ITV

Category: Movies

  • First Indian film on Christ to be shot in Jerusalem

    MUMBAI: Producer Konda Krishnam Raju is all set to venture into India‘s first film on Jesus Christ to be shot in the Holy Land.


    The film, to be made in three languages, is being made under the banner of Aditya Productions.


    The film will focus on the childhood of Jesus, a contrast with other movies that depict the later years. The two-hour-15-minute biopic is to be directed by Singeetham Srinivasa Rao.


    To be made at $30 million film will be one of India‘s highest budgeted. According to the director, the film with an all-Indian cast of child actors will be narrated in four languages. South Indian star Pawan Kalyan will narrate the Telugu and Malayalam versions while the search is on for the narrator of the Hindi version.


    “This is the first presentation of this type in Bollywood history,” Raju said. The film been green signaled by the authorities in Israel to film in Bethlehem and Jericho.


    American makeup artiste Christien Tinsley has been assigned the job to use special techniques to make the actors appear older. The filmmakers said they chose him because of his immaculate work in The Passion of the Christ that earned him an Oscar nomination.


    The film that gets rolling in October will be released next year.
     

  • Cinemax launches 3-screen multiplex in Ahmedabad

    MUMBAI: On the auspicious occasion of Janmashtami, Cinemax India has launched a three-screen multiplex by the name of Shiv-Cinemax in Ahmedabad.


    The multiplex has opened with the release of We are Family and Emotional Atyachar.


    The multiplex has come up in place of an old landmark property on Ashram Road Shiv.


    Says Cinemax India CEO Sunil Punjabi, “Shiv Cinemax will be a crown of our presence in Gujarat. We have opened to houseful shows on this auspicious day of Janmashtami.”


    The multiplex, having a capacity of 657 seats including 75 recliner seats, (Screen I capacity – 353 patrons, Screen II capacity – 240 patrons and Screen III capacity – 64), offers its patrons a personalised cafe service while enjoying their favourite films.


    Cinemax now runs six multiplexes in Gujarat and 21 screens with a capacity of 5442 seats in the state.


    Shiv was a very popular single-screen cinema hall on Ashram Road, a landmark property which is now converted. The multiplex chain will now have a pan-India presence of 97 screens and 25,830 seats across 30 properties.

  • Roger Garcia is new ED of Hong Kong fest

    MUMBAI: Hong Kong born Roger Garcia is the new executive director of the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society (HKIFFC).


    Garcia, a former director of the festival, film producer, film critic and writer, will manage the society‘s three flagship events: the Hong Kong International Film Festival, the Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum and the Asian Film Awards.


    Garcia‘s work with the Hong Kong International Film Festival started in the late 1970s soon after its inception, where he developed the programming of contemporary and classic Hong Kong cinema and Asian cinema and was involved in introducing the festival‘s bi-lingual publications to present Hong Kong cinema to the world.


    Apart from his contribution to promoting arts and culture in Hong Kong, he was also the first Director of the Filmmakers‘ Development Lab for the Korean Film Council from 2005-2008.


    He also held positions under the Cultural Services Division, Recreation and Culture Department and Home Affairs Department of the Hong Kong Government to advance and develop the arts and cultural sector in Hong Kong, as well as to promote overseas investments in the region as regional director, North America at the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in New York.



    As a film producer, Garcia was behind Columbia Tristar‘s Mark Wahlberg vehicle The Big Hit and Filipino director Raymond Red‘s Himpapawid.
     

  • Lionsgate’s debt rating positive with BO triumphs

    MUMBAI: With the box-office success of both The Expendables and The Last Exorcism, the debt rating of Lionsgate has risen from stable to positive.


    The Vancouver-based mini-studio‘s recent debt reduction, courtesy of a July senior subordinated notes-to-equity conversion has activist shareholder Carl Icahn in a sense of quandry.


    “While Moody‘s remains cautious regarding the inherent and significant volatility of the theatrical production business and the negative cash flow in recent years, the company‘s growing investment in both film, and particularly the upfront investment in television programming, is expected to generate improving operating profits and free cash flow over the next few years,” said rating agency Moody, which rates Lionsgate debt at B2 in a statement.


    The ratings agency also agreed to the uncertainty surrounding Lionsgate from its high-profile fight with Icahn and added, “A material change in the direction of the company that does not balance the interests of both equity and debt holders and that increases credit risk, could cause a reversal of the positive outlook or put downward pressure on the rating.”

