Category: Movies

Relativity Media gets $100 million in new funding

MUMBAI: It seems as if the financial woes of the Ryan Kavanaugh-led Relativity Media LLC might just be over. The company has claimed to have successfully completed new financing commitments in excess of $100 million, in anticipation of its emergence from chapter 11 in February.

The new financing includes more than $100 million in additional commitments from current investors including Macquarie Bank; Joseph Nicholas and Kavanaugh, Atorus Investment Management LLC chief investment officer Carey Metz and new investors such as TomorrowVentures and Carat Global as well as VII Peaks Capital.

The new financing is separate from the approximately $180 million in Relativity senior debt acquired by Kavanaugh and Nicholas during the course of the company’s chapter 11 process, however it is anticipated that this debt will be converted pursuant to the plan of re-organisation.

This financing is in addition to the post emergence ultimate facility, an asset backed facility being syndicated by GHL & Company and Aperture Media Partners.

In addition, since Carat Global has agreed to extend credit to Relativity for its P&A capital, Relativity’s debt need is much less than expected.

“With the total financing commitments now successfully in place, we remain focused on emerging from chapter 11 and moving forward with our robust slate of films and our continued evolution as a 360 degree content engine,” said Kavanaugh.

Kavanaugh and Nicholas, will be co-managers of Relativity’s parent company, Relativity Holdings, with a robust management and finance team to oversee the 360 vertical from film and television to branding, sports, digital and Relativity Education.

As was reported by Indiantelevision.com, earlier this month, Relativity acquired Kevin Spacey and Dana Brunetti’s entertainment production company Trigger Street Productions. At Relativity, Spacey will become chairman of RelativityStudios and Brunetti will become president of Relativity Studios where they will oversee all film and television operations.

January 26, 2016
Rajnikanth, Ramoji Rao, Priyanka Chopra, Ajay Devgn receive Padma honours

NEW DELHI: Iconic actor Rajnikanth, media and film magnate Ramoji Rao, and renowned classical vocalist Girija Devi have been named for the second highest civilian honour, the Padma Vibhushan, given for is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service.

Interestingly, the Padma Vibhushan awardees also include a posthumous award for the late Dhirubhai Ambani, who founded the Reliance Group and whose life inspired the film Guru starring Abhishek Bachchan with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

Veteran actor Anupam Kher and singer Udit Narayan are the only recipients from the entertainment industry apart from Heisnam Kanhaukak of the Padma Bhushan, given for distinguished service of high order. Indu Jain of Bennett Coleman & Co also received the Padma Bhushan.

The Padma Shri awardees for distinguished service from the entertainment field include directors Nila Madhab Panda (I want to be Kalam), S S Rajamouli (of Baahubali fame) and Madhur Bhandarkar; filmmaker Narendra Chandra Lal from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands; actors Ajay Devgn and Priyanka Chopra, ad guru Piyush Pandey; and a posthumous award to the late veteran actor Saeed Jaffrey.

In a statement issued from Bulgaria where he is currently shooting for his film, Shivaay, Devgn said, “I feel deeply humbled yet elated to receive such honour from my own country. The announcement today makes it special for me when I’m filming abroad for my new film Shivaay. I’d like to acknowledge that Padma Samman puts an extra responsibility on me and I promise to serve my country for as long as I can.”

In the field of sports, the Padma Bhushan awards are badminton ace Saina Nehwal, and tennis star Sania Mirza, while those getting Padma Shree are Deepika Kumari for archery from Jharkhand, and sports commentator Sushi Doshi.

In the field of music, the Padma Shree recepients are Pt Tulsidas Borkar of Goa for classical music; Dr Suma Ghosh of Uttar Pradesh for vocal singing; and Bhikhudan Gadhvi of Gujarat, Mamta Chandrakar of Chhatisgarh, and Bhojpuri singer Malini Awasthi of Uttar Pradesh for folk music, and late Prakash Chand Surana (posthumously) of Rajasthan for classical music.

The eminent dancer Yamini Krishnamurthy who has churned thousands of disciples gets the Padma Bhushan, dancer Pratibha Prahlad who founded the Delhi International Arts Festival, and Gulabi Sapera, who is a folk dancer from Rajasthan have been awarded the Padma Shree.

Renowned professor Pushpesh Pant; Kameshwar Brahma of Assam, and Jawaharlal Kaul of Jammu and Kashmir have also been awarded the Padma Shree.

