ITV

Tag: Gurdeep Singh

  • Talenthouse India to host 2nd edition of India Mobile Film Festival

    Talenthouse India to host 2nd edition of India Mobile Film Festival

    MUMBAI: Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films India Mobile Film Festival (IMFF 2016), in association with Reliance Communication & Talent house India, have created a platform for filmmakers to showcase their original creations by just using their mobile phones. The objective was to create a game changing platform for short films in India, which reduces the entry barrier for film-makers and bring creativity to the forefront. With a variety of smart phones on the market, every smartphone user (220 Mn+) in India is a potential film-maker.

    Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films also showcases films made by some of India’s finest such as Anurag Kashyap, Sudhir Mishra, Sujoy Ghosh and inspires aspiring directors to create film and rewards them for their originality by showcasing them on the platform.

    Commenting on the project Pernod Ricard India AVP marketing Raja Banerji said, “Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films was conceptualised to support the short film format in our country. We are proud to be the presenting partner to India Mobile Film Festival, an edgy and ground-breaking idea. In line with the Barrel Select philosophy of “Make it Perfect”, the brand intends to create a format to encourage creativity with this unique concept and connect with the discerning audience by offering a unique experience of fresh content through this platform. The Brand has always encouraged people to strive for perfection to achieve their dreams and Make it Large.”

    Reliance Communications CEO consumer business Gurdeep Singh said “The Indian Mobile Film Festival (IMFF 2016) marks the beginning of a true revolution and transition on the art & culture scene and RCOM is delighted to partner with Talenthouse India and support the efforts,”. We are now at an age when smartphones are being used to express creativity with minimal budgets resulting in some extraordinary artistic and cinematic feat. We wish IMFF 2016 all the very best for this event and all their future endeavors,” he added.

    Talenthouse India CEO Arun Mehra said, “After a successful first edition in 2015 where we received around 400 films and support from the industry and film-makers, we set out to make 2016 even bigger than last year. Talenthouse India is the largest curator of short films in India over the last 3 years. The idea of using a mobile phone to shoot films, had to be taken to the next level and we added a new Internationalfilm category this year because we believe that this format is global in nature. With support from our partners, Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films & Reliance Communications, we were delighted to receive over 1200 films across categories from 7 countries. The artistic community has always provided us with exceptional content and this time has been no different.”

    IMFF 2016 reached out to film-makers and budding artists across 60 Indian cities through a combination of Digital & on-ground outreach program. According to the IMFF figures, the combined reach for this campaign was about 5 Million and as a result, the campaign crowdsourced over 1200 films from across 60 cities and 7 countries in just 6 weeks.

    This year, the India Mobile Film Festival invited participation in five categories included the newly inducted International category. The categories in 2016 are: Short films (5-10 mins), Micro films (2-5 mins), Nano films (up to 2 mins), International films (up to 10 mins) and My first short (Any interesting, quirky or impactful moments captured candidly on mobile) with cash prizes of over INR 3 lakh and individual awards to be won across categories.

    A panel of renowned jury members, spearheaded by our Chief Mentor Sanjay Gadhvi – (superhit Director of Dhoom 1 and 2) have selected the very best films along with the highly respected film and television actress Shubha Khote, popular Film Actor and Producer Karan Shah, Superhit Editor Rameshwar S. Bhagat and film writer Rohit Banawlikar.

  • RCom and Twitter partner for Cricket World Cup 2015

    RCom and Twitter partner for Cricket World Cup 2015

    MUMBAI: Reliance Communications has partnered with Twitter to provide customers with the most comprehensive platform to follow the excitement and global commentary as the world’s 14 cricketing nations compete for the tag of the champion team.

     

    By allowing its users new ways to connect and engage on Twitter and follow the six week tournament, Reliance Communications will look to drive internet adoption and usage during this iconic event, and help drive greater recharges and create stickiness around data usage.

     

    Reliance Communications consumer business CEO Gurdeep Singh said, “We are delighted to partner with Twitter to offer this unique service to all cricket fans for a unique World Cup experience.”

     

    “Cricket is best enjoyed with friends and the fun doubles when you can share exchange with all friends instantly. It is with this thought that Reliance has made Twitter free and inclusive, so that our customers can get the most of this World Cup,” he added.

     

    One unique aspect of this service is that customers who do not have a Twitter account can also access cricket related Tweets by logging on towww.rcom.co.in/cricket on their mobile phones throughout the duration of this global event.  RCom customers can engage with players, commentators and celebrities, watch exclusive pictures and videos and of course remain updated with all the latest scores without incurring any data charges.

     

    On the other hand Twitter India and SE Asia director of business development Arvinder Gujral commented, “As a platform for live, public conversations, Twitter has changed the way people connect with sporting and global events including cricket tournaments. All the exciting action on and off the pitch as well as the roar of the Indian cricket fans from Jamagar to Itanagar, and Srinagar to Coimbatore, will be heard on Twitter. Through this partnership, Reliance Communications will enable millions of subscribers across the country to join this cricket party for free and in real-time via Twitter.”

