Category: Hindi

Telangana leads fight against online piracy in partnership with film industry

MUMBAI: A Telangana Intellectual Property Crime Unit (TIPCU) created by the state government with representatives state cyber crime police, state IT ministry, internet service providers (ISPs), the Telugu film industry, legal experts and financial experts.

This follows the advocacy efforts following the content protection alliance between the Motion Picture Distributors Association, the Indian office of the Motion Pictures Association of America and the Telugu Film Chamber Of Commerce (TFCC) representing the Telugu film industry over the past five years.

The establishment of the TIPCU on the lines of UK’s Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) will lead to even more effective enforcement mechanisms to fight online piracy.
TIPCU is a specialized state-level enforcement task force to fight online content theft and will comprise several representatives from the Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce.

Chamber President D. Suresh Babu said, “In 2012, by joining hands with MPDA (the consortium of Hollywood studios), we as Telugu Film Industry had made a beginning in the right direction to protect creative content. With the setting up of TIPCU, we are on the verge of setting a great precedent in India that shall inspire other movie industries and bring them together. We are grateful for the visionary support of the Government of Telangana.”

Telangana IT secretary Jayesh Ranjan said, “The Government of Telangana firmly believes in creating a very conducive ecosystem for creators and creative industries to thrive and realize their full potential. Creating a robust mechanism to stop online piracy and protect the interests of the movie industries is an integral part of this belief. Under the inspiring and visionary leadership of chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao and IT minister K T Rama Rao, we shall endeavor to create models like ‘TIPCU’ that can inspire confidence, in not only the Regional Movie Industry, but all Creative Industries across India, and allow them to benefit from these initiatives and turn Telangana into a globally recognizable Creative Hub with the best IPR protection mechanisms.”

MPDA India managing director Uday Singh said, “Legitimate entertainment has never been so affordable and accessible with benefits for both creative industries and online consumers of content. We are happy to see that things are heading in the right direction in India. Our continued alliance with TFCC is the first step towards combating online content theft, which poses a serious threat to Internet users as well as the creative industry. We call on other interested stakeholders to join our efforts which will help our effort to sustain creative industries and encourage innovation and legitimate business models in the future.”

Launched in 2012, with an objective to promote content protection, the alliance continues to pool resources and jointly tackle issues such as camcording, online content theft, and to promote public awareness and education campaigns on the importance of content protection. These efforts have resulted in successful enforcement operations in 2013 and 2015, which resulted in the arrest of members of major camcording syndicates in India and a decline in camcording by 73 percent in 2015 over 2012.

The MPDA and TFCC have also been instrumental in launching various public awareness campaigns to raise awareness about the need to protect content in the digital world. These include the multilingual, multi-platform anti-piracy mobile application Indian Movie Cop; launched in 2013 by former US Ambassador to India Nancy Powell.
Over 4000 theatre managers and employees from different multiplex chains across India have been trained on the MPA Make A Difference training programme and Be a Movie Cop quiz so far. Outreach initiatives such as Comicorner and Comic Con supported by the Telugu Film Industry have helped raise awareness on the threats of source and online piracy amongst youth who watch content on the Internet.

May 6, 2016
Unravelling Housefull Action’s strategy

MUMBAI: One of the most loved film genres across geographies was action was the thought that prompted the launch of a new movie channel – Housefull Action. Launched on 21 February this year, the channel specifically caters to the action hungry audience that is constantly looking for more. The channel says that it will be showcasing the best of content from Hollywood, Bollywood and Tollywood.

Housefull Action is marketed by White Pixel in association with Swami Films and is broadcast by Triumph Media Vision Pvt Ltd (Triumph MVPL).

Speaking with Indiantelevision.com, Swami Films founder and director Ajit Joshi said, “With the launch of Housefull Action, our aim is to cater and entertain the action movies lover. Primarily, our focus will be on South Indian movies but we will also be airing Bollywood and Hollywood action films.”

To ensure that even the interiors of the country could view its offerings, the channel first launched on DD Freedish. Currently, Housefull Action is available on Dish TV’s DTH platform, as also on Den, Hathway and major MSOs’. Further, the channel is in talks with other MSOs’ as well, hence in the coming couple of months the distribution of the channel will become more robust.

Marketing strategy

Being just two months old, the channel is yet to have advertisers on board. In the meanwhile the channel has sold time slots to several brands for teleshopping. On an average, sources within Housefull Action said that the channel earns revenues of between Rs 60,000 to Rs 70,000 for half an hour from teleshopping. On a given day, the channel airs teleshopping for four to five hours.

Unravelling Housefull Action’s strategy, Joshi said, “There are two ways for the business – teleshopping or commercial advertisements. We will go with the both the ways in future.”

With digitization happening across metros the channel will be generating revenue through ad sales, Joshi said, “White Pixel clearly feels that it has been getting good response from the market and that people are keen to add more channels in the plans to build frequency”.

Joshi revealed, “We are waiting for our BARC ratings to stabilize so that we can pitch to our advertisers. Keeping our competitors in mind, we will freeze the 10 sec ad rates. We have good financiers working with us, therefore we hope for the best.”

