ITV

Tag: Madhur Bhandarkar

  • UTV’s Heroine goes on floors

    UTV’s Heroine goes on floors

    MUMBAI: The shooting of UTV Motion Pictures‘ Madhur Bhandarkar directed Kareena Kapoor-starrer Heroine got underway over the weekend.

    Heroine is an insider‘s account of a heroine on top of the movie business today. The film will have Kapoor essaying the character of a superstar in B-town and her journey.

    Expressing his happiness on the launch of the shoot, UTV Motion Pictures CEO Siddharth Roy Kapur said, “Heroine is one of the most anticipated movies of 2012 and for all of us associated with it. That means that a lot of hard work over the next few months to meet the massive audience expectations. With an excellent script, a talented director at the top of his game and a superb cast and crew, we‘re confident we‘ll be up to the challenge!”

    It may be noted that UTV and Bhandarkar are associating again after their film Fashion swept the box office and major film awards winning National Awards and Filmfares for its lead actresses Priyanka Chopra and Kangna Ranaut.

    The project also marks 10 years of Bhandarkar‘s critical and commercial success in which he made cult films and entertainers like Chandni Bar, Satta, Page 3, Corporate, Fashion and Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji.

    Bhandarkar said, “I‘m delighted that I‘m making Heroine with UTV. We had a great experience of working together during Fashion and we are taking this beautiful relationship forward. Heroine is a dream project for me about an industry in which I have lived my dreams and it will be my biggest film to date.”

    It may be noted that Arjun Rampal has been paired in the role of a superstar opposite Kareena while Randeep Hooda and Shahana Goswami play supporting roles.

  • T-Series asks Bhandarkar to direct Aashiqui remake

    T-Series asks Bhandarkar to direct Aashiqui remake

    MUMBAI: T-Series head honcho Bhushan Kumar has asked Madhur Bhandarkar to remake the 1990 made Rahul Roy-Anu Agarwal starrer Aashiqui that the production house had co-produced with Mahesh Bhatt.

    After having decided that they should remake Aashiqui, Kumar approached Bhandarkar to helm the film that has made the director go gaga over the idea.

    It is said that Bhandarkar has been asked to start on the project as soon as he completes Heroine with Kareena Kapoor.

    Averred Bhatt, “We’ve had talks with Bhushan to pick up the threads of our association that stopped in the 90s.”

  • Gautam Rajadhyaksha passes away

    Gautam Rajadhyaksha passes away

    MUMBAI: Veteran film and fashion photographer Gautam Rajadhyaksha passed away early this morning following a massive heart attack. He was 60 years old.

    Rajadhyaksha was very popular among film personalities and worked on portraits of almost all the leading stars of the Indian film industry.

    In his illustrious career as a photographer, Rajadhyaksha had clicked the biggest names of Bollywood. In fact, it was said during the ‘90s that you ain‘t anybody in Bollywood unless you have been clicked by Rajadhyaksha.

    A cousin of writer and socialite Shobha De, Rajadhyaksha was a keen collector of opera recordings and had held several talk shows on the subject. One of India‘s most celebrated portraitist, he has photographed almost all the icons of the Indian film industry.

    A classmate of actor Shabana Azmi, Rajadhyaksha left his advertising job in 1987 and took up commercial photography. He worked for De‘s magazine ‘Celebrity‘ and soon emerged as a leading celebrity photographer.

    Tweeted Madhur Bhandarkar, “Shocked to hear about the demise of best portraitist photographer Gautam Rajadhyaksha. He was a great human being and will be missed always. RIP!”

  • Madhur Bhandarkar to make sequel of Fashion

    Madhur Bhandarkar to make sequel of Fashion

    MUMBAI: Madhur Bhandarkar is making a sequel of Fashion that had Priyanka Chopra in lead role.


    Though many felt that Bhandarkar’s portrayal of the fashion world was very clichéd and showcased models and their lifestyles in a poor light, the film went on to win awards and bagged more than a dozen trophies for both Chopra and Kangna Ranaut.
     
