ITV

Tag: AR Rahman

  • Qyuki raises awareness about human trafficking

    MUMBAI: Qyuki Digital has always endeavored to provide a platform for creators and digital influencers to be the voice of change. This time they have collaborated with UnErase Poetry, a community producing spoken word poetry for a campaign called #Sold Bodies. The video featuring actor Kunal Kapoor raises awareness about Forced Sex Slavery & Human Trafficking in India and raise funds for the same.

    Qyuki, a cross-platform media network across digital, live, TV and film founded by AR Rahman, Samir Bangara and Shekhar Kapur, Company uses proprietary technology and analytics to discover and promote digital superstars and manages the end to end value chain for them across traditional and new media platforms.

    A novel initiative started by standup comedian and poet Simar Singh, UnErase Poetry creates and promotes spoken word poetry in Hindi and English. The digital creators seek to be harbingers of change by featuring a platform to speak and have their poems heard on issues of Marital Rape to Homosexuality and Patriarchy.

    Qyuki through UnErase Poetry intends to bring out the true essence of the issues. Through Qyuki’s association, UnErase Poetry collaborated with Kunal Kapoor, Ketto.org (Asia’s biggest crowd funding website) and My Choices Foundation (An NGO working towards the eradication of Human Trafficking in India) with #SoldBodies, a spoken word poem by the actor raising awareness about Forced Sex Slavery, Human Trafficking In India and to raise funds for the cause.

    UnErase Poetry founder Simar Singh commented saying, “It is important that we speak about issues like Sex Slavery and Human Trafficking. We have ignored these women and their rights since centuries and it is high time we treat them as equals“

    Qyuki network head Sagar Gokhale says “Qyuki is more than just a talent platform. It is a mic for our creators to raise their voices about society, and bring into light some grave issues. The arts are a great way to bring the world together and UnErase poetry is doing a fantastic job with their spoken word poems. It’s community is very active and with the collaboration and might of actor Kunal Kapoor, we hope this campaign wakes up the citizens of India. UnErase has been garnering huge media interest and Qyuki is humbled and proud to be associated with such a noble cause.”

  • #Qyukistars rank No.1 and 3 in Youtube’s Fastest Growing List

    #Qyukistars rank No.1 and 3 in Youtube’s Fastest Growing List

    MUMBAI: Digital Broadcast Network and Agency Qyuki, driven by a unique strategy of partnering with creators versus an aggregation or ‘owned and operated’ channel approach, recently surpassed over 5 billion views across YouTube and Facebook.

    With a creator DNA in the founding team of Shekhar Kapur and AR Rahman and digital entrepreneur Samir Bangara, the Company has created a clear leadership position in the market as a home for creators across the genres of Music, Pranks and Auto blogs while making headway in other popular genres.

    The strategy has been vindicated by YouTube’s recent list of top ten fastest growing channels in the country that ranked Qyuki partners Sanam Band (Music) and FunkYou (Pranks) No.1 and No.3 respectively. The genre based focus of the company has also helped bring on board celebrated Bollywood and indie artists like Salim-Sulaiman, Clinton Cerejo, Dhruv Ghanekar and most recently Rabbi Shergill.

    Its differentiated approach and successful track record in the space led to a recently announced partnership with YouTube to create one of the biggest digital properties in India called Jammin. Jammin will bring together some of the best Bollywood composers with the biggest YouTube stars of music. The show begins online and finishes offline with a massive live performance.

    Beyond music the Company is home to some of the biggest Prank channels, a genre that is very popular with the 13-34 millennial audiences, with FunkYou emerging as the largest prank channel in the country across Facebook and YouTube. The group of four 19 year old boys has grown 1000 times on Facebook with more than 5.6 million fans amassed over the last 10 months and a following across the world with Cairo, Metro Manila, Lahore and Karachi forming part of their top ten cities of viewership.

    While content is king, Qyuki believes that in the digital space technology can serve as a very successful ‘kingmaker’. Therefore it has built proprietary tools to spot and effectively market creators to their respective communities. The mix of technology, deep understanding in content, and marketing has helped win the confidence of several brands like Coca-Cola, Olx, VW, Moneycontrol and Mercedes, amongst others, to invest significantly with the company on branded content or as sponsors for Qyuki properties.