Triumph MVPL director Sudhir Singh said, “There is a huge market available for the action genre and we want to capitalize on it. We have done our primary research work and the results show us that this market still wants more action movie channels”. While sources within the channel revealed that it is looking to garner around 15 to 20 GRPs’ in the first year of launch Singh explained, “We are not in the numbers game here. We clearly want to sustain ourselves and be there.”

White Pixel director Abdul Aziz Khan said, “Within the Hindi movie genre, ours is a niche genre. For the action movie genre, the core audience is male (age group 15 +). Since there are not many players who cater to this niche genre, we will be targeting those brands that are looking to cater to the male TG as their primary audience.” Reiterating, Aziz said, “We have a very clear definition of catering to the hard core action lover who is primarily male and taking to that audience to the advertisers who want to target the male TG.”

To garner eyeballs, Housefull Action currently spends around Rs 20 to Rs 25 lakh towards marketing with plans to up that figure to about Rs one crore. There are also plans for on-ground activations and other marketing activities lined up for the coming months.

Joshi further revealed that apart from the movie channel, his group is planning to launch a website Housefultv.com very soon. “For the first time a movie channel will go live. Audiences can watch movies of their own choice. They can easily log in. Initially it will be free of cost.

Sources within the channel say that it has movies like Border, Sarfarosh, Shehenshah, Deewar, Tridev, Deva, Rakshak and Kalavaram in its library. According to industry sources, the acquisition prices of the movies that the channel has in its kitty so far have ranged between of Rs 5- 50 lakhs.

The management says that it will be pumping in money to strengthen its distribution as it wants visibility across all platforms. It also wants to build its visibility by targeting the trade fraternity and customers directly by giving them regular updates on the developments at its end. It has plans to acquire other interesting properties on a regular basis.

The group managing Housefull Action has firm plans to make its venture a profitable one. It is left for time to determine how successful its efforts will be.

May 2, 2016
Unravelling Housefull Action’s strategy

MUMBAI: One of the most loved film genres across geographies was action was the thought that prompted the launch of a new movie channel – Housefull Action. Launched on 21 February this year, the channel specifically caters to the action hungry audience that is constantly looking for more. The channel says that it will be showcasing the best of content from Hollywood, Bollywood and Tollywood.

Housefull Action is marketed by White Pixel in association with Swami Films and is broadcast by Triumph Media Vision Pvt Ltd (Triumph MVPL).

Speaking with Indiantelevision.com, Swami Films founder and director Ajit Joshi said, “With the launch of Housefull Action, our aim is to cater and entertain the action movies lover. Primarily, our focus will be on South Indian movies but we will also be airing Bollywood and Hollywood action films.”

To ensure that even the interiors of the country could view its offerings, the channel first launched on DD Freedish. Currently, Housefull Action is available on Dish TV’s DTH platform, as also on Den, Hathway and major MSOs’. Further, the channel is in talks with other MSOs’ as well, hence in the coming couple of months the distribution of the channel will become more robust.

Marketing strategy

Being just two months old, the channel is yet to have advertisers on board. In the meanwhile the channel has sold time slots to several brands for teleshopping. On an average, sources within Housefull Action said that the channel earns revenues of between Rs 60,000 to Rs 70,000 for half an hour from teleshopping. On a given day, the channel airs teleshopping for four to five hours.

Unravelling Housefull Action’s strategy, Joshi said, “There are two ways for the business – teleshopping or commercial advertisements. We will go with the both the ways in future.”

With digitization happening across metros the channel will be generating revenue through ad sales, Joshi said, “White Pixel clearly feels that it has been getting good response from the market and that people are keen to add more channels in the plans to build frequency”.

Joshi revealed, “We are waiting for our BARC ratings to stabilize so that we can pitch to our advertisers. Keeping our competitors in mind, we will freeze the 10 sec ad rates. We have good financiers working with us, therefore we hope for the best.”

Triumph MVPL director Sudhir Singh said, “There is a huge market available for the action genre and we want to capitalize on it. We have done our primary research work and the results show us that this market still wants more action movie channels”. While sources within the channel revealed that it is looking to garner around 15 to 20 GRPs’ in the first year of launch Singh explained, “We are not in the numbers game here. We clearly want to sustain ourselves and be there.”

White Pixel director Abdul Aziz Khan said, “Within the Hindi movie genre, ours is a niche genre. For the action movie genre, the core audience is male (age group 15 +). Since there are not many players who cater to this niche genre, we will be targeting those brands that are looking to cater to the male TG as their primary audience.” Reiterating, Aziz said, “We have a very clear definition of catering to the hard core action lover who is primarily male and taking to that audience to the advertisers who want to target the male TG.”

To garner eyeballs, Housefull Action currently spends around Rs 20 to Rs 25 lakh towards marketing with plans to up that figure to about Rs one crore. There are also plans for on-ground activations and other marketing activities lined up for the coming months.

Joshi further revealed that apart from the movie channel, his group is planning to launch a website Housefultv.com very soon. “For the first time a movie channel will go live. Audiences can watch movies of their own choice. They can easily log in. Initially it will be free of cost.

