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Category: Movies

  • Choreographer Ganesh Acharya to star as main protagonist in ‘Hey Bro’

    Choreographer Ganesh Acharya to star as main protagonist in ‘Hey Bro’

    NEW DELHI: Veteran choreographer Ganesh Acharya, who has also made occasional appearances in films as an actor, is for the first time playing the protagonist of a Hindi action film, Hey Bro, slated for release this week.

     

    Addressing a press meet, Acharya said, “It’s a comedy film and my I am playing the character of Gopi, who just found out who had a twin brother who was a policeman and the story goes on.”

     

    Directed by Ajay Chandok, the film stars Maninder Singh, Nupur Sharma, and Hanif Lal among others and has been produced by Rahul Mittra.

     

    The film is thus a story about twin brothers with a twist. This is the first time that the audience will see Ganesh as a leading actor and not just a choreographer.

     

    The song ‘Birju’ will see special appearance of various popular faces of Bollywood including Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Hrithik Roshan, Ajay Devgn and Ranveer Singh amongst others.

     

    “I am very much happy and excited about this movie. I had an amazing experience working with my co-actors and they are very professional, I must say. Hope the movie does well in the theatre,” said Acharya.

     

    Mittra added, “It has different and fresh star cast that will be seen on the screen for the first time. I hope the audience will like the chemistry and the wonderful tracks the movie has.”

     

    The music of the film has been composed by music directors Nitz n Sony, who have experimented with the sound of their music and have not stuck purely to one music genre. 

     

    “This is my debut film and I am doing it with so many great people, it’s truly like a dream come true. I always wanted to do roles with all of them and this movie has an amazing star cast,” said Sharma.

     

    The movie is produced by Ganesh Acharya’s wife Vidhi Acharya and written by M.Salim.  

  • Honey Singh back with a big ‘birthday’ bang

    Honey Singh back with a big ‘birthday’ bang

    MUMBAI: Move over ‘Chaar Botal Vodka’, ‘Sunny Sunny’ and ‘Desi Kalakaar’ tunes as our own rapper Yo Yo Honey Singh is back with a big ‘birthday’ bang. He has given his fans another reason to rejoice and celebrate their birthday in his style.

     

    His song from the upcoming Bollywood film Dilliwaali Zaalim Girlfriend has been titled ‘Birthday Bash’. And apart from singing, he is also featuring in the song.

     

    Commented the movie director, “We met him regarding making a song that was situational of a club birthday track. He loved the idea and since he is the king of club tracks, it was a theme that absolutely required a Honey touch and he thought it would be big for sure. After completing the song he told me, I’ve given you a formula hit.”

     

    His song has struck the perfect chord with the audience and it has got big thumbs up.

     

    ‘Birthday Bash’ is sung and composed by Singh. Alfaaz has penned the lyrics and also sung the song along with Singh. Directed by Japinder Kaur, produced by Manjeet Kaur and Tarnpreet Singh, the movie stars Divyendu Sharma, Jackie Shroff, Prachi Mishra, Pradhuman Singh, Ira Dubey and others and is set to release on 20 March, 2015.

  • ‘Avengers – Age of Ultron’ to release in India ahead of US

    ‘Avengers – Age of Ultron’ to release in India ahead of US

    MUMBAI: The next installment of Marvel’s Avengers franchise – Avengers – Age of Ultron will release in India on 24 April, 2015, which is a week earlier than its North American release.

     

    This sequel to one of the highest grossing Hollywood film of all times The Avengers (2012), will be released in Hindi, Tamil and Telegu versions simultaneously along with the English version.

     

    The movie stars Robert Downey Jr.(Iron Man), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Mark Ruffalo (Hulk), Chris Evans (Captain America), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye), Don Cheadle (James Rhodes/War Machine), Cobie Smulders (Agent Maria Hill), Stellan Skarsg?rd (Erik Selvig) with James Spader (Ultron) and Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury).

     

    The movie will also see two mysterious and powerful newcomers, Pietro Maximoff, played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Wanda Maximoff, played by Elizabeth Olsen and meet an old friend in a new form when Paul Bettany becomes Vision.

