ITV

Tag: Amitabh Bachchan

  • Har Pal to release in June

    Har Pal to release in June

    MUMBAI: Jahnu Barua‘s much delayed film Har Pal is being readied for release in June.

    Starring Shiney Ahuja and Preity Zinta, the film ran into problems when Ahuja was arrested on allegations of sexual harassment. His release on bail is said to have prompted producers to try and release the film again.

    Confirming the same, Barua said, “Things have started settling down now. It will release by June next year. Am starting two more films soon. I will begin shooting for one of them next month. I can‘t say much about the films so early, but both are love stories.”

    Amitabh Bachchan was supposed to play Zinta‘s father in the film but later when he opted out due to date problems, the vetearan actor was subsequently replaced by Dharmendra after Zinta suggested his name.

    Har Pal also stars Eesha Koppikkar. 

  • Remake of Zanjeer in offing

    Remake of Zanjeer in offing

    MUMBAI: Who can forget the Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Zanjeer made way back in 1973?

    Last year rumours were afloat about the remake of the film. Most of them said that the late Prakash Mehra’s production house, Prakash Mehra Productions, would go ahead to produce the remake.

    But now it has been confirmed that the remake would be produced by Reliance Big Entertainment and directed by Apoorva Lakhia.

    And to reprise the role played by Amitabh Bachchan in the original, the producers have roped in Telugu star Ram Charan Teja. The film will be made in Hindi and Telugu simultaneously.

    The film is expected to roll out in April.

  • HC refuses to stay the release of Don 2

    HC refuses to stay the release of Don 2

    MUMBAI: The Mumbai High Court has denied the stay on the release of Shah Rukh Khan starrer Don 2 in the legal suit filed by Nariman Films alleging infringement of copyright against the makers of Don 2.

    The suit, filed by Nariman Films and the Irani family (the makers of original 1978 Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Don), had alleged that the new Don 2 had violated the copyrights by adopting the Don‘s signature tune, songs of the original Don and also copying its script, characters and music without any prior intimation. It further stated that the rights of the said script were given only for the remake and not for the sequel.

    However, Justice SF Vajifdar denied to stay the release of the film, citing the absence of theatre owners at the time of hearing and also taking into consideration that the release dates of the film (21 December overseas and 23 December in India) for which advance booking was already underway.

    With regards to damages of Rs 2 billion claimed by the complainants, the Court is yet to decide on the matter but it ordered the makers of Don 2 to maintain and preserve all the accounts relating to the film till the matter is finally disposed.

  • Amitabh, Salman make it to top 5 in the CYL study

    Amitabh, Salman make it to top 5 in the CYL study

    MUMBAI: Amitabh Bachchan and Salman Khan have first time made to the top 5 of the Characters Youth Loves (CYL) study of Ormax Media.

    While Bachchan, thanks to Kaun Banega Crorepati, climbed to No. 2, Khan (Bigg Boss 5) jumped to No. 3 position in the list.

    MTV VJ Rannvijay has, however, retained his numero uno position as the most popular character amongst youth. But Raghu (MTV Roadies) has moved down to the No. 4 position from No. 2 in the last track.

    Hrithik Roshan (Just Dance) continues to be at the No. 5 position.

    The track was conducted during September-November this year. CYL is a quarterly study done to track the favourite reality show characters (contestants, hosts and judges) among the youth, along with reasons for preference.

    The study was conducted among 1,120 male and female respondents, 15-24 years, SEC AB, across four cities – Mumbai, Delhi, Lucknow and Bhopal.

  • Salman Khan takes Colors to No 2

    Salman Khan takes Colors to No 2

    MUMBAI: If it was the charm and charisma of Amitabh Bachchan that kept Sony Entertainment Television (Set) ahead of Colors, it is now Salman Khan who has stolen the show post KBC.

    Just one week after the fifth season of Big B-hosted Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) ended on Set, Colors took the ‘Dabangg‘ Khan‘s help to reach number two.

    The Viacom18 Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) has added 43 GRPs (gross rating points) in the week ended 26 November to register 277 GRPs (last week 234).

    The channel aired Dabangg and Ready, back-to-back on Sunday (20 November) and Saturday (26 November), clocking close to 40 GRPs.

    Additionally, its shows like Bigg Boss 5, Parichay, and Phulwa saw slight increase in the ratings. The channel also aired maha-episodes of Balika Vadhu and Uttaran which clocked 3.6 TVR and 2.3 TVR respectively.

    Meanwhile, as per TAM data for the Hindi speaking markets (C&S, 4+), Set lost 38 GRPs post KBC and has slipped to third position among the GECs. The channel ended the week with 231 GRPs (last week 269). The two new fiction shows of the channel – Dekha Ek Khwaab averaged at 1.5 TVR while Parvarish did a 2.32 TVR respectively.

    Star Plus, the leading GEC has seen 2 GRPs drop but it continues to record 300+ GRPs and ended the week with 312 GRPs.

    Meanwhile, Zee TV lost 12 GRPs and ended the week with 149 GRPs. The fifth channel in the order, Sab, garnered 108 GRPs (last week 115) while Imagine TV registered 73 GRPs (last week 78).

    Star One with 42 GRPs (last week 45) and Sahara One with 36 GRPs (last week 40) followed.

