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Tag: Preity Zinta

  • Isabelle Adjani in Mumbai to shoot for Preity Zinta film

    Isabelle Adjani in Mumbai to shoot for Preity Zinta film

    MUMBAI: Two-time Academy award nominee and winner of best actress at the Cannes and Berlin film festivals, Isabelle Adjani, is in Mumbai to shoot her first Hindi film, Preity Zinta‘s Ishkq in Paris.

    It is said that it wasn‘t easy getting an actress of such international repute on board. However, with Zinta around, director Prem Raj‘s international connections came in handy. It took him a few visits to France to convince Adjani, who was eventually impressed with the script and characterisation.

    Adjani, it is said, doesn‘t really have an extended cameo but there are quite a few powerful scenes where Adjani and Zinta share the same frame.

    Ishkq in Paris, a passionate love story set against the backdrop of Paris‘ high-flying fashion world, is scheduled for a September release.

  • Preity Zinta’s Ishkq In Paris to release on 21 September

    Preity Zinta’s Ishkq In Paris to release on 21 September

    MUMBAI: Preity Zinta‘s debut film as a producer Ishkq In Paris is set to hit the silver screen on 21 September.

    Zinta‘s comeback film is apparently inspired from a Hollywood love story, Before Sunrise.

    The romantic drama that released in 1995 is about a young American man and French woman who meet on a train in Europe, and wind up spending one romantic evening together in Vienna. Unfortunately, both know that this will probably be their only night together.

    Directed by filmmaker Prem Raj, ‘Ishkq In Paris‘ stars French actress Isabelle Adjani and Arjun Rampal in the lead roles. Salman Khan plays a cameo in the film.

    Zinta was last seen on the big screen in 2009 in a cameo performance in Salman Khan starrer Main Aurr Mrs Khanna.

  • Releases in July and Sepember

    Releases in July and Sepember

    MUMBAI: Two months of this year, July and September, would be unique in their own way. While July, termed as a lucrative month, will have releases of four big Bollywood films, the month will see releases of three big Hollywood films. September, on the other will release three big women centric films.

    The Hollywood invasion in July starts with Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Amazing Spider-Man 3D, which releases on 3 July. Next in line is Fox Star Studios’s Ice Age 4: Continental Drift on 13 July and Warner Bros’s Dark Knight Rises on 20 July. All these Hollywood movies are likely to be released in 400-500 screens in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu languages, going by what was done when Titanic 3D released on 6 April.

    Bollywood has lined up big releases that month. The list includes Golmaal remake Bol Bachchan on 3 July, UTV Motion Pictures’ Barfee and Deepika Padukone starrer Cocktail (both 13 July) and U, Me aur Mein on 27 July.

    September, in contrast, will see three major releases of three top actresses. The process may have been triggered by successes of women centric films like Kahaani, The Dirty Picture and Ishqiya.

    The first film to release would be UTV and Madhur Bhandarkar’s Heroine. The film revolves around female protagonist Kareena Kapoor, a struggler who wants to make it big in Bollywood. Her struggle and rise to stardom take the plot forward. The film looks set for box office as well as critical acclaim because of Bhandarkar’s prophecy in handling women centric scripts.

    The film following next is Preity Zinta’s Ishk In Paris. The film features Zinta in a role of a strong headed lady who falls in love with a man but then how they handle complications of their lives and love in urban settings of Paris form the rest part of the story. The film seems to be an urban romantic drama that can work at box office.

    And the last of the lot is Viacom18’s Rani Mukerji, Prithviraj-starrer Aiyya. The film is a quirky love story between a Marathi girl and a Tamil boy. The central theme of the film is about a woman who finds a man desirable because he smells good. The film is expected to do well at the box office.

  • Har Pal to release in June

    Har Pal to release in June

    MUMBAI: Jahnu Barua‘s much delayed film Har Pal is being readied for release in June.

    Starring Shiney Ahuja and Preity Zinta, the film ran into problems when Ahuja was arrested on allegations of sexual harassment. His release on bail is said to have prompted producers to try and release the film again.

    Confirming the same, Barua said, “Things have started settling down now. It will release by June next year. Am starting two more films soon. I will begin shooting for one of them next month. I can‘t say much about the films so early, but both are love stories.”

    Amitabh Bachchan was supposed to play Zinta‘s father in the film but later when he opted out due to date problems, the vetearan actor was subsequently replaced by Dharmendra after Zinta suggested his name.

    Har Pal also stars Eesha Koppikkar. 

