Tag: Farhan Akhtar

  • Farhan Akhtar and Deepika Padukone celebrate the little joys of life with Coca-Cola

    Farhan Akhtar and Deepika Padukone celebrate the little joys of life with Coca-Cola

    MUMBAI: This New Year, the brand universally synonymous with happiness, Coca-Cola,gives a refreshing new twist to ‘Open Happiness’ and urges consumers to revel in the joys of life- big and small. The new campaign ‘Choti ho ya badi, har khushi mein Coca-Cola’, featuring the country`s heartthrobs and youth icons Farhan Akhtar and Deepika Padukone seeks to embrace and celebrate all the little moments of happiness that life throws up.

     

    This campaign is another step in the company’s journey of taking Coca-Cola where it really belongs – the masses, the people at large. Coca-Cola’s great refreshing taste, its values; all resonate across the length and breadth of the country. This initiative is directed at helping the country’s fastest growing soft drink brand, Coca-Cola, tostay firmly on its course to the company’s Vision 2020.

    The new campaign, which brings together Farhan and Deepika for the first time for a television commercial, spreads the Coca-Cola promise of happiness through a series of delightfully charmingads directed by the celebrated Anurag Kashyap. The campaign sees the two actors liven up the screen with their chemistry and engaging interactions in some everyday situations which have them cherish and rejoice the little joys of life with a bottle of refreshing Coca-Cola.

    Speaking on the new campaign, Debabrata Mukherjee, VP – Marketing & Commercial, Coca-Cola India, said, “Coca-Cola is a brand that stands for optimism and happiness. With our new campaign, Choti ho ya badi, har khushi mein Coca-Cola’, we have translated the brand’s happy energy into a series of commercials which capture the essence of finding moments of joy in our day to day lives. The language is very colloquial; the situations are every day, so that every consumer in India can relate to it and feel happy about the celebratory situations. The message is very simple – celebrate your moments of happiness, small or big, with a bottle of Coca-Cola”.

     

    He further added, “We are very happy to have both Farhan Akhtar and DeepikaPadukone join the Coca-Cola family. Our communication for Coca-Cola this year focuses on reaching the masses and both Deepika and Farhan slipped into the roles of “everyday people” with great ease. They are great role models and very inspirational for millions across the country”

     

    Speaking about the campaign, newly appointed Coca-Cola brand ambassador, Actor Deepika Padukone said, “When I think of brand Coca-Cola the feeling of optimism and joy immediately resonates. I have been a huge fan of Brand Coca-Cola, one of the most aspirational and iconic brands in the world and I am glad to have finally got the opportunity to be associated with it. I have thoroughly enjoyed this experience and working with Farhan, Prasoon, Anurag and the entire team at Coca-Cola has been absolutely incredible. The beauty of brand Coca-Cola is the fact that it stands for values, which are very simple yet very powerful. Values which each and every individual in any part of the world will identify with. I am glad to play my part in delivering Coca-Cola’s message of ‘Happiness’ to one and all in a very ‘Refreshing’ and engaging manner”

     

    Speaking about his experience and association with Coca-Cola, Farhan Akthar said “What stands out about brand Coca-Cola is its universal appeal. No matter where in the world you are, Coca-Cola is synonymous with celebration and joy. I am extremely excited to partner with Coca-Cola and to bring this joy to millions of consumers across the country. The entire team behind this campaign has made the experience tremendously enriching for me. I had a wonderful time shooting for the campaign which has given me an opportunity to portray a distinctly new character. A campaign which will connect with the way people including my fans, far and wide, celebrate their moments of happiness – big or small. All in all, just like Coca-Cola, it has been a very ‘refreshing’ experience.”

     

    Anurag Kashyap who has directed the campaign, said, “The campaign pays ode to the ethos of brand Coca-Cola of celebrating moments of joy no matter how big or small. I loved the concept of taking the cosmopolitan and undoubtedly glamorous icons such as Deepika and Farhan and putting them in extremely rustic scenarios that appeal to masses across the country.The campaign is very fun, happy, and bubbly, just like the effervescence unique to a Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola has given us some iconic campaigns in the past that I have thoroughly enjoyed I hope this campaign receives the same appreciation.”

     

    The campaign has been scripted by Prasoon Joshi and his creative team at McCann Erickson. The film has been produced by Producer Guneet Monga’s Golden Gaddi Films and directed by acclaimed director, Anurag Kashyap. The music of the campaign has been created by Mikey McCleary and Vishal Khurana.

