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Category: Movies

  • Paathshala lacks good script, Phoonk 2 good direction

    MUMBAI: Two films from two diagonally opposite genres release on the same day and walk the diagonally opposite course to the box-office.


    While Eros‘ Paathshaala is an emotional drama that sets out to tackle social issues, Ram Gopal Varma‘s Phoonk 2 is a supernatural film.


    A timely movie, Paathshaala comes at a time when commercialisation has taken over the educational system and immoral and unethical practices are rampant, affecting young minds.


    The film opened to a mixed response, with some multiplexes registering 40 per cent footfalls, while at some occupancy was lower than expected.


    But for the screenplay that goes out of touch towards the end, the film could have stood a chance for a tax-free tag.


    The second release, Phoonk 2, fails to muster the right opening. A sequel always comes with a bigger baggage and people hope a lot out of it, since its original was successful.


    But the RGV venture lacks the chills, thrills and screams that were the mainstay of the first version.


    Though the film is well-written, director Milind Gadagkar fails to handle the film properly. Phoonk 2 is a good idea but goes down the drain and fails to be remembered.


    Though we have six films – Muskura Ke Dekh Zara, Crime Partner, Apartment, Do Dilo Ke Khel Mein, Mumbai 118 and Kuch Kariye – lined up for this Friday, no business is likely because of the last four IPL matches being shown in multiplexes in 3D from 22 April.
     

  • Director Teddy Chen to collaborate with Celestial Pictures for two films

    MUMBAI: Chinese filmmaker Teddy Chen will co-produce and direct his next two films with Hong Kong-based Chinese entertainment company Celestial Pictures.


    While the first film will be a remake of a classic title from the Shaw Brothers Film Library owned by Celestial Pictures, the second project will be a modern action film inspired by current events.


    Both projects are currently under development. Comments Celestial Pictures senior VP Theatrical Distribution Peter Poon, “Celestial Pictures is thrilled to partner with Teddy Chen on his next two directorial projects. He is well-known among international audiences for thrilling and edgy action films and unique dramas.


    “His vision and dedication to the highest quality filmmaking certainly places him in the company of the top global producers and directors of feature films. Following his enormous success with Bodyguards and Assassins, Celestial Pictures looks forward to collaborating with Teddy to bringing to life his next two films”.


    In addition to the two films, Celestial Pictures also announced that it has inked a multi-year agreement for the exclusive worldwide theatrical, television, mobile and new media distribution rights of The Enchanter the upcoming film from Chen‘s Sum-Wood Productions outside China.


    The Enchanter will be directed by Derek Kwok Tsz-kin who recently won an HAF Award for a project originating in Hong Kong.

  • Cash-strapped MGM puts next Bond film on hold

    MUMBAI: The continuing uncertainty surrounding the future of MGM and the failure to close a sale of MGM, the work on the next Bond film Bond 23 has been put on hold indefinitely.


    This came to light when Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli of EON Productions Ltd., producer of the long-running James Bond franchise issued a statement saying that development work on the next 007 film had been suspended because of financial difficulties at MGM.


    Solicitations of offers to buy the studio resulted in a couple rounds of underwhelming bidding by studio companies such as Lionsgate, Warner Bros. and Fox.


    More recently, News Corp. and others were into discussions of possible limited investments in the studio that has been cash-strapped and burdened by a big debt load.


    After sharing Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace with Sony, MGM recently regained full control of the Bond franchise. The films together amassed $1.18 billion at the worldwide box-office.
     

  • Sequels to Lalbaug Parel and City of Gold planned

    MUMBAI: Dar Motion Pictures, the producer of Lalbaug Parel and City Of Gold, is planning to make a sequel of the film in both Hindi and Marathi.


    “The collections for the first week of the Marathi version Lalbag Parel, were between Rs 160 to 180 million across Maharashtra,” said Dar Motion Pictures chairman and producer Arun Rangachari. 


    “Mahesh Manjrekar would be directing the sequels as well. It might be another real life story related to Mumbai, though nothing has been finalised yet”, he added.


    Meanwhile, Dar Motion Pictures is eagerly waiting for the Hindi version of City of Gold to release.
     

