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Tag: Gurinder Chadha

  • Kunal Nayyar to star as lead in Gurinder Chadha’s ‘Christmas Karma’

    Kunal Nayyar to star as lead in Gurinder Chadha’s ‘Christmas Karma’

    Mumbai: True Brit Entertainment, Bend It Films, Maven Screen Media and Civic Studios has announced ‘Christmas Karma’, a contemporary Bollywood musical set in contemporary London and inspired by Dickens’ much loved A Christmas Carol, with Kunal Nayyar (The Big Bang Theory) leading the cast as Scrooge and with a further cast including Eva Longoria, Boy George, Billy Porter, Hugh Bonneville, Leo Suter, Charithra Chandran, Pixie Lott, Danny Dyer, Bilal Hasna, Allan Corduner, Tracy-Ann Oberman, Rufus Jones, Eve, Nitin Ganatra.

    BAFTA-nominated Gurinder Chadha (‘Bend It Like Beckham’, ‘Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging’, ‘Blinded by the Light’) wrote, is directing and producing the feature, with music by the six-time Ivor Novello award winning Gary Barlow. Financing for ‘Christmas Karma’ is from Civic Studios. Gurinder Chadha, Celine Rattray, Trudie Styler and Amory Leader will produce. Zygi Kamasa, Anushka Shah, Paul Mayeda Berges, Sophia Pedlow, Hannah Leader will serve as Executive Producers.

    ‘Christmas Karma’ is the fifth high profile scripted project from new British distributor True Brit Entertainment, who formed in November 2023. The feature also sees Chadha’s return to the big screen following her time working on the Indian historical television series ‘Beecham House’. Her last feature film “Blinded by the Light” premiered in Sundance 2019 and was subject to a frenzied bidding war with Warners Bros acquiring multiple territories.

    Commenting on the new feature film, Civic Studios CEO Anushka Shah said, “We are thrilled to partner with the acclaimed director Gurinder Chadha and an exceptional cast for ‘Christmas Karma.’ Being a global company with Indian roots, we are excited to achieve a new milestone as we take on this ambitious international project that speaks to audiences around the world, and especially the South Asian diaspora.”

    ‘Christmas Karma’ is part of a wider Civic Studios’ slate ranging from an animated feature film ‘Schirkoa’ that won the NETPAC award for the Best Asian Film at International Film Festival of Rotterdam 2024, to its latest OTT series ‘Family Aaj Kal’ released on SonyLIV, with several feature films and series in the pipeline. Civic Studios is a global media company that creates authentic stories of change, hope and pride, across formats of film, web series and short-form digital content and develops, finances, produces and co-produces for an Indian and international market with a distribution reach across theatres, film festivals and streaming platforms.

    Gurinder Chadha commented:

    “Just as I have enjoyed Frank Capra’s ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ for many years, my aim with ‘Christmas Karma’ is to create a festive classic for our times and for generations to come.

    By adapting one of history’s greatest novels – Charles Dickens’ CHRISTMAS CAROL – I am making a British Film from my unique, original point of view but one that resonates with Dickens’ masterful statement on the human condition.

    I am delighted to be working with Anushka Shah and her lovely team at Civic Studios who have supported me on this project very early on. What a pleasure and honour it’s been for me to work with amazing Indian female producers.

    I am blessed with such a great diverse cast and eclectic music team – the soundtrack will be banging, influenced by Gospel, Bhangra, Carols and classic pop songs. You will not be able to sit still!”

    Zygi Kamasa commented:

    “Gurinder has an incredible ability to tell such interesting contemporary British stories. Its been over 20 years since we made Bend it like Beckham together and this film has all those hallmarks of heart, comedy, drama and an incredibly feelgood ending. It will be a celebration of multi-cultural London set to an incredible set of songs written by Gary, Shaznay and Nitin, using musical genres from Rap, to disco to Bhangra and will be the ultimate Christmas movie which we will release in December 2025. It really is the perfect fit to the range of British films we will release at True Brit.”

