Category: Hindi

MUMBAI: Eros Pictures has signed Bollywood writer Rumy Jafry to direct a film for the company. Produced by Eros Pictures, the script and cast are being finalised for the film currently.

Commenting on the development, Eros Pictures vice president Viki Rajani said, “Rumy has established himself as a writer par excellence, especially in the comic genre and we at Eros International are very happy to join hands with him as he now embarks on his directorial journey.”

Eros will also be releasing Jafry‘s directorial debut God Tussi Great Ho worldwide on 15 August. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan and Priyanka Chopra.

“We are excited about releasing God Tussi Great Ho, his debut as a director which promises to be a complete entertainer followed by his film with us,” Rajani added.

Jafry is the writer of around 45 Bollywood movies including films like Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya, Mujhse Shaadi Karogi, Jodi No.1, Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai, Bade Miya Chote Miya, Hero No.1, Coolie No.1, Dulhan Hum Le Jayenge, Aflatoon, Haseena Maan Jaayegi, Gharwali Baharwali, Anjaam and Rang.

MUMBAI: Adlabs Cinemas, part of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, has commissioned research agency IMRB International to carry out an extensive research that will measure the Indian cinema audience by probing the audience on parameters including advertising exposure, cinema habits and exposure to media.

Commencing this month and to be conducted in three phases, the IMRB study will be focused on understanding the moviegoer in terms of movie viewing habits, behaviour and attitudes, and preferences towards movie viewing. It will also focus on cinema viewing metrics like reach and frequency, understanding the in-theatre experience and evaluate the efficacy of the advertising options (at Adlabs screens), and monitoring / auditing the various advertising properties in the Adlabs properties.

“The Indian film industry is the largest in the world in terms of ticket sales and number of films produced annually. Further, the advent of multiplex chains, digital screening of movies and revamp of single screen cinemas has brought back the novelty of movie viewing in theatres. So far, cinema in India has very limited research to measure audience characteristics and preferences and hence, this is an initiative for us to gather insights into the thinking of the new age movie viewer and to understand the exposure, experience and ad efficacy of the theatre medium,” said Adlabs Cinemas COO Tushar Dhingra.

Dhingra believes that the primary reason for advertisers‘ renewed interest in the medium is the recent growth in audiences as well as loyalty of audiences to the cinema medium despite the availability of several other options. Cinemas are attractive destinations to reach out to a captive audience making them attractive advertising avenues. Cinema can also deliver a broad range of demographics.

“Multiplex cinema penetration, digital technology and the attractiveness of cinema audience demographics are driving high growth rates in the cinema advertising sector. Our research will provide an all encompassing perspective on the subject which will enable advertisers to make more informed decisions in the area of cinema advertising,” stated Dhingra.

“We are delighted to partner Adlabs Cinema in this research. This is the first of its kind comprehensive study to understand the cinemagoers holistically as individuals, consumers and media targets. Using technology like RFID, we would be also be mapping their exposure levels to various advertising options in the Adlabs cinemas,” added IMRB International senior vice president Hemant Mehta.

NEW DELHI: A total of 62 films from 28 countries are taking part in the competitive Second CHINH India Kids Film Festival and Forum to be held here from 3 to 9 August.

In a first of its kind attempt, two children juries – one of 23 members aged between four to six years, and the second of children between seven to 15 years of age – saw almost 100 entries in pre-school, early education, and animation films respectively to shortlist the films for the festival and decide on the awards. The children have been selected from 12 schools.

The Forum would celebrate the ‘Culture-Education-Development’ in context of children media. The winners of the CHINH Gold and CHINH Silver awards in all the three categories would be announced by the children on 4 August.

The screenings for shortlisting and deciding the awards were held in the Tagore International School in South Delhi over the past two days and the festival will be held in the Centre for Cultural Resources and Training Auditorium in West Delhi early next week.

The films are part of the CHINH Filmy Basta initiated by young filmmaker duo Meenakshi and Vinay Rai who have won 32 national and international awards and have founded the CHINH India Trust and the CHINH Web channel.

Meenakshi told Indiantelevision.com that the endeavour is meant to cultivate taste for good quality programming among children. Vinay said it was interesting that during the screenings and the discussions amongst themselves, the children were unperturbed by the presence of their teachers and spoke their minds freely and without fear.

MUMBAI: Big Music & Home Entertainment has signed a deal with Warner Home Video to become its exclusive home video licensee for India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

As a part of this strategic co-operation, Big Music & Home Entertainment will market and distribute VCDs, DVDs and Blu Ray products from Warner Home Video pan India, which includes both urban and mass markets.

The company will distribute and market titles from the studio’s catalogue which include classics like Gone with the Wind, Doctor Zhivago, Ben Hur, and modern-day blockbusters like The Matrix Trilogy, 300, along with the Harry Potter, Batman and Superman franchises.

Big Music & Home Entertainment chief executive officer Kulmeet Makkar says, “We understand the importance of localization and we have successfully taken Hollywood content to the common man by localizing the content in various regional languages”.

Makkar further adds, “As a leader in the fast growing localised content market, we have ambitious plans to ensure that Warner Home Video content is made accessible to as many people in as many languages as possible.”

Warner Home Video International vice president Gregory Economou adds, “We look forward to a successful association with Big Music & Home Entertainment, whose ambitions, abilities and resources make it a strong partner with whom to tap into the great potential that the Indian home video market represents. We are delighted to be working together to bring our world-class entertainment to an increasing number of Indian, Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi consumers.”

This comes close on the heels of Bing Music & Home Video signing a deal with Universal Pictures International in October 2007 as licensee to the studio.

