Category: Hindi

MUMBAI: Shemaroo entertainment, along with the local distributor and SIFAM (Stitching Indian Films & Music), has seized 50,000 DVDs at Brussels Airport.

Of these 50,000 DVDs, approximately 25,000 DVDs are of the week-old film Mere Baap Pehle Aap, produced by Shemaroo and still running in cinemas worldwide.

The other DVDs, which were seized at the spot, include song compilations and various other movies.

The information about the DVDs at the Brussels Airport was obtained with the help of Indian Film Exporters Association and Shemaroo’s sources.

As per Brussels airport customs, every month a consignment of 20,000 – 30,000 DVDs land. Since there are no claimants or complaints, the authorities in spite of having the knowledge of these DVDs being pirated, do not act upon.

A company based out of Hong Kong apparently manufactures these pirated DVDs, which are later exported worldwide.

As per industry experts, for every new film, in the first week itself around 35,000 to 40,000 pirated DVDs are distributed in Europe, where the entry points are Frankfurt and Brussels primarily.

As Europe in size is a very big market for Bollywood titles, pirates first attack this market rather than USA and UK among others.

MUMBAI: Independent film company Lionsgate continues to expand and diversify its musical repertoire, adding Grammy winner Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry to its roster in a distribution deal with independent record label Narnack Records. The announcement was made by Lionsgate Music president Jay Faires.

The deal launches with Perry‘s upcoming album Repentance, which is co-produced by Andrew W.K. and features such guest artists as Moby, Don Fleming, Chris Stein of Blondie and Brian Chippendale of Lightning Bolt.

Faires says, “Signing a deal with Narnack is another strong step for the music team as we replicate Lionsgate‘s core mission to fill underserved niches. We‘re excited to be launching this deal with the upcoming record by Lee ‘Scratch‘ Perry, who exemplifies the quality and genre-bending skills of our growing roster of musical talent.”

A&R VP Russell Ziecker says, “Our deal with Narnack will expand our publishing outreach while providing us with more firsthand resources for our film and television slots, utilizing Narnack‘s diverse, multi-genre, and independent-spirited label roster.”

Lionsgate adds that Perry was highly influential in the development and acceptance of reggae and dub music. In his studio, The Black Ark, Perry produced artists including Bob Marley & the Wailers.

MUMBAI: Star TV and engineering and construction major Era Group are reportedly in talks to enter into the multiplex management business.

Era will see the construction and management of multiplex properties while Star will lend its name, says a PTI report.

Era Group reportedly has major plans of installing 120 screens by next three years. So far, it is running a few screens in Meerut and Agra in Uttar Pradesh.

“We are talking to media group for the business. While the cinemas will be branded as Star, we will invest and run them,” said Era Group chairman H S Bharana to PTI. “About half of the properties will be constructed and owned by us while the rest would belong to other real estate companies.”

Era is also planning to strike long-term deals with major real estate players which are developing malls and multiplexes to run all the screens coming up in their projects.

MUMBAI: The 22nd Hamedan International Children and Young Adults Film Festival, starting 21 June and terminating on 25 June, is set to screen five Indian films in the panorama section.

These films include Will to Win (2007, Rishi Deshpande), Mahek (2007, Kranti Kanada), Hide-N-Seek (2006, Vinod Ganata), A Home in the Sky (2007, Bipin Nadkami), and Heda-Hoda (Here-There, V.Gantara).

While approximately 130 films from 39 foreign countries including Argentina, Germany, the US, Austria, Canada, and Croatia will be showcased, about 272 films will compete in 16 sections of the Hamedan film festival.

Animation films like Horton Hears a Who!, Ratatouille, Bee Movie and Alvin and the Chipmunks will also be screened at the event.

MUMBAI: Asha for Education, a San Francisco-based non-profit organisation, is hosting its first annual “India‘s Film Festival of Hope” today.

Through this festival, Asha for Education will showcase documentary films, photography and arts with an aim to “paint the picture of underprivileged kids in today‘s India and bring in hope for a better tomorrow.”

Some of the documentaries that are being screened at the festival include Raju and I, I want my Father back, The New Heroes: India, with Robert Redford, Child in law, Patta Patta Akshar Hoga, Born into Brothels, Calcutta Calling and Fragile Promise.

While Born into Brothels won the Oscars in the best documentary film category, Raju and I won the best animated feature film award at the India’s 52nd National Films Awards.

Apart from documentaries, the festival is featuring photographs taken by the children from the workshops run by Asha. It is also showcasing Mithila paintings, created by marginalised women in Northern India from PinkMango.

“Our focus is to raise awareness. We endeavor to present a window into the real India through these breakthrough films created by talented documentary filmmakers. The hope, or should I say ‘asha,‘ is to build a sound future for all those underprivileged children living in India,” said Asha for Education director Hemang Kapasi.

NEW DELHI: Four eminent film personalities namely Dilip Kumar, Tapan Sinha, Lata Mangeshkar and Saroja Devi are set to receive the “One Time Award for Life Time Achievement”.

The award is to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of India‘s Independence.

Sinha, who is one of the all-time celluloid greats, would be presented the award in the field of film direction. In view of his failing health, he will be conferred the award at his residence in Kolkata by West Bengal Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi in the presence of Information and Broadcasting Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi.