    Kunal Nayyar commented:

    “To explore a beloved holiday tale through the eyes of an immigrant story (much like my own) is exactly the kind of movie that I believe will resonate with so many of us who are searching for the meaning of home. It takes a visionary like Gurinder to take a chance on a story like this, and I am humbled to be a part of it. “

    Gary Barlow commented:

    “It was an absolute honour to be asked to write music for Christmas Karma. I love Gurinder personally and professionally, and to collaborate with such a diverse and eclectic cast on the soundtrack has been really great fun”

    Nitin Sawhney commented:

    “It has been such fun working on Christmas Karma with Gurinder. She is a relentless tsunami of ideas, creativity and inspiration, who makes the alchemy of magical movie-making so enjoyable. To take an old Dickens classic like “A Christmas Carol” and make it relevant to multicultural contemporary Britain is no easy task but Gurinder has done so with impressively effortless good grace, humour and ambition. I am honoured to bring my own eclectic background of orchestral scoring, Indian classical influences, electronica, songwriting and composition to a cinematic table already replete with the exciting ingredients of an unforgettable Christmas classic.”

    Shaznay Lewis commented:

    “It has been a wonderful experience working with Gurinder on Christmas Karma. Putting these songs together has been a writer’s dream, and the creative process has been an exceptional journey for me. Gurinder is a powerhouse, and her will and wit are something to be admired. I have learned a lot, and I’m incredibly honoured to be a part of the writing team.”

    Gurinder Chadha is represented by CAA. Kunal Nayyar is represented by Innovative and Lovett Management. Eva Longoria is represented by Linden Entertainment, WME, Sunshine Sachs Morgan & Lylis and Yorn, Levine, Barnes. Billy Porter is represented by CAA, Industry Entertainment and Slate PR. Boy George is represented by Paul Kemsley. Hugh Bonneville represented by Gordon and French.

  • Locomotive Global’s Sunder Aaron on “Seeker” & upcoming projects

    Locomotive Global’s Sunder Aaron on “Seeker” & upcoming projects

    MUMBAI: Sunder Aaron’s Locomotive Global develops, produces and distributes Indian-themed TV projects for both the local and international markets. The company has now partnered with Sameer Nair’s Applause Entertainment and Gurinder Chaddha’s Bend It Films & TV for an international drama series named Seeker. Meanwhile the company is focussed on creating IPs and acquiring content.

    Elaborating more on this co-production and the series, Locomotive Global co-founder and principal Sunder Aaron tells indiantelevision.com that the story ideas and characters were created by him and Chaddha a couple of years ago. It was only recently that they approached Sameer Nair’s Applause Entertainment for the project. “Sameer has some terrific ambition for his company and the projects that they are doing and they are going to be doing going forward. So, it’s a really terrific firm,” he adds.

    The story is at the initial stage where the writers are busy in drafting the script. According to Sunder they will be ready to roll the camera by around the first quarter of 2021.

    Sunder also mentions that the shooting will happen in India as well as abroad. He says, “The story is based on the background of India. However, internationally, audiences and viewers are interested in authentic storytelling no matter where it comes from. First and foremost we want the viewers in India to enjoy this show, but I am sure we will find global audiences as well. We will get the primary idea of shooting location once the script is completed. Post that we can finalise the locations and do the recce. In season three we will take the story abroad. We have thought about creating multiple seasons of this show.”

    As far as direction is concerned, Chaddha will direct the pilot episode. Post that, depending upon the requirement, she may direct other episodes as well.  Typically, in a premium scripted television there is not one director. So in the case of Seeker, Chaddha will be the lead director who will make sure the tone and quality that she sets in the pilot episode gets followed by the other directors.

    The production house is in talks with multiple Indian and international directors. It is a hour-long ten-episode series. No production will happen overseas. As Applause Entertainment is the main studio, they will hire the line producers and simultaneously look after production work in India.

    He further adds, “Sameer has a very creative team at Applause, Gurinder and my company, the three of us will be looking at hiring key people. It is a joint production effort; we are producing it together. Casting will be done when things are finalised as there are many characters and we need to go a little deeper into things.”

    According to Aaron, funding will be done by Applause Entertainment.

    “We will put our series on a premium broadcast channel platform. We are also talking to several OTT platforms," he adds.

    By the first half of 2021 Locomotive Global will be ready with close to four premium television series that ilwill be taken to production. He says, “There are a number of shows which are under development. We are constantly acquiring IPs. We have acquired the rights of American series named Ray Donovan from CBS Studios International that will be remade in India. It will be mostly done by 2021.”