  • Preity Zinta honoured at Venice fest

    Preity Zinta honoured at Venice fest

    MUMBAI: Preity Zinta was honoured at the 68th Venice Film Festival yesterday for bringing cultural harmony through her work. She was awarded the World Diamond Group Platinum Award for Peoples‘ Friendship on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Kineo Diamanti al Cinema event at the Festival.

    She was felicitated with a white olive tree, with its tree trunk sculpted off a block of Carrara hand-carved marble, and its branches and leaves fashioned out of 3,333 grams of platinum and 3,003 diamonds – 2,503 marquise cut and 500 new 82 facets round cut – adding to a total of 366 carats.

    With this, Preity becomes the only Indian actor to have been presented this award.

    On the other hand, veteran Al Pacino has also been honoured at the Venice Film Festival. He was awarded the Jaeger Lecoultre Glory to the Filmmaker Award. Pacino is in Venice to promote his new directorial project Wilde Salome, a part-documentary about writer-poet Oscar Wilde and part-movie adaptation of his play Salome.

    Other guests who were present at the event included Oscar-winning actor Kate Winslet and singer Madonna.

  • ‘Sponsorship rates have reduced by 20 per cent’ : Mohit Burman – Kings XI Punjab co-owner

    ‘Sponsorship rates have reduced by 20 per cent’ : Mohit Burman – Kings XI Punjab co-owner

    Kings XI Punjab, the Mohali team for Indian Premier League (IPL), was bought for $76 million by Bombay Dyeing deputy MD Ness Wadia, actress Preity Zinta, Dabur India director Mohit Burman and Apeejay Surrendra Group chairman Karan Paul.

     

    The four shareholders together formed KPH Dream Cricket Private Limited, the holding company of Kings XI Punjab.

     

    Kings XI Punjab is eyeing sponsorship revenues while cutting down on marketing expenses.

     

    In an interview with Anushree Bhattacharyya, Burman talks about how the economic downturn is going to upset the revenue targets of the team franchisees.

     

    Excerpts:

    Since Kings XI Punjab did not go for three-year sponsorship deals, how difficult has it been to retain them for the second IPL edition?
    Spice Telecom is very much on board as our title sponsor. We are in the final stage of negotiations with Coca-Cola as our pouring partner. Kotak, Provogue and 9X, however, are not there this time.

     

    As for new deals this year, we have signed up with United Spirits while Reebok is our apparel sponsor. We will be closing two more deals in the next four to five days. Overall, we are looking at signing eight to nine sponsors this year.

    Has the downturn in the economy forced sponsorship rates to fall?
    The whole world has changed and overall sponsorship rates have reduced by 20 per cent. We thought we were better off than those team franchisees who had gone in for three-year sponsorship deals. We felt we would be able to command higher sponsorship rates after the build-up from the first IPL tournament. But amid the economic downturn, the teams who signed three-year deals seem to be the smarter ones.

    Does this mean that the revenue targets have gone awry?
    Since the tournament went off on a high note last year, we were under the impression that we would break even this year. However, looking at the present situation, I don’t think that franchisees will be able to break even before 2012. Most franchisees will not be able to make a profit this year, although the tournament will continue to be a success.

     

    The fact that the IPL is held after a long gap doesn’t help matters. Globally, leagues are played for eight to nine months with a short break, providing sponsors a continuous flow of events.

    Where do you see most of your revenues coming from?
    We hope to make more from our sponsorships, ticket sales and merchandising. This should account for over 60 per cent of our total revenues this year, unlike in the inaugural edition where the maximum came from the central pool. We also hope to get our act right on the ticketing sales front this year.

    Do you plan to decrease the ticket prices to pack more audiences into the stadium?
    We already have a pricing strategy. The ticket prices range between Rs 150 to Rs 6000, addressing different segments of audiences. But this year we are going to be very strict in terms of ensuring that people who wish to watch the matches do pay for the tickets.

    Have you lined up your licensing and merchandising strategies?
    For apparel licensing, we have already tied up with Reebok. We will be soon announcing our partner for making accessories like key chain, mugs, etc.

    Have you trimmed your marketing expense this year?
    We are bringing down our marketing cost to Rs 35 million, from Rs 50 million last year. The initial costs in building up a brand are obviously higher. For example, we made a video with Daler Mehndi last year – and that obviously increased our marketing budget. We don’t see such a requirement for making another video this year.
    ‘Since the tournament went off on a high note last year, we were under the impression that we would break even this year. However, looking at the present situation, I don’t think that franchisees will be able to break even before 2012‘

    What role will Preity Zinta play to promote the franchisee this year?
    We have already started our marketing initiatives through the King XI Punjab Cup. We had also sponsored the Manali winter festival in Punjab. This year we will be concentrating more on ground level activities in our catchment areas.

