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Tag: Jatin Varma

  • Aabid Surti to get lifetime achievement award at Comic Con, Bangalore

    Aabid Surti to get lifetime achievement award at Comic Con, Bangalore

    NEW DELHI: National Award Winning Indian author, artist, cartoonist and playwright Aabid Surti will receive the fourth Annual Comic Con India Lifetime Achievement Award this year.

     

    The Comic Con India Awards 2015 ceremony will take place in Bangalore for the first time, during the Bangalore Comics Convention 2015 at White Orchid Convention Centre on 4 April. The event is being held from 3 to 5 April.

    Surti will personally receive the award at the convention. For the competitive categories, nominations have been accepted and the winners will be announced at the ceremony.

     

    The Jury – CCI Awards consists of Neelabh Banerjee (author & artist), Vishwajyoti Ghosh (author) and Abhishek Sharma (writer & filmmaker). The jury will go through the submitted entries and eventually shortlist and announce the winners.

     

    Comic Con India founder Jatin Varma said, “We at Comic Con India are honoured to bestow our Lifetime Achievement Award to Mr Surti. His contribution to Indian comics has been phenomenal. We are very lucky to have him accept the award at the upcoming Bangalore show and interact with his legions of fans.”

     

    Comic Con India Awards is an initiative of Comic Con India. CCI Awards aim to recognize the work of all the professionals of India’s comics industry. It’s an attempt to bring into focus the novelty of this art form and acknowledge the efforts of numerous writers, artists and publishers in this field.

     

    “I am very glad to announce the nominees for the CCI Awards this year, a tremendous amount of talent was on display, it certainly wasn’t an easy task shortlisting the nominees. And I am very excited to host the ceremony at the upcoming Bangalore Comic Con, in midst of thousands of fans,” said Varma.

     

    So far, R.K.Laxman, Padma Vibhushan late Mario Miranda and Giant of Indian comics Pran Kumar Sharma have been honoured with CCI Lifetime Achievement Awards.

    A National Award Winning Indian author, Surti published his first story Tootela Farishtain Gujarati in 1965. Since then, Surti has written numerous short stories, novels, plays, children’s books, comic books, and travelogues. In 1993, he won a National Award for his short-story collection Teesri Aankh.

  • Comic Con India & Reed Exhibitions enter joint venture

    Comic Con India & Reed Exhibitions enter joint venture

    MUMBAI: Comic Con India (CCI) announced a joint venture with FTSE listed Reed Elsevier Group subsidiary Reed Exhibitions to grow the pop culture space in India and bring world class events to Indian fans.

     

    Talking about the latest association, Comic Con India founder Jatin Varma said, “Working closely with leading publishers, we have put comics, especially Indian comics, back on the map and opened up the pop culture space even further in India.  Our partnership with ReedPOP will help us scale further and create world class events that will deliver the best experiences to audiences here in India. With this JV, I hope to have our events counted among the top events in the world, within this sphere, in the coming years.”

     

    The joint venture will capitalise on the expertise and investment brought in by Reed Exhibitions along with the ever-increasing popularity of Comic Con India’s portfolio of pop culture events that have achieved national status within a very short period of time.

     

    “I am very delighted to work with Jatin who has created unique pop culture events in India. Reed being the organizer of leading events like New York Comic Con, Oz Comic-Con and PAX, I am fully convinced that our partnership will take Comic Con India to the next level – offering the kind of excitement found at New York Comic Con to the pop culture community in India,” said Reed Exhibitions India CEO Michael Mandl

     

    Over the past three years, Comic Con India has created first class pop culture experiences, acting as a stage for local and international talent to showcase creativity and interact with enthusiasts. With this joint venture, Indian fans should now expect new events and better experiences in the coming years.

     

    ReedPOP global vice president Lance Fensterman commented, “No matter what corner of the Earth they reside, fans want the same things. They want amazing experiences and access to the entertainment that they love. We have created a formula and network of partners that ensure this happens and are thrilled to bring this expertise to this exciting market. Working with Comic Con India continues our commitment to bringing the ReedPOP brand of events across the globe and reinforces our position as a world leader in the space.”

  • Bengaluru set to host Comic Con for third year with international artists and publishers

    Bengaluru set to host Comic Con for third year with international artists and publishers

    NEW DELHI: Garden city Bengaluru is all set to host Comic Con 2014 to entice audiences with its biggest pop culture event of the year.

     

    Organised by Comic Con India, the convention will take place at White Orchid Convention Centre from 12 to 14 September between 11 am to 9 pm.  Over 15 book launches will take place and over 120 international and Indian participants are taking part.