January 25, 2016
Rajnikanth, Ramoji Rao, Priyanka Chopra, Ajay Devgn receive Padma honours

NEW DELHI: Iconic actor Rajnikanth, media and film magnate Ramoji Rao, and renowned classical vocalist Girija Devi have been named for the second highest civilian honour, the Padma Vibhushan, given for is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service.

Interestingly, the Padma Vibhushan awardees also include a posthumous award for the late Dhirubhai Ambani, who founded the Reliance Group and whose life inspired the film Guru starring Abhishek Bachchan with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

Veteran actor Anupam Kher and singer Udit Narayan are the only recipients from the entertainment industry apart from Heisnam Kanhaukak of the Padma Bhushan, given for distinguished service of high order. Indu Jain of Bennett Coleman & Co also received the Padma Bhushan.

The Padma Shri awardees for distinguished service from the entertainment field include directors Nila Madhab Panda (I want to be Kalam), S S Rajamouli (of Baahubali fame) and Madhur Bhandarkar; filmmaker Narendra Chandra Lal from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands; actors Ajay Devgn and Priyanka Chopra, ad guru Piyush Pandey; and a posthumous award to the late veteran actor Saeed Jaffrey.

In a statement issued from Bulgaria where he is currently shooting for his film, Shivaay, Devgn said, “I feel deeply humbled yet elated to receive such honour from my own country. The announcement today makes it special for me when I’m filming abroad for my new film Shivaay. I’d like to acknowledge that Padma Samman puts an extra responsibility on me and I promise to serve my country for as long as I can.”

In the field of sports, the Padma Bhushan awards are badminton ace Saina Nehwal, and tennis star Sania Mirza, while those getting Padma Shree are Deepika Kumari for archery from Jharkhand, and sports commentator Sushi Doshi.

In the field of music, the Padma Shree recepients are Pt Tulsidas Borkar of Goa for classical music; Dr Suma Ghosh of Uttar Pradesh for vocal singing; and Bhikhudan Gadhvi of Gujarat, Mamta Chandrakar of Chhatisgarh, and Bhojpuri singer Malini Awasthi of Uttar Pradesh for folk music, and late Prakash Chand Surana (posthumously) of Rajasthan for classical music.

The eminent dancer Yamini Krishnamurthy who has churned thousands of disciples gets the Padma Bhushan, dancer Pratibha Prahlad who founded the Delhi International Arts Festival, and Gulabi Sapera, who is a folk dancer from Rajasthan have been awarded the Padma Shree.

Renowned professor Pushpesh Pant; Kameshwar Brahma of Assam, and Jawaharlal Kaul of Jammu and Kashmir have also been awarded the Padma Shree.

January 25, 2016
Box Office: ‘Airlift’ collects Rs 44.24 crore; ‘KKHH 3’ does Rs 17 crore biz

MUMBAI: The Akshay Kumar starrer Airlift earned a lot of appreciation and also grew gradually at the box office. Starting its opening day with moderate collections, the film fared well on day two and three thanks to positive word of mouth. Being a partly dry theme and part documentary, the film is doing remarkably well.

Kumar’s films have a limit when it comes to collections but, then, his films also always have manageable budgets. The film has collected Rs 44.24 crore in its opening weekend. The Republic Day eve as well as the Republic Day holiday should help while the severe cold temps in the North may also affect early morning as well as night shows to an extent.

Kyaa Kool Hain Hum 3 caters to a certain kind of audience and, which does not include multiplex patrons. This limits its reach. The film collects merely Rs 17.2 crore in its opening weekend, which does no justice to the price that was demanded for distribution rights.

On the other hand, Wazir did okay in absence of oppositions in its second week by collecting Rs 8.25 crore taking its two week total to Rs 36.65 crore. However, with two new releases last Friday, the film crashes badly.

Dilwale has virtually come to the end of its run after five weeks. Adding just Rs 60 lakh for the fifth week, the film’s five week tally now stands at Rs 139.35, which is way below the expected mark.

Bajirao Mastani is still finding patrons and has added Rs 4.5 crore in its fifth week, taking its five week tally to Rs 170.4 crore, which is not enough yet to cover its huge making cost.

January 25, 2016
Box Office: ‘Airlift’ collects Rs 44.24 crore; ‘KKHH 3’ does Rs 17 crore biz

MUMBAI: The Akshay Kumar starrer Airlift earned a lot of appreciation and also grew gradually at the box office. Starting its opening day with moderate collections, the film fared well on day two and three thanks to positive word of mouth. Being a partly dry theme and part documentary, the film is doing remarkably well.

