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Tag: Bhagmati

  • Zee to release ‘Bhagmati’ in June

    Zee to release ‘Bhagmati’ in June

    MUMBAI: Zee Telefilms is finally unveiling its 2D animation film Bhagmati mid June this year. Zee has plans to tap the international market by going for a global release.

    In Bhagmati, `live’ actors interact with animated characters. The Zee Institute of Creative Arts (ZICA) studio has taken care of the animation part.

    Essel Group VP corporate communications and brand development group Ashish Kaul told indiantelevision.com that Bhagmati had over seven million hand-drawn frames and this process took some time to complete.

    Kaul, who has also been entrusted with the responsbility of marketing and distributing Bhagmati, India’s first live and animation film, said the stress would be on the novelty of the movie and the campaign would be a simple one.

    Zee is planning to use a mix of outdoors and other media to create the buzz. Definitely, Zee Network will also play its role in the communication.

    The network is also releasing the film in international territories, including France, Russia and the UK. Kaul says the effort is to get audiences from places where the Indian art and culture are immensely popular.

    “These are huge territories as far as film business is concerned. Since we are stressing on the heritage of India in the film, we expect it to have a good run in these places. Also, the film will give an idea to the international audiences about what India can do in animation,” he says.

    Bhagmati is about the making of Hyderabad and as part of its marketing and communicaton strategy, Zee would use a lot of reality components in the campaign.

    Bhagmati – the queen of fortunes is a legendary love story between price Mohd.Quili Qutub Shah and his ardent love, and the beauteous Bhagmati. History says, the fourth Qutb Shahi ruler built the city of Hyderabad at the behest of his lady love. Directed by national award winner Ashok Kaul, the movies has Tabu and Milind Soman playing the lead roles. Hema Malini is giving a special appearance in the movie by delivering a classical dance performance.

    This film is of two hours and 40 minutes duration with about half of it in animation and six songs by renowned writers and music composers like Bashir Badr, Abbas Tyrewala, Nida Fazli, Ravindra Jain and Ashok Kaul. Asha Bhonsle, Sadna Sargam, Suresh Wadekar, Roop Kumar Rathod have lent their voices to the music of Vishal Bhardwaj. The film also has a quawalli by the popular Sabri brothers.

  • Zee Telefilms set to release three films including ‘Bhagmati’

    MUMBAI: Zee Telefilms’ long-in-the-offing 2D animation film Bhagmati is finally ready for release. An early September opening of the film, that wrapped up in December 2003, is being planned.

    The other two films coming up from the Zee stable in September are Khosla Ka Ghosla and One Dollar Curry.

    Talking to Indiantelevision.com, Zee Telefilms Ltd Films Division CEO Nitin Keni said they would watch the first print of Bhagmati by next week and then will start the release process. Holding on to his theory that Indian market is not ready for theatrical animation films, Keni said that they would decide the release and distribution strategy of Bhagmati by analysing the response its promos would generate.

    “We are planning 60 to 90 days of promotion for Bhagmati. Since Bhagmati is an adult love story, the general public is our target group. Though it is partially an animation film, it is a proper love story of two and half hours duration and here I can’t adopt a strategy that would work for children’s films,” said Keni. He didn’t revealBhagmati’s promotional strategy saying it is yet to be finalised.

    Zee has co-produced One Dollar Curry with France TV and Silhouette Films. Zee is now marketing the film through overseas territories. Keni said the film was not targeted at India though they would release it here in some multiplexes. Directed by Vijay Singh, the movie stars Smriti Mishra of Sardari Begum fame.

    Khosla ka Ghosla, targeted at the artistic circuit, is co-produced by Padmalaya Telefilms and Delhi-based Tandav Films. Zee will distribute the Dibakar Banerjee-directed movie starring Anupam Kher, Boman Irani, Praveen Dabbas, Tara Sharma and Naveen Nischol. 

    Keni said that Zee was looking at different genres of films these days. “We have identified the business potential these short and low/mid-budget films have. We are in all areas of films now, taking up different genres.”

    According to Keni, Zee Telefilms has commissioned one Telugu film with Jayapradha in it, apart from the Hindi remake of the Tamil movie Dhool starring Sunny Deol. When queried about the chances of launching another Gadar, he said it would take some time, though he has short listed two scripts.

  • Zee to promote ‘Mitr – My Friend’ in US

    Zee to promote ‘Mitr – My Friend’ in US

    Everyone in television is talking movies. If not making them then promoting them. After the 2002’s biggest blockbuster by a mile, Gadar, Zee Telefilms is now all set to promote Telephoto Entertainments latest film Mitr – My Friend in the US.

    Mitr is southern star Revathi’s first directorial venture and is shot largely in Freemont, US.

    Telephoto informed the Bombay Stock Exchange today that the feature film, which is scheduled for worldwide release on 14 February, has made a strategic tie-up with Zee TV (USA) for the promotion of the film in the US. The music rights of Mitr have been sold to Universal Music.

    It was on Monday that it was reported that Zee hopes to be the first film production company in India to make a live-cum-animation movie Bhagmati. Made with a budget of Rs 430 million, Bhagmati is slated for a May 2002 release and will be the world’s third such film, after Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Space Jam. Bhagmati involves a team of over 100 animators who have been appointed to create over 7,00,000 animated sketches for the film. The purpose, according to Zee officials, is to make the Western audience aware of India’s rich heritage and culture.