Category: Movies

MUMBAI: Nandita Das’ directorial debut Firaaq, based on the 2002 communal riots, won her much acclaim from all quarters. It won three awards at the Asian Festival of First Films in Singapore, the Special Prize at the International Thessaloniki Film Festival and an award at the Kara Film Festival.

After a short sabbatical, the director is back to helm another sensitive subject – that of human trafficking in her new film, Trafficking.

Trafficking tells the story of three sex workers from India, Nigeria and Ukraine. The film is written by Siddharth Kara for producers Luca Guadagnino of First Sun Pictures in Italy and Elizabeth Stanley who were pretty impressed with Das’ directorial debut.

Says Das, “The producers approached me at the end of last year and we have been in serious talks since then. I met the writer, Siddharth Kara, in London earlier this year and have been giving my inputs for the next draft of the script. The producers are well aware of Vihaan in my life and sensitive to it.”

The pre-production of the film will start after March next year and will go on the floors after a couple of months thereafter.

MUMBAI: Multiplex major PVR is looking for a buyer of its property at Phoenix Mills in central Mumbai for Rs 800 million-Rs 1 billion by the end of this fiscal.

The company will use the amount to fund its future capex needs. “We are looking at sale and lease back of our property at Phoenix Mills. We expect the deal to fetch Rs 800 million-Rs 1 billion,” a source said.

PVR expects to post strong performances in the second and third quarters from its exhibition business. The management feels that this segment will be aided by a strong movie pipeline – both domestic and Hollywood – and substantial screen additions.

PVR has added 28 screens and 7,500 seats over the last six months. PVR’s management expects a pipeline of almost 14-15 3D English movies (most of them being sequels) to be released over the next 18-24 months, and contributing 27-28 per cent to the topline, according to a research report by Angel Broking.

PVR Pictures released Aisha, which is estimated to have contributed a net revenue of Rs 200 million. Two more productions are lined up in FY’11. The company has also bagged the pan-India distribution rights for Action Replayy, which will be a Diwali release.

Blu-O is expected to add a 26-lane bowling alley by the fourth quarter of this fiscal, in Vasant Kunj, Delhi. The company is targeting a total of 150 lanes by FY’12 and expects it to be a Rs 800-900 million business.

Angel Broking expects PVR to register 44 per cent CAGR in consolidated topline for the period FY2010-12E. Fuelling this growth will be a 34 per cent CAGR in exhibition revenues, 120 per cent CAGR in PVR Pictures and 80 per cent CAGR in Blu-O.

MUMBAI: The 12th Mumbai Film Festival (MFF) to be held from 21 to 28 October will pick up 32 college students as special jury for its Mumbai Young Critics (MYC) section.

Initiated last year, MYC was an initiative to demarcate a place for young, budding viewers and aspiring filmmakers.

“The objective of Mumbai Young Critics is to provide young impressionable minds with the opportunity to experience the aesthetic standards of the best in cinema, and to experience world-class film criticism and appreciation first-hand. Amongst aspiring film reviewers, only 32 college students will be selected for MYC to form an independent student jury,” said an official statement.

The selections for the same will be made based on nominations from authorities at the city‘s top colleges by 15 September.

Each academic institution will nominate up to two students who have a keen interest in cinema and also who have an understanding of the history and development of the film medium.

All nominees will then go through a selection process that will consist of on-the-spot film reviewing, group discussion and interviews. They will then further go through a workshop with established film critics and filmmakers in order to understand their responsibilities.

The final lot of 32 colleges will not only have the opportunity to watch all films screened during the festival, interact with celebrity guests, but will also participate in the press conferences, seminars and master classes. Their reviews will be published in the festival daily bulletin and other festival publications.

The team will honour a film with a Silver Gateway trophy and a certificate at the gala.

MUMBAI: Fox Star Studios said it is entering into the production of Tamil films and has signed a two-movie deal with director-turned producer AR Murugadoss.

Fox will co-produce and distribute the two movies. Said Fox International Productions head Sanford Pantich, “We are very excited to enter the Tamil film industry, it looks very promising.” 

After Murugadoss, the studio has decided to approach Gautam Menon. This was evident when both Pantich and Fox Star Studios India CEO Vijay Singh watched Menon‘s Vinnaithandi Varuvaya.

“We enjoyed Menon‘s film and it was an amazing movie. But we are first focusing on our joint venture with Murugadoss. His body of work in the Tamil film industry is very impressive, especially in Ghajini,” Singh said.

MUMBAI: A weeklong retrospective of Rishi Kapoor films is to be held in Durban, Johannesburg and Pietrrmaritzburg in South Africa from 17 September.

The retrospective is part of a festival titled ‘Shared History – The Indian Experience’ to mark the 150-year celebration of the first migration of Indian indentured labour to South Africa.
 

The retrospective and ‘In Conversation’ with Kapoor, hosted by Teamwork Productions, will screen films such as Bobby, Laila Majnu, Karz, Prem Rog, Chandini and Luck by Chance.

Kapoor was keen to include his forthcoming venture Do Dooni Chaar, in which he stars along with his wife after 30 years. But since the film will have an all round release on 8 October, it could not be incorporated.

MUMBAI: Freida Pinto has signed a Hollywood period film opposite Spanish actor Antonio Banderas.

Titled Black Thirst, the film is directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud of Enemy at the Gates and Seven Years in Tibet fame. It is the story of how America, in pursuit of oil, started targeting the Gulf as early as 1920.

The film that stars Tahar Rahim (of A Prophet fame) and Mark Strong is to be shot in Tunisia. Pinto plays an Arabian princess and is paired opposite Rahim, but she has a lot many scenes with Banderas.

The film is based on Hans R Ruesch‘s globally-acclaimed work South of the Heart: A Novel of Modern Arabia published in 1957.

The story is set in 1929 when an affluent Arab prince falls in love with a princess but his marital bliss is shortlived as tension and duty to protect his country after oil is discovered in the Gulf befalls on him.

The film is Pinto‘s sixth straight international film after Rise of the Apes, Immortals, Miral, You Will Meet a Tall, Dark Stranger and Slumdog Millionaire.

MUMBAI: We Are Family, co-produced by Dharma Productions and UTV Motion Pictures, has collected Rs 27 million on Thursday by paid previews.

UTV, which holds the distribution rights of the movie, said in a statement that the Kajol, Kareena Kapoor and Arjun Rampal starrer movie had an excellent opening day on Thursday (2 September, Krishna Janmashtami) with special festival previews across India.

UTV said that it is the second highest benchmark ever for collections from paid previews on a limited release for a film.

The movie is a remake of the Susan Sarandon-Julia Roberts starrer Stepmom and is directed by debutant Siddharth Malhotra.

MUMBAI: Toronto, the financial capital of Canada, will be host to next year’s International Indian Film Academy Awards (IIFA).

Canada came out as a top choice to host the awards as it already has a large fan base for Bollywood films. Besides, the country also boasts a large Asian community.

The four-day event will take place between 16 and 19 June next year where besides the actual awards ceremony, there will be an industry conference and also a film festival.

With the IIFA to be staged there, it will be a great opportunity for Toronto to make a name for itself on the world stage. As many as 40,000 tourists are expected to descend on the city when the event takes place.

Since the ceremony was launched way back in 2000, the awards have been held in different international cities like Dubai, Amsterdam, Johannesburg, Bangkok and Colombo amongst others.