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Tag: Chennai Express

  • SRK starrer Chennai Express storms ahead with Rs 92 crore

    SRK starrer Chennai Express storms ahead with Rs 92 crore

    MUMBAI: Rohit Shetty’s big budget action-comedy Chennai Express has made the most of the Eid weekend solo release. The Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone starrer’s high decibel promotion has also paid rewards as the film has swept the box office to set a new weekend collection record. Also, calling it a clean family entertainer has helped, as the film ended its weekend (paid previews on 8 August included) with Rs 92 crore, an outstanding fete on all counts.

    Having exhausted a lot of its ‘Must Watch’ audience, the film has slowed down at multiplexes but holding on well at single screens. The film left no chance of using various platforms for promotions, SRK featured on popular television fiction and non-fiction shows over the past one month including Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah, Madhubala: Ek Ishq Ek Junoon, Jhalak Dikhla Jaa, Comedy Nights With Kapil to name a few.

    Of the smaller releases of the last week, BA Pass starring Shilpa Shukla (Chak De India! fame) seems to have impressed the critics as a noir film! The film managed to put together Rs 5.35 crore for its first week.

    Rabba Main Kya Karoon starring Akash Chopra, Arshad Warsi, Paresh Rawal and Riya Sen has bordered on the one crore rupees mark in its first week.

    Bajatey Raho coined as a revenge comedy and having some well known names to boast off like Tusshar Kapoor, Dolly Ahluwalia, Ranvir Shorey, Ravi Kishan, Vinay Pathak, Vishakha Singh struggled to put together another Rs 55 lakh in its second week to take its two week total to Rs 7.05 crore.

    Ramaiya Vastavaiya which marked the debut of Girish Kumar alongside Shruti Hassan collected Rs 1.2 crore in its third week to take its three week total to Rs 25.85 crore.

     

    D-Day has done reasonably well to collect Rs 1.5 crore in its third week to take its three week total to Rs 19.5 crore.

     

    Bhaag Milkha Bhaag which saw Farhan Akhtar depict the role of ‘the flying sikh’ Milhka Singh has collected Rs 8.5 crore in its fourth week to take its four week total to Rs 102.75 crore.

  • Chennai Express: This train can be boarded just once

    Chennai Express: This train can be boarded just once

    MUMBAI: Shah Rukh Khan, most preferred in romantic films, of which he may have done only a few, is finding it hard to find a slot lately. He has tried his hand at multiple genres recently: Ra.One, a super hero film; Don 2, an action-for-action’s-sake film; Jab Tak Hai Jaan, where he plays a larger than life bomb expert. Somehow, he does not seem to have found the right fit. Chennai Express is the outcome of this confusing situation as the film can’t define its genre even after it has run through 143 minutes. Is it a comedy, a road movie, an action movie or a romance? And is it a Hindi or a Tamil movie?

    Shah Rukh Khan’s halwai grandfather has passed away and his last wish is that his grandson should immerse his ashes in the sea at Rameshwaram. However, Khan and his friends had plans to holiday in Goa. This assignment comes as a hurdle in their plans. However, Khan’s friends convince him that even if he immersed the ashes at Goa, they would finally end up reaching the sea at Rameshwaram! This is the first warning of what is to come. Since the grandmother plans to see off Khan at the station, he plans to take a south bound train, get off at the first station nearby and join his friends for a road trip to Goa.

    Khan spots Deepika Padukone running to catch the train which has started moving and helps her in. He also helps four mean and scary looking guys board the running train. It turns out that Deepika, who is running away from her father who is in a village near Chennai, catches a train going towards her father. The four goons Khan helped board the train are her father’s henchmen, chasing her to take her back to her village. Her father, who is the local don, plans to marry her off to a strongman from another village, Nikitin Dheer against her wishes. That would help him extend his power further.

    Producers: Gauri Khan, Karim Morani, Ronnie Screwvala, Siddharth Roy Kapoor.

    Director: Rohit Shetty.
    Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Nikitin Dheer, Sathyaraj, Manorama, Kamini Kaushal, Lekh Tandon.