Sources within the channel say that it has movies like Border, Sarfarosh, Shehenshah, Deewar, Tridev, Deva, Rakshak and Kalavaram in its library. According to industry sources, the acquisition prices of the movies that the channel has in its kitty so far have ranged between of Rs 5- 50 lakhs.

The management says that it will be pumping in money to strengthen its distribution as it wants visibility across all platforms. It also wants to build its visibility by targeting the trade fraternity and customers directly by giving them regular updates on the developments at its end. It has plans to acquire other interesting properties on a regular basis.

The group managing Housefull Action has firm plans to make its venture a profitable one. It is left for time to determine how successful its efforts will be.

May 2, 2016
Baaghi exceeds expectations; Jungle Book continues strong

MUMBAI: Baaghi, a romance- action film and only the second film for Tiger Shroff, has with an opening response, exceeding all expectations. The film went on to cross the Rs 12 crore mark on its opening, on Friday. For a change, many single screens displayed House Full boards. The film held on very well on Saturday and excelled on Sunday to end its opening weekend with an impressive tally of Rs 38.7 crore.

Short Cut Safari, a film aimed at children remained poor. It was too amateurish even for kids.

Nil Battey Sannata could not cash in on its tax exemption in Delhi and UP and managed to put together only Rs 2.75 crore in its first week.

Laal Rang, despite rising familiarity of the moviegoer with Randeep Hooda, failed to draw viewers. The film could manage just about Rs 1.7 crore in its first week.

Santa Banta Pvt Ltd, a pathetic attempt at comedy, fared very poor. The film collected Rs 70 lakh in its first week.

Fan dropped drastically in its second week collecting just Rs 11.1 crore. The theme and the pace of the film did not quite go down well with the audience. The two week total for the film is Rs 82.6 crore.

Jungle Book continued with its triumphant march. The film collected an impressive Rs 30.7 crore from all versions in its third week to take its tally to Rs 151.5 crore.

Ki & Ka added Rs 50 lakh in its fourth week to take its four week tally to Rs 51.15 crore.

May 2, 2016
Baaghi exceeds expectations; Jungle Book continues strong

MUMBAI: Baaghi, a romance- action film and only the second film for Tiger Shroff, has with an opening response, exceeding all expectations. The film went on to cross the Rs 12 crore mark on its opening, on Friday. For a change, many single screens displayed House Full boards. The film held on very well on Saturday and excelled on Sunday to end its opening weekend with an impressive tally of Rs 38.7 crore.

Short Cut Safari, a film aimed at children remained poor. It was too amateurish even for kids.

Nil Battey Sannata could not cash in on its tax exemption in Delhi and UP and managed to put together only Rs 2.75 crore in its first week.

Laal Rang, despite rising familiarity of the moviegoer with Randeep Hooda, failed to draw viewers. The film could manage just about Rs 1.7 crore in its first week.

Santa Banta Pvt Ltd, a pathetic attempt at comedy, fared very poor. The film collected Rs 70 lakh in its first week.

Fan dropped drastically in its second week collecting just Rs 11.1 crore. The theme and the pace of the film did not quite go down well with the audience. The two week total for the film is Rs 82.6 crore.

Jungle Book continued with its triumphant march. The film collected an impressive Rs 30.7 crore from all versions in its third week to take its tally to Rs 151.5 crore.

Ki & Ka added Rs 50 lakh in its fourth week to take its four week tally to Rs 51.15 crore.

May 2, 2016
Baaghi: A Rebel For Love – one for the masses; Shortcut Safari is Short cut to suffering

Baaghi is an action romance film. Sajid Nadiadwala makes sure his films are entertainers and don’t leave the masses out. Like all love stories, two guys want the same girl. Since the girl loves only one of them, the other guy becomes the villain in the plot. The film bears similarities to the Indonesian production, The Raid: Redemption and is a remake of the Telugu movie Varsham.

Tiger Shroff, a Delhi lad, is on his way to Kerala to join a martial arts institution. He is a wayward guy and being sent here to be disciplined. On the train, he meets Shraddha Kapoor who is travelling to meet her grandmother. Both are attracted instantly and, in Kerala, their love blossoms further.

The master at the institution is an accomplished martial arts exponent. A strict disciplinarian, he is much respected. His son, Sudheer Babu, excels in martial art and uses his might to terrorize people. He sees Shraddha and falls for her and wants to marry her at any cost. Sparks fly between Sudheer and Tiger.

Shraddha’s father, Sunil Grover, is an opportunist and when offered a bagful of money, he agrees to marry off Shraddha with Sudheer. To separate her from Tiger, he concocts a story which Shraddha believes but is still not willing to marry Sudheer.

Sudheer’s father, the master of the institution, cautions Sudheer not to come between two lovers and marry where he decides on the girl. Sudheer has no scruples and poisons his farther, there being no other way to get him out of his way. He then shifts his operations to Thailand in a ten storey building. While Shraddha is kept on the top floor, the other nine are like layers of shields for her with armed and qualified fighters.

Tiger has left Kerala and is living a normal life when Grover approaches him. Shraddha has been abducted and he offers Tiger money to find her. Tiger needs the money for the treatment of a small child he has adopted while living with another student at the Institution.