     

    Customers will also be able to follow their favourite accounts and get updates without any data charges from Team India, BCCI and its players, including skipper MS Dhoni, or vice-captain Virat Kohli, the voice of Indian cricket Harsha Bhogle, as well as international legends like Vivian Richards  and Shane Warne, amongst many others. Reliance will also encourage users outside the Reliance network to participate in various interactive contests on Twitter on its account @RelianceMobile. Participants could win miniature bats as souvenirs.

     

    In addition to this, Reliance has launched an exclusive Cricket Portal wherein Reliance customers can download exciting content related to the event like match highlights, commentary, and behind the scenes images. All a customer has to do is go to ICCCWC2015.rcom.co.in.

     

    Reliance has also announced an exciting and fun recharge offer where customers who recharge with certain data packs will get free data depending on the runs scored by India during their games. So for a Rs 177 data recharge (Circle-specific MRP), each run India scores will give them an additional 2MB of extra data absolutely free. And if India wins the match, the free data will be doubled.

     

    Through its initiatives and offers, RCom will bring its customers right into the action as the greatest cricketing spectacle takes center stage.

  • Facebook & Reliance tie-up to launch Internet.org in India

    Facebook & Reliance tie-up to launch Internet.org in India

    MUMBAI: They are both large corporations in their respective fields, having almost the same two identical colours as part of their logo. And now after its tryst in African nations, Facebook today launched its product, Internet.org services in India by partnering with telco Reliance Communications.

    Reliance Communications consumer business CEO Gurdeep Singh said that the idea behind it was to provide free access to 33 popular websites to its consumers without any cost, thereby democratising the consumption of internet.

    Adding some insights, Singh explained that one fourth of the world’s consumers who are yet to be “online” were present in India, out of which a further 70 per cent of India’s mobile users are yet to touch base with the evolving cyberspace.

    In a video taped message, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, “We needed to make data more affordable and offer free services to the people of India. The idea was born during my visit to India last year where we met and discussed with the team from Reliance and decided to collaborate together.”

    Internet.org services is a bouquet of 33 popular websites put together, that besides entertaining consumers also provides a few utilities services free of cost. For now, only Reliance subscribers will be able to access the bundle by downloading the “FreeNet” connection app. To do so, a subscriber has to log on to www.internet.org or call up on 1800 300 25353.

    Facebook Internet.org vice president Chris Daniels informed, “After meeting the Reliance team in October last year we decided to come up with 30 free basic services across genres. We also are working with the Andhra Pradesh government and have come up with “AP Speaks” through which users and citizens will be able to send real time feedback and ideas to the government of the state.”

    The bouquet for now will consist of the following websites:

    Careers and Jobs: TimesJobs, Babajob.

    Education and Knowledge: Wikipedi, wikiHow, Dictionary.com, Translator, Reuters Market Lite, Jagran Josh.

    Health and Social Welfare: Facts of Life (UNICEF), BabyCenter&MAMA, Girl Effect (Nike Foundation), iLearn (UN Women), Malaria No More, Social Blood, AP Speaks.

    News: BCC News, Times of India, India Today, NDTV, BBC News, IBNLive, Aaj Tak,Amarujala.com, Daily Bhaskar, Maalai Malar, Maharashtra Times, Jagran, Newshunt, Manoramanews.com

    Search: Bing (from Microsoft)

    Social: Facebook, Facebook Messenger

    Sports: ESPN Cricinfo

    Utility: OLX, Astro, Cleartrip, AccuWeather

    But the free Facebook app present in the bundle is a compressed version and currently cannot support video viewing option that otherwise is present on the normal version of Facebook. Only when consumers activate a data plan, will they be able to access the normal version of Facebook.

    Low consumption of the internet in India was attributed to reasons like user capability, lack of awareness of the internet, language fragmentation and the key factor of cost and affordability. To address these hurdles, Singh said that the app has been designed in a manner that it is not bandwidth hungry. It will also be available in six local languages like Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Guajarati, and Marathi apart from English and Hindi. For now Reliance subscribers in seven telecom circles of Gujarat, Mumbai, Maharashtra, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Chennai will be able to avail the facility. No data pack is required to avail the bouquet and all phones which are internet capable can make use of the bundle.

    The marketing of the Internet.org services will be carried entirely by Reliance Communications. When asked about the revenue model and who would bear the cost of the initiative, officials from both sides declined to comment.

    When questioned if Facebook was looking at expanding the service with other telcos, Daniels told Indiantelevision.com, “We have so far not been approached by other companies except Reliance. We will look at options when approached further on.”