     

    Avengers: Age of Ultron has been written and directed by Joss Whedon and produced by Kevin Feige.

  • Mauritanian ‘Timbuktu’ sweeps Cesar Awards; Sean Penn gets honorary award

    Mauritanian ‘Timbuktu’ sweeps Cesar Awards; Sean Penn gets honorary award

    NEW DELHI: Abderrahmane Sissako’s foreign-language Oscar-nominated Timbuktu swept the 40th Cesar Awards in France with seven awards including the Best film and director prizes.

     

    The film also received awards for original screenplay (Abderrahmane Sissako, Kessen Tall), cinematography (Sofian el Fani), editing (Nadia Ben Rachid), sound (Philippe Welsh, Roman Dymn, and Thierry Delor), and music (Amin Bouhafa).

     

    Timbuktu was curiously overlooked at Cannes where it world premiered in competition. Although the movie is considered to be the first Mauritanian film in the running for a foreign-language Oscar, it was financed in France, produced at Sylvie Pialat’s Paris-based Les Films du Worso and distributed/sold by Jean-Labadie’s Le Pacte.

     

    Kristen Stewart was chosen supporting actress for her performance as Juliette Binoche’s assistant in Clouds of Sils Maria, becoming the first American actress to win a Cesar trophy.

     

    Xavier Dolan’s French-Canadian Mommy won best foreign film and the best actor and actress wins went to Comedie Francaise-trained Pierre Niney for his performance in Jalil Lespert’s film on the famed French designer Yves Saint Laurent and Adele Haenel for her role in Love at First Fight.

     

    Another picture on the designer by Bertrand Bonello, Saint Laurent, won best costumes award for Anais Romand.

     

    Love at First Fight, an unusual romantic comedy that takes place in an Army boot camp, also won best directorial debut for Cailley and male newcomer for Kevin Azais. The film also marks the first film of its producer, Pierre Guyard at Nord-Ouest. The film has been sold to all major territories and will be distributed in the United States by Strand Releasing.

     

    Up-and-coming thespian Reda Kateb, who previously starred in Zero Dark Thirty and Lost River, won best supporting actor for his performance as an intern in a Paris hospital in Hippocrate.

     

    Eric Lartigau’s dramedy blockbuster La Famille Belier, the most mainstream contender of this year’s race, earned its star Louane Emera a best newcomer award. La Famille Belier is still playing in theaters and has so far totaled more than 6 million admissions.

     

    Well-known American actor and director Sean Penn was presented an honorary Cesar award.

     

    Other awards were: Adapted Screenplay – Cyril Gely, Volker Schlondorff, Diplomacy; Set Decoration – Thierry Flamand for ‘The Beauty and the Beast’; Animated Film – Minuscule and Documentary – Salt of the Earth, Wim Wenders.

  • Prince Charles shows interest in Indian film industry

    Prince Charles shows interest in Indian film industry

    NEW DELHI: The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel starring several Indian actors include Lillette Dubey, Dev Patel and Tina Desai, had a royal premiere at the Odeon in Leicester in London, which was made up to look like a set with flower garlands and coloured drapes from the Jaipur-based film.

     

    The cast and crew walked the red carpet with members of the British royal family earlier this week. Prince Charles and Duchess of Cornwall Camilla joined Oscar-nominated director John Madden and members of the cast who included Dame Judi Dench, Dubey, Dame Maggie Smith and Desai.

     

    The film, being released on 6 March, is a sequel to the 2012 film The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and also stars Richard Gere, Bill Nighy, Celia Imrie, Penelope Wilton and Tamsin Greig.

     

    Later, Desai said the royal couple had been “extremely warm and gracious” and Prince Charles was very interested in the Bollywood film industry. The original film earned more than $135 million at box office worldwide on a production budget of $10 million, according to a BBC report.

  • Box Office: ‘Badlapur’ delights critics

    Box Office: ‘Badlapur’ delights critics

    MUMBAI: Badlapur: Don’t Miss The Beginning gets much acclaim from critics. A noir film with black shades, there is little relief for seekers of entertainment. The fact that greatly cuts down on the expected footfalls at the cinemas. While the ‘A’ certificate keeps a lot of youth away, the genre does so to the ladies and family audience. It had an indifferent opening day of little over Rs 7 crore with Saturday doing only slightly better. On the other hand, collections remained stagnant on Sunday. The film managed opening weekend collections of Rs 23.6 crore.

