ITV

Category: Movies

  • Tainted Mohammed Asif out of Malayalam film

    MUMBAI: Tainted in the recent match-fixing controversy that came to light recently, Pakistani fast bowler Mohammed Asif who was to make his debut in a Malayalam film, Mazhavillin Attamvare, has been shown the door.


    The film‘s director Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri has said that he just can‘t go ahead with the project with Asif on board. ‘He has to be changed because now I do not want to go ahead with him,‘ the debutant director said.


    The film has its lead character, a Pakistani cricketer arriving as a bowling coach at a cricket academy in Kerala, searching for his roots.


    ‘I will try some other Pakistani cricketer and, if not, I will seek a Pakistani film actor to do the central role in my film, for which shooting starts in the second week of October,‘ Namboothiri added.


    Apart from directing the film, he has also penned its story, script, dialogues and songs.

  • Bhindi Baazaar to show at Venice Fest

    MUMBAI: Picture Thoughts‘ first venture Bhindi Baazaar will be screened at the 67th Venice Film Festival that will go underway from 1 to 11 September.


    The thriller is a realistic and gripping account of politics set in the backdrop of the underbelly of Mumbai pick-pockets in the infamous and densely populated area of Mumbai‘s Bhindi Baazar.


    “It‘s an honour to be a part of the prestigious Venice Film Festival this year. The type of exposure Bhindi Baazaar will amass on this platform will help create a strong buzz among the international and Indian audiences about the film,” said Picture Thoughts producer and chairman Karan Arora.


    Directed by Ankush Bhatt, the film stars Kay Kay Menon, Prashant Narayanan, Piyush Mishra, Pawan Malhotra, Shilpa Shukla, Deepti Naval, Shweta Verma, Vedita, Gautam Sharma and debutant American artiste Caterina Lopez.

  • David Ellis to direct Shark Night 3D

    MUMBAI: Director David Ellis, who helmed Snakes on a Plane and two parts of the Final Destination and producer Mike Fleiss are finalising their cast for the horror film Shark Night 3D.


    The story of the film revolves around seven men and women who spend a weekend at a lake house in Louisiana‘s Gulf area. When their vacation quickly becomes a nightmare of hellish shark attacks, unheard of in freshwater lakes, they soon discover that the sharks are part of a sick, greedy plan on the part of several locals.
    In the star cast of the film are Sinqua Walls, Chris Carmack, Alyssa Diaz and Joel David Moore.


    While Walls plays a Tulane University linebacker with plans on marrying his college sweetheart Diaz, Carmack is the ex-boyfriend of the female lead. Moore provides the comic relief as a socially awkward man who fancies himself a young Brad Pitt.


    The movie is scheduled for an early September roll in Louisana.

  • Isabella Rossellini to head Berlin Fest jury

    MUMBAI: Italian-American actress and director Isabella Rossellini will preside over the Jury of the 61st Berlin International Film Festival to be held from 10 to 20 February next year.


    “It‘s fantastic that Isabella Rossellini will be the President of the Berlinale Jury in 2011,” says the festival‘s director Dieter Kosslick. 


    Rossellini, one of the most renowned actresses in international cinema has also become a distinguished producer and director. The daughter of Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman and of Italian director Roberto Rossellini, she first started her career as a fashion designer and journalist.


    Her acting debut came in 1976, when she appeared with her mother in Vincente Minelli‘s A Matter Of Time. She then went on to do films by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, Norman Mailer, Robert Zemeckis, Joel Schumacher, John Schlesinger, Peter Weir, Abel Ferrara, Stanley Tucci, Guy Maddin, Peter Greenaway and many others.


    She acquired international fame in David Lynch‘s films Blue Velvet (1986) and Wild at Heart (1990).


    In addition to her career in cinema, Isabella Rossellini was also a top cosmetics model in the ‘80s onward.

  • Film producers want Shah Rukh Khan to be in their body

    MUMBAI: Shah Rukh Khan is being considered to be part of a core committee of the film industry‘s Producers‘ Association. The topic will be brought up when the producers meet soon to conduct their annual general meeting (AGM).


    Producers plan to suggest the name of Khan to be included in the decision-making body that will look at keeping them unified and address issues that filmmakers across India face. 


    They believe that since Khan is in the industry for several years, his experience will definitely count on matters of how to keep the producers united like was evident when the producers’ body put up a brave fight against the multiplex owners in the profit sharing issue last year.


    Aamir Khan was also being considered to be part of the body alongside Khan but he backed out because he was dragged to Court by the Competition Commission on charges of forming a cartel during the filmmakers and multiplex owners‘ strike.