     

    Bangalore Comic Con 2014 will be hosting one of its kind interactive and experiential 50 hours of programming through panels, launches, gaming, video hangouts and more. Famous international personalities like Dan Parent, an American comic book artist and writer best known for his work for Archies Comics; David Lloyd, a British comics artist best known as the illustrator of the story V for Vendetta; Rob-Denbleykar, co-creater of Cyanide and Happiness; Peter Kruper, an American cartoonist and illustrator, best known for his work in Spy vs. Spyseries will be attending and taking special sessions here.

     

    There will also be an exclusive live chat with Neil Gaiman, an English author of short fiction, novel, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films.

     

    Comic Con founder Jatin Varma said, “We are extremely excited to kick off our third edition of the event in Bengaluru. The past one year has seen a dramatic expansion of our shows and Bengaluru fans are going to experience it now. We are bringing over everything from international guests to exhibitors, activities and this will be our biggest show till date.”

     

    The event will be a ticketed event now onwards, to further expand the scope and size of the event. Tickets will be available online via Book My Show as well as at the venue. Only a limited number of VIP tickets will be issued. The tickets would be priced at Rs 250 per day – online and Rs 300 per day – at the venue and Rs 650 for the super fan VIP ticket for all 3 days. Super fan ticket offer is available in limited numbers and can be booked online only.

     

    Cosplay (Costume Contest), one of the major attractions at Comic Con India, will continue to give assured prizes to everyone in costume. Comic Con India has created five categories to increase one’s chances of winning gifts.

     

    Each day, one winner will be chosen from each of the five categories:

     

    1. Comic book/graphic novel

    2. Animated Series/Movie

    3. Manga/Anime

    4. Sci-Fi/Fantasy

    5. Gaming

     

    All three days, one lucky winner out of the chosen five will get an awesome chance to win a special grand prize.

     

    For the sheer love of comics, more than 15 new titles are being planned for launch at the convention. Ravanayan Finale – Part 2, Aghori – Issue 11, Odayan II – Yuddham, The Kaurava Empire, Rumi by Sufi Comics and The Caravan Prequel will be among the most awaited and exclusive book launches at the convention.

     

    There will be international exhibitors like Cyanide & Happiness, a famous webcomic and 3D Sense Animation, a leading digital arts school in Asia, bringing international content from all across the globe.

     

    At the convention, there will be some awesome anime and manga merchandises from Japanese company IINE Toys, along with the best and most exclusive international merchandise at the convention from across the globe. Also, there will be exclusive Indian merchandisers including Kook N Keech by Myntra, Wacom, Bombay Merch, Collectors Heritage, Hysteria, Chimp, Chumbak, Keep Chilling, Wear Your Opinion, Planet Superheroes, Lazy Ninja, Graphicurry, Carmocrat and many more.

    The main participants for the Bangalore Comic Con 2014 are Amar Chitra Katha, Orange Radius, Abhijeet Kini, Pop Culture Publishing, Random House, Sufi Comics, Campfire Graphic Novel, Holy Cow Entertainment, HarperCollins Publishers,Vimanika Comics, Raj Comics, Scholastic India, Mario Gallery, Viz Media (Simon & Schuster India), and Westland.

     

    Comic Con India is dedicated to creating unique events and giving the fans, exhibitors and partners a platform to celebrate their undying love and passion for comics and pop culture. Comic Con India is dedicated to expanding India’s popular culture by creating high profile events that cater to fans of not only comics, but also, gaming, movies, television, merchandise, toys and much more.

  • Golden Kela nominates the most popular for the worst performance

    Golden Kela nominates the most popular for the worst performance

    MUMBAI: They are the heartthrobs of Bollywood and their movies were the highest grosser of 2013. But still, they couldn’t impress their critics much. We are talking about Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan, whose movies Chennai Express and Dhoom 3 earned in crores at the Box Office but have been nominated in the sixth edition of the Golden Kela Awards – the Indian version of the Raspberry Awards – that celebrates the worst of Bollywood.

     

    Interestingly, these two are not the only ones facing flak; many top notch actors of the industry are in the list. So while there’s Deepika Padukone for Chennai Express, Sonam Kapoor has been nominated for Raanjhana, and Sonakshi Sinha for R…Rajkumar.

     

    Golden Kela Awards founder Jatin Varma thinks that the movies that released this year gave the jury ample choice for the nominations. “It might be tough for the voters to decide which one was the absolute worst! This time the nominations were especially difficult, because Bollywood spewed out an incredible amount of crappy films and the Indian audience spent a large amount of money on them,” he remarked.

     

    To add spice to the show, a few new categories have been introduced that include special awards like Aakhir Kyun Award, Dara Singh Award for Worst Accent, Bas Kijiye Bahut Ho Gaya, Aap Yahaan Aaye Kisliye Award and Ra.One Award for Worst Premise. These awards will only be announced at the official awards ceremony that will take place on 29 March, 2014 at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.