Now wasting time to find Sudheer, he enters the ring to fight a no holds barred bout of a fight with a regular winner and knocks him out in one kick. The bout is being watched on a close circuit camera and his plan works. Now, Sudheer’s men are after him.

After some more fights and chases, Tiger is assumed dead. But, Shraddha is sure he will come to rescue her. And he does. After negotiating the nine floors full of goons, he is finally face to face with Sudheer. He seems to have learnt some secrets of hand to hand combat which Sudheer missed.

The story is typical and the direction is apt. What makes the film interesting is the fresh casting and action. Considering this is only his second film, the audience response to Tiger’s entry and during action scenes is tremendous. He and petite Shraddha make a good pair. Grover is good in light scenes and as scheming father. Sudheer is menacing enough for Tiger’s winning look hard-fought.

Considering this is a romantic film, it needed a couple of chartbusters but has only one song, Sab tera…which appeals. The cinematography is good.

Baaghi is a single screen entertainer after a long gap, besides having appeal for young viewers and is set to be a decent earner.

Producer: Sajid Nadiawdwala.

Director: Sabbir Khan.

Cast: Tiger Shroff, Shraddha Kapoor, Sudheer Babu, Sunil Grover, Sanjay Mishra.

Shortcut Safaari..Short cut to suffering

Amitabha Singh, the producer and cinematographer associated with some award winning films has turned to direction with Shortcut Safaari. His earlier association with a children’s film was Chillar Party as a cinematographer. He worked as a DOP on Khosla Ka Ghosla and was the producer (with NFDC) of the national award winning Gujarati film, The Good Road, India’s nomination to the Oscars. But, direction is another ball game altogether.

A group of school kids belonging to the nature society of a school are taken on a day out to a nature park to learn firsthand the gift that we have in the form of nature and all that it breeds. The tour done, the kids are divided on return trip in three small vans. The teacher in charge is keener on keeping her date with her beau, ditches her students and hitchhikes on the pillion of her man.

While the students in two vans depart, the third one takes a little longer with a couple of students arguing over sitting arrangements. When they are on the road finally, the kids see a higher HP car overtake them and their fragile egos incite their driver to overtake that car. The driver hardly seems to have control on his small van but takes the challenge. He takes a shortcut, drives recklessly and lands up in a jungle. His van has bumped into a tree.

The driver needs help and leaves the kids to find a help in nearby village!! Promising to return soon, he leaves the students alone to fend for themselves. What follows is an ordeal on the viewer. The driver has vanished. The students spend the night in the van but the night is eventful as funny looking, animated hyenas, leopard etc. visit them, dance on their van and vanish! The students, despite their exposure to nature and coming as they do from high end school, think hyenas are dogs and the leopard is a cat! So much for education!!

The students, fight among themselves, sing and dance and roam the jungle to find a way out. So far, there seems to be not a soul around except a caricature of a leopard. But, as the film progresses, the jungle suddenly seems over populated. There are a couple of buffoons, supposed to provide comic relief, with toy guns who want to kill the sole leopard so that the jungle can be turned into real estate bonanza! Mall and all that!!

The film flashes Jimmy Shergill as its lead actor and you wonder where he is? Finally, he does show up in a dress weirder than that any self-styled baba ever wore. He seems to be the self-appointed keeper of the forest.

Shortcut Safaari is a film with no sense for script, let alone on for a film catering to children. The direction matches the script and is full of inconsistencies including the students cast showing varying ages. The jungle life and the few animals depicted are a joke with poor animation. Its songs are good. The editor has no scope here; he could have chopped the whole film if permitted. Some kids act well, some don’t. All others playing parents and teacher are non-actors, nor do they bother to act.

Shortcut Safaari is a children oriented film from which children are better off kept away.

Producer: Xebec Films Pvt. Ltd., Kashyap A Shah, Amigos Fin-o- tainment.

Director: Amitabha Singh.

Cast: Aashi Rawal, Sharvil Patel, Mann Patel, Deah Tandon, Ugam Khetani, Stuti Dwivedi, Hardil Kanabar, Jimmy Sheirgill.

April 29, 2016
Baaghi: A Rebel For Love – one for the masses; Shortcut Safari is Short cut to suffering

Baaghi is an action romance film. Sajid Nadiadwala makes sure his films are entertainers and don’t leave the masses out. Like all love stories, two guys want the same girl. Since the girl loves only one of them, the other guy becomes the villain in the plot. The film bears similarities to the Indonesian production, The Raid: Redemption and is a remake of the Telugu movie Varsham.

Tiger Shroff, a Delhi lad, is on his way to Kerala to join a martial arts institution. He is a wayward guy and being sent here to be disciplined. On the train, he meets Shraddha Kapoor who is travelling to meet her grandmother. Both are attracted instantly and, in Kerala, their love blossoms further.

The master at the institution is an accomplished martial arts exponent. A strict disciplinarian, he is much respected. His son, Sudheer Babu, excels in martial art and uses his might to terrorize people. He sees Shraddha and falls for her and wants to marry her at any cost. Sparks fly between Sudheer and Tiger.

Shraddha’s father, Sunil Grover, is an opportunist and when offered a bagful of money, he agrees to marry off Shraddha with Sudheer. To separate her from Tiger, he concocts a story which Shraddha believes but is still not willing to marry Sudheer.

