production house Maverick Productions is to present a Malayalam film soon.


    Titled Gulumaal, the film is expected to go on floors in the second half of June. It stars Jayasoorya, V.k.Prakash, Jagathy, Chackochan, Suraj, Salim Kumar and Biju Kuttan,


    Says Saxena, “Maverick is a full-fledged entertainment company producing, films, ads, events and documentaries. After producing a Kannada film, foraying into Malayalam Cinema is a natural progression as regional cinema has a huge market. We will soon venture into other language films also.”


    It may be noted that Maverick has till-date produced more than 20 advertising films, the prominent ones being that of Tiger Balm, Blistix Lip Care Balm, A.M. Mouth Wash and Fair One Fairness Cream.


    It has also produced a TV soap Kulvaddhu for Sony, a comedy show Gupshup Coffee Shop featuring Navniit Nishan on Sab, a game show Khiladi No. 1 on Zee Smile and various documentaries.


    Maverick‘s independent production titled Chase, starring Anuj Saxena and Udita Goswami and directed by Jag Mohan Mundhra, is currently on the floors.

  • Strike ends, Bollywood films to release in multiplexes

    MUMBAI: The standoff between producers and multiplexes that had put the Bollywood industry under financial stress has finally ended.

    The all-important meeting yesterday saw the film producers and distributors body UPDF make headway with multiplex owners in resolving the dispute over revenue-share, making way for the two-month long strike to end.


    New films



    will start releasing in all national multiplex chains from 12 June, Mukesh Bhatt tells Indiantelevision.com.



    Film producers will have to streamline supply and avoid the clutter of film releases which had halted since 4 April.


    “Didn’t I tell you yesterday that we will give you good news tomorrow,” Bhatt further avers. “The strike has ended and the best part is all the plexes have agreed on our terms and have signed the agreement making way for exhibition of films from 12 June.”


    Under the terms that have been amicably agreed upon, producers and multiplexes will split revenue equally in the first week of the film‘s release. Producers will get 42.5 per cent for the second week, 37.5 per cent in the third week, and 30 per cent for the fourth week and beyond.


    There is also a rider. Multiplex owners had demanded a performance-linked fee structure and they have got their way. “In case a film grosses Rs 175 million or above at the top six multiplex chains in the first week, producers would get an additional 2.5 per cent of revenue share for the first two weeks,” says Reliance Entertainment chairman Amit Khanna, who had been spearheading the truce march on behalf of the multiplexes.


    If the film grosses less than Rs 90 million, multiplex owners will get an increase of 2.5 per cent share in revenues.


    With regards to distribution, another hot area of dispute, multiplexes have agreed that the release plan in theatres would be decided by the distributors for films that are released above 500 screens. In case of below 500 screens, distributors will supply prints to the extent of 5 per cent to the national chain of multiplexes. The print and freight costs will, however, be absorbed by the multiplexes.


    Now that the strike has been called off, the first film that will release in all multiplexes will be Vashu Bhagnani’s Kal Kisne Dekha.

    Indiantelevision.com has estimated the multiplex losses to be Rs 2 billion because of the Bollywood strike.

  • UTV movies to be showcased at MoMa

    MUMBAI: UTV Motion Pictures‘ films Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!, A Wednesday and Jodha Akhbar will be showcased at the Indian Cinema Exhibition, scheduled to be held at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York from 8-17 June.

    The films will be lined up for the exhibition titled, The New India.


    While Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!, will be premiered on 8 and 13 June, A Wednesday will be screened on 10 and 11 June. Jodha Akhbar, meanwhile, is slated for a premiere on 17th June.


    Said UTV Motion Pictures Siddharth Roy Kapur, “The movies to be presented, A Wednesday, Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! and Jodha Akhbar, are truly representative of the incredible diversity of genres that contemporary Indian cinema has begun to explore. We are very proud of these movies and happy that they will have the chance to be watched by cinema enthusiasts looking to discover voices from the next generation of Indian cinema.”

  • Shemaroo releases ‘Chandni Chowk To China‘ on home video

    MUMBAI: Shemaroo Entertainment has released Warner Bros‘ first Bollywood foray Chandni Chowk To China on home video.

    Chandni Chowk To China was extensively shot in China – the country well known for one of the wonders of the world ‘The Great Wall‘ where for the first time, the Chinese government allowed a fight sequence to be shot for this movie.


    The film stars Akshay Kumar, Mithun Chakraborty and Deepika Padukone. Gordon Liu, who has acted in Hollywood martial art movies like Kill Bill and The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, is also a part of the star cast. He plays a smuggler in the film.