    Shekhar Kapur, Co-founder Qyuki said, “Everyone is born creative, we just forget that in our daily lives. By helping creators achieve their creative ambitions, Qyuki is fulfilling a dream I had years ago.”
    AR Rahman, Co-founder Qyuki noted “In the digital world of excessive clutter Qyuki curates and offers a platform for promising artists and improves the audience experience.”

    Speaking on the occasion Samir Bangara, Co-founder and MD, Qyuki said, “We are building a new form of a media conglomerate that can power creators with technology, production and marketing across multiple platforms and genres in order to build business models that begin on digital but spread across TV, Live and Theatrical”

  • #Qyukistars rank No.1 and 3 in Youtube’s Fastest Growing List

    #Qyukistars rank No.1 and 3 in Youtube’s Fastest Growing List

    MUMBAI: Digital Broadcast Network and Agency Qyuki, driven by a unique strategy of partnering with creators versus an aggregation or ‘owned and operated’ channel approach, recently surpassed over 5 billion views across YouTube and Facebook.

    With a creator DNA in the founding team of Shekhar Kapur and AR Rahman and digital entrepreneur Samir Bangara, the Company has created a clear leadership position in the market as a home for creators across the genres of Music, Pranks and Auto blogs while making headway in other popular genres.

    The strategy has been vindicated by YouTube’s recent list of top ten fastest growing channels in the country that ranked Qyuki partners Sanam Band (Music) and FunkYou (Pranks) No.1 and No.3 respectively. The genre based focus of the company has also helped bring on board celebrated Bollywood and indie artists like Salim-Sulaiman, Clinton Cerejo, Dhruv Ghanekar and most recently Rabbi Shergill.

    Its differentiated approach and successful track record in the space led to a recently announced partnership with YouTube to create one of the biggest digital properties in India called Jammin. Jammin will bring together some of the best Bollywood composers with the biggest YouTube stars of music. The show begins online and finishes offline with a massive live performance.

    Beyond music the Company is home to some of the biggest Prank channels, a genre that is very popular with the 13-34 millennial audiences, with FunkYou emerging as the largest prank channel in the country across Facebook and YouTube. The group of four 19 year old boys has grown 1000 times on Facebook with more than 5.6 million fans amassed over the last 10 months and a following across the world with Cairo, Metro Manila, Lahore and Karachi forming part of their top ten cities of viewership.

    While content is king, Qyuki believes that in the digital space technology can serve as a very successful ‘kingmaker’. Therefore it has built proprietary tools to spot and effectively market creators to their respective communities. The mix of technology, deep understanding in content, and marketing has helped win the confidence of several brands like Coca-Cola, Olx, VW, Moneycontrol and Mercedes, amongst others, to invest significantly with the company on branded content or as sponsors for Qyuki properties.

    Shekhar Kapur, Co-founder Qyuki said, “Everyone is born creative, we just forget that in our daily lives. By helping creators achieve their creative ambitions, Qyuki is fulfilling a dream I had years ago.”
    AR Rahman, Co-founder Qyuki noted “In the digital world of excessive clutter Qyuki curates and offers a platform for promising artists and improves the audience experience.”

    Speaking on the occasion Samir Bangara, Co-founder and MD, Qyuki said, “We are building a new form of a media conglomerate that can power creators with technology, production and marketing across multiple platforms and genres in order to build business models that begin on digital but spread across TV, Live and Theatrical”

  • Mukesh Ambani flags off ambitious digital initiative – Reliance Jio

    Mukesh Ambani flags off ambitious digital initiative – Reliance Jio

    MUMBAI: On the eve of the 83rd birth anniversary of the family patriarch Dhirubhai Ambani, Reliance Infocom Limited (RIL) launched Jio, Mukesh Ambani’s most ambitious digital initiative designed to deliver hi-speed connectivity and 4G broadband services in every nook and corner of India, to its one lakh-plus employees and their families.