Kumar’s films have a limit when it comes to collections but, then, his films also always have manageable budgets. The film has collected Rs 44.24 crore in its opening weekend. The Republic Day eve as well as the Republic Day holiday should help while the severe cold temps in the North may also affect early morning as well as night shows to an extent.

Kyaa Kool Hain Hum 3 caters to a certain kind of audience and, which does not include multiplex patrons. This limits its reach. The film collects merely Rs 17.2 crore in its opening weekend, which does no justice to the price that was demanded for distribution rights.

On the other hand, Wazir did okay in absence of oppositions in its second week by collecting Rs 8.25 crore taking its two week total to Rs 36.65 crore. However, with two new releases last Friday, the film crashes badly.

Dilwale has virtually come to the end of its run after five weeks. Adding just Rs 60 lakh for the fifth week, the film’s five week tally now stands at Rs 139.35, which is way below the expected mark.

Bajirao Mastani is still finding patrons and has added Rs 4.5 crore in its fifth week, taking its five week tally to Rs 170.4 crore, which is not enough yet to cover its huge making cost.

January 25, 2016
‘Baahubali’ & ‘Ennu Ninte Moideen’ win big at IIFA Utsavam Awards 2016

MUMBAI: The IIFA Utsavam Awards 2016, which celebrates South Indian cinema, saw the coming together of the stars from the Tamil and Malayalam Film Industries on 24 January.

The first day saw the Tamil and Malayalam film industries being felicitated. In the Tamil Film Awards, Baahubali-The Beginning took home the highest number of accolades with a total tally of six awards including Best Picture, Direction, Supporting Role (Male), Supporting Role (Female), Playback Singer (Male) and Playback Singer (Female).

For the Malyalam Film Awards, Ennu Ninte Moideen also took home the highest number of awards with a total tally of six awards including Best Picture, Leading Role (Male), Leading Role (Female), Supporting Role (Female) and Playback Singer (Female).

Jayam Ravi won the award for Leading Role (Male) for his performance in Thani Oruvan (Tamil), while Nayanthara walked away with the award for Leading Role (Female) for May (Tamil). Prithviraj Sukumaran and Parvathi Menon won Best Actor and Best Actress for their film Ennu Ninte Moideen.

The evening also saw performances by Kavya Madhavan, Shriya Saran, Adah Sharma, Tapsee Pannu, Mamta Mohandas, Nikki Galrani and Bharath.

The awards will be telecast on Sun TV.

Sun TV Network network programming head S.J. Clement said, “Sun TV Network is proud to be associated with the premiere edition of IIFA Utsavam 2015, a pioneering event that will present the finest among the South Indian film fraternity. Sun TV Network reaches around 58 million households in the country. Increasingly, our programming is being accessed by the South Indian diaspora across the globe. We believe in delivering consistently high quality entertainment through our unrelenting focus on premium content. Our collaboration with IIFA reiterates our commitment to be at the leading edge of broadcast media industry.”

Wizcraft International Entertainment director Andre Timmins said, “We are thrilled at the phenomenal success of the very first edition of IIFA Utsavam. There have been a lot of challenged we have had to overcome including the tragedy in Chennai. We are honoured to be able to help the city of Chennai get back on its feet through IIFA Utsavam. It is an honour to felicitate so many deserving individuals on their talent and hard work in the year gone by and we wish all the winners tonight the very best.”

January 25, 2016
‘Baahubali’ & ‘Ennu Ninte Moideen’ win big at IIFA Utsavam Awards 2016

MUMBAI: The IIFA Utsavam Awards 2016, which celebrates South Indian cinema, saw the coming together of the stars from the Tamil and Malayalam Film Industries on 24 January.

The first day saw the Tamil and Malayalam film industries being felicitated. In the Tamil Film Awards, Baahubali-The Beginning took home the highest number of accolades with a total tally of six awards including Best Picture, Direction, Supporting Role (Male), Supporting Role (Female), Playback Singer (Male) and Playback Singer (Female).

For the Malyalam Film Awards, Ennu Ninte Moideen also took home the highest number of awards with a total tally of six awards including Best Picture, Leading Role (Male), Leading Role (Female), Supporting Role (Female) and Playback Singer (Female).

Jayam Ravi won the award for Leading Role (Male) for his performance in Thani Oruvan (Tamil), while Nayanthara walked away with the award for Leading Role (Female) for May (Tamil). Prithviraj Sukumaran and Parvathi Menon won Best Actor and Best Actress for their film Ennu Ninte Moideen.