    The DVD also has about 30 minutes of special features which has deleted scenes and the theatrical promos. The VCDs and DVDs are priced at Rs 99 and Rs 199 respectively.

  • Aishwarya, Rahman to receive special recognition at IIFA Award

    MUMBAI: The 10th Idea Iifa Awards will see Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and AR Rahman receive the special Idea Iifa Award for Outstanding Contribution by an Indian in International Cinema at Macau on 13 June.

    The Idea Iifa Awards ceremony will see performances by Anoushka Sharma, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Sonam Kapoor, Abhishek Bachchan, Lara Dutta and Riteish Deshmukh.


    Leading designers like Rocky S, Manav Gangwani, Anamika Khanna, Farah Ali Khan and Hong Kong designer, Chris Chang will showcase their designs at the event‘s Fashion Extravaganza on Day 2 of the Iifa Weekend.


    The extravaganza will feature show stoppers like Hrithik and Suzanne Roshan for Farah Ali Khan and Sonam Kapoor for Anamika Khanna amongst others. The extravaganza will be hosted by Zayed Khan and Sophie Choudhury.


    Adding glamour to the evening, international singing sensation, Peter Andre will perform at the Extravaganza.

  • Big Cinemas, plex owners still to sort out internal differences

    MUMBAI: With a view to end the strike, a vital meeting between the producers and distributors body UPDF and multiplex owners is in process.

    Though Big Cinemas has almost reached a consensus with the UPDF, other multiplexes that have been requested to toe the line are sticking to their earlier proposal of performance-based revenue share system.


    Indiantelevision.com was the first to report that Big Cinemas was spearheading the drive to arrive at a speedy settlement with the film producers and distributors.


    A meeting of multiplex owners was held just before the vital meeting in which multiplex-owners suggested a three-tier performance-based revenue sharing terms formula. For the big budget films, the share would be in the ratio of 52:48 (producers, multiplexes) for the first week and 42:58 for the second. The ratio for the medium budget films would be 50:50 and 42:58 while small budget films would have a share system of 48:52 and 38:62.


    It may be noted that Big Cinemas agreed to the terms of 50:50, 42:58, 35:65 and 30:70 (producers:multiplexes) for the first four weeks respectively for any budgeted film.


    “It all depends on the decision that other plexes take besides Big Cinemas in this important hour and make a breakthrough to arrive at a conclusion. The ball is now in their (multiplexes) court. All depends on how they play their part,” exclaims producer Harry Baweja.

  • National awardee film editor Aarif Sheikh directs dance extravaganza

    MUMBAI: Film editor Aarif Sheikh, who won the National Award for Samay – When Time Strikes and who has been the man behind the edits of noted films like Makdee, Maqbool, Taxi No. 9211, Parzania and The Blue Umbrella, is ready with his first directorial venture Let‘s Dance that is set to release on 19 June.
    “Although dancing is the DNA of the film, I always wanted my story to be solid. It needed to hold on its own. Although I was working with mostly new artistes, I never had any trouble extracting performances, as all my actors were perceptive,” says Aarif.

    Introducing the US-born-and-bred dancing sensation Gayatri Patel, the film has the debutante playing a simple but determined dance teacher, who on her path to fame changes course to motivate a group of underprivileged kids.

    Shifting base from US to Bollywood to pursue acting, Gayatri first spent time taking tips from theatre top-guns Satyadev Dubey and Makrand Deshpande, did an acting workshop with Veena Mehta and played the role of Ophelia in Neeraj Kabir‘s play Hamlet. She also did three music videos for Venus opposite Inder Kumar and Jugal Hansraj, till one day, Aarif decided to launch her as the lead in his directorial debut.

    Produced by Dr Arvind Patel, the film co-stars Ajay Chaudhary, Aqib Afzaal, Sugandha Garg, Asif Basra, Abhaas Yadav, Nikuunj Padaya, Paras Arora and Anjan Srivastav.

    “I‘ll never forget Let‘s Dance, it‘s imbedded in my soul. Every shot, every scene, every creative decision of mine,” adds an excited Aarif.

  • Producers-plexes near to a solution

    MUMBAI: The core committee of the producers and distributors body met Reliance Big Entertainment chairman Amit Khanna yesterday but the talks remained inconclusive.

    Amit Khanna is spearheading the talks and wants both parties to arrive at an amicable solution at the earliest.


    The talks went of fine except for a few points on which there was some kind of disagreement. Says Mukesh Bhatt, We are very close to a solution and if all goes well we will be able to thrash out things by this evening.”


    Both sides are to meet later this evening.