     

    In addition to leveraging mass media advertising, the integrated communication plan includes roll-out of an array of touch points including  out-of-home (OOH) media, digital, behind the label promotion, point of sale merchandise and on-ground initiatives across all key markets.

     

    Commenting on the Campaign, Prasoon Joshi, CEO and Chief Creative Officer, McCann World Group India says, “The concept of happiness is universal, and the joy that one look or a smile from that special someone invokes is universal and not constrained by demographics. Similarly, Coca-Cola delivers the promise of happiness universally; whether you are in small town or a metropolitan city you can celebrate the little joys of life with a refreshing bottle of Coca-Cola. It’s this thought that served as the inspiration for this campaign. We have Farhan Akhtar and Deepika Padukone, two young and highly successful actors that have captured the imagination of the whole country essaying characters that you and I could bump into on the streets of Chandigarh or Allahabad or any other city. “

     

    Coca-Cola 2014 Thematic TVC- Feat Farhan Akhtar and Deepika Padukone

  • Best Foods partners with ‘Shaadi Ke Side Effects’

    Best Foods partners with ‘Shaadi Ke Side Effects’

    MUMBAI: Best Foods, one of the largest rice companies in India, has announced its association with the upcoming Bollywood movie, ‘Shaadi Ke Side Effects’. To leverage the Perfect Match proposition of the brand,   with the synergy between the lead actors of the movie the brand has recently launched a TVC featuring Vidya Balan and Farhan Akhtar. The TVC is a rendition of scenes from the movie ‘Shaadi Ke Side Effects’ and connects beautifully to Best Rice’.

     

    Best foods is an integrated player of rice, health & wellness products and the brand has an extensive offering of ready to eat  meals and ready to cook range of  culinary pastes and sauces.

     

    Speaking on the association, Best Foods chief executive officer Aayushman Gupta, said, “We always reinvent our marketing efforts in order to maintain a top of mind recall for the brand. With this viewpoint, we partnered with Shaadi Ke Side Effects and have launched a rendition of our brand TVC, with fresh visuals from the movie. We have been receiving a phenomenal response for the TVC and are already evaluating further such associations.”

     

    Last year, Best Foods partnered with Bollywood Blockbuster, Chennai Express’ and received an encouraging response for their TVC created on the similar lines.

     

    Farhan Akhtar and Vidya Balan stars in ‘Shaadi Ke Side Effects’, directed by Saket Chaudhary. The movie is a sequel of ‘Pyaar Ke Side Effects’. The romantic comedy deals with discovering fresh romance in a marriage.

     

    Watch the TVC at http://youtu.be/AVE0TH6wUDI

  • Farhan Akhtar turns jingle writer in ‘Shaadi Ke Side/Effects’

    Farhan Akhtar turns jingle writer in ‘Shaadi Ke Side/Effects’

    MUMBAI: Time and again Farhan Akhtar has caught the fancy of many fans interested in poetry with lyrical lines on the social networking sites. However, in his upcoming film, Shaadi Ke Side/Effects the actor-director-producer plays a struggling musician Sid who takes up the job of a jingle writer-composer to pay his bills.

     

    However, since Farhan loves music and his guitar, the role was special to Farhan and thus he gave a spin to the featured jingles.

     

    Director Saket Chaudhary and the brand team of Skore condoms, an in-film sponsor in Shaadi Ke Side/Effects whose jingle Farhan’s character in the film was supposed to sing in the film, were in for a pleasant surprise when Farhan added his own lines to the jingle. He included the line – ‘I love my mother-in-law!’ referring to Rati Agnihotri who plays Vidya’s mother in the film.

     

    While this part has now been edited out of the film, Producer Rangita Pritish Nandy says: “Watch out for it in the gag-reel at the end of the film!”

     

    She adds: “This was massively funny while we were shooting! The whole unit cracked up and we almost kept it in the film as well but then decided against it. But watch out for it in the gag-reel at the end of the film which also features the reprised version Tauba Mein Pyaar Karke Pachtaya now re-christened Tauba Mein Vyaah Karke Pachtaya!”

     

    Shaadi Ke Side/Effects, produced by Balaji Motion Pictures and Pritish Nandy Communications, releases on February 28, 2014.