    Both Bhandarkar and UTV head honcho Ronnie Screwala were keen to make the second part of Fashion. After a lot of head scratching, they have finally decided to launch the second part of Fashion in 2012.


    Bhandarkar will start work on the film after he finishes Heroine.

  • Percept Picture Company to be the main sponsor of Rain Dance Film Festival in UK

    Percept Picture Company to be the main sponsor of Rain Dance Film Festival in UK

    MUMBAI: Percept Picture Company (PPC) becomes India’s first motion picture company to be the prime sponsor of Raindance Film Festival 2006, to be held in UK. Percept Picture Company’s MD Shailendra Singh together with national award winning director Madhur Bhandarkar will share their insights on various aspects of the Indian Film Industry and its growing influence globally with prominent experts from the global cinema.

    PPC had joined hands with Madhur Bhandarkar to launch a 50:50 joint venture company named Madhur Bhandarkar Motion Pictures (MBMP) recently.

    As part of this exercise, two award winning films – PAGE 3 and Yahaan, both from PPC stable will be showcased at this festival.

    PPC has lined up various interactive activities during this festival. They would be exhibiting in the ‘State of The Art’ and showcasing the various past and future projects of the company.

    Interesting footage of the past work of PPC and the future films will be showcased in a gigantic audio visual screen at the venue. The prime attraction of this festival will be the showcasing of the promo of PPC and Madhur Bhandarkar’s much awaited film, Traffic Signal. PPC have also sponsored a script writing competition during the festival where the winner win a trip to Goa.

    Percept Picture Company MD Shailendra Singh added, “We couldn’t have asked for a better platform than this to associate ourselves with. Raindance film festival is a perfect window for any film maker to showcase and connect with the globe. We have selected Raindance after a detailed screening of various film festivals that happens all over the world. PPC looks forward for some interesting liaison and international business opportunities in this festival.”

    Adds an elated Mr. Madhur Bhandarkar, ” I am very excited to represent the Indian film industry and share my views and aspects of Indian film making with eminent members of the respected panel which will consist of global experts.”

    PPC will also display their recent AV campaign on Anti Piracy campaign at the festival. This Anti Piracy campaign is the beginning of a powerful movement against piracy to educate, increase awareness and awaken everybody from the producer to the director, the distributor, exhibitor, the end viewer and the accused pirates of how the epidemic of piracy is growing like a deadly virus and affecting everybody in an alarming way.

    Raindance is a prestigious film festival and since 1992 and has been well known for their objective to discover, foster and champion new talent and audiences. It has been imperative in igniting and over seeing major developments in the international film industry.

  • Filmy to launch Hollywood dubbed movie block; revamps programming

    Filmy to launch Hollywood dubbed movie block; revamps programming

    MUMBAI: Sahara One Media & Entertainment Ltd’s Hindi movie channel Filmy is entering the second half of its first year with a slew of new initiatives. One key move on the programming front would be the launch of a Hollywood dubbed movie segment.

    “We want to explore the Hollywood action movie genre for Filmy. For this, we are planning to have a dubbed movie block. Filmy will be unveiling the segment very soon and we are working on the slots. At present we are in talks with a couple of foreign players for movie acquisition,” says Filmy business head Ashutosh, while not divulging further details.

    According to market sources, Sahara is in talks with at least three international studios for acquiring the international titles. The list includes Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, the motion picture and television feature distribution company owned by The Walt Disney Company.

    This move will see Filmy joining rival channels Max and Star Gold, which are already into telecasting dubbed versions of popular Hollywood movies. However, Zee Cinema has been distancing itself from the strategy of telecasting Hollywood movies dubbed in Hindi.

    As part of the programming revamp, Filmy is also increasing the footage of its wrap-around content, which includes film-based shows and spoofs. The channel’s anchors Rokki, Lal Gulab, Lallan and Ruchi Reporter will now do more shows on the channel during the breaks.

    The decision to up the wrap-around programming was taken on the basis of an audience study Filmy conducted after completing three months, according to Filmy marketing and content head Shailesh Kapoor.

