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Tag: Kareena Kapoor

  • iBall picks Kareena Kapoor as brand ambassador

    MUMBAI: iBall has appointed Kareena Kapoor as the brand ambassador for its mobile phones category.

    iBall has created its smart phone range under iBall Andi series.

    iBall director Sandeep Parasrampuria “Kareena is an icon for the youth. Her hard work makes her a performance-powered actor and besides, she has always been associated with style, glamour, vibrancy and all things chic. She is also known for setting trends and doing things differently. There is thus no doubt that she would provide the perfect brand fit for us.”

    iBall will soon be launching a series of smart phones in different screen sizes with android operating system. Most of them will be in icecream sandwich version of android and will be loaded with “powerful and fast” processors. High camera quality, 3g compatible with built in GPS will be included in these phones. It will also be bundled with applications for social networking, communication and entertainment apart from the freedom to use over 2.5 lakh applications available on the android market many of which is free for use to the users. iBall has plans to launch at least a few “first time in India” products in its Andi smart phones series in the next few months.

    The company has also worked with Hrithik Roshan who was brand ambassador for iBall Slide, its range of tablets.

  • Anushka Sharma is TVS Scooty brand ambassador

    MUMBAI: Chennai-based TVS Motor Company has roped in Bollywood actor Anushka Sharma as the brand ambassador for its ‘Scooty‘ range.

    Sharma will be the face of all brand campaigns related to the TVS Scooty brand.

    Bollywood actors Priyanka Chopra and Kareena Kapoor also endorse rival two-wheeler brands. Chopra is brand ambassador for Hero Honda‘s Pleasure while Kapoor endorses Mahindra & Mahindra‘s Rodeo.

    According to TVS, this association with Sharma will strengthen the brand‘s commitment to its youth target audience and reinforces its positioning.

    TVS Motor Company president marketing HS Goindi said, “Anushka Sharma was an immediate choice for the TVS Scooty brand. She is well known for being spunky with her distinctive style and is an icon for young girls in India. She is seen by young women as one who is living her goals of being vivacious, independent and successful. We are confident that this association will further enhance the popular TVS Scooty Brand.”

    Sharma is also the face for brands like Canon, Reliance Netconnect and Nivea.

    Preity Zinta was earlier the brand ambassador for TVS Scooty Pep.

  • Sony India to up marketing spend by 25% to Rs 4.5 bn in FY’13

    MUMBAI: Despite the difficult economic environment and high inflation, Japanese consumer electronics company Sony India plans to up its marketing spend by 25 per cent to Rs 4.5 billion as it aims at 30 per cent growth in sales.

    The company‘s marketing spend in the previous fiscal was Rs 3.6 billion. Sales stood at Rs 63.13 billion, up from Rs 54.46 billion in the trailing fiscal.

    All the brand campaigns in the previous fiscal were supported with above-the-line and below-the-line activities, including print and television commercial, Web, PR, cinema and shop-front. This fiscal Sony plans to pump up the investment, which will be in sync with the business growth.

    Its brand campaigns for Cyber-shot with brand ambassador Deepika Padukone and Handycam are currently on-air. They started from last week of April and will be visible till end of May. A Vaio campaign with brand ambassador Kareena Kapoor is expected to hit next month followed by Bravia campaign in August.

    The company says that it has a favourable presence over the digital domain as well and the site sony.co.in is a ready reckoner for product information, retail outlets and help guide and tutorials for product usage. It says that the site got about 30 million visits in the previous fiscal.

    Sony’s Facebook page has more than 650,000 fans and over 500,000 channel views on YouTube.

    The consumer electronics company also plans to enhance the existing distribution network from 10,400 to 12,200. It will also boost after-sales service with 285 service touch points across India. As per latest GFK Research Findings, Bravia is the top selling brand in all screen sizes right from 22/26 inch up to 46/55 inch.

    As a matter of fact, Sony Bravia Internet TV has been the favourite in India, garnering a market share of 53 per cent of Internet TV (with Browser) sales in CY11. In the fiscal ended 31 March 2011, Sony had sold 830,000 Bravia TVs, which went up to 900,000 units by end of the previous fiscal.

