Category: Hindi

MUMBAI: The Dadasaheb Phalke Academy has decided to present its prestigious Phalke Ratna award to producer-director B R Chopra this year.

Chopra will be receiving this award for his contribution to Indian cinema.

“With characteristic vision and great enterprenurial spirit, he conveyed offbeat stories into most magnificient movies”, the Academy said.

B R Chopra, director of classics like Naya Daur, Ek Hi Rasta, Kanoon, Dhool Ka Phool and Gumraah, founded the B R films banner in 1955.

The banner, which also forayed into television serial production in 1985, produced Mahabharat directed by B R Chopra‘s son Ravi Chopra.

The earlier film personalities who have been given Phalke Ratna awards are late Sunil Dutt in 2005 and Dilip Kumar in 2007.

BANGALORE: The Tamil Nadu (TN) film fraternity has decided to hold a protest fast tomorrow against the ban on Tamil films and the damage inflicted to theatres that were screening Tamil films in Karnataka.

All screening of films in TN will stop as will all film- related work for one day.

TN chief minister K Karunannidhi’s recent remarks over the controversial Hogenakkal water works project last Sunday caused the Kannada activists to ban the screening of Tamil films in theaters on Monday.

The activists had also called for a blackout of Tamil channel transmissions in the state, finally provoking the TN film fraternity to launch a protest against the ban.

Aditionally, the Kannada film fraternity has also called for a one day fast at Bangalore’s Town Hall tomorrow in support of the Karnataka government’s stand on the issue.

Though all film production and associated work will be stopped, theaters will be allowed to screen movies.

During his speech, Karunnanidhi had warned Karnataka against putting hurdles in the Hogenakkal water project stating that he was running out of his patience now.

This made the fuming Kannada activists accuse the Tamil Nadu government of lobbying with the center to implement the controversial project, though the matter is under dispute. The activists have also accused the UPA government at the center of repeatedly ignoring the interests of Karnataka state.

However,during a meeting between the activists and representatives of the cable operators in Karnataka yesterday, the cable operators convinced the Kannada groups that blocking Tamil transmissions was not in the interests of ‘peace and harmony in the state’. Hence now Tamil transmissions will continue in the state.

Furthermore, as per reports in certain sections of the media, The South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce (SIFCC) has suspended all the of members of the Kannada film industry for failing to protect cinemas screening Tamil films in Karnataka.

The ban will stand until things return to normal in Karnataka. Reportedly, the action has the backing from SIFCC members from Kerala and Andhra Pradesh.

“This is a unilateral decision taken by the SIFCC president KRG. We have no communication from the SIFCC about any suspension till now, though it has been reported in Tamil papers from Bangalore as well as on Tamil channels,” said a source in the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC).

“The SIFCC represents the four southern states. As per the bylaws, the SIFCC president cannot take a decision to suspend anyone on his own,” informed the source.

MUMBAI: Rick Sands, COO of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.(MGM), has decided to part ways from the studio in order to pursue other opportunities in entertainment and content.

MGM chairman and CEO Harry E. Sloan said, “We appreciate Rick‘s contributions in helping to revitalize MGM over these past two years. Sands‘ contributions included the revitalization of a full service theatrical marketing and distribution infrastructure that allowed for the North American release of the studio‘s films.”

Sands, who was with MGM since January 2006, accomplished several key strategic goals for the studio.

To maximize MGM‘s library assets, Sands was instrumental in establishing a home entertainment structure in conjunction with Twentieth Century Fox. He also helped the studio develop worldwide television sales and digital media divisions.

Prior to joining MGM, Sands served as president and COO of DreamWorks SKG. At DreamWorks he was responsible for all aspects of the studio‘s business and creative operations prior to its sale to Paramount Pictures.

Sands also held key leadership roles within Miramax Films where he oversaw production, marketing and administration as COO.

Sands began his entertainment career in 1978 at Columbia Pictures where he served as VP distribution.