     

    Qissa (Punjabi) was not expected to do much at the box office but has certainly earned rave reviews.

     

    Roy was a film beyond comprehension for a lot many people. A pretentious film, it gets some fair opening figures thanks to Ranbir Kapoor and Arjun Rampal in top billing. However, poor word of mouth keeps its first week limited to Rs 33.4 crore.

     

    MSG: The Messenger figures don’t matter since the tickets were booked en masse by the makers and whatever figures are released to the media are also by the same source (crossed Rs 100 crore according to them!)

     

    Shamitabh adds Rs 2.9 crore in its second week to take its two week tally to Rs 20.5 crore.

     

    Baby has collected Rs 2.8 crore for its fourth weeks to take its four week total to Rs 78.1 crore.

     

    Khamoshiyan has collected Rs 12 lakh in its third week to take its three week tally to Rs 6.62 crore.

     

    PK has added Rs 10 lakh in its ninth week to take its ten week total marginally up at Rs 330.05 crore.

  • Vivek Oberoi associates with ‘Children Across Borders’ in the US

    Vivek Oberoi associates with ‘Children Across Borders’ in the US

    NEW DELHI: Actor Vivek Oberoi is currently in the United States to raise funds for an initiative called ‘Children Across Borders.’

     

    He is working towards raising funds for the international social organisation. The charity events were organised in St Petersburg, Florida and Temp.

     

    Oberoi is currently in the United States with his wife Priyanka and son Vivaan Veer, meeting a commitment only after completing his film with Yash Raj Films.

     

    When contacted said Vivek, “I am currently in the US enjoying some quality time with Priyanka and my son Veer. Before I get into the next schedule of my film, I wanted to take my family for a much needed vacation. Importantly, I am here to be part of a social initiative called Children Across Borders dedicated to enhancing the educational and cultural enlightenment of children across the globe.”

  • Oscars 2015: ‘Birdman’ takes home four awards including Best Picture

    Oscars 2015: ‘Birdman’ takes home four awards including Best Picture

    MUMBAI: Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) has pipped other contending movies like Boyhood, Whiplash, The Grand Budapest Hotel, American Sniper, The Imitation Game, Selma and The Theory of Everything at the 87th Academy Awards to take home the Best Picture statuette.

     

    Birdman won a total of four Academy Awards, which are as follows: Best Picture, Best Director (Alejandro G. Inarritu), Best Cinematography (Emmanuel Lubezki) and Best Original Screenplay (Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Armando Bo).

     

    The Oscar for the Best Actor went to Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything), whereas the Best Actress award went to Julianne Moore (Still Alice). On the other hand, the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor went to JK Simmons for Whiplash, whereas Patricia Arquette won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Boyhood.

     

    Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel tied for the most number of nominations (nine) and incidentally both movies won four Oscars each. Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel won the award for Achievement in Costume Design (Milena Canonero), Best Original Score (Alexandre Desplat), Best Production Design (Adam Stockhausen, Anna Pinnock) and Best Makeup and Hairstyling (Frances Hannon, Mark Coulier).

     

    The Oscar for Achievement in sound mixing went to Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins and Thomas Curley for Whiplash, whereas the Oscar for Achievement in sound editing went to Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman for American Sniper.

     

    Whiplash won Tom Cross an Oscar for Achievement in film editing, whereas Interstellar took home the Oscar for Achievement in visual effects (Paul J Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter, Scott R Fisher). The Oscar for Best original song went to Common and John Legend for their song ‘Glory’ from the Martin Luther King drama Selma.

     

    The Oscar for the Best foreign-language film went to Polish film Ida, directed by Pawel Pawlikowski. On the other hand, The Phone Call (Mat Kirkby, James Lucas) took home the award for Best live-action short film. The Best documentary short subject went to Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1 (Ellen Goosenberg Kent, Dana Perry). The Best animated short film was won by Feast (Patrick Osborne, Kristina Reed).