     

    The  voting lines are opening on 1 February and one just needs to log on to www.goldenkela.com to check out the categories, nominees, updates and cast a vote.

     

    Here’s a full list of the nominations…

     

    Worst Actor (Male)

    Ajay Devgn for Himmatwala
    Ram Charan Teja for Zanjeer
    Imran Khan for Once Upon Ay Time In Mumbaai Dobara
    Aditya Roy Kapoor for Aashiqui 2
    Ranveer Singh for Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-leela
    Arjun Kapoor for Aurangzeb

     

    Worst Actor (Female)

    Shraddha Kapoor for Aashiqui 2
    Priyanka Chopra for Zanjeer
    Pallavi Sharda for Besharam
    Sonam Kapoor for Raanjhanaa
    Sonakshi Sinha for R…Rajkumar
    Deepika Padukone for Chennai Express

     

    Worst Supporting Actor (Male)

    Aditya Roy Kapoor for Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani
    Imran Khan for Matru Ki Bijli Ka Mandola
    The Whole Male Cast of ABCD
    Sachin Joshi for whatever he did
    Sanjay Dutt for Zanjeer

     

    Worst Supporting Actor (Female)

    Deepika, Jacqueline, Ameesha for Race 2
    Anushka Sharma for Matru Ki Bijli Ka Mandola
    The Whole Female Cast of ABCD
    Kangna Ranaut for Krrish 3
    Vaani Kapoor for Shuddh Desi Romance

     

    Worst Director

    Sajid Khan for Himmatwala
    Rohit Shetty for Chennai Express
    Rakesh Roshan for Krrish 3
    Anand L Rai for Raanjhanaa
    Sanjay Leela Bhansali for Ram-leela
    Prabhudeva for R…Rajkumar
    Apoorva Lakhia for Zanjeer

     

    Worst Film

    Himmatwaala
    Raanjhanaa
    Besharam
    Krrish 3
    Aashiqui 2
    Chennai Express
    Ramleela
    Dhoom 3

     

    Baawra Ho Gaya Hai Ke
     

    Vishal Bhardwaj for Matru Ki Bijli Ka Mandola
    Tigmanshu Dhulia for Bullet Raja
    Ali Zafar for Chashme Baddoor
    Aamir Khan for Dhoom 3
    Ranbir Kapoor & Abhinav Kashyap for Besharam
    Aditi Rao Hydari for Murder 3 & Boss
    Sudhir Mishra for Inkaar

     

    Irritating Song

     

    Lungi Dance
    Tum Hi Ho
    Lat Lag Gayi
    Party All Night
    Raghupati Raghav
    Gandi Baat

     

    Atrocious Lyrics

     

    Raghupati Raghav
    Saree Ke Fall Sa
    Tamanche Pe Disco
    Grand Masti
    Boss
    One Two Three Four
    Ishqyaun Dhishqyaun
    Babli Badmaash
    Chingum Chabaake

     

    Worst Sequel/Remake

     

    Zanjeer
    Chashme Baddoor
    Aashiqui 2
    Murder 3
    Dhoom 3
    Shootout At Wadala
    Himmatwala
    Race 2
    Yamla Pagla Deewana 2
    Krrish 3
    Once Upon Ay Time in Mumbai Dobaara
    Grand Masti

     

    Why Are You Still Trying
     

    Preity Zinta for Ishqk In Paris
    Sunny Deol for Singh Saab The Great
    Prateik Babbar for Issaq
    Jkackky Bhagnani for Rangrezz
    Vivek Oberoi for Jayantabhai Ki Love Story
    Neil Nitin Mukesh for 3G & Shortcut Romeo
    Shahid Kapoor for R…Rajkumar

     

    Worst Debut
     

    Girish Kumar
    Poonam Pandey
    Ram Charan Teja
    Sasha Agha
    Veena Malik
    Leander Paes

  • Blockbusters of 2012 figure in worst film nominations in Kela Awards

    Blockbusters of 2012 figure in worst film nominations in Kela Awards

    NEW DELHI: Contrary to common perception, actors Akshay Kumar, Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgn, Anoushka Sharma, Sonakshi Sinha, and Deepika Padukone are among the artistes nominated for the worst acting of the year.

    ‘Housefull 2’, ‘Son of Sardar’, ‘Khiladi 786’, ‘Dabangg 2’, ‘Jab tak hai jaan’ and ’Joker’ are nominated for the worst films of the year and will vie for the Golden Kela award..

    Shirish Kunder for ‘Joker’, Arbaaz Khan for ‘Dabangg 2’, Kabir Khan for ‘Ek tha tiger’ and Sajid Khan for ‘Housefull 2’ vie for the worst directors of the year.

    The worst sequels of the year are Dabangg 2, Housefull2, Jannat 2, Jism 2, Raaz 3, Kya super Kool hain Hum, Bhoot Returns, and 1920 Evil Returns.

