ITV

Tag: Kareena Kapoor

  • Dharma Productions’ ‘Gori Tere Pyaar Mein’ goes on floor

    Dharma Productions’ ‘Gori Tere Pyaar Mein’ goes on floor

    MUMBAI: Kareena Kapoor and Imran Khan starrer ‘Gori Tere Pyaar Mein‘ will go on floors today. The film is produced by Dharma Productions and directed by Puneet Malhotra.

    The official Twitter handle of the movie broke the above news with the tweet, "The shoot of Gori Tere Pyaar Mein kick starts today. Are you guys as excited as we are?"

    Dharma Productions and Puneet Malhotra had a successful outing with ‘I Hate Luv Storys‘ and are back with ‘Gori Tere Pyaar Mein‘ this time. The movie once again brings together Kareena Kapoor and Imran Khan who were last seen together on screen in ‘Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu‘, also from Dharma Productions. The movie also marks the second venture between Imran Khan and the director Puneet Malhotra.

     

  • Brand Fevicol benefited most from Dabangg 2 association, Ormax

    MUMBAI: Fevicol leads the list of brand that tied up with Salman Khan‘s Dabangg 2, according to an independent study conducted by research agency Ormax Media.

    Fevicol evidently benefited from the usage of the brand name in the popular song ‘Fevicol Se‘, featuring Kareena Kapoor with Salman Khan.

    The study was conducted a week after the release of the film. As many as 12 brands had associated with Dabangg 2.

    Following Fevicol on the list is Colgate Active Salt, which had run a contest called the ‘Colgate Active Salt Dabangg 2 Challenge‘ with Sonakshi Sinha.

    Third on the list is Suzuki Hayate that is being endorsed by Khan himself. It had also run a multimedia contest with bikes as prizes.

    The study noted that other brands like Thums Up, Gillette, Dixcy Scott and Fastrack could not milk the association because of which they did not register significant recall.

    Meanwhile, despite having no association with the movie, Revital emerged as the brand with the strongest association with Khan. The consistent brand endorsement by Khan over the last few months ensured that it benefits from any ‘Salman Khan‘ event, including a film release like Dabangg 2.

    Ormax Media CEO Shailesh Kapoor said, “Upto 15-20 brands tie up with big films, but only about 3-4 actually derive any real value out of the association. We had conducted a similar study when Ra.One released, and now plan to conduct such researches for big releases at regular intervals. Using such research, brands can benefit from learnings derived from associations of various kinds, and use these learnings as an input into their own film associations.”

  • Talaash: A futile search

    Talaash: A futile search

    MUMBAI: ‘I will come back to haunt you‘ must be the oldest phrase used in a relationship. It bears no logic but makes one wary. It is a supernatural shrap (curse). A lot of rumours have been spread about the ‘the end‘ of Talaash during its pre-release publicity; all suspected to be the makers‘ own PR gimmicks. But no gimmick is worth a cinema ticket costing 300 rupees. If gimmicks made money, why make films?

    Three young men go on a joyride, meet with an accident and dump the victim, who they presume is dead. Then the victim comes back to seek revenge! Whichever way you look at Talaash and whatever the efforts to ‘Indianise‘ it with supernatural and life-after-death angles, the ghost of ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer‘ haunts the film all through. Rest is all an exercise in convolution. The usual ‘inspirational‘ Hollywood films run for 100 minutes or less; so Talaash has a parallel story of Aamir Khan, and his spouse Rani Mukerji eternally pining for their son who died due to drowning. This helps stretch the film to 140 minutes. It is also the film‘s undoing.There is a lot of speculation about which foreign film has inspired Talaash. From the look of it, Talaash seems to have got its genes from the Hollywood film ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer‘, itself badly panned by media there but lapped up by moviegoers.

    Like any metro-oriented film, Talaash establishes its base city, Mumbai, in its title song. This is mainly the seedy side, the underbelly of the city, which includes the whores, the pimps, the nightlife and the violence. Then it goes on to establish its protagonists. This affirms that it is going to be a long-winded film.

    Three years after the joyride accident, a top film star dies in a freaky car accident on the same spot when his car swerves suddenly on an open road late one night and lands in the sea. Khan is a reputed encounter specialist but he is called in to investigate the accident since it involves a high-profile star. There are no evident clues and he is told that this is not the first time such an accident has happened at this spot. When not investigating the case, Khan, in tandem with his wife, Mukerji get into bouts of depression and brooding over their dead son. Khan thinks it was his fault but keeps punishing Mukerji by keeping away from her or avoiding communicating. He does not even want another child. Mukerji on her part is under psychiatric treatment until a neighbour, Shernaz Patel, acquaints her with a message from her dead son. "He wants to talk to his dada," she says.