    “We have received feedback from our viewers, asking us to increase the participation of our anchors in our programming. They want to watch more of the film-based content. Accordingly, We have a new segment ‘Filmy Hot Break’, which will be of the duration of 60 to 90 seconds. Our anchors will be presenting various forms of content, based on the particular movie on air at that time, during these breaks. This segment comes in 21 movies a week, in each time slot of 10 am, 3 pm and 8 pm,” says Kapoor.

    The learnings have inspired Filmy to take a re-look at its film news programming as well. Accepting the demand for the latest film news updates, the channel has now started airing 60 second capsules of film news throughout the day, Monday to Friday. In the weekends, the channel continues telecasting its 30 minutes film news programme Aaj Ka Filmy Khabar. “The effort is to break stories and offer our viewers live updates on the happenings in the entertainment industry,” reasons Kapoor.

    The Filmy Short Film Festival contest, which is positioned as one of its big ideas of 2006, will start rolling from the third week of August. Filmy will be telecasting the shortlisted entries Monday to Friday and during the weekends, it will air some of the best entries handpicked by the jury head Madhur Bhandarkar. The channel will be announcing the final winner in September.

    On the marketing front, Filmy is following the strategy of taking its lead anchors off air and positioning amidst the public. The channel recently associated with Rakesh Roshan for his latest release Krrish and had Lallan performing in the respective theatres. Similarly, Lallan will be doing a Shahrukh act in theatres where Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna would be releasing.

  • Sahara One Motion Pictures names Sharang Sharma as business head

    Sahara One Motion Pictures names Sharang Sharma as business head

    MUMBAI: Sahara One Motion Pictures, the movie production and distribution wing of the Sahara Group, has promoted Sharang Sharma, head of acquisition, distribution and movie syndication, as business head. 

    Sharma fills the post that become vacant after COO Sandeep Bhargava quit the company earlier this month. Prior to joining Sahara One Motion Pictures, Sharma was with Sony Pictures Releasing of India Ltd. He reports in to Sahara One Media and Entertainment CEO Shantonu Aditya. 

    Sharma will oversee acquisition as well as syndication deals with both domestic as well as international channels.

    Speaking about his plans, Sharma said, “I’m looking at taking the company to newer heights and aim to make this outfit the most prolific production boutique.”

    Sharma expressed confidence that the forthcoming releases under the banner — which include Madhur Bhandarkar’s Corporate, Signal and Sandwich (starring Govinda) — would bring in more cash flow just as Hunuman and Malamaal Weekly have done in the recent past.

  • Ek Main Aur…ties up with ‘Corporate’; Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L’il Champs set to roll

    Ek Main Aur…ties up with ‘Corporate’; Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L’il Champs set to roll

    MUMBAI: Zee TV’s music talent hunt show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Ek Main Aur Ek Tu has tied up with Percept Groups P9 Integrated Pvt Ltd. to promote the film, Corporate. Director of the film Madhur Bhandarkar was a guest on the show this week.

    Meanwhile, the auditions for the next series Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L’il Champs will be held tomorrow (17 June) in Lucknow at the Ravindralaya Auditorium and in Delhi at the National Science Centre. The audition in Mumbai will be at the Russian Culture Centre on 18 June. This contest is open to children between the ages 8 to 15 years. The series is expected to go on air next month.

    As a part of the tie up with P9, Corporate will be extensively promoted on the channel. Besides this, the biggest draw of the alliance is that the film’s lead actress Bipasha Basu will be a guest at the grand finale of Ek Main Aur Ek Tu in Dubai. Kay Kay Menon, the lead actor in the film, is also expected to be present. The finale will be held on 24 June.

    Director Gajendrra Siingh said, “All along the series, we have had promotional tie ups with many Hindi films and to be associated with a director like Madhur Bhandarkar, who is known to be a trendsetter in his craft, is a privilege.”

    Zee TV vice president marketing c said, “It is a pleasure to be associated with the movie. Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Ek Main Aur Ek Tu’s performance has surpassed our expectations and at this stage, we are proud to associate ourselves with a promising movie like Corporate.”

