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  • Top honours at Haryana fest for film on kite flying

    Top honours at Haryana fest for film on kite flying

    MUMBAI: Filmmaker Gitanjali Sinha’s Yeh Khula Aasmaan has received top honours at the Haryana Film Festival that ended recently.

    Starring Raghubir Yadav and Yashpal Sharma, the film revolves around a kid learning how to soar again like a kite, notwithstanding his academic failures.

    Yeh Khula Aasman revolves around Avinash, a 12th standard student staying alone in a metro city, who does not do too well in his exams. His career-oriented parents compromise on their parenthood responsibilities to take up permanent residence in London, leaving Avinash to fend for himself in an emotional vacuum.

    Unable to take peer and parental pressure to excel in studies and bereft of any true friends, Avinash becomes lonely and hence depressed. He decides to escape his routine and visit his grandfather who has been staying alone in a small town in North India.

    What happens when Dadu realises the fragile mental state of Avinash forms the crux of the film.

    In short, the film is a relationship-based motivational film that touches the audience of all ages with specific message to both the youth and their parents.

  • Subhash Ghai opens 10th Third Eye Asian Film Festival

    Subhash Ghai opens 10th Third Eye Asian Film Festival

    MUMBAI: Filmmaker Subhash Ghai inaugurated the 10th Third Eye Asian Film Festival yesterday at the Ravindra Natya Mandir Complex, Prabhadevi, Mumbai.

    The opening ceremony saw the ‘Asian Film Culture Award‘ bestowed on noted Afghani filmmaker Siddiq Barmak. Barmak‘s film Osama will be screened tonight.

    The award presentation was followed by the screening of the festival‘s opening Film, 11 Flowers, directed by Chinese director Xioanshuai Wang.

    Some of the other important films to be screened at the festival are Nuri Bilge Ceylan‘s Distant, Italo Spinelli‘s Gangor, Rajesh Pinjani‘s Babu Band Bajaa and Asghar Farhadi‘s A Separation. Iranian filmmaker Monir Qeidi‘s On the Way to Villa will also be screened at the Festival.

    The week-long festival has been dedicated to Dev Anand who passed away in London on 3 December. Incidentally, he had inaugurated the first edition of the festival in 2002.

    The festival will close on 29 December with the screening of Ketan Mehta‘s as yet unreleased film Rang Rasiya.

  • Dev Anand will be cremated in London

    Dev Anand will be cremated in London

    MUMBAI: It has been finally confirmed that the cremation of the country‘s evergreen star, Dev Anand, will be held in London.

    Confirming the same, the family said in a statement, “We are now in a position to confirm that a cremation ceremony will be taking place in London followed by a memorial gathering and tribute in the UK Capital.

    “In due course, Mr Anand‘s ashes will be taken back to India, where a major ceremony of remembrance will be held in Mumbai.”

    Thanking the veteran‘s fans they said, “The family (of Dev Anand) is moved and touched by the outpouring of public sympathy and love emanating from India, South Asia and the rest of the world following the sad news of his passing away.

    Accordingly, they would like to express their sincere gratitude to everyone for their kind words and moral support. These have been of tremendous comfort and support to them throughout this very difficult period.”

    The family is waiting for the other relatives to arrive from India and also for the formal release of the late actor‘s body in accordance with due procedure. Only after that will the cremation date be announced.

    Dev Anand died after a cardiac arrest in London on Sunday.

  • Jacko doc Murray convicted for pop star’s murder

    Jacko doc Murray convicted for pop star’s murder

    MUMBAI: Dr Conrad Murray, Michael Jackson‘s doctor has been convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the pop star‘s death for supplying an insomnia-plagued Jackson with a powerful operating-room anesthetic to help him sleep as he rehearsed for his big comeback. He was handcuffed and immediately led off to jail without bail to await sentencing on
    November 29.

    The verdict marked the latest chapter of the 2009 drug-overdose death of the King of Pop as he was about to mount a series of heavily promoted concerts in London that he hoped would turn his career around after a slide prompted by child-molestation allegations and years of bizarre behavior.

    However, Defense attorney Ed Chernoff said that the verdict was a disappointment and would be appealed.

    Jackson‘s death marked the end of an incredible rise to fame from his humble beginnings in Gary, Ind. The tiny powerhouse singer and dancer with the magnetic smile enchanted audiences and elevated the Jackson Five to the top of the pop music world.

  • Isabelle Huppert wins BBC Four World Cinema award

    Isabelle Huppert wins BBC Four World Cinema award

    MUMBAI: UK pubcaster the BBC‘s channel BBC Four has announced that actor Isabelle Huppert is to be the recipient of the World Cinema Achievement Award at the eighth BBC Four World Cinema Awards, celebrating the best of international film-making and highlighting the channel‘s commitment to international cinema.

