ITV

Tag: Lajja

  • Website launched for NRI films; open to global filmmakers

    Website launched for NRI films; open to global filmmakers

    NEW DELHI: New York-based Indian filmmaker Tirlok Malik has launched a website for screening films about and by non-resident Indians (NRIs).

     

    The site www.NRITVFILMCLUB.com was inaugurated in New York by Indian consul general Dnyaneshwar M. Mulay in the presence of many prominent people from the Indian community, media and entertainment.

     

    The event was held at the Indian Consulate in New York. Mulay congratulated Malik, founder of NRI TV Film Club, by saying, “It is a wonderful idea. Very much needed. And it will make the bridge between Hollywood and Bollywood by creating NRI-wood.”

     

    NRI TV Film Club website is for the audience to watch movies made by NRIs, about NRIs, with NRIs. NRI TV Film Club website is also a platform to promote and create opportunities for NRI talents in the area of film, television and new media. It is a collective effort of filmmakers and artists.

     

    The website was launched with 15 films made in America by NRI filmmakers with local Indian American talent. Some of the films are award winning and have been shown worldwide.

     

    NRI TV Film Club will be producing and showing more films, TV sitcoms, web series with Indian American and multi-cultural talents.

     

    The annual membership fee for the club is $35.

     

    In an exclusive interview with Indiantelevision.com, Emmy nominated filmmaker Malik says, “These movies have immigrant themes but with universal emotions. Many of these films do not reach wider audience. But with the new technology of streaming movies just like Netflix, we are able to bring these movies for the audience to watch worldwide. There are more than 25 millions NRIs worldwide and their families in India. We believe you will enjoy these movies. I am glad other NRI filmmakers have shared this vision with me and joined me.”

     

    The team behind this vision was announced at the event. TV Asia chairman H.R. Shah is the honorary chairman of NRI TV Film Club. Dr. Sudhir Parikh, who is chairman and publisher of Parikh Worldwide Media Inc., is supporting this vision.

     

    Malik informed that filmmakers were not paying for their films to get on the site. “It is a collective efforts by the film fraternity,” he added.

    The site will include features as well as short films.

     

    NRI filmmakers from other countries were also welcome to send in their films, he said.

     

    Asked if Indians who had made films on NRI themes such as Hyderabad Blues by Nagesh Kukunoor could send in their films, he said the site was open to filmmakers worldwide.

     

    Malik’s company Apple Productions has produced many films since 1990 starting with its first film about Indian Americans titled Lonely in America.

     

    Malik has also acted in several Indian films including Lajja and Dr Ambedkar, and was also the line producer in the US for these films.

     

  • B4U Movies launches 2 October; plans to go pay in January at Rs6.50 sticker price

    B4U Movies launches 2 October; plans to go pay in January at Rs6.50 sticker price

    Sticking to a schedule laid out at the end of July, B4U Entertainment Channel becomes B4U Movies on 2 October 2001, it was announced today.

     

    And wasting no time, the plan is to encrypt B4U Movies by November, Debashis Dey, chief distribution officer, B4U Television Network Ltd, says. According to Dey: “The proposed date for going pay is sometime in January ’02. We feel that two months will be a reasonably good period for viewers to sample the channel.” However, sister channel B4U Music will remain free-to-air a la MTV.

     

    “After going pay in January the average rate per subscriber per month is proposed at Rs. 6.50p. We also feel that our channel will be a refreshing change, as it is not clustered by a bouquet of unwanted content, which currently the operators are forced to subscribe to,” says Dey.

     

    As for the programme line-up, current titles include – Lajja, Devdas, Suno Sasurji, Pyaar Deewana Hota Hai, Baas Itna Sa Khwab Hai, Daraar, Silsila Hai Pyaar Ka, Mohabbat, Beti No 1, among others, apart from hit films like Taal, Josh, Jungle, etc and old classics.

     

    B4U Movies will telecast three hits per week – a Friday premiere, a Saturday blockbuster and a Sunday classic. In addition a super-hit ‘Movie Of The Month’ will be screened, says Dey.

     

    “In between films we intend to showcase a host of Bollywood based shows, highlighting film shooting, the studios and the classic films attached with them, Bollywood masala, gossip, behind the scenes, raw cuts, countdowns, market, flops, hits, comedies, super stars, and many more unique programmes in innovative formats,” Says Dey.

     

    Among the shows that are planned are:

    Lehren – A Bollywood video magazine. The long running and popular ‘Lehren’, will provide updates on Bollywood and the stars.

    Studio Beat – A weekly round up from the studios in Mumbai. Using archival footage and interviews with old timers, stories around the studios that made the industry what it is today.

    Superhit Hungama – A weekly countdown show set in exotic locations. Money Talkies – An update of the industry that throws light on the losers and the winners.

    Box Office – A weekly update on collections and performance, reviews and analyses from trade pundits.

    Shot Cut – Full length films cut down to half an hour, keeping only key scenes intact.

    Director’s Cut – Interviews with directors.

    Stardom – profiles the stars.

    Riot – The show presents some of the most hilarious scenes in Hindi movies. Countdown Café – The Indipop countdown that brings to you the best 10 tracks of the week. Ghazals, Punjabi Pop, Remixes and more.

    South Side Story – Film update and news from southern India.

    The Preview – Previews of the movies to be telecast on B4U.

    Rushes – Daily updates on recent events in Bollywood.

     

    The B4U Network is promoted by steel magnate L M Mittal, Kishore Lulla and Gokul Binani, all based in the UK. Lulla is also the promoter of Eros International LTD, the largest overseas film distributor and the first to take Hindi movies to the UK and the US.