ITV

Tag: Abhishek Bachchan

  • YRF going South to remake Band Baaja Baarat and Bunty aur Bubly

    YRF going South to remake Band Baaja Baarat and Bunty aur Bubly

    MUMBAI: Yash Raj Films (YRF), which had floated a South Indian division to remake its own hits into South Indian languages, is toying with the idea of remaking Band Baaja Baarat in Telugu, Tamil and Kannada with fresh faces in the lead.

    This will be followed by the Abhishek Bachchan-Rani Mukherjee starrer Bunty aur Babli.

    Confirming this, a YRF spokesperson said “We are seriously looking at remaking Band Baaja Baaraat in the South.” Band Baaja Baaraat starred Ranveer Singh and Anoushka Sharma and was well received, especially among younger audiences.”

    Since this film had made a mark at the box office, many filmmakers from the south had approached the production house to buy the rights of the film. However, YRF has never sold the making rights of any of their films.

    Ever since Bodyguard, Ready and Singham came on the scene, trade is abuzz with talk that films from South India being remade in Hindi is the order of the day. But few know that several South Indian films are based on Hindi films.

    When Aditya Chopra realised the huge potential of the South Indian market, he set up YRF Deccan and appointed Padam Kumar as the head since he is a known producer in the south and understands the market well.

  • Mani Ratnam’s Raavanan in Austrian Film Museuml

    Mani Ratnam’s Raavanan in Austrian Film Museuml

    MUMBAI: Mani Ratnam‘s Raavanan is now part of the permanent collection of the Austrian Film Museum that houses 25, 500 films.

    Director of the museum Alexander Horwath was trying to get a copy of the film ever since he saw it at the Venice Film Festival (VFF) last year, where Ratnam received the ‘Glory to the Filmmaker Award’. “It was a glorious evening and Raavanan was screened after the award ceremony,” Horwath reportedly said on the sidelines of the VFF.

    Starring Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachchan and southern star Vikram, the bilingual was released in Hindi as Raavan while the Tamil version was called Raavanan.

    Howarth, however, regrets that of the total films in the library only 15 are from India. This includes three films of Satyajit Ray and Yash Raj Film’s Veer Zaara.

    The museum is also home to a library with more than 20,000 books and 200 magazine titles covering a broad range of film-related topics.

  • JP Dutta’s war epic jinxed

    JP Dutta’s war epic jinxed

    MUMBAI: J P Dutta, who was recently in the news when he announced the remaking of the Malayalam film Adaminte Makan Abu, is miffed with the Ministry of Defence for not granting permission to start shooting his war epic.

    The film is about how a war brings the unlikeliest of companions and allies together. It is said to be a tribute to patriotism.

    It is said that Dutta wanted to begin shooting on the film soon after his last film LOC Kargil was released nine years ago and had even signed artistes like Abhishek Bachchan, Suniel Shetty, Jackie Shroff, Vinod Khannaand Akshaye Khanna among others but the permissions of the ministry came in the way.

    Dutta has been pursuing the ministry to get the related permissions since the last two years but to no avail.

  • Prakash Jha’s next based on Naxalite movement

    Prakash Jha’s next based on Naxalite movement

    MUMBAI: Known to make films on current affairs, Prakash Jha is all set to roll out his next film, Chakravyuha,, about the Naxalite movement.

    Since the veteran director has signed Abhishek Bachchan to play a Naxalite, the latter has been recommended to go through a host of Naxalite literature that would enable him to get into the skin of the character. Incidentally, for Mani Ratnam‘s Guru too, Bachchan had undertaken extensive research.

    The shooting of the film will take place in Bhopal and in the jungles of Madhya Pradesh.

    Meanwhile, Jha will also direct another film, Satyagrah, with Amitabh Bachchan and Ajay Devgn. But the film has been delayed because of unavailability of Devgn‘s dates. Apparently, the film will now roll in the second-half of this year. Satyagrah deals with politics and corruption.

    This is the first time in his career that Jha would be directing two films simultaneously.