The evening also saw performances by Kavya Madhavan, Shriya Saran, Adah Sharma, Tapsee Pannu, Mamta Mohandas, Nikki Galrani and Bharath.

The awards will be telecast on Sun TV.

Sun TV Network network programming head S.J. Clement said, “Sun TV Network is proud to be associated with the premiere edition of IIFA Utsavam 2015, a pioneering event that will present the finest among the South Indian film fraternity. Sun TV Network reaches around 58 million households in the country. Increasingly, our programming is being accessed by the South Indian diaspora across the globe. We believe in delivering consistently high quality entertainment through our unrelenting focus on premium content. Our collaboration with IIFA reiterates our commitment to be at the leading edge of broadcast media industry.”

Wizcraft International Entertainment director Andre Timmins said, “We are thrilled at the phenomenal success of the very first edition of IIFA Utsavam. There have been a lot of challenged we have had to overcome including the tragedy in Chennai. We are honoured to be able to help the city of Chennai get back on its feet through IIFA Utsavam. It is an honour to felicitate so many deserving individuals on their talent and hard work in the year gone by and we wish all the winners tonight the very best.”

January 25, 2016
Sony Pictures names Randy Lake as president – studio ops & Imageworks

MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Entertainment has appointed Randy Lake as president – studio operations & Imageworks.

Lake oversees all operations, strategy and planning for Sony Pictures Imageworks, Post Production Services, Production Services, Global Mastering and Servicing, and Asset Management.

He will continue to report jointly to Sony Pictures Television chairman Steve Mosko and Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group chairman Tom Rothman.

Lake was previously executive vice president, studio operations and general manager – Imageworks.

“Randy is a skilled executive with a keen sense of strategy and clear vision for the future of the studio. He has proven his value to the company in a variety of roles over the years and we are delighted to acknowledge his contribution with this promotion,” said Mosko

Rothman added, “Randy has one of the sharpest minds in the business and we are thrilled to have him at the helm of our leaner, more efficient, and more effective studio operations and visual effects businesses.”

Lake joined Sony Pictures in 2006 from Booz Allen, where he served as a strategy consultant to the entertainment, media, and technology industries. He began his career as a securities attorney with Brobeck, Pheleger, Harrison in San Francisco, advising emerging growth technology companies, underwriters and venture investors.

January 25, 2016
Sony Pictures names Randy Lake as president – studio ops & Imageworks

MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Entertainment has appointed Randy Lake as president – studio operations & Imageworks.

Lake oversees all operations, strategy and planning for Sony Pictures Imageworks, Post Production Services, Production Services, Global Mastering and Servicing, and Asset Management.

He will continue to report jointly to Sony Pictures Television chairman Steve Mosko and Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group chairman Tom Rothman.

Lake was previously executive vice president, studio operations and general manager – Imageworks.

“Randy is a skilled executive with a keen sense of strategy and clear vision for the future of the studio. He has proven his value to the company in a variety of roles over the years and we are delighted to acknowledge his contribution with this promotion,” said Mosko

Rothman added, “Randy has one of the sharpest minds in the business and we are thrilled to have him at the helm of our leaner, more efficient, and more effective studio operations and visual effects businesses.”

Lake joined Sony Pictures in 2006 from Booz Allen, where he served as a strategy consultant to the entertainment, media, and technology industries. He began his career as a securities attorney with Brobeck, Pheleger, Harrison in San Francisco, advising emerging growth technology companies, underwriters and venture investors.

January 25, 2016
Eros readies pipeline of 65 movies across 7 languages in 2016

MUMBAI: Even as it has been embroiled in controversy over the last few months regarding its accounting practices, Eros International is planning to release as many as 65 movies in 2016 across seven different Indian languages like Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Bengali and Punjabi.

Additionally, Eros is also planning to release Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Bajirao Mastani in China and other international markets in 2016.

HINDI

Eros’ Hindi films pipeline for 2016 includes R. Balki’s Ki & Ka starring Arjun Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor, the promos of which are already out. The company will also be releasing Sajid Nadiadwala’s Housefull 3 starring Akshay Kumar, and Rohit Dhawan’s Dishoom starring John Abraham and Varun Dhawan.

Baar Baar Dekho – a love story starring Katrina Kaif and Siddharth Malhotra will be releasing in association with Dharma Production, whereas Rock On 2 featuring Farhan Akhtar and Shraddha Kapoor will be released with Excel Entertainment.