MUMBAI: Indian American filmmaker Parthiban Shanmugam‘s A Pizza Story has bagged the jury award at the three-day International Festival of Short Films on Culture which terminated in Jaipur on Saturday.

The jury was headed by Swapan Malik who is the director of the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute in Kolkata.

After the screening of 129 films from 38 countries, the 12-minute US film was presented with golden statuettes by Czech ambassador Hynek Kmonicek.

A large number of film technicians, filmmakers and film lovers joined the function, which formed part of a cultural extravaganza on the occasion of the ongoing ‘Rajasthan Diwas‘ festivities.

A Pizza Story takes a bold look at the US invasion on Iraq through the eyes of an eight-year old child.

It stars Robert Hatch, Madison Laprade, Janis Dunkal. The original score for the film has been done by Jeremy Doss and the director of photography is Allan Facimore.

Mumbai: UTV Motion Pictures‘ Race has grossed Rs 900 million within 10 days of release.

While India has contributed Rs 700 million to the kitty, the film has earned Rs 200 million from overseas markets.

UTV also claims that Jodhaa Akbar, which earned Rs 1.29 billion, is now the seventh biggest all time grosser at the box office.

Jodhaa Akbar has performed well in the international markets, with the second highest opening for any Indian film in US and Australia. Currently the film is featured amongst the top five earners in the Middle East and the highest in UK after OSO, UTV says in a release.

UTV Motion Pictures has made a breakthrough in Pakistan, releasing Goal, Tare Zameen Par and Race consecutively in that country.

MUMBAI: After Paramount formed a mobile entertainment division in February, it has been seeking and implementing new ways to package the studio‘s content for mobile and wireless devices.The scope of projects includes the development of new original content, in addition to one-of-a-kind advanced applications.

VooZoo Mobile –Paramount Mobile Entertainment will launch a beta-version of VooZoo Mobile, the first Multimedia Messaging Service application on Facebook. VooZoo Mobile is a cutting edge mobile application that allows Facebook users to express themselves creatively by selecting scenes from their favorite movies and sending the “movie emoticons” to their friends‘ mobile phones.

Facebook users subscribing to the top carriers in the US will be able to share their clips from films like The Godfather, Mean Girls, Zoolander and Breakfast at Tiffany‘s for a monthly bill-to-phone subscription fee. Paramount Mobile Entertainment expects that VooZoo Mobile will revolutionise the way people communicate through their mobile phones and has leveraged Hook Mobile‘s MMS delivery system, MAX 2.0 Platform, to handle the projected volumes.

Retrosodes: Paramount Mobile Entertainment is planning on going into development on mobile applications that will translate Paramount Pictures‘ catalogue of films into a series of animated shorts entitled Retrosodes. The Retrosodes will consist of animated episodes based on films and will debut with titles including Top Gun, Saturday Night Fever and Zoolander.

Paramount Mobile Entertainment and Player X will co-produce and publish the Retrosodes to be made available for download or streaming through wireless devices.

MUMBAI: US telecom company Verizon Wireless and Saavn which is a digital distributor of South Asian content have announced the availability of Bollywood Music by Saavn video channel on Verizon Wireless‘ V Cast video service.
Available to V Cast Video customers, the Bollywood Music by Saavn channel marks the first time Bollywood videos have been available to mobile customers in the US. The channel offers V CAST Video customers the best of current and classic Bollywood, including full-length music videos and exclusive pre- release video promos, available on V CAST Video before they air on television or the Internet.

Verizon director of V Cast Video and social media Jennifer Byrne said, “As the next step beyond the availability of Bollywood ringtones and ringback tones from Saavn on Verizon Wireless phones, the addition of Bollywood videos on V Cast Video means Verizon Wireless customers can now take more of their favorite entertainment with them while on-the-go.”

Saavn GM Vinodh Bhat says, “With cutting-edge programming like Bollywood Music by Saavn on V Cast Verizon Wireless is leading the mobile revolution. Bollywood music and videos are not readily available in mainstream outlets, but are hugely popular in the U.S. Verizon Wireless‘ commitment to carrying Bollywood content brings us closer to our goal of making Bollywood available to anyone, at any time.”

