ITV

Category: Hindi

  • Switzerland woos regional Indian films with its locales


    MUMBAI: After being the scenic backdrop of a lot of Hindi films shot in Switzerland so far, the country that is famous for its Alpine settings and beautiful scenic locales is pitching for regional Indian cinema.


    The Swiss tourism industry has started working in tandem with the Film Location Switzerland, an organisation to attract regional Indian filmmakers from Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Bengali cinema.


    Says Switzerland Destination marketing general manager Ashish Saran, “We offer all facilities to filmmakers by way of package deals. Technical help, shooting equipment, or scouts to fix locales are all available in plenty in Switzerland. Though the Hindi film industry has been regularly making use of our locales in particular, we now want to give the regional Indian cinema here as a major business opportunity – to promote our tourism industry,”


    India makes around 1,000 films a year, the largest by any country. Estimates suggest that more than 200 Hindi films have been shot in Switzerland till date. Recent Hindi films like Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Kabhi Khushi Khabhi Gham and Mujhse Dosti Karogi have all presented Switzerland in a new light to Indian tourists.

    Recently, Swiss Consul-General in Mumbai Josef Renggli had gone to Hyderabad to woo Telugu and Tamil producers to shoot in his country. Avers Renggli, “The response I got from the filmmakers was encouraging and heartening. There are a whole lot of non-Hindi filmmakers waiting to tap our locales.‘‘


    It may be noted that several scenes from the late Shakti Samanta‘s An Evening in Paris had major scenes shot in Switzerland. A scene in the film, supposedly depicting the Niagara Falls was actually filmed at the Rhein Falls, Switzerland.

  • Six Indian stars named among Hollywood’s most-valuable actors

    NEW DELHI: Six Indian actors – Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Irrfan Khan, Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai – have been listed as among the most bankable stars from Bollywood in the Forbes’ “Hollywood’s Most-Valuable Actors”.

    Aishwarya Rai at 387 tops the list of Indian actors followed by Aamir Khan at 540, Shah Rukh Khan at 735, Salman Khan at 753, Irrfan Khan at 825 and Hrithik Roshan at 1059.


    The list, which features well-known Will Smith at the top, is based on the bankability of actors around the world and voted by members of the global entertainment industry, Forbes said.



    The rankings are based on scores given to more than 1,400 working actors globally by the industry people on a scale of zero-to-ten, in terms of their bankability to ensure the financial success of film projects.

  • Multiplexes take Rs 450 million hit

    Multiplexes have taken a Rs 450 million knock since the producers began to stop supply of their fresh slate of movies from 4 April.

    The pinch is particularly felt hard by the top six plex operators who account for three-fourth of the 850 screens across the country, according to information gathered by Indiantelevision.com.

    In this research article, Indiantelevision.com estimates the revenue loss to climb to Rs 850-900 million if the strike continues for a month.

    Analysis

    Let us examine the impact in revenue caused due to different occupancy rates due to the movie release embargo. The big six namely Big Cinemas, PVR, Inox, Cinemax, Fame Cinemas and Fun Cinemas themselves constitute about three- fourth of the total number of screens. While there are more than 11,000 single-screen cinemas across the country, the multiplexes contribute to well over 50 per cent of the revenue generated.

    The occupancy rates are expected to be significantly different in the multiplexes with major Hindi films not being released. According to Fun Cinemas COO Vishal Kapur, screens are currently operating at around 15 per cent occupancy.

    The table below shows the number of seats, revenue per-show and revenue per-day generated by all multiplex screens in the country at the given occupancy rates. The occupancy rates have been considered between 10 and 60 per cent across all screens in the country.

    Note that in the above table, the average number of seats per screen in a multiplex is taken to be 230 and the total number of screens has been taken at 850. The average price of a movie ticket has been considered to be a conservative Rs 125. Additional losses would include loss in sales in food and beverages at the counters which is estimated to be around Rs 35 per-seat. The total loss, thus, incurred per-seat per-show would amount to Rs 160.

    A 10 per cent occupancy rate causes a difference of around Rs 15 million per day across all the 850 screens in the country. During normal times, screens may operate between 15 to 50 per cent occupancy depending on the movies showing at the time, says marketing head of Inox Harshavardhan Gangurde.

    Thus if we take a figure of 35 per cent to represent the occupancy rates of multiplex screens at any time of the year, in the current scenario there could well be a difference of 20 per cent in average occupancy rates.

    As is evident from the table, the multiplexes earn Rs 30 million less per day from ticket sales and food counters. Per week, this amounts to a loss of Rs 210 million in revenue, taking all multiplex screens into account. This figure does not include additional sources of revenue from vehicle parking and other such ancillary sources. However, the IPL may well have tempered the losses as it has the potential to lower the occupancy rates in the multiplexes.

    The big six hit the most

    The top six multiplexes took the biggest hit in revenue losses, as is evident from the table below.

