ITV

Category: Movies

  • NY Indian Filmfest: ‘Mukti Bhawan’ is best feature, short on Kejriwal is best docu

    NEW DELHI: The Hindi film ‘Mukti Bhawan’ (Hotel Salvation) by Shubhashish Bhutiani on treatment of senior citizens has won the best film award at the 17th annual New York Indian Film Festival.

    The actress Konkona Sen Sharma, who hails from a film family, won two awards: one as director for ‘A death in the Gunj’ and the second as actress for ‘Lipstick under my burkha’.

    The week-long festival premiered 85 shorts, documentaries and feature films from the Indian subcontinent in Hindi and English, and in seven regional languages (Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Punjabi, Marathi, Gujarati and Bengali).

    The best actor award went to K Kaladharan for ‘The Narrow Path’. The best screenplay award went to P Balachandran for ‘Kammattipadam’. The best short was ‘Aaba’ by Amar Kaushik and the best documentary award went to ‘An insignificant man’ by Khushboo Ranka and Vinay Shukla about the meteoric rise of Arvind Kejriwal on the Indian political scene which has already won acclaim overseas.

    ‘Aaba’ has also been selected for the Berlin International Film Festival.

    ‘Mukti Bhawan’ had also received the special mention in the National Awards for producer Red Carper Moving Pictures and director Shubhashish Bhutiani and actor Adil Hussain and had its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival on 2 September last year.

    public://IAAC2.jpg

    In addition to film premieres, the festival featured sidebar programming such as Sibling Filmmakers (Deepa & Dilip Mehta), Priyanka Produces (VENTILATOR & SARVANN), Tribute to Om Puri, Mobile Bollywood, “Shoot a Short Film” workshop, industry panels (CAA’s Short Film Initiative), nightly networking events, red carpets and a gala.

    More than 40 filmmakers attended the festival and participated in Q&A sessions after their films.

    The annual festival was organized by the Indo-American Arts Council (IAAC): Founded in 1998, the IAAC is a secular, not-for-profit, service and resource arts organization charged with the mission of promoting and building the awareness, creation, production, exhibition, publication and performance of Indian, sub-continental and cross-cultural art forms in North America.

    It also works with artists and arts organizations in North America as well as to facilitate artists and arts organizations from India as well as other countries from the rest of the Indian sub-continent to exhibit, perform and produce their work here. The IAAC works passionately to become an integral part of the amazing cultural diversity of New York City and the United States. The IAAC supports all artistic disciplines int he classical, fusion, folk and innovative forms influenced by the arts of the Indian subcontinent.

  • Sarkar 3…Flogging a dead horse

    The trend of making sequels seems to be more pronounced of late owing to the bankruptcy of ideas and imagination. Sarkar 3 carries the taking-the-audience-for-granted culture to a ridiculous level. Sarkar, the first installation was sort of a cross between The Godfather and the life and persona of Shiv Sena supremo, Bal Thackerey.

    Sarkar released in 2005 and boasted of some known names in its cast like Katrina Kaif, Kay Kay Menon and Anupam Kher, along with Abhishek Bachchan and Amitabh Bachchan. Sarkar Raj, the sequel, followed in 2008, with Manoj Bajpayee and Jackie Shroff added to the cast along with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan but, while the first one promised some novelty and managed to pass muster, the sequel did not find favour with the audience.

    Well, if Sarkar Raj was rejected, why then make Sarkar 3, that too with a star cast that can hardly stand up to the protagonist, Sarkar — Amitabh Bachchan?  Amith Sadh is dropped into the proceedings at the onset as Bachchan’s grandson from his son, Abhishek Bachchan. Abhishek was killed in an earlier instalment and only his life-sized portrait adorns this film.

    The character of Amitabh Bachchan is still the Sarkar, the man with the remote control, who runs the local government while the CM and all others in office are his puppets. The CM, in this case, is also Bachchan’s spy and informant; he keeps Bachchan posted on the activities of his enemies. Bachchan also has two loyal men at his back and call, played by Ronit Roy, and another one who can’t speak. Bachchan is not a don, he is a messiah. Millions in the city of Mumbai love and respect him. But, Mumbai is a goldmine for realtors. As there is little left of this aspect to be exploited, the Dubai-based don, played by Jackie Shroff, eyes the biggest opportunity available, the acres of land over which Dharavi is spread.