    Said Producers‘ Association senior vice-president Mukesh Bhatt, “Shah Rukh Khan‘s name being considered to hold a key post in the association is a welcome news. He should come on board since he is an actor-producer and I feel that his services would be of great help to our association.”
     

  • Lafangey Parindey grosses Rs 168 mn in opening week

    MUMBAI: Yash Raj Films’ Lafangey Parindey has been rejected by moviegoers on all counts, from its title to story to performance and music.


    The film’s opening weekend grossed a dismal Rs 90 million. The film slid further as the week progressed and ended at Rs 168 million from over 800 screens.


    “The script was unconvincing and poorly handled. Neil Nitin Mukesh proved a drawback and the music was not up to the mark, which is a must especially for a love story,” says Aditya Chowksey, CEO, Maurya Arts P. Ltd, a prominent CI distributor.


    The week saw a cluster of six releases in ‘Aashayein‘, ‘Hello Darling‘, ‘Antardwand‘, ‘Madholal Keep Walking‘, ‘Soch Lo‘ and ‘Gumshuda‘. While a couple of them had the distinction of having made it to some film festivals, not a single one showed any commercial potential nor the face value to draw the initial audience.


    As expected, the outcome has been disastrous resulting in cancelled shows for lack of audience or withdrawal from cinemas mid week.
     

  • Fox Star Studios in 2-movie deal with Vipul Shah

    MUMBAI: Fox Star Studios India has entered into a two-movie deal with Vipul Amrutlal Shah‘s Blockbuster Films.


    The yet untitled film, a remake of the Tamil hit Kaka Kaka, will star John Abraham and Asin. The film will be directed by Nishikant Kamath. 


    Said Fox Star Studios India CEO Vijay Singh, “It is still too early to talk about the film right now, but we will come out with a formal announcement soon.”
    Shah will make a visual effects-driven fantasy action film while the other will be a contemporary romantic comedy.


    The agreement between the two also includes a first look deal on Shah‘s future projects.

  • Vishal Kapur quits Fun Cinemas to join KFC

    MUMBAI: Fun Cinemas COO Vishal Kapur, who was with the cinema chain for the last four and half years, has quit and has joined Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) chain as CEO, Nigeria.


    Taking about his leaving Fun Cinemas, Kapur said, “There isn‘t any specific reason for me to quit Fun. It‘s just that I wanted to go back into the food line that I was in earlier.”


    Fun Cinemas senior vice president Deepak Saluja has taken over from Kapur.
    Kapur will be joining KFC on 6 September.

  • Vidhu Vinod Chopra signs Nicolas Cage for Broken Horses

    MUMBAI: Nicolas Cage is on board the Vidhu Vinod Chopra produced and directed film Broken Horses. The film has Barrie Osborne as the executive producer. 


    While cage will play one of the leading roles, Mickey Rourkey will play an impotant role in the gangster film.


    Chopra‘s latest film has been inspired by his own film Parinda that starred Anil Kapoor, Jackie Shroff and Madhuri Dixit.


    Broken Legs, being produced by Chopra in association with Reliance Big Pictues, will start shooting early next year.
     

  • Expendables, Airbender neck-to-neck at overseas b-o

    MUMBAI: The Expendables and The Last Airbender are neck-to-neck as far as No.1 at the overseas box-office is concerned.


    M. Night Shyamalan‘s 3D adaptation of the Nickelodeon TV series grossed an estimated $18 million from a number of 5,843 venues in 51 locations for an overseas total of $120 million. 


    Paramount‘s Airbender opened at No. 1 in Mexico with $4 million from 812 spots, while its first China round roped in $2.6 million from 1,500 locations. Weekend estimates puts Expendables‘ weekend tally roughly at $18 million while Expendables is playing in a total of 32 markets via various local distributors with only a handful of major territories reporting so far. Its overall haul is estimated at $75 million.


    The Milennium Films /Nu Image Films super-octane action vehicle The Expendables directed by and co-starring Sylvester Stallone with Jason Stratham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Eric Roberts and Mickey Rourke, opened in Germany, Norway and Thailand in the latest round. The film stands on the No. 2 position in Germany with an estimated intake of $3.2 million from 525 sites.


    20th Century Fox‘s overseas introduction of a “special edition” of Avatar at 1,046 screens in 14 markets grossed $4.26 million more than enough to push director James Cameron‘s sci fi blockbuster walk past the $2 billion foreign-gross mark.