ITV

Category: Movies

  • Eros’ ‘Shikshanacha Aaicha Gho’ collects Rs 12 mn in opening weekend

    MUMBAI: Eros‘s Marathi release Shikshanacha Aaicha Gho has collected approximately Rs 12 million at the box-office in its opening weekend.


    The film released widely across 175 screens in the Mumbai, CP and Nizam territories on 15 January to positive reviews by both critics as well as audiences.


    Post last year‘s hit, Mi Shivaji Raje Bhosle Boltoy, Mahesh Manjrekar and Everest Entertainment has teamed up once again to add to the success story of Marathi cinema with this thought-provoking take on today‘s education system amidst the current crisis faced by students and the spate of suicides seen across the country due to academic pressure. 


    Written and directed by Mahesh Manjrekar, Shikshanacha Aaicha Gho stars Bharat Jadhav, Saksham Kulkarni, Siddharth Jadhav and Kranti Redkar.


    Other key Marathi releases in Eros‘ pipeline include Haapus and Punha Dhakka, another Mahesh Manjrekar co-production.


    Phakt Ladh Mhana starring Sachin Khedekar, Bharat Jadhav, Makarand Anaspure, Siddharth Jadhav, Ankush Chaudhari, Manva Naik, Bhushan Kadu, Kranti Redkar and Mahesh Manjrekar is also slated to release this year.
     

  • Shemaroo brings lives of 3 great leaders on home video

    MUMBAI: With Republic Day round the corner, Shemaroo Entertainment has brought together three great Leaders – Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Sardar Patel – in a two-DVD pack titled, Great Leaders on the Path of Non-Violence.


    The pack consists of a documentary on the lives of Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela and the National Award winning feature film Sardar, starring Paresh Rawal.


    The documentary of Mahatma Gandhi explores his struggle against the mighty British Empire and its colonies of South Africa and India. It shows various historic events like – the Dandi March and Non-Cooperative Movement that he initiated.


    The documentary of Nelson Mandela shows his struggles, his triumphs and the adversity which ultimately drove him to greatness as an African leader.


    The biographical epic on Sardar Patel concentrates largely on the last five years of Sardar‘s life, from 1945 to 1950 when he strode on the national scene, wresting India‘s Independence and integrating the nation.


    The film deals with all the myriad and debilitating problems that India faced in its pre and immediate post Independence period, which turned out to be Sardar Patel‘s finest hour.


    Avers, Shemaroo Entertainment Director Hiren Gada, “Through this two-DVD pack, Shemaroo has attempted to combine education and entertainment. We would like to give today‘s youth and school children an opportunity to understand the principals and philosophies of such great leaders whose accomplishments influenced, and will influence generations to come.”

  • Avatar crosses Rs 1 billion mark

    MUMBAI: Fox Star Studios‘ Avatar has crossed the Rs 1 billion mark, a milestone no Hollywood movie has reached in India.


    With a current gross collection of Rs 1.1 billion, Avatar is also the biggest ever 3D film in India. 3D amounted to 35 per cent of Avatar‘s total gross collections. Doing strong business across various centers in India, the movie has earned record collections at Imax and 3D theatres across India.


    While collections from the English prints amount to Rs 505 million, the film has also earned Rs 260 million with its Hindi dubbed version and a further 240 million from Tamil & Telugu dubbed versions.


    The film has also overtaken 3 Idiots in several parts of North and South India and is also giving strong competition to local superstar movies in South India.


    Interestingly, the collections from single screens (49 per cent) is as high as the earnings from multiplexes (51 per cent ) which proves that the film has been appreciated by audiences all over.


    Says Fox Star Studios India CEO Vijay Singh, “The phenomenal success of Avatar has been a trailblazer as viewers responded across metro cities as also smaller markets. The film‘s success also demonstrates Fox Star Studios‘ ability to successfully handle the marketing and distribution of big films. We eagerly look forward to the Oscar season.”


    Agrees trade analyst Taran Adarsh, “Post Titanic, Avatar is the first Hollywood film that continues to work wonders at the box-office, even after several weeks of release.”

  • Court orders Polanski‘s presence in US for sentencing

    MUMBAI: A Superior Court Judge Peter Espinoza judge has ruled that Roman Polanski must return to the US to be sentenced in a decades-old sex case. Espinoza said that he ruled “in defense of the integrity of the justice system, he needs to surrender.”


