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Tag: Farhan Akhtar

  • Rahman gets Lifetime Achievement at Dubai Filmfest

    Rahman gets Lifetime Achievement at Dubai Filmfest

    NEW DELHI: Oscar-winning maestro AR Rahman, 45, has won one more Lifetime Achievement Award – this time at the Eighth Dubai International Film Festival.

    Hollywood and Bollywood stars walked the red carpet at the opening of the Festival which will continue till 14 December. The Festival opened with the world premiere of ‘Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol‘. ‘Laptop‘ by Kaushik Ganguly is among the nine Asian films in competition.

    Tom Cruise returned to Dubai after shooting major scenes for the action-thriller in the emirate over 23 days, including stunts on the 828-metre high, 160-floor Burj Khalifa skyscraper, currently the world‘s tallest freestanding structure. He was joined on the red carpet by the film‘s director Brad Bird and his co-stars Paula Patton, Simon Pegg and Anil Kapoor, one of several Bollywood stars attending the festival.

    A “public interactive session” with the director Farhan Akhtar and stars Shah Rukh Khan and Priyanka Chopra of upcoming Bollywood action-thriller ‘Don 2‘ proved to be a major attraction. Other attractions from India include the world premiere of Maneesh Sharma‘s comedy ‘Ladies vs. Ricky Bahl‘ with stars Ranveer Singh and Anushka Sharma.

    This film is within the annual “Celebration of Indian Cinema” section which includes a diverse range of Indian films in Bengali, Tamil and Malayalam as well as Hindi. It includes a special two-film tribute to composer AR Rahman.

    The festival will screen 124 feature films, including 11 from India, six from Japan, three from South Korea and two films from both Hong Kong and the Philippines.

    The Muhr AsiaAfrica Competition includes Asian films that have previously competed at this year‘s Cannes Film Festival, Venice International Film Festival and Tokyo International Film Festival.

  • Don 2 to release in UK on 21 Dec

    Don 2 to release in UK on 21 Dec

    MUMBAI: Reliance Entertainment will release Excel Entertainment‘s Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Don 2 across the UK on 21 December, two days before its India release on 23 December.

    The film will not only be released before anywhere else, it will also be presented in the 3D format.

    Reliance Entertainment UK head Prakash Bakrania said, “We‘re very pleased with the way Don 2 is shaping up and believe in its potential to deliver what the audience expects from this much awaited sequel.

    “With Farhan Akhtar directing and Shah Rukh Khan leading the huge ensemble cast, the cherry on this cake is the 3D version which we‘re also releasing. We‘ve kept in mind the festive Christmas mood, the holidays and Shah Rukh Khan‘s huge UK fan base as we gear up to open the film here from Wednesday 21st Dec 2011.”

    The second sequel to the 1978-made original, directed by Farhan Akhtar, stars Shah Rukh Khan along with Priyanka Chopra, Lara Dutta, Boman Irani and Kunal Kapoor among others.

  • Reliance Mediaworks offers 3D conversion service to Indian films

    Reliance Mediaworks offers 3D conversion service to Indian films

    MUMBAI: Reliance MediaWorks (RMWL), the film and entertainment services company, said today that it now offers 3D Conversion services to Bollywood studios.

    "Hollywood has shown how 3D format can enhance the immersive audience experience and for Bollywood, 3D will prove to be the next technological phase in entertainment. Within next two years, the 3D cinema screen count is expected to cross 1500 screens in India and the penetration of 3D television will also be significant, establishing exceptional opportunity which Indian film studios can leverage to garner higher returns," Reliance MediaWorks CEO Anil Arjun said.

    RMWL‘s first Bollywood 3D conversion project is Shah Rukh Khan starrer Don 2 for Excel Entertainment and Reliance Entertainment. The movie will release in cinemas worldwide on 23 December in both 2D and 3D formats.

    Commenting on the 3D release of Don 2, Farhan Akhtar said, "The 3D conversion of Don 2 has been done by the Reliance MediaWorks team and we are very happy with outcome. We explored the option of releasing the film in 3D by doing a test demo and the results came out looking fabulous and since it was translating well and technology has come to a point where we don‘t need to shy away from it, we decided to go ahead and give the audiences a 3D experience of Don 2."

