ITV

Category: Movies

  • Dabangg continues golden run at the box office

    MUMBAI: Dabangg has proved to be the biggest opening day, opening weekend and first week grosser of all times with the box office figure of Rs 830 million from about 2000 screens.


    The film has recovered the distributors’ investment in all territories including the cost of prints and publicity. Its first share at approximately Rs 460 million is more than the total share of Wanted which would be around Rs 350 million.


    Dabangg continues its golden run in the second weekend. Facing a minor drop in the collections on Friday, it went on to consolidate its hold on the box office over Saturday and Sunday, grossing around Rs 240 million for three days.


    The new release, Life Express, fails to generate any interest among moviegoers with no show status at most cinemas due to lack of audience.
     

  • Robert Redford leads star lineup at MIPCOM

    MUMBAI: MIPCOM will be host to numerous international film and television stars for its 26th edition.


    Topping the lineup is actor, director, producer, Robert Redford who will be attending this year’s event to celebrate the first anniversary of Sundance Channel in Europe. 


    As the founder of the channel, Redford will participate in a media question and answer session on 6 October during which he will discuss the expansion plans of the Sundance Channel.


    Gene Simmons, star of Gene Simmons Family Jewels will deliver a keynote address with Bob DeBitteto, President & General Manager of A&E Network and BIO Channel, during the “How to Build an Entertainment Brand” MIPCOM conference.Simmons is a legendary rock god, multi-media magnate and renowned ladies man. Also attending the annual event is his partner, Shannon Tweed.


    Cannes will also be witness to The Walking Dead brought by Fox International Channels (and Entertainment One) to MIPCOM. Executive producer Gale Anne Hurd , of The Terminator, Aliens, Armageddon and The Incredible Hulk and talent, Andrew Lincoln and Sarah Wayne Callies will be at MIPCOM to promote the series.
     

  • Akunin det for Hollywood remake

    MUMBAI: Akunin (Villain), that got actress Eri Fukatsu the best actress award at Montreal this month is set for a Hollywood remake.


    Fukatsu was joined by co-star Satoshi Tsumabuki and director Sang-il Lee (“Hula Girls”) at a packed presser at the Foreign Correspondents‘ Club of Japan on Tuesday.


    Fukatsu, best-known for the hugely successful Bayside Shakedown series will have Tsumabuki playing the murderous male lead. “I usually discuss what roles I‘ll take with my manager, but after reading the novel the film is based on, I just pursued the part by myself,” said Tsumabuki.


    One of the film’s producers, Genki Kawamura, said that Akunin had been attracting a lot of overseas interest since Fukatsu’s triumph in Montreal. The film has already been sold to Hong Kong and Taiwan and the makers are now in final lap of negotiations for Korea, Singapore and Malaysia.
     

  • Enlighten Film society honours Shabana Azmi

    MUMBAI: The Enlighten Film Society, in association with Brook Bond Taj Mahal, honoured Shabana Azmi with the Taj Enlighten Tareef Award for her outstanding contribution to cinema.


    Not only that, the organisation held a retrospective of films of Azmi in which some of her best films including Ankur, Ek Doctor Ki Maut, Godmother, Dharavi and Fire were screened every Sunday from 5 September at Cinemax.


    Said an excited Azmi to the media, “Today, I am getting the award which has been received by so many distinguished luminaries before me, whose work I have really admired. I feel humbled and thank you from the bottom of my heart.”


    The Taj Enlighten Tareef Award has earlier been presented to Amitabh Bachchan, Mrinal Sen and screenplay writer and lyricist Javed Akhtar.

  • Drew Barrymore to make entry into Bollywood

    MUMBAI: Drew Barrymore, known for her role in Charlie‘s Angels, will soon make her Bollywood debut in a film titled The Lifestyle being made by Santosh Kumar Jain, an industrialist.


    Confirming Barrymore‘s involvement, Jain says, “I really liked her performance in Charlie‘s Angels and decided to cast her in my film. Fortunately, she liked the script and agreed instantly.”


    Jain, who is also a well-known film distributor, is making his debut as a writer and director with this film.


    “Barrymore will certainly be coming to India, but we can only confirm the date once everything is finalised,” avers Jain, who says the budget of the film would be anywhere between Rs1.5 billion.


    The film will go on floors in November this year and is expected to release in 2012.


    The director also claims that it would be India‘s first film to be shot in stereo scopic IMAX 3D version.


    The film that has Barrymore playing the role of a foreigner tells the story of three women from different walks of life, trying to assert their identities. The other two will be top Indian actresses. While a major part of the film would be shot in the US, some scenes would be shot in Haridwar and Benaras.


    Other Hollywood stars who have starred in Bollywood films include Shakira who will play goddess Kaali in a film called Kaali- The Warrior Goddess, Nicolas Cage who is playing the lead in Vidhu Vinod Chopra‘s Broken Horses, Sylvester Stallone, Brandon Routh who also starred in Akshay Kumar starrer Kambakkht Ishq, while Ben Kingsley made his Bollywood debut with Teen Patti.
     

