ITV

Category: Movies

  • Pyramid Saimira to raise $450 million

    MUMBAI: Pyramid Saimira Theatre Ltd (PSTL) is set to raise up to $450 million by issuing shares to qualified institutional buyers.


    The board has given its approval for this purpose. PSTL plans to expand its presence in film exhibition, production and distribution.



    The cinema chain operator is also aiming to list its production arm sometime in the third quarter of this financial year. Indiantelevision.com was the first to report that the production company would go for an initial public offer (IPO) to fund its business.



    PSTL is in talks for a pre-IPO placement for the production unit that is said to have an enterprise value of Rs 15 billion.



    Earlier in April this year, PSTL had announced its plans of producing a total of 52 films by the end of this financial year, of which six films in various languages have already been completed.



    The company also aims to produce ten Tamil films this fiscal year and is investing around Rs 350–400 million towards this.

  • World Movies to support French movie festival in Delhi

    MUMBAI: UTV‘s channel World Movies, which showcases films from across the globe, has tied up with the French Embassy and Alliance Francaise de Delhi for a French movie festival in Delhi.


    The Krzysztof Kieslowski‘s collection – Three Colours: Blue, Three Colours: White and Three Colours: Red – and A Short Film About Love will be screened at Alliance Francaise de Delhi from 2- 5 July.


    On air to celebrate Bastille Day (French National Day) on 14 July, World Movies will showcase Kieslowski‘s Three Colours trilogy that also represents the three colours on the French Flag. The trilogy will be aired from 7 pm onwards.


    Another highlight of the movie festival is the World Movies contest. At the event, viewers can participate in the World Movies contest and win World Movies DVDs.

  • Sparrow to open 10th Osian’s-Cinefan Festival

    NEW DELHI: The 10th Osian‘s-Cinefan Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema, which begins on 10 July, will open with the Hong Kong film Sparrow while it will close with India‘s Mumbai Cutting.

    The festival is being held at Siri Fort complex and Alliance Francaise in New Delhi and will end on 20 July.


    Directed by Johnny To, Sparrow stars Simon Yam, Kelly Lin, Ka Tung Lam, Hoi-Pang Lo and Kenneth Cheung.


    Sparrow, a slang in local Hong Kong street language for pickpocket, is about a “beautiful” woman and three professional pickpockets coming together in search of an elusive key. The film will be screened on 11 July at Siri Fort, Delhi.


    “Like a sparrow, the camera swerves through the forgotten alleyways and old buildings intent to reveal something new…..For me, film has always been a medium that documents a specific place and time. Sparrow is an embodiment of that spirit,” said Johnnie To.



    In the film Mumbai Cutting, ten Indian filmmakers, namely Sudhir Mishra, Jahnu Barua, Rahul Dholakia, Rituparno Ghosh, Shashanka Ghosh, Manish Jha, Anurag Kashyap, Ruchi Narain, Ayush Raina, Revathi and Kundan Shah, have collaborated to offer a glimpse of life in modern day Mumbai.


    The film tells the story of a man and a woman who come together in grief after losing their loved ones, a writer who makes it his mission to connect with a troubled orphan, a Muslim woman attempting to procure a fake passport, and an aspiring actor who races through the streets in order to reach an important audition. The film will be screened on 19 July at Siri Fort.

    Osian‘s-Cinefan is organised by Osian‘s Connoisseurs of Art in association with the government of Delhi.

  • 96 countries receive entry forms for Foreign Language Oscar

    MUMBAI: US Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Ampas) has mailed Foreign Language Film award entry forms to 96 countries, facilitating their submissions for the 81st Academy Awards.

    To qualify for the 2008 Awards, a film must be released in the submitting country between 1 October ‘07 and 30 September ‘08. It also has to be publicly screened in 35mm or 70mm film or in a qualifying digital cinema format for at least seven consecutive days in a commercial motion picture theatre.


    The dialogue track must be predominantly in a language or languages other than English. Accurate English subtitles are required.


    Entry forms and film prints must be received at the Academy by 1 October, ‘08. Only one picture will be accepted from each country.


    In 2007, Austrian film The Counterfeiters won the Oscar over a field of nominated films from Israel, Kazakhstan, Poland and Russia.


    The Oscar Awards will take place on 22 February 2009, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood and Highland Center. It will air in India on Star Movies while in the US it will air on ABC.

  • Marathi cinema in high gear

    The Marathi movie market is set to enter into a new phase of growth as Star, Reliance ADAG and the Sakaal Group plan to launch general entertainment channels in this langauge space.

    Marathi film producers suddenly see a fresh demand for their content, which was being consumed largely by Zee Marathi and to a lesser extent by ETV Marathi.

    Satellite TV telecast rights for Marathi movies have surged, encouraging producers to increase their production pipeline. “The average purchase of these rights for the popular movies have more than doubled,” says a trade expert who is involved in such transactions.

    There are also more outright purchase of movies and at higher prices. Zee Marathi is said to have spent Rs 4.6 million for the perpetual rights of Tingya, much more than a hit Marathi movie would have cost two years back.

    Some movie rights holders are hanging on to their library with the expectation that prices will further escalate. Says Video Palace owner Nanu Bhai, “I have some 30 Marathi superhit movie rights along with Everest Video. But we are in no hurry to sell them. Let prices further increase.”

    Top five grosser of 2007-08
    Films Total Collections
    De Dhakka RS 60 million
    Saade Maade Teen RS 45 million
    Valu RS 30-35 million
    Tingya RS 15 million
    Aamhi Satpute RS 12.5 million

    It is only after 2004, when Shwaas (which literally means breathe) gave a fresh lease of life to Marathi cinema. Even though Shwaas was sent to Academy awards, the producers had to hunt for money through charity shows to present the film there.

    Post Shwaas, however, the market started expanding. The awareness about Marathi cinema increased considerably with creativity in subject, promotion, distribution and technical advancements. Also in Maharashtra, the state government’s rule that every multiplex has to run Marathi movies has changed the fate of this market.

    But what has fuelled the growth is the entry of corporates into the market. The roster includes Zee Entertainment Enterprise Ltd (Zeel), Reliance and Mukta Arts.

    Zee has been the most aggressive player. Zeel director of regional channels Nitin Vaidya had earlier told Indiantelevision.com that it would be investing RS 300 million for a slate of 15 Marathi movies in two years.

    Mukta Arts has also chalked out its production plans. The Subhash Ghai promoted company released Sanai Choughade on 20 June; another flick Prarambh is slated for August release.

    With the pumping in of more money, the industry is going to see more movies being made. In 2006, around 45 movies were released in theaters while the number rose to 67 in 2007. In 2008, more then 80 movies are expected to hit the theatres.

    The size of the market is expanding. Says Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Chitrapat Mahamandal president Ajay Sarpotdar, “The Marathi movie market (theatrical) was not more than RS 50 million in 2006. It managed to touch RS 160 million last year with the government‘s screening rule for multiplexes. In the first six months of this year, we have already crossed RS 220 million and expect to over Rs 350 million by the end of the year.”

    The major problem with Marathi cinema was its promotion and distribution wherein a lot depended on word of mouth publicity. Even though a Marathi movie costs not more than RS 6-7 million, producers did not have enough cash to put in money for promotions.

    That game is fast changing. As per market estimates, Zee Talkies has invested over RS 15 million in promotion of De Dhakka, a budget earlier unheard of. The movie has reaped over RS 60 million in collections so far.

    “With the kind of publicity we can do through our network, we already have an advantage over our rivals. We are bullish about the Marathi movie market,” says a senior executive in Zee Talkies.

    Mukta Arts is also planning to invest in scripts, marketing and promotion. “We are in search for good scripts as content is what drives the audience,” says Mukta Arts CEO Ravi Gupta.

    Adds senior Marathi producer Mahesh Kothare, “With the right kind of money, promotions and marketing, the Marathi movie market is growing very fast. Corporatisation is an added boon as they can easily spend over Rs 10 million in promotions.”

    Being made on as low as Rs 6-7 million budgets, the business dynamics has turned favourable as Marathi general entertainment channels grow in number and are keen to lap up movie content.

    Sums up Galgale Nighale‘s director Kedar Shinde: “We are currently in the first gear. Very soon, we will be driving in high gear.”

  • UTV ties up with Aamir for two films; distributes JTYJN overseas

    MUMBAI: UTV Motion Pictures has tied up with Aamir Khan Production Pvt Ltd for their two forthcoming films.

    The first is Delhi Belly, an action comedy that‘s based in Delhi. The film is being directed by debut director Abhinav Deo and Ranbir Kapoor has been cast as the main lead.


    The other film is untitled and will be announced soon. Both have a medium budget, the details of which are still being worked out.



    On being contacted, UTV Motion Pictures CEO Sidhartha Roy Kapoor confirmed the news, but refused to divulge further details.



    Meanwhile, UTV has bought the overseas distribution rights of Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na which will hitting the theatres on 4 July. UTV will be releasing close to 200 prints.


    UTV had struck a double film deal with Aamir Khan Productions which included Taare Zameen Par and now Jaane Tu ya Jaane Na.



    Jaane Tu ya Jaane Na will, however, be released in Dubai on 3 July because of their different release patterns.


    UTV has managed to release three films in Pakistan so far – Goal, Race and Taare Zameen Par.



    States Kapoor, “We are looking forward to Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na since TZP did brilliant overseas. The last film got us huge profits.” Since both the films were bought jointly by the company, the figures of the deal were not revealed.



    UTV also has the worldwide distribution rights of Tip‘s Kismet Konnection which releases on 18 July. Both Race and Kismet Konnection were jointly bought by UTV for a price of Rs 900 million.

  • GP Sippy Multimedia Ent. to launch 15 films in two years

    NEW DELHI: The G P Sippy banner has announced the launch of 15 films to be completed within the next two years, with Sunill Khosla of Boutique Cinema as creative director for all of them.

    GP Sippy Multimedia Entertainment Ltd chairman Ajit GP Sippy, along with Vibha Dutta Khosla of Boutique Cinema, jointly announced the projects with major stars and directors.


    Sunill Khosla told indiantelevision.com that he will also introduce new actors, actresses, directors and technicians.

    After recording the songs for Jhansi ki Rani, the film was launched with Meera, Milind Gunaji, Sadashiv Amrapurkar, Kader Khan, Nirmal Pandey, Tom Alter, Tiku Talsania,Dinesh Hingoo, Gajendra Chauhan, Surinder Pal, Goga Kapoor, and Jyoti Patel. The music is by Nikhal and Ambrish Shahbadi. The director is Rajesh Mittal while Khosla is the creative director. The film is being produced by Rajesh Mittal under the Sippy and R N Films banner. The shooting is commencing next month.

    The other films announced are: A Dangerous Love Story, Mumbaai Mastii, Maasooma, Darr Lagta Hai, Love Kaa Keeda, Mr Mobile, Sita, Puppiyan – Jhappiyan, Go Goa, Waaqia, Chai Garam, Maha Satya, Saaz Sur Aur Sanam.

    Meanwhile, Siddharth – brother of Manisha Koirala – has been signed by the Sippys and Boutique Cinema for three films which will go on the floors shortly. They include Maasooma. Siddharath was last seen in Anwar.

    Sippy’s company has just released its first Bhojpuri film Mai Tu bas Mai Badi starring Ravi Kissan and Nagma with music by Anand Milind, directed by Dayanand Rajan and produced by Vithal-Vohra under the banner of G P Sippy Multimedia.

    One film ready for release is Jab Love Hua – India’s first digital film – with Rahul Roy and introducing Riya and Shradha Rana Jung Bahadur, with Birbal, Johnny Nirmal, Rajan, Janvi, Neha Joshi and Prithvi Zutshi. The creative director and music director is Sunill Khosla while the cinematography and direction is by Triloki Chaudary. The lyrics are by Govind Moonis and the film has been produced by Vibha Diwan-Reshma under the Sippy banner in association with Boutique Cinema and Rudra Eye.

    Meanwhile, the company is to build a state-of-the-art film and animation studio with a multiplex and a five star hotel on a 150-acre plot on the Gujarat-Maharashtra belt acquired by it.

  • MGM acquires Still You comedy pitch

    MUMBAI: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) Pictures has acquired April Blair’s comedy pitch Still You.


    The film will be jointly produced by Aline Brosh McKenna, writer of The Devil Wears Prada and 27 Dresses, and Walt Becker, director of Wild Hogs, along with Jennifer Eatz of The Walt Becker Company.



    Both Cale Boyter and Becky Sloviter, who serve as EVP production and VP production at MGM respectively, will oversee the project for MGM.



    “We‘ve loved working with Walt and Jennifer and have been dying to get into business with Aline and April for a long time. This is a smart and funny idea with three terrific lead roles and we feel very fortunate to be working with this incredibly talented team,” said Becky Sloviter.



    Still You tells the story of an unexpected appearance of a larger-than life ex-boyfriend who threatens to ruin a family vacation.



    “I‘m thrilled to be working with a gifted writer like April Blair. Jennifer Eatz and Walt Becker are the perfect producers to team with on this idea. I also couldn‘t be more excited about working with the energetic and enterprising new team at MGM,” said Still You producer McKenna.

  • US home video generated $15.9 bn in sales, $8.2 bn in rentals in 2007

    MUMBAI: Home video in the US generated $15.9 billion in sales and $8.2 billion in rentals in 2007.

    Nearly nine million high-definition discs were sold in 2007, for which consumers spent more than $260 million. There were 12,177 DVDs released in 2007, down from a peak of 13,950 in 2005.

    The 2008 Annual Report on the Home Entertainment Industry has been released by the Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) in the US.

    EMA president and CEO Bo Andersen says, “Consumers remain enamored with DVD and video games even as they incorporate new forms of entertainment media into their consumption patterns. New generations of hardware and software, and alternative delivery channels, will ensure that home video and video games remain phenomenally popular entertainment options for the American public for years to come.”



    The number-one DVD seller in 2007 was Happy Feet. The Departed led the rental charts. High School Musical 2 was the best selling TV on DVD title and 300 was the leading high-definition disc movie.

    It is estimated that, in 2012, sales of Blu-ray Discs will exceed those of standard DVDs and will generate sales of $9.5 billion. Home video spending is projected to increase to $25.6 billion in 2012.


    Traditional rental stores, dominated by Blockbuster, accounted for 73 per cent of the rental business in 2007. Online subscription rental (such as Netflix and Blockbuster’s Total Access) were 25 per cent of the market. Kiosk rental doubled its market share to two per cent.


    There were approximately 10,000 DVD rental kiosks operational in the US at the end of 2007.



    The Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) is a not-for-profit international trade association dedicated to advancing the interests of the $33 billion home entertainment industry. EMA represents approximately 600 companies throughout the US, Canada, and other nations.

  • Turner’s Jiggy George to take additional charge of theatrical venture

    MUMBAI: Turner has announced two key appointments for its theatrical venture in India. Cartoon Network Enterprises executive director Jiggy George has been given additional charge to set up theatrical division which will leverage the power of Turner channels, consumer products and new media businesses to market these films effectively.



    In addition, Chitra Subramaniam has been appointed as director features for the theatrical division and will work closely with George.



    As head of the division, George will be responsible for all aspects of the theatrical business including production, marketing, distribution, licensing and merchandising and ancillary functions. He will develop the core resource team and formulate strategic partnerships with studios and distributors for the business venture.



    Subramanium will be responsible for developing theatrical films on both animation and live action format. Her mandate will be to create a talent pool and manage co-production and marketing of the theatrical projects.


    Earlier this year, Turner had announced that they will pump in multi-million dollars to establish a production unit which will make animated films for theatrical release and live action television series. The company will seek local production and development partners.




    Turner International India VP and deputy general manager entertainment networks South Asia Monica Tata said, “Our theatrical venture is an extension of Cartoon Network and Pogo’s long standing vision to embed themselves into the lifestyle of Indian kids. By introducing content on the big screen into the mix, we now offer kids’ entertainment across another platform. We are very happy that Jiggy, with his rich industry experience, inspiring vision and relentless drive will lead this division catapulting Turner into the theatrical business.”



    Giving an update on the business division, Tata further shared, “This venture is a key initiative in India and we are at the critical phase of laying its foundation. We are in the process of identifying the right projects, resources and are evaluating co-production options with studios.”


    George will continue to drive the licensing and merchandising strategies for Cartoon Network and Pogo in India.




    Prior to Turner, Subramanium was at the helm of film production business having worked with Studio 18 and Percept.