    Huppert is famous for fearlessly embracing challenging roles – most notably in ‘The Piano Teacher‘. Huppert has worked with numerous great directors such as Chabrol, Godard, Haneke and Tavernier.

    BBC Arts commissioning editor Mark Bell said, “It is a privilege to welcome the extraordinary Isabelle Huppert to this year‘s awards. She has delivered outstanding performances through her long career, and we are honoured that she has accepted this year‘s Achievement Award.”

    Huppert will receive her award at a special BBC Four television ceremony, presented by Jonathan Ross on 15 November at the BFI Southbank in London, to be aired on 20 November.

    BBC Four will also showcase Isabelle Huppert‘s talents by broadcasting her film ‘White Material‘ immediately after the World Cinema Awards in November.

  • Persistence Resistance docufest goes to London

    Persistence Resistance docufest goes to London

    NEW DELHI: Documentaries from India, Banglaesh and the United kingdom will be screened in ‘Persistence Resistance 2011: Documentary Practices in India’, to be held in London from 1 to 8 November.


    Organised by the Delhi-based Magic Lantern Foundation, the Festival will start with a focus on Indian documentary practice to create a more informed ground to explore its specific histories, styles and provocations. The aim is to explore further political and aesthetic affiliations across geographical locations and disciplines, according to the Foundation.


    Filmmakers like Arun Khopkar, Deepa Dhanraj, Rahul Roy, Rajula and Shah Saba Dewan, from India, Yasmine Kabir from Bangladesh, as well as UK based filmmakers John Wyver, Mairead McClean, Mao Mollona, Margaret Dickinson and Simon Chambers will feature their films. They will be joined by, and be in conversations with, Alisa Lebow, Alpa Shah, Guilia Battaglia, Laura Bear, Lotte Hoek, Lucia King, Nicole Wolf, Partha Mitter, Radha D’Souza, Ravi Vasudevan, Ros Gray, Rosie Thomas, Stephen Hughes, Stewart Motha and Ziba Mir Hosseini.


    The documentaries include Something Like a War by Deepa Dhanraj, Figures of Thought by Arun Khopkar and The Other Song by Saba Dewan.


    There will be interactive sessions on ‘Indian Arts on Films’, ‘Documentary as Witnessing the Judiciary’, ‘Movements of everyday political/aesthetic practice – emergencies, revolutions and the paradoxes of involvement’, ‘Dialogues in Movement, Poetry and Song’, ‘Global Migrations, Labour and Activism’, ‘Urban Dreams: Public Cultures, Sexuality and Pleasure’ among others.


    According to Gargi Sen who organises this festival every year in Delhi, Persistence Resistance in London would like to widen the spectrum of conversations between those films and their audiences, between filmmakers and viewers through a series of constructed conversations between academics and practitioners. It introduces archival and very recent works that have not been shown in London previously.


    The festival is a collaborative effort between Magic Lantern and five academic institutions – Goldsmiths, London School of Economics, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of Westminster and Brunel University.

  • Meirelles‘ 360 to have world premiere at London Film fest

    Meirelles‘ 360 to have world premiere at London Film fest

    MUMBAI: The 55th BFI London Film Festival will open with the European premiere of Fernando Meirelles‘ film 360 on 12 October.

    The film is a modern and stylish kaleidoscope of interconnected love and relationships linking characters from different cities and countries in a vivid, suspenseful and deeply moving tale of romantic life in the 21st century.

    From a simple decision made by one man – to remain faithful to his wife – springs a series of consequences. From uplifting, beautiful and romantic moments through to desperate, confused and conflicted interludes, each protagonist in 360 has their own vivid, entertaining, funny, tragic narrative as their stories entwine across the globe, states an official press release of the festival.

    Starting in Vienna, the film beautifully weaves through Paris, London, Bratislava, Rio, Denver and Phoenix into a single, mesmerizing narrative.

    Incidentally, the directors last offering The Constant Gardener opened the BFI London Film Festival in 2005.
    The festival will run from 12 to 27 October.

  • CNBC ropes in HSBC as sponsor for on-air and online activity

    CNBC ropes in HSBC as sponsor for on-air and online activity

    NEW DELHI: Business news channel CNBC has announced that it has signed HSBC bank as sponsor for the channel.

    As per the deal, HSBC will sponsor on-air and online activity across CNBC in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific.

    As reported by UK-based Media Week, the deal was negotiated through the Exchange and Invention teams at Mindshare Worldwide, London.

    HSBC will sponsor 60-second vignettes based around a new 13-part series Alternative Investing, wherein the focus will be at non-traditional investments.

