Category: Movies

MUMBAI: The promos of Rahul Bose‘s I Dream Productions‘ horror film Fired have run into trouble with the Censor Board as they contain too much blood and gore as well as nudity in a sex scene between Bose and British model Militza Radmilovic.

Censor Board has deemed the yet to be aired promos to fall under ‘A‘ certificate, and are inappropriate to be aired on Indian television, according to Cable television Network (Regulation) Act.

The producers were asked to remove nudity and tone down the violent scenes. However, even after the cut, the promos have still attracted an ‘A‘ certificate.
 
“We don‘t understand the system. At one level, we have television channels showing horror shows and the Censor board has no control over that,” IDream Production CEO Ashish Bhatnagar said in a statement.

“There seems to be double standard of censorship of content on TV. As a producer, we are not allowed to promote our film on TV. We don‘t know how we can put the message across to the audience that ours is a horror film if we are not allowed to show blood and gore in the promos,” Bhatnagar added.

Rahul Bose feels that the Censor Board has not taken things in the right context. “I feel we have misplaced the sense of censorship. What I feel is gory or vulgar, somebody else might not. Even for the sex scene, I feel people are more mature now and hence self-censorship should be the key.”

Fired, a directorial debut of Sajid Warrier, is scheduled to release next year.

MUMBAI: Reliance MediaWorks has partnered with Los Angeles-based In-Three to establish a facility in India that will convert 2D films and videos into 3D.

The facility, which will commence work from February next year, will address the growing demand by Hollywood studios and other global content creators for converting both new films shot in 2D as well as older titles to be released in cinemas and on home platforms in stereoscopic 3D.

The partnership is expected to be able to cater to 15-25 feature films projects per year. Work on the first joint title will commence beginning of 2010, with several projects planned for a start in the first half of 2010.

“We are excited and bullish on the 3D entertainment market. This partnership is a joint effort that combines the best of technology and artistic talent from Hollywood with the most advanced skills and large scale image processing capabilities in India,” says Reliance MediaWorks CEO Anil Arjun. “Reliance MediaWorks already does image enhancement and restoration for the leading Hollywood studios and the expansion of services into 2D-to-3D conversion was a natural next step for the company.”

The partnership will combine In-Three’s software tools for ‘dimensionalisation‘ with Reliance MediaWorks infrastructure. In-Three is a company that specialises in 2D to stereo 3D conversion.

Says In-Three CEO Neil Feldman, “In order to meet the full slate of films that In-Three has lined up for 2010 and beyond, we sought out the best possible international partner. One that could provide the level of quality our studio clients expect, which made Reliance MediaWorks the natural choice for us.”
The number of 3D cinema screens worldwide is expected to rise from 2,500 in 2008 to over 7,000 this year and 15,000 by 2013, fuelling demand for 3D films.

The In-Three-Reliance MediaWorks stereoscopic 3D alliance will also benefit from the proprietary image processing tools – that are key to image processing – developed by Reliance MediaWork’s Burbank-based subsidiary Lowry Digital, Hollywood’s film restoration and image processing expert.

NEW DELHI: The National Film Development Corporation, which commenced production over the last two years and produced eight films, has received funds under the 11th Plan to help its production activities and also revitalize it.

Noting that the Corporation had accumulated losses of Rs 276.2 million as on March 31 2009, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni said all Union Ministries and state governments had been urged to give production work of documentaries and video spots of their states to NFDC.

She told Parliament that the government had no plans to close down the Corporation and was working towards “revamping and rejuvenating” it. A voluntary retirement scheme had helped in reducing the staff strength from 211 to 141, she added.

These losses were due to the “decline of gross profit margins and loss of business of marketing of free commercial time (FCT) of Doordarshan and due to the loss of royalty after DD stopped acquiring films”, she said.

NFDC was earlier permitted to retain the money from the commercials in the films when they were telecast on Doordarshan. But the situation underwent a change with the starting of Prasar Bharati.

An amount of Rs 367.5 million is owed to NFDC by advertisement agents, and it has lodged cases against 16 such companies.

MUMBAI: AB Corp’s Paa, released this week, opened to a good response as cinema-watchers were curious to see the 60-plus Amitabh Bachchan playing the role of a 13-year-old child.

The film has already grossed Rs 200 million in the opening weekend, according to industry estimates.

Paa had an average opening on its first day, but picked up considerably on Saturday and Sunday. The film had a 62 per cent occupancy on the first day at both single screen theatres as well as multiplexes, but made fantastic business on Saturday and Sunday.

Not only has Bachchan essayed the role of Auro (character played by Bachchan) perfectly but has also made people cry and laugh with the character that he has played. This has resulted in a lot of word-of-mouth publicity.

