Category: Hindi

MUMBAI: US film studio MGM has anounced that its consumer products’ new cause-related marketing initiative Pinkitude has roped in actress Emmy Rossum.

She has signed on as Pinkitude‘s official spokesperson. She stars as Bulma in the upcoming film Dragonball. She will assist MGM Consumer Products and Susan G. Komen for the Cure in sharing life-saving breast health messages with young women everywhere through the Pinkitude campaign. A minimum of five per cent of the sales of the modern fashion line targeting teen and young adult women will be donated to Susan G. Komen for Cure, the global leader in the breast cancer movement.

Pinkitude will kick off with a series of events, starting with an invitation-only reception hosted byRossum and featuring celebrity deejays Spinderella (of Salt ’n’ Pepa) and Sean Patrick this month. Also on tap, is launch of the first Pinkitude Pop Up Store which will open on Saturday, 16 August at 1 pm. The public is invited to this event, which will be held in Los Angeles.

Rossum says, “As a young woman whose family has personally been affected by breast cancer, I am grateful for the opportunity to help raise awareness of this disease by sharing my Pinkitude with young women everywhere.

The Pinkitude brand initiative is devised to educate young women and teens on the importance of breast self-awareness, early detection and treatment of breast cancer while also stressing the importance of a healthy lifestyle.

The fashion brand is an approach to life inspired by Pink Panther. Encouraging women to live life completely; take care of their mind, body and spirit and trust in their own identity. The Pinkitude initiative starts now and will culminate in October, which is the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

MUMBAI: Adlabs Cinemas, part of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, has launched a three-screen multiplex at Ansal Plaza in Gurgaon.

The cinema, which will open to the audiences from 15 August, has a seating capacity of 802 seats.

Adlabs Cinemas COO Tushar Dhingra said, “Gurgaon, being one of Delhi‘s four major satellite cities, has grown tremendously over the past few years. Hence, we are excited to enter this city and offer the people of Gurgaon world class facilities.”

Apart from Adlabs‘ other booking methods like telebooking, internet booking and “mobile box-office”, the cinema also aims to offer a self-ticketing counter for “Do-it-Yourself” bookings.

With this addition, Adlabs Cinemas now has 179 screens spread over 69 properties across India.

Also, Adlabs Cinemas, which recently acquired majority interest in Malaysia-based Lotus Five Star Cinemas, will be operating a 51-screen cinema chain in Malaysia, claims the company.

Currently, the Adlabs Cinemas international network, including Malaysia, encapsulates 221 screens covering the East, Mid West and West Coast of the United States along with Mauritius and Nepal.

MUMBAI: Percept Picture Company (PPC) is set to release Rishton Ki Machine pan-India on 5 September. The film will be premiered on 4 September at Cinemax.

Rishton Ki Machine, a comedy flick directed by Jatin Ravasia, has been produced by PPC and stars Boman Irani, Sonali Kulkarni and Kiran Kumar.

Rishton Ki Machine revolves around the story of a scientist along with his wife and kids. It is the story of an underdog who eventually wins the race of life, states the company.

Film director Jatin Ravasia said, “It was indeed fun directing Rishton Ki Machine. The script of the film and the performances by the star cast has been outstanding. It’s a film which every family will be able to connect with and go home with a smile. We are very confident of the film and the response that it will get and the curiosity it will generate amongst the audience.”

MUMBAI: The Akshay Kumar-starrer Singh Is Kinng, which hit theatres on 8 August, has garnered Rs 595 million worldwide. Also, the film has emerged as the biggest Bollywood opener at the box-office overseas.

“While the film has grossed Rs 450 million in India, the overseas collections of Singh Is Kinng stands at Rs 145 million,” said Studio 18 domestic distribution head Aman Gill.

“The film is definitely doing very well. Within three days at Cinemax, the film has grossed approximately Rs 25 million, 35 per cent higher than all past records,” added Cinemax VP marketing, programming Devang Sampat.