Initial offerings on the Bollywood Music by Saavn V Cast Video channel include videos from Race, Om Shanti Om and Heyy Babyy, Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal, Bhool Bhulaiyaa, Jab We Met and Partner. Also included are classics like Chalte Chalte and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and exclusive pre-release promos from films like Race and Krazzy 4. With a catalogue of thousands of albums, and new content delivered continuously, Saavn‘s Bollywood offering on V CAST Video promises a rich, robust experience for Verizon Wireless customers with an interest in Bollywood, in foreign film, or in music in general.

Customers with select V Cast-enabled phones can check out V Cast Video whenever they want for just $3.00 for 24-hour use or by signing up for the $15.00 V Cast VPak monthly subscription, which also includes access to Verizon Wireless‘ ESPN MVP, Get It Now and Mobile Web 2.0 services.

Customers get unlimited basic video, but application download fees apply for 3D games and premium video. There are no airtime or megabyte charges to download, stream or watch V Cast content with any V Cast subscription. Bollywood Music by Saavn is premium content and available for an additional $4.99 monthly subscription.

BANGALORE: Reacting strongly to Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunandihi’s remarks during an inauguration of a flyover in Chennai, Kannada activists in Bangalore forcibly stopped the screening of Tamil films in theaters in the city.

Minor incidents of violence and damage are also reported in Bangalore and the police have intensified security in the city.

The activists have also threatened the stoppage of telecasts of Tamil programmes and channels in the state.

Indiantelevision.com spoke to a few Bangalore multi-system operators (MSOs) and representatives of cable TV operators in the city who hadn‘t decided whether they should go ahead and black out the Tamil channels.

Said an MSO, “We support the people of Karnataka and do take into account the sensibilities of people in the state. But the cable industry in the state is fighting for its survival. We are losing a lot of customers to DTH who are offering subscription rates at throwaway prices. We will extend whatever support that we feasibly can.”

During his speech, Karunanidhi had warned Karnataka against putting hurdles in the Hogenakkal water project and said that his patience was running out.

The Kannada activists have accused the Tamil Nadu government of lobbying with the center to implement the controversial project, though the matter is under dispute. The Kannada activists have also accused the UPA government at the center of repeatedly ignoring the interests of Karnataka state.

Kannada activists such as the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV) and Kannada Chaluvali are some of groups that want Karunanidhi to withdraw his remarks, failing which cable operators across the state will be asked to stop beaming Tamil channels and public transport buses from Tamil Nadu will not be allowed to ply in the state.

The representatives of the cable TV operators who are in talks with the activists, said that they would probably know the situation better tomorrow. Will they stop the signals? “How can we cable operators survive without providing complete services over a long period to a major section of our subscribers? 28 per cent of Bangalore‘s population is Tamil,” says a cable operator.

Theaters have stopped screening Tamil films in Bangalore as of yesterday on account of hundreds of pro-Kannada activists storming theaters and evacuating the viewers.

Some of the effected theaters are Nataraj, Balaji, Sharada, Vinayaka, Ajantha, Poornima, Lavayna, Aruna and Super. The problem for theater owners seems so far to be limited to Bangalore.

Indiantelevision.com spoke to some theater owners in North Karnataka who said that they were unaffected by the current situation since not too many Tamil films were screened there.

Minor incidents of violence and damage are also reported in Bangalore and the police have intensified security in the city.

The activists have also threatened the stoppage of telecasts of Tamil programmes and channels in the state.

Indiantelevision.com spoke to a few Bangalore multi-system operators (MSOs) and representatives of cable TV operators in the city who hadn‘t decided whether they should go ahead and black out the Tamil channels.

Said an MSO, “We support the people of Karnataka and do take into account the sensibilities of people in the state. But the cable industry in the state is fighting for its survival. We are losing a lot of customers to DTH who are offering subscription rates at throwaway prices. We will extend whatever support that we feasibly can.”