    RMWL said that it will offer Indian film studios well-established proprietary technologies, creative expertise and powerful tools for 3D project requirements. The company will be able to provide quality and scale of services available through its operations in India which includes a team of more than 600 trained 3D artists.

    Reliance MediaWorks COO media and creative services Naresh Malik said, "Being one of the leading 3D conversion service providers to Hollywood leaders has helped us understand and develop optimal solutions that can enhance 3D viewing. We look forward to leverage this global experience to deliver unparalleled results for a variety of applications and ultimately help Indian filmmakers in creating the finest possible 3D experience."

    Reliance MediaWorks‘ bouquet of 3D services includes stereoscopic 2D to 3D conversion, services for 3D alignment issues, image and detail enhancements, grain and noise management and on-set consulting, DI grading for 3D, creation and handling of 3D DCPs and 3D camera services.

    Reliance MediaWorks currently has a presence in film services: motion picture processing and DI; visual effects; animation; film restoration and image enhancement; 3D; digital mastering: studios and equipment rentals with presence across India, the US, UK and Japan.

  • Titan signs on Farhan Akthar as brand ambassador for Xylys

    Titan signs on Farhan Akthar as brand ambassador for Xylys

    BANGALORE: Following its recent announcement of signing on Katrina Kaif as brand ambassador for its women’s range of Raga watches, Titan Industries announced Bollywood personality Farhan Akthar as the brand ambassador for its Swiss line of watches made by Titan-Xylys.

    Titan launched Xylys in the year 2006, with the aim to leverage the immense potential in the Indian premium watch market. Designed exclusively for the generation of today, Xylus, a new age Swiss made brand, has built up an appeal amongst watch aficionados for its design and style and is now poised to take a bigger share in burgeoning Indian premium watch market.

    Said VP and global business head-Titan & Retail, Ajoy Chawla, “Xylys has had a dream run and been growing at a CAGR of 30%, thanks to our investments in building awareness for the brand over the last 5 years. The market in the premium and Swiss segment is fragmented with several international brands, hence there is a strong need to sharply position our brand Xylys and target the young, contemporary global Indian.

    Further talking on Farhan’s association with Xylys, Chawla said, “Farhan is a new age, multi-talented individual admired for his unconventional work. He embodies the Xylys brand’s core values of sophistication, individualistic, authentic yet unconventional. We believe he will enable XYlys to connect deeply with the new age, global Indian seeking to express their own identity in a unique way.”

    Farhan Akthar, known for movies like DON, Rock On, Lakshya, Luck By Chance and more recently acclaimed for his performance in Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, has been signed as the brand ambassador to reinforce Xylys’ brand philosophy of novel design and quality.

    Amongst the other Bollywood celebrities besides Kaif, Akthar joins Rani Mukherjee who was a brand ambassador for Titan Raga in 2006 and Aamir Khan who has been a brand ambassador since 2008 for the refurbished Titan brand identity.

  • Studio 18 gears up for first Bollywood release

    Studio 18 gears up for first Bollywood release

    MUMBAI: TV18 group’s film division, Studio 18, is gearing up to make its first foray into Bollywood. It will be releasing Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar’s romantic comedy Honeymoon Travels Private Limited on 23 February The movie directed by Reema Kagti is will be released worldwide with 50 prints.

    In the pipeline are six other releases namely Raaj Kumar Santoshi’s Halla Bol starring Ajay Devgan and Vidya Balan and Kya Love Story Hain from VR Entertainment starring Tusshar Kapoor and Ayesha Takia.

    Studio 18 was set up last year by Raghav Bahl, along with Sandeep Bhargava, the former head of Sahara Motion Pictures. Since then it has roped in the likes of Ashoka Holla, Tanuj Garg and Gayatri Batra.

    Talking about the appointments Bhargava says, “The three have had experience in releasing some of the biggest money-spinners overseas including experience in syndication, festivals, new market development and exploitation of emerging media.”

    The international division, with offices in the US and UK, will market and distribute in-house productions and external acquisitions in foreign markets.

