Category: Movies

MUMBAI: Genelia D‘souza will play the princess of Portugal in cinematographer-director Santosh Sivan‘s next directorial venture Unmi.

The film would be a period film based in the 15th century and centres around a boy who wanted to kill Vasco Da Gama.

The film, to be simultaneously made in Malayalam and Tamil, has Prithiviraj in the male lead. It is expected to go on the floors in August.

Giving details of his film‘s title, Sivan explains, “Urumi is the eight-feet-long flexible sword that is used in Kalari fights.”
 

MUMBAI: Twentieth Century Fox will release a special edition of James Cameron‘s Avatar titled Avatar: Special Edition.

The special edition will be released in theatres worldwide including India on 27 August in a limited engagement and exclusively in Digital 3D and IMAX 3D format. 

This version of Cameron‘s epic will include more than eight minutes of new footage. Since Avatar‘s release last December, the number of available digital 3D screens has more than doubled and moviegoers who missed experiencing the film in 3D will now have that opportunity.

Said James Cameron, “Audiences repeatedly told me that they wanted more of Pandora and wished they could have stayed there longer. So we‘re making that possible.

Avatar: Special Edition will be exclusively in 3D and will have eight minutes of never before seen footage including new creatures and action scenes. Whether you already love the movie, or you‘ve never seen it, with this special edition, you‘ll be seeing it like never before.”

Averred Fox Filmed Entertainment chairmen and CEOs, Jim Gianopulos and Tom Rothman, “Avatar: Special Edition is especially gratifying because not only has Avatar become one of the most beloved films in history, but after its initial theatrical release, we have been inundated with requests to re-release the film in theatres in 3D. Equally important, we‘re thrilled that Cameron is able to give audiences even more of what they loved about Avatar.”

Commented Fox Star Studios India CEO, Vijay Singh, “The re-release of Avatar along with the additional footage will enable millions of Indians to once again experience the magic of the film in 3D. And with the significant growth of 3D screens over the last 6 months, we are excited that Avatar will also reach out to new audiences in 3D across many more centers around the country”

The Oscar and Golden Globe winning epic is the highest grossing film of all time, roping in over $2.7 billion in worldwide box-office. It is also the top-selling Blu-ray disc of all time.
 

MUMBAI: The 2010 New Zealand International Film Festival opened in Auckland yesterday night with the screening of the Italian drama I am Love with Tild Swinton.

The rest of the regional centres have got their gala openings too including Wellington that will host the world premiere of Predicament starring Tim Finn, Heath Franklin and Jemaine Clement.
 

Films that will be screened at the fest include Teenage Paparazzo, Four Lions, Joan Rivers : A Piece of Works, There Once Was An Island, The Room among others.

Teenage Paparazzo, a brilliant debut documentary by TV2 Entourage star Adrian Grenier, follows Adrian as he decides to see what makes the paparazzi tick – through one of the youngest photographers on the beat Austin Visschedyk.

Four Lions This film about four Muslim terrorists in the UK was always likely to divide – but judging from early reaction, it simply shows all sides as complete idiots and is immensely funny.

Joan Rivers: A Piece Of Work, is a documentary that follows the first lady of comedy (now in her seventies) for one year.

There Once Was An Island A documentary by New Zealander Briar March who spent time on this small South Western Pacific Island that is being washed away by the sea and global warming.

The Room: Claimed as the Citizen Kane of bad movies, this film in Ant Timpson‘s Incredibly Strange section of the programme‘s garnered itself a cult following and some very excited people that it‘s finally playing in NZ after years of trying to secure it.
 

NEW DELHI: The film ‘Red Alert’ dealing with the Naxalite and Maoist problem is to be released this week with 550 prints in the Hindi version.

The film has also been made simultaneously in English, Telugu and Chattisgarhi and a dubbed version in German.

Actor Suniel Shetty won the best actor award for the film directed by Ananth Mahadevan at the South Asia Film Festival in New York and was shown as part of Directors’ Vision at the international film festival in Stuttgart in Germany. It was given a red carpet at the International Film Festival of India at Goa last year.

Director Ananth Mahadevan told indiantelevision.com that he had been inspired to make the film when he saw a report in a newspaper and so it was based on a true story. It was a strange coincidence that the film should get released at a time when the Maoist menace was at its peak, he added, denying that it had been deliberately timed.

Referring to the script by Aruna Raje who is a director in her own right, he said it had definitely given the film a different and humane touch. He described the film as one of an individual caught in a dilemma.

In an interview, Shetty said he had learnt a lot from the making of the film and felt that if the governments came forward to do what the non-governmental organizations were doing, the menace would disappear. He said the so-called Naxalites or Maoists were like other people concerned about jobs and making ends meet and if these needs were fulfilled, the problems would get solved. But he said the communication gap remains because the rich are getting richer and the poor are being forgotten in the race.

Shetty, who said he himself belongs to a farmer family from Karnataka and therefore could emphatise with the central character Narasimha, said he was lucky to be at a stage where he could choose the kind of films he wanted to act in after having acted in over 125 films in 20 years.

He had tried his hand at production but did not feel satisfied though ‘Bhagam Bhag’ and ‘De Dhana Dan’ had done well. He, therefore, preferred to stick to acting. He also ruled out direction.

Producer Rahul Aggarwal said the subject had appealed to them as it was the need of the present time and the film had sought to present a solution to the Maoist and Naxalite problems.

MUMBAI: Riteish Deshmukh’s love for Marathi films is well-known as he declared some time ago that he wanted to act in them.

But with no fruitful offers coming his way, Deshmukh has now decided to produce Marathi films, thus adding another feather to his cap. The actor‘s love for Marathi cinema is one of the main reasons why he has ventured to become a filmmaker. 

The actor has now joined the league of a few select actors like Shah Rukh Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Akshay Kuamr and others who have turned producers.

Though his main interest would be to produce Marathi films, it may be sometime later that the actor might also venture into producing a full-fledged Hindi film too.

MUMBAI: After having coached several film stars and choreographed some of Bollywood‘s biggest films, Shiamak Davar is all set to helm a film. 

The film titled A Slumdog Millionaire Goes Dancing is to be produced by Percept Pictures.

Though Davar has been thinking of directing a film for a while, it’s no surprise that his first film revolves around dancing, he being a maser at that. The film is the story of a bunch of slum children being trained to participate in a dance competition.

Former Davar students like Shahid Kapoor and Ruslaan Mumtaz are likely to make guest appearances in the film.
 

MUMBAI: Vidhu Vinod Chopra has roped in Academy Award winner Barrie Osborne as the executive producer for his ambitious Hollywood project, Broken Horses.
The 66-year-old executive producer had been living in New Zealand for the last 10 years through the duration of ‘‘The Lord Of The Rings‘‘ trilogy.

He has only recently moved back to Los Angeles for Chopra’s film and has jointly set up a production office that earlier housed the Warner Hollywood Studios.

Osborne has worked on Hollywood films like The Matrix, Apocalypse Now, Face/Off, and won the Best Picture Academy Award for The Lord of the Rings The Return Of The King.

Broken Horses will have a western cast and crew and will start shooting from 13 September. Besides Osborne, Hollywood veteran Fred Roos has also been brought on board as executive producer to put the project and cast together.