  • Ashutosh Gowariker wins Raj Kapoor Award

    MUMBAI: Ashutosh Gowariker, who mesmerised both Indian and international audiences with his epic films and won numerous awards, will now be the proud winner of the Raj Kapoor special contribution state award.


    The award will be given to him on 27 April by Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chauhan at a function to be held at the Gateway of India in Mumbai. 


    Earlier, Gowariker was nominated for an Academy and an European Film Award. He has won a number of other awards, including a National Film Award, five Filmfare Awards and seven international film festival awards.


    The Raj Kapoor Award, given by the state government, honours achievers from the Hindi film industry.

  • Dede Allen expires at 86

    MUMBAI: Film editor Dede Allen who bagged three Academy award nominations for her work in film died last Saturday after suffering a stroke earlier in the week. She was 86.


    In 1967, Allen became the first film editor to receive sole credit on a film — in addition to garnering an Academy Award nomination — for her work on the classic Bonnie and Clyde. Long regarded as one of Hollywood‘s most creative film editors, the Ohio native also earned Oscar noms for her work on 1975‘s Dog Day Afternoon, Reds and most recently for Wonder Boys which marked her return to editing following a nearly eight-year stint as head of post-production at Warner Bros.


    Allen began her career at Columbia Pictures was mentored by director-producer-editor Robert Wise who edited Citizen Kane. She brought in ground breaking stylistic elements to her work, including pioneering the use of audio overlays and using sound to help seamlessly segue scenes.


    Allen is survived by husband Stephen E. Fleischman, son Tom Fleischman and daughter Ramey Ward.
     

  • Warner’s Titans still No. 1 at overseas box-office

    MUMBAI: For a third straight weekend, Warner‘s Clash of the Titans maintained its No. 1 position at the box-office in the foreign theatrical circuit.


    The film grossed $53.6 million from some 10,400 screens in 57 markets. The film‘s overseas gross total generated $188.7 million.


    Debuting at 2,207 screens in Latin American territories, including Mexico and Argentina, the 3D fantasy film generated $12.7 million with about half the action coming from 3D venues. 


    In Mexico Titans drew $7.1 million from 1,343 screens, the equivalent of 80 per cent of the market‘s top five collective box-office films.


    Particularly strong holdovers for the Warner film include Russia (No. 1 with $5.2 million from 923 locations for a $20 million market cume), France ($3.6 million from 640 sites, cume $12.7 million) and Germany (No. 1 with $2.7 million from 672 screens, cume $10.2 million).


    Alice in Wonderland bounced back from a $18.4 million last weekend, to $34 million from 7,134 screens in 53 territories.


    The weekend‘s No. 3 title was DreamWorks Animation‘s How to Train Your Dragon which boosted its overseas gross total to $176.5 million thanks to a $15.5 million weekend at 6,582 venues in 58 markets.


    The animation title‘s distributor, Paramount, said about 65 per cent of the overall weekend gross came from 3D screens. Despite unseasonably warm weather in the U.K., Dragon managed to hold nicely with $2.1 million generated from 683 sites for a total income of $20 million.
     

  • Indian films for foreign festivals

    NEW DELHI: Saregama India’s home production The Japanese Wife, directed by Aparna Sen, is scheduled to be screened at The International Festival of Independent Cinema in Krakow in Poland.


    The Amitabh Bachchan-Abhishek Bachchan-Vidya Balan starrer Paa will also be screened at the event which concludes on 25 April.


    The Japanese Wife is in English, Japanese, and Bengali. The film, starring Rahul Bose, Raima Sen, Japanese actress Chigusa Takaku and veteran actress Moushumi Chatterjee, is based on Kunal Basu’s book of the same name. It is the story of an Indian who befriends a Japanese woman as a pen-friend and this gradually grows into more than mere friendship.


    Rahul Bose had earlier worked with Aparna Sen in Mr. & Mrs. Iyer and 15th Park Avenue.


    Another film, Ek Tho Chance, directed by renowned filmmaker Saeed Akhtar Mirza, has been selected for the 23rd Singapore International Film Festival being held from 15 to 24 April in the Cinema Today section. After Singapore, Ek Tho Chance will travel to London where it has been invited by Cary Sawhney, Director of the very 1st edition of the London Indian Film Festival in July.


