Category: Hindi

MUMBAI: IFFI this year is out of bounds for the regular film buff.
Only registered delegates and the press will be allowed.MUMBAI: IFFI this year is out of bounds for the regular film buff.
Only registered delegates and the press will be allowed.

MUMBAI: Yash Raj Films (YRF) has ventured into digital download of full movies through tie-ups with two websites technologically equipped to offer VoD (video-on-demand) services – www.watchindia.tv and www.tinselvision.com.

Tinselvision primarily caters to the US market. For a fee, viewers across the world (except India) will be able to download a particular movie and watch it once. At a later stage, movies will also be made available on a download-to-own mode. While the movies are already available on watchindia.tv, they will be available on tinselvision.com by the end of this month.

Consequently Indian cinema will be available on these sites. The bouquet on watchindia.tv includes all time renowned movies like Kabhi Kabhie, Kaala Patthar and Chandni along with a mix of the contemporary and recent YRF hits like Hum Tum, Dhoom, Veer-Zaara, Bunty aur Babli and Dhoom:2, among others.

Tinselvision.com has titles like Darr, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Dil To Pagal Hai, Mohabbatein, Silsila, Saathiya, Salaam Namaste and Fanaa, among others. As a strategy, the new releases will be available on these platforms after a window period of 3 months post theatrical release.

The pay-per-view price ranges from $4.99 (for the classics) to $7.99 (for the most recent releases.

With an objective of offering this service within India, YRF has also entered into an agreement with VSNL. A select bouquet of movies will be streamed through VSNL‘s broadband portal www.tataindicombroadband.in in a pay-per-view format.

MUMBAI: Films fascinate all and more so Indians. Our real life heroes are often the reel life ones. Films too, become our mantras. There have been scores of debates on the bad influences of Hindi films. Politicians have publicly ridiculed films. And then came Chak De.

If the script of the film found a place in the Margaret Herrick Library, it comes as no surprise that the same script is being used by Congressmen in Gujarat to script their party‘s success.

The Congress, out of power from the key western state for 17 long years, hopes to recreate the magic of the Shahrukh Khan starrer ‘Chak de‘ at the hustings.

The opposition party is relying on ‘Chak De Congress‘ stickers to spread its message and it has virtually become a mantra for the party in the ‘do or die‘ battle in which chief minister Narendra Modi has certainly become an issue.

In fact, AICC General Secretary Digvijay Singh, who recently visited the central Gujarat region, a saffron stronghold of which Godhra is also a part, said that the chief minister has become an issue because of his “arrogance”.

It remains to be seen if Chak De will swing votes in favour of the Congress. The film sure did set the cash registers ringing for Yash Raj Films in what has otherwise been a rather lacklustre 2007.

MUMBAI: Fitch Ratings believes the decision to strike by the Writers Guild of America (WGA) has limited impact on the credit profile of the media and entertainment sector over the short-term. However, a prolonged strike could impact specific sub-segments of the industry.

Fitch classifies the sub-segments reliant on the WGA into six areas:
Broadcast TV Networks, TV Studios, Cable TV Networks, Movie Studios, Movie Exhibitors, and the TV Broadcast Affiliates.
Each of these entities has revenue streams that are not dependent on the WGA, especially over the short-term, as well as various alternatives (i.e., reality programming, repeats, live news) to at least partially offset down time from WGA programming. In addition, many of the companies have capacity at existing ratings and outlooks to withstand temporary pressures to operations.

Fitch believes the TV studio side of these businesses should be able to continue much of their first-run syndication programming and continue to build-out their off-network syndication and DVD sales pipeline over the short-term. The stoppage on the primetime shows could have some short-term working capital impacts for the studios.

Movie Studios and Distributors:
There is typically a nine to 15-month lag time between the script-writing pre-production stage of a movie until it is finally released. Because of this lag time, Fitch does not expect any short-term impact for the movie studios and distributors as many of them already have first-half 2008 movies in the can and have already started production on second-half 2008 releases.
While the independent studios specialize in acquiring low budget independent films, it is not uncommon for these films to be written by WGA members. As a result, while the independent studios are susceptible to a longer term strike (the independent hit Little Miss Sunshine for example was written by WGA members), they should have slightly more flexibility than their major studio counter-parts.

Importantly, in addition to the lag time that these studios enjoy, the movie studios of many of these entities are low margin businesses that account for a small portion of overall company cash flows, thereby making any prolonged strike not a material concern for Fitch to the overall credit profiles of the conglomerates when taking into account the scaleable cost structures that would accompany a long-term shut down of operations.

Movie Exhibitors:
Movie exhibitors such as AMC Entertainment (‘B‘; Stable Outlook), Regal (‘B+‘; Stable Outlook), and Cinemark (NR) will be impacted by this strike over the short-term as they can rely on the lag time between pre-production and final film release giving them a slate of film product over the next nine to 12-month period. Obviously, a more protracted strike would have substantial impact on these entities as they are solely dependent on the studios product while maintaining a very high fixed cost base and, generally speaking, weaker capital structures.

MUMBAI: In an unparalleled move, Saawariya will premiere at Imax on 7 November- two days ahead of its release date.The thumb rule being that a premiere of a film is 14 hours ahead of the Friday release. As people will be busy with Diwali puja, the team has decided to take this decision.

Sony is releasing about 600 prints of ‘Saawariya‘ in India and approximately 900 more globally.

The final countdown has begun.

MUMBAI: Adlabs Cinemas, part of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, has opened its first cinema in Rajasthan in the city of Kota.

Adlabs Cinemas presently has 111 screens spread over 36 properties nationwide. It recently became the first cinema chain in India to cross 100 screens.