  • The bollywood roundtable 2013  The Actors

    The bollywood roundtable 2013 The Actors

    MUMBAI: CNN-IBN’s Bollywood Roundtable hosted by Rajeev Masand brings to you the best of Bollywood. From film-makers to actors and music composers to writers, the show offers a unique insight into the film industry and the challenges by it.

    This week, Rajeev Masand chats with four leading actors of 2013 who left the nation spellbound with their outstanding work. The show features: Irrfan Khan, who played a lonely accountant in ‘The Lunchbox’; Farhan Akhtar, who went through a marked physical transformation to portray ‘Flying Sikh’ Milkha Singh in ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’; Ranveer Singh, who played a madly passionate ‘Romeo’ in ‘Goliyon ki Rasleela: Ram Leela’; and Rajkummar Rao, who portrayed a practical-minded entrepreneur in ‘Kai Po Che’ and a fearless activist-lawyer in ‘Shahid.’

    Don’t forget to tune in to this special episode of ‘The Bollywood Roundtable’ on Thu, Dec 26th @ 10.00 PM with repeats on Sun, Dec 29th @ 06.00 PM, only on CNN-IBN.

  • Kareena Kapoor heads for an unconventional path, career-wise

    Kareena Kapoor heads for an unconventional path, career-wise

    MUMBAI: Kareena Kapoor Khan is keen to balance her work in commercial cinema with more challenging films. The 32-year-old Pataudi bahu has announced that she has been signed by director Dev Benegal for Bombay Samurai which features Farhan Akhtar as well as by Rohit Shetty for the sequel of Singham.

     

    While projects with Sudhir Mishra and Aanand Rai are also under discussion, Dibakar Banerjee is keen to cast the actress in his next film venture. Kapoor recently admitted that she missed out on working with Ram Leela director Sanjay Leela Bhansali after she walked out of the film, but claims she has “no regrets.”

  • 59th Idea Filmfare Awards 2013 to be held on 24 January

    59th Idea Filmfare Awards 2013 to be held on 24 January

    NEW DELHI: The 59th Filmfare Awards will be held on 24 January, 2014 at YRF Studios in Mumbai.

     

    Awards will be given in 31 categories. Filmfare will continue its association with Idea as its partner and title sponsor, sixth time in a row. The announcement was made at a press meet held in New Delhi.

     

    The announcement was made jointly by Bhaag Milkha Bhaag star Farhan Akhtar along with Worldwide Media CEO Tarun Rai, also the publisher of Filmfare magazine, and Idea Cellular chief corporate affairs officer Rajat Mukarji.

     

     “It has been another astounding year for Bollywood. More than 130 films have been produced. For the first time seven films have crossed the Rs 100 crore mark. It will be a tough task for the Filmfare readers and jury to select the winners as we have both popular and critics’ awards. And, of course, you can look forward to a spectacular Awards night on 24 January. It will be nothing like what we have done before or people have seen so far,” said Rai.

     

    Extending their association to yet another magnificent year, Mukarji said, “The 59th Idea Filmfare Award marks another glorious year of Idea’s association with Filmfare. Idea has always been committed to provide the best in class mobile telephony service to its customers. With Idea’s 3G services and devices, over 128 million subscribers will get an opportunity to experience the best mobile experience across various platforms. Idea will also enable its subscribers to access movie content and results of the Idea Filmfare awards on their mobile phones.”

  • Vidya Balan gets ready to play a sleuth

    Vidya Balan gets ready to play a sleuth

    MUMBAI: She is not considered the ‘Ms Perfectionist’ of Bollywood for no reason. There’s something about her that has added this tag to her name. We are talking about Vidya Balan, who after portraying a quirky Punjabi woman in Ghanchakkar and making headlines for her odd pairing with Farhan Akhtar in the upcoming Shaadi Ke Side Effects, is back in the news again – this time for getting in to the character of Bobby Jasoos.

     

    On Monday morning, pictures of the actress disguised as a beggar came out in the news. According to reports, the actor was so much in to the character that during the shoot a woman even gave her some money. The actor who has always pushed the boundaries to get in to the character is doing the same again.

     

    And the film’s producers know they have got an awesome performer on board. Dia Mirza, who is producing the movie along with Sahil Sangha, tweeted the picture from the shoot and wrote, “That’s our #BobbyJasoos in DISGUISE 😉 She’s one of a kind. #VidyaBalan”.

