ITV

Category: Movies

  • Double death whammy for Kannada filmdom in as many days

    BANGALORE: Kannada Sugama Sangeeth and theatre artiste and film music composer C Ashwath‘s death on his seventy-first birthday yesterday was followed by death of Kannada film thespian Vishnuvardhan in the early hours this morning.


    Vishnuvardhan, a film actor and a singer died of cardiac arrest.


    Born Sampath Kumar, Sahasa Simha, (A lion in fighting/action) as he was called adopted the name Vishnuvardhan at the instance of Puttanna Kanagal who directed him in the Kannada film ‘Nagarahavu‘, a film which gave him recognition and stardom.


    Vishnuvardhan acted in over 195 films in his 35-year career. As a singer, he started singing in movies occasionally and of late he had started singing devotional songs for albums.


    Some of his famous songs are Hegiddharu Neene Chenna -‘Sahasa Simha, Shashiya Kandu Moda Helithu – ‘Sirithanakke Savaal‘; Thuthu Anna Thinnoke – ‘Jimmi Gallu‘; Beda Annoro Unte – ‘Sididedda Sahodara‘; Kannadave Nammamma – ‘Mojugara Sogusugara‘.


    His body was brought to his residence in Bangalore from Mysore and will be cremated shortly.


    Ashwath, who learnt Hindustani classical music from Devagiri Shankarrao Joshi became an exponent of Bhavageete and Janapada Geete. Besides singing for a number of his own compositions, Ashwath composed music for 22 films, including a number of award winning movies.


    Karnataka Higher Education minister Aravind Limbavali announced that the government would consider beginning a music school for children that Aswath wanted to open under the ambit of the newly established music university in Mysore.

  • Mike Pandey documentary has wildlife species protected

    MUMBAI: For the fourth time, an endangered wildlife species has been given protection by the Government, thanks to a documentary film by the renowned filmmaker Mike Pandey.


    Following the persistent efforts following the film, Timeless Traveler- the horseshoe Crab, believed to be the oldest living being on earth (reportedly older than the dinosaurs), has been put under Schedule IV of the Wildlife Act. This means that it can be used for research but cannot be killed or poached by anyone including private collectors.


    The crab has been considered important to humanity as scientists want to know how it has survived for millions of years. 


    Timeless Traveller – the horseshoe crab was made by a team of young filmmakers like Gautam Pandey, Arjun Pandey and Doel Trivedy and produced by Mike‘s production house.


    The documentary was awarded two prestigious international awards at the Albert Festival in 2005: the ‘Best Film for Protection Of Wildlife‘ award and the ‘Best Film for Protection Of Marine Life.‘


    Earlier, Mike‘s films on wild elephants The Last Migration – Wild Elephant Capture in Sarguja in 1994, on whale sharks Shores of Silence – Whale Sharks in India and on vultures Broken Wings had led the government to act to protect these species.


    Recently, the ‘Time‘ magazine listed him at the third place in its list of Environment Heroes of the Twentieth Century.

  • UTV announces four-movie slate for Q4 release

    MUMBAI: UTV Motion Pictures said Tuesday it would release a slate of four films for the fourth-quarter of this fiscal ended 31 March 2010.


    UTV will kick off the New Year with Chance Pe Dance, a movie directed by Ken Ghosh, that will release on 15 January.


    Next to follow will be India‘s official entry to the Oscars this year. Harishchandrachi Factory,,directed by Paresh Mokashi, will hit the screens on 22 January. The movie is co-produced by UTV production along with Paprika Media and Mayasabha.


    Peter Gaya Kaam Se, starring Rajeev Khandelwal and Lekha Washington, is scheduled for a March 2010 release. The same month will also see the release of Paan Singh Tomar.


    Other films to be released by UTV later in the year include Prakash Jha‘s Raajneeti, Sanjay Leela Bhansali‘s Guzarish, Anees Bazmee‘s Thank You, Rajkumar Gupta‘s No One Killed Jessica, Vishal Bhardwaj‘s Ek Bataa Saat and Aamir Khan Productions‘ Delhi Belly and Peepli Live.


    2010-11 will also see UTV release two animation films – Arjun, The Warrior Prince and Alibaba & the 41 Thieves – and one kids film Chillar Party.


    Says UTV Motion Pictures CEO Siddharth Roy Kapur, “While 2009 has been a low year for the film industry in general, we released some interesting films which etched themselves in the minds of the audience. Dev.D, Kaminey and Wake Up Sid created new benchmarks for what can now be perceived as commercial cinema. Our slate for 2010 promises to be a very entertaining mix.”