Adlabs Cinemas COO Tushar Dhingra commented on the launch saying, “Kota is a popular tourist destination due to its rich history and also has a large student community making it an attractive location for Adlabs Cinemas, and apt for our entry into Rajasthan. We are committed to improving the cinema-viewing experience across the country and are pleased to announce that the audiences in this city will now enjoy access to Adlabs‘ world-class cinemas at extremely competitive rates.”

The new fully air conditioned Natraj Adlabs on Station Road will have a world class widescreen viewing screen consisting of 661 seats, food and beverage offerings, crystal-clear DTS sound, superior Xenon projection systems and plush seats.

MUMBAI: Ranbir Kapoor‘s towel dropping scene in the Saawariya song Jab se tere naina has been axed by the Censor Board. It is being argued that when Ranbir’s father, Rishi Kapoor made his debut in Bobby he too dropped his towel before an amused Aruna Irani.

The question worth asking though is – the scene was not cut then, so why axe a similar one almost three decades later? Is the Censor Board getting regressive?

Censor Board Film Certification (CBFC) RO Vinayak Azad says, “I think the issue is being blown out of proportion. It was a voluntary decision by the director Sanjay Leela Bhansali when we explained to him that the scene would not be appropriate for a U-certificate film. He opted to chop it.”

Bhansali has placed on record that though in principle he is against any cuts he has agreed this time as the shot did not make any difference to the flow of the story. Had the scene been retained it would have resulted in the film getting an A-certificate.

A source who understands the process of certification says, “It‘s to do with the five people who watch a film at a given time. If they feel that a particular scene or dialogue is offensive then they make the necessary recommendations. If a similar scene was passed years ago I don‘t see why this was needed to be cut now? Also, as there are no set rules or policies regarding such objections, there is not much one can do.”

Nudity-frontal or otherwise is not new to Indian films. The Supreme Court allowed a scene with frontal nudity in Bandit Queen. A few years later, in Split Wide Open Rahul Bose too dropped his pants under the direct gaze of the audiences.

Sure, both the films were passed with A-certificates. But does a fleeting peek at the derriere of an actor amount to obscenity in times of a Madonna or Mallika Sherawat? Are young audiences not accustomed to watching raunchy numbers from B-grade films?

“Being progressive does not mean exposing,” argues Azad. “People have clichéd opinions of censorship issues. We are walking a tight rope and need to therefore do a balancing act without adversely affecting cinema. We are not into moral policing. Our job is to certify films and rate them in accordance to the audience they are targeted at. I can‘t comment on what transpired 34 years ago (when Rishi Kapoor dropped his towel). This is a grey area. Not something that is either right or wrong. Being liberal is being open to ideas and ideologies – not just allowing nudity and sex.”

So whilst directors continue to remain subject to the mercy of the five members on the Censor Board panel, audiences may have to wait another three decades for a peek of a derriere. In the meantime, let’s continue to watch all those raunchy music videos.

MUMBAI: In a meeting that took place on 2 November between Sony Pictures India and the multiplexes, Sony has agreed to release Saawariya in Mumbai‘s multiplexes for 50 per cent of the revenue in the first week, 40 per cent in the second and 30 in the third. The same for other smaller territories is 50:50, 42?:57?, 35:65.

On the other hand, Eros is yet to arrive at a decision with the multiplexes except for Inox, which is the distributor of Om Shanti Om in Kolkata. Hence Inox will start advance bookings of both movies from tomorrow and will play both movies on 9 November in its Kolkata properties.

Om Shanti Om advance bookings open only at INOX multiplexes across the country from Sunday, 4th November 2007. This will give cine buffs the opportunity to book their OSO tickets only at INOX multiplexes, much before the rest of the country does.
As for Adlabs, the stalemate continues said the spokesperson. “As until yesterday there was no progress with the negotiations,” said Adlabs spokesperson Anjali Malhotra. “And if there has been any progress today we have no news and hence am unable to make any statement.”

Its status-quo for PVR and the spokesperson Karan said that the meeting for the same is scheduled for Monday only after which a statement could be made.

For Cinemax the deal is half-clinched as Saawariya will be playing at all their screens and the booking had also begun as of today. This was confirmed by VP, marketing, Devang Sampat. ” But as for OSO the negotiations are still on. We will be able to comment only by Monday,” he said.

Amita Naidu of Eros said that as talks between the respective parties are still underway she would provide an update only early next week.

MUMBAI: The Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG) has selected Times Innovative Media as the event management agency for the 38th International Film Festival of India (Iffi) 2007, which starts from 23 November.

MUMBAI: K Sera Sera Productions Ltd has raised $25 million through issue of global depository receipts (GDRs). The amount will be used to mainly fund movie productions.

The company has placed 4.76 million GDRs (at $5.25 per GDR). The GDRs are being listed with Luxembourg Stock Exchange (LuxSE).

K Sera Sera will invest almost 70 per cent of the amount raised towards film production, 20 per cent for distribution and the balance for TV content production.

“We have raised $25 million and plan to invest it over two years,” says K Sera Sera MD Rajesh Pavithran.

K Sera Sera plans to produce 8-12 movies during this period.

Meanwhile, K Sera Sera has sold the domestic theatrical and satellite TV rights of EK – The Power of One to Zee Telefilms Ltd for Rs 130 million. The overseas rights have gone to Eros for Rs 35-40 million. “We have made a profit of around Rs 40 million from the movie,” says Pavitran. The movie is slated to release in January.

The Tamil version of Dombivli Fast, co-produced with Abbas Mastan, will release in December while Chal Chala Chal will be in January-February of next year.