Category: Movies

MUMBAI: TinselVision(TM), an online video-on-demand (VoD) service will deliver Indian television and Bollywood film content to more than 40 million persons of Indian origin living overseas.

The program will air free of charge, at tinselvision.com, in the free content zone of the broadband IPTV service, along with popular programs from Zoom TV.

“Stopping short of describing our free content as ‘podcasts‘ or even user-submitted, shared videos,” says Saad Shervani, VP of Content of the company, “our viewers and the marketplace should anticipate an explosion of free content offerings on our service. From our own production to the high-quality shows offered by our partners under our ad-share model, to obtainment of exclusive, viral shorts and enabling submissions from our community, we will be delivering a compelling and sticky panoply of free Indian and South Asian content.”

The November premiere of Inside Tinsel will showcase the latest Bollywood gossip and news — keeping TinselVision viewers up-to-date and in-the-know on new movie releases, exclusive celebrity interviews and behind-the-scenes events. In addition to the latest star scoops on who‘s doing what, and with whom, the “access Bollywood” program will offer in-depth looks at Tinsel Vision programming, service features, unique promotions, unprecedented contest prizes and engaging goings-on. Inside Tinsel airs semi-monthly through the end of the year and, weekly beginning in January 2008.

TinselVision has signed a 13-episode deal with highly-regarded Camera Art to produce the show‘s initial season. Camera Art‘s co-founder and director, Rajan Kapoor, is leading the Inside Tinsel project, and produced the new channel’s positioning and commercial video assets. Speaking of the deal and his
relationship with the online entertainment destination, Kapoor says, “I‘m partial to feature-length film projects these days but, recognized that special something with the TinselVision team and market vision that was genuinely attractive.”

Television host Mini Mathur will host the show. “We spend
so much time focused inwardly on our home audiences here in India, we too frequently forget there are tens of millions of our friends and family and compatriots living overseas with a longing for original, familiar programming made easily accessible to them abroad,” she said.

PANAJI: It is important that the present boom in the entertainment sector is supported by low cost good quality theatres in order to reach to the public at large, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi said today.
Speaking at the valedictory session of ‘India – The Big Picture’ Conference 2007 organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Dasmunsi said digitalization has to ensure in the long run that technology is made available at affordable cost to sustain the cinema-seeing habits of the common man.

He said building of good theatres is confined only to setting up multiplexes which the common filmgoer cannot afford. Additional investments on creating more single screen theatres are warranted, he added.

The Minister said a view on Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) would be taken by the end of the year as the core group set up by the Ministry had already given its presentation.

On measures to check piracy in the film sector, Dasmunsi stated that the group set up to look into it has since submitted its report on Optical Disc laws and the Ministry is examining the draft provisions.

Commenting on TRP rating system of TV programmes, Dasmunsi said the present system is faulty and the Ministry is studying this issue.

MUMBAI: Moser Baer Entertainment, which earlier shook up the DVD and VCD market in the country with its aggressive pricing strategy, is now looking to target the premium end of the market.

Moser Baer has bought from Palador Pictures the rights to distribute and sell 50 foreign language film titles in DVD format through its over 2,000 key retail outlets across the country.

The foreign films being released in DVD include some of the most awarded and critically acclaimed films. Akira Kurosawa’s masterpieces ‘Seven Samurai’ & ‘Yojimbo’, ‘Infernal Affairs’ (which inspired Martin Scorsese’s Academy Award winner ‘Departed’), Wong-Kar Wai’s Cannes award winner ‘In The Mood for Love’, the cult Asian horror film ‘The Eye’, Ingmar Bergman’s masterpiece ‘Wild Strawberries’, Jim Jarmusch’s ‘Dead Man’ starring a young Johnny Depp and the mother of all monster movies – the original ‘Godzilla’, being some noted names. The DVDs are each priced at Rs 399. Moser Baer will reportedly be paying an advance royalty to Palador Films for distributing their content, amounting to nearly 40 per cent of expected revenues.