Sudheer’s father, the master of the institution, cautions Sudheer not to come between two lovers and marry where he decides on the girl. Sudheer has no scruples and poisons his farther, there being no other way to get him out of his way. He then shifts his operations to Thailand in a ten storey building. While Shraddha is kept on the top floor, the other nine are like layers of shields for her with armed and qualified fighters.

Tiger has left Kerala and is living a normal life when Grover approaches him. Shraddha has been abducted and he offers Tiger money to find her. Tiger needs the money for the treatment of a small child he has adopted while living with another student at the Institution.

Now wasting time to find Sudheer, he enters the ring to fight a no holds barred bout of a fight with a regular winner and knocks him out in one kick. The bout is being watched on a close circuit camera and his plan works. Now, Sudheer’s men are after him.

After some more fights and chases, Tiger is assumed dead. But, Shraddha is sure he will come to rescue her. And he does. After negotiating the nine floors full of goons, he is finally face to face with Sudheer. He seems to have learnt some secrets of hand to hand combat which Sudheer missed.

The story is typical and the direction is apt. What makes the film interesting is the fresh casting and action. Considering this is only his second film, the audience response to Tiger’s entry and during action scenes is tremendous. He and petite Shraddha make a good pair. Grover is good in light scenes and as scheming father. Sudheer is menacing enough for Tiger’s winning look hard-fought.

Considering this is a romantic film, it needed a couple of chartbusters but has only one song, Sab tera…which appeals. The cinematography is good.

Baaghi is a single screen entertainer after a long gap, besides having appeal for young viewers and is set to be a decent earner.

Producer: Sajid Nadiawdwala.

Director: Sabbir Khan.

Cast: Tiger Shroff, Shraddha Kapoor, Sudheer Babu, Sunil Grover, Sanjay Mishra.

Shortcut Safaari..Short cut to suffering

Amitabha Singh, the producer and cinematographer associated with some award winning films has turned to direction with Shortcut Safaari. His earlier association with a children’s film was Chillar Party as a cinematographer. He worked as a DOP on Khosla Ka Ghosla and was the producer (with NFDC) of the national award winning Gujarati film, The Good Road, India’s nomination to the Oscars. But, direction is another ball game altogether.

A group of school kids belonging to the nature society of a school are taken on a day out to a nature park to learn firsthand the gift that we have in the form of nature and all that it breeds. The tour done, the kids are divided on return trip in three small vans. The teacher in charge is keener on keeping her date with her beau, ditches her students and hitchhikes on the pillion of her man.

While the students in two vans depart, the third one takes a little longer with a couple of students arguing over sitting arrangements. When they are on the road finally, the kids see a higher HP car overtake them and their fragile egos incite their driver to overtake that car. The driver hardly seems to have control on his small van but takes the challenge. He takes a shortcut, drives recklessly and lands up in a jungle. His van has bumped into a tree.

The driver needs help and leaves the kids to find a help in nearby village!! Promising to return soon, he leaves the students alone to fend for themselves. What follows is an ordeal on the viewer. The driver has vanished. The students spend the night in the van but the night is eventful as funny looking, animated hyenas, leopard etc. visit them, dance on their van and vanish! The students, despite their exposure to nature and coming as they do from high end school, think hyenas are dogs and the leopard is a cat! So much for education!!

The students, fight among themselves, sing and dance and roam the jungle to find a way out. So far, there seems to be not a soul around except a caricature of a leopard. But, as the film progresses, the jungle suddenly seems over populated. There are a couple of buffoons, supposed to provide comic relief, with toy guns who want to kill the sole leopard so that the jungle can be turned into real estate bonanza! Mall and all that!!

The film flashes Jimmy Shergill as its lead actor and you wonder where he is? Finally, he does show up in a dress weirder than that any self-styled baba ever wore. He seems to be the self-appointed keeper of the forest.

Shortcut Safaari is a film with no sense for script, let alone on for a film catering to children. The direction matches the script and is full of inconsistencies including the students cast showing varying ages. The jungle life and the few animals depicted are a joke with poor animation. Its songs are good. The editor has no scope here; he could have chopped the whole film if permitted. Some kids act well, some don’t. All others playing parents and teacher are non-actors, nor do they bother to act.

Shortcut Safaari is a children oriented film from which children are better off kept away.

Producer: Xebec Films Pvt. Ltd., Kashyap A Shah, Amigos Fin-o- tainment.

Director: Amitabha Singh.

Cast: Aashi Rawal, Sharvil Patel, Mann Patel, Deah Tandon, Ugam Khetani, Stuti Dwivedi, Hardil Kanabar, Jimmy Sheirgill.

April 29, 2016
Films for telecast should be re-certified: Shyam Benegal Committee

NEW DELHI: Films submitted for telecast on television or for any other purpose should be re-certified.

This has been recommended by the committee on Film Certification headed by renowned filmmaker Shyam Benegal set up in January following the controversy relating to film certification in December last year.

The committee has made it clear that any complaints received by the central government should be referred to the Central Board of Film Certification whose chairperson may, if he considers it necessary to do so, refer the film to a revising committee for examination once again in view of alleged violation of Section 5B(1) of the Cinematograph Act, 1952.