    Deepika blames Khan for her problem. He decides to help her but his attempts are thwarted by the foursome. They are a dangerous lot which they demonstrate first by throwing away Khan’s costly cell phone from the train and later by throwing out the TC. Deepika and Khan communicate through Hindi film songs as if they are singing a duet; the goons couldn’t care less since the things are very much under their control.

    Finally, they arrive at her village. But since it is not a scheduled stop, the goons pull the chain and out there, to welcome the boss’ daughter, is a crowd of hundreds. Khan could have continued with his journey but, for whatever reason, he also decides to tag along! Since Deepika does not want to marry Dheer, she introduces Khan as the guy she loves and plans to marry. The son-in-law to be is cheered by the villagers. But Dheer is not the kind to give in so easily. He challenges Khan to a fight the next morning. This is one giant problem for Khan for that is how Dheer compares to Khan in physique. The only way to survive is to escape.

    Khan and Deepika plan to escape before the duel starts, but Khan spoils the plan by getting drunk. Still, he steals a bike and manages to get away, only to crash near a police station. The Sikh cop, Mukesh Trivedi, hides him in a safe place which, when he wakes up, turns out to be a smugglers’ dhow heading towards Sri Lanka. Soon the dhow is raided and Khan taken back to the village he had run from.

    It is her wedding day when, once again, Khan and Deepika escape, this time to fall in love for real. Khan wants to take her honourably and comes back to her village, to the don, the mob and Dheer. In a sudden burst of enthusiasm he beats up all the goons, armed as well as unarmed and, finally, also takes on Dheer!

    Chennai Express is a poor story idea badly developed. The script has no substance and a lot of footage is filled with nothing happening or, in second half, by crowding the footage with three songs almost back-to-back. Except at two or three places, the comedy is pathetic and the jokes are all decades-old PJs. The music score is generally no help and the only well tuned song is Titli… In fact, some songs sound like they have been dubbed from Tamil songs.

    The Rohit Shetty touch is missing here; there is not much entertainment to be found, even of the mindless variety. Photography is good. Dialogue is uninspiring. A lot of Tamil is used in dialogue without sub titles which is very curious: there is not much to understand in this film but this shows a disregard for the audience. Editing is slack.

    Deepika shines and is the only worthy performer in the film. Khan, sad to say, resorts to buffoonery when not overacting; his fans expect better. Dheer is aptly sinister.

    Chennai Express may not generate good word of mouth but, thanks to the Eid weekend release at 3500 screens with multiplexes running 12 to 16 shows, it is sure to amass bumper weekend collections and help avoid a big setback.

  • Deepika Padukone to replace Katrina Kaif in Dostana 2?

    Deepika Padukone to replace Katrina Kaif in Dostana 2?

    MUMBAI: The fight between the two actors – Deepika Padukone and Katrina Kaif – goes a long way back. With earlier Deepika bagging Happy New Year from Katrina, there are rumours that the Chennai Express star has ousted Jab Tak Hai Jaan babe from the sequel of Dostana as well.

     

    The Tarun Mansukhani’s Dostana 2 will star John Abraham and Abhishek Bachchan. However, as per the earlier rumours, Katrina was to step into Priynaka Chopra’s shoes for the sequel. But DP’s successful run at the box-office this year has made her a hot favourite among directors and producers.

  • The inside dope on Zee’s &pictures

    The inside dope on Zee’s &pictures

    MUMBAI: Zeel marketing head (national channels) Akash Chawla is used to doing things differently and even pioneering initiatives in the broadcasting space. Being part of a very entrepreneurial organisation like Zee he says: “Our challenge is to keep re-inventing.”

    Some are calling the upcoming movie channel from the Zeel’s stable &pictures – Sapnon ki Udaan that is slated to go on-air on 18 August as a bold step. The network already has a couple of Hindi movie channels in the crowded and competitive genre. But Zeel chief content and creative officer Bharat Kumar Ranga is not worried as there is a clearly thought out strategy behind the new launch.

    Says he: “As new mindsets are emerging in India and Indians worldwide, there is a need to cater to that. Zee very successfully caters to certain mindsets, beliefs, values very effectively. There was a need to come up with a parallel brand in order to cater to the young audiences that we noticed. So, &pictures is an effort to come out with a brand that can speak to them and delight them.”

