Amitabh Bachchan – Page 14

Steps to encourage ease of doing film business under way

NEW DELHI: Information and broadcasting secretary Ajay Mittal has said the Ministry has initiated a series of measures to promote ease of doing business and reiterated government’s commitment to work closely with the film industry.

Mittal was speaking at a function where megastar Amitabh Bachchan inaugurated the new office premise of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) in Mumbai yesterday.

A number for film personalities including former CBFC Chairman Anupam Kher, Ramesh Sippy, Raveena Tandon, Sonu Sood, Pritish Nandy, Manmohan Shetty, Gajendra Chauhan, Kiran Shantaram, Mukesh Sharma were among those present.

CBFC, which had been functioning from the Bharat Bhavan in the White House Complex on Walkeshwar Road since 1950s, was facing severe space constraint against drastic increase in work load.

Mumbai, being the centre of the Hindi, Marathi, Bhojpuri and Punjabi film industry, accounts for nearly 60% of all certification work of CBFC. During 2015-16, it certified over 11,000 films of various duration including 787 Indian feature films and 690 foreign films for theatrical release in India.

Faced with an acute space constraint, lack of parking facility for visitors, CBFC moved a proposal for allocation of space in the Films Division Complex for a modern, digitally enabled office. It may be recalled that the online film certification system of CBFC was launched by Information & Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu in New Delhi last week.

Ramesh Sippy welcomed the online film certification system saying it would facilitate quicker certification of films.

The Civil Construction Wing of Prasar Bharati has refurbished the new office, which houses the chambers of the Chairman, CEO as well as the Mumbai Regional Office. CBFC, besides its own preview facilities, can now utilize additional preview theatres of Films Division as well to quicken the process of film certification.

The Films Division Complex now houses the offices of Films Division, Children’s Film Society of India, CBFC and also the upcoming National Museum of Indian Cinema, which is expected to promote synergy among different institutions of the I &B Ministry.

April 5, 2017

Anushka is ‘Swachh Bharat’ ambassador

MUMBAI: Will highlight issue of open defecation centric on women, joins Amitabh Bachchan in PM Modi’s initiative. It takes a star with maximum reach and impact across India to be chosen as the face of a nationwide health and sanitation campaign

Anushka Sharma has been chosen to be the face of PM Modi’s initiative, the Swach Bharat Abhiyaan along with Bachchan for the same. She is the female ambassador of this massive country wide campaign, and has been picked for her popularity with youth across rural and urban India, particularly women.

The ministry has handpicked Anushka to sharpen and centre their communications towards Indian women, especially those who live in rural and semi rural India. A source adds, “ As per research done extensively by the government, men resist using and building toilets in rural and remote areas but women really want to use these. They are often unable to do so as the men don’t feel the need for it. Consequently, they end up defecating in open spaces like fields and farms which has many risks and dangers for women. Adverse effects of open defecation include spread of disease and safety of women and children. The safety of women is threaten because of going alone to the fields and other places solely because they are unable to use the toilets . Given that Anushka has wide appeal with young audiences and has played inspiring female characters onscreen, the government felt she would resonate with women, and was therefore chosen for the campaign.”

When Anushka heard about this aspect of open defecation, which goes beyond hygiene and health alone, she was appalled. The source explains, “When Anushka found out these details, she was shocked and decided right there and then that she must do this campaign. Centric towards achieving behavorial change in people, especially in motivating women who can take a step and drive men to use toilets, Anushka as a strong opinion influencer is the perfect fit to widen the message. The ministry felt that her influence will help with their outreach greatly and therefore, has chosen her as the face of this campaign. She has shot for two TVCs themed around an anthem like song for the campaign encouraging women to step up against open defecation and for construction of toilets with government initiative.. “

Having ruled the box office the previous year, and with a promising line up of quality films coming up in 2017, Anushka’s consistent performance and commitment to good cinema has made her a household favourite. That she will be endorsing Swachh Bharat campaign validates her huge popularity and she will focus on this campaign with gusto and absolute commitment. The two new TVCs will be worth watching out for.