    The star-studded event, which featured Shah Rukh Khan and Academy-winning music director A R Rahman, saw many a firsts. The event saw the third-generation of Ambanis – twins Isha and Akash – taking centre-stage and welcoming the audience. It was also the first Employee-only, Partner-Consumer initiative ever to have happened in the history of corporate India, with over a lakh employees spread across a 1,072 centres across India, and one in Dallas, US, connected to the launch event at RCP on Jio’s own hi-speed network. Through two-way video conferencing, RIL chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani interacted with employees, who were watching the event from distant places.

    The participants, all of whom where RIL and Jio’s employees hailed from varied cultural backgrounds located in diverse geographies. The motto: One India. One RIL. One Jio. One for all and all for one – resounded at the venue.

    RIL launch event was reflective of a miniature India, where people from all walks of life and from various backgrounds engaged simultaneously. With this employee launch, Jio became the common strand that runs through every single employee, entwining them together.

    Speaking on the occasion,  Ambani said, “Friends, today on the eve of the 83rd birthday of Dhirubhai, it is my proud privilege to invite all our Reliance families and friends to be the first to experience Jio’s services. While you enjoy Jio Digital Life, I am also counting on you, as part of my family, to be part of co-creating the best experience for all our customers. I am sure that when you experience the next generation service of Reliance Jio – you will spread the word.” 

    Iterating his confidence in the youth of India, he further added, “India and Indians cannot afford to be left behind in this new world. India is ranked around 150 in the Internet and mobile broadband penetration out of 230 countries; Jio is conceived to change this. 1.3 billion Indians cannot be left behind as the world enters a new era. We have the youngest population in the world. Give them the tools. Give them the skills. Give them the environment. They will surprise us. It is this opportunity to transform the lives of our 1.3 billion Indians that motivated Reliance to enter this space. And Jio is the result. Jio will help advance and realise the potential of every Indian and India. I have no doubt that with the launch of Jio, India’s rank will go up from around 150 to among the top 10 in the next few years for internet and mobile broadband penetration.”

    The event also saw the Old Reliance, the traditional projects and production powerhouse (B2B), joining hands with the New Reliance, the consumer-facing business of retail and digital services (B2C), to celebrate the employee launch of Jio, elevating them all on to a common digital platform where they will be living the same Digital Life. 

    The event was unique in another aspect. Digital townhalls of large corporates and multinationals usually involve only the top bosses. This is the first time a company has involved every single one of its employees, from the lowest rung right to the top, and their families in the town hall event. The corporate world has never witnessed anything like this before.

    As was reported earlier by Indiantelevision.com, the commercial launch of Reliance Jio is slated for March – April 2016.

  • Reliance Jio appoints Shah Rukh Khan as brand ambassador

    Reliance Jio appoints Shah Rukh Khan as brand ambassador

    MUMBAI: Shah Rukh Khan will soon be seen as the face of Mukesh Ambani’s telecom services brand Reliance Jio, which is slated for a soft launch next week.

     

    Khan, who earlier endorsed rival telecom brand Airtel, will be present at Reliance Jio’s soft launch on 27 December, which is also the eve of Dhirubhai Ambani’s birth anniversary.

     

    As was reported earlier by Indiantelevision.com, Reliance Jio will be handing out two lakhs cards to hand-picked ‘privileged’ people as a part of the soft launch. The commercial roll-out of the telecom service is expected by March 2016.

     

    On 27 December, Khan will be unveiling the Reliance Jio brand along with the company’s employees. AR Rahman will also be a part of the launch.

  • “Working with talent like Priyanka Chopra and Lady Gaga has been a blessing”

    “Working with talent like Priyanka Chopra and Lady Gaga has been a blessing”

    Anjula Acharia-Bath has many achievements to her credit. Among them:  founding deshits.com, bringing Lady Ga-Ga to India,  helping Pussycat Dolls collab with AR Rahman, and appearing on both Vanity Fair’s Next Establishment list and Billboard’s Top 40 Women in Music. 

     

    But her latest tour de force is something which could be a game changer for Indian talent in Hollywood. As manager of Priyanka Chopra, she has played a key role in the waves that the Bollywood star is making in the US in her debut series on ABC –  Quantico. Chopra plays Alex Parrish, a FBI trainee-turned agent-on-the-run, in the series which is topping the viewership charts in the US.

     

    Born to Pubjabi immigrant  parents in the UK, Anjula is increasingly being talked of as the must-talk-to professional for bridging international and Indian entertainment. The lady, who jetsets and parties with Hollywood’s biggest producers (Jimmy Iovine, the founder of Interscope Records invested in desihits) , directors, show-runners, musicians was recently appointed as a partner at venture capital firm Trinity Ventures.

     

    Indiantelevision.com spoke to Anjula to understand how Quantico happened, how she functions as a manager and many other topics.

     

    Read on:

     

     

    How did you meet Priyanka?
    Priyanka and I initially met through Salim and Sulaiman (Merchant) via Devraj Sanyal who was working with me at Desi Hits at that time. 
     

     

    Priyanka’s moving into Hollywood began with her music releases, followed by TV series. Was it by design or did it just happen?  What was your role in this strategy?

    It was definitely a strategy. I had this thought that we would have to tear down the pillars of western pop culture. It started with Football (NFL) including music collaborations (Will.I.AM & Pitbull), fashion (GUESS GIRL) , film (Disney Planes) and now the biggest driver of pop culture in America is hit TV shows! Think Scandal, Game of Thrones, Homeland , all these shows dictate pop culture and I wanted PC to be a part of that.  
     

     

    Priyanka, though she has the right credentials – a Miss World, a Bollywood star – was unknown amongst the biggies in Hollywood. How long were you working on getting her the right entry before the chance meeting with Kelli Lee in Ron Myer’s house which led to the series on ABC?

    I wasn’t working too long. I have a lot of access to incredible people who wanted to join this journey with Priyanka and I.

     

    Was ABC your only stop? Or did you make others?

    No. Though we had offers from other studios, ABC was our first choice because they really had mastered on creating strong diverse female characters
     

     

    Lee flew down to India to get Priyanka sign the deal. What convinced Priyanka to do so because she probably was busy with her Indian projects too?

    I think a lot of very influential people talked to Pee Cee about the opportunity. But when she met Kelli, she felt very comfortable with the way things were to be handled and was happy to understand that her ideas and views would be heard.

     

    What does being Priyanka’s manager in the competitive artist management world of Hollywood entail? 

    A lot. I would say that the three main skills a manager should possess are deep lasting connections, a relentless nature and a passion that goes beyond simply making money.  Priyanka is a passion project for me. I work full time for a VC Fund (Trinity Ventures). I think the skills required in our business are the same – the ability to identify talent, which is an entrepreneurial role; next is to help them build an incredible company, bringing meaningful connections and sticking next to the entrepreneur when things get tough. 
     

     

    There are so many other Indian actors who have gone to  Hollywood. But Priyanka seems to have got an ideal platform: a chunky meaty lead role, great promotion all over the US. How did you manage that?

    We just showcased her talent and made the right connections. 

     

    You have collaborated on bringing other big US stars like Lady Ga Ga  to India and AR Rahman and PussyCat . Which way is more challenging – India to the US or the US to India? And why?

    I think India to the US for sure, simply because western pop culture travels across the globe more fluidly.  Bollywood had a lot of penetration across the world (40% of revenue is outside of India) but language is a bigger barrier. 
     

     

    Do you see yourself in the role of taking many more Indian artistes into Hollywood or are Priyanka and Trinity your focus now? What advise would you give other Indians – whether musicians or actors – wanting to enter Hollywood? 
    Trinity and Priyanka don’t leave much spare time for me. I am passionate about tech stars and pop stars! My advice to Indian talent is to use the web as much as possible to get the word out – drive your social media engagement.  Then, when you have created enough critical property for yourself, find someone who believes in you and is relentless about championing you.  Like I said it, finding the right investor is a very important factor. 

     

     

     Sofia Vergara is amongst the highest earning actors in the US. And she is amongst the diversity stars that you and Lee talked about in the Forbes interview. Do you see Priyanka heading in that direction of being in the league of the highest paid too? 
    Yes I do. Priyanka is one of the most incredible talents I have ever met; and I have met a lot. She is a triple treat. She dances, sings and acts and in addition to that, she is ridiculously beautiful inside and out. 

     

     

     The buzz is that she is getting a talk show. Is that true? If yes, then why a talk show? Why not a big Hollywood film?
    You can’t believe all the rumors you hear 😉 stay tuned!

     

     

     How is your association with Trinity panning out? Do you welcome pitches or do you go around scouting for places to park investments? And is it just seed capital or is it large tranches of capital? What do you look for in projects? And what happens after you find one you like? The process from liking to getting the funds to the enterprise, what does the entrepreneur have to do?
     We invest primarily in series A and B companies mainly based out of the USA. Every partner here has his or her specialty area on which they draw upon their expertise and network to assess the investment opportunity. Then they bring it to the table for full partnership approval.  Everyone is different in their approach but personally I look for deals that solve a particular problem with founders that I think are stars! Trinity has a long term view on entrepreneurs which is something I really subscribe to; it’s very much about relationships. 
     

     

    Would you consider proposals  from young entrepreneurs from India – especially women – who have kickass local and global ideas? What advise would you give them?

     On a personal level yes, I love hearing from women entrepreneurs who have unique and powerful ideas.   
     

     

    Your journey from England to the mainstream of Hollywood to Silicon Valley has been interesting. What kept you going? And where do you see yourself in the next three to five years? 

    I think my desire to grow and nurture talent is something that has been a theme throughout my life in different iterations.  I love connecting with people at a human level. My passion is interacting with people. Your enjoyment in life is all about the company you keep – that’s a truth for me.  My faith is a big part of everything I do; I want to make positive changes in the world and that’s a focus I have tried never to stay away from.  Working with talent like Priyanka and of course Lady Gaga has been a blessing from that perspective – they both have an agenda and drive to make a difference and that is everything.

  • Discovery to premiere documentary on AR Rahman – ‘Jai Ho’

    Discovery to premiere documentary on AR Rahman – ‘Jai Ho’

    MUMBAI: Jai Ho – a documentary on music maestro AR Rahman, which has been screened at a few international film festivals earlier this year, is all set to have its television premiere in India on Discovery Channel. The channel will air the documentary on 26 October at 9 pm. 

     

    Jai Ho, which has been directed by Umesh Aggarwal, will take viewers through the unseen and unheard story of one of the finest musicians the world has ever known.

     

    Speaking to Indiantelevision.com about the documentary, Rahman says, “It’s an understated documentary. It’s not the kinds that makes a big fuss and that’s what I like about it. It has its own humour. It is about the music and its making and not just about me. Jai Ho has eminent people taking about me and it is fascinating to listen to them. I am lucky to have done a song on Jai Ho (for Slumdog Millionaire). It’s like a mantra for India, which has always been there. It fell in the place at the right time and the whole world has a portrayal of it. I am very proud of it.”

     

    Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific EVP and GM – South Asia Rahul Johri adds, “We are always looking for content that has the ability to surprise the audience. That’s our primary criteria and first preference when deciding on the channel’s content. We want people to acclaim, ‘Ohh wow, where did they get this idea from?’ And this show has that. It is different from all our other shows.”

     

    The documentary enables a window for the viewers into the personal life of Rahman from him leaving his education at a tender age to support his family to winning an Oscar as well as a Grammy. The programme depicts Rahman’s journey from working with Mani Ratnam forRoja to his first commercial break in Bollywood with Rangeela to his outstanding work in award winning movies.

    Throwing light on how he was on Rahman’s trail for almost six months to pitch the documentary idea to him, Aggarwal says, “I was in touch with his staff and I was told that Rahman would call me at 2:30 am. It was frustrating because I wasn’t getting an answer from him. So one fine day, I went to his office and met his sister. I explained the concept of the documentary to her. Precisely after five minutes, I met the man that I was trailing all this while. It took me six months to reach him and less than five minutes to talk to him about my content.”

     

    The documentary imparts details about Rahman’s personality, career, life, his love for music and his past life from the perspective of formidable personalities who have worked and observed his work and growth.

     

    The factual is shot across the world including Los Angeles where Rahman resides, London, Mumbai and Chennai which is his birthplace. When questioned about casting Rahman as the centre point of the show, he says, “He being the glory of India is just one peg. Whatever is spoken about him, it’s always a third party outlook. Rahman himself has never shared much on his own. This entire story comes from him as he narrates it and you get to know him as a person. This was my prime motive behind making this film. I think people should know that those who have reached to the top, don’t do so overnight. It takes time and that is what inspired me.”