    The company claimed that Sony has been ranked as the number one brand that comes to consumer’s mind, when prompted with the word ‘General Electronics’, as per a Customer Equity Tracking Study done by Nielsen in March.

  • Tigmanshu Dhulia making film on Begum Samru

    Tigmanshu Dhulia making film on Begum Samru

    MUMBAI: Basking in the glory of recent hits like Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster and Paan Singh Tomar, Tigmanshu Dhulia is making a film on Begum Samru.

    Begum Samru was the head of a professionally-trained mercenary army consisting of Europeans and Indians, inherited from her European mercenary husband Walter Reinhardt Sombre.

    The period film is based on the life of Samru, who started her career as a nautch girl in 18th Century India and eventually became the ruler of Sardhana, a principality near Meerut. Later on, she played a key role in the political power struggle in 18th and 19th century India.

    It is said that since Kareena Kapoor had liked both the latest films of Dhulia and evinced interest to work with him, the director has approached the actress to play the lead.

  • NYIFF to pay tribute to Dev Anand

    NYIFF to pay tribute to Dev Anand

    MUMBAI: The 12th edition of New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF), scheduled to be held from 23 to 27 May, will pay a tribute to Dev Anand.

    A tribute will be paid to the evergreen hero with the screening of his film Hum Dono Rangeen, the coloured version of his black-and-white classic Hum Dono.

    The festival will also host the premieres of Rituparno Ghosh’s Chitrangada and Anurag Kashyap‘s Gangs of Wasseypur.

    Also to be screened at the event will be the Kashmiri film Inshallal, Football, Shyam Benegal‘s Zubeida, Mammo and Sardari Begum as well as Pakistani-Canadian journalist and filmmaker Obaid Chinoy‘s Oscar-winning documentary Saving Face.

    Other award-winning films from South Africa, Australia, and Sri Lanka along with India‘s regional language films in Tamil, Bengali, and Marathi will also be showcased.

    The festival would be attended by Kareena Kapoor, filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar, Anurag Kashyap, Rituparno Ghosh, Salman Rushdie and Mira Nair.

  • Kareena Kapoor endorses Alpenliebe 2 Choco Eclairs

    MUMBAI: Perfetti Van Melle India (PVMI), the Confectionary company, has roped in Bollywood actor Kareena Kapoor to endorse its Alpenliebe 2 Choco Eclairs brand.

    This is the first instance of a celebrity endorsement in the Eclairs category and also Kapoor‘s first brand endorsement in the confectionary category, the company said.

    PVMI director-marketing Nikhil Sharma said, “Today‘s youth immediately identify Kareena Kapoor as a style icon who has established herself through her work in Bollywood. When it came to selecting the right brand ambassador for Alpenlibe 2 Choco Eclairs, Kareena was a unanimous choice. She is a mix of beauty, elegance and style. She fits perfectly with our product which promises consumers a great indulgent experience.”

    Kapoor will feature in the TVC, mobile and internet campaigns of the brand. The campaigns for the brand have been conceptualised by McCann Erickson.

    The new TVC was made with an objective of introducing viewers to a magical world where a princess gets swept off her feet by the most unlikely of characters.

    McCann Erickson Worldwide India chairman and CEO Prasoon Joshi said, “We wanted to use Kareena in a unique way and happy to stumble upon an idea which has immense charm and am sure will be loved by the consumers.”

    The TVC is shot by ad film maker Ravi Udyawar, while the music is composed by Mikey McCleary.

  • Kareena Kapoor is new Limca brand ambassador

    MUMBAI: Lemon flavoured carbonated soft drink brand from Coca-Cola Company, Limca, has roped in Kareena Kapoor to endorse the summer 2012 ad campaign – ‘Pyaas Badhao‘. Leo Burnett is responsible for the creatives of the ad campaign.

    The idea for the new campaign comes from the fact that we generally get very complacent and satisfied with what we have achieved in life, be it big or small. Through the latest communication, Limca inspires its consumers to push themselves, get even more ‘thirsty‘ in whatever they do, and emerge as winners.

