ITV

Category: Movies

  • Dallas Film Society institutes awards for students

    MUMBAI: As part of the 2011 Dallas International Film Festival (DIFF), the Dallas Film Society (DFS) and TXU Energy have teamed up to sponsor a series of awards to student filmmakers for videos relating to the future of energy.


    Dubbed ‘Light Up the Red Carpet Student Film Contest‘, the wards comprise features cash awards and grants totalling $30,000.


    Each winning high school will receive the following cash technology grants for its winning film programme: first place $7,500, second place $5,000 and third place $2,500.


    The same prizes apply in the college division, with the difference being that the prizes to each winner will be split between the college‘s film programme and the winning video‘s director.
     

  • Gemini to remake 3 Idiots in Tamil and Telugu

    MUMBAI: The remake of Rajkumar Hirani’s 3 Idiots in Tamil is expected to roll out in Dehradun on 6 December when the entire crew will assemble there.


    Vijay, Srikanth and Jiiva, will play the roles Aamir Khan, R Madhavan and Sharman Joshi enacted in the orginal. Joining them will be actress Ileana who will step into the shoes of Kareena Kapoor.


    Fresh from the release of Robot, director Shankar will kick-start the shoot of both Telugu and Tamil versions simultaneously with Gemini Productions producing these films on a big budget.


    Earlier, the film was reportedly titled 3 Rascals, but Gemini has decided to retain this title for Telugu and have Moovar for the Tamil version. The cast and credits of the Telugu version will soon be finalised.
     

  • Romania woos Indian filmmakers

    MUMBAI: Bollywood has immense business potential and is no more just a form of entertainment, what with Romania being the latest country to woo Indian filmmakers to shoot their films there.


    According to Romanian secretary of state Borbely Karoly, the Hindi film industry can play a crucial role in encouraging tourism in Romania.


    “In our country we encourage Indian filmmakers to come and in turn help tourism. Since our actors and producers are very skilled, filmmakers from India will also discover new possibilities,‘ Karoly said in a statement. 


    The minister, who was in India for a meeting with the managing director of an import-export firm, feels Romania needs to be exposed to Bollywood to increase the volume of business that will be mutually beneficial.


    “Bollywood will increase tourism. When we promote one business (Bollywood), it in turn attracts other businesses and this could be a good way to increase tourism, Karoly said.


    According to the minister, his country offers many exotic locations and can provide a picturesque backdrop for the narratives. “We have the monasteries in Moldavia. We have Transylvania, the place where the Dracula was from, the Black Sea and several other places. People usually come to shoot for a short period, although they have the possibility to exploit more,” Karoly added.
     

  • Dev Anand’s Hum Dono to release in coloured version in February

    MUMBAI: Dev Anand‘s 1961 black and white film Hum Dono will release in a digitally coloured version in India in February next year.


    The Amarjeet directed film that saw the veteran in a double role opposite Nanda and Sadhana half a decade ago will first release overseas on 28 January and later hit Indian screens in the first week of February.


    “Wherever I go, people talk to me about the film. It‘s nostalgic, I am releasing the coloured version of the film in January for all my fans,‘ the 87-year old Anand said in a statement.


    The coloured version of the film has been created by incorporating state of the art advanced technology in the US and is in anamorphic lens series CinemaScope with Dolby Digital Ex surround sound.


    Produced by Dev Anand‘s Navketan Films, the film was written by his younger brother Vijay Anand.


    Hum Dono was the last black and white offering from Navketan Films. Guide‘, ‘Prem Pujari‘, ‘Tere Ghar Ke Saame‘ and Hare Rama Hare Krishna that followed were all colour films.

  • Irrfan Khan bags main villain role in new Spiderman film

    MUMBAI: Following Anil Kapoor who plays the main villain in the Tom Cruise starrer Mission Impossible:4, Irrfan Khan has bagged the role of the main villain in the upcoming and yet untitled Spiderman film to be directed by Mark Webber.


    Khan will be playing the role of Van Atter (one of the main villains in the film) and would clash on screen with the new Spiderman played by Andrew Garfield. Besides Khan, the film will also feature yet another villain Dr.Connors aka The Lizard played by Rhys Ifans. The new Spiderman film is expected to hit screens in 2012.


    Incidentally, Khan has been a part of several Hollywood films like The Namesake, A Might Heart and Slumdog Millionaire.
     

  • Disney sale of Miramax Films finalised

    MUMBAI: The $663 million sale of Miramax Films by Disney to Filmyard Holdings, the group led by construction exec Ron Tutor and investor Tom Barrack was finalised on Friday.


    Qatar Holdings, that invests for the Middle Eastern country‘s royal family, also is a major investor in the deal. Among the minority investors is actor Rob Lowe through a fund he created with Barrack‘s Colony Capital.


    The investors put up about $200 million, while a group of banks led by Barclays raised debt of about $400 million. (Qatar Holdings holds a minority stake in Barclays). New York investment bank Jefferies & Co. helped raise the debt, while Mesa Global, an investment bank that includes Mark Patricof, formerly at CAA, was involved in valuating the assets. Mesa also has been a part of such deals as the sale of ContentNext and paidContent.org to the Guardian and recent funding for the theatrical troupe the Blue Man Group.