The film saw a simultaneous release in Trinidad and Tobago, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Mauritius, Fiji, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Africa, East Africa, West Africa, Australia and New Zealand, among other countries.

Distributed on 275 prints in these markets, Singh Is Kinng mopped up approximately Rs 120 million in its opening weekend.

Released with 112 prints in North America, including 28 in Canada, the film popped open to a response ringing up an estimated Rs 50.74 million.

In UK and Ireland, on 70 prints, it grossed Rs 5.04 million on its previews and notched Rs 34.74 million over the weekend, taking its cumulative to Rs 39.8 million and placing it at No.7 in the UK Top 10 chart.

The film was released on 33 prints in the Middle East where it has grossed approximately Rs 23.25 million.

The film has performed far better than any other movies, breaking the record of the other hits of the year, including Jodha Akbar and Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na.

As reported on Indiantelevision.com earlier, Aamir Khan Productions‘ Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na grossed Rs 270 million in India and around Rs 50.8 million overseas within a span of ten days of its release while UTV‘s Jodhaa Akbar had garnered Rs 385 million during its opening weekend.

Singh Is Kinng, produced by Vipul Shah‘s Blockbuster Movies, features Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif, supported by Neha Dhupia, Om Puri, Kirron Kher, Sonu Sood and Javed Jaffrey. It is an Indian Films-Studio 18 release.

NEW DELHI: Pyramid Saimira Entertainment Limited, Singapore, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Pyramid Saimira Group, has bagged the worldwide distribution rights of the Tamil and Telugu versions of Hindi film, Taare Zameen Par.

The Tamil version of the movie will be called “Val Natchattiram”, while the Telugu version of the movie will be called “Nelameedi Tharalu”.

Pyramid Saimira Ddstribution head Mukesh Metha said, “Taare Zameen Par is one of the most sensitively made films in recent times. Barring a few, not many children-oriented films have done very well in India. The movie in Hindi has proved that even unconventional themes and good stories can become a commercial hit. Pyramid Saimira has been consistently bringing good films and we feel that this film will prove a major success in Tamil and Telugu as well.”

The movie, dubbed into Tamil and Telugu, will be released in September 2008.

MUMBAI: Cinemax India has launched a three-screen multiplex in Faridabad, Haryana. The multiplex, which has a capacity of 730 seats, will open to the audiences with the screening of Singh is Kinng. Cinemax‘s distribution arm has acquired the sole distributorship for Singh is Kinng in Haryana.

With this addition, Cinemax India now has a total of 21 theatre properties, 62 screens, and 16778 seats.

Cinemax India senior vice president Devang Sampat said, “With Cinemax Faridabad, we are aiming to make an entry into the North of the country, which is a very important market for us. We are here to provide the movie enthusiasts of Faridabad, a state-of-the-art entertainment complex as entertainment and comfort are the hallmarks of Cinemax and will be for years to come.”

NEW DELHI: Director and producer Anil Goyal‘s Ice ‘n’ Spicy, the country’s first mainstream ‘non-mythological’ feature-length 3-D animation film using high–tech computer hardware, has been released across 15 screens in Mumbai and Delhi on 9 August.

Ice ‘n’ Spicy has eight songs tuned by Dilip Sen. Scripted by Harvinder Makkar, the 90-minute film has voice-over by Akash Ahuja, Babla Kochhar, Siraaj Khaan, Vijahat, and Deepa. The creative visualisation is by Ritu Goyal, Parizat Saurabh, Jatin Goyal, Deepak Chetry and Manoj Kumar. The music album of the film has been released by T-Series.

The film has cost around Rs 20 million, and though initially made in Hindi, it will also be released in English for the international market.

Anil Goyal told indiantelevision.com,“This is the first animation film made in the country which has a modern storyline and is not based on mythology or folk tales. However, it has a character, Gantoo, who is inspired by Lord Ganesha. The film is a totally Indian endeavor right from conception, characterisation, animation on the computers, audio and music.”

Explaining the technology, he said that he termed the animation as 3-D because every scene had depth in it and the technology did not need the use of special glasses.