    IPL impact on movies

    Many believe that the IPL is one of the main reasons for bringing a halt to the release of Hindi movies. The IPL took the country by storm in 2008 and is believed to have eaten away significantly into box-office collections. Industry observers believe that this is the right time to hold movies from releasing in multiplexes as it would in any case lead to significant losses. Movies released during the IPL in 2008 (from 18 April to 1 June) include Sirf, Tashan, Anamika, Mr. White Mr. Black, Pranali, Jimmy, Bhootnath, Jannat, Don Muthuswami, Dhoom Dhadaka and Ghatothkach. Clearly, most movies released were not big-budget movies. The only significant movies released during this time were Tashan, Jannat and Bhootnath. Jannat was the only movie which did reasonably well while the others had nothing much to write about.

    This year, during the IPL season, producers have decided not to jump into the fray at all. The IPL has provided the perfect time and opportunity to broker a deal with multiplex owners.

     

    Conclusion

    There could be a 20 per cent loss in occupancy rates if the United Producers and Distributors Forum stays put in not releasing new movies till a settlement is reached. From our calculations, this difference in occupancy rates would amount to revenue losses of Rs 850-900 million per month in multiplexes. This figure is much lesser than Rs 1-1.5 billion per month as is being claimed by some industry sources.

    The IPL has provided the perfect time for producers and distributors to settle the issue with multiplex owners. This issue had been simmering for a while ever since the release of Fanaa by Yash Raj movies way back in 2006. A sensible resolution of this issue hopefully would be reached during this time which would serve the best interests of either party for a good period of time.

  • Prithviraj Kapoor to be honoured with Phalke Kalptaru award

    MUMBAI: Doyen of Hindi cinema, Prithviraj Kapoor will be honoured posthumously with the ‘Phalke Kalptaru’ award instituted by the Dadasaheb Phalke Academy. The award will be presented on 4 May with filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt as the chief guest of the occasion.

    “It is a privilege for the Academy to honour Prithvirajji whose fourth generation in the form of Ranbir Kapoor is now active in films. All our affiliated members from all over the country including IMPPA and IMPDA unanimously came out with the decision to honour Prithviraj Kapoor,” says Trustee, Dadasaheb Phalke Academy, Rajkumar Gupta.


    “The award will be presented to members of the Kapoor family. “We have already spoken to both Randhir and Rishi Kapoor in this connection and they have agreed to be present at the award ceremony to be held at the Bhaidas Hall on 4 May. We had to celebrate Dadasaheb Phalke Jayanti on 30 April but since it is an election day, we had to postpone the event, ” adds Gupta.


    The other awardees who would be felicitated on the occasion include actor-director Manoj Kumar (Phalke Ratna ever-lighting cine torch of patriotism award), Shammi Kapoor (Phalke legend actor award), Shamshad Begum (Phalke golden singer award) and Lagaan-fame director Ashutosh Gowariker (Phalke Memorable commercial film award- for Jodhaa Akbar).


    Dadasaheb Phalke Academy, an all-India body of 38 Cine Associations, has been engaged in the service of the ‘Father of Indian Cinema’ Dadasaheb Phalke and has been organising Phalke Jayanti. It has till date honoured about 55 cine personalities including Sunil Dutt, Dilip Kumar and BR Chopra since 2000.

  • UTV co-founder Deven Khote to don director’s hat with Film City

    MUMBAI: Deven Khote, UTV co-founder, is set to wear the director‘s hat with Film City starring John Abraham. The movie is a light-hearted story of a chawl situated next to Film City, the studio complex of the Bollywood film industry. It follows the misadventures, antics and lives of its quirky residents as they try to piece together their own movie. The protagonist of the film is Raju, a spotboy who is a life-long resident of the chawl.

    Says UTV Motion Pictures COO Alpana Mishra, “The film will go on the floors on 17 April with most of the film being shot on sets and locations in Mumbai.”


    The key crew of Film City includes Ram Sampath for music, cinematography by Mahesh Aney and Nitin Desai for art.


    Says Deven Khote, “After gaining an understanding of various avenues in the entertainment industry, direction was the obvious choice, an unexplored avenue. Film City is an amalgamation of two thoughts – one which got sparked off by observing a spot boy and the other deriving inspiration from a bunch of boys in Malegaon spoofing themselves. Film City brings the two together and centres around these nuts trying to make a film.”

  • Shemaroo to present Rajasthan Royals’ saga on home video

    MUMBAI: Shemaroo Entertainment has partnered with Emerging Media to release the IPL franchisee Rajasthan Royals‘ saga on home video. The properties will be released between 25 to 30 April.

    Says Director Shemaroo Entertainment Hiren Gada, “The video consists of clippings of various matches that rajasthan Royals played, strategies that were followed, interviews, public reactions, etc. The 120-minute documentary tells the story of how the team, which was considered as the underdogs, went on to become the reigning champions.”