    The buyers got about $50 million in cash that came with Miramax, another $10 million in adjusted fees and about 700 films in the library, many of which are licensed for theatrical, TV and video around the world for years to come.


    The deal includes the Miramax name, some 300 development projects, 90 book rights and a handful of finished films waiting to be distributed. Two movies, Don‘t Be Afraid of the Dark and The Debt, are expected to be released in 2011 by a distributor other than Disney.
     

  • Nutcracker 3D in the making for 40 years

    MUMBAI: 73 year-old Andrei Konchalovsky, the co-writer cum director of The Nutcracker in 3D,” has dot the film to the big screen after 40 years.


    The Russian theater and film director has modernized the classic tale, that released in the United States on Friday by converting it in 3D. He also changed the setting and some of the characters.


    Elle Fanning stars as nine-year-old Mary, who receives an enchanted nutcracker as a gift from her eccentric Uncle Albert, played by Nathan Lane. On Christmas night, the Nutcracker (Charlie Rowe) comes to life and leads her to a kingdom of living toys threatened by an evil Rat King (John Turturro).


    Incidentally, Konchalovsky wrote the first version of the script for director Anthony Asquith in the late ‘60s, but when the director expired “the script went to oblivion,” Konchalovsky says.


    More than 25 years later, in 1995, Konchalovsky decided that the time had come to make a film for his children and grandchildren and that is when he remembered the shelved script.


    Instead of attempting to film a ballet, Konchalovsky turned to German author E.T.A. Hoffmann‘s original story and Russian composer Pyotr Tchiakovsky‘s music.


    The director dressed his anthropomorphic rats in military uniforms inspired by Pink Floyd‘s concept album and film The Wall, but he tempered this grim aesthetic by casting comic actor Turturro as the Rat King.


    Despite the strong cast, financing his unique vision of the Christmas classic wasn‘t easy as he met several film executives showing set designs and describing his unique vision. Finally, he found people “mad enough to give me money!”


    As an independently-financed and distributed feature, the film is “like a David against Goliath in the market” against big wigs like Warner Bros‘ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1″ and Disney‘s Tangled.


    He eventually feels that the 40 more years he traveled to arrive at The Nutcracker in 3D has been worthwhile.

  • 3 Bollywood films to be shot in Fiji

    MUMBAI: Giving a boost to Fiji economy, executive producer Mohammed Jalal has decided to shoot three of his upcoming films – Bombay Mumbai, Kia and Let‘s Talk Love – in the island.


    Around 200 people from the island will get a chance to feature in these films. According to Jalal, these films will bring about $20 million to Fiji‘s economy. 


    “We will be probably hiring 200 people in Fiji. We will also be hiring 40 dancers from the country,” avers Jalal.


    The first film that will go on the floors in January will be Bombay Mumbai starring Salman Khan, Anushka Sharma, Kangana Ranaut and Juhi Chawla. The Shahrukh Khan, Arjun Rampal, Boman Irani and Farida Jalal starrer Kia will follow in July, while Lets Talk Love will roll in September.


    The films are likely to be shot in various locations around the country including Universities, parts of Suva, Nadi, Rakiraki, the Sand Dunes, Mamanuca group, Yasawas, Taveuni and Labasa.


    Said Fiji Audio Visual Commission CEO Florence Swamy, “Fiji would benefit immensely from the investment value and new economic activity.” She revealed there were talks for a fourth Bollywood film and a Hollywood production.

  • Paanch set to release in January

    MUMBAI: Stuck in the cans for almost a decade, Anurag Kashyap‘s debut film Paanch will finally release in January next year.


    Made in the year 2000, the film was stuck with Censors for long due to excessive violence, crude language, drug abuse and sexual undertones. There was a long battle fought and ultimately in 2002, it seemed that the film would release, what with its music album also hitting the stands.


    However, there was not much headway post that and it seemed that the film was as much as forgotten for good. 


    Now, the film has been revived and its marketing and promotional plans are already in place. A date has almost been finalised for its release.


    Confirms Tutu Sharma, the film‘s producer, “Despite a delay, I am not worried since Paanch is a timeless film and not really bound to any particular era. Besides this, I am not revealing anything for all my focus is now on my latest vehicle Tera Kya Hoga Johnny.”
     

  • Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Se to be dubbed in 3 regional languages

    MUMBAI: Ashutosh Gowariker‘s Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Se, a film about the Chittagong Uprising, is soon to be dubbed in Bengali, Tamil and Telugu.


    Said Gowariker, “We are looking at dubbing the film in Tamil and Telugu and would like to do the same in Bengali too.” 


    The film that stars Abhishek Bachchan and Deepika Padukone, narrates the story of a revolution against the British Empire in Chittagong where 55 teenagers influenced by freedom fighter Surjya Sen risk their lives to fight for freedom.


    Based on journalist Manini Chatterjee‘s book Do and Die: The Chittagong Uprising, the film was shot in Sawantawadi in Maharashtra.