During his speech, Karunanidhi had warned Karnataka against putting hurdles in the Hogenakkal water project and said that his patience was running out.

The Kannada activists have accused the Tamil Nadu government of lobbying with the center to implement the controversial project, though the matter is under dispute. The Kannada activists have also accused the UPA government at the center of repeatedly ignoring the interests of Karnataka state.

Kannada activists such as the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV) and Kannada Chaluvali are some of groups that want Karunanidhi to withdraw his remarks, failing which cable operators across the state will be asked to stop beaming Tamil channels and public transport buses from Tamil Nadu will not be allowed to ply in the state.

The representatives of the cable TV operators who are in talks with the activists, said that they would probably know the situation better tomorrow. Will they stop the signals? “How can we cable operators survive without providing complete services over a long period to a major section of our subscribers? 28 per cent of Bangalore‘s population is Tamil,” says a cable operator.

Theaters have stopped screening Tamil films in Bangalore as of yesterday on account of hundreds of pro-Kannada activists storming theaters and evacuating the viewers.

Some of the effected theaters are Nataraj, Balaji, Sharada, Vinayaka, Ajantha, Poornima, Lavayna, Aruna and Super. The problem for theater owners seems so far to be limited to Bangalore.

Indiantelevision.com spoke to some theater owners in North Karnataka who said that they were unaffected by the current situation since not too many Tamil films were screened there.

MUMBAI: Percept Picture Company (PPC) has joined hands with Moxie Entertainment Pvt Ltd to co-produce Anjan Dutt‘s BBD, a political thriller.

Moxie Entertainment director and co-founder Soumo Ganguly said, “PPC is co-producing the film with us which is in post-production stage right now. The film will be ready for release in June this year.”

The film‘s music has been composed by Dutt‘s son Neel Dutt and stars Kay Kay Menon, Naseeruddin Shah, Jimmy Shergill, Sonali Kulkarni, Sandhya Mridul, Rituparna Sengupta, Shauvik and Naved Aslam.

Moxie Entertainment has also produced Via Darjeeling, a film directed by Arindam Nandy.

“The film, co-produced by NFDC, is ready and is awaiting distribution,” added Ganguly.

Via Darjeeling revolves around the age-old Bengali tradition of adda – where friends gather to exchange stories and gossip over drinks and dinner.

The film stars Kay Kay Menon, Parvin Dabas, Sonali Kulkarni, Vinay Pathak, Rajat Kapoor, Sandhya Mridul and Simone Singh.

MUMBAI: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios (MGM) has named Cale Boyter as EVP of production. The announcement was made by MGM chairperson of the Worldwide Motion Picture Group Mary Parent.

The appointment represents a step in further building MGM in the theatrical business as the studio now focuses on assembling a team of executives with extensive backgrounds in development, production and talent relations. Boyter‘s appointment marks the first senior hire of Parent, who joined MGM a week ago and is aggressively implementing a new strategy.

A veteran at New Line for the last 10 years, Boyter recently served as New Line‘s EVP of development. During his tenure, he worked on and executive produced some of New Line‘s most successful films including Elf, Wedding Crashers and A History of Violence.

Parent says, “I’ve watched Cale from afar for some time now. His taste, passion and strong point of view as well as his ability to recognise real talent and good movie ideas has consistently impressed me. Many people, including myself, have tried to hire Cale in the past, but the timing has never worked out. I couldn’t be more thrilled the timing is working out now and Cale’s able to be a part of this incredibly exciting studio.”

Boyter says, “I‘m thrilled to be joining MGM at a time when the studio is poised for major growth. Working closely with Mary, we‘ll look to identify movies that will work in the marketplace and look forward to building a great slate. Mary is definitely a force in the industry and one of the main reasons I decided to undertake this next challenge in my career. Both of us are focused on achieving major growth for MGM. We want it to work and we want to win.”