    Jackie may operate from Dubai but he pulls strings of many of his puppets based in Mumbai. One of them is a big builder who is asked to meet Bachchan for his help to vacate the settlement with force without resettlement or compensation for the occupants. Jackie’s pawn, supposed to be a big-time builder, comes across as a pygmy in front of Bachchan and his two aides but when he approaches Bachchan with a line—‘we can do it without your help too as we have the system in our pocket’—You know this is a lost plot.

    The film is riddled with problems as it goes on introducing multiple side-tracks without relevance to the plot. Looks like the only way to making money and survive in Mumbai for the villains is to eliminate Bachchan!  Manoj Bajpayee’s character wants to be the next CM, but the character of Yami Gautam has a grouse against him too, and some Shetty guy as well as a nondescript small timer also plans to kill him.

    As the film comes to the end of its first half, you realise that nothing has happened yet. And, it has been about 75 minutes. In the second half, it goes haywire. Just about everybody is betraying the other. Everybody wants to be the Sarkar in place of Sarkar! There are shootouts, people killed, one is blamed but the other has done it but the viewer does not know that, only those involved do!

    The film ends like an old time murder thriller where the protagonist decides to explain the whole muddle you were subjected to for over two hours!

    Talking of a muddle, that is what the script is. It has no substance, a routine one-liner as a story which it expands at convenience by adding unnecessary characters and Jackie’s PJs with his girlfriend (surprisingly, for a big shot Don in Dubai, he has only one with DUH written all over her). As for direction, it is all about ‘technology’ Ram Gopal Varma style, to no avail. Thankfully, the film has no songs though the background score is out of sync and loud as if to distract you from the glitches on screen. Dialogue lacks punch. Editing is poor.

    As for performances, Amitabh Bachchan does his usual best this being the third instalment of playing Sarkar. Manoj Bajpayee is becoming a caricature of himself. Ronit Roy is impressive but you don’t want to see him shed tears! Amit Sadh is okay, trying to play the Bachchan of the Deewaar era. Yami Gautam has nothing to do in this film. Jackie Shroff seems to be on a holiday throughout.

    Producers: Rahul Mittra, Anand Pandit, Gopal Shivram Dalvi, Krishan Choudhary.

    Director: Ram Gopal Varma.

    Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Jackie Shroff, Manoj Bajpayee, Yami Gautam, Amit Sadh, Ronit Roy, Rohini Hattangadi, Bharat Dabholkar.

    Meri Pyaari Bindu: An unromantic love tale

    There was a trend a few years ago to name films after a popular old hit number. Meri Pyari Bindu takes it from the hit song from Mahmood’s comedy film, Padosan. If that gives anybody an idea that this one is going to be another romantic comedy, nothing like that is going to happen.

    Meri Pyaari Bindu is a love story. The character of Ayushmann Khurana falls in love with his new neighbour, played by Parineeti Chopra (Bindu), as a child, in the city of Kolkata. They study together and complete their education sharing the same set of friends.

    Ayushmaan has now become a writer of cheap fiction thrillers. Staying away from Kolkata, Ayushmann has been called back home to Kolkata by his parents on a false pretext of their divorce. Initially, he is angry about this prank but coming back to his childhood home reminds him of Parineeti and his love for her. He has always been pining for her.

    The film then resorts to number of flashbacks going between Ayushmann’s past memories and present. This scenes spring up suddenly and you need to follow the timeline printed at the bottom. This makes for trying watch.

    Parineeti on the other hand is all about herself. She is never sure about herself. For her, Ayushmann is just a friend. And, what links them together is their interest in old songs. Parineeti’s ambition is to become a singer and cut her own album and Ayushmann helps her all the way.

    An attempt has been created to effect anxiety when Parineeti decides to migrate to Australia when her mother is killed in an accident due to her drunkard father’s rash driving. Eventually to return.

    The script creates confusion as it traverses back in time and present. Where it fails totally is that there is no romance since the love is one sided throughout the film so no scope to create a chemistry. Direction is average at the best. Editing is slack. Visually, too, there is not much to please the eyes. The medley of old songs provides some relief.

