ITV

Category: Movies

  • No One Killed Jessica grosses Rs 190 million in opening weekend

    MUMBAI: No One Killed Jessica grossed Rs 190 million at the domestic box office and Rs 30 million in the overseas market in its opening weekend, according to data provided by UTV.


    In the UK, the weekend gross was $130,787; in the Gulf, it grossed $183,044, taking the per-screen average to more than $9000; in the US, it collected 235,000. Along with other territories like Australia, South Africa, Pakistan, Singapore and other territories, the total overseas weekend gross was Rs 30 million, UTV said.


    Comments UTV CEO Motion Pictures Siddharth Roy Kapur, “No One Killed Jessica is an issue-based story which could very easily have been slotted as another docu-drama. But our strong belief, backed aggressive marketing, wide scale distribution and, of course, a superbly entertaining film, have resulted in NOKJ emerging both a creative and commercial success.


    The movie is produced by UTV Spotboy and directed by Rajkumar Gupta.

  • Lifetime achievement award for Amitabh Bachchan at Asianet Film Awards

    MUMBAI: BANGALORE: Amitabh Bachchan was awarded lifetime achievement award at the 13th Ujala-Asianet Film Awards 2011 in Cochin on 9 January.


    Malayalam superstar Mohan Lal did the honours, while Asianet MD K Madhavan and Malayalam star Mammootty also honoured Big B for his outstanding contributions to the Indian film industry.


    South Indian actor Mohan Lal was honoured with the Asianet Golden Star Award for his outstanding performance in various movies, while Manmooty walked away with the Best Actor award for his performances in the satirical Malayalam film ‘Pranjiyettan and the Saint ’ and ‘Kutty Srank’. Nayanthara won the Best Female Actress Award for her role in the Malayalam film ‘Body Guard’.


    Amongst the other award winners were Jayasurya (Youth Icon of the Year); Innocent (Best Character Artiste-Male); Samvritha Sunil (Best Character Artiste-Female); Nedumudi Venu (Best Supporting Actor); Lakshmi Priya (Best Supporting Actress); Asif Ali (Best Villain); Suraj Venjaramoodu (Best Actor in a Comic role); Kunchacko Boban–Archana Kavi (Best Star Couple); Murugan Kattakada (Lyricist ); M G Sreekumar (Music Director); Hariharan (Playback Singer- Male); Shreya Ghoshal (Playback Singer-Female); Baby Anikha and Master Alaxander (Child Artiste); Sathyan Anthikad (Script Writer ); Venu (Cameraman); Arun Kumar (Editor) while Debut Artiste-Ann Augustine and Sreenivasan received Special Jury Awards.


    The show was witnessed by a 25,000 strong crowd which included several prominent persons from the South Indian film industry and socio-cultural spheres. The event will be broadcast at the end of this month.
     

  • Comedian Vivek Shauq expires

    MUMBAI: Vivek Shauq, known for his comic acts in films like Koi Mil Gaya, Gadar-Ek Prem Katha, Delhi Heights and Aitraaz among others, passed away following a heart attack on Monday.


    Shauq, who had also acted in several Punjabi films and shows like Flop Show, leaves behind his wife and three children. His daughters are teenagers and his son is even younger. 


    Says a grieved character actor Anil Nagrath, “I am very sad and upset of the demise of Vivek who was a dear friend to me. I know him since the days of Barsaat Ki Ek Raat, in which he played a hero and I played his father. He had a different kind of an aura and was a very humorous person. May his soul rest in peace.”


    The Deol family, busy promoting their latest film Yamla Pagla Deewana, was plunged into mourning when news came in of the death of Vivek who featured in several films with them.
     

  • Disney to release Tangled on 21 January

    MUMBAI: Disney is all set to release its 50th animation film Tangled on 21 January in India.


    A 3D musical comedy, Tangled revolves around a princess who is stolen from her parents‘ castle as a baby and locked in a hidden tower longing for adventure. When a teenager, she takes off on an escapade with the help of a bandit.
     


    With the secret of her royal heritage hanging in the balance and her captor in pursuit, Tangled and her cohort find adventure, heart, humour and hair.
     

  • Roger Deakins bags ninth ASC nomination

    MUMBAI: The American Society of Cinematographers has bestowed upon Roger Deakins the ninth ASC feature film nomination of his career for his work in the Western True Grit. Other nominees are Matthew Labatique for Black Swan, Wally Pfister for Inception, Danny Cohen for The King‘s Speech and Jeff Cronenweth for The Social Network.


    Deakins, who last year also served as visual consultant on the animated movie How to Train Your Dragon, has received eight Oscar nominations for his cinematography, including two in 2008 when he was nominated for both the Coen brothers‘ No Country for Old Men and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. But he has yet to take home the Oscar itself.


    In addition to his nomination for the Coens‘ True Grit, he is scheduled to be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 25th annual ASC Outstanding Achievement Awards, which will be held Feb. 13 at the Grand Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland.


    Highly regarded by both cinematographers and film connoisseurs alike, Deakins won ASC awards for 1994‘s The Shawshank Redemption and 2001‘s The Man Who Wasn‘t There.


    Pfister‘s nomination for Inception is his third ASC nom. He also was nominated for two other films from director Christopher Nolan like Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.


