ITV

Category: Movies

  • Ashutosh Gowariker mulls directing Marathi film

    MUMBAI: Fresh from his latest film Khelenge Hum Jee Jaan Se, Ashutosh Gowariker has evinced interest in directing a Marathi film.


    “I will love to make a Marathi film but I am hard pressed for time. Currently, I am busy with the release of my film,” Gowariker said.


    Gowariker was speaking on the occasion of music launch of a Marathi film Sumbaran that would be premiered in the ensuing International Film Festival of India to be held in Goa.


    The director also recalled his long association with the movie‘s music director Rahul Ranade. “My association with Rahul goes back to 1984 when we both had worked in Holi. It was because of him and the way the movie has shaped up, that I was compelled to come for this music launch,” Ashutosh said.


    Gowariker has earlier helmed films like Lagaan, Swades and Jodhaa Akbar while he has acted in Marathi cult movies like Sarkarnama, Vazir and Ek Ratra Mantarleli.
     

  • Herschelle Gibbs offered Bollywood film

    MUMBAI: Former South African star opener Herschelle Gibbs has been offered a role in a Bollywood film.


    Revealing the details in his autobiography To the Point, Gibbs says, “A totally unexpected surprise came my way recently when I was offered a role in a Bollywood movie that will start filming at the end of May next year. I‘m not sure what the part is or what I‘m supposed to do, but my agent has told me it‘s very good money for only a day‘s work.”


    Without giving any further detail, Gibbs added that he would not like to play a negative character and would first find out more about the role. “Playing a bad-boy cricketer who gets involved in match-fixing probably won‘t be the smartest career move,” the opener quipped.


    After staying away from India for about five years of fears of being arrested by the Indian police, who wanted to question him about his role in the Hansie Cronje match-fixing saga in 2000, Gibbs now wants to come to India.
     

  • Crest’s first film mops up $35 million in 7 weeks

    MUMBAI: For Crest Animation Studios, the makeover to an animated movie production house is paying off. The Mumbai-based company‘s first CGI animated 3D stereoscopic film, Alpha & Omega, has grossed approximately $35 million in its seven-week run.


    Released globally by co-production partner Lionsgate on 17 September, the movie continues its run in the USA, UK, France and some other territories.


    “We expect the movie to earn an income of $100 million from all revenue streams including box office, home video and sale of satellite rights. The initial success of the movie has earned us credibility and could be a gamechanger for the Indian animation industry,” says Crest Animation CEO AK Madhavan.


    The film, made on a production budget of $25 million, is yet to be released in other major territories like Germany, Spain, Italy, Australia, Japan and Latin America.


    To be released in India in more than 2000 screens, the film‘s distribution rights rest with Crest. The animation studio will partner with established distributors in the country to ascertain that the film is exhibited in maximum number of screens both in 2D as well as 3D.


    Alpha & Omega is an animated comedy about two mismatched wolves and has voices of artistes like Justin Long, Hayden Panetierre, Christina Ricci, Danny Glover, Dennis Hopper and Larry Miller.


    Crest is co-producing its second film, Norm of the North, an animated family feature in stereoscopic 3D along with Lionsgate Family Entertainment studio as part of the three-film deal.


    “We will deliver Norm of the North in 2012. It will be released either late 2012 or early 2013,” says Madhavan.
     

  • UK Jewish Film fest from tomorrow

    MUMBAI: The 14th UK Jewish Film Festival, that goes underway from 4 to 21 October, will have the presence of stars like Maureen Lipman, David Baddiel, Davina McCall, Boy George, Al Murray and Graham Norton.


    This year‘s festival will have 66 films selected from more than 350 entries. The successful films will be screened at 10 cinemas in London, including the Tricycle in Kilburn, the British Film Institute, Ciné Lumiere in Kensington and the Barbican. There will be as many as 47 UK premieres of films that have been drawn from 16 countries. 


    One such UK premiere will be that of The Round Up that is based on the mass arrest and round-up in the Paris velodrome of 13,000 Jews including 4,000 children by the French police in July 1942. A box-office hit in France, the film stars Jean Reno, Mélanie Laurent (Inglorious Basterds) and, amazingly, a real-life survivor who is now 80 years old.


    The festival also showcases new talent, most intriguing is A Jewish Girl in Shanghai, a Chinese animated film based on Wu Lin‘s graphic novel about the Holocaust. It tells the little-known story of Little Vienna, a area of China‘s most populated city in which some 30,000 Jewish refugees sought shelter during the Second World War.


    Among the comedies on offer will be the UK premiere of Arab Labour made from an Israeli series by Sayed Kashua.
     

  • India on foreign filmmakers map

    MUMBAI: More and more foreign filmmakers heading to India to shoot their films on never-seen locations are giving a boost to the country‘s economy. The Indian information and broadcasting ministry has cleared 11 projects this year and has nine more in various stages of approval compared to 24 films in 2009.


    “We have given permission for more than 100 movies in the last three to four years,” said D.P. Reddy, the joint secretary (films) at the department. “It‘s primarily because we have a lot of good locales where shooting can take place and we have the technical competence,” he said.


    India has been an enticing location for foreign filmmakers for as long as cinema has existed. In the 1920s, German director Franz Osten made a series of black-and-white silent films inspired by India‘s many religions and rich history.


    Richard Attenborough‘s Gandhi (1982) shot in India brought the country to a worldwide audience. Then, films such like the James Bond thriller Octopussy (1983), The Bourne Supremacy (2004) and A Mighty Heart (2007) were all shot in India.


