Category: Movies

  • Anjaana Anjaani characters in comic books

    MUMBAI: Though it didn‘t do wonders at the box-office, Sajid Nadiawala‘s Anjaana Anjaani is still in the news. The two suicidal protagonists in the film, who meet when they are on the verge of suicide, are about to take a plunge in the comic book arena.


    The protagonists played by Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra will now feature in a series of comic books describing the adventures of their characters Akash and Kiera.


    Nadiadwala has spoken to a leading publishing house which has agreed to the idea. The first graphics have already been prepared and if all goes well, the inaugural comic based on Ranbir and Priyanka‘s characters in Anjaana Anjaani will hit the stands during Diwali.


    Avers Nadiadwala, “A lot of us involved with the film felt that the characters that Priyanka and Ranbir play in the film will translate well into comic books. We are in negotiation. But I can‘t really talk about the project until things are finalised.”


    Depending upon the success of the comic books, Nadiadwala also wants to make a cartoon version of the Anjaana Anjaani characters for satellite television and internet entitled The Mad Mad Adventures Of Kiera and Akash.

  • Docu-drama 1 A Minute to open on 29 October

    MUMBAI: In an effort to raise awareness about breast cancer, UniGlobe Entertainment Production has produced a docu-drama called 1 A Minute.


    Directed by Namrata Singh Gujral, the film has been made in association with Priya Dutt‘s Nargis Dutt Memorial Charitable Trust (NDMCT). A part of the profits from each ticket sale of the film that releases on 29 October will be donated to NDMCT.


    Incidentally, Dutt has lost two members of her family to cancer. Her mother, Nargis Dutt, succumbed to pancreatic cancer while her sister-in-law Richa Sharma survived cancer but eventually passed away because of a brain tumour.


    Dutt says that instead of being depressed, she came out of the incidents a stronger person. “Richa was only in her 30s when she passed away,” Dutt reminisces. “She was one of the strongest women I knew. She was beautiful, but cancer treatment had made her look unrecognizable. Even then, she‘d laugh and joke about the disease, rather than be upset. And she survived the cancer and went on to live for five more years after that.


    “That‘s also the message of the film,” she adds. “It‘s easy to give up and die, but if you are positive, and if you fight, you can actually survive cancer. It‘s all in the mind.”


    Dutt recalls that it was different when her mother passed away. “I was only 13 at that time, too young to deal with it,” she reminisces. “It was a difficult time because we were seeing our mother in a different light, since she was so sick. Yet, our father kept us strong after her death, because he chose to fight the disease by starting NDMCT.”


    Narrated by Kelly McGillis, 1 A Minute stars international actors like Lisa Ray, Olivia Newton-John, Melissa Etheridge, Barbara Mori and director Gujral all of whom have survived cancer.

  • Cinemax ropes in Supriya Bambawale as marketing head

    MUMBAI: Supriya Bambawale has joined Cinemax India as marketing head. She will report to CEO Sunil Punjabi.


    Bambawale has an overall experience of 15 years and has worked with brands like The Vanity Case Group, Animax, DQ Entertainment, Buena Vista India and A.C Nielsen Research. 


    Comments Punjabi, “Supriya has enough experience working for harsh brands in the fields of research, films and television. With this kind of experience, we are confident that she will bring new impetus in the area of multiplex marketing, gaming and branding.”
     

  • Egyptian actress Yosra to preside over DTFF jury

    MUMBAI: Acclaimed Egyptian actress Yosra will preside over the Jury of the 2nd annual Doha Tribeca Film Festival (DTFF) scheduled to be held from 26 to 30 October.


    Yosra replaces the previously announced Jury President, Hany Abu-Assad who had to step back due to a delay in production of his latest film The Courier currently being shot on location in Louisiana.


    The Egyptian actress will be joined by four other members of the film industry who comprise the inaugural jury, Salma Hayek Pinault, actor, writer and director Nick Moran, Indian director Bhawna Talwar and Bosnian screenwriter and film director Danis Tanovic. Together they will choose the winners of the Festival‘s Arab Film Competition: Best Arab Film and Best Arab Filmmaker who will each receive monetary awards of US$100,000.


    Additionally, the festival has also added seven more feature films to its programme – including Andrew Lau‘s Legend Of The Fist: The Return Of Chen Zhen, John Curran‘s Stone, Machete, Casino Jack and a special IMAX presentation of Paranormal Activity 2.


    Two Hindi films Rakht Charitra by Ramgopal Varma and Vikramaditya Motwane‘s Udaan will also have their Qatar premiere at the festival , while Champs Elysees Je T‘aime has been added to the Arab Short Film Competition.


    Remarked Yosra, “I‘m honoured to be the first Jury President of the Doha Tribeca Film Festival and I want to thank my fellow jurors Salma, Nick, Danis and Bhavna for joining me. It‘s a great privilege for me to work with them and I hope that together, we can fulfill the expectations of the filmmakers, and can contribute towards highlighting the Arab Cinema and further encouraging the talent from the region.”