  • Players makes for dull viewing

    Players makes for dull viewing

    MUMBAI: The search for subjects for films seems to be getting more and more desperate as producers and directors take recourse to sequels and remakes of old movies, regional movies as well as foreign movies. Players, in this event, is inspired by a Hollywood caper movie, The Italian Job (made twice; 1969 and 2003) where a bunch of specialists form a team to steal a cache of World War I-era gold worth billions.  
     







    Producer: Burmawala Partners, Viacom 18 Motion Pictures.
    Director: Abbas Mustan.
    Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Bobby Deol, Bipasha Basu, Sonam Kapoor, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Sikander Kher, Omi Vaidya, Johny Lever, Vinod Khanna.


    But  Players is what happens when a star is expected to make up for everybody and everything else, including the script!


    Abhishek Bachchan is a master criminal specialising in high value heists. He next wants to rob a train carrying gold from under the nose of the Russian army, which is escorting this special train. As in all such films, he needs a team of experts in various skills. Vinod Khanna, a past master at heists, helps him put the team together. On board come Bobby Deol, a magician; Sikander Kher, an explosives expert; Bipasha Basu, an automobile wizard who can attach turbo rocket jets to an age old train engine and make it fly on tracks (!); Neil Nitin Mukesh, a computer hacker; and Omi Vaidya, a gifted make-up and get-up ace. Also on standby are Sonam Kapoor, also a computer hacker and Johny Lever, who can devise and put together any kind of vehicle on four wheels.


    The team embarks on the job by hiring a train which runs parallel to the gold-laden train and the heist is successful. Going by heist movie guidebook, it is time for twists and turns and breakups as well as betrayals. One of the team members has greed greater than his due share in the loot and he attempts to finish the rest of the team and vanish. The latter part is all about one-upmanship and getting the gold back.


    Both Hollywood versions of The Italian Job had a running time of between 100 and 110 minutes, Players is stretched to 2 hours 30 minutes and this is its first drawback. Secondly, the extensive planning stages and computer mumbo-jumbo, which not many cine-goers care for, also makes for dull viewing. The ultimate major problem is the star cast, which comprises those lacking draw at the box office, are not quite capable of carrying off two and a half hours of drama, and lack of excitement or enthusiasm they show carrying out the job.


    Yes, the film has great visuals and finesse as well as well-executed action and stunt sequences but the credit for these goes neither to the writers nor the director duo. Whatever is left to them is nothing much to write home about. Songs in the film are not only bad; they could easily have been dispensed with. Editing is so slack as to be non-existent. Of the technical aspects, cinematography deserves mention. In the cast, the one who does best and helps hold the film together in parts is Johny Lever, a fact which says a lot about the others. Abhishek Bachchan, Bobby Deol, Bipasha Basu and Sonam go about their parts routinely. Neil Nitin Mukesh tries but lacks in varying his expressions. Omi Vaidya is okay. Sikander Kher looks sincere in his efforts. Vinod Khanna has little to do.


    Players is a case of just about everything going wrong with a film, from script and execution to casting and public response.


    There is an age old belief in the industry that films released on the first Friday of a new year always flop and Players may continue that myth.

  • Players releases in New Zealand with 11 prints

    Players releases in New Zealand with 11 prints

    MUMBAI: Abbas-Mustan’s upcoming release seems to have the biggest release in New Zealand.

    It is said that the distributors there have released the film with 11 prints in two of the biggest cinemas –Event and Hoyts-in the country

    It is said that the craze for Players has grown since it was extensively shot there. It is because of this that the film has garnered tremendous mileage.

    Starring Abhishek Bachchan, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Bobby Deol, Sikander Kher, Aftab Shivdasani, Bipasha Basu and Sonam Kapoor, the film is
    based on the 2003 Hollywood blockbuster, Italian Job.

    Forum Films, the distributor of Players in New Zealand, hopes of a huge opening in New Zealand.

    The earlier biggest release in New Zealand was that of Don2 that released with 9 prints.
     

  • Players To release on 6 January

    Players To release on 6 January

    MUMBAI: Players, the official remake of the 2003 made Hollywood film The Italian Job, is all set to release on 6 January 2012.

    The Italian Job revolves around the story of six thieves, who plan to pull off the heist of their lives by creating a largest ever traffic
    jam in Los Angeles.