    Apart from distributing the video on DVDs and VCDs , Shemaroo will also be bringing in exclusive content of the Rajasthan Royals to mobile phones. As part of the intiative, fans will be able to download the team‘s anthem ‘Halla Bol, The Road to Victory‘, see glimpses of last year‘s matches and also catch upon this year‘s matches on their mobile phones.


    On the price front, Gada avers, “We are still working on the pricing and will come out with it in a couple of days.”

  • Special facility for Cannes delegates from India


    NEW DELHI: The French Consulate General in Mumbai has made special arrangements for issuance of visa to members of the film and television industry who wish to take part in forthcoming Cannes festival from 13 to 24 May, 2009.


    The Film and Television Producers Guild of India has received a letter from the Consulate General in this connection.


    A special facility has been extended vis-?-vis submission of visa applications for professionals. The visa submission process is slated to be held in 3 slots – 28 April, 4 May and 7 May from 3 pm to 5 pm at the office of the French Embassy in Mumbai.



    Interested delegates are requested to send their names to the Guild office before 22 April to be duly forwarded to the French Consulate.

  • BIG Pictures launches website to promote ‘Sikandar’

    MUMBAI: Reliance Big Entertainment, the media and entertainment company of the Reliance ADAG, has launched sikandar.bigflix.com to promote its next venture Sikandar.

    Written and directed by Piyush Jha, the movie has been co-produced by Big Pictures and Sudhir Mishra‘s production house.


    The content on sikandar.bigflix.com includes trailers, synopsis, video gallery and music from the film.


    Sikandar is a suspense thriller featuring Parzaan Dastur, Ayesha Kapoor, R Madhavan, Sanjay Suri and Arunoday Singh.

  • Shemaroo releases Slumdog Millionaire on home video

    MUMBAI: Shemaroo Entertainment has partnered with Fox Star Studios to release the Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire on home video.

    The film has been released in both Hindi and English.


    Says Shemaroo Entertainment director Hiren Gada, “We have come out with a 2-Disc collector‘s edition DVD pack costing Rs 499 that includes the making of the film, deleted scenes, Slumdog dreams (a kind of Director‘s Cut) by director Danny Boyle, the premiere footage, a six-minute screener encompassing the gist of the film and theatrical trailers.”


    The single-disc DVDs and VCDs of both the English and Hindi versions of the film are priced at Rs 399 and Rs 299 respectively.


    Relating how difficult it was to get the home video rights of Slumdog Millionaire, Gada adds, “The film being an international hit, we were all out to bag its home video rights for India. But it was indeed a difficult task as there were other players too who wanted to acquire the rights.”

  • Plex owners bank heavily on Dashavtar

    MUMBAI: With the producer-multiplex tangle yet to be resolved, the producers‘ strike enters its second week this Friday. And for this week, multiplex owners hope to gain with the release of four films including Kamal Haasan‘s Dashavtar, Anjan Dutt‘s Chowrasta-Crossroads of Love (both in Hindi), Bokya Saatbande (Marathi) and the Hollywood science fiction Monsters vs Aliens.

    The focus of attention would, however, be on the dubbed Hindi film Dashavtar that is being distributed by Shringar Films on an all-India basis. Chennai-based Oscar Films‘ mega budget movie, besides opening in other multiplexes, is releasing in eight multiplexes of Fame in Mumbai itself. Shringar Group runs a chain of multiplexes across the country.


    Says Fame Cinemas chief programmer Aditya Shroff, “We are releasing the film with 60 prints all over along with 180 UFO centers.”


    The plex owners hope that Anjan Dutt‘s new film would follow his earlier hits like Mr & Mrs Iyer, Bow Baracks Forever and The Bong Connection. “We are of the opinion that his Chowrasta -Crossroads of Love should be a good film since it is based on the Gorkhaland issue,” says Shroff.


    The boost may also come from the Marathi film Bokya Saatbande. The last Marathi release Mi Shivajiraje Bhosle Boltoy is still running to full capacity on the multiplexes and single screens.


    “The English film Monsters vs Aliens, that is also releasing in the 3D format, should also do well as it is the first computer-animated movie which was directly produced in stereoscopic 3-D. The expected performance of these films should come as a shot in the arm for us multiplex owners who have been petrifed with the last week‘s releases that were a washout,” says Shroff.


    Agrees 24 Karat Multiplex CEO Padam Sacheti, “A Kamal Haasan film always has a good draw at the box-office and hence I don‘t think Dashavtar will perform badly. As for Bokya Saatbande, we have taken the film because there are lots of Maharashtrian locals in the vicinity of our multiplex. Moreover, there is an option: viewers who don‘t get tickets for the Mahesh Manjrekar film Mi Shivajiraje Bhosle Boltoy can opt for the new release.”


    Things are a little different up North. Says PVR CEO Amitabh Bardhan, “In Delhi and other parts around, we are releasing two films: Dashavtar and Monsters vs Aliens. I think both these films have the potential to draw in crowds, the first being kids-centric while the second being a lavishly made film starring Kamal Haasan.”