Category: Hindi

NEW DELHI: The Osian’s-Cinefan Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema has introduced a new section for short films called Short Cuts.

The section includes 43 short fiction films, short features and short movies from India, Pakistan, Germany, Egypt, Korea and other Asian and Arab countries.

With the introduction of this new section, many short fiction filmmakers are hopeful about the future of short films in India.

However,they are still concerned about their commercial viability and outlet as far as their reach to the masses is concerned.

“For a new filmmaker, directing a short film is a learning experience, a stepping stone to how making a full feature film would be”, said director of Pakistan‘s The Will Of Gurmukh Singh director Sharji Anwar Baloch.

This is for the first time that a private Indian film festival had given a platform to short filmmakers. Some of the filmmakers participating in the contest are still students at various film making schools like the Film and Television Institute of India and the Satyajit Ray FTII.

Commenting on the contribution of technology towards facilitating the making of short films, short filmmaker Vasanth Nath said, “Internet, because of its social networking features like video sharing and blogging, allows you to share the films with the small yet interested audience.”

Some of the short films that are to be screened at the ongoing festival include Karam Chawla‘s The Love Song of…, Atul Sabharwal‘s Midnight Lost and Found, Pierre Friquet‘s Snoozers,Spandan Banerjee‘s The Fiction and Gautam Baruah‘s Goodbye My Dear.

MUMBAI: In a move that enhances its slate of theatrical motion pictures, Showtime Networks in the US has entered into an exclusive seven-year film distribution arrangement with The Weinstein Company (TWC).

The joint announcement was made by Showtime Networks chairman and CEO Matthew C Blank and TWC co-chairmen Bob and Harvey Weinstein.

The new output deal is effective with TWCs 2009 release schedule and includes such films as Nine directed by Rob Marshall Chicago and featuring an all-star cast including Daniel Day-Lewis, Nicole Kidman, Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz, Judi Dench and Sophia Loren, and Quentin Tarantino‘s Inglorious Bastards.

Blank says, “This exclusive agreement with TWC will deliver our subscribers an enormous and diverse slate of films at a price to Showtime that is consistent with todays marketplace. Bobs and Harveys films are known for quality and promotability, making them a perfect fit with the acclaimed and award-winning original series that have generated strong momentum and subscriber growth for Showtime. We will continue to pursue such value-enhancing deals in the future.”

The agreement with TWC, combined with upcoming deals from other theatrical distributors and future product from CBS Films, will form a potent feature film portfolio alongside Showtime‘s original series and sports programming. These series include Dexter, Californication, The Tudors, Weeds

Additional titles included from TWC are Andrew Jareckis All Good Things starring Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst, a modern remake of Kurosawas legendary Seventh Samurai, the screen adaptation of author Paulo Coelho‘s best-selling novel The Alchemist, and Richard Shepard‘s Panic based on Jeff Abbotts best-selling book.

The output deal also includes releases from Dimension Films such as Youth In Revolt based on CD Paynes bestselling book and starring Michael Cera, 6 Billion Dollar Man, the remake of David Cronenbergs Scanners, re-starting the Scream franchise with Scream 4, and Piranha 3D.

MUMBAI: MGM Motion Picture Group has roped in Pam Silverstein as director of development.

Prior to this appointment, Silverstein was with Scholastic Media in New York where she was serving as an executive in the film and TV department. She was responsible for the company’s development and production initiatives.

In her new capacity, Silverstein, joining the studio’s film development and production team, will play a role in the development and production of the studio‘s theatrical slate.

She will also assist the team in identifying new material to be developed into feature films and will be based in Los Angeles.

“Pam has triple A taste and her experience in the book world, as well as film and television, makes her a very well rounded executive with a lot to draw from. She will be an integral part of the new MGM theatrical team and we all look forward to her insights and contributions,” said MGM Worldwide Motion Picture Group Chairman Mary Parent.

A graduate of University Of Western Ontario, Canada, Silverstein first joined Great North Artists Management in Toronto as an assistant in the talent department. Later she moved to London, where she landed at International Creative Management as an assistant.

NEW DELHI: Rajiv Virani‘s The Whisperers, which bagged two major awards at the 40th Worldfest Houston International Film Festival, was screened at the ongoing Osian‘s-Cinefan film festival.

The film stars Rahul Bose along with Manoj Bajpai and has been produced by Sam Gottlieb, Ashok Rao and Rosalind Robinson.

Apart from acting in the film, Bose has also written the screenplay of The Whisperers. Dhimant Vyas is the cinematographer of the film.

According to the director, The Whisperers is a dark psychological thriller where everything appears to be happening in the mind of one individual.

NEW DELHI: Pakistani film Ramchand Pakistani, directed by Mehreen Jabbar, has been selected for the competition section of the Tribeca Film Festival. The film will also be screened at the Seattle Film Festival.