    Coca-Cola India and South West Asia VP – marketing Anupama Ahluwalia said, “Limca as a brand stands for great thirst-quenching and rejuvenation. Our new campaign for 2012, ‘Pyaas Badhao‘, takes it to the next level – first increase your thirst and then quench it with Limca. We have explored a more meaningful take on ‘freshness‘ this time, going beyond instant satiation to a life changing, inspiring force.”

    “Kareena Kapoor joins the brand as the new ambassador in propagating this message to its consumers. She symbolises this fresh, inspiring, spontaneous energy and we feel she brings out our brand ethos perfectly and being an achiever in her own right, she carries our new message with immense credibility. We hope consumers love our new TVC and are challenged to push themselves further,‘‘ he added.

    Directed by Nikhil Rao, the campaign has been produced by Jamic Films. The integrated communication initiative will also include out-of-home, radio, digital media and on-ground events in key Limca markets.

    Leo Burnett ECD Mumbai Nitesh Tiwari said, “Campaigns for Limca are always about thirst-quenching, freshness and rejuvenation, which reflect the brand‘s persona. The new ‘Pyaas Badhaao‘ campaign with Kareena explores a different level altogether, moving towards an image of meaningful stimulation. This was our first campaign for Coca-Cola after we won the account and we were really kicked about making this a success. We wanted to challenge consumers to keep pushing the boundary, to constantly increase their thirst for success, reflected in the ‘Pyaas Badhaao‘ tagline.”

  • Releases in July and Sepember

    Releases in July and Sepember

    MUMBAI: Two months of this year, July and September, would be unique in their own way. While July, termed as a lucrative month, will have releases of four big Bollywood films, the month will see releases of three big Hollywood films. September, on the other will release three big women centric films.

    The Hollywood invasion in July starts with Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Amazing Spider-Man 3D, which releases on 3 July. Next in line is Fox Star Studios’s Ice Age 4: Continental Drift on 13 July and Warner Bros’s Dark Knight Rises on 20 July. All these Hollywood movies are likely to be released in 400-500 screens in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu languages, going by what was done when Titanic 3D released on 6 April.

    Bollywood has lined up big releases that month. The list includes Golmaal remake Bol Bachchan on 3 July, UTV Motion Pictures’ Barfee and Deepika Padukone starrer Cocktail (both 13 July) and U, Me aur Mein on 27 July.

    September, in contrast, will see three major releases of three top actresses. The process may have been triggered by successes of women centric films like Kahaani, The Dirty Picture and Ishqiya.

    The first film to release would be UTV and Madhur Bhandarkar’s Heroine. The film revolves around female protagonist Kareena Kapoor, a struggler who wants to make it big in Bollywood. Her struggle and rise to stardom take the plot forward. The film looks set for box office as well as critical acclaim because of Bhandarkar’s prophecy in handling women centric scripts.

    The film following next is Preity Zinta’s Ishk In Paris. The film features Zinta in a role of a strong headed lady who falls in love with a man but then how they handle complications of their lives and love in urban settings of Paris form the rest part of the story. The film seems to be an urban romantic drama that can work at box office.

    And the last of the lot is Viacom18’s Rani Mukerji, Prithviraj-starrer Aiyya. The film is a quirky love story between a Marathi girl and a Tamil boy. The central theme of the film is about a woman who finds a man desirable because he smells good. The film is expected to do well at the box office.

  • Agent Vinod: No flow of story, no explanations

    Agent Vinod: No flow of story, no explanations

    MUMBAI: A spy thriller is not a genre often seen in Hindi films and for that reason one thought Agent Vinod was a welcome idea as well as an opportune one. The title betrays director Sriram Raghvan‘s fascination for films he grew up watching. His last film, Johny Gaddaar (2007) was a remake of Gaddar (1973). For this film he opts for the title of a 1977 hit film, Agent Vinod. Further inspiration for the plot and situations comes from 1970s spy thrillers such as That Man In Istanbu

     

    Producers: Saif Ali Khan, Dinesh Vijan.
    Director: Sriram Raghvan.
    Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Gulshan Grover, Prem Chopra, Ravi Kissen, Ram Kapoor, Adil Hussain, Anshuman Singh, Shahbaaz Khan, Maryam Zakaria.