    The filming of Players started on 9 November last year and has been shot in Goa, Wellington and Auckland in New Zealand. It already has had a long schedule in Siberia, St Petersburg and other locations in Russia.

    The film stars Abhishek Bachchan, Bobby Deol, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Sikander Kher, Bipasha Basu and Sonam Kapoor. The film also stars Omi Vaidya and Sikander Kher in major roles.

  • NDTV raises Rs 48.6 mn from Save Our Tigers Telethon

    NDTV raises Rs 48.6 mn from Save Our Tigers Telethon

    MUMBAI: 35 Rapid Rescue Teams (RRTs) to be deployed across Tiger Reserves of the country in partnership with Wildlife Conservation Trust with the funds raised.

    MUMBAI: NDTV has managed to raise Rs 48.6 million for its “Save Our Tiger” campaign by telecasting a 12-hour nonstop program -The Telethon on its network channels.

    The Telethon, in association with Aircel, saw wildlife champions from across the country coming forward to extend a hand in saving the national animal the Indian Tiger.

    Campaign ambassador Amitabh Bachchan along with NDTV chairman Dr Prannoy Roy and Vikram Chandra highlighted the key issues of tiger conservation and keenly monitored events across the country from the central hub at Pench, Tiger Reserve from 11 am to 11 pm on 12 December.

    NDTV said that people and organisation from across the nation come forward to contribute Rs 24.3 million for the cause, while investment banker, Hemendre Kothari matches the contribution with a donation of Rs 24.3 million.

    Apart from Kothari, some of the donors are Bhaichung Bhutia, Abhishek Bachchan, Nitin Gadkari, Diya Mirza, Manish Malhotra, Soli Sorabjee, Priya Dutt, industry body CII, and coporates such as Westside.

    Campaign ambassador Bachchan donated Rs 2.8 million and also auctioned his Cartier watch and two pairs of designer glasses which raised another Rs 845,000 million.

    According to Wildlife Conservation Trust director Dr Anish Andheria, the funds raised in this telethon are sufficient to create and deploy 35 Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) and cover all the Tiger Reserves across the country.

    Roy said, “NDTV is overwhelmed by the nationwide response. We are most pleased that the Tigerthon achieved three aims: to raise awareness and initiate action on the ground, to get Chief Ministers to pledge support to save the tiger and, most exciting, the full-day Tiger Conclave by CII, all political parties and tiger experts which hopefully will lead to Project Tiger 2.”

    Aircel COO Gurdeep Singh added, “We would like to thank each and everyone who came forward and supported the cause. The level of participation and support for our national animal, the Tiger is over whelming. Aircel‘s support to the cause is long term and we will continue to build on our efforts to save our tigers.”

  • ‘Any attempt to gag freedom of media in garb of regulation has to be resisted’

    ‘Any attempt to gag freedom of media in garb of regulation has to be resisted’

    But, television viewer has only one option, to change the channel, if he/she doesn’t find the content interesting. Because TV viewers don’t have the option of skipping the news report and watching something else, as they might do with a newspaper. Therefore, at any given time television will have to put the best possible visuals on air. And it has been observed that if the viewer finds the story interesting, he stays on – else he shifts to another channel. So to stay in the rating game a TV channel has to give such content that makes the viewers stick with it.

    Therefore, the point to be noted is that the content on TV is not being controlled by the content maker, i.e, the journalist, but someone else who has the remote control in his hand. Basically the channel surfers, today decides the content and not an avid news watcher.

    Another observation is that news channels behaved like typical Bollywood producers in 2007. That is, if a certain formula was a hit, it was copied and you had a wave of that formula. Likewise in TV news, first came a wave of family drama, matrimonial discord, violence, divorce… People lapped it up. Once the novelty factor was gone, the audience got bored.

    Then came, ghost stories. So one after another channels started showing horror stories. While this content was very short lived, it was also alleged that some of the news reports were concocted. There might be some truth in these allegations, too. Just as it was proved in the Uma Khurana case (where a school teacher from Delhi was made a victim of a fake sting operation). Stories such as these do dent the credibility of the media, but the damage is limited.