    The Golden Kela Awards ceremony will take place in March at the India Habitat Centre.

    The Golden Kela Awards, the Indian version of Razzies – “Golden Raspberry Awards" – for awarding the worst in the film making industry will be awarding the worst of Bollywood in the year 2012. Voting will begin on 1 January at www.goldenkela.com and close on 1 March 2013.

    Jatin Varma, Founder, Golden Kela Awards, said, “We have our hands full with some of the finely made Kela-full movies and performances of the year 2012. As expected, sequels topped the chart this year with 8 nominations in the Worst Sequel category. I see a tough competition in the Worst Actor (Female) Category also; voters will have a tough time choosing between Anushka Sharma, Sonakshi Sinha, Farah Khan, Alia Bhatt, Deepika Padukone and Diana Penty.”

    The most irritating songs are ‘Chinta ta chita chita’ from ‘Rowdy Rathore’, ‘Son of Sardar’ from the film of the same name, ‘Anarkali Disco Chali’ from Housefull2, and Hookah Bar from Khiladi 786.

    The most atrocious lyrics are: Anvita Dutt for Ishq wala Love (Student of the Year), Amitabh BhattacharyaHalkat Jawani (Heroine) Shabbir Ahmed for Bipasha Bipasha (Jodi Breakers) Shabbir Ahmed for Po Po (Son Of Sardar) Sameer Anjaan for Chinta Ta Chita Chita (Rowdy Rathore) and Himesh Reshammiya for Hookah Bar (Khiladi 786).

    Jatin adds, “In the 5th edition of Golden Kela Awards we could not help but Nominate Indian Moviegoers in the Bawara ho gaya hai ke award category for spending more than Rs six billion on worthless films."

    Indian Moviegoers have been nominated for ‘Bawra Ho gayaa ke’ award for spending more than Rs 6 billion on Bol Bachchan, Housefull 2, Agneepath, Rowdy Rathore, Ek Tha Tiger, Khiladi 786 and Dabangg 2. Others nominated for this award are Homi Adjania for following up Being Cyrus with Cocktail, Sanjay Khandvi for taking his own awesome Ek Chaalis Ki Last Local, setting it in Delhi and making Kismat Love Paisa Dilli…and doing a horrible job of it, Ali Azmat for sounding like a parody of his former self in the song Maula from Jism 2.

    Karisma Kapoor, Chandrachur Singh, Aftab Shivdasani, Shiney Ahuja, Prachi Desai, and Jackie Bhagnani have been nominated for the ‘Why Are You Still Trying?’ Award for the people who surprised us by their presence, even though we thought their careers were long over.

    Awards will also be given for ‘The Mera Naam Joker Award’ for Longest Film Of the Year. ‘Bas Kijiye Bahut Ho Gaya’, ‘Beta, Tumse Na Ho Payega’, and ‘Super Hit Of the Year’.

    The Golden anti-Kela awards will also be announced for films that were the saving graces by being meaningful while being in mainstream cinema.

  • Comic Con India launches merchandise in India

    MUMBAI: Comic Con India launches its own line of merchandise called ‘Comic Con India merchandise’ in India.

    The USP of the merchandise is that it is humorous, quirky and comical.

    Comic Con India has partnered with Buzzingaa.com and BombayMerch.com (web merchandisers) for the distribution of the merchandise. It is also be available in select stores in Delhi.

    Comic Con India founder Jatin Varma said, “Looking at the kind of response we have received in Delhi and Mumbai from the mascots (Super Kudi, Wolver Anna and Wonder Bai); and comic characters that we created, we had no option but to come out with our own merchandise. There was a huge demand by audience and our aim is to let fans take home a piece of their experience.”

    The plan is to expand to Mumbai, Bangalore, Calcutta, Chennai and other metros in the coming months. “We are starting with a limited number of products which range from mugs, posters, coasters and metal badges. We‘ll be expanding in to t-shirts and other accessories in the coming months. The products will be available pan India within next 12 months,” Varma said.

    Buzzingaa.com co-founder Anish Beri added, “Buzzingaa has been associated with Comic Con India right since it had all began at Delhi and has since participated in all their events. We have seen Comic Con India grow and reach out to a till now virtually untapped market in India. We are quite excited once again to associate ourselves with the Comic Con India team and retail their merchandise.”

    Comic Con India has seen International brands like Walt Disney/Marvel promote their merchandise and movies in Comic Con Express Mumbai and second Comic Con India in Delhi.

    Varma said, “Merchandise has been one of the main attractions at all our conventions, it contributes over 50 per cent of overall revenue at our conventions. For a lot of the publishing companies it is providing a lucrative revenue line. At second Comic Con India overall sales touched Rs 5 million, out of which approximately Rs 2.5 million of revenue was earned via merchandise.”