    The Making of Star India, was acquired by Locomotive Global Inc. in partnership with Sidharth Jain's company Story Ink. Sidharth Jain and Sunder Aaron  are producing the project together.  He is using the book as a primary source material for another scripted drama series set in the late 90s and early 2000s. He thinks that a lot has happened at the beginning when Star TV came to India. At the launch of the industry a lot of stories and shows were made on Silicon Valley and the internet boom but nothing on Indian television.

    He says, “I think the Indian television is an extraordinary story waiting to be told. We are adapting it in a way that will fictionalise that era and period. It will be something like Succession and Mad Men. We have started the development and we are working with writers but it will take some time.”

    Addressing the challenges that he foresees in the coming future, he notes that the most obvious challenge is production getting back up and accessing key talent.

    “Presumably, people will begin full-fledged shooting by the start of new year, but then it will be difficult to get technical talent. A lot of actors will be unavailable because they will be booked. Another important thing is to find another shooting location apart from Mumbai. We will have to look at other places where we can shoot like Hyderabad and Goa. I am doing a film project in Goa.”

    Aaron’s Hindi general entertainment channel Q India has also been severely impacted by the pandemic caused by Covid2019. Q India is completely advertising supported and it faced many challenges in terms of viewership and advertisement.

    He concludes, “We do not charge a subscription fee for the channel. We were on the verge of a lot of good projects but that got stalled due to pandemic. We are constantly working to evolve the channel under challenging circumstances. Despite the pandemic and the set back, I am sure I will get out of this situation. We were planning to create vernacular channels but that has got pushed now.”

  • Applause Entertainment partners with Gurinder Chadha and Sunder Aaron

    Applause Entertainment partners with Gurinder Chadha and Sunder Aaron

    MUMBAI: With a strong focus on building an exciting and ambitious content slate that serves a diverse set of audiences, Applause Entertainment has rapidly emerged as one of the leading studios in India. An Aditya Birla Group venture, the content studio led by media veteran Sameer Nair has announced its first International partnership with the highly acclaimed Gurinder Chadha’s Bend It Films & TV and Sunder Aaron's Locomotive Global, to expand its global footprint.

    Under this partnership the companies are developing an original, multi-season, drama series chronicling the life of an Indian Guru. This show titled Seeker witnesses the journey of a man who starts with noble intentions, his incredible rise to global fame and following even as he evolves into a grey mystic. The simple ashram gradually turns into an empire, soon too complicated for him to handle. With a colourful cast of characters and dark, complex layers, the series is currently under development and a multi-national writers room has been set up for it. It will feature an International Indian cast and be shot at various locations within and outside of India.

     Applause Entertainment CEO Sameer Nair said, “We are thrilled to announce our collaboration with Gurinder Chadha and Sunder Aaron. Gurinder’s passion for telling stories and the global expertise of Locomotive Global aligns well with our philosophy and strength for investing in and creating outstanding premium content. This is an incredible time to tell this particular story, about the faith of the human race in a higher power, and in the telling, to cater to a universal, global sensibility.”

    Award-winning filmmaker and Bend It Films & TV chairperson Gurinder Chadha said, “As an International Director and Producer, I have been inspired to witness the strong appetite that both Indian and global audiences have for original, ambitious, border-crossing drama series. I am excited about this creative collaboration with Sameer Nair and his team at Applause along with Sunder Aaron. "   

    Locomotive Global co-founder and principal Sunder Aaron said, "Applause Entertainment in a short time has already made waves in India. We are excited to be part of their mission to tell stories that also make waves around the world. We are thrilled to partner with a special talent in Gurinder Chadha and are extremely pleased to work with Bend It Films & TV and Applause Entertainment on this compelling and unique narrative project. Together, we are already working to bring together a brilliant team of writers and creators who will help us develop high quality scripts and present this fascinating story to a global audience."  

    Over the years, Gurinder Chadha has made her mark as one of the most reputed and notable content producers. She and her team are the minds behind the award winning – Bend it Like Beckham, Bride and Prejudice, Blinded By The Night, Viceroy’s House, Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging and the recently released drama series, Beecham House on Netflix India.

    Also partnering on the series is Locomotive Global Inc, a global media company led by Sunder Aaron, who has in the past worked on building channels for Sony Entertainment Television India, and has also cofounded Hindi language television network, The Q India. Aaron is a leading media professional focused on the creation and distribution of original premium content across the globe.