    Ayushmann does not quite make the romantic hero cut. Parineeti’s characterisation provides her no scope. In brief roles, Rajatava Dutta and Aparajita Adhya are good.

    Meri Pyaari Bindu has opened to poor response and shows little prospects of catching up.

    Producer: Adityya Chopra.
    Director: Akshay Roy.
    Cast: Ayushman Khurana, Parineeti Chopra, Rajatava Dutta, Aparajita Adhya.

  • Non-Khan Bahubali2 shows the power of three — Rs 300 cr

    It is happy hours for the exhibitors, especially the multiplex properties. After starving for footfalls, Bahubali 2: The Conclusion has come as a saviour. Never look a gift horse in the mouth so no matter it is not a Hindi super star film, just a dubbed film from South. The film carried a solid brand equity created by its predecessor, Bahubali: The Beginning.

    The multiplexes tried all possible avenues to feed their auditoriums in absence of films. Earlier, they tried to programme IPL matches and other such events to no avail. Who would want to watch an exciting match of cricket in a dark hall under a disciplined guidelines when you can watch it at home or a restaurant or a club with drinks and full control over the proceedings with a remote in your hand?

    So, building multi-screen halls was not a wise decision which proves a liability when you don’t have a Salman Khan or Aamir Khan film. They give you a fortnight audience while others manage a weekend’s feed.

    Saying, ‘where the next meal is is coming from’ won’t be an exaggeration in case of these multiplexes.

    Bahubali: The Beginning came out of the blue and left promising a lot. Hence, Bahubali 2: The Conclusion, became the most awaited film by both, the audience as well as the exhibition trade. To every stakeholder’s relief, the film has more than lived up to all the expectations the earlier film promised.

    Because, except Bahubali 2 there is nothing the multiplexes as well as the single screens have to screen. They have been facing the ‘No audience, No show’ routine for a long time.

    *Bahubali 2: The Conclusion (Dubbed from Telugu) has been collecting figures all through its first week which most Hindi superstar films do on their day one or two if they manage to find a holiday release. In fact, the film has exceeded best Hindi film collections by miles.

    *Since the entire exhibition trade is surviving on just one film for the last few days, here is how and why: The film has continued to maintain collections in high crore range all through its first weekend by collecting Rs 40 crore on Friday and Saturday and peaking at Rs 46 crore on Sunday to end its opening weekend with over Rs 146 crore.

    The victorious run continued as the film kept on the same scale on Monday with part of India having a holiday. The collections dropped by 25% on Tuesday but that was not alarming since the film picked up again. Finally, the film ended its first week sweep of the box office with a total take of Rs 245.6 crore.

    The film has been enjoyed a fitting second weekend which is reported to have added another Rs 80.2 crore for its second weekend thus taking its 10 day total to Rs 325.8 crore.

    The other films released in recent weeks, Noor, Maatr, Begum Jaan, Naam Shabana, Phillauri have all ended with disastrous outcome.

    *Last week’s release, Mantostaan, despite a very limited release, has failed to draw the audience.

  • Mantostaan….For a select few

    If you go by the title, it is not really designed to draw the audience to the cinema halls. Also, not many in today’s movie-going audience would know about Sadat Hasan Manto. Talking of Staan, Manto had none. He was not quite happy in India before Partition nor when he migrated to the newly formed country, Pakistan. The Staan in the title refers to Manto’s own space he created for himself.

    Mantostaan takes four of Manto’s short stories for this film. The four stories, all set around the Partition are: Khol Do, Aakhri Salute, Thanda Ghosht and Assignment.

    These omnibus short story stuff has been tried earlier in films, the last one in memory being Vinay Shukla’s Mirch, which told four stories written by the Italian writer, Giovanni Boccaccio, who in turn had copied his collection of short stories from the Indian legends of The Panchtantra, among others.
    That said about films with multiple stories, Mantostaan’s four stories run simultaneously with each other. And, that, at times affects the narration. One feels that telling these four short stories independent of each other may have been more effective.

    The stories depict violence that took place during the Partition.