    Singh on a concluding note said that the service will be offered free for lifetime and in the coming 90 days will be launched pan India. The focus will also be on strengthening the content of the bundle.

  • Fastway to deploy HD STBs with STMicroelectronics’ cable chipsets

    Fastway to deploy HD STBs with STMicroelectronics’ cable chipsets

    MUMBAI: Fastway Digital TV Services, the multi system operator (MSO) operating mostly in Punjab has teamed up with STMicroelectronics for its HD interactive USB DVR set top boxes. They will have STiH273 HD cable chipsets.

     

    This will enable Fastway deliver high quality HD content and access to several value added services including banner advertisements, interactive TV shopping and education services. It will also provide customers a better viewing experience with HD video and interactivity with advantages such as high integration, low power consumption and unmatched coordinated performance of CPU, video decoder and image quality processor.

     

    Key features of the STiH273 chipsets include 1300DMIPs application CPU; integrated 256kB L2 cache increasing CPU performance for rich applications such as HTML5 browser, user interfaces, HD picture-in-picture and PVR; integrated digital video broadcast (DVB-C) demodulator, optimised to work with high-performance external tuners to meet stringent RF performance requirements of Indian cable networks; 16-bit DDR3 SDRAM support, integrated ePhy, no heat-sink for significant bill-of-material saving; Faroudja image quality processing; high quality and robust 1080p AVC (advanced video coding) video decoder with advanced error correction and concealment capabilities; integrated standby controller offering 0.5W standby power consumption with super-fast resume time; and best-in-class advanced security for all major conditional access systems (CAS).

     

    Fastway Digital TV Services managing director Gurdeep Singh said, “Our new HD digital set top boxes benefit from STMicroelectronics’ feature-packed and flexible system-on-chip ICs, enabling an ideal platform to deliver innovative value-added services such as interactive education services, multi-genre digital music service, restaurants and events search guide and games to customers. With strong local support and cooperation from ST, we are well placed to drive digital migration and bring high quality TV solutions to our customers.”

     

    Fastway Digital TV Services CEO Peeush Mahajan added, “STiH273 is clearly the right choice for our latest generation of STBs. ST has helped us create a customised solution optimised for India that helps us enhance customer satisfaction and sustain our leadership edge in our areas of operation.”

     

    STMicroelectronics vice president Greater China and South Asia region and India Design Center director Vivek Sharma said, “We are proud to be part of Fastway’s digital set-top box roll-out that aims to deliver an enhanced viewing experience to millions of homes around India. Fastway’s selection of ST’s set-top box technology underlines our strengths and commitment to supporting the growth of the Indian digital TV market through cooperation with local key players.”

     

    The chipsets are manufactured using 40nm process technology and support an enhanced processing engine with integrated on-chip features that simplify STB design, along with the possibility of a two layer PC board design. It also allows STB manufacturers to use lower-cost memory and minimise system power consumption, optimising total cost of ownership.

  • Akshay Kumar to perform at Wave World Kabaddi League

    Akshay Kumar to perform at Wave World Kabaddi League

    MUMBAI: The action king of Bollywood, Akshay Kumar, is set to take the entertainment quotient a notch higher with his dazzling performance on the inaugural day of the Wave World Kabaddi League (WWKL) at London.

     

    Kumar will dance on popular title tracks of his recent movies as part of the inaugural program planned to kick start the matches of WWKL. A known sports enthusiast, Kumar has been closely associated with sports and is also the co-owner of Khalsa Warrior.

     

    “I am quite excited about WWKL. My performance will be dedicated to all the Kabaddi fans who come together to cheer the teams. The League is a step to promote the Indian contemporary sport and bring it closer to the fans of the sport spread across the world,” Kumar said in a statement today. 

     

    Top players from across the world will be participating in the League which will commence from the O2 Arena. With a capacity of over 20,000 seats, O2 will surely see some high performance trailblazing entertainment in the form of dance and sport. “The dedication being shown by Akshay to promote Wave World Kabaddi League is commendable. As a true supporter he is making himself available to us despite his busy schedule to promote Kabaddi,” said Wave World Kabaddi League commissioner Pargat Singh.

     

    WWKL is the first international Kabaddi league coming out of India and is scheduled to roll out from August in a high profile event at London.

     

    It is the first Indian sports league with an international footprint and a four month long calendar. Played in circle style, WWKL will see eight teams fight for the win as the League travels across three continents.

     

    Additionally, Khalsa Warriors co-owner Gurdeep Singh said, “It gives me immense pleasure to have an A-list actor like Akshay to be a co-team owner. His movies are eagerly watched internationally and am sure he can make Kabaddi look cool as a sport to play and follow. He has some very innovative winning strategies up his sleeve that he continues to share with me and my players. We will play to win and I am sure the fans will enjoy it thoroughly.”