Harish Dayani, chief executive – Entertainment Business, Moser Baer said, “At less than Rs 400, we will bring the premium home video titles to the Indian consumer through this tie up with Palador Pictures. Imagine you can now legally own 10 Bergman classics or 10 Kurosawas in less than Rs 4,000! We hope that this alliance with Palador is only the beginning and that we can collaborate with Palador for more than these 50 titles in the future.”

Says Gautam Shiknis, founder & managing director of Palador Pictures, “This alliance is the beginning of a World Cinema movement in India. The tie-up with Moser Baer Entertainment will now allow Indians from across the country to legally own a Bergman or Kurosawa or any of the other masters and be suitably awed by their art, craft and wizardry over the cinematic medium. I sincerely hope this rejuvenates a cult kind of movement for World Cinema and foreign films in smaller cities in addition to the metros.”

Palador Pictures has invested over $ 4 million (Rs 160 million) to acquire legal rights to around 1,000 foreign language film titles in its World Cinema category. The Palador catalogue boasts of award-winning foreign film classics directed by the masters of yesteryears and the current crop of mavericks: Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Akira Kurosawa, Krzysztof Kieslowski, Jean-Luc Godard, Froncois Trauffat, Abbas Kiarostami, David Lynch and many more. The Palador collection covers all genres and eras and is probably the single largest collection of quality films in the world.

MUMBAI: After Dubai it was Mumbai where “Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal” had its premi?re.The same evening Goal received a
clearance from the Pakistan Censor Board to release the film in
Pakistan making it the first ever-Indian film to have a day & date
release in Pakistan.

The Mumbai premi?re was attended by John Abraham, Bipasha Basu, Arshad Wasi, Director-Vivek Agnihotri and UTV CEO Ronnie Screwvala. Suniel Shetty, Ken Ghosh, Shekhar Suman, Soni Rajdan, Pallavi Joshi, Yukta Mookhey, Manav and Shweta Kohli, Narayani Shastri, Sagarika Ghatke were also present.

In Pakistan the film releases today with 12 prints across Karachi,
Lahore, Hyderabad, Rawalpindi, Multan, Faisalabad, Gujranwala. The film kicks off worldwide today 23 November.

The film is about a contemporary story of the Asian community in UK, told through the dynamic prism of professional football.

MUMBAI: PVR has launched a new set of multiplexes under the brand name ‘PVR Premiere‘ beginning with the launch at Saket in Delhi. The new brand of PVR will cater to the needs of the urban customers in metros. It plans to open 30 to 40 PVR Premieres by 2010.

The company will also launch a new multiplex PVR Select City Walk at Saket in Delhi on 23 November. The multiplex will comprise six screens including two Gold Classes with 1235 seats.
The tickets of PVR Premiere will be priced between Rs 150 to Rs 750.

“PVR Premiere will offer unparalleled legroom, 180-degree reclining seats and personalised menu overseen by a Maitre d ‘, lounge areas with bookshelves, digitized banners and concierge service,” said a release.

At PVR Premiere movie goers can also download ring tones, pictures, movie schedule, among other options on their phone free of cost.

Last year the company forayed in tier I and Ill cites with PVR Talkies with a price range starting from Rs 40.

PVR Ltd chairman and MD Ajay Bijli said, “Strong brands constantly reinvent themselves to remain current and relevant and that is what makes strong brands go on indefinitely. Today, the realities governing the film exhibition market have changed, creating a fantastic challenge for brands to embrace. It is hence imperative for PVR to keep reinventing itself, so that it remains relevant to today‘s consumer. In other words, PVR continuously strives to refresh itself in ways that speak to the evolving consumer; to build a long-term appeal and affinity”

PVR Ltd joint MD Sanjeev Bijli said, “With the multiplex industry booming and growing at the tremendous pace, the exhibition industry is taking a step forward with the launch of PVR Premiere, which I am sure, will raise the bar for multiplexes in the country. Transcending the prevalent standards of film viewing, PVR Premiere will cater to the evolving taste and preferences of urban consumers in the metros and cosmopols”

MUMBAI: Hats Off Productions will be making its TV show Khichdi into a full-fledged Bollywood film.