     

    The channel has unleashed various promotional activities across its bouquet of 11 channels as well as created buzz on social media platforms.

     

    “We had started with eight channels in five languages. That is the trajectory we are on and we will speeding up our growth process. There has been a lot of localisation on our channels and going forward there will be more local and relevant content on the channel,” adds Johri.

     

    As was reported earlier by Indiantelevision.com, Jai Ho was recently screened at the 20th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF). It was also screened at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) in April this year. 

  • Majid Majidi, AR Rahman face ire for working on Prophet Mohammed film

    Majid Majidi, AR Rahman face ire for working on Prophet Mohammed film

    NEW DELHI: Seeking a ban on renowned Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi’s film Mohammed: Messenger of God, which opened the Montreal World Film Festival this month, an Indian Muslim group has also issued a fatwa against Majidi and the film’s music composer AR Rahman.

     

    The Mumbai-based Raza Academy – a Sunni Muslim group, demanded that Muslims reject the film, which is the first of the trilogy on the life of Prophet Mohammad.

     

    Last week, the group had written to Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, seeking a ban on Majidi’s film. They have also sought a meeting with the Home Minister and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

     

    “We are against the title. People may use it in a bad manner if they don’t like the film, which will mean an insult to the Prophet. The actors have charged money to act in the film and they may have dubious character in real life. How can we Muslims allow such things to happen?” asked Raza Academy chief Saeed Noorie. The fatwa was issued by Muhammad Akhtar – the chief mufti of Mumbai.

     

    In the fatwa, the reason cited is the Prophet’s word that no visual or picture of him be created or kept. The fatwa claims the film makes a mockery of Islam, and professional actors, including some non-Muslims, have been cast in the key roles.

     

    The fatwa adds that the Muslims working on the film have committed sacrilege and will have to read the kalma again and also solemnise their marriage again. “They have erred and they must apologise,” he said.

     

    Noting that most members of the film’s crew were Muslim, Noorie said that it was more important to make them realise their mistake. “We would have been criticised if we had condemned American or Danish filmmakers. If it’s an insult, then it is an insult and the person’s religion doesn’t matter,” he said.

     

    Majidi along with another Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf  has directed films like Children of Heaven, which was nominated for Best Foreign Film at the 1998 Academy Awards, The Color of Paradise, and Baran. He is also currently working on a film on Kashmir. 

  • Colors develops live event property ‘Suron Ke Rang’

    Colors develops live event property ‘Suron Ke Rang’

    MUMBAI: Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) Colors from the Viacom 18 stable has created a musical property focusing on developing a string of live music events called Suron Ke Rang catering to its music-loving viewers. The first concert will celebrate the illustrious life and the works of the man behind the establishment and the solid standing of T-Series in the Indian film industry today – Gulshan Kumar. 

    This first-of-its-kind association with Bollywood music giant will bring together over 40 musical stalwarts, 60 popular and unique compositions across three decades to launch the Suron Ke Rang – Salaam Shri Gulshan Kumar tribute concert.

    With names like AR Rahman, Shankar Mahadevan, Anuradha Paudwal, Mika Singh, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Himesh Reshammiya, Shaan, Alka Yagnik, Udit Narayan, Abhijeet, Anup Jalota, Sapna Mukherjee, composers like Pritam Chakarborty, Raju Singh along with new age sensations like Tulsi Kumar, Mithoon, Benny Dayal, Ankit Tiwari, Meet Bros, Akriti Kakkar, Amaal and Armaan Malik and DJ Chetas will all come together for a soulful and visually appealing musical evening while paying homage to Gulshan Kumar. Singer Sonu Nigam and actor Ayushmann Khurrana will be the hosts for the evening. Conceptualised and produced by Kickstart Entertainment, this musical extravaganza will be held in Mumbai on 22 September and will be aired on Colors later this year.