The film, slated for a simultaneous release in theaters pan India and Pakistan in August, is about a Pakistani Hindu boy and his father who accidentally cross the border into India from their village in Pakistan.

They end up spending five years in an Indian prison while the mother is left wondering about her husband‘s and son‘s whereabouts. The story aims to capture the plight of an eight-year old child who learns to cope with the trauma of forced separation from his mother while being held prisoner.

Javed, producer of Ramchand Pakistani, said at a press meet at the ongoing 10th OCFF that this was the first-ever Pakistani film to be shot in the Bhuj area of Gujarat . It also stars Rashid Farooqi, Fazal Hussain, Nouman Ijaz and Maria Wasti.

When asked about her experience with the film, Nandita Das said that she often forgot she was in a different country and behaved as she does when in her own home. “Human emotions are universal and so I had no difficulty to adjusting to working in Pakistan,” she added.

NEW DELHI: Israeli filmmaker Eran Riklis believes that it is quite unavoidable to make films in West Asia today without some kind of political element.

“It is unavoidable to make a film that does not have some kind of political element in it, but the aim should be to make a film that people understand and leave it to them to interpret in their own way,” said Eran Riklis while addressing the audience at the ongoing Osian‘s festival.

Riklis felt it was his responsibility to bring in some elements of the political situation in the country, though there were other filmmakers who were making films that did not refer to the situation in West Asia.

Similarly, he is also attempting to make women the focal point of his films as they were the ones who suffered in the political imbroglio in Israel and Palestine.

He said that the work of a filmmaker was to promote and provoke ideas through a film and then let the viewer judge it.

Riklis admitted that both the films being screened at this festival – Lemon tree in the Asian and Arab competition and Syrian Bride in the focus on Israel – were based on true stories but he had taken cinematic liberties and added to them.

On asking about censorship in making political films in Israel, he said that there was no difficulty or censorship in making political films in Israel, but there were some problems when trying to get finance for making the films.

Meanwhile, a painting by Raja Ravi Varma depicting the British Governor General being seen off by the Maharaja of Tranvacore acquired by Osian’s in a London auction, was unveiled at the ongoing 10th Osian’s.

MUMBAI: Paramount Pictures’ plan of a $450 million film financing deal with Deutsche Bank has collapsed.

Had the deal taken place, Deutsche would have funded 25 per cent of each Paramount film, capped at $30 million per movie.

However, as per reports, Paramount declined from negotiating with the bank on the deal because the terms had become unattractive compared with alternative sources of financing available.

Deutsche has decided to shut its film finance unit, thereby axing the entire film finance team, which includes the unit‘s top executive Laura Fazio.

Paramount is currently looking forward to revive the deal with another bank and aims to release the films, affected by the deal, on the same scheduled dates.

MUMBAI: Percept Picture Company (PPC) has roped in Rohit Arora as chief operating officer (COO), feature films.

Prior to this appointment, Arora was with Sri Adhikari Brothers as president corporate affairs.

Percept Limited joint managing director Shailendra Singh said, “We extend a warm welcome to Rohit and look forward to working with him. I am sure he will bring in a lot of value to the company with his past experience and help lead some of the new and exciting ventures of PPC.”

Additionally, Arora has also been associated with HSBC, KPMG Advisory Services and Andersen India.

Arora has done his Bachelor‘s of technology, Mechanical Engineering from IIT, Bombay. He later pursued his post graduate programme in management from Indian School of Business. He has also pursued the International Exchange Programme from Kellogg School of Management, Evanston US.

MUMBAI: Vikram Bhatt’s next directorial venture 1920 is a period horror film, produced by ASA Productions and Enterprises.

The film marks the debut of the lead protagonists namely leads Rajneesh Duggal and Adah Sharma. The casting of 1920 also includes actors like Anjori Alagh, Raj Zutshi, Vipin Sharma, Vallab Vyas, Amin Haji, Ashish Pradhan, Smita Hai and Rushitaa Pandyaas.

The music of the film has been scored by Adnan Sami while the lyrics have been penned down by Sameer. The playback singers of 1920 include Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhonsle, Kailash Kher, Shubha Mudgal.

Pandit Jasraj makes his Hindi film singing debut with the film.

MUMBAI: Shemaroo Entertainment has released its home production animated film Ghatothkach – Master of Magic on home video in Hindi and English.

The Ghatothkach VCD will be available in two different kinds of packaging – one with a crimson golden look and the other with a sky blue look. It is also inclusive of a set of six Ghatothkach stickers and a school time-table for children.

The DVD pack, which has a jungle like look, comes with a “magic card” game with 11 cards with pictures of different animals.

Apart from these, book labels and Ghatothkach stickers also form part of this DVD pack.

Additionally, the Ghatothkach DVD carries “captured moments” of the making of the movie and the music launch.