The Award citation underlines Tapan Sinha‘s “….amazingly down-to-earth cinematic depiction of the struggles of the common man. His reputation as an uncompromising filmmaker, a celluloid iconoclast, puts him in a class of his own. A storyteller par excellence, Tapan Sinha‘s films such as Kabuliwala (1957), Haatey Bazaare (1967), Safed Haathi (1977) are well-crafted in terms of structure and technique, exhibiting his virtuosity and capability to handle a range of subjects with equal élan and sensitivity.”

Sinha‘s works have won 19 National Film Awards in various categories in International film festivals like those in Berlin, Venice, London, Moscow, San Francisco and Locarno.

He has directed films in Bengali, Hindi and also Oriya. He made three films based on Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore‘s works: Kabuliwala, Khudito Pashan and Atithi.

Sinha‘s cinematic landscape traverses a journey that began with Ankush (1954) and highlighted by Uphaar (1955), Tonsil (1956), Louhakapat (1957), Kalomati (1957), Hansuli Banker Upakatha (1962), Sagina Mahato (1970), Banchharamer Bagan (1980), Adalat O Ekti Meye (1982), Ek Doctor Ki Maut (1991) and Shatabdir Kanya (2001).

Lata Mangeshkar, who have sung over 50,000 songs in 20 Indian languages, will recieve the award for playback singing.

She received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1990 and was named the Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian honour, in 2001.

Lata got a toehold in the industry by singing “Pa Lagoon Kar Jori Re” in the film Aap ke Sewa Main (1947). She sang several songs in other films over the next few years, but her first big hit was in 1949 with “Aayega Aanewaala”.

Born in 1922, Dilip Kumar (aka Yusuf Khan) will be conferred the “One Time Award for Life Time Achievement” in the field of acting.

Starting his career in 1944, Dilip Kumar has starred in some of the biggest commercially successful films from the late 1940s, 1950s, 1960s and 1980s.

He was the first actor to receive a Filmfare Best Actor Award and holds the record for most number of Filmfare Awards won for that category. Though he has done all kinds of films – he balanced a wide variety of roles such as the intense Andaz (1949) with the swashbuckling Aan (1952), the dramatic Devdas (1955) with the comical Azaad (1955) and the historical romance Mughal E Azam (1960) with the social Ganga Jamuna (1961).

In the 1970s roles dried up for Kumar and after 1976 he left films for a five year break. In 1981 he returned with a character role in the blockbuster film Kranti and continued his career playing central character roles in hits such as Shakti (1982), Karma (1986) and Saudagar (1991).

He received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1995, apart from getting the highest civilian honour Nisha-e-Imtiaz from the Pakistan Government. He continues to be a living icon for the present generation of film stars.

Today a senior citizen of Kannada filmdom, B Saroja Devi is one of the first female artistes to spread the aroma of Kannada cinema all over the country. Her histrionic range is so vast that she has portrayed an amazing variety of roles in Kannada, Tamil and Telugu films.

In Kannada, after her “spectacular” debut at a very young age in Mahakavi Kalidasa, she went on to play some extremely popular roles in films like Anna Thangi, Amarashilpi Jakanachari (the first colour movie to be made in the language), Bhagyavantharu, School Master, Kittooru Chennamma, Beretha Jeeva and Mallammana Pavada.

Saroja Devi is also the only Kannada actress to have held a large number of public offices, including that of chairperson of the Karnataka State Film Industry Development Corporation.

MUMBAI: Zindagi Tere Naam, starring Mithun Chakraborty and Rangita opposite each other, is set to release on 11 July.

Produced under the Shree Sai Productions banner, the film is directed by Ashu Trikha and casts Dilip Tahil, Supriya Karnik, Sharat Saxena, Himani Shivpuri, Priyanka Mehta, Aseem Ali Khan, Yatin Karyekar and Dia Mirza.

While Zindagi Tere Naam’s script and the dialogues have been written by Sanjay Masoom, it’s the Sajid-Wajid duo who have penned the lyrics for the film.

Also, Venus Records & Tapes will be releasing the music of the film, a romantic love story set in the hilly locales of Dalhousie.

Before Zindagi Tere Naam, the last film where Mithun and Ranjeeta were seen together was Tarana.

MUMBAI: Pyramid Saimira Group has roped in Sushil Borkar as group vice president, corporate compliance and vigilance.

In this new capacity, Borkar’s key responsibilities will include intelligence, counter intelligence, vigilance, leakage prevention and internal rule compliances.

Pyramid Saimira Group chairman P S Saminathan said, “Entertainment industry, especially the cinema industry has been suffering from lack of transparency, which has ceded many wrong practices into the system. Emergence of organised entities is streamlining the way the industry functions. It is imperative for our group, who operate in over 800 locations across various countries, to have a unified vigilance, leakage prevention and other business intelligence measures. Borkar is a very senior and experienced police professional and we are happy to welcome him into our group.”

Borkar retired from the Indian Police Service in May 2005 with an experience of 38 years. During this time, he served in the capacities of deputy general of police and inspector general of police in the state of Karnataka. Borkar has also held various positions with the department of vigilance and crime, forestry and railways.

MUMBAI: Anil Ambani‘s Reliance ADA Group is set to participate in the biggest gamble yet played by an Indian company in Hollywood.

MUMBAI: Michele Garra has been promoted to the newly created position of Senior Vice President, Asia Pacific for Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE).