ITV

Category: Movies

  • India-China working on MoU for exchange of films

    NEW DELHI: India is currently studying the possibility of a mechanism to ensure commercial release of Indian feature films in China and vice versa.

    This was indicated by Information and Broadcasting ministry secretary Asha Swarup at the inauguration of a festival of Chinese films at the Sirifort Auditorium.

    Swarup said that discussions had been held on a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in this connection.

    Chinese ambassador to India Zhang Yan, who inaugurated the festival, referred to ancient ties between the two countries and the affinity in arts and culture including cinema.

    Nine latest Chinese films including one based in Tibet are being screened in a reciprocal festival of films from China. Organised by the Directorate of Film Festivals, in collaboration with the China’s State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) and the Chinese Embassy, the festival opened with the spectacular Gun of Mercy by Xiao Feng who was present along with principal actress Jiang Wu.

    A high-level Chinese delegation is here to attend the festival, led by SARFT director general Tong Gang. Other members, besides Feng and Wu, include Luan Guochi who is director of the SARFT’s International Cooperation in the Film Bureau, film director Zhang Jianya and actress Liu Yiwel of the film Call for Love, China Movie Channel CCTV-6 VP Lu Hongshi, and SARFT Digital Film Programme deputy director general Mao Yu.

    Gang told indiantelevision.com that his government wanted more films from India on a reciprocal basis, since some Indian films shown two or three decades earlier had proved very popular in his country.

    Directorate of Film Festivals director Neelam Kapur said a festival of Indian films had been held in Beijing and Shanghai about 18 months earlier.

    Apart from Gun of Mercy and Call for Love, the other films being screened are Fearless (Ronny Yu), The Banquet (Feng Xiaogang), Courthouse on the Horseback (Liu Jie), The Silent Holy Stones (Wanma Caidan from Tibet), A World without Thieves (Feng Xiaogang), Honeymoon (Chen Jun) and Perhaps Love (Peter Ho-Sun Chan).

  • Movie Mart launches online DVD selling service

    MUMBAI: Movie rental service provider Movie Mart has launched its online DVD selling facility.


    It has also partnered with a leading logistics company for safe and quick delivery of DVDs.


    Movie Mart CEO Rahul Mansharmani said, “We will have all the inventories of movies online. The online DVD selling is expected to grow owing to the rise in internet penetration which seems to have a huge potential.”


    The company has used latest technologies to make browsing and navigation user friendly, and customers will be encouraged to send in their feedback to improve their movie buying and renting experience better, says the company.



    “We aim at becoming a specialised website into DVD rental and selling, online downloads, home video rights and movie production. Currently, we deliver to an average of 2,000 customers on a daily basis and our testimonials prove the same,” added Mansharmani.



    The company has begun selling DVDs and VCDs online at 15 per cent off on the maximum retail price.

  • Italy’s Marden Entertainment inks co-production deals with Switch Media, Bollywood Network

    MUMBAI: Italy-based Marden Entertainment has signed an agreement with web-hosting company Switch Media Services. Additionally, Marden has also signed a declaration of intent with Bollywood Network of India.

    The agreements were signed on 27 March, which marked the concluding day of Ficci-Frames 2008.


    Under the agreement, Switch Media will co-produce the movie The Choice.


    Marden Entertainment and Switch Media will work towards creating digital assets, and distribute them globally via online video using Switch Media platform. Together, they will also develop mobile phone applications pertaining to The Choice.


    Switch Media will also provide its video management platform and undertake to commercialise the project for online video and mobile consumption in the primary markets of Italy, Europe, the UK and US, and the secondary markets like Asia, Australia, the UAE, South Africa and South America.


    Both companies will create a business plan for the successful monetisation and electronic distribution of The Choice for online video and mobile.


    In the agreement between Marden Entertainment and Bollywood Network, the latter will provide the Indian casting for The Choice. Bollywood Network will cover all costs related to the Indian cast such as transportation, housing and salary, consultation on Indian costumes as well as costs related to the purchase.


    Marden Entertainment will cover the remaining cost related to the production and marketing of the film.

  • 13th European Union Film Festival in India in April

    NEW DELHI: Twenty-one well-known contemporary films from 19 European countries are to be screened at the 13th European Union (EU) Film Festival, which is being held in five Indian cities during April.
    European Union member states embassies and the Delegation of the European Commission are collaborating with a number of local partners to organise the festival in New Delhi (1-8 April), Chennai (7-17 April), Kolkata (10-16 April), Calicut/Kozhikode (17-20 April) and Pune (24-30 April).

    In this edition of the EU Film Festival, the diversity in the contemporary European film industry is showcased through an array of films, each representing a different member state that includes national and international hits with gripping thrillers, finger-on-the-pulse comedies and forceful modern-day dramas.

    The festival is now part of the EU-India strategic partnership established at the 6th EU-India Summit in September 2005. The films being screened have been widely acclaimed in Europe and some have been awarded prestigious prizes in recent years. Only Belgium has two films.


    The films that will be screened are Short Circuits (Slovenia), I Am (Poland), Kids in da Hood (Sweden), FC Venus (Finland), Waiter (the Netherlands), On the Other Side of the Bridge (Austria), Yella (Germany), After the Wedding (Denmark), It‘s Spring in Prague Every Year (Czech Republic), Two Syllables Behind (Slovak Republic), You and Me (France), Ultranova and Long Weekend (Belgium), Eighth Day of the Week (Hungary), Last of the High Kings (Ireland), Golden Beach (Estonia), Occident (Romania), Bye Bye Blackbird (Luxembourg), Stephen Fry: The Secret Life of a Manic Depressive (UK), Honey and Wine (Cyprus) and Fiction (Spain).


    The festival is being staged in collaboration with the government of NCT of Delhi, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi; Nandan, the West Bengal Film Centre, Kolkata; Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, Kozhikode; National Film Archive of India, Pune and ICA Foundation in Association with South India Film Chamber of Commerce, Chennai.


    The union hopes to emphasise the importance of culture, particularly in light of the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue 2008. Its relations with India encompass a dialogue between modern nation states built upon ancient civilisations, enriched with myriad cultures, religions, ethnicities and languages, says an EU release.

  • Scriptwriters seek out factors for success

























    MUMBAI: Scriptwriters Rex Weiner, member of WGA (USA), Vinay Shukla, Jaideep Sahni, Anjum Rajabali and Rensil D‘Silva today spoke on the ills that plague the art and craft of scriptwriting and sought to find measures that need to be taken to ramp up this very important industry. MD National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) Nina Lath Gupta moderated the session.


    The session began with Weiner saying that today writing was all about big budgets. He stressed that as against earlier writers just told a story and did not have to worry about budgets.




    So what makes a good script good and a bad script bad, he asked.


    “The best scripts are about human behaviour intimately observed. You need audiences to ask what‘s next? The more specific a character becomes ironically the more universal he becomes,” Weiner says.


    But it was Vinay Shukla of Godmother fame who gave an interesting overview of what today‘s audiences want.




    He cited the examples of the recent hit films like Mithya, Khosla ka Ghosla, Chak De and Metro and analysed why the offbeat films had worked.


    Shukla pointed out that Chak De had no obligatory songs, no heroine and no romantic scenes and went on to say that today it is the youth that is the target audience, unlike yesterday when films were made keeping housewives in mind.


    Now housewives have been lost to the Ekta Kapoors of today he commented.


    Shukla advised writers to shed their inhibitions at a time when values are changing, saying that it‘s not the boldness of a subject but the treatment that makes a good film.




    Linear narrative is no longer the rule of the thumb (a la Metro) he said.


    He analysed why a film like Halla Bol had flopped though it had raised pertinent social concerns. Shukla said that it is not that social concerns do not stir audiences but the contrived melodrama let down audiences.


    Outlining a few factors that scriptwriters should bear in mind Shukla said a script should be short, subtle, not over dramatic and western.


    “Dil Chahta Hai brought in casualness and Chak De solidified this. Characters in our films are only black or white and that‘s why most of our films look the same. Three dimensional characters are the need of the day and if the subject is city based then the need is to be western,” Shukla averred.


    Anjum Rajabali stressed that there was a historical reason why there was a dearth of successful scriptwriters in our country and held that this was because there is a lack of training.


    “In the old times writers did not go to any school of writing but they learned all about it by observation. But now some amount of learning is important which is not happening,” he said.


    Rajabali added that the attitude towards writing functions has to change.


    Drawing a parallel with the pharma industry he said that there was a huge fund for R&D and there is no sword dangling on the head of a scientist as he labours over research.


    Rajabali pointed out that the pharmas invest in thousands of scientists and only five succeed. So why can‘t the film industry too do the same he asked.


    A writer should be made a stakeholder in the film making business, as this will make good business sense, he said.


    Rang de Basanti‘s successful script writer Rensil D‘Silva did not agree that we lacked good writers.


    He felt that India does have a good pool of writers but we are not looking at them. He believes that if one taps the advertising world which he thinks has great writing talent and get even 10 per cent to work this will be a huge number.


    According to Rensil the only problem why one does get good writers is because people do not pay well. Unlike in Hollywood people here do not want to invest in scripts. He wondered that if Manoj “Night” Shyamalan got $5 million for his script in the USA, what would he get had he written the script in “Pondicherry”?


    The best note of hope came from Jaideep Sahni, who said that as the film making business had grown in the last few years by leaps and bounds it has also affected the writing side.


    Sahni who has penned the famed “Chak de” and has also written and co-produced Khosla ka Ghosla said that he disagreed that writers were now writing for only multiplex audiences.


    He stressed the fact that Chak de had nothing in the story that was ‘multiplex‘. In fact everything was rural, even some of the actors.


    Sahni said yes the writers wanted money but they cannot be bought. They should be made partners.


    He requested filmmakers and corporate houses not to invest in writers but to invest in the process of writing.


    He believed that as the investment takes place there will be an army of writers to service the industry. Writers need to be paid for R&D and this will help give birth to quality writers.

  • Multiplexes: the ‘multi-revenue’ debate rages

























    MUMBAI: The celebrated terminology ‘multi revenue generator‘ synergises with the new phase of film exhibition that is the multiplex era as well. Volumes have been written about the shift from single screen to multiplexes.


    However, the new side of this subject is the umpteen number of avenues through which money is flowing in and “Multiplexes: Multi revenue streams” was another heated discussion on the last day of Ficci Frames 08‘.




    Dimple Cine Advertising MD Kamal Karamchandani, Pyramid Saimira MD P.S Saminathan, Inox Leisure Ltd COO Alok Tandon, Chivach Media CEO Soumo Ganguly and Fun Multiplex CEO Ajay Mehra engaged in an series of topics related to multiplexes.


    True to the session‘s topic, multiplexes have really proved to be a medium for innumerable advertising and promotional opportunities.


    The audience doesn‘t step in alone to enjoy the film but also varied other things available at the multiplex.




    Karamchandani points out the different promotional strategies one enjoys at the theatre. Starting from kiosks, stickers behind seats, film and other standees, product displays to leaflet distribution, he believes all this really works for a multiplex.


    An interesting example of Reliance Energy came up in the discussion.


    While screening a film, the theatre witnessed a blackout for a few minutes and then the screen showed up ‘Reliance Energy.‘ This, Karamchandani felt, was a great promotional activity.


    Multiplexes are now smartly using the spaces for off-screen advertising as well.


    They stress on the fact that these spaces are priced exorbitantly and should be used to their fullest.


    However, Saminathan emphasises on the importance of differentiation in content which is literally missing.




    He believes it is more of time differentiation than content, and adds, “There has to be non transparency of funds and taxes.” He also says that it is difficult to judge what works for which theatre.


    “A theatre which has poor infrastructure may generate more revenues than the one which is a high quality one,” he states.



    “Where do small films go?” was the question thrown by Ganguly.


    Recently, he said, 28 out of 30 shows in a multiplex were showing Jodha Akbhar.


    In the same breath he says that multiplex is certainly a boon as well, as it would have been extremely difficult to compete with mammoths like Om Shanti Om and Jodha Akbar, if one had to survive on small screens.

  • Chinese keen for co-productions with Indian filmmakers

    NEW DELHI: Nine latest Chinese films including one based in Tibet are being screened in a reciprocal festival of films from China beginning Friday.

    Organised by the Directorate of Film Festivals in collaboration with the China’s State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) and the Chinese Embassy, the Festival will be inaugurated by Chinese ambassador Zhang Yan and Information and Broadcasting ministry secretary Asha Swarup.


    The opening film is Gun of Mercy by Xiao Feng who will also be present in the festival.


    A high-level Chinese delegation is here to attend the festival, led by SARFT Director General Tong Gang. Other members besides Feng include Luan Guochi who is director of the SARFT’s International Cooperation in the Film Bureau, film director Zhang Jianya and actress Liu Yiwel of the film Call for Love, actress Jiang Wu of Gun of Mercy, and Lu Hongshi, vice-president of the China Movie Channel CCTV-6, and SARFT Digital Film Programme deputy director general Mao Yu.


    Addressing a press meet, Gang said the Chinese government was keen to strengthen coperation and co-productions in the field of cinema and this would be discussed further with members of the Indian film industry in Mumbai later this week.


    The delegation had also visited the National Film Development Corporation. He said China would also like to see Indian films released in theatres and through DVDs in their country and vice versa. Furthermore, Indian films could be shown on CCTV-6, he added.


    Directorate of Film Festivals director Neelam Kapur said a Festival of Indian films had been held in Beijing and Shanghai about 18 months earlier. She said the reciprocal festival had been delayed, as India wanted a delegation to accompany the films, and also wanted to ensure that the Festival did not clash with any other festival.


    Apart from Gun of Mercy and Call for Love, the other films being screened are Fearless (Ronny Yu), The Banquet (Feng Xiaogang), Courthouse on the Horseback (Liu Jie), The Silent Holy Stones (Wanma Caidan from Tibet), A world without thieves (Feng Xiaogang), Honeymoon (Chen Jun) and Perhaps Love’ (Peter Ho-Sun Chan).


    She said the films had been screened at the recent International Mumbai Film Festival organised by the Mumbai Academy of the Moving Image(Mami). Xie Fei, cultural counsellor of the Chinese Embassy, was also present at the press meet.


    Gang said in reply to a question that the Chinese government would give full help to any Indian producer wanting to shoot in China. Furthermore, any co-production will be given the same benefits if exemption from customs or distribution tax as given to quality domestic films.


    Noting that films like Awaara and Caravan were still remembered in China, he said the Raj Kapoor film was shown by CCTV-6 in February.


    In reply to another question, he said the Government gave special funds for promoting the showing of films in the rural areas of the country and the aim was that at least one film should be released in every village every month. Under this programme, 60 per cent of the villages had been covered so far. Filmmakers also got a subsidy if they released their films in rural areas.


    He said that the Chinese Government helped the film industry by giving money for production of quality films and by promoting distribution and exhibition. A percentage of the revenue from advertisements on television was collected by the Government and used to produce good films, while a five per cent tax was collected on each ticket and used for distribution or exhibition purpose.

  • Case against RGV by T-Series stayed till July

    ALLAHABAD/MUMBAI: The criminal case against filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma by music major T-Series in Noida is stayed on Thrusday by the Allahabad High Court till 1 July.

    The stay had come on an application by the filmmaker seeking further stay as the Court’s interim stay order for five days just before Holi was expiring.


    The filmmaker has sought quashing of the First Information Report (FIR) in view of the fact that an FIR filed by him against the music major is pending in Mumbai.


    Meanwhile, T-Series chief Bhushan Kumar has been given two days by the Enforcement wing in Mumbai to submit the original documents in the case filed by the filmmaker.


    Earlier, T-Series had filed a cross-case against Varma by filing an FIR against him in Noida, accusing him of fraud and criminal breach of trust, the latest in a long chain of the attrition that both have been involved in for the last few months.


    The music company claimed that Varma had signed a deal for handing over music distribution rights of 14 feature films to be made by him, only four of which – Aag, Shiva, Nishabd and Darwaza Bandh Rakho – had been delivered so far.


    Last month, Varma had filed a case of cheating and forgery in Mumbai against the music company claiming that he had been duped of over Rs 4.6 million.


    The FIR had been filed against Kumar with the Versova police station, saying that he had executed terms of a music distribution rights contract signed between him and T-Series by giving the rights for four of his films to T-Series.


    The complaint had been registered under Sections 420, 465, 467, 468, 471 r/w 120(B) of IPC.

  • What ails media as a responsible vehicle?

















    MUMBAI: Is media socially responsible? What are the constituents of social responsibility? Does free speech entails any social responsibility on the part of the speaker? These are some of the questions that were asked in the session entitled “Is media socially responsible: Where does freedom of speech and expression ends, and responsibility begin?”



    Media personality Pritish Nandy, who moderated the session, clearly maintained that “media has nothing to do with social responsibility,” adding that “freedom is an absolute concept – there‘s either complete freedom with no restrictions or total bondage.”




    Social responsibility is thrust upon the filmmakers by the government. The govt collects taxes from cigarette manufacturers, yet it wants us to stop showing smoking on the screen. The govt makes choices, but most of these choices are hypocritical.



    In our age, free media is the most reliable vehicle for discovering truths. Bereft of this freedom, media is powerless. The state is not our father or guardian, as filmmakers we are free to do what we want to.



    He ended, however, on a more tolerant note by saying, “But freedom is an ongoing dialogue, and that‘s why we‘ve to listen to others.”




    In her speech, veteran actress and chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) Sharmila Tagore discussed the role of the CBFC vis-?-vis films.



    “India is a multicultural, multilingual and multireligious country. The Constitution guarantees freedom of speech but since society is media dominated the govt is required to purge films of anything that might affect the larger social and cultural unity. This doesn‘t mean, however, that the CBFC intends to stifle creativity.”



    To bolster her point of view, she said that a great number of movies are full of disturbing images that have a detrimental effect both on the conscious and on the subconscious psyche, and invited the audience to a screening of those movies that the censor board does not certify.



    “Our responsibility also lies with the marginalised remnants of the society. CBFC acts as an enabling body between producers and audience. Moreover, I don‘t think India is ready for self-regulation; I disagree with Pritish on this point.”



    Taking issue with Nandy‘s advocacy of absolute freedom, noted filmmaker and Rajya Sabha member Shyam Benegal said, “The censor board is a ‘negative institution‘ – it dictates what you are required to remove. A number of factors act as deterrents when it comes to making a good film. A CBFC certified film can be shown to anywhere in the country.




    He then gave the example of Aaja Nachle, which, despite having a certificate from the censor board, was subjected to much social ado. This incident, according to Benegal, proves that a certificate from the board has lost its meaning.


    Director Mahesh Bhatt said, “The bedrock of the media and entertainment industry is going away. My first film was banned. When I was 50, the NDA govt banned my film Zakhm. But ironically, when the censored version was released later, the film got a national integration award.”



    He called the present state of affairs “freedom within the prison” and called for 100 per cent artistic liberty.



    Reliance Entertainment chairman Amit Khanna said, “Instead of absolute freedom, what we have is absolute anarchy. There‘s anarchy everywhere in govt regulations.”



    “Social responsibilities come from within. To initiate a healthy dialogue with the people, we need to educate them and dispense with the I&B ministry that imposes restrictions on the media.”



    Admitting that the media itself has got into “the business of manufacturing news,” he maintained, “Frame a law that‘s conducive for a country like India.”

  • Film industry needs to look beyond box office

















    MUMBAI: Tapping revenues beyond the box office is a challenge that the Indian film industry has to wake up to. This is particularly important when film production and marketing costs are going up.


    Kick-starting the session on “Rethinking Fim Marketing and Distribution: Beyond Box Office” at Ficci-Frames here today, Moser Baer entertainment business CEO Harish Dayani said that only two per cent of India‘s population go to the cinema theatres to watch a film. Even as this percentage is declining, the game is to tap the remaining 98 per cent.




    The need of the hour is to deliver the product to the consumers at their convenience without leaving any room for piracy which takes away a major chunk of the box office revenues.


    Speaking on the scope that online distribution of films throws up, Rajshri Productions director Rajjat A Barjatya said: “We released the film Vivah simultaneously in 200 screens in India and 100 screens overseas as well as online. We got a whooping 6500 downloads worldwide. Online contributed to 50 per cent of our total revenues. The entire model turned out very well and that shows the future of online distribution.”


    Box office collections, however, stay as the major revenue earner for films. “Film is a brand which needs to be established well. This happens only at the box office and then the brand is ready to be exploited on other platforms. No one would buy an unknown brand,” said Sony Pictures India CEO Uday Singh. The Sony distribution company recently diversified into film production and released Saawariya which fared average at the box office.




    Indian filmmakers have started exploiting various revenue streams including merchandising. Mates CEO Darshana Bhalla cited the example of blockbuster film Om Shanti Om which earned 63 per cent through box office collections, but also raked in revenues from merchandising. OSO tied up with retail chain Shoppers Stop and organized fashion shows to promote the film. Home video accounted for 15 per cent of the film‘s gross earnings.

    Another trend gaining currency is in-film placement of products.




    Speaking at the session, Reliance Entertainment chief marketing officer Saurabh Varma said: “One will mainly see film merchandising on stationary, apparels and special items created around the subject of the movie.”

    Not a very unusual area of discussion, but gaming was another aspect touched upon by Varma. “In the past we have seen a few films coming up with post release games, some of which have been successful. Dhoom 2 is the prime example of the same. It was only after the film‘s success that the makers
    decided a game on the same,” he said.