     

    The film went on the floor on November 23, 2013 in the picturesque city of Hyderabad and will be shot in one schedule, over a span of 55 days, amongst a host of never seen before real locations that stand testament to the vibrant and royal cultural history of Hyderabad, as it aims to be a summer 2014 release.

     

    Producers Dia Mirza and Sahil Sangha have put together a strong supporting cast that surround Vidya Balan in a pulsating, thrilling and most importantly heartwarming tale of a woman whose solitary dream is to become the numero uno private eye of her community. The cast includes Ali Fazal, Arjan Bajwa, Anupriya, Supriya Pathak, Tanvi Azmi, Aakash Dahiya and Rajender Gupta amongst others. The film also marks the return of Kiran Kumar who has been away from the big screen for some time and the makers are more than excited to present him in a dynamic new avatar.

     

    Shantanu Moitra and Swanand Kirkire are collaborating on the music of the film.

     

    Dia said in a release, “The idea of Bobby Jasoos was born over a year and a half ago. Today, blessed with an ideal cast and fantastic crew we are ready to roll and nothing gives me more pleasure. The actors have been busy in workshops, readings, look tests and their enthusiasm and excitement is palpable. Vidya has ably led from the front and her dedication to preparing for this part is evidence to the fact that she is an actor who continues to respects the craft and is hungry for more despite achieving so much already. I can’t wait for Bobby to be unleashed.”

  • Shaadi Ke Side Effects trailer launched with Krissh 3

    Shaadi Ke Side Effects trailer launched with Krissh 3

    MUMBAI: While watching Krissh 3, the audiences may get a double treat as the first look trailer of Balaji Motion Pictures and Pritish Nandy Communications’ Shaadi Ke Side Effects will be attached with Krrish 3!

     

    The movie stars Farhan Akhtar and Vidya Balan and the theatrical trailer of the film, directed by Saket Chaudhary ,was screened amid a packed house yesterday, with audience laughing off their seats, courtesy an innovative “Battle of the Sexes” themed event. The highlight being a spirited debate between the leads of the shaadicom (aka shaadi comedy) Farhan Akhtar and Vidya Balan who play Sid and Trisha in the film.

     

    Balaji CEO Alpana Mishra, says, “To have the trailer of our film Shaadi Ke Side Effects attached to one of the most anticipated films of the year, Krrish 3 is fantastic. With Krrish 3’s massive release of 4000 plus screens we are sure to garner major eyeballs and reach the widest audience.”

     

    Talking about the film, producer Pritish Nandy says, “My belief is that Shaadi Ke Side Effects has the ability to be 2014’s most exciting film. It is wild, wicked and wonderfully entertaining. Mars VS Venus at its best.”

    The film will release worldwide on February 28, 2014.

  • Actors Chandrashekhar and Manoj Kumar honoured at Jagran Film Festival

    Actors Chandrashekhar and Manoj Kumar honoured at Jagran Film Festival

    Veteran Chandrashekhar whose film career spans from the black and white era to the early part of this century received the Grand Prize for lifetime contribution to the cinematic arts while thespian Manoj Kumar was honoured for his work as the Icon at the Jagran Film Festival which concluded in Mumbai over the weekend.

     

    The 90-year old Chandrashekhar has acted in 186 films commencing in 1947 with Arsi. Beginning as an actor in Fashion in 1957, Manoj Kumar went on to act in or make a large number of films, many of them with patriotic themes which got him the nickname of Bharat Kumar. The government also honoured him with the Padma Shri.

     

    Versatile thespian Sridevi bagged the best actor (female) award for her comeback film English Vinglish, while the best actor award was shared by Ranbir Kapoor for Barfi! and Farhan Akhtar for Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. Trupti Bhoir got a special mention as actor (female) for the Marathi film Touring Talkies produced by her and directed by Gajendra Ahire.

     

    The best film award went to the film Kai Po Che!; which also bagged the best director award for Abhishek Kapoor and the background score award for Hitesh Sonik.

     

    Among those who gave away the awards were the versatile Kamal Haasan, veteran filmmaker N Chandra, producer-director Sudhir Mishra, Tushaar Kapoor and Divya Dutta. Festival Advisor Manoj Srivastava was also present.

     

    The programme presented by Kunal Kapoor and Huma Quraishi also included performances by the group Mati Baani, a World Music band combining elements of Hindustani Classical with various styles of Folk music and New age sounds

     

    Ship of Theseus received the maximum awards: best debut director award for Anand Gandhi, the Jury award for best actor for Neeraj Kabi, the cinematography award for Pankaj Kumar, and the sound designer award for Gabor ifj. Erdélyi.