    The movie labeled as India’s first interactive movie channel has already made waves by buying out broadcasting rights for upcoming blockbusters like Chennai Express, Zanjeer and Besharam. Nonetheless, it will also telecast movies which the youth can relate to like Andaaz Apna Apna, Joh Jeeta Wahi Sikandar, ABCD, Kai Po Che and many more.
    The real difference lies in Zee’s approach to the new movie channel says Akash Chawla

    But the first question that comes to one’s mind is how different it is going to be from Zee Cinema? There is a big difference between the channels describes Chawla. He further says that Zee Cinema has been a market leader for a very long time now. “The real difference is going to be how Zee approaches the movie channel. The movie channel is far more experimental, interactive and adventurous in spirit,” he points out, adding, “Zee cinema will continue to cater to the family audience at home in a way that they want to watch real cinema. But that doesn’t mean that the two channels don’t cater to the same audience. It is just that sometimes one is in a mood to watch more adventurous films and interact with the movies and sometimes we just want to lay back and just watch a movie. Let the audience choose what they want to watch. And as part of the philosophy the two channels are very different.”

    Creative mantra

    What’s surprising is that this time there is no ‘Zee’ prefix in the name. Chawla explains why. Says he: “If we look at the consumer point of view, brand creation view, the two brands are different, they cater to different mindsets but they carter to the same families. If we don’t come up with such products someone else will. They accepted Zee Cinema earlier, they will accept the new channel as well.”

     

    Bharat Ranga says that there was a need to come up with a parallel brand in order to cater to the young audiences

    The real germ of an idea to come up with a non-Zee branded channel started around two years ago, but the actual work started around eight-10 months ago. After scanning through about 1000 logos the current one was finalised.

    “Using a symbol as a logo has been done for the first time in India and will have multiple connotations.” adds Chawla.

    Breaking down the logo, the network explains that the ampersand sign in &pictures signifies Udaan (flight) and Neev (rooted) and celebrates the duality of contemporary Indians. Where, Udaan signifies that one wants to go higher and ambitious in life whereas Neev is rooted with the network’s values and beliefs that Zee always promises its audiences. The color red similarly radiates its bold ambition as well as the richness of traditions, Chawla points out.

    The movie channel has appointed Scarecrow as its creative agency. The agency has worked on the strategic process for &pictures, giving the channel its name and logo. Scarecrow will be involved in all aspects of the brand from creating the corporate identity, brand guidelines, to internal communication to ATL and BTL communication but only for a year as that is time frame the agency has signed the contract with Zee.

    Speaking on the initiative, Scarecrow Communications founder director Raghu Bhatt asserts, “We will be working closely with the brand team to ensure that the business and marketing targets are achieved. The Indian media space is very competitive but this is an opportunity to offer a differentiated proposition based on differentiated content.”

    Chawla explains that the potential watcher of &pictures is: experimental, ambitious yet rooted, young at heart, reinvents oneself, is the right blend of modernity and tradition, is exploratory, goes off the beaten track and is energetic and spirited. “It is not just a youth channel”, adds Chawla. “We believe the fact that this is the channel which the entire family will watch. And we hope that like people patronise Zee TV and Zee Cinema, they would patronise this channel as well.”

    Differentiating factor
    Our plan is to anlayse every content before acquiring it reveals Ruchir Tiwari

    In terms of presentation and marketing of the channel, Zee is going to indulge in two-way communication with the audiences. “It’s true that today, a lot of traditional film concepts are not going to work. But it is also true that films, which explore the off-beaten path and are presented in a manner that is acceptable to the consumers and families of today, are also working”, clarifies Chawla.

    For the initial six months, the channel is going to be free to air, after which it will turn pay. Currently it is available across cable TV networks in testing mode, and will be on almost all DTH networks when it launches. And will spread its footprint overseas, later.

    “In the world of TVT, we have audiences across the world, so where ever the Hindi speaking people are, the channel will reach out to them,” adds Ranga.

    As for the movie library the channel’s main focus will be to aggregate the right kind of content which blends with its philosophy.

    “We always deeply anlayse before picking up and acquiring any content, All acquisitions will dovetail the philosophy, the DNA of &pictures,” says Zeel cluster programming head (Hindi movie channels) Ruchir Tiwari. “We are here just at the right time, with digitisation going on,” asserts Tiwari.