 
Says AB Corp CEO wing commander Ramesh Pulapaka, “Compared to Friday, occupancies increased nearly 50 per cent on Saturday. We have been receiving good comments about the film. To me, mouth publicity has been a positive factor. The film will do very well.”

Multiplex players said Paa, like Tare Zameen Par , has started on a slow note but recorded a significant jump in ticket sales on Saturday and Sunday following strong word-of-mouth reviews.

Fun Cinema COO Vishal Kapur said, “The film has done fairly well over the weekend and we are expecting around 50 per cent occupancy throughout the week.”

Inox Leisure vice president programming and distribution Utpal Acharya said, “While the film is doing very well in the metros, it is picking up in the smaller centres. People are very positive about the film because of which we are expecting the film to pick up well.”

MUMBAI: Reliance MediaWorks has partnered with Los Angeles-based In-Three to establish a facility in India that will convert 2D films and videos into 3D.

The facility, which will commence work from February next year, will address the growing demand by Hollywood studios and other global content creators for converting both new films shot in 2D as well as older titles to be released in cinemas and on home platforms in stereoscopic 3D.

The partnership is expected to be able to cater to 15-25 feature films projects per year. Work on the first joint title will commence beginning of 2010, with several projects planned for a start in the first half of 2010.

“We are excited and bullish on the 3D entertainment market. This partnership is a joint effort that combines the best of technology and artistic talent from Hollywood with the most advanced skills and large scale image processing capabilities in India,” says Reliance MediaWorks CEO Anil Arjun. “Reliance MediaWorks already does image enhancement and restoration for the leading Hollywood studios and the expansion of services into 2D-to-3D conversion was a natural next step for the company.”

 
The partnership will combine In-Three’s software tools for ‘dimensionalisation‘ with Reliance MediaWorks infrastructure. In-Three is a company that specialises in 2D to stereo 3D conversion.

Says In-Three CEO Neil Feldman, “In order to meet the full slate of films that In-Three has lined up for 2010 and beyond, we sought out the best possible international partner. One that could provide the level of quality our studio clients expect, which made Reliance MediaWorks the natural choice for us.”
The number of 3D cinema screens worldwide is expected to rise from 2,500 in 2008 to over 7,000 this year and 15,000 by 2013, fuelling demand for 3D films.

The In-Three-Reliance MediaWorks stereoscopic 3D alliance will also benefit from the proprietary image processing tools – that are key to image processing – developed by Reliance MediaWork’s Burbank-based subsidiary Lowry Digital, Hollywood’s film restoration and image processing expert.

MUMBAI: Making its foray into the North East, Cinemax has launched its first property in Siliguri.

With the launch of Cinemax-Savin Plaza in Dagapur, Siliguri, Cinemax has established a strong presence in the region.

The four-screen multiplex opened yesterday with the release of PAA. The new property is a step towards the reinforcement of Cinemax‘s commitment of providing the best of Indian and international cinema to all its viewers across the country.

The Cinemax at Siliguri will host a total of 974 seats. Screen I has a capacity of 216 patrons, Screen II can seat 242 patrons. The capacity of Screen III is 216 patrons while Screen IV has a capacity to seat 300 patrons.

The multiplex will also host 73 recliner seats.

 
Talking on the launch, Cinemax India Ltd Senior Vice President Devang Sampat said, “Cinemax has established its presence with a strong emphasis on screen size, picture and sound quality and innovative consumer offers, offering viewers a variety which keeps them coming back for more.”

MUMBAI: Three films from the Reliance Big Pictures stable – Well Done Abba, Kutty Srank and Janala – will feature in the 6th Dubai International Film Festival that will go underway on 9 December and end on the 16th.

The directors and principal artistes of all these films will travel to Dubai for the screening and promotion of their films.

Hindi film Well Done Abba will be competing in the Muhr Asia Africa section along with 14 other films from across the world, with only one more Indian film in that section.

Artistes associated with the film including Boman Irani, Minissha Lamba and Sameer Dattani will be present at the festival. The film will be screened on 11 and 12 December.

 
Malayalam film Kutty Srank will be screened on 11 and 13 December in the Celebration of Indian Cinema section. Director Shaji N Karun along with Mammootty will be present at the festival.

Buddhadeb Dasgupta‘s Bengali film Janala is being screened in Cinema of Asia Africa section where the director and lead actor Indraneil Sengupta will represent the film. The film will be screened on 12 and 14 December.

Comments Reliance Big Pictures COO Mahesh Ramanathan, “It‘s a great way to round off the year. The worldwide release of Paa and 3 Idiots and these festival selections add luster to a successful year where Reliance Big Pcitures has made the world take notice of the talent and growing reach of filmmakers from India.”

All these films are expected to release theatrically next year.