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Tag: Life of Pi

  • Star Movies & Star Movies Select HD line-up movies leading up to Oscars

    Star Movies & Star Movies Select HD line-up movies leading up to Oscars

    MUMBAI: The Oscars are just round the corner and Star India’s English movies channels will celebrate the month by airing award winning movies.

    Star Movies and Star Movies Select HD will also showcase the Oscars live at 5:30 am with a repeat telecast at 8:30 pm on 29 February, 2016.

    Star Movies will also showcase blockbusters with Oscar Fever from 15 February to 27 February at 6:30 pm with movies like Life of Pi, Aliens, Titanic, Die Hard, Gladiator, etc.

    The Oscars movie fest will begin with three blockbuster premieres that will be simulcast on Star Movies and Star Movies Select HD. The line-up will include the Meryl Streep starrer Into the Woods, which will be aired on 13 February at 6:30 pm and Wild premiering on 20 February at 6:30 pm.

    The channels will also air movies like Gone Girl, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Black Swan, The Sound of Music and Braveheart amongst others. 

    The two channels will also showcase moments from the 88th Academy Awards’ after party on 30 February.

  • Star Movies & Star Movies Select HD line-up movies leading up to Oscars

    Star Movies & Star Movies Select HD line-up movies leading up to Oscars

    MUMBAI: The Oscars are just round the corner and Star India’s English movies channels will celebrate the month by airing award winning movies.

    Star Movies and Star Movies Select HD will also showcase the Oscars live at 5:30 am with a repeat telecast at 8:30 pm on 29 February, 2016.

    Star Movies will also showcase blockbusters with Oscar Fever from 15 February to 27 February at 6:30 pm with movies like Life of Pi, Aliens, Titanic, Die Hard, Gladiator, etc.

    The Oscars movie fest will begin with three blockbuster premieres that will be simulcast on Star Movies and Star Movies Select HD. The line-up will include the Meryl Streep starrer Into the Woods, which will be aired on 13 February at 6:30 pm and Wild premiering on 20 February at 6:30 pm.

    The channels will also air movies like Gone Girl, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Black Swan, The Sound of Music and Braveheart amongst others. 

    The two channels will also showcase moments from the 88th Academy Awards’ after party on 30 February.

  • Paladin to theatrically release ‘India’s Daughter’ in US

    Paladin to theatrically release ‘India’s Daughter’ in US

    MUMBAI: Leslee Udwin’s documentary, India’s Daughter, will be released theatrically in the US by Paladin, with openings in New York and Los Angeles on 23 and 30 October respectively.

     

    India’s Daughter tells the story of the savage rape and eventual death of 23 year-old medical student, Jyoti Singh, in New Delhi in December of 2012, an event that shook the social fabric of the country — and the world — to the core. Udwin’s film was catapulted to global attention in March of this year when it was banned in India just two days before its scheduled broadcast. 

     

    Singh was a young physiotherapy student from a poor family in New Delhi, and a symbol of a 21 century India in which economic growth is expanding opportunity for women and men alike. With dreams of a career in medicine, she asked her parents to use her wedding dowry to pay for her education. Despite protest from the extended family, her parents willingly obliged and sold the family’s ancestral land to put her through school.

     

    On 26 December, 2012 she went to see Life of Pi with a male friend. When they boarded a private bus to return home, the young man was beaten senseless, and Singh was dragged to the rear of the bus and repeatedly gang raped. Her assailants brutalized her as they circled the city, injuring her internal organs, and ultimately eviscerating her with an iron rod. Miraculously, she survived for 13 days before her surgeons could do no more to save her. Her tragic death raised the fury of Indian women and men alike, and New Delhi saw an explosion of public outrage that resulted in a month of unprecedented mass street protests throughout the nation, and a government crackdown with water canons and tear-gas.

     

    In India’s Daughter, Udwin unspools the extraordinary story of Singh and her forward-thinking family, while also probing the culture of rape and the psyche of her attackers. One of the film’s most astonishing scenes is a confession by one of the perpetrators, filmed in prison, that provides crucial insight into the mindset of the men who committed the rape, and explores the wider dynamics of a patriarchal society and culture which seeds violence against women.

