ITV

Tag: Lagaan

  • ‘PK’ overtakes ‘Dhoom 3’ as the number one Bollywood movie

    ‘PK’ overtakes ‘Dhoom 3’ as the number one Bollywood movie

    MUMBAI: Aamir Khan, one of Bollywood’s stars known for blockbusters like Lagaan, 3 Idiots and Dhoom 3 has officially outdone himself.

     

    The recently released PK, directed by Rajkumar Hirani, has become the highest-grossing Bollywood movie ever making $65.2 million in India, $9.15 million in North America and $1.9 million in Australia at the end of the second week. Clearly, it has proved to be the international market’s top foreign-language title of 2014, accumulating a total of $86.2 million internationally. 

     

    The movie, which released on 19 December 2014 and produced by Rajkumar Hirani, Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Siddharth Roy Kapur has beaten records previously set by Aamir Khan’s 2013 megahit Dhoom 3. The story sees Khan as an alien who lands in India with a mission to study life on Earth. He ends up asking innocent questions that hold a deep and valuable meaning about the belief system that humans have created to reach God. The film has stirred up some controversy over its faith-based elements.

     

    Khan has no release in this year but having crossed the unprecedented Rs 300 crore mark at the box office, PK has become the biggest blockbuster of all time. His film Ghajini was the first to cross the Rs 100 crore mark while 3 Idiots followed as the first film to make over Rs 200 crore.

  • Danis Tanovic to approach Aamir Khan for Tigers

    Danis Tanovic to approach Aamir Khan for Tigers

    MUMBAI: Danis Tanovic, whose No Man‘s Land was pitted against Aamir Khan‘s Lagaan and Audrey Tautou‘s Amélie in the nomination for an Academy Award in the Best Foreign Film category in 2002, is to approach Aamir Khan for a role in his forthcoming film Tigers.

    “If everything goes well, we plan to propose a small role to Aamir in Tigers. Let‘s see if it works out,” said producer Cédomir in a statement. He is currently in Goa attending the International Film Festival of India (IFFI).

    The story of Tigers revolves around a successful baby food company‘s product that is mixed with spurious ingredients, the large-scale consumption of which ultimately results in problems like diarrhea and dehydration and eventually, a few deaths. “It‘s a very real problem today,” added Cédomir.

    Tanovic and Cédomir are looking to film Tigers in India. “It is set in the Pakistani part of Punjab, but since it‘s not easy to shoot there, we will finish it in the Indian side of the state,” revealed Cédomir.

  • 83 countries invited to submit foreign language films for Oscars

    83 countries invited to submit foreign language films for Oscars

    MUMBAI: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Ampas) in the US has invited 83 countries to submit films for consideration in the Foreign Language Film category for the 79th Academy Awards.

    The Oscars will take place on 25 February, 2007, at the Kodak Theatre at the Hollywood & Highland Center. In the US it will air on ABC while in India it will air on Star Movies. To qualify for the 2006 awards year, a film must be released in the submitting country between 1 October, 2005 and 30 September, 2006 and be publicly screened in 35mm or 70mm film for at least seven consecutive days in a commercial motion picture theater.

    The dialogue track must be predominantly in a language or languages other than English. Accurate English subtitles are required. Entry forms must be received at the Academy by 2 October, 2006, and film prints must be received by 13 October. Only one picture will be accepted from each country. Five films will be chosen.

    Since the category’s establishment in 1956, 102 different countries have submitted films to compete for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. The 1956 award went to Italy for La Strada.Most recently, the South African film Tsotsi won the Oscar over a field of nominated films from France, Germany, Italy and the Palestinian Territories.

    Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan will receive this year their first invitation to participate. The last time India featured was in 2001 when Lagaan was nominated. There have been cases when a film has not been nominated because it was not in the language of the submitting country.

    An example was last year when Austria submitted Cache that some critics felt was the best foreign film of 2005. Unfortunately as the film was in French it was deemed ineligible. The director Michael Haneke is Austrian. Then there was the case of The Motorcycle Diaries in 2004. As it was a co-production between three countries no one country was willing to submit it.

  • B4U’s Gautam joins UTV as film distribution, India head

    B4U’s Gautam joins UTV as film distribution, India head

    MUMBAI: B4U Network chief operating officer of India operations BL Gautam has quit the company. He has joined UTV Software Communications where he will head the film distribution business in India. He will also commercially facilitate greenlighting of movie projects.

    “Gautam has joined us. He will head our domestic film distribution business. He will also work closely with our movie project heads and be engaged in the commercial side of it like budgeting, reviewing the production process and negotiating,” says UTV Software Communications COO Ronald D’Mello. Aditya Shastri, who had joined UTV as COO motion pictures production, recently left the company.

    Before joining B4U, Gautam was with Zee Telefilms where he served as senior vice-president and moved on to become director commercial from 2000 to 2004. Prior to that, Gautam served the Indian Government as the superintendent of customs and was awarded the presidential Award in 1998 for distinguished service in that role.

    UTV has been enjoying major successes on the movie front with productions like the Aamir Khan super hit Rang De Basanti hitting the jackpot. The company has also distributed products in various territories including heavyweight titles such as Lagaan, Lakshya, Mission Kashmir, Parineeta and Viruddh.

    B4U Network is yet to announce a replacement for Gautam. The company owns and runs B4U Movies and B4U Music.

  • Aditya Shastri quits UTV as motion pictures COO

    Aditya Shastri quits UTV as motion pictures COO

    MUMBAI: Aditya Shastri, who had joined UTV as COO motion pictures production in late 2004, has quit the company. “We mutually agreed to part ways,” a source in UTV said.

    Shastri had moved to UTV from Twentieth Century Fox where he served as managing director. At Fox, he had handled and released several blockbusters such as Moulin Rouge, Die Another Day and The Day After Tomorrow.

    “I have left UTV. I am joining a new company on 15 April,” Shastri told indiantelevision.com.
    UTV has been enjoying major successes on the movie front this year with productions like the Aamir Khan superhit Rang De Basanti and Taxi No 9211 hitting the jackpot.

    The company has also distributed products in various territories including heavyweight titles such as Lagaan, Lakshya, Mission Kashmir, Parineeta and Viruddh.