Regarding the categorisation of films, the committee recommends that it should be more specific and apart from U category, the UA Category can be broken up into further sub-categories – UA12+ & UA15+. The A category should also be sub-divided into A and AC (Adult with Caution) categories.

The committee has said that online submission of applications as well as simplification of forms and accompanying documentation should be permitted.

In order to preserve Indian Cinema, the committee recommends that every applicant should deposit the Director’s Cut in the National Film Archives of India for preservation. At present, only the certified version is submitted but the committee felt that the original will ‘truly reflect the cinematic history of Indian cinema’.

Out-of-turn certification may be permitted on condition that the applicant pays five times the fee that would have to be paid if the certification were done in the normal course.

Meanwhile, the committee was given time by Information and Broadcasting minister Arun Jaitley to give recommendations on the certification of films regarding issues relating to clearances to be obtained from the Animal Welfare Board under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act; depiction of smoking in films wherein films are required to show a disclaimer in every scene that involves smoking, according to a directive from the Health and Family Welfare ministry.

Following the request by the committee, it has been asked to give its recommendations on these issues by 20 June 2016.

An official note said the committee had been set up on 1 January 2016 in sync with the overarching vision of the prime minister Narendra Modi and Arun Jaitley to lay down a holistic framework for certification of films.

The committee was asked to lay down norms for film certification that take note of best practices in various parts of the world and give sufficient and adequate space for artistic and creative expression, lay down procedures and guidelines for the benefit of the CBFC Board to follow and examine staffing patterns with a view to recommending a framework that would provide efficient and transparent user friendly services.

Other members of the committee are actor and filmmaker Kamal Hassan, filmmakers Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra and Goutam Ghose, ad guru Piyush Pandey, critic Bhawana Somaaya, and National Film Development Corporation MD Nina Lath Gupta. I and B Joint Secretary (Films) K Sanjay Murthy is Member-Convenor.

The committee also said the CBFC should only be a film certification body whose scope should be restricted to categorizing the suitability of the film to audience groups on the basis of age and maturity.

However, it could make recommendations to refuse certification if a film contains anything that contravenes the provisions of Section 5B (1) of the Cinematograph Act, 1952; and when content in a film crosses the ceiling laid down in the highest category of certification.

The applicant must specify the category of certification being sought and the target audience.

The committee said that the objective of these guidelines would be to ensure that children and adults are protected from potentially harmful or unsuitable content; audiences, particularly parents are empowered to make informed viewing decisions; artistic expression and creative freedom are not unduly curbed in the process of classification of films; the process of certification is responsive, at all times, to social change; and the certification keeps within the rights and obligations as laid down in the Indian constitution.

The highlights of the recommendations of the committee broadly cover the areas related to Film Certification Process and its simplification, Restructuring staffing pattern of central and regional censor advisory panels and re-certification of films for purposes of telecast on television and measures to preserve the identity of Indian Cinema.

The certification of films will be carried out in accordance with the guidelines proposed for certification that have been split into three sections, with each section required to be read with the other two – General Guidelines, Issue Related Guidelines and Category Specific Guidelines.

The committee has also made certain recommendations regarding the functioning of the board and has stated that the board, including chairman, should only play the role of a guiding mechanism for the CBFC, and not be involved in the day-to-day affairs of certification of films.

The functions of the board shall be confined to the duties defined in the existing CBFC rules, which include an annual review of CBFC work, submission of annual report to the government, review of public reactions to films, and periodic recommendations for revision of guidelines.

Given these limited functions, the size of the board should be compact with one member representing each regional office. Therefore, the total composition of the board should not be more than nine members and one chairman.

Regarding the Regional Advisory Panel the committee has laid down the criteria for appointment. All nine regions will have advisory panels comprising persons who are acquainted with the languages being certified by that regional office.

The panels should have 25 per cent members from all walks of life, recommended by the National Film Development Corporation to the central government; 25 per cent members of the general public recommended by the Federation of Film Societies of India; 25 per cent members recommended by the National Council for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and National Commission of Women (NCW); and 25 per cent representatives of the local film industry as recommended by FFI (Film Federation of India).

Women should have a 50 per cent representation on each panel, the committee said.

April 29, 2016
Films for telecast should be re-certified: Shyam Benegal Committee

NEW DELHI: Films submitted for telecast on television or for any other purpose should be re-certified.

This has been recommended by the committee on Film Certification headed by renowned filmmaker Shyam Benegal set up in January following the controversy relating to film certification in December last year.

The committee has made it clear that any complaints received by the central government should be referred to the Central Board of Film Certification whose chairperson may, if he considers it necessary to do so, refer the film to a revising committee for examination once again in view of alleged violation of Section 5B(1) of the Cinematograph Act, 1952.

Regarding the categorisation of films, the committee recommends that it should be more specific and apart from U category, the UA Category can be broken up into further sub-categories – UA12+ & UA15+. The A category should also be sub-divided into A and AC (Adult with Caution) categories.

The committee has said that online submission of applications as well as simplification of forms and accompanying documentation should be permitted.