     

    Following its debut in Great Britain earlier this year, and presentations at festivals and conferences throughout the world,India’s Daughter has become a source of considerable controversy, with some advocates calling it essential viewing and a film that can spark change for women in India and worldwide, while others criticise it for giving a megaphone to the rapists’ point of view, for bringing shame upon India, ignoring the Indian women’s movement, and violating the rights of both the victim and the accused. For bearing witness to the truth about rape in global society Udwin was honored as a New York Times 2015 Woman of Impact, and won the prestigious Anna Lindh Human Rights Award for her groundbreaking work in advancing the rights of women.

     

    India’s Daughter is directed and produced by Udwin. Co-producer is Dibang and associate producers are Riddhi Jha and Frieda Pinto. Executive Producer is Nick Fraser. Editor is Anuradha Singh with original music by Krsna. Sound Designer is Resul Pookutty, CAS MPSE and story editor is Rob Ritchie. Shot on location in Delhi, India.

  • Ang Lee to direct ‘Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk’ for TriStar & Studio 8

    Ang Lee to direct ‘Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk’ for TriStar & Studio 8

    MUMBAI: Jeff Robinov’s Fosun-backed Studio 8, together with Chinese distribution company Bona Film Group, will partner with Tom Rothman’s TriStar and Film4 on the adaptation of Ben Fountain’s acclaimed novel Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, to be directed by three-time Oscar-winner Ang Lee.

     

    The deal brings together several members of the family of companies at Sony Pictures, which will distribute the film worldwide, except for Greater China, which Bona Film Group Ltd will handle. Film 4 will have UK free television.

     

    The film is now set for start of principal photography in mid-April and casting is underway.

     

    In the film, Bravo Company, and 19-year-old private Billy Lynn, survive a harrowing Iraq battle that is captured by news cameras. They are brought home by the US administration for a promotional tour, culminating at the spectacular halftime show of a Thanksgiving Day football game, all while facing an imminent return to the war. Almost the entire movie takes place during the day of the game, with flashes back to the underlying events and Billy’s heroism.

     

    The film will explore new methods, both technological and artistic, with the goal of further engaging the audience. Lee will use the Sony F65 camera shooting in native 3D, high resolution, and with an ultra-high frame rate to create a different cinematic syntax in service of the story. He envisions creating a new way for audiences to experience drama, including the heightened sensation that soldiers really feel on the battlefield and on the home front.

     

    Rothman said, “Ang is pushing the envelope even beyond what we achieved in Life of Pi. Innovation is key to getting audiences out to cinemas now, but such advances often take a brave village. I have long admired Jeff personally and have great respect for Studio 8 and Bona. It’s a neat fit as we are all in the business of trying to do cool things for Sony, not to mention we park right next to each other.”

     

    Robinov added, “Ang Lee’s vision for this remarkable story is incredibly exciting to all of the partners involved and perfectly captures the types of filmmaker-driven movies we want to make at Studio 8. We are thankful that Tom Rothman included us in this fantastic project and are looking forward to working on this together.”

     

    Bona founder, chairman and CEO Yu Dong said, “Since last year, we’ve been working closely with our strategic partner Fosun to explore their resources in the entertainment industry as we roll out our international strategy to grow a significant presence in Hollywood. Having the opportunity to work on Ang Lee’s next film and being the only partner in China speaks to our strong film production and distribution capabilities, as well as marks a very important first step for Bona to gain international recognition. We look forward to participating in more Hollywood mainstream films while at the same time bringing high-quality foreign films to the domestic market.”

     

    Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk will be produced by Marc Platt, Ink Factory’s Stephen Cornwell, Rhodri Thomas and Simon Cornwell, and Ang Lee. The film is being made in association with Film4, which developed the original draft of the script with Simon Beaufoy. The current screenplay revisions are by Jean-Christophe Castelli.