  • Raquel Welch receives Icon award at Temecula fest

    MUMBAI: The 16th annual Temecula Valley International Film & Music Festival, that wrapped up last Sunday honoured actress Raquel Welch, actor Eric Roberts and musician Kenny Loggins.


    While Welch received the Icon Award, Roberts, 54, received a career achievement award. Presenting Roberts‘ award was former wrestling star Steve Austin who co-starred with Roberts in this year‘s action film The Expendables. 


    Since 1995, the festival has screened more than 1,500 films from more than 20 countries. It also features music and film industry workshops.


    Previous festival honorees include Ray Charles, Smokey Robinson, Dionne Warwick and Earth, Wind & Fire as well as Carl Reiner, Gena Rowlands, Michael Madsen and Louis Gossett Jr.

  • Julia Roberts receives Spain’s Donostia award

    MUMBAI: Julia Roberts received the Donostia Award for lifetime achievement from the hands of Eat Pray Love co-star Javier Bardem at the 58th San Sebastian International Film Festival last Monday.


    Exclaimed Roberts, “What a fortunate woman I‘ve been in my life for a variety of reasons. If we were having dinner, I‘d tell you all of them. But now, I‘ll just say thank you from the bottom of my heart.” On his part Bardem called Roberts “fearless,” “fun” and “friend.” 


    The duo is in town along with director Ryan Murphy and Richard Jenkins for the release of Eat in Spain. The film was screened to packed theatres at the festival.


    While Eat was dismissed by critics as light fare, other films in the festival‘s lineup were getting positive reactions.


    Diego Luna‘s directorial debut film Abel screened in the Latin Horizons sidebar and Josh Radnor‘s both played well to audiences with Peter Mullan‘s Scottish gang drama Neds and and Oscar Aibar‘s El Gran Vazquez making a splash in the main competition over the weekend.

  • Tere Bin Laden to open Frairs Comedy Film Fest

    MUMBAI: Walkwater Films’ Tere Bin Laden is making its presence felt in the US. The movie is set to attract the mainstream American space as it is invited to open the Friars Club Comedy Film Festival in New York that will go underway from 24 to 29 September.


    Both director Abhishek Sharma and lead star Ali Zafar will attend the event. Said Festival director Susannah Gora, “It is an honour that an Indian comedy will open the festival this year and it is a rare achievement for Indian cinema in general.”
     
    The Friars Club, an institution founded in 1904, has members including the Marx Brothers, Frank Sinatra and Lucille Ball to Billy Crystal and Jerry Seinfeld. The club is famous for its annual ‘roasts‘ of iconic celebrities. This year Samuel Jackson will ‘roast‘ Quentin Tarantino at the festival.


    In addition, a lifetime achievement award will be presented to Jerry Lewis.
     

  • Problems of regional cinema to be discussed in January meet in Kolkata

    NEW DELHI: A convention of all the Regional Cinemas to address the various problems faced by the regional film industry will be organised sometime during January in Kolkata by the Kolkata Chapter of The Film & TV Producers Guild of India.



    In the meeting in Kolkata recently chaired by eminent Producer/Director Gautam Ghose, members applauded the sincere efforts made by the Guild in redressing film industries various issues. Moni of Venkatesh Films expressed the concern of the TV programmers in Kolkata and said all TV producers had evinced interest in joining the Guild. 


    Earlier, Guild Treasurer Manish Goswami briefed the members about the activities of the Guild and Secretary General Supran Sen expressed gratitude to Ghose and others for reposing confidence in Guild.



    The Hyderabad chapter is also being launched soon, with a sizeable number of eminent filmmakers from Hyderabad including Nagarjuna having joined.
     

  • Court verdict pushes release dates of two movies

    MUMBAI: Fearing disturbance on 24 September, the day when the Ayodhya verdict is expected to be announced, Sajid Nadiadwala has postponed the release of his Ranbir Kapoor-Priyanka Chopra starrer Anjaana Anjaani to 1 October.


    The decision was reportedly taken at a closed-door meeting by producers Sajid Nadiadwala and Eros International as well as director Siddharth Anand. Said an insider at Nadiadwala Grandsons, “Our prints for overseas markets like Australia, America and the UK has already been sent, but last morning after a meeting we decided to postpone the release to 1 October.”


    This means that Anjaana Anjaani is destined to take on the Rajnikant-Aishwarya Rai starrer Robot that is also releasing on the same day. Fox Star Studios’ Khichdi–The Movie will release along with it.


    Averred Fox Star Studios CEO Vijay Singh, “We will release Khichdi on 1 October. The response from the audiences who have seen the film is extremely positive.”


    Incidentally, Kumar Mangat‘s Aakrosh that was supposed to release on
    1 October has been postponed for a 8 October release.


    This development gives Dabangg another week to rule at the box-office without any meaningful competition.