In order to preserve Indian Cinema, the committee recommends that every applicant should deposit the Director’s Cut in the National Film Archives of India for preservation. At present, only the certified version is submitted but the committee felt that the original will ‘truly reflect the cinematic history of Indian cinema’.

Out-of-turn certification may be permitted on condition that the applicant pays five times the fee that would have to be paid if the certification were done in the normal course.

Meanwhile, the committee was given time by Information and Broadcasting minister Arun Jaitley to give recommendations on the certification of films regarding issues relating to clearances to be obtained from the Animal Welfare Board under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act; depiction of smoking in films wherein films are required to show a disclaimer in every scene that involves smoking, according to a directive from the Health and Family Welfare ministry.

Following the request by the committee, it has been asked to give its recommendations on these issues by 20 June 2016.

An official note said the committee had been set up on 1 January 2016 in sync with the overarching vision of the prime minister Narendra Modi and Arun Jaitley to lay down a holistic framework for certification of films.

The committee was asked to lay down norms for film certification that take note of best practices in various parts of the world and give sufficient and adequate space for artistic and creative expression, lay down procedures and guidelines for the benefit of the CBFC Board to follow and examine staffing patterns with a view to recommending a framework that would provide efficient and transparent user friendly services.

Other members of the committee are actor and filmmaker Kamal Hassan, filmmakers Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra and Goutam Ghose, ad guru Piyush Pandey, critic Bhawana Somaaya, and National Film Development Corporation MD Nina Lath Gupta. I and B Joint Secretary (Films) K Sanjay Murthy is Member-Convenor.

The committee also said the CBFC should only be a film certification body whose scope should be restricted to categorizing the suitability of the film to audience groups on the basis of age and maturity.

However, it could make recommendations to refuse certification if a film contains anything that contravenes the provisions of Section 5B (1) of the Cinematograph Act, 1952; and when content in a film crosses the ceiling laid down in the highest category of certification.

The applicant must specify the category of certification being sought and the target audience.

The committee said that the objective of these guidelines would be to ensure that children and adults are protected from potentially harmful or unsuitable content; audiences, particularly parents are empowered to make informed viewing decisions; artistic expression and creative freedom are not unduly curbed in the process of classification of films; the process of certification is responsive, at all times, to social change; and the certification keeps within the rights and obligations as laid down in the Indian constitution.

The highlights of the recommendations of the committee broadly cover the areas related to Film Certification Process and its simplification, Restructuring staffing pattern of central and regional censor advisory panels and re-certification of films for purposes of telecast on television and measures to preserve the identity of Indian Cinema.

The certification of films will be carried out in accordance with the guidelines proposed for certification that have been split into three sections, with each section required to be read with the other two – General Guidelines, Issue Related Guidelines and Category Specific Guidelines.

The committee has also made certain recommendations regarding the functioning of the board and has stated that the board, including chairman, should only play the role of a guiding mechanism for the CBFC, and not be involved in the day-to-day affairs of certification of films.

The functions of the board shall be confined to the duties defined in the existing CBFC rules, which include an annual review of CBFC work, submission of annual report to the government, review of public reactions to films, and periodic recommendations for revision of guidelines.

Given these limited functions, the size of the board should be compact with one member representing each regional office. Therefore, the total composition of the board should not be more than nine members and one chairman.

Regarding the Regional Advisory Panel the committee has laid down the criteria for appointment. All nine regions will have advisory panels comprising persons who are acquainted with the languages being certified by that regional office.

The panels should have 25 per cent members from all walks of life, recommended by the National Film Development Corporation to the central government; 25 per cent members of the general public recommended by the Federation of Film Societies of India; 25 per cent members recommended by the National Council for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and National Commission of Women (NCW); and 25 per cent representatives of the local film industry as recommended by FFI (Film Federation of India).

Women should have a 50 per cent representation on each panel, the committee said.

April 29, 2016
FY-2016: Inox PAT almost quadruples

BENGALURU: Inox Leisure Limited (Inox) reported almost quadrupling (3.87 times) of profit after tax (PAT) for the year ended 31 March 2016 (FY-2016, current year). The company reported PAT of Rs 77.49 crore (5.8 per cent margin on total income from operations or TIO) in the current year as compared to the Rs 20.04 crore (2 per cent margin on TIO) in the previous year.

Note: The unit of currency in this report is the Indian rupee – Rs (also conventionally represented by INR). The Indian numbering system or the Vedic numbering system has been used to denote money values. The basic conversion to the international norm would be:

(a) 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10,000,000 = 10 million = 1 crore.

(b) 10,000 lakh = 100 crore = 1 arab = 1 billion.

PAT for the quarter ended 31 March 2016 (Q4-2016, current quarter) was 16.12 crore (5.6 per cent margin on TIO). During the corresponding quarter of the previous year, the company had reported a loss of Rs 4.06 crore, while PAT in the immediate trailing quarter was 3.3 per cent lower at Rs 15.60 crore (4.6 per cent margin on TIO).

TIO for the current year was 31.1 per cent higher at Rs 1,332.69 crore as compared to the Rs 1,016.81 crore in the previous year. TIO in Q4-2016 grew 31.8 per cent YoY to Rs 286.92 crore from Rs 217.75 crore, but declined 16 per cent quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) from Rs 341.71 crore.

