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Tag: Bhaggmati’

  • `Bhaggmati’ aims to cash in on animation

     

    NEW DELHI: It’s finally here. India’s first live action and animated 2D film, Bhaggmati, The Queen of Fortunes, is here and will make its debut on Friday (26 August) in cinema halls across the country hoping to cash in on its technological and romantic appeal.

    Zee Telefilms, which has produced the Rs. 50 million heady cocktail of romance and animation, is leaving no stones unturned to market the animation product as it feels there’s definitely audiences for such a fare in India and overseas.
     
     
     

    “Amidst the gore and mush being heaped upon people these days, we feel Bhaggmati will certainly appeal to audiences cutting across age groups as it’s like a breath of fresh air,” said Essel Group (parent entity of Zee Tele) vice-president Ashish Kaul, who’s also in charge of marketing and distribution of the film.

    Kaul’s optimism stems from the fact that Bhaggmati is the first Indian celluloid product that would have real life people interacting with animated characters as an evergreen love story is told.

    For starters, Zee Telefilms is releasing 50 prints across the country with an eye on the multiplexes and the type of audiences that frequent such places.

    “We are trying to make sure that the sampling by people is correct as even a small glitch in a cinema hall will diminish the technological marvel of the film,” Kaul said, adding that unlike animation done in the West generally, Bhaggmati’s animation work has been done the classical way — manually and painstakingly — over seven million hand-drawn frames.

    Talks are on with some international players, including Eros International, to distribute the film overseas. The home video and DVD rights for the overseas market are likely to be given to Venus.
     
     
     

    Zee is releasing the film in countries like France, Russia and the UK. The effort is to get audiences from places where the Indian art and culture are popular.

    “I cannot disclose the details right now, but we are on the verge of closing the international distribution deal, which will open the world market for the film,” Kaul said.

    Back home, the DVDs for home screening would be released after a month of the theatrical debut by Shemaroo in all probability.

    The film has been directed by former defence personnel, Major Ashok Kaul. The cast includes Milind Soman, Tabu, Hema Malini besides a host of animated characters.

    Tabu plays the role of a student of archaeology who visits Golconda fort to undertake research on the lives of Qutab Quli Shah and Bhaggmati. In course of her stay there, she meets Milind Soman, who is a descendent of the Qutab Shahi dynasty.

    “Her interpretation of the findings about the lives of these characters find their expression through animation”, explains Kaul.

    Apart from Zee channels that would be used for promotional activities, a tie-up has been done with GO Fm radio in Mumbai. Of course, the outdoor route too has been taken in cities like Delhi and Mumbai, in addition to various contests being run where prizes could be won by sending SMS to the universal access number of Zee Telefilms.

    The promotional budget for the film has been pegged at around Rs. 10 million.

    Bhaggmati is a legendary love story between prince Mohd. Quili Qutub Shah and the beautiful Bhaggmati. History says that the fourth Qutb Shahi ruler built the city of Hyderabad at the behest of his lady love.

    This film is of two hours and 40 minutes duration with about half of it in animation.

  • Zee to release ‘Bhaggmati’ on 26 August

    MUMBAI: Zee Telefilms Ltd (ZTL) will release India’s first live animation feature film Bhaggmati – The queen of fortunes on 26 August.

    The movie will be released with approximately 100 prints, Zee Telefilms vice president Ashish Kaul told indiantelevision.com.

    Zee has tied up with distributors for the all India release. While Tilak Enterprises will distribute Bhaggmati in Mumbai, the Delhi territory has been bought by B.S Pictures. Burma Films is the distributor for the Eastern region and the Nizam territory has gone to Dilshad Films. Kaul, however, did not disclose the commercial terms of these deals.

    Bhaggmati will have a later release in the overseas markets as Zee is yet to finalise on its distribution partner.

    “At present, we are in talks with various players. We are very close to a deal and the film will have its international release probably one week after the India release,” Kaul said.

    ZTL has plans to release Bhaggmati in five countries: US, UK, Germany, France and Russia.

    Kaul, who is also looking after the marketing and promotional aspects of Bhaggmati, says the film will be promoted across the Zee Network apart from using platforms such as print, outdoor and radio.

    “We will be promoting Bhaggmati extensively across all the media platforms. The outdoor campaigns have already begun.

    We will have two contests to create an excitement about the film in the market. One contest will deal with the animation feature of the film while the other will cover the historical aspects,” Kaul says, adding that Bhaggmati will premiere in Mumbai’s Fame Adlabs, located in the Western suburb Andheri.

    ZTL however has no immediate plans to release the movie on television. Kaul said the movie would be brought to television only in 2006.

    ZTL released the music of Bhaggmati on Universal Music globally in July. According to market estimates, the movie is made on a budget of Rs 35 million.

    Bhaggmati, a project initiated by ZTL three years back, stars Tabu and Milind Soman in the title roles. The 2 hour and 40 minute film is written and directed by the National Award winner Ashok Kaul.

     

    The animation part, entirely done by the Zee Institute of Creative Arts (ZICA), occupies half the duration of the film.

  • Zee releases ‘Bhaggmati’ music on Universal

    MUMBAI: Zee Telefilms-produced live animation feature film Bhaggmati, which is awaiting a late August release, has got its music released. As reported earlier, Zee Network has given Universal Music the distribution rights for releasing the music in the Indian and international market.

    “We will be paying Zee a royalty on sales,” says Universal Music MD Rajat Kakkar. He, however, did not disclose the financial details of the deal.

    Starring Hema Malini in a special appearance with Tabu and Milind Soman as the lead, the Music of the movie is created by Vishal Bharadwaj and Ravindra Jain has given an additional song. The Background score of the film has been created by Vanraj Bhatia. One of the high points of Bhaggmati’s music is the song “…Jiya jaye amma jiya jaye na…”

    Says Essel Group VP corporate communications and brand development group Ashish Kaul, “The film has soulful music with lyrics by Dr.Bashir Badr, Abbas Tyrewala, Nida Fazli, Ravindra Jain, Jaideep and Ashok Kaul. The uniqueness about the music is that it has been recorded on live instruments and picturised on animated characters.”

    Kakkar adds, “Our association with Zee Telefilms goes a long way. Bhaqqmati has good music along with renowned singers like Asha Bhoste, Roop Kumar Rathod, Vinod Sehgal, Suresh Wadkar and Fareed Sabri. The six songs in the movie spell a variety and will cater to a cross section of society.”