    Being a mother, Mukerji tags along to communicate with her son through Patel. This leads to another flashpoint between the couple, Khan and Mukerji. Khan would rather have nothing to do with such mumbo jumbo.

    In the process of his investigations, Khan meets a prostitute, Kareena Kapoor, whose pimp was the last person to communicate with the dead film star. The pimp, who is suspected of blackmailing the star and who collected rupees 20 lakh from him just before the accident, is missing. Khan expects Kapoor to lead to him. Instead, she is only interested in leading him to a seedy hotel room with an invitation to make out!

    As some more bodies fall and some more red herrings are dropped, the film meanders on and on till it springs what the makers think is a surprise element. The mystery is solved the way it was created.

    Talaash is such a dry and insipid film that it becomes a drain on the viewer. It lags in almost all aspects. As the script is weak, the director never gets a grip on the film. Music is no help in the absence of romance. Farhan Akhtar‘s dialogue is generally mundane. His forte being wit, the film offers him no scope. Preferring to project the dark side of the metro, visually too the film provides no relief except, ironically, the accident site. The seafront location is pleasing to eye. And why choose red light area whores? Kapoor could very well have been a high class one and the film could have had some glamour and finesse! Khan has no historic moments and does nothing to satisfy his fans. Kapoor looks too glamorous for the kind of joint she works at. Mukerji, as a totally deglamourised housewife, does well. Among others, Nawazuddin Siddiqui shines. Patel, Raj Kumar Yadav, Suhasi Goradia and Subra Dutta lend fair support.

    Talaash is disappointing fare, for Khan fans as well as for box office prospects.

  • Shah Rukh Khan and Katrina Kaif together for the first time in an ad campaign

    NEW DELHI: ‘King of Bollywood’ Shah Rukh Khan and ‘Queen of Hearts’ Katrnia Kaif have come together for an ad campaign for the first time for beauty soap bar Lux.

    These Bollywood superstars will endorse two new sensuous variants Lux Peach and Cream and LuxStrawberry and Cream in their first ever endorsement together.

    In 2005, Khan came onto the brand and featured in a memorable TVC with Hema Malini, Sridevi, Juhi Chawla and Kareena Kapoor. Once again, Shan Rukh Khan will feature in a stunning Lux commercial with the gorgeous Katrina Kaif who will drive him ‘Bekaboo’.

    The magical fragrance of Lux that’s driving Khan ‘Bekaboo’ (helpless against his emotions) has been created by world renowned perfumer Didier Gaffet. Inspired by the Kenzo Flower and keeping in mind the sensory preferences of Indian women; this Master Perfumer has created a fragrance that will make Indian woman feel elegant and polished.

    Says Khan, “The fragrance of Lux reminds me of being happy and being in love.”

    Khan and Kaif’s sizzling chemistry can be seen radiating through the campaign, that’s been beautifully shot and directed by French director- Juan Delcan. The Sufi inspired music score has been composed by none other than world acclaimed Poet and Lyricist Gulzar and sung by the Voice of the Country Sonu Niigaam. Katrina has been styled by leading Bollywood fashion designer Rocky S.

    At the shoot, Khan said, “I’m happy to be associated with Lux yet again! The fragrance of Lux will captivate you just as it has made me ‘Bekaboo’. The fragrance of Lux that stands for love and sensuality brings out the lover in me”.

    Kaif added, “Lux for me is a very special and iconic brand; it symbolizes beauty. When I think of Lux, I think of fun and spontaneity. Lux embodies a type of a woman rather than just soap and of course the fragrance that embodies sensuality. Lux’s amazing fragrance makes the whole experience of bathing fun!”

  • Handbag brand Lavie unveils TVC created by TBWA

    MUMBAI: Handbag Brand Lavie has launched their latest TV commercial featuring brand ambassador Kareena Kapoor.

    Conceptualised by TBWA, the ad captures the “tempting” range of Lavie and how women are helpless to its “irresistible” handbags.

    The new campaign is an extension to the previous ad campaign which was based on the many moods of a woman. This campaign highlights how Lavie overpowers the denial of shopping.

    TBWA India NCD Rahul Sen Gupta said, “No, no, no, maybe, yes‘, that is the mind of a woman when she goes shopping. We captured this insight through Kareena‘s wonderful performance as a girl-next-door, going through great denial and great desire at the same time, in a Lavie store.”