    Among the releases of UTV in 2009 were films like Delhi 6, Kurbaan, What‘s Your Rashee, Phir Kabhi, Main Aurr Mrs Khanna and Telugu and Tamil releases of remake of A Wednesday.

  • Golden Globes awards on 17 January

    MUMBAI: Halle Berry, Colin Farrell and Matthew Fox will present the 67th annual Golden Globe Awards on 17 January.


    They join Jennifer Aniston, Mickey Rourke and Julia Roberts. Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio, the names of whom were previously announced. 


    The Hollywood Foreign Press Association‘s Cecil B. DeMille award to Martin Scorsese for his “outstanding contribution to the entertainment field.”


    The show, hosted by Ricky Gervais, will be broadcast live on NBC.


    The Annual Golden Globe Awards will be seen in more than 160 countries worldwide and is one of the few awards ceremonies that span both television and motion picture achievements.
     

  • AFI singles out Avatar among year’s 8 top films

    MUMBAI: The American Film Institute (AFI) has hailed James Cameron‘s Avatar as one among the eight noteworthy events in the world of the moving image in 2009 as it released its list of the past year‘s “Moments of Significance” on Monday last.


    The list is a companion piece to the AFI Movies of the Year and the AFI Television Programs of the Year, which were announced earlier in December. Ironically, Avatar failed to make the AFI‘s movies list.
    However, in surveying the past year, the AFI described Avatar as a pioneering effort to unleash the human imagination, “a film that firmly established itself as a landmark in the way stories are told.”


    The AFI added that Cameron‘s advances in CGI and 3D are “an achievement that will have profound effects on the future of the art form.”


    According to the AFI, other film trends of note were “a dazzling explosion of noteworthy” animation and rising ticket grosses, which it said, demonstrated that “movies again prove a tonic for economic ails.”


    Reviewing the TV scene, the AFI pointed to The Jay Leno Show at 10 p.m., which resulted in the loss of “five hours traditionally reserved for episodic drama”; it said that “reality television crossed a line in 2009 as the cultural craving for celebrity moved in a dangerous new direction,” as exemplified by the tales of the Balloon Boy and the Octomom and it also noted that the end of analog TV symbolically represented the changing TV landscape.


    Rounding out the survey, the AFI remembered the death of Michael Jackson, saying that the subsequent documentary This Is It proved an unprecedented global eulogy for fans and friends of the King of Pop. And it also cited Twitter for creating “new and direct channels of communication for artists to speak directly to their fan base.”


    The AFI will honour the creative ensembles behind each of its 10 movie and TV choices at a luncheon at the Four Seasons Hotel on Jan. 15.
     

  • Spanish producer Tedy Villalba passes away

    MUMBAI: Renowned Spanish producer Tedy Villalba died in Madrid after a long period of ill health. He was 74 years old.


    Villalba worked with some of the biggest names in film, including Orson Welles and Stanley Kubrick, over a 60 year career. Beginning as a set designer and painter before moving into production, Villalba worked his way up from a production assistant to production manager and executive producer.


    His list of films include David Lean‘s Dr Zhivago and Lawrence Of Arabia, John Huston‘s Moby Dick, Orson Welles‘ Mr Arkadin, Stanley Kubrick‘s Spartacus, Anthony Mann‘s El Cid and local director Pedro Almodovar‘s Dark Habits and What Have I Done To Deserve This?


    Villalba was also director of the Film and Audiovisual School in Madrid for nearly ten years from 1994, and also served two terms as vice president of the Spanish Film Academy that earned him an honorary Goya in 2006.

  • 5 Indian films at Palms Springs International film fest

    MUMBAI: Indian films have marked a strong presence in the 21st edition of Palms Springs International Film festival-2010 which will be held from January 7 to 18 in Palm Springs, California.


    Four Indian films are slated to be screened at the Palm Springs International Film Festival scheduled to be held in California from 7 to 18 January in Palm Springs, California.


    The Man Beyond the Bridge directed by Laxmikant Shetgaonkar will be screened in the PSIFF‘s new voices/new visions competition that features works from debutant or first or second time filmmakers.


    Dev D by Anurag Kashyap will be screened in the ‘World Cinema Now‘ section while Shyam Benegal‘s Well Done Abba will also be screened in the same section. Also finding a place is Thanks Maa directed by Irfan Kamal.