    This week, Bhandarkar along with the film’s music director Shamir Tandon, witnessed the two final jodis, Ujjaini and Aishwarya and Banjyotsana and Sharib, perform to a live orchestra. Both left the sets impressed with the young talented jodis sing to the tune of string instruments.Says Bhandarkar, “We had lots of fun during the semi-final in Mumbai, and we look forward to seeing the participants yet again in the finals. We have an interesting surprise in store for the winners.”

    Tandon said, “It is awesome that people as young as them are getting an opportunity to showcase their talent to billions of people via television. I am envious of them.”

    P9 general manager marketing Maneesh Mathur says, “Today, a film has a very short shelf life, so marketing of a film is as important as the content of the film. Corporate will get a lot of visibility because it will be promoted across the Zee Network and Sa Re Ga Ma… will deliver higher ratings because of the celebrities. We are confident that this tie up will benefit both Zee and Sahara One Motion Pictures.”

    The finale of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Ek Main Aur Ek Tu is expected to have performances by the finalists and the ousted jodis. The winners of the contest will receive a music contract worth Rs 50 lakh, and will also receive a grand surprise from Bipasha Basu and Madhur Bhandarkar at the event.

    Today, the jodis are performing in Delhi at the Talkatora Stadium with Hariharan as the judge. The jodis will perform in Kolkatta on 18 June at the Nazrul Manch with Leslie Lewis and singer Usha Uthup as the judges. Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2005 winners Debojit and Vineet are to be the hosts at both these events respectively. The show in Delhi will be aired on 22 June and the Kolkatta show will be aired on 23 June at 10 pm.

    Viewers can watch the finale of Ek Main Aur Ek Tu on Zee TV, on Saturday, 24 June, 8 pm onwards.

  • PWC releases nominations for Idea IIFA Awards 2006

    PWC releases nominations for Idea IIFA Awards 2006

    MUMBAI: PriceWaterhouseCoopers has released the nominations for the Idea IIFA Awards 2006 as per the results of voting by the film industry. The nominations were derived from the IIFA Voting Weekend held in the first week of April.

    During the course of the week, the best talent from Indian cinema including producers, actors, film directors, music directors, scriptwriters and singers cast their votes for the Popular and Technical awards. The nominations for the Popular Awards are now open for public voting, using the globally accessible www.msn.com/iifa and www.indya.com platforms. The voting process is monitored and audited by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, who are also the audit firm for the Oscars, informs an official release.

    The nominees for the best picture are Black, Bunty aur Babli, Iqbal, No Entry, Page 3 and Parineeta. In the best director category, Madhur Bhandarkar, Nagesh Kukunoor, Pradeep Sarkar, Prakash Jha and Sanjay Leela Bhansali have made it to the final list.

    In the best actor category, the nominees are Amitabh Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan and Shah Rukh Khan. In the actress category, the final nominee list includes Konkana Sen Sharma, Preity Zinta, Rani Mukherjee and Vidya Balan.

    This year’s IIFA Awards ceremony will be held on 17 June in Dubai.

  • Sinha moves to Percept Picture Co Motion Pics; Sand to head PPC TV

    Sinha moves to Percept Picture Co Motion Pics; Sand to head PPC TV

    MUMBAI: Percept Picture Company (PPC) business head – television Akhauri Sinha has moved to the company’s Motion Pictures division and will be jointly heading it as business head with current PPC Motion Pictures business head Chitra S.

    Confirming the same to Indiantelevision.com, Sinha said, “I will now be heading the feature films’ division of PPC with Chitra. It was a great experience working in the television area but now I am quite excited about the new journey.”

    The change in portfolio came about last week.
    According to reliable industry sources, Salil Sand will be stepping into Sinha’s shoes as the business head of PPC’s television division. Sand is currently involved with Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahi as its creative head.

    When queried on the reason for having two business heads for one division, Sinha said, “We have many projects lined up in 2006 – 2007 and hence it made sense to divide the responsibilities.”

    In the pipeline from PPC Motion Pictures this year are Jai Santoshi Maa and Madhur Bhandarkar’s Corporate. “It is a bit too early to talk about the other projects,” he added.

    Prior to joining PPC, Sinha was general manager television at UTV and also has been associated with UTV’s animation division.