    Applause Entertainment is the first of its kind, Indian content and IP creation studio, creating premium content, and working with platform partners to entertain and delight their customers. It has created over 19 diverse shows across languages which are a combination of international format adaptations, book adaptations and originals.

    The studio introduced the Indian audiences to the official adaptations of popular international shows like Criminal Justice, Hostages, The Office and Your Honor, and is presently developing Indian versions of hit shows like Fauda and  Luther. Applause Entertainment has also created rich original content with shows like Rasbhari, City of Dreams, Bhaukaal and Hasmukh. All these drama series have found homes on leading global video streaming services like Disney+Hotstar, Amazon Prime Video, MX Player, Netflix and others. Recently, Applause Entertainment announced its latest multi-show deal with the refreshed SonyLIV 2.0.

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  • Akshay Kumar’s versatility saves holiday week from dullness

    Akshay Kumar’s versatility saves holiday week from dullness

    The flow of new films seems to have tapered down. In the weeks when new films are not meant to be released like during IPL or exams etc, a bunch of small, inconsequential films swarm the cinemas. Even if one or two of them had a merit, they stood no chance because of high admission rates, odd show timings that they were meted out, and the lack of face value of such films.

    Now, when the playtime is open and available, the exhibitors were able to get one Bareilly Ki Barfi besides the other release, Partition: 1947 (Hindi-Dubbed), which failed to get the footfalls and faced a no audience, no show situation.

    The starving cinema halls had some relief with Akshay Kumar’s Toilet: Ek Prem Katha with an extended Independence Day weekend coinciding. The film raced to the Rs 900 million-figure during these holidays. The film has to meet the target of Rs 1.25 billion and, looking at the weak opposition in the new release, Bareilly Ki Barfi, the Akshay-starrer should sail safe eventually.

    *Bareilly Ki Barfi had some renowned names riding with it. The film boasts of Nitesh Tiwari who wrote and directed the recent blockbuster Dangal, as the writer while Ashwini Iyer Tiwary, who made Nil Battey Sannata, as the director. Both the writer and the director failed to live up to their earlier glory as Bareilly Ki Barfi has none of that spontaneity or laughter expected of their work.

    The film opened with a low Ra 20 million. The Saturday improvement was fair but still on the lower side while Sunday was much better with double the Friday figures. The film ended its opening weekend with a total of Rs 108 million.

    *The other major release, UK-based Gurinder Chadha’s Partition: 1947 (Hindi-Dubbed), an attempt to tell the behind-the-scenes story of the Partition, had little relevance for today’s Indian viewers. A futile attempt, it finds no takers as the film fared poorly at the box office.

    *Toilet Ek Prem Katha thrived on the holiday week. The week had a holiday on Monday in many parts being Janmashtami, a national holiday on Tuesday being the Independence Day and the Parsi New Year holiday on Thursday in Maharashtra and Gujarat.

    The film had opened with fairly decent collections and picked up steam on Saturday and Sunday with the holidays adding handsomely to take the collections on the verge of Rs one billion, the mark it will easily cross during its second weekend. 

    With an opening weekend of Rs 511 million, the film added another Rs 415 million to take its first week tally to Rs 936 crore million.

    *Jab Harry Met Sejal added Rs 41.5 million in its second week to take its two-week total to Rs 616.5 million.

    *Mubarakan is struggling to sustain, despite being a fairly entertaining film, and keeps holding out hope in its subsequent weeks which will help cut down its losses. The film collected a decent Rs 54 million taking its four week total to Rs 553 million.

  • ‘Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain’ wows American audiences

    ‘Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain’ wows American audiences

    MUMBAI: Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain, the social thriller scripted around the Bhopal gas tragedy of 1984, has opened to rave reviews in American theatres. Directed by Ravi Kumar and produced by Sahara Movie Studios and Rising Star Entertainment, the film has found an emotional resonance with audiences and critics alike.

    Martin Tsai of the Los Angeles Times calls the film “a revolutionary cautionary tale” applauding how “Kumar vividly recreates the Bhopal disaster.”

    Gurinder Chadha, director of much-loved films like Bend It Like Beckham, calls Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain “outstanding, a must see film!” Kerry Kennedy, niece of former US President John F Kennedy, tweeted: “Saw Bhopal starring Martin Sheen tonight… powerful film must see for all interested in business and human rights.” Naomi Canton of Asia House called the movie “better than Slumdog Millionaire and 12 Years A Slave” while Liza Forman of Financial Times London wrote that Bhopal is “a story that needed to be told.”