    His ruling is likely to be appealed.


    Attorneys of the 76-year-old director have argued that their client should be sentenced in absentia to time already served after pleading guilty in 1978 to one count of unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl.


    Prosecutors insist Polanski must appear in a Los Angeles courtroom and not be permitted to manipulate the justice system.


    Polanski, arrested on a U.S. warrant, spent more than 60 days in a Swiss jail before being transferred to house arrest in his Swiss vacation home Dec. 4.


    An attorney for Polanski‘s victim also urged Espinoza to have the director sentenced in absentia.


    Attorneys of Polanski who fled to France and has been a fugitive ever since said that the judge‘s promise is binding and Polanski has served his full sentence. They have asked Espinoza for a full hearing with witnesses about allegations of judicial and prosecutorial misconduct in the case.


    Polanski‘s victim, Samantha Geimer, was 13 when she met Polanski for a modeling shoot in Los Angeles in 1977. Polanski was accused of plying her with champagne and part of a Quaalude pill then raping her at Jack Nicholson‘s house.
     

  • Avatar, Star Trek among sound editing nominations

    MUMBAI: Avatar and Star Trek with three nominations each lead the list of nominations for the Motion Picture Sound Editor (MPSE) s‘ 2010 Golden Reel Awards.The awards will be handed out at ceremonies on 20 February at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles.


    Steven Spielberg will be honoured at the event as 2010 MPSE Filmmaker Recipient, while the Career Achievement award will go to Larry Singer.


    The Golden Reel Awards spotlight the art of sound editing, music editing and sound design in film, TV and video.


    In the category of sound editing, music in a feature film, the nominees are 2012, (500) Days of Summer, An Education, Avatar, It‘s Complicated, Star Trek, Sherlock Holmes and The Informant!.


    Crazy Heart, Every Little Step, Nine and This Is It earned nominations for sound editing, music in a musical feature.
    For sound editing: dialogue and ADR in a feature, the nominees are (500) Days of Summer, A Serious Man, Avatar, GI Joe, Inglourious Basterds, Star Trek, The Hurt Locker and The Stoning of Soraya M.


    Moving on to the category of sound effects and foley in a feature, the MPSE nominated 2012, Avatar, Inglourious Basterds, Push, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, The Hurt Locker, Star Trek and Watchmen.

  • Sundance inks distribution deal with YouTube

    MUMBAI: Sundance is collaborating with YouTube on three titles from the new Next strand set to receive their world premieres in Park City.


    Linas Phillips‘ road movie Bass Ackwards, Todd Barnes and Brad Barnes‘ romance Homewrecker, and Michal Mohan‘s friendship drama One Too Many Mornings will screen.


    Commencing on January 22, these films will be showcased on the YouTube homepage after which they will also be available till 31 January at YouTube Movies.
    The Cove and Children Of Invention, will also be made available for rental.


    Said Sundance Film Festival director John Cooper, “It has been our goal this year to find opportunities for our film-makers by linking them to our technology partners and YouTube has been a great sponsor and partner.” 


    “The YouTube commitment to independent film is aligned with ours at Sundance. This begins a new age of connecting our artists directly to audiences,” Cooper added.


    The films will be available for rental from 22 to 31 January and will be priced at $3.99 that includes an unlimited number of views during a 48-hour period with the exception of The Cove which will be a 24-hour window.


    Filmmakers of these films will receive majority of the revenue share and none of the participating filmmakers opted to have a cap on streams. This means that there will be no limit to how many rentals can be purchased during the 10-day period.


    After 31 January, the films will no longer be available under their current deal with YouTube.
     

  • A Prophet garners 13 nominations in Ceasar awards

    MUMBAI: In the Academie Des Arts Et Techniques Du Cinema‘s nominees for the Cesar awards announced in Paris on Friday, Jacques Audiard‘s A Prophet, which is the country‘s submission for the foreign language Oscar bagged 13 nominations in all including best picture, director and actor award for Tahar Rahim.


    Philippe Lioret‘s Welcome garnered nine nominations including the best picture, director and actor categories.


    Francois Cluzet, who starred in Guillaume Canet‘s Tell No One, has the distinction of competing against himself in the best actor category for Philippe Godeau‘s One For The Road and Xavier Giannoli‘s In The Beginning.