    Said DFI Executive Director Amanda Palmer, “We are delighted Yosra is joining us in Doha as our first Jury President for DTFF‘s first Arab Film Competition. Yosra supported us immensely in our first year as a festival, and in our second year it‘s an honour to welcome this cinematic icon to preside over an international jury.”

  • Boy Tarzan Sheffield dies at 79

    MUMBAI: Yesteryear child actor, Johnny Sheffield , who played Boy in the Tarzan movie series in the late 1930s and ‘40s and later starred in the Bomba, the Jungle Boy film series has expired at the age of 79.


    Sheffield died of a heart attack at his home in Chula Vista about four hours after he fell off a ladder while pruning a palm tree. “He was a jungle boy to the end,” his wife said noting that her husband of 51 years wasn‘t too high in the tree when he fell.


    The son of British actor Reginald Sheffield was 7 when his father saw an advertisement in a Hollywood morninger that asked, “Do you have a Tarzan Jr. in your backyard?”
     

  • Kerala High Court stays National award to Kesu

    MUMBAI: The National film award won by Sivan directed Malayalam children‘s film Kesu has been stayed by the Kerala High Court. A bench of Justice Antony Dominic, through an interim order, stayed the National film award for Kesu but directed that all other awards can be given to the film.


    The stay was granted in connection with a petition filed by filmmaker Majid Gulistan whose children‘s film Chithrakuzhal was rejected by the regional jury. 


    Said N. Nandakumara Menon, counsel for Gulistan, “The court accepted the argument that Kesu was a remake of an earlier film Pularvattom which won the state award in 2001.


    A film which is a remake of an earlier film should not be considered for the national award, the petitioner claimed.


    Sivan is the father of film personalities like Santosh, Sangeeth and Sanjeev. Gulistan also pleaded that Sivan‘s film should not get the national award because Sivan‘s son Sanjeev was a member of the regional jury. He alleged his film was intentionally blocked by Sanjeev so that his father‘s film could go to the national jury.
     

  • Fox Star Studios to end year with Gulliver’s Travels

    MUMBAI: After releasing a spate of successful films, Fox Star Studios India is set to end 2010 with a few mega releases.


    The studio’s first offering would be Tony Scott‘s action film Unstoppable that will hit the theatres on 26 November. The film stars Denzel Washington and Chris Pine and trails a rail company‘s frantic efforts to prevent an unmanned, half-mile-long freight train carrying combustible liquids and poisonous gas from wiping out a city. The film would be dubbed in Hindi as well.


    December marks the return of one of the biggest franchises of recent times – The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treder. The movie will be up for release on 10 of December in 3D. The release would be one of the biggest Hollywood releases ever in India, with around 1000 plus prints across multiple languages including Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.


    Eventually ending the year would be 3D live-action family adventure Gulliver‘s Travels, based on the 18th century novel of the same name by Jonathan Swift. Directed by Rob Letterman, the film will release on 31 December.
     

  • Ekta Kapoor corners Ajay Devgn for A Dirty Picture

    MUMBAI: Encouraged by the immense response that her film Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai garnered, producer Ekta Kapoor has once again approached director Milan Luthria and Ajay Devgn to team up for her next film. 


    The next film, titled A Dirty Picture, is a story about a controversial actress who after a titillating career ended up in the porn industry. The makers have confirmed Vidya Balan to enact the principal role, while Luthria is keen to cast Devgn for the main lead. Two more male characters are in the process of finalisation.


    The film will start rolling in February next year.
     

  • 3D movie Dam 999 at American Film Market

    MUMBAI: 3D film Dam 999, produced by Biz TV Network and directed by Sohan Roy, is to make its presence in American Film Market.


    The story of Dam 999 revolves around a hundred year old dam and populace living around it. It raises the environmental issues that are caused by the construction of a new dam that would probably replace the old one and how it affects the inhabitants in that area. It speaks about the exploitation of resources and atrocities by politicians in the name of development which personifies the vulgar face of power politics of any country.
     
    The film that has been inspired by a tragic dam disaster that took the lives of over 2.5 million people speaks about a colonial dam, its disaster, the nine characters and their emotions.


    In a sense, the film is a mirror that reflects the unspoken miseries of thousands of people who have seen the disgusting face of development. It is a tribute to those who live under the terror of dam collapse.


    The American Film market is considered as one of the biggest events in Los Angeles, showcasing films from all around the world.
     

  • Mel Gibson as tattoo artist in Hangover sequel

    MUMBAI: In a cameo, Mel Gibson will appear as a tattoo artist in the sequel of Hangover. Gibson will make the brief appearance in the Todd Phillips comedy The Hangover 2.


    The sequel will feature the return of Zach Galifianakis, Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Justin Bartha who starred in the original as friends trying to piece together a rowdy Vegas bachelor party. This time the location is set for Bangkok.


    Sources say that the tattoo artist character is “important” to the plot.


    The release of Gibson‘s next film, the Jodie Foster-directed Beaver, has been postponed by Summit Entertainment.