January 31, 2017

Anushka is ‘Swachh Bharat’ ambassador

MUMBAI: Will highlight issue of open defecation centric on women, joins Amitabh Bachchan in PM Modi’s initiative. It takes a star with maximum reach and impact across India to be chosen as the face of a nationwide health and sanitation campaign

Anushka Sharma has been chosen to be the face of PM Modi’s initiative, the Swach Bharat Abhiyaan along with Bachchan for the same. She is the female ambassador of this massive country wide campaign, and has been picked for her popularity with youth across rural and urban India, particularly women.

The ministry has handpicked Anushka to sharpen and centre their communications towards Indian women, especially those who live in rural and semi rural India. A source adds, “ As per research done extensively by the government, men resist using and building toilets in rural and remote areas but women really want to use these. They are often unable to do so as the men don’t feel the need for it. Consequently, they end up defecating in open spaces like fields and farms which has many risks and dangers for women. Adverse effects of open defecation include spread of disease and safety of women and children. The safety of women is threaten because of going alone to the fields and other places solely because they are unable to use the toilets . Given that Anushka has wide appeal with young audiences and has played inspiring female characters onscreen, the government felt she would resonate with women, and was therefore chosen for the campaign.”

When Anushka heard about this aspect of open defecation, which goes beyond hygiene and health alone, she was appalled. The source explains, “When Anushka found out these details, she was shocked and decided right there and then that she must do this campaign. Centric towards achieving behavorial change in people, especially in motivating women who can take a step and drive men to use toilets, Anushka as a strong opinion influencer is the perfect fit to widen the message. The ministry felt that her influence will help with their outreach greatly and therefore, has chosen her as the face of this campaign. She has shot for two TVCs themed around an anthem like song for the campaign encouraging women to step up against open defecation and for construction of toilets with government initiative.. “

Having ruled the box office the previous year, and with a promising line up of quality films coming up in 2017, Anushka’s consistent performance and commitment to good cinema has made her a household favourite. That she will be endorsing Swachh Bharat campaign validates her huge popularity and she will focus on this campaign with gusto and absolute commitment. The two new TVCs will be worth watching out for.

January 31, 2017

Brands need to stay relevant, contemporary: Experts

NEW DELHI: “Nonsense”. That was the terse reaction of Jaya Bachchan – actor and now a member of the Parliament – to a question by the ebullient ad wizard Suhel Seth on whether she agreed that brand ambassadors should be held responsible for the brands they represent.

Later, asked to elucidate, she told indiantelevision that she had already said that it was “nonsense.”

Speaking at a session on the business of brand-building at FICCI’s 89th Annual General Meeting, Bachchan said that individuals were brands too, and they added value to the products and services which they endorsed to bring authentication.

(The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Consumer Affairs had, in its review of the Consumer Protection Bill pending in the Parliament, stated earlier this year that stringent provisions may be made to fix liability on endorsers/celebrities as misrepresentation of a product, especially a food product, should be taken very seriously considering the influence of celebrities and high net-worth individuals or companies. It said the existing laws are not deterrent enough to discourage manufacturers or publishers from using such personalities for misleading advertisements.)

Meanwhile, it was generally agreed that brands need to stay relevant and contemporary to the consumers to succeed. Experts agreed that brands need to create an experience by creating an emotional connect with the end-user (consumer); lest they cease to exist.

“Brand is an idea that is in the head today,” said SKA Advisors chairman and former Britannia Industries CEO Sunil Alagh said. “The idea needs to be consistent, and remain contemporary.”

According to Alagh, brands were not companies or products, a view that Bachchan disagreed with. But, Alagh, giving an example, said the ‘Angry young man’ as an idea was more relevant as an idea, and not Amitabh Bachchan or any other actor.

Alagh said that brands had various stakeholders of late, and, most importantly, consumers were lately getting more information and react about the brand on social media. He added that the stakeholders looked for an experience with the brand in the contemporary scenario.

Coca-Cola India and south-west Asia president Venkatesh Kini said that a brand was not just an idea but it had to be embodied in a product. “A brand is a product, package and logo,” Kini who leads the 130-year old brand in the region said, and added that a brand might or might not require a celebrity to authenticate its product.

“Consumers are taking ownership of brands, and companies are now looking at co-creating and co-owning the brand,” Kini added.

Seth said that the idea was known if it keeps changing and remained contemporary. Reacting to the issue of brand ambassadors, he said that brand suffered if something happens to the celebrity endorsing it.