     

    Preity Zinta is one of the owners and she is welcome to play whatever role she desires. She has already contributed a lot last year and as the tournament gets closer, I am sure she will help us in our marketing activities.

    What was the idea behind organising the Kings XI Punjab Cup?
    The idea is to reach out to the people of our catchment areas which include Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, etc. At the same time, we want to promote the game of cricket at the grass root level. Since we have a coach and some of the best players from the world, we want to nurture young talent.

    A few franchises have partnered with TV channels in search of cheer leaders. What are your plans?
    We have got plans, but at this moment we are really concentrating on ground activities. Our idea is that instead of doing national hoity-toity shows on TV, we should concentrate on building the brand in our own locality. We believe that if we really want to make our franchise work, then we need to get closer to our fans and get them more involved with the team.

    Are you looking at beginning a cricket academy as Ness Wadia said that the franchisee job is to acquire and groom new players?
    We are setting up an academy and for that we have already got an academy coach. We should be able to roll out the academy a few weeks before the tournament.

    Will Brett Lee’s injury affect your team’s performance?
    I believe Lee will be fit to play for the tournament. We have, however, crafted a team keeping in mind the fact that Lee may not be able to play. Which is why we added West Indian pacer Jerome Taylor and Ravi Bopara.
    You got England’s Ravi Bopara for $450,000, three times his starting price of $150,000. Would you call this an intelligent investment, looking at the present market scenario?
    Kolkata Knight Riders bought Mortaza at a very high rate. So was that an intelligent investment? Every team has to decide on their player investments, keeping many things in mind. While it is true that Bopara was expensive, it is a fact that we needed an all-rounder. And there were two other franchisees who were bidding for him. I believe Bopara would have gone for higher if other franchisees had not run out of money.
    With the dates of the Lok Sabha polls coinciding with some of the IPL matches, how would franchisees be impacted if venues were changed?
    The IPL committee had asked the franchisees to create a back-up plan. Franchisees have an option to play in one or two grounds in the nearby areas. Rescheduling, thus, will not affect the plans of the franchisees.

  • Watch NDTV’s Jai Jawan with Preity Zinta on Republic Day

    MUMBAI: Watch Preity Zinta – the Bollywood sensation and an army girl herself – spend a day at the army training base at Hissar, Haryana, on NDTV’s hallmark show Jai Jawan.

    Preity travels to the armour-training camp and experiences the kind of life that these jawans lead – difficult, yet a life they are proud of. The firing range, the tanks, the army school, special song and dance requests, a quiver full of smiles and dimpled memories to take back home…. Catch Preity Zinta with Abhigyaan Prakash (NDTV) as they pay a special tribute to the Indian army, a salute to our country’s true heroes only on Jai Jawan, on NDTV.

    Watch Jai Jawan with Preity Zinta on January 26, at 9:30pm, on NDTV 24X7 and at 7:30 pm on NDTV India

  • VCL adds visual effects for Karan Johar’s latest flick

    VCL adds visual effects for Karan Johar’s latest flick

    MUMBAI: Visual Computing Labs (VCL), a division of Tata Elxsi, provided the Visual Effects (VFX) for Karan Johar’s third directorial venture -Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna (KANK)-.starring Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan, Rani Mukerji, Preity Zinta, Abhishek Bachchan and Kiron Kher in pivotal roles.

    The movie was shot over a 90-day stint in the USA and a few on four large sets in Mumbai’s studios.

    “This is VCL’s second project for Dharma Productions, having worked with them earlier on Kal Ho Na Ho. In KANK,VCL has executed more than 45 minutes of effects work” said VCL head K.Chandrashekhar.

    Says Visual Computing Labs, Tata Elxsi Creative Director Pankaj Khandpur, “The most outstanding work in the multi starrer movie was the creation of a Computer Graphic Image (CGI) football stadium and the neighboring city in the aerial views. It is for the first time in India that the creation of thousands of stadium crowds in all the long-shots was all done in computer graphics!”

    “The creation of CGI crowds in the stadium was particularly challenging as we were combining CGI characters in the distance with existing live-action actors in the foreground. Each of the CGI ‘agents’ had to reflect the same level of movement and excitement as the live-action actors, so that both types of ‘actors’ could blend seamlessly in the same shot’s. Even the relative clothing, hair etc. had to be similar! Apart from the blending, the biggest challenge was rendering a crowd of 75,000 people in CG, each in complete 3D, with clothes, caps, shoes, and even tubs of popcorn!” he further added.