    Directed by Shakun Batra of Ek Main aur Ek Tu fame, the TVC is produced by Red Ice Films.

    Bagzone Lifestyles COO Sandeep Goenka said, “Lavie offers contemporary handbags for every ocassion and is designed keeping in mind the many moods of women. We are certain that our consumers will relate to this TVC, as it accurately depicts a great shopping experience.”

    The TVC captures Kapoor in denial mode whenever she comes across the latest Lavie – be it a hobo, a clutch, a laptop bag or a leather bag, while she ultimately succumbs to the urge to own that next perfect bag.

  • Saina enters big league with Rs 400 mn endorsement contract

    MUMBAI: Saina Nehwal has added another feather to her cap. After becoming the first Indian badminton player to break into the Rs 10 million endorsement bracket, the badminton sensation has inked a multi-million rupee deal with Delhi-based sports management company Rhiti Sports, which also manages the lucrative endorsement contract of Indian cricket captain MS Dhoni.

    As part of the three-year endorsement contract valued at Rs 400 million, Rhiti Sports will now manage Saina‘s endorsements and brand associations, corporate profile, patents and digital rights, images and all other commercial rights exclusively.

    The deal will catapult the world number 4 ranked badminton player into the big league of celebrity endorsement market dominated by the likes of Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Kareena Kapoor.

    Deccan Chargers Sporting Ventures (DCSV), the sports vertical of crisis-ridden Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited (DCHL), was the incumbent agency managing Nehwal‘s sponsorship. DCSV had in 2009 signed a three-year contract with Saina which ended on 1 September.

    According to Indian Express, the deal will make Saina the highest earning badminton player in the world ahead of top badminton players like Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei who earn Rs 128 million and Rs 87 million respectively.

    “I am very happy to be associated with Rhiti Sports and look forward to starting a working relationship with them. With Rhiti‘s background and credibility, they know how to balance things and that is a big plus point,” said Saina.

    “The strides Rhiti has taken in the Sports industry in recent times made it an easy choice for me. I would like to also thank, Mr Vinod Dhawan, Vice President Badminton Association of India, who played a key role in helping form this association,” she added.

    Currently, Saina has nine endorsements in her kitty which includes Airtel, Yonex, Fortune oil, Indian Overseas Bank, Whisper, Emami Fast Relief, Herbalife, Jaypee Cements and Top Ramen noodles.

    Rhiti Sports President & MD Arun Pandey said: “We are delighted to have Saina on board, who has brought great pride to the nation with her exploits. We are proud to be associated with someone who is not only a youth icon for women in the country but has also done a lot for Badminton as a sport.

    “She has placed India on the World Map for Badminton and changed the outlook of people in India towards the sport. We will use all our knowledge and expertise, and make this partnership a very fruitful one indeed,” he added.

    Rhiti Sports had in 2010 signed a Rs 2.1 billion three year endorsement contract with Indian cricket team captain MS Dhoni which took him ahead of batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar, who had signed Rs 1.8 billion deal with Iconix, which has since then become a part of World Sport Group.

  • Heroine to run anti-smoking ads

    Heroine to run anti-smoking ads

    MUMBAI: Following the Centre‘s new rules on smoking scenes in films, director Madhur Bhandarkar has declared that his upcoming film Heroine will have an anti-smoking advertisement.

    “In the beginning, Kareena will address the warning and also for the interval part as well,” Bhandarkar said.

    It may be noted that recently, the Centre had informed the Supreme Court that it was bringing a new notification to regulate smoking scenes in films and television programmes. The notification would allow the smoking scenes, with statutory warnings alongside. Also, the film will have a 20-second anti-smoking promo at the beginning and again after the interval, it had observed.

    Though she is quite excited, Kareena Kapoor, who plays the protagonist in the film, has not set any box office target. “We have not fixed any target, we want people to see the film and enjoy it. We are very excited about it. We are eager to know about the fate of the film,” she averred.

    The film is set to release on 21 September.

  • Kareena Kapoor-starrer Heroine gets eight brand associations

    MUMBAI: Kareena Kapoor, who plays a stellar role in UTV Motion Pictures‘ Heroine has become favourite of different brands. In other words, it can also be said that she leads the brand race.

    After The Dirty Picture and Kahaani, women-centric films have been garnering all the right attention, not just for being glamorous, but with great content and author-backed role, they are also collecting a moolah at the box-office.