    Of a total of 188 films from 70 countries that will be screened, other films in this competition are Angel at Sea (Belgium/Canada) directed by Frederic Durmont, Beautiful Kate by Rachelward, A Brand New Life (South Korea/France) directed by Ounie Lecomte, Brotherhood ( Denmark) by Nicolo Donato, Devil‘s Town ( Serbia) by Vladimir Paskaljevic, Heliopolis (Egypt) by Ahmad Abdalla, Huacho (Chile/France) by Alejandro Fernandez Almendras, La Pivellina (Austria/Italy) by Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel, Northless (Mexico/Spain) by Rigoberto Perezcano, Nothing Personal” (Netherlands/Ireland) directed by Urszula Antoniak, What You Don‘t See (Germany/Austria) directed by Wolfgang Fischer.


    The Sun Behind the Clouds: Tibet‘s Struggle for Freedom by filmmakers Sonam and Sarin will be screened under ‘True Stories‘ section. With unusual intimate access, filmmakers Sonam and Sarin find a unique perspective on the Dalai Lama‘s trials and tribulations and follow him over an eventful year, including the 2008 protests in Tibet, the long march in India, the Beijing Olympics and the breakdown of talks with China.


    While Michael Hoffman‘s The Last Station” will open the festival, The Lightkeepers by Daniel Adams will the festival.
     

  • 3 Idiots grosses Rs 1 billion in four days

    MUMBAI: There is no stopping the 3 Idiots. The Aamir Khan movie, distributed by Reliance Big Pictures, has grossed Rs 1 billion in its first four-day run across the world.


    The movie released in 2126 screens, including 366 screens overseas. Says Reliance Big Entertainment chairman Amit Khanna, “We are privileged to have been associated with 3 Idiots and its immensely talented team led by Vinod, Aamir and Raju. The ramp-up to Rs. 1 billion in 4 days is phenomenal and we are confident that the film will continue to blaze new records in the weeks to come.”


    Shot on location, the film chronicles the tale of three friends in an engineering college. Says producer Vinod Chopra,” The response to 3 Idiots has been overwhelming. It is the highest grossing Hindi film ever in Australia on its opening weekend. Similarly in the US, I have been given to understand that that the film would be highest ever for a Hindi film.”


    3 Idiots has surpassed Aamir‘s last year blockbuster Ghajini that collected Rs 900 million in its first four days of release.

  • Zee Talkies’ Natarang to hit screens on 1st January

    MUMBAI: Zee Talkies‘ Natarang starring Atul Kulkarni and Sonalee is scheduled to release all over on 1 January.


    Creatively stimulating, entertainingly enlightening and beautifully arresting, Natarang is a cinematic canvas with just the right strokes of acting talents, story, music, cinematography and but of course path-breaking direction.


    Set up in Maharashtra‘s rustic hinterlands, the film bears the dust of its rural life, and treats you to some beautiful film-making there within.


    Directed by Ravi Jadhav, the film compels you to reflect back on the simplest desires of life. As Guna Kagalkar, the lead character of the film, played by Atul Kulkarni inspires you to do just that. The passion, obsession, zeal and undying desire to set up a tamasha theatre company, leaves you completely spellbound. 


    Based on a story by the same name by veteran Marathi author Anand Yadav, it has cinematography by Mahesh Limaye, screenplay to Ravi Jadhav and dialogues and lyrics to Guru Thakur. The film has music by duo Ajay-Atul.


    Right from the time Natarang went on floors, it has been enveloped by curiosity from film critics and cinema lovers alike. It has been showered with applauds from not just Indian but also international film critics.


    It‘s screening and subsequent honours at the 11th international MAMI film festival, the 8th Asian Film Festival etc is a definite proof of its cinematic prowess.


    In fact in the MAMI film festival, it became the only Indian film to be selected in the 14 ‘Above the cut‘ category films for its outstanding cinematic merit.
     

  • Avatar still rules the box-office

    MUMBAI: A week after its release, James Cameron‘s Avatar still reigns the Indian box-office with its 10-day collection totaling a whopping Rs 500 million that makes the film the fourth-biggest Hollywood film ever in India.


    Not only has Avatar broken box-office records of Hollywood films like of 2012, Titanic and Spiderman 3 but also ranks No. 7 amongst the big Bollywood films in India surpassing the opening week collections of top Hindi films like All The Best, Kaminey, Delhi 6 and New York. The film has, in fact, beaten the openings of recent high profile Hindi films like Rocket Singh and Paa as well.


    The epic action adventure has broken several records in India and abroad and is still going strong at the box-office.


    In the overseas circuit, the film collected $620 million worldwide with a cumulative drop of just 10 per cent from last week.


    Released on 18 December across India, Avatar earned a record Rs 10 million through its paid previews across India, the highest for any Hollywood film in India. The film then created a record by grossing Rs 67 million on the opening day itself, making it the biggest ever Friday opening for any Hollywood film in India.