    All the environment effects like snow and rain for many of the scenes,
    including depicting the ‘changing’ of seasons in real time were created in CG by VCL An important requirement was to ensure the seamless integration from one scene to the other; this required the creation of ‘matched’ trees, as well as matching the ‘grounds’ of various shots, and the creation of freshly fallen digital ‘snow’ in the Shahrukh shot. This was challenging considering the individual shots had been shot at different locations, and at different times, weeks apart from each other.

    Apart from animation for the movie and the film logo, VCL has designed the opening credits of the film, as well as many minutes of ‘hidden’ effects: cosmetic fixes, embellishment, transitions, and day-for-night effects.

    Visual Computing Labs, a division of Tata Elxsi Ltd, is a creative facility offering animation, gaming and special effects for the global entertainment and broadcast industry. Headquartered in Bangalore, Visual Computing Labs is a unique mix of engineering and creative skills, which provides solutions from scripting, pre/post production, character modelling & Animation, VFX and Development services among others.

  • Sahara One, Endemol present Super Star reality show

    Sahara One, Endemol present Super Star reality show

    NEW DELHI: You think you look like Shah Rukh Khan. You think you move like Khan. You think you act like him. But for one night, can you make millions believe you really are Shah Rukh Khan?

    Coming this September, Sahara One Television brings alive a brand new reality concept, Super Stars, in association with Endemol India.

    The new show proposes to provide Bollywood fans with an opportunity to showcase their talent and perform as their favourite star.

    This international format has seen a production of over 70-odd series in 20 countries across the globe under different names like Sound Mix and Stars in the Eyes.

    The Indian version of this show kick starts with a five-city audition on Sahara One starting 10 August, 2006.

    In each episode, contestants compete by copying their favourite artist as faithfully as possible.

    “India is a nation obsessed with Bollywood. There are temples, clubs, associations dedicated to film actors. Dancing and singing is not only about performing; it’s a passion that drives the souls of many. It’s our endeavour to provide a national platform for such talent,” Sahara One COO Purnendu Bose says.

    The jury for Super Stars includes Bollywood heavy weights like the gorgeous Urmila Matondkar and ace choreographer Shiamak Davar. There would be floating judges too for particular episodes.

    The whole of August, Super Stars will do a nation-wide hunt in an attempt to unearth the flair people possess to be like their stars like Amitabh Bachchan, Rani Mukherjee, Saif Ali Khan, Aishwarya Rai, Kajol, Preity Zinta, Shah Rukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit, Kareena Kapoor, Hritik Roshan, Aamir Khan and Salman Khan.

    The contestants will be judged on three parameters – look and style, acting and dance — and will vie for the ultimate honour: the title of Super Star.

    According to Endemol India MD Rajesh Kamat, “We are very excited to partner with Sahara One Television on this special format. It is a show people will connect with and it will feature people that they will connect with.”

    Kamath added that they have received “tremendous response” from people. Aspirants aged 18 years and above can walk in and audition at the city level. This would be applicable to five cities that include Ludhiana (August 10-12), New Delhi (August 13-14), Kolkata (August 17-18), Bhopal (August 20-21) and Mumbai (August 22-23).

    Hundred and twenty winners from the regional auditions will be invited to Mumbai and groomed by experts.

    Sahara One Television is part of the umbrella brand Sahara One, whose other businesses include Sahara One Motion Pictures, which is India’s largest player in the motion pictures business.

    Endemol is a global leader in television and other audiovisual entertainment. The company creates premium entertainment ideas and sells them to the world’s leading broadcasters. Subsequently, the company exploits the value of its brands across other media and communications platforms including mobile phones and the Internet.

  • Karan Johar revs it up in Cannes

    Karan Johar revs it up in Cannes

    CANNES: What has Dharma Productions boss Karan Johar been up to? According to sources in Cannes, he has been having meetings with several distributors and directors the world over. He came into the Palais des Festivals for a very short while yesterday. What’s more actor Preity Zinta has been accompanying him to many a premieres and screenings.

    What is really striking is the popularity that Karan Johar has in this part of the world. Sample this, a young girl came up to this scribe on the croisette outside the India pavilion in the International Village, asking where Karan Johar and Preity Zinta were? She said she had watched all his movies. “Mujhe bahoot acchi lagti hain dono,” she said. She had been waiting outside the pavilion for three hours and she said would continue waiting until she met up with the duo.

    This morning Johar made a lighting visit to the India pavilion in the International Village along with producer-director Sunil Darshan and UK-based TipTop Films Sunil Shah. He also spent some time talking with Ian Smith the maker of the film The City of Joy.