  • Dabangg breaks pre-release buzz records on Ormax’s Cinematix

    MUMBAI: The Salman Khan starrer Dabangg has registered a record breaking score on awareness two weeks ahead of release, according to Ormax Media‘s film awareness tracking product Cinematix.


    As per its latest report, with an unaided awareness of 50 per cent, Dabangg may have a bumper opening on the box-office.


    Cinematix track is conducted across the key theatrical revenue markets – Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Indore. Cinematix covers theatre visitors in the age group of 15-34 years in SEC AB.


    Since the start of Cinematix in May this year, Dabangg‘s unaided awareness of 50 per cent has been the highest that any film has scored two weeks prior to release on Cinematix. 


    “50 per cent unaided awareness means that when asked which new films are releasing in the future, 50 per cent respondents could name Dabangg as one of the upcoming films,” the company said.


    Prior to Dabangg, Kites was the top film with 44 per cent unaided awareness two-weeks prior to launch, followed by Raajneeti (33 per cent), I Hate Luv Stories (31 per cent), Raavan (23 per cent), Peepli Live (22 per cent), Khatta Meetha (18 per cent) and Lafangey Parindey (12 per cent).


    Cinematix track is done every week and the subscribers get a detailed report every Monday with age, gender, city and SEC-wise analysis for all films releasing in the corresponding period, as well as daily scores in the week of release.


    Other films currently in the Cinematix track include: We Are Family, Anjaana Anjaani, Action Replayy, Khichdi – The Movie, Crook, Rakta Charitra and Robot.

  • Reliance MediaWorks plans to raise Rs 5 bn via QIP

    MUMBAI: Reliance MediaWorks, a leading film and entertainment company, plans to raise up to Rs 5 billion by private placement of shares with investors.


    The Anil Ambani group firm has received approval from shareholders to raise the amount through qualified institutional placement.


    “A shareholders‘ approval is mandatory – and has been taken in advance, in case we propose to place a QIP anytime in this year,” the company said in a statement.


    The company had approved a similar enabling resolution for QIP placement up to 25 per cent of the issued and paid up capital.


    Reliance MediaWorks has also approved the appointment of Anil Sekhri, Gautam Doshi and Ajay Prasad as Director on the board of the company.

  • Suhasini Ratnam in all-woman MAMI jury

    MUMBAI: The 12th MAMI Mumbai film festival this year will for the first time ever have an all-women jury. Incidentally, Mani Ratnam’s wife, Suhasini, the only Indian, has been selected to be in the panel of five jury members headed by Academy Award winner Jane Champion.


    This year the MAMI film festival is being organised by Reliance Big Pictures and since they were the producers of Mani Ratnam’s film Raavan, they found it appropriate to approach Ranam’s wife to be a jury member to which she agreed.


    Suhasini made her debut in 1980 with the Tamil film Nenjathai Killathe and since then, she was part of several South Indian films. She won the National Award for best actress for her role in the Tamil film Sindhu Bhairavi in ’85. In 1996, she wrote and directed Indira. She also produced Iruvar in ‘97.


    Suhasini runs the production company Madras Talkies along with her husband.

  • Venice Film Fest opens today

    MUMBAI: The Venice film festival opens today with Black Swan starring Natalie Portman as a ballet dancer in New York.


    Festival director Marco Mueller has opted for youth in his choice of directors of the twenty three competition films and hopes that the presence of Hollywood mavericks could make up for the expected shortage of A-list celebrities this year.


    Jury president Quentin Tarantino, who will decide as to who walks away with the coveted Golden Lion award at the closing ceremony on 11 September said that his time on the picturesque island would be more work than play.


    Venice, the world‘s oldest film festival and one of its most prestigious, has long been looking over its shoulder at Canadian rival Toronto, with which it overlaps and which is seen as cheaper and more business-focused than the Italian event.
     

  • Saving Grace star to head Stockholm Fest jury

    MUMBAI: Saving Grace star Holly Hunter will lead the jury for the upcoming Stockholm International Film Festival. She will head up the panel selected to choose the winner of the festival‘s top award, the Bronze Horse.


    The event will also honour filmmaker Gus Van Sant who directed Milk, Elephant and Paranoid Park. 