    Colors CEO Raj Nayak said, “Over the years, we have strived to present Indian viewers with multiple entertainment avenues across genres and categories. Suron Ke Rang is another step in this direction – curating content beyond the realm of films to celebrate the best of the music industry. Our first offering will be a tribute concert celebrating the illustrious life of Shri Gulshan Kumar and his contribution towards changing the face of the Indian music industry with songs that have touched the hearts of millions. We are happy to join hands with T-Series for this unique concert, a company which has changed the face of Indian music with a multitude of offerings in every genre catering to music-lovers with varied preferences.”

    T-Series chairman and managing director Bhushan Kumar added, “Suron Ke Rang – Salaam Shri Gulshan Kumar is a celebration of T-Series and pays tribute to my father, Shri Gulshan Kumar, for his contribution towards making the Indian music industry a global phenomenon. It was his vision that has helped us to become the biggest music production company in India today and we could not think of a better way to thank him for his forward thinking. We are happy to join hands with Colors, another visionary in the world of television, and are looking forward to collectively provide global viewers with the best in music and entertainment.”

  • Montreal Filmfest: ‘Chucks’ gets audience award, Puttman bags award for exceptional service to cinema

    Montreal Filmfest: ‘Chucks’ gets audience award, Puttman bags award for exceptional service to cinema

    NEW DELHI: Mad Love from Philippe Ramos (France) received the Grand Prize of the Americas, while Turkish film Misafir (The Visitor) from Mehmet Eryilmaz got the Special Grand Jury Award at the Montreal World Film Festival.

     

    The film, which had opened last month with the film Mohammed by renowned Iranian director Majid Majidi and music by AR Rahman, closed yesterday. A special grand prize of the Americas is awarded to producer Lord Puttnam for his exceptional contribution to the world of cinema.

     

    There was a tie for Best director: 2 Nights Till Morning by Mikko Kuparinen (Finland / Luthania) and Dosieto Petrov (Petrov File) from Georgi Balabanov (Bulgaria / Germany).

     

    The Best Actress award went to Malin Buska for The Girl King de Mika Kaurismäki(Canada / Finland /Germany / Switzerland) while Wolfram Berger was voted best actor for Rider Jack by This Lüscher (Switzerland).

     

    The best screenplay went to Letnie Przesilenie for Summer Solstice by Michal Rogalski (Poland/ Germany) and best artistic contribution went to Seven Days byXing Jian (China).

     

    The Innovation Award went to Un Instante En La Habana (Havana Moment) from Guillermo Iv?n Duenas (USA / Cuba / Mexico/ Colombia).

     

    Among Short Films, the first prize went to La Voce from David Uloth (Canada) and the jury award to Honeysuckle from Lucy Lumsden (United Kingdom).

     

    The Golden Zenith award for best first fiction feature went to Chuyi (The Funeral) from Qi Wang (China) and the Silver Zenith for the First Fiction Feature Film went toPara Minha Amada Morta (To My Beloved) from Ali Muritiba (Brazil). The Bronze Zenith for the First Fiction Feature Film went to La Linea Delgada Amarilla (The Thin Yellow Line) from Celso Garcia (Mexico).

     

    The Special Mentions of the First Feature Film Jury were Asman Aldynda (Under Heaven) from DalmiraTilepbergen (Kyrgyzstan) and Rosa Chumbe from Jonatan Relayze Chiang (Peru).

     

    The Audience Award went to Chucks by Sabine Hiebler and Gerhard Ertl from Cornelia Travnicek’s book (Autriche).

     

    The most popular film of the Festival was The Girl King from Mika Kaurismäki (Canada / Finland /Germany / Switzerland).

     

    The Glauber Rocha Award for the Best Latin American was La Delgada Linea Amarilla (The Thin Yellow Line) from Celso Garcia (Mexico), while the Best Documentary was a tie between Marzia, Ystäväni (Marzia My Friend) from Kirsi Mattila (Finland) and Playing Lecuona by Pavel Giroud (Spain- Colombia).

     

    The Best Canadian Short Film was La Voce (The Voice) from David Uloth.

     

    The FIPRESCI (Internationale Film Critics) prizes went in World competition to the Turkish Misafir and First Feature to Rosa Chumbe from Jonatan Relayze Chiang (Peru).

     

    Ecumenical Jury Prize was given to L’orchestre de minuit  by Jérôme Cohen Olivar (Morocco).