The film is the story of two characters, Icy and his friend Spicy, who meet the magical Gantoo, who has come from another planet. They have several adventures that are funny and emotional, but then they have to encounter the villain Jindaan who is out to get their Gantoo.

The film has one item song rendered by Indipop singer Vasundhra Das. Other singers are Udit Narayan, Shaan, Hariharan, Pomela Jain, Madhushree, Javed Ali and Vani Babbar.

MUMBAI: The Dark Knight, which became the fastest movie ever to pass the $300m barrier last week, has broken all records by crossing the $400 million mark in North America within 18 days of its release.

According to reports the film, a sequel to 2005‘s Batman Begins which has had only seven theatrical releases so far, had generated $400.03 million by the end of Monday.

Meanwhile, the box office record collection is topped by 1998 release Titanic, with $600.8 million. This is followed by 1977 classic Star Wars, with $461 million.

Directed by Britain‘s Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight has spent three weeks at the theatres.

MUMBAI: In an attempt to promote its forthcoming film, Bachna Ae Haseeno, Yash Raj Films has tied up with Star India, wherein the star cast of the film namely Ranbir Kapoor, Bipassha Basu, Minissha Lamba and Deepika Padukone will make an appearance on two reality shows, Aja Mahi Ve and Zara Nach Ke Dikha.

Aja Mahi Ve will air the special episode with the star cast on 9 August at 8 pm while Zara Nach Ke Dikha will air its episode on 11 August at 9:30 pm.

In addition to the star appearances on the shows, the network is creating and airing tune-in promos to these shows, featuring the film and its stars.

The promos and the packaging for these shows on the network will take on a Bachna Ae Haseeno look and feel. Also, the making of the film will be aired on the network too.

MUMBAI: Palador Pictures, in association with the Embassy of Sweden, has unveiled Ingmar Bergman Collector’s Edition 5 DVD Box Set and a film festival, Remembering Bergman- A Retrospective.

This initiative marks a tribute to Ingmar Bergman, on his first death anniversary.

The films which are available to audiences on the DVD Box Set are: Music in Darkness, Summer With Monika, Through a Glass Darkly, Winter Light and The Silence, with Intermezzo – a freewheeling interview with Ingmar Bergman – as a special feature. The festival will showcase, in addition to some of the films on the DVD box, Wild Strawberries, Summer Interludeand Devil’s Eye.

A six-city screening tour, from 8 August to 18 September, will kick off in Delhi. The movies will also be screened in Bangalore, Pune, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.

Elaborating on the rationale behind the Bergman Retrospective, Palador Pictures founder and MD Gautam Sikhnis said, “Ingmar Bergman’s films have moved, inspired and influenced a host of filmmakers and audiences across the world. It is no wonder that he is often called the greatest cinematic artist ever. It is only just that the nation that makes the largest quantity of films in the world each year, should also get the best quality films from across the world. On the first death anniversary of Bergman, this festival and box set is this nation’s tribute to the great master.”

Another high point of the Retrospective is the presence of Gunnar Bergdahl, director of two documentaries made on Bergman – Intermezzo: Ingmar Bergman and The Voices of Bergman as well as a close friend of the filmmaker. Intermezzo will be screened for students of film and general public at workshops conducted by Bergdahl in Delhi and Mumbai.

Palador Pictures joint MD Mohan Polamar said, “Bergman stormed into the World Cinema scene with two masterpieces in the same year, 1957. Such was the genius of this prolific director without whose name no discussion of cinema would ever be complete. It hurt us to know that masterpieces made by him and other great directors had never been available in this country to the masses. With this festival, I personally feel a sense of satisfaction about the number of people it is reaching out to across the country. When quality cinema as embodied by Bergman is widely seen and appreciated, quality cinema would end up being made as well.”

Supporting this endeavour of making world cinema accessible to the Indian audiences, are partners ICICI, iMint, Indiaplaza, Inox, People Magazine, Myntra and Bright Advertising in India, and The Swedish Institute and the Swedish Film Institute in Sweden.