After associating with producer-director Aanand L Rai on films like Tanu Weds Manu Returns and Raanjhanaa, Eros will release multiple films with Rai’s joint production company Colour Yellow Production. These include Nil Battey Sannata that has received a good response at various festivals including the 20th Busan International Film Festival, 59th BFI London Film Festival with Swara Bhaskar wining the Best Actress at the Silk Road Film Festival of China. Also in the pipeline are films like Happy Bhaag Jayegi, a comedy that will present the first-time pair of Abhay Deol and Diana Penty and Manmarziyan, a romantic drama starring Bhumi Pednekar and Ayushmann Khurrana.

Apart from these, Rai is also working on his own directorial film, which will go into production this summer.

This Diwali, Eros will release Ajay Devgn’s action drama – Shivaay.

After co-producing films like Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela and Bajirao Mastani, Eros and Bhansali Productions will be joining hands on more co-productions, details of which will be announced at a later date.

Also scheduled to go on floor this year will be Eros and Phantom’s socio-drama superhero film Bhavesh Joshistarring Harshvardhan Kapoor to be directed by Vikramaditya Motwane.

Other films slated to release in 2016 include Hansal Mehta’s critically-acclaimed Aligarh, Marathi director and National award winner Ravi Jadhav’s Hindi debut Banjo starring Riteish Deshmukh and Nargis Fakri, director Mohit Jha’s sports drama Saat Kadam and Pawan Kripalani’s psychological thriller Phobia starring Raadhika Apte.

Eros will also release Vinay Sapru and Radhika Rao’s musical love story Sanam Teri Kasam starringnewcomers Harshvardhan Rane and Pakistani actress Mawra Hocane; Do Lafzon Ki Kahani by Deepak Tijori with Randeep Hooda and Kajal Agarwal as the lead pair along with Saif Ali Khan starrer Chef, a remake of 2014’s Hollywood hit Chef.

REGIONAL LANGUAGES

The company’s regional slate includes Marathi films like Sanjay Jadhav’s Guru, National award winning director Sujay Dahake’s Phuntroo, and Prakash Kunte’s & Jara Hatke.

Eros has already released the Telugu films – Balakrishna’s Dictator on 14 January, Pawan Kalyan’s Sardar Gabbar Singh, Mammootty’s Malayalam films White and Fahad Fazil’s Nale along with 2 Penkuttikalfeaturing Tovino Thomas, Amala Paul, Anju Kurian and Anna Fathima.

Following the release of Bengali film Monchora by Sandip Ray with Abir Chatterjee and Raima Sen in January, Eros will release Prakton directed by Shiboprasad Mukherjee starring Prosenjit Chatterjee and Rituparna Sengupta paired together after a decade.

The Tamil movies’ in the pipeline include the Sivakarthikeyan starrer Rajini Murugan that released earlier this month; Suriya’s 24 directed by Vikram, Enkitta Mothathe, which is cinematographer Natarajan Subramaniam’s (Nutty) debut as an actor with Sanchita Shetty directed by Ramu Chellapa, actor Jaya Prada’s first Tamil production Uyire Uyire, Suriya’s Singam 3, Kai Neelam directed by Nalan Kumarsamy, Oru Kidayin Karunai Mamu directed by Suresh Sangiah and an untitled film starring mega star Karthi.

The company is also collaborating with Harry Baweja to co-produce the sequel to the 3D animation film, Chaar Sahibzade, titled Chaar Sahibzaade 2 (Rise of Banda Singh Bahadur) followed by another 3D animation film Guru Tegh Bahadur.

Commenting on the company’s line-up, Eros International Media managing director Sunil Lulla said, “We have seen an excellent 2015 with the resounding success of Tanu Weds Manu Returns, peaking with the multiple-record breaking Bajrangi Bhaijaan and ending the year with our crowning glory Bajirao Mastani. We are at a very exciting phase in Eros and have an equally promising slate coming up this year that will reinforce and further strengthen our leadership position in the Indian media and entertainment industry. As a strategy, we will continue to diversify our presence across difference film genres, budgets and languages with a mix of popular and content driven cinema. In a few weeks, we will showcase to the world the first set of films under our Trinity franchise banner. Also scheduled to go on floor this year are some exciting directorial ventures by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Kabir Khan, Aanand L Rai, Homi Ajadania, Sujoy Ghosh, Nishikant Kamat and Siddharth Anand. We hope and believe that 2016 will be just as magical as 2015 has been.”

January 25, 2016