     

    Studio 8, based in Culver City, California on the SPE lot, is funded in partnership with the Chinese investment management firm Fosun Group and with SPE which will distribute up to six films worldwide annually. Studio 8 has secured 1 billion in financing.

  • Suraj Sharma joins crew of ‘Homeland’ series

    Suraj Sharma joins crew of ‘Homeland’ series

    NEW DELHI: Actor Suraj Sharma, who made an impact worldwide with ‘The Life of Pi’, has joined season four of the hit show series ‘Homeland’ which will be aired on Star World Premiere, along with its broadcast in America.

     

    Apart from Sharma, the fourth season of the drama series has two new cast members – Laila Robins (Bored To Death, In Treatment) and Golden Globe® nominee Corey Stoll (House of Cards).

     

    Corey Stoll will play the CIA chief of station in Pakistan and Laila Robins as the American Ambassador to Pakistan.

     

    ”I miss Danesy! I miss her! They’ll be starting up again now,” said the British actor, Damian Lewis and revealed how much he misses his Homeland co-star Claire Danes. The cast of the hit Emmy award winning show is currently in Cape Town.

     

    He also revealed that he almost did not join the show as Nicholas Brody. “I was very reluctant to do to another TV show. In fact, this was sent to me by my American agent. He just said, ‘Just read this one,’” Lewis recalls. His agent told him: “Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa are involved, they ran ’24’ for the last five or six seasons. Claire Danes is doing it, Mandy Patinkin is on board. This is the one that everyone’s talking about. Just read it.

     

    “I very nearly did not do it, for personal reasons,” Lewis admited. “But there were just too many compelling reasons to do it, so I did and I’m extremely happy.”

  • Europe’s Largest South Asian Film Event is Back!

    Europe’s Largest South Asian Film Event is Back!

    MUMBAI: Executive produced by actor Emma Thompson, Sold will be the red carpet European Premiere opening night film of the Fifth annual London INDIAN Film Festival (July 10-17). This film is a powerful, survival against the odds tale about a young Nepali girl who is trafficked to Kolkata, India. Gillian Anderson stars with a great Indian and Nepali ensemble cast including Seema Biswas (Bandit Queen). Central highlights of the festival will be the UK Premiere of the true story Million Dollar Arm, from The Walt Disney Company, starring Jon Hamm (Mad Men) and Suraj Sharma (Life of Pi). Bollywood’s hottest actor Farhan Akhtar and South Indian cinematography supremo Santosh Sivan will be giving rare screen talks at the BFI Southbank. Closing the festival will be the World Premiere of Hemalkasa, an homage to the revolutionary human rights leader Prakash Baba Amte, starring Bollywood hero Nana Patekar. Many other special guests are expected to a packed week of UK first screenings.

    Now Europe’s largest platform for Indian cinema, the London Indian Film Festival returns to the Capital, in association with Pure Heaven, the British Film Institute, and official Hotel Partner Grange Hotels, celebrating the exploding movement of Indian Independent cinema and bringing to UK audiences a rare selection of cutting-edge films from some of the Indian subcontinent’s hottest independent talents. Going way beyond Bollywood, the festival presents a kaleidoscope of new films that challenge, shock, generate debate and present a more realistic view of India and the subcontinent today, in all its diversity. The festival will stretch citywide, opening in the West End at the historic Cineworld Haymarket, and continuing at BFI Southbank, Cineworld cinemas Wembley, Wood Green, Wandsworth and O2 in Royal Greenwich and ICA near the Pall Mall, so there is a screening near you.

    The first weekend of this high-impact festival launches with Sold, on 10th July which explores the controversial theme of child trafficking; one school girl’s battle against the odds and the dangerous journey to liberate her from the Kolkata mafia; expect a glamorous line up of celebs to follow X Files and The Fall actress Gillian Anderson down the red carpet.