Producer JD Majethia has acquired the rights to make the serial into a Bollywood film.

This is for the first time that a television serial in Indian TV industry is being made into a Bollywood film, the company said in a release.

The film will be written by Aatish Kapadia and produced by JD Majethia under Hats Off Productions. The production house is yet to decide the director of the film and finalise the star cast. The shooting of the film will begin soon.

Khichdi was a popular comedy show on Star Plus. The show was re-launched as Instant Khichdi on Star One.

MUMBAI: The various moods and interpretations of Amitabh Bachchan from films like ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’, ‘Satte Pe Satta’, ‘Chupke Chupke’, ‘Baghban’, ‘Majboor’ and ‘The Great Gambler’ among others have been assimilated in ‘The Big B Unleashed’ a VCD offering from Shemaroo. [The VCD pack, in addition, also features dramatic scenes from ‘Deewaar’ and ‘Trishul’].

While the 6 VCD pack comprises 3 discs of scenes and 3 discs of songs, the 3 DVD pack is inclusive of 2 discs of scenes and 1 disc of songs. Each scene is presented with an attractive caption and each song is preceded with relevant details.

Also interlaced is interesting information about Amitabh Bachchan’s professional and personal life.

Both the 6 VCD pack and the 3 DVD pack are economically priced at Rs. 299/- MRP and Rs. 349/- MRP respectively.

MUMBAI: Goa is all set to hold 38th edition of International Film Festival of India (IFFI). Addressing the media at a pre-event conference in Goa, chief minister Kamat apprised the media of the arrangements for the smooth conduct of IFFI-2007.

Kamat said that the infrastructure for the Festival had been improved and a seating capacity of around 4000 is now available in nine different theatres.

The chief minister said that so far around 3500 delegates had registered, of which about 1400 are Goa-based. The number is likely to go up, he said. Of the 300 media persons who have registered so far, around 80 are from Goa. With a view to have a properly regulated system, ticketing system for media and delegates has been introduced which is expected to help delegates and media persons plan their choice of film shows in advance and would reduce waiting in queues. Fifteen ticketing booths have been set up, and one will be exclusively for the media.

He allayed media apprehensions about the newly introduced ticketing system and expressed confidence that it would effectively tackle the issue of long waits for entering the cinema hall.

DFF director Neelam Kapur informed the media that the response from the film industry was enthusiastic. She said that the French Embassy was also participating in the Festival. She further informed the media of the various segments of the IFFI-2007.

The Palme D’ OR winner of Cannes 2007- titled 4 months, 3 weeks and 2 day would be the opening film at the Festival which gets underway on 23 November. Noted film actor Shahrukh Khan will be the Chief Guest at the inaugural ceremony which will be attended by Minister of Information & Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs P. R. Dasmunsi and Goa chief minister Digambar Kamat besides several important film personalities. The inaugural lamp will be lit with the assistance of Priyamani, the rising star of southern cinema.

Indian Panorama at IFFI – 2007 would present a bouquet of 36 films, 21 features and 15 non-feature films. Budhadeb Dasgupta will be the Chief Guest at the closing ceremony. A specialized competition for feature films by Asian, African and Latin American Directors is being organized. Fourteen films have been selected from 13 countries for the competition. Competition Jury is headed by the eminent award winning film maker from Hungary Marta Mazaros. A special section celebrating 60 years of India’s independence, India at 60, would showcase seven patriotic films including three feature films and four documentaries.