     

    The Oscar for the Best Adapted screenplay went to Graham Moore for The Imitation Game. The Best animated feature film award went to Big Hero 6. The Best documentary feature award went to the Edward Snowden docu Citizenfour (Laura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy, Dirk Wilutzky). On the other hand, the Oscar for the Best original score went to Alexandre Desplat for The Grand Budapest Hotel.

  • ABC’s ‘Oscars Backstage’ to stream live on Facebook

    ABC’s ‘Oscars Backstage’ to stream live on Facebook

    MUMBAI: The Academy, ABC Entertainment and Facebook are partnering to make this year’s The Oscars Backstage on ‘Watch ABC’ the most “Likeable” ever. The curated “Director’s Cut” feed from The Oscars Backstage – which delivers three channels of live video feeds from over 20 cameras throughout the Dolby Theater to ‘Watch ABC’ for desktop and mobile devices – will also stream on the ABC Network’s Facebook Page and be part of the Facebook Trending Oscars experience (www.facebook.com/oscars), which gives fans one place to connect in real time as they watch the night unfold.

     

    “We’re excited to bring viewers backstage and provide exclusive access to all those memorable, talked-about Oscar moments – the ones that happen on stage as well as the stories that play out behind-the-scenes,” said Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences chief marketing officer Christina Kounelias.

     

    “We know that a large percentage of people – 70 per cent of tablet and smartphone owners – are on their devices while watching TV. The Oscars Backstage on ‘Watch ABC’ provides them with an unparalleled social experience around Hollywood’s biggest night. And thanks to our ongoing partnerships with MPVDs, including today’s launch of ‘Watch ABC’ with DirecTV, and this year’s arrangement with Facebook, we’re able to deliver it to more people than ever before,” said Disney/ABC Television Group EVP and chief product officer – digital media – Albert Cheng.

     

    On the red carpet, ABC will incorporate exclusive, real-time Facebook data of the most buzzed about nominees during the pre-show. In addition, fans will be able to ask questions of their favorite nominees via the “Good Morning America” Facebook page, with the potential to see their question answered live on the red carpet.

     

    Embeddable video clips of the most memorable moments of the awards show – including all musical performances – will be posted almost immediately after they air to Oscar.com/Video, with a selection of those also being shared on the Facebook pages. Additionally, this is the first year that The Oscars and The Oscars Backstage will stream with the recently launched ‘Watch ABC’ features “Social Lens” and “FastShare,” which provide fans with an even more personalized social experience.

     

    This year’s The Oscars Backstage hosts and correspondents include:

     

    • “Good Morning America’s” weekend edition co-anchor Paula Faris and Fusion network host Pedro Andrade will host “The Director Cut” feeds during both the pre-show and awards telecast.

     

    Faris is the co-anchor of “Good Morning America’s” weekend edition, and reports across ABC News broadcasts and digital platforms. She joined ABC News in January 2012 as co-anchor of ABC News’ “World News Now” and “America This Morning.”

     

    A Brazilian journalist originally from Rio de Janeiro, Andrade is a host of the Fusion network, which is a multi-platform media company that serves a young, diverse, and inclusive millennial generation. Fusion delivers a unique mix of news, pop culture, and satire content that is both smart and irreverent across its TV and digital platforms (fusion.net). Prior to Fusion, Andrade anchored NBC’s weekly luxury lifestyle program “LX.TV 1st Look” for 5 years.

     

    • “Good Morning America” and ESPN contributing editor Chris Connelly is returning as the official greeter of The Oscars Red Carpet, which includes welcoming nominees, presenters and performers to the show.

     

    • Actor Matt McGorry will be positioned in the Fan Bleachers on the Red Carpet.  McGorry stars as Asher Millstone in ABC’s series “How to Get Away with Murder.” He can also be seen playing the post-military newbie corrections officer John Bennett in the Netflix original series “Orange is the New Black.”

     

    • Nick Axelrod will serve as The Oscars Backstage fashion correspondent. Axelrod is the creator and regular host of Yahoo Style’s popular celebrity interview series, “I Yahoo’d Myself.” He is also the Co-Founder and former Editorial Director of the award-winning beauty website Into The Gloss, which was nominated for a 2014 Webby award. He has also served as Senior Fashion News Editor at ELLE, spent three years at Women’s Wear Daily (WWD), and has also contributed to publications including ELLE Accessories and The Hollywood Reporter.