    On 12th July Rotterdam Film Festival headliner Qissa: Tale of a Lonely Ghost, has its UK Premiere, Irrfan Khan (Slumdog Millionaire, Life of Pi) plays a rural Punjabi father hell bent on having a son and heir, no matter what the consequences. Apur Panchali, based on a true-life story, is an emotionally charged homage to Satyajit Ray’s impoverished child character Apu and the real-life person who played one of the most famous child roles in world cinema. It screens on 13th July. By contrast Slamdance audience winner Hank and Asha explores a new generation of trans-global online romance, at ICA and Cineworlds across London. The festival’s Central Gala is the inspirational true story Million Dollar Arm that follows the uplifting journey of two Indian boys whose lives are transformed by a national TV contest and against the odds end up going to the US to train to become major sports stars.

     

    As well as films in the Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam languages, and UK/Pakistani film Anima State, in Urdu, the festival previews its first Bangladesh based film Shongram (Struggle) directed by Munsur Ali. In terms of special talks, India’s most celebrated cinematographer and acclaimed director Santosh Sivan gives a unique Masterclass at BFI Southbank, 11th July. The multi-talented singer, actor and director Farhan Akhtar rocks into town on 15th July and offers an insight on his high-octane career so far, including his iconic recent role as muscle rippling athletics hero Milkha Singh in Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. Expect lots of female fans! Bollywood icon Nana Patekar stars in the festival’s uplifting closing World Premiere of Hemalkasa. Directed by Samruddhi Porey it’s guaranteed to make you cry and smile at the same time.

    London Indian Film Festival also includes industry events at BAFTA, exploring UK and Indian subcontinent co-productions. The winner of the annual Satyajit Ray Short Film Competition will be announced at the end of the festival, with short-listed contenders battling it out at the ICA on 15th July. We are delighted to announce that our Major Sponsors this year will include Queen’s Award for Enterprise International Trade winner Sunmark Ltd, producers of Pure Heaven brand and founding sponsor Grange Hotels. The festival is also grant funded for by the BFI Film Festival Fund.

    Emma Thompson comments: “It is wonderful to have our film premiered at London Indian Film Festival, to raise awareness of child-trafficking, which is an issue close to my heart and is shockingly on the increase world-wide. We hope that this film will make people think and highlight the support for key charities such as The Helen Bamber Foundation and others working in this difficult area in India, Nepal and elsewhere”.
    Says Farhan Akhtar: “At its heart, Cinema is about sharing ones culture with the world. Be it on screen or in representation of ones work. I look forward to sharing my experiences, memories and motivations.”

    Cary Rajinder Sawhney, Festival Director comments: “We are delighted that the festival is now firmly established on the London and international scene after five amazing years. If you want to find out more about South Asian cinema, come to London and soak yourself in a week of magnificent, world class cinema”.

  • A.R. Rahman gives music for ‘Million Dollar Arm’

    A.R. Rahman gives music for ‘Million Dollar Arm’

    NEW DELHI: Suraj Sharma, who played the young man stranded on a raft with the tiger in Ang Lee’s ‘Life of Pi,’ and Madhur Mittal who portrayed Salim in the best Oscar winning movie ‘Slumdog Millionaire,’ along with actor Jon Hamm feature in the new Disney film ‘Million Dollar Arm’ being released this weekend in the United States.

     

    With its release last Friday, ‘Million Dollar Arm’ clashed with the giant ‘Godzilla’ remake distributed by Warner Bros.

     

    The film has been directed by Craig Gillespie from a screenplay written by Tom McCarthy. The film is based on the true story of baseball pitchers Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel who were discovered by sports agent J.B. Bernstein after winning a reality show competition. The film also stars Bill Paxton as pitching coach Tom House, Alan Arkin and Lake Bell. The film’s music is composed by A.R. Rahman. The movie is produced by Joe Roth, Mark Ciardi, and Gordon Gray for Walt Disney Pictures. 

     

    By the standards of the studio known for big-budget blockbusters, ‘Million Dollar Arm’ is a small film, with a budget of $25 million, a fraction of the $200 million it cost to make the soon-to-be-released ‘Maleficent’ with Angelina Jolie.