    Additionally, bank-sponsored hotboards will air around CNBC’s flagship programme, Squawk Box Europe.

    The deal also covers sponsoring of a dedicated programme page for Alternative Investing on CNBC.com, which will include episodes of the programme, relevant market data and a guide to different types of alternative investments. This page will be supported by 30-second promos running on CNBC.

    In Europe, CNBC claims a reach of 110 million homes, 1,400 banks and financial institutions, and hotels.

  • Al Jazeera English news show wins award at Monte Carlo TV Fest

    Al Jazeera English news show wins award at Monte Carlo TV Fest

    MUMBAI: Al Jazeera English (AJE) has won the award for ‘Best 24 Hour News Program’ at the 48th Monte Carlo Television Festival.

    The channel beats entries from BBC News, Sky News, Lisboa TV and the Phoenix Satellite Television Company.

    Among the specific reports highlighted at the festival were Nour Odeh’s reports from Gaza, where she brought the suffering of the Gazan people, when she was caught in the middle of a violent street battle between Hamas and Fatah. Following the broadcast of the fighting on AJE, both sides in the Gaza battles agreed to a ceasefire.

    In addition to ‘Best 24 Hour News Program’, AJE received nominations in every news category at the awards show, including ‘Best TV Item’ for James Bays’ Taliban Embedded, which was awarded a second place prize, and ‘Best News Documentary’ for Tony Birtley’s Inside Myanmar – The Crackdown.

    AJE’s MD Tony Burman said, ” For me, the award demonstrates the commitment of AJE’s staff to giving a voice to the voiceless, of telling vital stories that are not on the agenda of the western news networks.”

    AJE was launched in November 2006 with broadcast centers in Kuala Lumpur, Doha, London and Washington DC.

  • Bachchan to announce IIFA Weekend at House of Commons

    Bachchan to announce IIFA Weekend at House of Commons

    MUMBAI: On Wednesday 8 November, the House of Commons will play host to the official announcement of the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Weekend and the IDEA IIFA Awards in Yorkshire in June 2007.

    IIFA’s Brand Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan will be speaking at the reception alongside dignitaries, including Secretary of State, Tessa Jowell, Leader of the House, Jack Straw, and the High Commissioner of India to the UK, Kamlesh Sharma, to celebrate the return of the IIFA Weekend to the UK, informs an official release.

    As the leading location for investment in Europe, dignitaries will be speaking about the economic benefit for both national and regional business partnerships with India. One of the key members of the Indian delegation is Sanjeev Aga, president of Birla Nuevo, one of India’s leading investors in Britain. Additionally, Judith Donovan, chairperson for the Yorkshire Tourism Board and Tom Riordan from Yorkshire Forward will be announcing details of IIFA Weekend and the anticipated impact for Yorkshire business and tourism, the release adds.

    Speaking about the launch of the Idea IIFA Awards, Idea Cellular MD Sanjeev Aga says, “After the phenomenal success of the Idea IIFA Awards in Dubai, Idea is eagerly looking forward to the Idea IIFA Awards in Yorkshire. IIFA offers us the best platform to demonstrate the true essence of mobile and entertainment convergence. With IDEA IIFA, our privileged customer will have access to specially created merchandise, contests, video and MMS downloads and several other value added services. Only Idea can and will take you there.”

    Bachchan, who was voted BBC’s Superstar of the Millennium in 2000 pushing behind Hollywood’s biggest stars and heartthrobs, will focus on the rising popularity of Indian cinema as a major global business, with an estimated global audience for the IIFA Awards in 2007 of over 480 million.

    Now in its eighth year, the IIFA Weekend has previously visited Amsterdam, Dubai, Singapore, London, Malaysia and South Africa. As a direct consequence of the IIFA celebrations, tourism and business investment to each of these destinations has increased tremendously, making a major impact. Yorkshire was successful in its bid to attract the event organizers attention and the bid presentation was supported by prime minister Tony Blair.

    The House of Commons launch event will be followed by a five-city launch the next day in the company of the Mayors of York, Hull, Leeds, Sheffield and Bradford, who will flag off the IIFA Weekend announcement along with Mr. Amitabh Bachchan. The five-city launch will be held at the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television (NMPFT), Bradford.

    Previous IIFA Weekend events have hosted popular celebrities including Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, Shekhar Kapur, Ashok Amritraj, Jean Claude Van Damme, Bo Derek, Aishwarya Rai, Shah Rukh Khan and others. IIFA Weekend celebrations, which were launched at the Millennium Dome in 2000, have travelled across South Africa, Malaysia, Singapore, Amsterdam and Dubai. IIFA Weekend Yorkshire marks the return of the celebration which has already become one of the world’s most-watched and sought after event.