    Adds Holla, “The focus will also be on broadening the appetite of the overseas audience by being first-movers in presenting an alternate menu to them. This division of Studio 18 intends to assemble a diverse slate – that is mainstream Bollywood features of viable sizes, genres and set-ups and exploit them through a bouquet of available rights to the maximum.”

  • Infomedia launches gadget magazine ‘T3’ in India

    Infomedia launches gadget magazine ‘T3’ in India

     MUMBAI: Infomedia India Limited has unveiled T3 (Tomorrow’s Technology Today), the gadget magazine in India. The Indian edition of T3 is published under a licensing arrangement with Future Publishing, UK’s special interest publishers, and is the 23rd international edition of T3.

    T3 is aimed at early adopters and gadget aware audiences abreast with the latest in the gadget universe. It uses photography and a blend of news, reviews and features to bring readers up to scratch with the fast paced world of consumer technology. It spans different areas including lifestyle, consumer products, cars, hi-fi, mobile, video gaming products and leisure products, informs an official release.

    The cover story of the first issue Gadgets 2.0 focuses on the new generation of gadgets taking over the world. The story covers the spectrum of digital entertainment devices from the Sony PS3 to Toshiba HD DVD Player to the Sony Ericsson W950 mobile phone.

    Other sections include a sneak peek at the N95 and the Asus Lamborghini Laptop, over 30 pages of gadget reviews and an entire section on home entertainment media. The first issue will feature supermodel Deepika Padukone as the T3 cover girl. T3 tops this up with a first-ever interview with Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan and film director Farhan Akhtar on their favourite gadgets.

    The monthly issue of the magazine will be available on newsstands and will be priced at Rs 100.

    Infomedia India MD Prakash Iyer said, “It gives me immense pleasure in launching the first edition of the world’s best gadget magazine in India. Our main objective to launch the magazine is to convey to the gadget crazy community that here is a magazine that is celebrating their passion. “

    Previously editor of hi-fi magazine AV Max, Nishant Padhiar is editor of T3.

    Padhiar adds, “With increasingly high disposable incomes and the start-ups of new concept tech stores, the consumer electronic industry is booming. We feel it is the right time to educate the consumer and T3 will provide all the information needed to do so.”

  • Film & TV Producers Guild submits draft for proposed Entertainment Export Promotion Council

    Film & TV Producers Guild submits draft for proposed Entertainment Export Promotion Council

    MUMBAI: Standing by its commitment to strive for the welfare of the entertainment industry at large, the Film & Television Producers Guild of India Ltd. recently submitted the draft for the proposed Entertainment Export Promotion Council to the Information & Broadcast Ministry.

    The Guild had received a notification from the Information & Broadcasting Ministry with a request to consider the finer details of forming a Special Export Promotion Council for the entertainment industry as suggested by the ICE (Information, Communication and Entertainment) Committee recently constituted by the Prime Minister’s Office. The Guild had been advised to give its proposals in accordance with the requirements of the Department of Commerce, states an official release.

    Accordingly, the Guild has set up a Sub-Group comprising representatives of eminent members having specialization in exports. At their first meeting, members of the Sub-Group had extensive deliberations on the subject, transpiring in the finalization of the draft.

    This draft was formally presented to the Information & Broadcasting Ministry recently by the Guild president Amit Khanna at a meeting in Delhi. The Ministry urged for some time to scrutinize the draft but readily assured the Guild president that the proposed Entertainment Export Promotion Council would be formed under its auspices.

    This development establishes the strong foothold occupied by the Guild in the eyes of the establishment.

    Established in 1954 by the stalwarts of the Indian film industry, The Film & TV Producers Guild is today the most progressive body in show business. From the studio barons like Yash Chopra and Subhash Ghai to the new diversified media companies like UTV, Nimbus, Zee, Sahara and Adlabs. From the leading TV production houses like Star TV, Sony, TV Today, NDTV, TV Eighteen, BAG Films to the young turks like Ashutosh Gowariker, Karan Johar, Farhan Akhtar, Rohan Sippy are all symbols of the Indian filmed content. Offering genuine stakeholders in the business an opportunity to work for the betterment of the entertainment industry, the Guild is now the cornerstone of Indian entertainment.