     

    But Walt Disney Studios’ executive vice president of film distribution Dave Hollis said, “We believe in great stories, both big and small, that depict values such as courage, ambition, hard work and family. ‘Million Dollar Arm’ is a great story that has those unique human themes throughout.”

     

    ‘Million Dollar Arm’ was shot partly in India. Jon Hamm – who played the ‘Mad Men’ character Don Draper – plays sports agent J B Bernstein who in a desperate bid to drum up clients goes to India to find baseball pitchers among the country’s cricket-loving sportsmen. It is a real-life story that warmed hearts over at the Walt Disney Co.

     

    The first part of ‘Million Dollar Arm’ shows a hot and chaotic Mumbai where JB struggles to get his improbable venture off the ground with a reality show. After frustrating rounds of tryouts, the American agent finds two strong arms in Rinku and Dinesh in rural India and brings them to Southern California, where they undergo training before being shown to Major League Baseball scouts.

     

    The young men find themselves struggling with the culture, the lifestyle and, most importantly, the business expectations that JB has from them. His neighbour Brenda, a doctor played by Lake Bell, works to suture the fraying relationship in time to save their chances of making it in American baseball.

     

    Despite working in conditions Hamm termed “remarkably warm and challenging,” the baseball tale with a global twist gave Hamm not only his first lead role in film but one that was decidedly more upbeat than the ad man that made him famous on television.

     

    “I love the fact that it has a family component to it and it has redemption,” said Hamm. “You leave the movie theater with a smile on your face. It’s a nice alternative to my other on-screen persona, who is a little bit darker.”

     

    Bell and Hamm, who are friends in real life, both highlighted one of the great advantages of working on a Disney film: for a change, they can send anyone in their families to see it and not have to worry about uncomfortable scenes. “It is nice to be part of a project that my sister can take her kids to,” said Hamm.

     

    Prior to ‘Million Dollar Arm,’ Hamm played an FBI agent in Ben Affleck’s 2010 crime caper ‘The Town’ and a part as the loathsome lothario in the 2011 women-driven comedy ‘Bridesmaids.’

     

    “I think you can make an argument that I was actually the star of ‘Bridesmaids,’” he joked.

     

    As he films the final episodes of ‘Mad Men’ to air next year on the AMC cable network, Hamm said he has no road map for his career post-Don Draper, although ‘Million Dollar Arm’ fit perfectly into his loose plan.

    The movie stars actors Suraj Sharma of ‘Life of Pi’ fame and Madhur Mittal of ‘Slumdog Millionaire’.

     

    “I just want to work on things I find interesting in some way and this is a perfect example of something I find interesting,” said Hamm, who happens to be a big baseball fan. 

  • Get set for festival celebrating animation and VFX

    Get set for festival celebrating animation and VFX

    MUMBAI: ABAI one if India’s primary associations supporting the digital and creative arts sectors is organising Abai Fest 2013 at the University Grounds in Mysore on the 6 and 7 December 2013. This is going to be the first ever festival screening exclusive footage from all over the world in “animation and visual effects”.

    “Computer Graphics has become part and parcel of International and local content creation in film and television. It provides the digital intermediation needed by filmmakers, directors and studios to mount bigger and bolder stories, themes and projects. Too little of how this is done has been exposed to the Indian public,” said ABAI & Country Head – Technicolor India president Biren Ghose.

    Gravity, Superman, Man of Steel, World War Z, The Croods, Epic, Skyfall, Life of Pi and many other recent releases are testimony to the fact that computer graphics (CG) in digital production is now the new norm in filmmaking.

    India is rapidly becoming a global hub for major VFX production and the domestic film industry is also adopting CG rapidly as a tool helping the director to go beyond the limits of the camera.

    “Not enough awareness and screenings of animation and VFX takes place and we want to be a ‘melting pot’ venue for fun, discussion, participation and exclusively presenting content in this part of the world. Not much ‘animation’ is seen outside of the few cartoon channels,” said Ghose.