    Foreign films chosen include James Cameron‘s Avatar, Clint Eastwood‘s Gran Torino, Gus Van Sant‘s Milk, Stephane Aubier and Vincent Patar‘s A Town Called Panic, Michael Haneke‘s The White Ribbon, Danny Boyle‘s Slumdog Millionaire and Xavier Dolan‘s Fortnight victor I Killed My Mother.


    The Cesar ceremony will take place on 27 February 27 in Paris.
     

  • Rajkumar Hirani receives Maestro award from Whistling Woods

    MUMBAI: The Whistling Woods International (WWI) instituted Maestro Award 2009 was awarded to director Rajkumar Hirani for delivering three exceptional films with strong social messages that have resonated with audiences worldwide.


    The awards were initiated to felicitate professionals who‘ve had an impactful career in the artistic or technical fields in the industry, subsequently raising the bar for young filmmakers.


    It is interesting to note that Hirani conducted the first Master Class of 2010 at Whistling Woods International (WWI), Asia‘s largest Film, Television, Animation and Media Arts institute. 


    Hirani visited WWI to talk about his filmmaking experiences and learning the blockbuster of 2009, 3 idiots and the importance of pursuing education in what you love doing.


    Talking to the WWI students about the important elements when making a film Hirani averred, “The most important thing is ‘scripting‘. If you have a good script, execution is simple. More time you spend on the script, you face fewer problems while making the movie. If you are spending a year fine-tuning the script, it is a good investment.


    Pre-production and casting are also extremely critical. I advise students to plan in as much details as possible. Do all groundwork before commencing the shoot.” He also added, “Large film budgets are not necessarily a good thing. Lack of resources promotes innovation”.


    Hirani had earlier directed films like Munnabhai MBBS and Lage Raho Munnabhai. He got his big break as film editor with Mission Kashmir.

  • Seven companies take part first round of MGM bid

    MUMBAI: With a non-binding offer expected soon from Fox, seven companies have placed offers to buy MGM in the first round bidding exercise.


    Warner Bros., Lionsgate and Elliott Management — an investor in producer Relativity Media — were among those who made first-round offers. It will be learnt next week if they have made it into a second round or not.


    All first-round offers, part of a solicitation process launched last month by MGM consultant Moelis & Co., fell short of the $2 billion target for selling the Lion. But with those holding $3.7 billion in MGM debt pressing for a change in ownership, a lesser sum might work out things.


    First-round offers were allowed only on the entire studio. It‘s unclear if a la carte bidding on select MGM assets or on film rights to the James Bond franchise would be allowed in the next round.


    Lionsgate is considered likely to file a second-round bid for the entire company. So far, the mini-major has offered $1.5 billion to buy the studio, it is learnt.


    None of the first-round offers was well detailed, hence the debt holders will be anxious to get a better sense of the seriousness of those bidders.


    Lion owners include Providence Equity, TPG Capital, Sony, Comcast, DLJ Merchant and Quadrangle.Companies reviewing MGM financial data have included Fox, Warner Bros., Lionsgate, Liberty Media, AT&T, Summit Entertainment, Reliance Big Entertainment and Elliott.

  • Austria to pay out $4.5 million to film projects this year

    MUMBAI: The Austrian government is planning to pay out $4.5 million to film projects this year after ‘fast-tracking‘ the introduction of its production incentive.


    The scheme, that is modelled on Germany‘s Federal Film Fund (DFFF), was announced by Austrian economics minster Reinhold Mitterlehner on 21 January.


    It will launch in July, subject to approval from the European Commission, and will pay out a further $10.5 million in 2011 to 2012. 


    The Austrian film industry trade association FAFO estimates that between 20-30 films could be supported by the new fund.


    Projects, including international co-productions, will need to spend at least 25 per cent of its production budget on Austrian film-related goods and services. This could be reduced to 20 per cent for large productions with budgets of $14 million for large productions with a budget.


    The maximum support for a single project will amount to 25 per cent of the Austrian production costs or 15 per cent of the fund‘s annual budget.


    It is understood that the international awards garnered by Michael Haneke‘s The White Ribbon and actor Christoph Waltz, for his role in Inglourious Basterds, prompted the Austrian government to ‘fast track‘ its plans.