    Sheen, who plays Union Carbide CEO Warren Anderson in the film says: “When I was invited to participate in the film about the Bhopal incident I felt compelled to accept.  And the response to the film here reinforces the faith I had in the subject. It has been 30 years since the tragedy but it is as relevant as ever.”

    Reacting to the overwhelming response to the film in the US, Sahara Movie Studios producer Seemanto Roy said: “We are very happy with the way the film has been received in America and now hope that Indian audiences take to the film and the youth becomes aware of the mistakes that were made in the past.”

    Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain, produced by Sahara Movie Studios and Rising Star Entertainment will release in India on 5 December 2014.

     

  • ‘Goynar Baksho’ gets nominated in New York Indian Film Festival

    ‘Goynar Baksho’ gets nominated in New York Indian Film Festival

    KOLKATA: Bengali film ‘Goynar Baksho’ by acclaimed filmmaker Aparna Sen has made it to the prestigious New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF), vying for honours in three main categories.

     

    The movie focuses on oppression of widows and women emancipation and has been nominated in the Best Film, Best Director and Best Actress categories.

     

    NYIFF is the oldest and most prestigious film festival screening premieres of feature, documentary and short films made from, of and about Indian subcontinent in the independent, art-house, alternate and diaspora genres.

     

    Apart from Aparna, Anurag Kashyap, Rahul Bhatt, Mohan Agashe, Gurinder Chadha, Shahana Goswami, Madhur Jaffrey, Sakina Jaffrey are also slated to attend the festival this year.

     

    The six-day festival which started on 5 May, will showcase a total of 34 films.

  • BBC to celebrate British cinema with new series

    MUMBAI: UK pubcaster BBC will celebrate British film heritage on BBC Two with The Summer Of British season. The seven-part series is dedicated to home grown British encompassing all genres from thriller and comedy to the kitchen sink drama.

    Jessica Hynes (Shaun Of The Dead) will guide viewers through the series examining British film by genre, with highlights from over 200 exclusive interviews from actors and directors including Sir Michael Caine, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Kate Winslet, Ewan McGregor, Gurinder Chadha and Richard Curtis.
    The series is being made with the support of the British Film Institute and the UK Film Council.
    As well as being a romp through the greatest films and stars, the series looks at what makes British films unique and what they reveal about British culture.

    To complement British Film Forever, BBC Two will screen around 70 British films.

    From the premiere of A Cock And Bull Story, through to favourites like Billy Elliot, Gregory’s Girl and From Russia With Love, to classics and rediscoveries, from The 39 Steps, This Sporting Life, Whistle Down The Wind and Witchfinder General.

    To celebrate the season, the UK Film Council, in partnership with the BBC, is backing the release of
    seven of Britain’s greatest films, which will play cinemas across the UK on Tuesday’s from 31 July to 11 September.

    Playing on screens across the UK Film Council’s Lottery funded Digital Screen Network, the season
    kicks off with the 007 classic Goldfinger on 31 July, followed by David Lean’s Brief Encounter (7 August), John Schlesinger’s Billy Liar (14 August), Laurence Olivier’s Henry V (21 August), Robin Hardy’s The Wicker Man (28 August), Michael Anderson’s The Dam Busters (4 September) and Bruce Robinson’s Withnail And I (11 September).

    People also have the chance to celebrate British cinema by creating their own versions of classic
    films. Users can submit their films through the BBC Mini Movies group www.youtube.com/group/ bbcminimovies with favourites being showcased on the BBC’s website bbc.co.uk/britishfilm.

    Other users can rate and comment on the films and pick up tips on creating their own mini movies, the best of which will feature on BBC Two during the season. From mid-July the website will also feature video clips from British Film Forever, background information about the films within the season and listings for films shown on TV and in cinemas across the UK.

    CBBC began celebrating earlier this summer with CBBC me and my movie, a new children’s film-making project with free online resources and summer events taking place across the country.

    Children can enter their home-made films into a special CBBC ‘Me and my movie award’, in association
    with Bafta where short-listed nominees will be invited to attend the prestigious Children’s Bafta Awards ceremony on 25 November. Children’s films are available to view online in the CBBC me and my movie gallery.