Category: Movies

MUMBAI: Multivision Multimedia India (P) Ltd. is all set to release the supernatural thriller Season Of The Witch on 21 January.

The film will release in India with over 250 screens in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.

Season Of The Witch combines the authenticity of a historical epic with the drama and pacing of a contemporary supernatural action thriller, as it takes audiences into a dark and dangerous world where faith may be the only defence. 

From the grand castle inhabited by the all-powerful cardinal to the ancient abbey that holds the key to the film’s ultimate mystery, Season Of The Witch is rich with painstakingly researched and reproduced images of life in the Middle Ages. It’s not just a period film, it’s a rip-roaring adventure filled with bravura performances, exciting stunts and unforgettable vistas. It’s gorgeously realized, full of great action and downright scary.

Set in the 14th century, the film is produced by Charles Roven and Alex Gartner and directed by Dominic Sena. The film has an international ensemble cast headed by Academy Award winner Nicolas Cage, Ron Perlman, Claire Foy, Stephen Graham, Ulrich Thomsen, Robert Sheehan and Christopher Lee.

MUMBAI: The 6th edition of the Vibgyor International Film Festival, now on in Thrissur in Kerala, is this year focusing on political filmmaking and media activism in South Asia.

The five-day festival has been dedicated to the memory of filmmaker, media activist and co-founder of the festival, the late C. Saratchandran.

“The Festival will attempt to bring into light Academic and non-Academic documentations or studies in the area of political film-making and also provide space for filmmaker’s first- person accounts of political filmmaking practices,”an official statement said. 

The Festival believes in representing basic social issues and celebrating human spirit through cinema.

`South Asia’ has been in focus since the 2010 edition of the festival while the theme last year was `South Asia: Democracy-Justice-Peace’. The special focus this year has been chosen in keeping with Saratchandran’s vision.

Besides film screenings from across the globe, there will be activities like the South Asian Conference/Memorial Lecture, Meet the Directors, Mini Conferences and Campaigns that will explore contemporary independent filmmaking practices in South Asia in relation to their history and politics, ownership, technology and agency.

There will also be mini conferences that will highlight issues like `Rethinking ownership, authorship and viewership’ ` Persistence and Resistance’, ‘Media activisms and contemporary practices of digital documentary filmmaking’, among others.

The festival that got off to a sedate start on 12 January will go on till the 16th of this month.
 

MUMBAI: Reliance MediaWorks (RMWL) said Wednesday it has increased its holding in the multiplex chain Fame India to 35.39 per cent following its open offer.

Inox currently holds 50.27 of Fame.

RMWL was locked in a corporate battle over the ownership of Fame with Inox, which had earlier bought the entire promoters’ stake in the multiplex chain.

In its filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange, RMWL said it acquired 6.82 million shares, accounting 19.51 per cent stake in Fame India for Rs 568.77 million with its open offer that closed on 4 January. The company had announced the offer for 21.7 million shares of fame accounting to 62.09 per cent.

However, RMWL managed to acquire much more than what Inox collected (1075 shares) from its open offer.

RMWL had 11.77 per cent stake in Fame before it made a public announcement. Later, it also acquired an additional 4.11 per cent stake through market purchases at stock exchanges.

Fame India has 25 operational multiplexes with 95 screens and a seating capacity of 26,487 in 12 cities.

Shares of RMWL closed Wednesday at Rs 209 on the BSE, up 2.85 per cent from the previous day‘s close. Fame fell 7.2 per cent to Rs 65.10.

MUMBAI: UTV Motion Pictures has decided to release Aamir Khan Productions‘ Delhi Belly on 1 July.

The film is in the last lap of production. Khan, who is presently busy with Dhobi Ghat, would then pay attention to fine tune the film that stars Imran Khan.

It is interesting to note that Farah Khan has agreed to choreograph a song for Delhi Belly shortly. The filmmaker, one of the leading choreographers in the country, has agreed to work on a special song for the film.

It is interesting to note that Amitabh Bachchan has lent his voice to the first trailer of Delhi Belly. He had earlier lent his voice to Khan‘s first production, Lagaan.

MUMBAI: Looks like Arbaaz Khan‘s Dabaang will sweep most awards this year. This became evident when the Salman Khan-Sonakshi Sinha starrer lapped up eight awards in different categories at the Chevrolet Apsara Awards 2011. However, the best actress award was shared by Vidya Balan (Ishqiya) and Anushka Sharma (Band Baaja Baraat).