    After ghost stories, came the Baba wave. Followed by amazing videos. This was a completely new phenomenon. In these videos, channels showed people doing crazy things. But finally this too seems to be nearing its end.

    Hence I believe that classical news will perhaps never die. Because, it is truly “new”, everyday. It’s unique and touches society. So amazing videos, Baba syndrome, ghost stories are fading in comparison to real news.

    This realisation is both internally generated and induced. Induced, as the government is considering a Broadcast Bill. Yet the handling of the bill raises many questions.

    I have stated earlier – freedom of press comes with some responsibilities. This freedom is critical for nation building. But freedom does not mean anarchy. It is necessary to give deep thought to what impact certain news will have on society. Then why are we opposing the Broadcast Bill? Because when the draft bill was brought out, it became very clear that the government wanted to bring in such a mechanism which can gag the media.

    Amazing videos, Baba syndrome, ghost stories are fading in comparison to real news
    _____****_____

    I strongly feel that self regulation is the need of the hour and to achieve this, we need a truly independent and free media body, with a transparent method of electing its members, which is funded by the media, runs its own independent office, and has some powers to deal with channels that flout guidelines. Currently this responsibility has been undertaken by the News Broadcasters Association, which has brought together editors of all news networks to work on the industry’s content code.

    But one thing is clear. Government can’t gag the media and any ‘regulation mechanism’ which is in the hands of bureaucrats or any such body which is directly or indirectly controlled by the government in any way is not acceptable to us.

    Coming to the issue of the media concentrating on the urban scenario and not doing ‘real’ stories – the rural stories… I do not think this will change vastly. Media will naturally give content that is relevant to the market it addresses. And it is that market which will assess its success or failure. Similarly, the channels will also modify their content as per the market’s needs and response, for instance, it would have been noticed that business content has vanished from most general news channels. While stock market has been hitting the roof, audiences prefer to watch business news channels for this news rather than general news channels. Hence most Hindi news networks did away with their business news bulletins.

    The changed economic reality has tremendously impacted the middle class psyche. Therefore the middle class does not relate to issues that they used to be concerned with a few years ago. So the content mix today cannot be the same as it was a decade ago. The viewer today is different. Plus, we have more than 50 per cent of our population below the age group of 25. Needless to say their taste and psyche is different and this changed reality today dictates the media’s content mix. We found this change quite apparent when Headlines Today showed the wedding of Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan. Though it may be termed routine coverage, during these two or three hours, Headlines Today reigned supreme, all other English news channels paled in comparison.

    This changed content mix has dominated Hindi news for a while and we should accept the fact that it is here to stay. Similar will be the scene among English language news channels also, with the growth in audience base. So now we have to cast a new dye for moulding this new content. In today’s world, both technology and market are driving content – just as mobile phones have changed telephony, and sms has changed English.

    As for our channels, it is extremely satisfying that we have retained the number one position despite a virtual dogfight in the TV news market. We are proud to present balanced news content. Though this is a remarkable achievement for Aaj Tak, we are aware of the challenges ahead. A number of new channels coming in the fray and with a growing audience base, it will be our effort to retain our number one position – both in terms of content perfection and market share.

  • B4U bags exclusive rights to 3 Bachchan movies

    B4U bags exclusive rights to 3 Bachchan movies

    MUMBAI: B4U network has bought the global exclusive screening rights to three major Bollywood films – Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai starrers Umraon Jaan and Guru and the yet to be released film from RGV stable starring Amitabh Bachchan Nishabd.

    “We are absolutely delighted to have acquired exclusive rights for these three movies featuring the biggest names in the industry. It’s almost like a Bachchan movie festival. We are grateful to our loyal viewers and they can expect more exciting news like this from us in the coming months” said B4U Network CEO Sunil Rohra.

    B4U a Bollywood television network was incorporated in 1999 and launched B4U Music and B4U Movies simultaneously in UK. The channel went on to expand its operations in the US & UAE before launching in India in May 2000. The B4U network is available on more than 8 different satellites in over 100 countries including the US, UK, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Mauritius Canada and India. B4U Movies was launched in India on 2 October 2001.