    The festival would bring some of the world’s latest showcase featuring the best of what has been created in the recent past. Directors, producers and professionals will be at hand to present, meet, discuss and exhibit the state of the art.

    “This will help open minds, hearts and doors in animation, gaming and visual effects (VFX). Come join us in experiencing the fun and festivity,” concluded Ghose.

  • Get ready for an online adventure as Life of Pi premieres on Star Movies

    Get ready for an online adventure as Life of Pi premieres on Star Movies

    MUMBAI: It was one of the highest grossing Hollywood films in India in 2012. Now, as Life of Pi is slated for a TV premiere soon on Star Movies, the channel has come up with an innovative experiment to involve the viewers. Having acquired the telecast rights of the Oscar-winning film directed by Ang Lee, Star Movies will premiere the film on Sunday, 27 October at 1:00 pm and 9:00 pm. The channel is leaving no stone unturned to create the right buzz around the movie that will be broadcast as part of their most distinguished slot – “Hollywood Premiere”.

     

    To engage the audience well, the channel is using the interactive power of the digital medium to reach out to its audience by launching an experiential online journey based on the movie. “Most of the film has been shot in India and has Indian stars. Since we really believe that the premiere will fetch good results in the Indian market, we are planning a strategy that can pull more audience,” says Star Network (English channels) general manager Kevin Vaz, informing about an online game, “Life of I” that they are launching before the premiere of the film.

     

    The game invites viewers to experience the journey of a lifetime through the lens of Pi. The participants can log in to the game via Facebook where they have the chance to map out their own journey based on the events that transpire in the movie. The game has eight milestones. A player who crosses all the milestones becomes eligible for a trip to landmark locations where Life of Pi was shot – including Puducherry, Munnar and Taiwan, in addition to other prizes. A person who plays the entire game will also get a personalised video of their journey that will comprise a part of their Facebook journey. The video acts as a memoir of their journey as they live in real life their own version of the movie.

     

    Kevin says that the channel has taken the entire initiative to plan the trip for the winners. “We haven’t roped in travelling partners. We will be doing it on our own,” he adds.

     

    “Not just this, to create enough buzz, we have also created special videos shot with the stars of the movie that will give the audience an insight into the film’s making, with anecdotes that happened during the shooting of the film,” says Kevin, who thinks that an extra effort has to be made in order to get more audience and survive in the world of cut-throat competition. “Whenever we have made an extra effort to promote a show or a film, it has reaped good results. Case in point, the Academy Awards, which we promoted across mediums with new initiatives, gave us many viewers,” says Kevin, who thinks that very soon such efforts will be made with all big movie premieres.

  • Malaysia to get Twentieth Century Fox theme park

    Malaysia to get Twentieth Century Fox theme park

    MUMBAI: Malaysian casino operator Genting’s resort unit will build a 400 million ringgit ($125 million) Twentieth Century Fox Theme Park near the capital Kuala Lumpur.

     

    The park – to open in 2016 – will be the first Twentieth Century Fox theme park with rides and other attractions based on such blockbusters as Ice Age, Life of Pi, Alien and Night at the Museum, Resorts World Genting said in a statement.

     

    Twentieth Century Fox consumer products president Jeffrey Godsick said, “The park marked the launch of our global location based entertainment strategy”.

     

    “For the first time, audiences will soon be transported into the worlds of their favourite Twentieth Century Fox properties,” he said.

     

    Built on more than 25 acres (10 hectares), the park will feature more than 25 rides and attractions, the statement said.

     

    It replaces an older outdoor theme park, which is part of Resorts World Genting located at the peak of an area known as Genting Highlands.

     

    The resort, which also includes the country’s sole casino and has attracted more than 20 million visitors per year since 2011, is undergoing a reportedly three billion ringgit refurbishment.

     

    Muslim-majority Malaysia has banned gambling but allows non-Muslims to bet at the casino in Genting Highlands, on horse-racing and the national lottery.

     

    Asia’s first Legoland theme park opened last September in the southern Malaysian state of Johor in an economic hub across a narrow waterway from Singapore.