    But Kapoor has gone ahead and has managed to get maximum brands for her upcoming film Heroine. Trade pundits say she is ‘leading and coming at par with her male colleagues in the industry‘. Her much-awaited film has managed to get over eight brands on board. This is by far the most for any heroine-oriented film. Besides Lakme, Head and Shoulders and Monarch Universal for whom Kapoor already endorses, other brands like Cera, Rupa, Jealous 21 and the likes have also associated with the film for in-film integration and various media associations.

    While Lakme is launching Heroine-branded makeup under the Absolute range endorsed by Kapoor, apparel brand Jealous21 will soon be launching a special clothing line inspired by the clothes worn by her in the film. Industry sources estimate at least Rs 15-20 crores of brand spends to be blocked for promotions around Heroine.

    “My director Madhur Bhandarkar and producer UTV‘s vision is finally ready and I am glad I could live through Mahi the character. It‘s been an exhilarating experience and Madhur has pushed the envelope to bring out a strong performance from me. Heroine is a women oriented film and I am happy that brands today are open to associate with such films which was never the case before. The trend is changing and I‘m glad to have instigated it,” said Kareena Kapoor.

    Heroine has an author-backed role for Kareena and Madhur‘s zeal to make it the way he had envisioned has prompted many brands to see an opportunity worth associating. Even though it‘s a heroine led film, because of its sheer content and Kareena‘s strong brand recall, we have successfully managed to have key brands on board. The product placement is integrated with the film‘s storyline in a manner that is inherent to the narrative and accelerates the story further.” Observed Disney UTV executive director – marketing, studios, Shikha Kapur.

    It may be interesting to learn that the Vidya Balan-starrers Kahaani, The Dirty Picture and No One Killed Jessica had no brands associated with them, while the Priyanka Chopra-starrer Fashion had brands like Sunsilk, Lenovo, Reebok and Kimaya associated with it and the Sonam Kapoor-starrer Aisha had Loreal, Christian Dior Couture and DLF Emporio associated with it.

  • ‘BCCI rights great opportunity to build Star’s sports biz’ : Star India CEO Uday Shankar

    ‘BCCI rights great opportunity to build Star’s sports biz’ : Star India CEO Uday Shankar

    Just over a year old, UTV Stars is banking on revenue growth from advertising, syndication and distribution to achieve operational break even this fiscal.

     

    The launch of UTV Stars last August has expanded the Bollywood lifestyle TV genre, created by Zoom and E24. The core target audience of the channel is upscale youth in the age group of 15-24 years.

     

    In an interview with Indiantelevision.com‘s Javed Farooqui, UTV Stars business head Nikhil Gandhi talks about the channel‘s progress, its differentiated content and the challenges in the space.

     

    Excerpts:
     

    Does UTV Stars get a competitive advantage by being the child of Disney-UTV?
    We definitely have an edge as we have got a thriving motion pictures business. This allows us to do that much more compared to our competitors. Our access to the big Bollywood stars such as Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor or a Hrithik Roshan is much easier. If you see the kind of news content that we create, we are credible.

     
    Since UTV Stars‘ sister arm also produces movies, doesn‘t that also present a conflict of interest while covering Bollywood news?
    Once you have established yourself as a credible player in the space, I don‘t think any star or film producer would think that there is a conflict of interest. They, in fact, would want to promote their films that much more. Moreover, our editor is Manish Dubey who was with Aaj Tak and has credible bondage with the movie stars. Also, our correspondents as well as special features editors have professional relationships with all the big superstars.

     
    Isn‘t differentiation very thin in this kind of genre?
    When we started, we positioned UTV Stars as the official channel of Bollywood. We were also known as being the intimate insider to Bollywood. We got all the big stars to endorse and that reflected in our launch campaign. We did a big chat show with Priety Zinta. We also did a show called ‘Live My Life‘ which is coming up for its second season after the channel‘s first anniversary on 19 August. Our channel is also available in High Definition, taking the viewing experience to a whole new level.

     
    How is your content mix different from other rival channels?
    On a daily basis, we have three and half hours of original content while the others offer three hours. So we have half-an-hour of additional content. This is largely because we have original long format shows, giving our channel a differentiated value. You won‘t see big ticket reality shows on other channels.

     

    We run Bollywood music and movies but news and shows form a large portion of our prime time content. We play music in non-prime time because the TG loves it and because Bollywood music lends itself well with the channel. 