     

    The special jury award was presented to Vishwaroopam for raising the bar of mainstream Indian cinema to an international level. The film also received the best editor award for Mahesh Narayanan.

     

    Aditi Singh Sharma received the best female singer award for the title song in the film Heroine while actor-singer Ayushman Khurrana received the male singer award for the film Vicky Donor. The best music award was given to Pritam for the film Barfi! for his brilliant compositions.

     

    Vicky Donor also bagged the best screenplay award for Juhi Chaturvedi.

     

    Kaushal Oza won the best short film award for his film After Glow.

     

    A special highlight of the festival was the presence of Max Lefrancq Lumiere, grandson of Louis Lumiere, who screened the first-ever films made by the Lumiere Brothers in 1895 in Paris. Irrfan Khan and Dilip Tahil were among those present.

     

    A total of fifteen cities were covered by the 4th edition of the Jagran Film Festival, which marked one hundred years of Indian cinema.

     

    The Festival commenced in Delhi in July and culminated in Mumbai from 24-29 September. In between it travelled to Kanpur, Lucknow, Allahabad, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Agra, Meerut, Dehradun, Patna, Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Indore, and Bhopal.

     

    The various sections included the Jagran Classics of Indian films to mark a centenary of cinema, international and national shorts, the country focus on Korea, and World Panorama, and Indian showcase.

     

    The centenary celebration included screening of films like Kundan Shah’s Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro,  Satyajit Ray’s  Apu Trilogy , Ramesh Sippy’s  Sholay , Bimal Roy’s Madhumati and Do Bigha Zameen, Guru Dutt’s Pyaasa, Mani Ratnam’s  Nayagan, Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Anand, Vijay Anand’s  Guide, K. Asif’s Mughal-e-Azam among others.

     

    A special feature this year was Cinema for the Sellers – an Indian competition for Advertising Films.
    Other sections include World Panorama, Indian Showcase, Indian Premieres, and Jagran Shorts.

  • MTV ‘Unplugged’ season 3: A raw and acoustic musical experience

    MTV ‘Unplugged’ season 3: A raw and acoustic musical experience

    MUMBAI: MTV is all set to take their fans on a new musical high. Come November, the channel will premiere the season 3 of its popular music series Unplugged, which promises to be exclusive, intimate and personal through a live gig format experience to audience.

    Standing true to its theme of ‘Mega Artists, Mega Hits’ the last season of Unplugged brought prodigious possibilities like Rahman for the first time on world television; Sunidhi Chauhan’s performance which was another stellar one backed up the sentiment; the ever-charismatic Lucky Ali also made his comeback on the show.

    Boasting of an impressive line-up of artists, fans are in for a treat as each episode will feature one renowned artist who is all set to regale the audience with his vocals – Bollywood director, actor and singer Farhan Akhtar with Farhan LIVE, Bollywood singing superstars Sonu Niigaam, Mika and KK, Indie rockstars Pentagram and The Raghu Dixit Project and the next gen superstars Arijit Singh and Benny Dayal; all in all, a great mix.

    With the who’s who on the 3rd season of Unplugged, the list is sure to get the music buffs jumping with joy… but the excitement doesn’t end here.

    So what’s happening on the promotions front? To engage the fans in this musical revelry, MTV is having fans picked up in an official Unplugged gig bus from prime locations across the city to give them a front row view of some of the biggest music acts. All that fans need to do is put on their dancing shoes and hop on the bus to catch their favourite artists live in concert and the passes will be free.

    Speaking about going back to the roots, MTV India, EVP and business head Aditya Swamy, exults: “MTV Unplugged is a property that both artists and music lovers look forward to. Across three seasons, we have featured legends across every genre and their unplugged compositions have become instant hits. This year we have integrated real music fans into the show and this energy will really lift the experience for viewers and performers. Brand new versions of your favourite hits are coming at you.”

    There are activities planned on the digital front as well; in the third season of Unplugged, giving fans a special treat; MTV will run a contest across its social media platforms to give 10 lucky fans a chance of being part of the MTV Unplugged experience. Each fan participating in this experience will get a wrist band which will not only serve as a memory of the experience but also as an entry badge. The band will also have a QR Code on it that leads to a personalised profile of all his activities at MTV Unplugged.