    “I am honoured to be serving as this year‘s jury president at the Stockholm International Film Festival. I‘m especially excited that this year‘s festival is celebrating the extraordinary achievements of filmmaker Gus Van Sant,” Hunter said.


    The event, that will screen more than 20 films will go underway on 18 November.
     

  • Piracy committee suggests cost-effective solutions

    NEW DELHI: The Committee on Piracy set up by the Central Government today recommended that the content creators, rights holders, distributors, optical disc manufacturers and theatre/multiplex operators need to come together and come up with cost effective solutions.


    These measures will include converting traditional theatres in smaller towns into digital theatres and releasing genuine DVDs in bigger cities simultaneously with theatrical release in order to make piracy unviable.


    In order to plug piracy from the cinema halls during screening of films, the responsibility should be cast on the theatre/multiplex operators to ensure that viewers do not carry a cam-cording device inside the theatre. The Committee has felt that this be made a condition of the license being granted to theatres and multiplexes by the district authorities.


    The Committee has recommended that state governments may enact legislations to provide for preventive detention of video & audio pirates as has been done in some States like Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. Video pirates may also be brought under the definition of the ‘Goondas’ under the Goonda Act.


    The Committee headed by Information and Broadcasting Special Secretary Uday Kumar Varma today presented its report to I&B Minister Ambika Soni. It had been set up in pursuance of the decision arrived in the 27th State Information Ministers’ Conference held in December 2009 (SIMCON).


    The Committee in its report has made key recommendations, viewing the problem of piracy through the parameters of demand and supply. In its recommendations, the Committee has focused on mainstreaming instruments of policy and practice in an effort to make piracy substantially risky and financially unattractive.


    In order to make Films Entertainment more accessible, the Committee suggested that the price of legitimate Optical Discs need to be brought down in order to make filmed entertainment accessible to the people at a price that they can afford. Measures need to be undertaken to ensure high fidelity in genuine DVDs so as to dissuade the public from buying pirated versions.


    Steps need to be taken by DVD manufacturers along with rights holders and content distributors to ensure that there is no compromise with the quality of genuine DVDs sold and that the viewer is not short-changed.


    The Committee has also recommended amendments in the Cable Television Networks Act in order to replace the existing system of registration of cable operators with the licensing system.


    Taking note of recent industry initiatives like setting up ‘”Alliance against Copyright Theft (AACT)”, the Committee recommends that such initiatives will supplement other efforts to curb piracy if multiplied and intensified.


    The Committee has also recommended that the Internet Service Providers should be roped in to check Internet piracy by asking them to initiate action against errant subscribers. In this regard, the Committee recommends that the three stage strike model may be adopted.


    In order to buttress the supply side, the Committee in its report has recommended traditional 35 mm screens should be converted into digital ones so as to facilitate simultaneous release of films across the country as also reduce distribution costs. Digitalisation of screens, which have already taken roots in the country with the setting up of almost 3000 such screens, need to be given impetus.


    To enhance, sensitization of police, judicial and administrative officials about the Copyright Act, the Committee has felt that their efforts need to be substantially up-scaled along with training and capacity building. This would enable these officials to curb violations which have resulted in rampant piracy.


    The Committee also recommended that the option of allowing copyright owners to register with the Copyright Office online should be explored. Alternatively, “censor” certificate granted by CBFC should be treated as evidence of copyright.


    The aim of setting up a committee to suggest measures to combat various forms of piracy, namely, films, video, cable, and music piracy emerged during SIMCON in New Delhi on 5 December 2009 which was attended by, among others, Information Ministers of various State Governments as well as representatives of the film industry.


    Appreciating that piracy is one of the biggest challenges to the integrity of the film and broadcasting industry, Soni had set up a broad based committee comprising representatives from film and broadcasting industry. The Committee was set up on 18 December with the mandate to recommend measures to combat film, video, cable and music piracy.


    Apart from Varma, members of the Committee were: filmmaker Yash Chopra, Film & Television Producers’ Guild of India President Manmohan Shetty, former Film Federation of India President G. Adisheshagiri Rao, Indian Broadcasting Foundation President Jawahar Goel, Association of Radio Operators’ of India member Prashant Pandey, and the Director (Broadcasting) in the Ministry, with Director (Films) in the Ministry as Member Secretary.