The company has plans to release the Warner catalogue along with films such as I Am Legend, 10000 BC, as well as The Dark Knight and Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince (releasing in theatres in October).

MUMBAI: Shemaroo Entertainment has released the home production film Mere Baap Pehle Aap on home video. Directed by Priyadarshan, Mere Baap Pehle Aap is a comedy flick.

While the VCD of the film is priced at Rs 99, the DVD will be retailed at Rs 299.

This movie portrays unconventional father-son relationship, played by Paresh Rawal and Akshaye Khanna.

Archana Puran Singh, Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah, Shobana, Genelia D’Souza, Rajpal Yadav and Manoj Joshi also have played important characters in the film.

The DVD includes bonus content such as the making of the film, deleted scenes from the film and the promotional video ‘Mere Baap Pehle Aap.’

MUMBAI: UTV Motion Pictures has emerged amongst the top 20 film distributors in North America, according to the US box office performance in the first six months of 2008.

UTV releases grossed $5.48 million in the first 28 weeks of the year, making the company the leading Indian motion picture distributor in the United States and the only foreign language movie distributor in the Top 20.

The Company claims to have achieved this rank with three releases this year, namely Jodhaa Akbar ($3.44 million), Race ($ 1.37 million) and Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na ($539,857). The box office total was also supported by Aamir Khan‘s Taare Zameen Par, which was released in December 2007 but which continued its run into 2008.

“Entering the Top 20 is a major achievement for an Indian studio, given the fact that the market for Indian movies in the US is a small fraction of the mainstream American market. This is especially remarkable considering that UTV is one of the youngest Indian film distributors in North America, having established operations in the US only four years ago in 2004,” said UTV Motion Pictures CEO Siddharth Roy Kapur.

UTV’s latest release, Kismat Konnection, starring Shahid Kapur and Vidya Balan, has garnered approximately $280,000 in its opening weekend.

UTV‘s forthcoming films include Madhur Bhadarkar‘s Fashion, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra‘s Delhi 6 and Main Aur Mrs Khanna, a co-production with Sohail Khan Productions.

MUMBAI: Essel Group has floated E-City Bioscope Entertainment to set up a chain of budget cinema theatres, for which it has lined up an equity investment of Rs 1 billion.

The Group already operates Fun Cinemas in the premium segment. Talkie Town, Fun‘s value brand, focuses on single screens.

“We have invested Rs 1 billion and are creating ‘economy‘ cinemas. We see viability in the Rs 60-65 ticket model. We will have two-three screens in our multiplexes. Some will also be single screen theatres,” E-City Bioscope Entertainment operating director Gagan Goel tells Indiantelevision.com.

The Bioscope brand of theatres will make their first appearance in the state of Rajasthan. Ajmer will come up in February 2009, says Goel. “Our plan is to have 35-40 screens across 15 centres in Rajasthan over the next 3-4 years.”

Though the multiplex at Jodhpur is already operational, it is not low-priced.

In Rajasthan, Bioscope Entertainment has already acquired land at 10 locations and started construction work in six of them.

Bioscope also plans to launch in other states across B and C class towns. “We are evaluating the land prices. We will have a presence in the Hindi speaking markets,” says Goel.

Bioscope Entertainment will set up malls, food courts, kids zones and multiplexes. “We will sell the retail space and retain the multiplex. We are acquiring land for this, but will also have a model where we take property on lease like in Jodhpur,” says Goel.

NEW DELHI: WorldKids International Film Festival, which kicked off in Delhi from 25 July, will showcase over 30 feature, short fiction, and animation films for young children from India and overseas.

Organised by WorldKids, a brainchild of filmmaker Manju Singh, the film festival is screening two shows in the morning and afternoon meant solely for schoolchildren. The evening shows are open to the general public. All the shows are free.

Some of the countries from where the films have come include Italy, the United States, India, Iran, the Philippines, Canada, Germany, Israel, Cuba-France, Latvia and Kenya.

WorldKids Foundation is a non-profit organisation that promotes ‘entertainment with a purpose’. Using various media, WorldKids Foundation aims to make entertainment a learning resource for the kids.

MUMBAI: After opening to a record-breaking $158.4 million last weekend, Warner Bros’ The Dark Knight has earned $222.1 million from 4,366 theatres through Wednesday.

The film not only has earned the opening weekend title for itself but has also claimed the top numbers for a midnight opening ($18.5 million) and opening day ($67 million).

The film, whose production budget is $185 million, has earned $24.5 million on Monday, $20.9 million on Tuesday and $18.4 million on Wednesday.

The Dark Night, the follow-up to Batman Begins, is directed by Nolan. While Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan are the producers of the film, Benjamin Melniker, Michael E. Uslan, Kevin De La Noy and Thomas Tull are executive producers. The screenplay has been written by Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan.

The Dark Knight is based upon characters in comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by Bob Kane.

MUMBAI: Adlabs Cinemas, part of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group’s (ADAG) Adlabs Films, has opened a new multiplex at Kharghar’s Little World Mall in Navi Mumbai.

The four screen 1085 seat cinema is the first multiplex in that area just off the Mumbai Pune highway.

Adlabs Cinemas COO Tushar Dhingra said, “Our new cinema is strategically located right next to the Hiranandani complex and is also close to the Palm Beach Road both of which are premium residential localities. The mall attracts premium brands across all categories and is also in proximity to a large number of educational institutions – primarily engineering and medical colleges – with a large number of the student population residing nearby.”

Adlabs offers Xenon Projection Systems and DTS sound as well as widescreen viewing.

Adlabs Cinemas presently has 175 screens spread over 67 properties across the country.