  • Argentinean filmmaker to approach Amitabh Bachchan to play Tagore

    Argentinean filmmaker to approach Amitabh Bachchan to play Tagore

    MUMBAI: Argentinean filmmaker Pablo Cesar, currently attending the 42nd International Film festival of India (IFFI) in Goa for the screening of his film Shores, hopes that Amitabh Bachchan would agree to play Rabindranath Tagore in a film.

    Wanting Bachchan to play the artistic genius in his next film that would be titled Thinking Of Him, Cesar said, “We have got financial backing from an Argentinean and we plan to approach the veteran actor to essay the role.”

    A part of the film would touch the association of Tagore with Victoria Ocampo, a well-known Argentinean writer. It is believed that Tagore‘s stint in Argentina revolved mostly around a personal encounter with Ocampo that reflected in his creative work and in the work of Ocampo herself. Apparently, the famous Tagore song, Ogo bideshini… was written keeping her in mind.

    The film would be in the Bengali dialect and will be shot in Kolkata, Shantiniketan and Sunderban. Tagore‘s interactions with Victoria Ocampo would be in Spanish, it is understood.

    Though the film‘s script is ready, the project would be delayed and won‘t release in time for Tagore‘s 150th birth centenary this year, as the Argentinean had planned.

  • Excel Ent defends itself from Nariman Films’ legal poser

    Excel Ent defends itself from Nariman Films’ legal poser

    MUMBAI: After Nariman Films, the makers of the the Amitabh Bachchan‘s 1978 hit Don sent a legal notice to Excel Entertainment a few days ago, the legal counsel of the former has stated that the production house has not infringed the copyright of the original film by producing Don 2.

    Further, the production house has also stated that it is the bona-fide author and owner of copyright of Don – The Chase Begins Again (Don 1) that has been confirmed by Nariman Films in writing earlier.

    Excel is also the owner of the copyrights of Don 2, says the counsel. In 2005, Nariman Films had given rights to Excel Entertainment, in perpetuity, for making
    Don – The Chase Begins Again, while Don 2 is a sequel of it.

    The entire story and dialogues of Don – 2 is written by Farhan Akhtar and other team members of Excel Entertainment, the title has been approved by AMPTPP in favour of Excel Entertainment.

    Excel Entertainment has also clarified that there has been no undue influence on persons of Nariman Films. It also says that Nariman Films, with their malafide intention and having an ulterior motive to extort unjustified and unearned monies from Excel Entertainment, has sent the legal notice, which is baseless and devoid of merits.

    The production house has vociferously stated that it shall defend itself and shall not permit Nariman Films to hamper the release of Don-2 under any circumstances whatsoever as its making of Don 2 has been in the public domain since 2009.

  • DIFF lifetime achievement honour for AR Rahman

    DIFF lifetime achievement honour for AR Rahman

    MUMBAI: This year the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) will honour music director AR Rahman with a Lifetime Achievement award. Rahman will receive the award during the 8th DIFF to be held from 7-14 December.

    Winner of two Academy Awards and two Grammy Awards, the 45 year old Rahman will be the first musician to receive a Lifetime Achievement award at the film festival.

    Rahman‘s Slumdog Millionaire, which was screened at DIFF 2008, won the musician two Academy Awards for Best Original Music Score and Best Original Song, while his score for 127 Hours, which screened at DIFF 2010, won him Golden Globe, BAFTA and Academy Award nominations.

    While at Dubai, Rahman will also kick off his world tour with a concert supported by the Festival in the city on 9 December.

    This year DIFF will also present the Lifetime Achievement Award to veteran Egyptian actor Gamil Rateb.

    Others from the Indian film industry who have won the Lifetime Achievement Award at DIFF include Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Yash Chopra and Subhash Ghai.

  • Deepak Sawant signs Jaya Bachchan for Bhojpuri film

    Deepak Sawant signs Jaya Bachchan for Bhojpuri film

    MUMBAI: Following his penchant with the name Ganga, Deepak Sawant, the make up man of Amitabh Bachchan and film producer has signed Jaya Bachchan for his next Bhojpuri film Gangadevi.

    “Mother has a strong role in the film that is a political thriller so I thought Jayaji would fit the bill. Initially she was reluctant, but later agreed to do the role,” revealed Sawant.

    “I will also request Amitji to be part of this film since he has featured in all my Bhojpuri ventures starting from Ganga,” he added.

    The film will also mark the debut of Gulshan Grover in Bhojpuri cinema.

    Sawant had earlier made films like Akka Ajay Phansekar and Sulabha Deshpande in 1994, Ganga with Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini in 2006 and Gangotri with Amitabh Bachchan and Bhoomika Chawla in 2007.

  • UTV delays release of five films

    UTV delays release of five films

    MUMBAI: After a number of its big films failed to make an impact at the box office over the last 18 months, UTV has postponed the release of over five small and medium films, involving investments of Rs 1 billion.


    The films affected by the production houses’ action are Paan Singh Tomar, Phillum City, animation film Arjun: The Warrior Prince, the David Dhawan comedy Peter Gaya Kaam Se, Season‘s Greetings and the Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Shoe Bite.


    These films are in a completed state. UTV Motion Pictures chief executive officer Siddharth Roy Kapur, however, said that some of the films would be released next year.


    While Paan Singh Tomar is scheduled to release in March 2012, Arjun… will release in May next year. Peter Gaya Kaam Se and Phillum City are direct-to-TV releases that will be aired across the UTV network in the first quarter of 2012. Season‘s Greetings is still in production.


    “The only film on which we have had to take a creative judgement call is Hook Ya Crook,” Roy Kapur added.