    This year‘s Eat Pray Love starring Julia Roberts was the first high-profile film after Slumdog Millionaire to come to India for filming.


    Some film industry watchers have attributed the surge in interest in India to the runaway success of Slumdog at the 2009 Oscars. But Reddy said India was already attracting interest even before the British-made film came out.


    Reddy said that filmmakers were coming from all over the world, with recent permission given to studios behind the latest film in the Mission: Impossible franchise and the big screen adaptation of Life of Pi.


    Other films in the pipeline include The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel that will star British actress Judy Dench and will be directed by John Madden.

  • Aamir Khan to co-produce a suspense thriller

    MUMBAI: Nearly two years after he signed 3 Idiots and ten months after its release, Aamir Khan has signed a suspense thriller that he will also co-produce. It will be directed by Reema Kagti who had earlier helmed Honeymoon Travels Private Limited.


    Confirming the news, Khan said, “I’ve said yes to Reema’s film. I’m really excited and hope to start shooting in February.” The yet untitled film will have two heroines opposite Khan.


    The pre-production of the film, set in India, will start early December. The makers intend to release the film in Christmas next year.


    On being asked how she managed to get a nod from the actor, Kagti avers, “I thank my lucky stars that Aamir liked our script. We had approached him some months ago and are really glad that he’s agreed.”


    Earlier Kagti was an assistant to Ashutosh Gowariker while he was making Lagaan.
     

  • Reliance Big Entertainment, BBC Earth in $90 mn co-production deal

    MUMBAI: Reliance Big Entertainment (RBE) will be co-producing two 3D films with BBC Earth, the global natural history brand for BBC Worldwide, that will entail an investment of $90 million.


    While Walking Dinosaurs 3D will be built on a budget of $65 million, the documentary feature Africa 3D will cost $25 million.


    RBE will also take up the distribution of these two movies and Life, a documentary produced by BBC Earth. The distribution will be handled by Reliance‘s international film sales and financing subsidiary, IM Global.


    Says BBC Worldwide‘s Managing Director of Global Brands Marcus Arthur, “By
    partnering with Reliance Big Entertainment, we have the opportunity to realise a long held ambition of making BBC Earth 3D feature films.”


    While IM Global will distribute the films worldwide, Life, currently in the post-production stage, will be distributed by Avex in Japan. Life is being produced by Martin Pope and Michael Gunton.


    “IM Global will distribute Life globally but Avex will be distributing it in Japan,” clarifies BBC Worldwide spokesperson Emma Finlay.


    IM Global will begin the international sales of Walking With Dinosaurs at the
    forthcoming American Film Market (AFM) in Santa Monica.


    So why did BBC Worldwide select Reliance as its partner for the three natural history feature films? Says Finlay, “Reliance is an excellent partner for BBC Earth as we benefit from their extensive experience and knowledge of the film industry to ensure the successful launch of our films.”

  • DiCaprio to play serial killer Holmes

    MUMBAI: Leonardo DiCaprio is all set to star and co-produce Erik Larson‘s acclaimed novel The Devil in the White City along with Double Feature principals Michael Shamberg and Stacey Sher. DiCaprio is to play the murder-minded Holmes.


    The non-fiction story focuses on the lives of two men who turned the 1893 Chicago World‘s Fair into their playground.One man, the architect responsible for the fair‘s construction, in a short period of time was forced to overcome immense obstacles to construct the famous White City while the other was a serial killer masquerading as a charming doctor who is believed to be responsible for scores of murders around the time of the fair.
     
    White City has long captivated Hollywood‘s top talent, although the period setting always seemed to be a source of problem. At one point, Kathryn Bigelow was to produce and direct while Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner were also developing an adaptation.


    Till 2004, Paramount was in possession of the book, when it let the option lapse but then it re-optioned it in 2007 for Double Feature to produce.


    The Devil in the White City, that had a shelf-life for three years, has sold 2.3 million copies and has been translated into 17 languages worldwide.
     

  • Tarsem Singh making Snow White film

    MUMBAI: Tarsem Singh, known to be a veteran of commercials who directed R.E.M.‘s clip Losing My Religion has been signed to direct a Snow White feature.


    The untitled project begins with the evil stepmother killing Snow White‘s father and destroying the kingdom. Snow White then enlists a gang of seven quarrelsome dwarves to reclaim what is rightly hers.


    Relativity Media hopes to begin production of the film in March next.


    Singh, who is more commonly known by his first name has just finished The Immortals. His other features include The Cell that starred Jennifer Lopez and The Fall.
     

  • Film on yoga by Holland-based Indian

    MUMBAI: Holland-based filmmaker Rishi Chaman of Indian origin who came to the film horizon with his debut film Bollywood Blues has made a tele film on ‘nada yoga‘ in Dutch and English, supposed to be a modern, spiritual and musical version of the wellness technique where East meets West.


    The word ‘nada‘ refers to the physical, mystical, religious or cosmic sound. Titled Nada Yoga – The Secret Of Sound, the 28-minute film will be telecast on the Dutch Hindu Broadcasting Network OHM. The film will be relevant to watch because one will see how an ancient, secretive tradition in the East is translated to the West. 


    “The focus is on Acharya T. Jaimini who teaches the authentic, demanding form of nada yoga to two of his students, which is confidential,” Chaman said.


    Earlier, Chaman had directed Laxmi Calling Ling, Sapney and Itch and had made documentaries on Indian artistes like Asha Bhosle, Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan and his son Abhishek and Sonu Niigaam.


    Chaman collaborated on the project with Delhi-based Anupama Jain.