     

    • ABC News Correspondent Sara Haines will be contributing to the Backstage feed. In addition to reporting for “Good Morning America” during the week, Haines is the Pop News anchor on the weekend edition of “GMA.”

     

    In addition to The Oscars Backstage feeds, ‘Watch ABC’ users who have verified with a participating pay TV provider in one of the eight ABC Owned markets – Chicago, Fresno, Houston, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, Raleigh-Durham and San Francisco – can also access a live feed of the Oscars preshow, full awards telecast and “Jimmy Kimmel Live: After the Oscars” as part of the regular ‘Watch ABC’ service. Live streaming is currently available through Comcast, Cablevision, Cox Communications, Charter Communications, DISH, DirecTV, Midcontinent Communications, Verizon FiOS, Google Fiber and AT&T U-verse, among others. Once aired, the full Oscars telecast will be available on demand via ‘Watch ABC’ for verified viewers for three days. ‘Watch ABC’ can be accessed from Oscar.com, ABC.com, or via the ‘Watch ABC’ app, which can be downloaded for free at Google Play and the App Store. Verified viewers then log in using their cable or satellite subscription username and password.

     

    All ‘Watch ABC’ fans can access the new enhanced social features. Social Lens integrates fan’s personal Facebook and Twitter into the ‘Watch ABC’ app so they can socialize with their friends while they watch The Oscars – all on one device. FastShare enables fans who are watching on demand to easily access and share clips of their favorite in-show moments as they are watching.

     

    Video highlights from the telecast and The Oscars Backstage will also be available as embeddable clips on Oscar.com/Video almost immediately as they air. Full clips of the show’s musical numbers, including performances from Neil Patrick Harris, Jennifer Hudson, Anna Kendrick, Tegan and Sara and comedy-music trio The Lonely Island, Adam Levine, Rita Ora, Tim McGraw, Lady Ga Ga, Common and John Legend, will be featured in a dedicated “Music Moments” section on Oscar.com that includes in-depth video and photo coverage of past music winners.

     

    Oscar.com is also showcasing nominees in their own words with a collection of official nominee questionnaires, including submissions from Julianne Moore, Robert Duvall, Patricia Arquette, Keira Knightley, and John Legend, among many others. To add to the fun, insanely addicting quizzes will challenge fans knowledge of this year’s nominees. The hugely popular “My Picks” interactive ballot is also live. Friends can view and share the ballot on Facebook, which will update in real time on Oscar night, ensuring that the most competitive Oscar handicappers are instantly aware of their ranking among friends.

     

    The 87th Oscars will be held on 22 February, 2015, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood.

     

    On 23 February, “LIVE with Kelly and Michael” will continue its awards season tradition with the fourth edition of “LIVE’s After Oscar Show.” The 10th annual “Jimmy Kimmel Live: After the Oscars” airs 22 February on ABC.

  • Sony Pictures Entertainment appoints Matt Milam as VP – creative productions

    Sony Pictures Entertainment appoints Matt Milam as VP – creative productions

    NEW DELHI: Sony Pictures Entertainment has appointed Matt Milam as vice-president of creative productions.

     

    Prior to this, Milam was with Skydance, where he served as vice president of production. He has earlier also been with Warner Bros.

     

    “We are tremendously excited about Matt joining the Columbia team. We have followed his career from Warners to Skydance and have been utterly impressed with both his talent and his taste,” Sony Pictures Entertainment president of production Michael De Luca.

     

    Milam most recently worked on the Dean Devlin project Geostorm at Skydance. Earlier at Warner Bros, he had handled projects that included Clash of the Titans, Wrath of the Titans, Terminator Salvation and The Informant.

     

    Prior to Warner Bros., Milam acted as creative executive at Mandate Pictures, helping oversee Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay, The Grudge 2 and 30 Days of Night. He was co-producer on Boogeyman 2, for which he oversaw the development, production and post-production.