    The Singapore Festival presents movies from drama to comedy to documentaries that depict the realities of today and are made by some of the world’s most watched filmmakers. This comes close on the heels of 43rd Worldfest Houston where the film has also been selected and nominated for the prestigious Remi award.


    “Cinema Today is about a modern interpretation of global issues and although Ek Tho Chance, produced by Pritish Nandy Communications, is aimed at showing the hopeful, the aspirational and sometimes desperate lives of people in the city of Mumbai. We are convinced that people from all across the world would appreciate the efforts of director Mirza and his honesty towards the subject since Mumbai city is top of mind and on the world map after Slumdog Millionaire” says Festival Director Philip Cheah.


    PNC Chairman Pritish Nandy said, “Ek Tho Chance is the reason why we are all here in this city. Everyone wants that impossible, incredible, life-changing break and Mumbai never says no. This is what Saeed’s new film is about. Hunting down that chance. Great filmmakers never fade away. After a 13-year hiatus, Saeed had an idea in his head and he was ready to get back on the streets with it and we’re thrilled that we chose to back his vision.”


    Director Saeed Akhtar Mirza says, “Ek Tho Chance is a simple narrative but speaks volumes on human nature. The most difficult part of filmmaking is to depict a simple story in an extraordinary way. I am still learning the art of it.”


    Mirza’s last festival outing before Ek Tho Chance was at the Cannes Director’s Fortnight for his film Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyun Aata Hai in 1981.

  • Aurag Kashyap’s Udaan for Cannes Film Fest

    MUMBAI: he Anurag Kashyap co-produced film, Udaan, has been officially selected to feature in this year’s Cannes Film Festival in the ‘A Certain Regard‘ section.


    The section will also have several other movies by renowned directors such as Manoel de Oliveira (Portugal), Sang-So Hong (South Korea), Hideo Nakata (Japan) and Lodge Kerrigan (USA).


    The film is a coming of age story revolving around father-son relationship.The Sanjay Singh and Kashyap film, involving the directorial debut of Vikramaditya Motwane, stars Ronit Roy, Ram Kapoor, Rajat Barmecha and Ayan Boradia.


    The last time an Indian film was part of the official selection was in 2003, when Murali Nair’s Malayalam film Arimpara was included in the Un Certain Regard section. The year before that, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Devdas was screened in the out of competition section.


    Noted director Shekhar Kapur will serve on the Competition jury headed by American director Tim Burton.

  • Funmax opens 5th Indian 4D SFX theatre in Bangalore

    BANGALORE: Funmax Family Entertainment (Funmax) opened its fifth 4D SFX Theatre in Bangalore today.


    Funmax already has two 4D SFX theatres in Hyderabad and one each in New Delhi and Visakhapatnam, besides which it has set up two theatres in Saudi Arabia and one in Jordan.


    The company plans to add another ten 4D SFX screens in India as well as abroad by the end of this fiscal. According to Funmax technical director B Abraham, there are currently only about 100 4D SFX screens in the world, with the USA leading with the most number of screens.


    Though similar theatres are present in India, including one at the Innovative film city in Bangalore, Funmax’s USP is that it has developed the entire equipment and infrastructure in India by the Funmax team which has resulted in cost savings of about 60 per cent over the existing theatres that have been set up with imported equipment.
    Another major differentiator is that Funmax plans to change the movie every quarter in each theatre as opposed to the long running content that other players exhibit.


    Funmax already has a library of a handful of films and expects to have another nine movies created by global leaders in 3D and 4D content Mwave. The Bangalore theatre that opened today has a seating capacity of 32 and the first three shows were fully booked at a steep weekend price of Rs 150 per person for a 15-20 minute show. The weekday price is Rs 120 per ticket.


    Funmax claims that it is a pioneer in themed environment at malls and amusement parks with a variety family entertainment options such as mirror maze, spintrix, horror house, 4D Theatre, Playpen, Food court, Amazing Children play area, etc.


    Quite like the themed theatres in the west, Funmax’s Hyderabad 4d SFX theatre is themed as a Funzone Water Park, while the one in Visakhapatnam is themed as Funzone Jungle Adventure. Space restrictions have not allowed Funmax too much of leeway for a theme at Bangalore, but the promoters are planning to make it a family entertainment spot with a children’s play and themed birthday celebration area.