Company speak

Commenting on the results, Inox Group of companies director and group head (Corporate Finance) Deepak Asher, said, “Good content coupled with our expansion across the country, with a world class movie viewing experience has helped us in maintaining our growth in the last quarter. We will continue this growth momentum with our consistent efforts in the forthcoming quarters for our guests and all the stakeholders”.

Gross Box Office (GBOC)

During FY-2016, as well as Q4-2016, the increase in TIO was driven by increase in Gross Box Office collection (GBOC) in the sale of food and beverages (F&B).

Inox reported GBOC of Rs 904.94 crore for the current year, 34.4 per cent higher as compared to Rs 673.08 crore in the previous year. GBOC in Q4-2016 increased 41.7 per cent YoY to Rs 191 crore as compared to Rs 134.80 crore, but declined 17.2 per cent QoQ from Rs 230.69 crore.

Performance of the top five movies by GBOC performance accounted for 42 percent of total GBOC collection in the current quarter. The top five movies in terms of GBO collection for Q4-2016 in descending order were: Airlift (Rs 29.8 crore GBOC or Gross Box Office Collection, 15 lakh footfalls); Neerja (Rs 17.3 crore GBOC, 10.5 lakh footfalls); Kapoor&Sons (Rs 15.7 crore GBOC, 8.5 lakh footfalls) Bajirao Mastani (Rs 9.8 crore, 5.6 lakh footfalls); and Wazir (9.2 crore GBOC, 5.1 lakh footfalls).

Advertising, food and beverages and other operating revenues

F&B sales in FY-2016 were Rs 265.63 crore, 39.1 per cent higher as compared to Rs 191.03 crore in FY-2015. This segment reported 52.3 per cent higher YoY sales at Rs 56.99 crore in Q4-2016 as compared to Rs 34.73 crores, but 13 per cent lower QoQ as compared to Rs 65.51 crore in the immediate trailing quarter.

F&B spend per head in FY-2016 increased to Rs 58 from Rs 55 in FY-2016. In Q4-2016, F&B spend per head increased to Rs 58 from Rs 53 in Q4-2015.

Revenue from advertising in FY-2016 increased 11.7 per cent to Rs 91.01 crore as compared to Rs 81.49 crore in FY-2015. In Q4-2016, advertising revenue declined 2 per cent to Rs 19.40 crore from Rs 19.79 crore in Q4-2015, and declined 34.2 per cent QoQ from Rs 29.49 crore.

Other operating revenue in FY-2016 declined 0.2 per cent YoY to Rs 71.10 crore from Rs 71.21 crore. Other operating revenue declined 24.1 percent YoY in Q4-2016 to Rs 19.52 crore from Rs 25.73 crore, but increased 21.8 per cent QoQ from Rs 16.02 crore in Q3-2016.

Footfalls, occupancy rates and average ticket price

Footfalls for FY-2016 increased 30 per cent to 534 lakh from 411 lakh in FY-2015. Inox reported a 36 percent increase in footfalls in the current quarter at 115 lakh as compared to 84 lakh in Q4-2015, but a 10.9 per cent decline QoQ from 129 lakh in Q3-2016.

Occupancy rate in the current year increased to 29 per cent from 25 per cent in FY-2015. Occupancy rate in Q4-2016 improved to 23 per cent from 20 per cent in Q4-2015, but was less than the 31 percent in Q3-2016.

Average Ticket Price (APT) increased 3.7 per cent in FY-2016 to Rs 170 from Rs 164 in the previous year. ATP increased 5.7 per cent YoY to Rs 167 in the current quarter as compared to Rs 158, but declined 6.7 per cent QoQ from Rs 179.

Entertainment Tax, Distributors share and F&B costs, rents, etc.

Inox paid 43.1 per cent higher Entertainment Tax in FY-2016 at Rs 173.81 crore as compared to Rs 121.45 crore in the previous year. Entertainment Tax in Q4-2016 at Rs 35.61 crore was 56.5 per cent higher YoY than Rs 22.76 crore but was 19.8 percent lower QoQ entertainment tax as compared to Rs 44.40 crore.

Distributors share (Exhibition cost) in FY-2016 was 30.5 per cent higher at Rs 325.30 crore as compared to Rs 249.32 crore in FY-2015. Distributors share in Q4-2016 at Rs 68.94 crore was 44.4 per cent higher YoY as compared to Rs 47.75 crore but was 18.5 per cent lower QoQ as compared to Rs 84.54 crore in Q3-2016.

F&B costs in the current year were 34 per cent higher at Rs 66.41 crore as compared to Rs 49.55 crore in the previous year. F&B costs in Q4-2016 increased 37 percent YoY to Rs 14.18 crore as compared to Rs 10.35 crore, but declined 11.1 per cent QoQ from Rs 15.95 crore.

Total Expense in the current year increased 26.1 per cent to Rs 1,223.06 crore from Rs 969.88 crore in FY-2015. Total Expense in the current quarter increased 29.8 percent YoY to Rs 292.59 crore from Rs 225.34 crore but declined 5.3 per cent QoQ from Rs 308.97 crore

April 28, 2016