MUMBAI: Out-of-the-box thinking for marketing wizards is de rigueur. But this is one tie-up that is the cherry on the cake. One is not going to be judgemental about it but just salute the clever marketing.

Leading publishers and manufacturers of educational books, Navneet Publications in a unique tie-up collaborated with the South blockbuster Sivaji-the boss. They introduced a new range of long books with exclusive pictures of the film on the covers, a free music CD of the film, a Rajnikant poster and an enclosed secret code which can be used to download a wallpaper of Sivaji onto a cellphone. The value pack is priced at Rs 108.

Brand executive Omkar of Navneet Publications says, “We launched the Sivaji series in last week in Cochin to especially capture the market in the South. The response we have got for this has been very encouraging.”

They have also tied up with Om Shanti Om and school kids will have a Shah Rukh smiling at them from long books, A4 size books and regular size books. This series will feature exclusive pictures of Shah Rukh Khan from the film ‘Om Shanti Om‘ on the cover of the books, together with other exclusive stills from the film.

The books will also have information on the right methods to exercise and general fitness tips. This is especially done in keeping with the new look of the film‘s lead actor – Shah Rukh Khan.

Talking about the tie-up with Red Chillies Navneet Publications VP-Stationery Division Shailendra Gala said,” This is the first time that we have tied up with a Bollywood movie and I am sure that this new range of long books will be as popular as the star of the film! The theme of the film spans over generations and there was an immediate connect with Navneet – our rich legacy over 50 years. We are trying to increase students‘ enthusiasm by launching a range that encompasses the thrill of cinema.”

All the books are made from renewable plantation wood – without cutting of rainforests.

It has been reported that parents and teachers down South are not very happy with these books as they feel that it distracts children.

But this is one book whose cover we are not going to judge.

MUMBAI: With all eyes trained on next week‘s release of yet another sports oriented film the debate hots up. Have sports films done well in India or is Chak De an aberration? Film lovers, trade analysts, filmmakers, et al are analyzing this trend almost as if they have discovered a new sport.

People are going ballistic about the arrival of Vivek Agnihotri‘s Goal or is it Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal? Whatever…it is a film about football shot in UK. The producers of Goal UTV Motion Pictures claim to have recovered their cost of production even before the release of the film. But don‘t all producers recover their money prior to a film‘s release? What is important to observe is how the film fares with the audiences. A film is made for theatres and hence the litmus test is the theatrical release.

India has always been a nation of sports lovers. Cricket is an anthem for most Indians and now we have discovered hockey and may be football in the coming week. Chak De revived interest in hockey and the film‘s title song has become a sort of anthem cheering Indian teams to victory in various sporting events. A sport which had greats like Dhyan Chand to Dhanraj Pillai. And almost all of them have a story waiting to be told. But unfortunately it took a Shahrukh to leverage this forgotten sport.

Trade analyst Taran Adarsh says that not many filmmakers have attempted to make sports films. “Producers always felt that sports based films never did well at the box office. This is a myth. Everything boils down to content. I think that filmmakers should attempt to make such films.”

Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander, Hip Hip Hurray (a film on football made almost twenty years ago), Iqbal, Lagaan, Tara rum pum were all sport-centred films. With the exception of Lagaan and to a small extent Iqbal none of them made it big at the box office. But the Chak De of yesteryears was the 1956 classic Naya Daur. The film was a hit when it was released five decades ago and even now when it was recently released in its new coloured avatar.

So what is it there to be so gung-ho about now? Goal may have more to it than football. But it is being promoted as a sports film to cash in on the current rage for such films. The kind of money that has been pumped in to generate viewer interest could be used to make a Bheja Fry.

Taran Adarsh is optimistic and believes the film will do well. “Sports and films do go together. Today audiences want to listen to good stories. It could be sports based themes. As long as you have a good story the film will do well.”

So for the meanwhile the juggernaut rolls on with more such films to hit the screens. The soon to release Raaste, Mazhab, Cycle Kick may score a goal.