    Other nominees include Matthew Labatique for Black Swan, Wally Pfister for Inception, Danny Cohen for The King‘s Speech and Jeff Cronenweth for The Social Network.

  • China ranks third in annual film output

    MUMBAI: Box office earnings of the Chinese film industry have jumped a massive 64 per cent in 2010, said to be a bad year for Bollywood. China ranked third behind Bollywood and Hollywood in terms of annual film output. It put the box office earnings of the local movie industry at $1.5 billion.


    In a survey, China‘s media regulators have predicted the local industry, regarded as a backward territory until recently, will surpass India and Japan by 2015.


    The year 2010 saw a massive growth in the film industry with China ‘s state administration of Radio, Film and Television reporting that as many as 500 films were made during the period.


    On the other hand, the Indian media has quoted film industry sources saying that the earnings last year would be around Rs 10,000 crores ($2.2 billion) after rising 10-12 per cent over the 2009 revenue. The industry has been caught in the 10-12 per cent growth trend since 2008.


    At present, the United States is ahead of all other markets as it notched box-office revenue of $11 billion in 2010. Japan came second with $2.5 billion in earnings followed by India. China‘s media regulators expect China to overtake Japan by 2015.


    The highest grosser in the Chinese market was a James Cameron‘s Avatar that earned $200 million. Next came the Chinese film Aftershock that earned $100 million followed by another Chinese film Let bullets fly that raked in $75 million since its release in mid-December and its producers believe the total earnings will be much higher.
     

  • Wax statuette of Hrithik Roshan at Madame Tussauds

    MUMBAI: Hrithik Roshan will become the fifth Bollywood celebrity to have his wax figure standing at Madame Tussauds when he unveils it on Friday.


    “It‘s just going to be symbolic of my journey. It‘s going to be something that will motivate me when I‘m tired. I‘ll think of this statue and it will make me keep going and giving my best. It makes me feel great and will help me fight my exhaustion,” commented Hrithik.


    “I never thought in my wildest of dreams that there will be a time in my life when I‘ll be unveiling my own statue at the Madame Tussauds. I remember once I‘ve stood there in the line for three hours when I was a 12-year-old to see the museum,” he added.


    Madame Tussauds already sports wax statuettes of Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Bachchan, Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan.


    Hrithik made his debut in 2000 with a leading role in Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai and became an overnight sensation. Later he gave hits like Dhoom 2, Koi… Mil Gaya and Krrish.
     

  • Cameron’s Sanctum to have simultaneous release in India on 4 February

    MUMBAI: James Cameron‘s forthcoming film, Sanctum, will have a simultaneous release in India along with its global debut.


    The 3D underwater action-thriller will hit the screens on 4 February.


    Directed by Alister Grierson, the film is Cameron‘s next after Avatar. The Andrew Wight written story revolves around a team of underwater cave divers on a treacherous expedition into the largest, most beautiful and least accessible cave system on earth. It goes on to show what happens when a tropical storm forces them deep into the caverns.


    In Sanctum, master diver Frank McGuire (Richard Roxburgh) has explored the South Pacific‘s Esa-ala caves for months. But when his exit is cut off in a flash flood, Frank‘s team – including 17-year-old son Josh (Rhys Wakefield) and financier Carl Hurley (Ioan Gruffudd) – are forced to radically alter plans. With dwindling supplies, the crew must navigate an underwater tangle to make it out.


    Shot on location off Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, Sanctum has been made with 3D photography techniques that Cameron developed for Avatar.

  • Balaji Tele’s Marathi film screens at Pune festival

    MUMBAI: Marathi film Taaryanche Bait (an island of stars) has been officially selected to screen in the competition section of the Pune International Film Festival (PIFF).


    While the world premiere of the film was held on 10 January, the second screening is scheduled for 13 January.


    Produced by Balaji Telefilm’s Alt Entertainment and Neeraj Pandey’s Friday Fireworks, the movie is expected to release in April. 


    Said Balaji Telefilms joint MD and creative director Ekta Kapoor in a statement, “Balaji is known to push boundaries in content creation, be it films or television. This is a humble endeavour of Alt Entertainment to create something for the discerning and evolved Marathi speaking community that has always been an important audience for our content. I look forward to the response to our first step in this direction.”


    Taaryanche Bait is the directorial debut of the Maharashtra State award winning writer Kiran Yadynopavit and stars Sachin Khedekar, Ashwini Giri, Vinay Apte, and Kishore Kadam.

  • No One Killed Jessica opens to tepid box office

    MUMBAI: No One Killed Jessica opened to a tepid box office but as expected, a positive word of mouth helped the collection figures grow over the weekend, peaking on Sunday.


    With an opening day figure of Rs 25 million and the Sunday fetching 50 million, No One Killed Jessica‘s opening weekend rests at Rs 125 million.


    The film held its own on Sunday evening despite a T-20 match telecast between India and South Africa.


    With the new week starting on Monday, the film‘s collections have started sliding down. However, Suniel Wadhwa of the 52 Weeks Entertainment Inc. avers that the film is still holding its own at the prime location multiplexes.
     
    Impatient Vivek and Vikalp, the other two releases have proved to be inconsequential.