    Saif Ali Khan, playing a RAW agent, has lost his close colleague – Ravi Kissen while on a mission to Russia. His last message before he was murdered was just the figures ‘242‘. That sets Saif Ali Khan on a mission to find out what these figures mean as he liquidates anybody and everybody that comes in his path. His search begins in Russia and takes him from place to place; while in Morocco, he meets Kareena Kapoor, a Pakistani, posing as a personal doctor to local Mafioso, Prem Chopra, but who is actually an MI6 agent now working for ISI. Kareena Kapoor has a sad past and dreams of a future with a nameplate describing her as a doctor, children and a husband who loves her more than anything (that is the emotional quotient in the film). Saif Ali Khan‘s trust button for her keeps blinking most of the time; that is till she convinces him that she is on his side and equally anxious to stop any destruction that the villains may have planned. As he goes from Russia to Morocco to Latvia to Karachi, he always outthinks his detractors and draws his gun faster than they do. He reaches Delhi at the same time as a nuclear bomb stolen by an ex-KGB man from the Russian depot is headed there via Somalia in a fishing trawler. The villains‘ grand plan blessed by Gulshan Grover, who is a refugee don under protection of Pakistani authorities (read Dawood), is to blow up Delhi with this nuclear bomb and blame it on some Islamic group. This is when the film provides finally some thrill and excitement. The culprit is killed, bomb traced and defused and Saif Ali Khan heads to South Africa to eliminate one more of a group who actually are behind such terror plots – a promise of a sequel.

    Agent Vinod traverses from place to place as Saif Ali Khan follows clues. But because of this it comes across as a totally disjointed film. Nothing makes sense as men are tossed, kicked and shot. You don‘t care after a while since you are not taken into confidence as to who is who and why people are killing each other; no villain is constant or established. One makes an appearance and is killed soon enough. The Indian audience loves dhishum-dhishum and gun shots, not silencer-fitted guns. There is no flow of story, no explanations.

    There are no smart one-liners the heroes in such films are expected to mouth; the few that are there are wry and too subtle to be enjoyed. There are no other distractions as the film has no comedy or emotions, songs lack appeal and romance, whatever little there is, is silent.

    Yes, the film is beautifully shot and is apt technically, but that is not what attracts the audience as much an interesting story and entertainment. The film makes no demands on actors‘ histrionics as there is no drama; Saif Ali Khan has to survive this film on his charm which, alas, is missing. Kareena Kapoor is a hanger-on, playing an aide to Saif Ali Khan and looking forlorn. All the action and excitement going around never seem to touch her. The rest of the cast-Prem Chopra, Gulshan Grover, Ram Kapoor, Ravi Kissen, Shahbaz Khan-is packed off before you notice them.

    Agent Vinod has had an average opening and its prospects from single screen are not bright while prospects at multiplexes are limited and hence far short of being cost effective.

  • No entry for Agent Vinod in Pakistan

    No entry for Agent Vinod in Pakistan

    MUMBAI: The Pakistani censor board has banned Illuminati Films’ Agent Vinod from exhibition in the country as the film contains references to the ISI that could hurt the sentiments of the Pakistani people.

    A statement from IMGC Global, the Pakistani distributor of the film, confirmed that the film has been banned by the censor board of Pakistan. The importer of the film, Sheikh Amjad Rasheed of IMGC Global, fully agrees with the Censor Board’s decision and has conveyed his feelings of displeasure to the main distributor.

    As a key importer of Bollywood films to Pakistan, Rasheed has also conveyed to the main distributors that they will not entertain any such movie in future which hurts either the religious or national sentiments of Pakistanis and decelerate the Indo-Pak peace building process. It is understood that Pakistani Film Distributors have also expressed displeasure to the producers over the anti-Pakistan content shown in the film.

    Revolving around two undercover agents played by Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor, this film is Khan’s second production venture under Illuminati productions.

    Pakistan is an important business territory for any Bollywood film.