    In Khol Do, a man trying to go to Pakistan along with his wife and daughter survives but remembers his wife being killed. When he comes to a refugee camp, he searches for his daughter. Then, he is promised by some young men who risk going back to Amritsar and bring women and children back, that they will search for his daughter.

    Another story, Assignment, is about a retired Muslim judge stuck in his house in Amritsar with his daughter and son as most other Muslims have moved to safer locations. It is Eid day and a Sikh who owed the judge a favour pays a visit even as a mob waits down the street to finish their task.

    Aaakhri Salute is about a banter between an Indian soldier and a Pakistani, both serving at the border.

    The fourth story is about a man trying to hide a macabre truth about himself, something he did during the riots, from his woman.

    Manto, for those initiated, makes for taut reading, but here, in the film, it does not really grip you. Direction shows lack of experience.

    Performances are mediocre, save for Raghuvir Yadav.

    Producers: Rahat Kazmi, Tariq Khan, Aditya Pratap Singh.

    Director: Rahat Kazmi.

    Cast: Raghuvir Yadav, Sonal Sehgal, Veerendra Saxena and Rahat Kazmi.

  • Reflect on constructive and meaningful engagement through cinema: Naidu

    NEW DELHI: President Pranab Mukherjee has said that the creation of the Film Promotion Fund would help promote and motivate talented independent filmmakers to promote their work across the globe in various International Film Festivals.

    Mukherjee described the film industry as a microcosm of India which celebrated the diversity of languages, customs, religions and culture.

    Indian Cinema and its diversity convey underlying spirit of brotherhood, tolerance, acceptance and co-existence, he said, adding that the inherent strength of the unity in spite of diversity was the cultural heritage inherited through the ages.

    The President was speaking after giving away the 64th National Film Awards for 2016. Information & Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu and MoS Rajyavardhan Rathore were also present on the occasion.

    The National Film Awards were presented on 3 May as it is the day on which the first-ever indigenous feature ‘Raja Harishchandra’ by D G Phalke was released in 1913.

    The President also conferred this year’s Dada Saheb Phalke award to K Viswanath, renowned film director and actor, for his outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Indian cinema. A presenter of classical and traditional art, music and dance, K Viswanath has been a guiding force in the Indian film industry.

    Naidu said care and caution should be taken while depicting stories of tragedy and all stakeholders should reflect on the creative, constructive and meaningful engagement through the medium of cinema.

    Indian cinema had remarkably showcased the vast richness of the country’s cultural diversity, beautiful landscapes and languages and had been a great unifying force in promoting national integration, he said.

    While complementing the film industry, he said filmmakers had set their mind on delivering excellence and promoting societal values. The film industry should join hands to facilitate mission the making of developed India as it had strong influence on society and its values.

    He said movies that had won awards focus on a variety of issues and themes ranging from discrimination, love, historical relationships and relevant social challenges. He added that the National Film Awards showcase the capacity to set standards and to recognize the efforts of Indian filmmakers and artists who achieve heights.

    Speaking about the Films as a medium of communication, Naidu said it was the most beautiful form of expression that encompassed a multitude of visual arts such as music, dance and drama. It was also a medium through which contemporary socio- economic, political and cultural issues of individuals and society are showcased. The language of cinema is a universal one. It has been a powerful tool to reach out to people transcending the boundaries in society.

    The Feature Film Central panel was headed by eminent filmmaker Priyadarshan, popularly known for his Malayalam movie Kanchivaram among others. The Chairperson for the Non–Feature Film Jury was Raju Mishra while the Chairperson for Writing on Cinema Jury was Ms. Bhawana Somaaya. The Most Film Friendly State award jury was chaired by Telugu director Radha Krishna Jagarlamudi.

    In feature films, the highest number of awards went to Hindi (11) followed by Marathi (9); Malayalam (7); Tamil (5); Telugu, Bengali and Kannada (4 each); Assamese (3), and one each to Gujarati, Konkani and Manipuri. One award each also went to two languages not in Schedule VIII of the Constitution: Moran and Tulu.

    While the Marathi film ‘Kasaav’ by Sumitra Bhave & Sunil Sukthankar got the best feature film award, and actor Akshay Kumar for ‘the Hindi film ‘Rustom’ and Surabhi C M for the Malayalam film ‘Minnaminungu–the Firefly’ won the top awards for acting.