     
    Deepak Netram is optimistic about the new entrant in the genre

    With the 12 minute per hour ad cap becoming effective from 1 October, is this Zee’s way of getting more ad revenue? “We had started thinking about the new channel 20 months back, we were just waiting for the right time, and to pick up the right library. But of course it will help us with 10+ 2; however that is not the sole reason. We believe that there is a space in the market which is not tapped. If you will look at youth of today, they don’t just watch TV but are on other social platforms – they want to chat, tweet etc. and we think that space hasn’t been captured and hence we want to be the 1st movers in that space.” clarifies Chawla.

    Zeel’s new launch has got the applause of media professionals. They believe that &pictures is likely to do well. “Going by the recent success of other entrants in the Hindi movie genre, it certainly seems there is good potential,” says Lodestar UM vice-president Deepak Netram. “A new offering in the genre definitely will help the network to widen its basket.”

    “Success ultimately will require the ideal combination of the many ingredients like marketing, content, programming and distribution coming together. In these areas, it is also critical to continue sustained efforts even post launch. A lot depends on how the offering translates to viewers and to advertisers and this will define how the channel performs. The promos on the test signals revolving around new titles are inviting and this could create viewer interest.” Netram adds.

    What’s next to your kitty, Zee?

  • SRK and Padukone set the stage on fire at the music launch of ‘Chennai Express’

    SRK and Padukone set the stage on fire at the music launch of ‘Chennai Express’

    MUMBAI: The first look of UTV Motion Pictures‘ and Red Chillies Entertainments‘ Chennai Express created a frenzy amongst fans. To take that excitement further the much awaited music of Chennai Express was launched on Wednesday at a star studded event in Mumbai in the presence of actress Deepika Padukone, Shah Rukh Khan – actor and producer, Red Chillies Entertainments, Ronnie Screwvala – MD Disney UTV, Bhushan Kumar – chairman and MD T-Series director Rohit Shetty and music director duo Vishal-Shekhar.

    Songs released from the movie are already topping the popular music charts.

    The album boasts of an array of 8 songs from foot tapping dance numbers like ‘1234 Get on the dance floor‘ and ‘Ready Steady Po‘ to a soulful rendition like ‘Titli‘, from love songs to total entertainment ones like ‘Chipak Chipak Ke‘, ‘Tera Rasta Chhodon Na‘, ‘Kashmir Main,Tu Kanyakumari‘ and even the title track ‘Chennai Express‘ which is specially sung by S P Balasubramaniam. The lyrics for the album have been written by Amitabh Bhattacharya.

    “Chennai Express has been a reunion of sorts for me. My first film was with SRK as a co-star, Manish Malhotra did my costumes and Vishal-Shekhar composed the music. I love all the songs and the way Vishal-Shekhar have beautifully amalgamated the theme and the tracks. Titli is my favourite one,” said actress Deepika Padukone.

    Commenting on the music Shah Rukh Khan said, “Music breathes life into a film and Vishal-Shekhar have exactly done that with the songs of Chennai Express. I have always had a great working experience with them. There‘s a song for everyone in the album. My personal favourites are Tera Raasta Chodu Na and Titli. Hope you‘ve liked them too!”

    “Chennai Express‘ music is the film. Love, humour, action, comedy, it‘s all in the songs. Also it is a genuine homage to South Indian culture / music,” said music directors Vishal and Shekhar.

    “I am very excited about the music of our film because of Vishal and Shekhar. They have put together a brilliant album keeping the theme of the film in mind. Having worked with them for Golmaal 1, I am very glad that we have come together for Chennai Express too,” said director Rohit Shetty.

    “It is always a great pleasure to work with Shah Rukh Khan. T-Series has been associated with him right from his first home production Main Hoon Na. SRK has a great taste for music which is evident from Don 2, Ra.One, Om Shanti Om and now Chennai Express. Chennai Express is a great mixture of various flavours and melodies collated amazingly by Vishal-Shekhar,” said T-Series chairman and MD Bhushan Kumar.

    Chennai Express will hit theatres worldwide on Eid – 8 August 2013.