The event grew in importance when Dharmendra was conferred the lifetime achievement award upon completion of 50 years in the Hindi film industry.

Dabaang bagged trophies for categories like best film, best actor (Salman Khan); best direction (Abhinav Kashyap); best female singer (Mamta Sharma); best performance in negative role (Sonu Sood); best female debut (Sonakshi Sinha); best music (Sajid-Wajid); best dialogues (Abhinav Kashyap) and best male singer (Rahat Fateh Ali Khan).

The audience, however, were sad because Salman Khan and Abhinav Kashyap couldn‘t come personally to collect their awards.

Following Dabangg in the awards tally was Yash Raj‘s Band Baaja Baraat that lapped up six awards. It won in categories like best editing (Namrata Rao); best art director (T.P Abid and Sonal Choudhry); best costume design (Niharika Khan); best actress (Anushka Sharma); best debut director (Maneesh Sharma) and best male debut (Ranveer Singh).

The technical awards given away on the ocassion were Best cinematography – Sudeep Chatterji for Guzaarish and Santosh Sivan & V. Manikandan for Raavan; Best sound recording – Pritam Das for Love Sex Aur Dhoka; Best special effects- Prime Focus for Guzaarish; Best re-recording – Tapan Nayak for Raavan; Best lyrics – Gulzar for Ishqiya, Best screenplay – Rajat Arora for Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai; Best story – Anusha Rizvi for Peepli Live; Best choreography – Farah Khan for Tees Maar Khan, Best comic performance – Paresh Rawal in Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge?; Best actor in a supporting role – Arjun Rampal for Raajneeti; Best actress in a supporting role – Prachi Desai and Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai.

From this year onwards, the Film and Television Producers Guild started a new category called the President honour for outstanding achievement in cinema. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Hrithik Roshan received the same for their performance in Guzaarish while Sanjay Leela Bhansali got the same for directing the film.

The evening witnessed power-packed performances by Shah Rukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Govinda and Anushka Sharma was attended by many Bollywood celebrities like Dharmendra, Rani Mukerji, Sunny Deol, Karan Johar, Aishwarya Rai, Katrina Kaif, Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Arjun Rampal and Yash Chopra among many others.

MUMBAI: DreamWork Animation is developing Monkeys of Bollywood, an animated musical in the spirit of Bollywood cinema.

Gurinder Chadha and Paul Berges, the producing team that delivered Bend It Like Beckham and Bride and Prejudice, are behind the project.

The story, to be set in Mumbai, follows two monkeys who try to stop an ancient demon from conquering the world. Though the story is said to be original, the Ramayana has apparently inspired the project.

DreamWorks Animation, which in recent months promised sequels of Kung Fu Panda, How To Train Your Dragon and Madagascar, is setting up the Oni Press comic Maintenance and is also making a project called Me And My Shadow.

The makers have roped in AR Rahman to score the music for the film.

MUMBAI: Joining the bandwagon of female filmmakers in Bollywood, Deepa Sahi is through with her directorial debut Tere Mere Phere (TMP).

The film is co-produced by her filmmaker husband Ketan Mehta and ghazal maestro Anup Jalota. The lead stars include Vinay Pathak, Riya Sen, Darshan Zariwala and Sushmita Mukherjee.

It is said that 80 billion dollars are annually spent on marriages. About 50 per cent of the people in the country are married while another 25 per cent are in the marriageable age that makes three-fourths of India involved in this phenomenon. Only one-in-four people manage to marry the person they love.

Marriage is something that legitimises this relationship between them. But having married, how legitimate are the workings between them? TMP is a light hearted look at this intriguing phenomenon.

“Having grown up in a family with at least 35 women of different ages and their spouses, friends, sons, daughters, in-laws, I‘ve been a keen observer of this most fascinating of all relationships… that between a man and a woman,” said Sahi in a statement.

Though the exact date of release has yet not been decided, the film is expected to hit the screens in February or March.

An alumnus of the National School of Drama, Sahi ventured into films with Govind Nihlani‘s 1984 film tiled Party. Nihalani again repeated her in Aghaat and 1986‘s highly acclaimed television film Tamas. Sahi is also remembered for her role as Shah Rukh Khan‘s elderly lover in Maya Memsaab.