    Rajesh Mapuskar for the Marathi film ‘Ventilator’ has been named best director in the Awards for 2016. The state of Uttar Pradesh has been named as the Most Film Friendly state and Jharkhand gets a special mention in this category which was announced for the first time last year.

    ‘Fireflies in the Abyss’ by Chandrashekhar Roy got the best non-feature film award, while G. Dhananjayan was named best film critic and ‘Lata: Sur Gatha’ by Yatindra Mishra was given best book on cinema award.

    The full list of awards can be seen at http://www.dff.nic.in/writereaddata/NFA64PressNote2016.pdf

  • Dubbed film Baahubali 2 survives IPL fever

    Finally the film the moviegoer as well as the exhibition trade have been waiting for: Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, hits the screens. There will be debates about its merits. Its comparison with the first part, Baahubali: The Beginning, is inevitable. However, one subject, on which there will be no debates, is the film’s box office prospects.

    Baahubali: The Beginning created a solid ground work for this film, created a brand equity and made the audience wait for the Conclusion. Those involved made the most of it as they planned an open week release for the film at over 4,000 screens, a rare phenomenon for a dubbed South origin film.

    What Baahubali2 is expected to do at the box office is beyond what any Hindi film has done so far and may, hopefully, inspire Hindi filmmakers. Salman Khan and Aamir Khan have been the best draws so far when it comes to Hindi films. But, even their hit films fall short by a length of what this South dubbed film is expected to achieve. The film also stands to gain on its first Monday, it being a holiday in Maharashtra and some other states.

    The 45-day long Indian Premier League (IPL) T20 tournament, during which release of major films is avoided, seems to have had no effect on the collections of this film.

    The film opened to full or near full houses and maintained figures of over Rs 40 crore on all days of its opening weekend to come up with collections figure of Rs 128 crore for three days.

    *Noor, a film based on the Pakistani author/journalist SabaImtiaz’s book ‘Karachi You Are Killing Me!’ proves a damp squib. Totally out of sync with audience taste, the film fails badly. It manages to collect Rs 6.6 crore in its opening week.

    *Maatr, RavinaTandon’s film about gang rape and revenge finds few takers. The film just about crosses one crore mark to collect Rs 1.1 crore in its first week.

    *Begum Jaan collects Rs 2.75 crore in its second week to take its two week tally to Rs 17.85 crore.

  • Baahubali 2: The Conclusion — Spectacular!

    Baahubali 2: The Conclusion is a sort of prequel as well as the sequel to the earlier film, Baahubali: The Beginning, the epic fiction fantasy. In that, this film lets the viewer into some of the unrevealed parts of the earlier saga including the general curiosity about, why did Katappa kill Baahubali!

    The film begins with the character of Ramya Krishnan, playing the guardian of the kingdom till the character of Prabhas, the Baahubali, grows up to inherit the crown of his kingdom. Prabhas is now an accomplished heir to the crown as he is trained in all aspects of protecting his kingdom as well its people. His strength and endurance are of superhuman levels.

    Ramya announces the date of Prabhas’s coronation but asks him to go around his kingdom so as to check on his people and their wellbeing. Prabhas is accompanied by his trusted aide, Katappa played by Sathyaraj. While on his recce of his kingdom, Prabhas comes across, Anushka Shetty, who plays the princess of another smaller kingdom. A group of bandits are attacking her and she single-handedly fights them, excelling in art of combat.

    For Prabhas, it is love at first sight. He and Sathyaraj decide to tag along with Anushka, seeking a job for Prabhas and also asking her help to train him in warfare. She is told that Prabhas is a dimwit and some training may make him worthy for an employment at her palace. Prabhas tries his best to hide his virtues from Anushka.

    It is not long before Anushka realises that Prabhas is not a twit he is pretending to be. On the contrary, he is an accomplished warrior. Prabhas’s love is not one-sided anymore. Anushka too has grown to love him. Prabhas thinks it is time to fulfil Ramya’s desire to get for her a daughter in law matching her expectations though Ramya is not aware of the choice made by Prabhas yet.

    The family politics now sets in. The character of Rana Daggubati, who has always been bypassed in getting Ramya’s attention despite he being her son, and who has also been bypassed as the choice to inherit the crown, sees a chance to upset Prabhas. He has learned through his spies that Prabhas has fallen for this princess and devices a plan to make Ramya commit to him that she will fix his match with Anushka.

    The film, which was all about romance now goes head-on into family politics, the palace intrigues as father and son, Rana and Nassar, plot ways to displace Prabhas. They manage to turn Ramya, who loved Prabhas more than her own son, against Prabhas. His ascendency to the throne is withdrawn and Rana made the king instead.

    Prabhas turns a commoner from being the king in waiting. He joins the common people in their settlements and help their better their lives. This makes Rana and Nassar uncomfortable for they can see that for people, Prabhas was still their king. They feel that only if Prabhas is eliminated can they have a full control over the kingdom.

    The film drops pace as it moves from romance and verbal duels between Prabhas and Rana on one side and Anushka and Ramya on the other, to treachery and manipulations and, finally, to backdoor plotting. The action and romance are replaced by some gore; claptrap dialogue goes missing. The parts about Rana and Nassar’s ploys are not interesting enough. The finale, the fights in the climax are stretched.

    Excelling in direction, SS Rajamouli, has also mastered the use of special effects with which he makes parts of the film into fantasy which has been a part of every growing child. Cinematography is top-rated. As for the songs, they are not to the taste of the Hindi audience, the background score goes with the need of the narration.

    The performances are generally good. However, Prabhas, Anushka, Ramya and Sathyaraj excel on their author backed roles. Rana and Nassar are apt.

    Baahubali2: The Conclusion has the advantage of the ground created by its predecessor, Baahubali: The Beginning, a trailblazer for a regional film dubbed in Hindi. While the predecessor had the advantage of being a surprise packet for the audience, Baahubali2 has the burden of high expectations. This has afforded the film an outlandish opening response on its extensive release (reportedly 4000 screens). It come as a great relief to the cinema halls starving of a film with staying power, at least for next couple of weeks.

    Producers: Shobu Yarlagadda, Prasad Devineni.

    Direction: SS Rajamouli.

    Cast: Prabhas, Rana Daggubati, Anushka Shetty, Ramya Krishnan, Tamannah, Sathyaraj, Nassar.

  • With Ghaziabad multiplex, Cinepolis crosses 300 screens

    NEW DELHI: With the opening of the 10-screen multiplex in Ghaziabad, Cinépolis crossed the 300 milestone India, with the total screen count now standing at 303 screens.

    Caiming to be India’s first International and the world’s fourth largest movie theatre circuit, Cinépolis has opened the ten screen multiplex in R.E.D Mall at GT Road in Ghaziabad..

    This is Cinépolis’ foremost property in Ghaziabad and also marks the opening of the largest cinema outlet in Ghaziabad. Cinépolis now has 39 Screens across nine cinemas in the National Capital Region.

    The newly inaugurated multiplex has a total seating capacity of 1619 seats and is scheduled to run more than 50 shows per day. The theatre is equipped with an exceptional RealD 3D technology and 100% digital projections and offers gourmet food at its trademark outlet Coffee Tree.

    Cinépolis India MD Javier Sotomayor said, “We have crossed an important landmark of reaching 300 screens in India in accordance with our expansion strategy and will be opening more multiplexes around the country.”

    Cinépolis India director – expansion Ashish Shukla added: “This new property further validates our commitment to open more screens & offer the best cinema experience to movie goers, across India”

    Cinépolis India director – strategic initiatives Devang Sampat added: “We have also introduced point based programmes like Club Cinépolis for patrons that offer exclusive services and promotions to members. We are positive that with such services, we will be able to engage with more & more patrons”

    According to Rakesh Babbar from R.E.D Mall, “The Mall will definitely emerge as an ideal cinema destination for the consumers after this launch.”

    The specially designed multiplex theatre will also offer freshly prepared gourmet food and beverages from the exquisite menu of Coffee Tree – the in-house signature coffee shop by Cinépolis. The brand also has unique flavored popcorns which include Butter salt, Cheese and Caramel Popcorns.

  • Miraj Cinemas adds four multiplexes in 15 days, inches closer to ‘100’ plan

    NEW DELHI: Miraj Cinemas has strengthened its position in Punjab, Gujarat and Delhi NCR by adding four multiplexes with 13 screens in a record time of just 15 days. With this addition, Miraj Cinemas has now secured 77 screens across India.

    In Gujarat, Miraj Cinemas has two new multiplexes in Vadodra and three screens in Gandhidham and another four-screen property in Miraj Cine Pride Ahmedabad besides its existing seven-screen property at Miraj City Pulse.

    The new multiplex of Miraj cinemas in Vadodra situated at SWC mall has 3D equipped four screens that boast of 728 plush seating capacities with 7.1 Dolby surround sound facility, 2k Projectors and recliner seats while its Ahmedabad property situated at Vitthal Plaza (New Naroda) and has three screens with a seating capacity of 372 along with silver screen and recliner seating facilities comprises with modern state-of-the art infrastructure.

    In Delhi-NCR Miraj Cinemas today came out with its new 3-screen multiplex at Laxmi Plaza in Rajendra Nagar, Ghaziabad, where it has 3D equipped screens with seating capacity of 711 people with 7.1 Dolby digital sound systems. This new property in has come out in addition to the existing 2-screen multiplex in Chowdhry Mall, Ghaziabad and at 2-screen multiplex at Subhash Nagar in New Delhi.

    In Punjab, Miraj Cinemas launched 3-screen multiplex situated at J’s EmiNent Mall complex in Hoshiyarpur. The new property has 2K technology projector and a silver screen for 3D movies. The multiplex is also equipped 7.1 dolby digital sound system with boasts plush seating capacities along with recliner seats.

    Miraj MD Amit Sharma said, “We believe this is a milestone for us where Miraj Cinemas promised to provide quality movie watching experience to its patrons and wants to be geographically present throughout the country.”

    The company has chalked out an aggressive plan to operate over 100 screens pan India focusing on major cities by end of this year with increasing presence in cities of Delhi NCR, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad & in the state of Maharashtra where it would have atleast 50 screens and the rest will be in the non-metros, Mr. Sharma said adding that the company By 2020, we want to reach 200 screens and we will be adding on average 30-35 screens every year.

    According to Bhuvanesh Mendiratta, Miraj Vice President -Operations, “Over past three years we have invested nearly Rs one to 1.5 billion and will go all out to enhance our presence massively in coming days.”

    With these additions, Miraj Cinemas is now have operations in 11 states with a presence in 21 cities and want to spread its wings to more Indian cities over next 2-3 years.

    Also Read:

    Cinepolis expands to G. Noida; to invest Rs 800 crore

    Cinépolis launches second Multiplex in Pune with IMAX Theatre

    Panvel Mumbai to get its first PVR multiplex 

    Cinekorn Entertainment associates with Viacom India for film Ring 

  • Cannes jury to have nine members headed by Pedro Almodovar

    Cannes jury to have nine members headed by Pedro Almodovar

    NEW DELHI: The renowned American actor and producer Will Smith and famous French composer Gabriel Yared are among the members of the jury for the 70th Festival de Cannes under the presidency of Spanish director, screenwriter and producer Pedro Almodóvar. The Jury will be made up of eight key figures from the seventh art – cinema – coming from all over the world.

    Four women and four men will thus help Pedro Almodóvar select from among the films in competition. The winners will be announced on 28 May 2017 at the Closing Ceremony, following which the top award Palme d’or will be awarded in the presence of the winning team.

    The other jury members are: German Director, Screenwriter and Producer Maren Ade; American actress and producer Jessica Chastain; Chinese actress and producer Fan Bingbing; French singer, actress, screenwriter and director Agnès Jaoui; South Korean Director, Screenwriter and Producer Park Chan-wook; and Italian Director and Screenwriter Paolo Sorrentino.

    Also Read :

    Cannes: Thurman to preside over Un Certain Regard Jury, Indian ‘Afternoon Clouds’ in shortlist

    Sandrine Kiberlain to preside over Camera d’or jury at Cannes

    Channel-defining drama, high-concept format & breakthrough VR drive global alliances at MIPTV 2017