     

    ‘On a daily basis, we have three and half hours of original content while the rival channels offer three hours. So we are half-an-hour of additional content‘
     

    How would you define your target group?
    We are in the youth space but have a definite skew towards Bollywood. In terms of demographics, our core target group is 15-24 SEC AB. Bollywood stars influence the youth of India a great deal. In that sense, the kind of content that we have created caters to the Indian youth. So even though Bollywood content cuts across age groups, we are going to focus on youth particularly after the kind of success that we have seen online.

     
    Could you elaborate on the online growth?
    We have almost half a million fans on Facebook. We are also the largest content provider for Bollywood content on YouTube and have already got 30 million views. We power the UTV group content engine on YouTube per se including UTV Motion Pictures. We have got 10,000 hours of content that we had shot last year. All this gives us a cutting edge.

     
    What is the break even period that you have set for yourself?
    We are looking at an operational break-even next year (FY‘ 13). With the kind of control that we have on our costs and if the markets start improving, we should be able to reach that milestone.
     

    What impact did ad slowdown have on your revenues?
    We experienced a bit of a volume loss but our big shows also get a premium. The advertising community is also appreciating the kind of content that we have been able to create and they are now talking to us for annual deals going forward.

      
    Who are your big advertisers?
    We have all the top advertisers that occupy the youth space. Like in FMCG, we have Hindustan Unilever, P&G and L‘Oreal. We run about 10 minutes of commercial in one hour of programming, which can go up to 12 minutes. 

     
    What are the major revenue streams for UTV Stars?
    Currently, ad revenues contribute 60-75 per cent of our overall revenues. But we would like to bring this down to 50-55 per cent and with digitisation we are hopeful that this shift will happen. We are also looking at syndication opportunities overseas as well as in India. We are already syndicating in-flight entertainment across big airlines. Our business model includes distribution, syndication, video on demand, ad revenue and on-ground events.

     
    You have been quite aggressive with on-ground properties?
    So far as ground connect goes, we have been able to rope in partners who are in the lifestyle and Bollywood space. So we had partnered People magazine to do the ‘People Best Dressed‘ show; we had also partnered Cosmopolitan to do ‘Free Fearless Awards‘. Besides, we also did ‘F1 After Parties‘ with Arjun Rampal.

     

    However, the biggest property we did was ‘Walk of the Stars‘ at Bandra Bandstand (Mumbai) where we had the biggest stars giving their hand impressions. It‘s like the Hollywood Walk of the Fame. We got the Walk of the Stars branded as UTV Walk of the Stars as a permanent structure and it has also got statues and benches of legendary stars from Raj Kapoor to Shammi Kapoor and now Rajesh Khanna. We are taking it to Delhi next year and it‘s going to be available at Kingdom of Dreams. We tied up with IIFA Awards this year and took this property to Singapore. 

     
    What big shows are on the anvil?
    There is ‘Nirma Lifestyle‘ season 2 that is coming up in the quarter beginning October. We have another show called ‘Gods of Style‘ coming up where we are going to showcase top 10 style icons in Bollywood. We have four more shows in the pipeline about which I can‘t reveal much at this stage.

     

  • Kareena Kapoor gives style tips with Philip Hair styling Range

    Kareena Kapoor gives style tips with Philip Hair styling Range

    New Delhi: Actor Kareena Kapoor, the new brand ambassador of the Philips Hair Styling Range, has shot a commercial showing different hair styles.

    The commercial was directed by Shakun Batra who had shot her in ‘Ek Main aur Ek Tu‘.

    Kareena said her character in the commercial ‘is so much fun and tongue and cheek. I feel proud to be associated with Philips Hair Styling Range since my young fans are crazy about trying out different hairdos or hairstyles, straight or curly etc.‘

    She added: “It‘s the first time an actress has endorsed this kind of styling range. Happy that Philips being such a huge brand, made me a part of their family and that too with something more new and stylish”

    Kareena also shared her insights on different hairstyle looks for different occasions including ‘DATE LOOK‘, ‘BEACH LOOK; ‘RED CARPET LOOK‘, ‘Iconic Hollywood Actress Hairstyle‘ and ‘Iconic Bollywood Actresses Hairstyles‘.

    Batra said “Kareena Kapoor is very instinctive in the true sense of the word, and her instincts are always right. The concept of the commercial is that it is believed that most women take longer than men to get ready. So we wanted to prove a point that with something like Philips Styling Range is quick, allows you multitasking and can be ready in half the time. Have shot it in a very tongue and cheek manner.”