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Tag: R Balki

  • Digi Osmosis unique campaign for ‘Ki & Ka’

    Digi Osmosis unique campaign for ‘Ki & Ka’

    MUMBAI: Digi Osmosis has crafted a unique campaign for R Balki’s latest production Ki &Ka from the T-Series Films stable by creating a special app for the Ki & Ka facebook page. Once the viewer has watched the trailer on Facebook, a question pops up asking the viewer ‘Who are you in your life, Ki or Ka?’. It further asks  viewers if they are the independent, career-oriented, outspoken Ki or the homely, loving and caring Ka. 

    After the viewer answers and clicks the share button, the trailer is shared on the user’s timeline on Facebook with another caption – ‘I’m Ka in real life but you know, ??????ling (Feminine) and ???ling (Masculine) means the same thing!’

    Commenting on the campaign Digi Osmosis founder Manish Kumar said, “For this trailer, the strategy was simple; there are thousands of people who identify with Ki&Ka on a very personal level. They will find it to be a very interesting activity and in turn share it with their friends. Their friends in turn, find it a quirky and engage with the trailer, repeating the process. This encourages share-ability, a factor crucial for social media and creates a simple viral chain garnering the reactions required. ”

    Ki & Ka director and producer R Balki mentioned that “It has been a terrific learning experience for me working with the Digi Osmosis team. I gave them the trailer of Ki & Ka and they just had a few hours to convert it into an active engagement piece rather than a passive experience. They developed an app embedded in the trailer to make the viewer see herself/ himself as the characters in the story and respond. Simple. Innovative. And really on the ball.”

  • Q3-2016: Eros revenue down

    Q3-2016: Eros revenue down

    BENGALURU: The Sunil Lulla led Eros International Media Limited (Eros) reported a 31.7 per cent YoY drop in consolidated Total Income from operations (TIO) at Rs 335.35 crore in the quarter ended 31 December, 2015 (Q3-2016, current quarter). The company had reported TIO of Rs 490.73 crore in the corresponding prior year quarter. Operating revenue in the current quarter declined 33.6 per cent as compared to Rs 504.91 crore in the immediate trailing quarter (quarter on quarter or QoQ).

    Note: 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10 million = 1 crore
    All numbers in this are consolidated unless stated otherwise.

    Profit after tax (PAT) in the current quarter declined to almost a third (down 65.5 per cent) year on year (YoY) to Rs 37.77 crore (11.3 per cent margin) as compared to Rs 109.34 crore (22.3 per cent margin) and fell 58.2 per cent as compared to to Rs 90.30 crore (17.9 per cent margin) in the immediate trailing quarter.

    The company says its revenues vary quarter on quarter based on release slate. In Q3-2016, there was only one high budget film compared to three high budget films in Q3-2015 with only partial revenues of Bajirao Mastani.

    In Q3-2016, Eros says that one high budget, four medium and 10 low budget films were released as against three high budget, one medium and eight low budget movies in Q3-2015. During the quarter, 15 movies were released consisting of seven Hindi and five Tamil/Telugu films and three Regional film as compared to 12 films during Q3-2015, which included eight Hindi and four Tamil/Telugu films.

    Eros further informs that apart from the new release slate, a significant part of its revenue is contributed by monetisation of its valuable film library, and generally has a second half skew. Since catalogues revenues have longer payment cycles associated with them the company has decided to defer sales for couple of quarters until its receivables position normalises.

    Receivables

    As on 31 December, 2015, Eros says that its total receivables stood at Rs 6,358 million as compared to Rs 6,300 million as on 30 September, 2015. Receivables not due as of 31 December, 2015 was Rs 339.3 crore as compared to Rs 389.9 crore as on 30 September, 2015. Receivables over 365 days old were Rs 38.8 crore as of 31 December, 2015.

    Between 1 January, 2016 to 7 February, 2016, the company has seen a further collection of Rs 52.5 crore of receivables of the period up to 31 December, 2015. The company says that it remains confident to bring the overall receivables down to Rs 525 crore by the end of FY-2016.

    Company speak

    Eros executive vice chairman and managing director Sunil Lulla said, “I am pleased to announce yet another profitable quarter from Eros International driven by the blockbuster success of Bajirao Mastani and a string of regional releases. Our results for the nine months ended December 2015 reflect the strong performance of our film slate with total domination of the box office charts withBajrangi Bhaijaan, Tanu Weds Manu Returns, Welcome Back, etc.; and strong television, ancillary and overseas revenues to complement the box office. We are very proud that our films have been dominating the Bollywood awards declared for CY2015. We continue to pride our green-lighting process and build on our portfolio strategy of films across varied budgets and languages backed by strong pre-sales to de-risk the business model.

    “We are upbeat about our film slate for FY-2017, which includes a string of high-octane releases such as R. Balki’s Ki & Ka, the hit franchise comedy Housefull 3, the highly anticipated rock musical franchise Rock On 2, the action drama, Shivaay and a host of regional releases amongst others,” continued Lulla.
    “We firmly believe that the company has a conservative capital structure and a well-funded balance sheet and we are proud to bring down our Net Debt/Equity ratio to just 0.11 with a free cash flow of Rs 1,320 million in the 9M FY2016. I am confident that with our clear strategic focus, differentiated revenue streams and regional strategy execution, we will continue to deliver solid results in the future and we thank all our shareholders and associates for their continued support,” added Lulla.

    Eros International Plc Group CEO Jyoti Deshpande added, “Calendar year 2015 has been nothing short of brilliant for Eros International operationally with a higher than average box office success of our entire film slate along with critical acclaim and awards to go with it. This year also marked the beginning of the monetisation of the 30 million plus registered users of Eros now our OTT platform and our foray into what could be potentially ground breaking Indo – China co-productions. We continue to support Eros International Media in every possible way with our strong balance sheet and are thrilled that Eros International Media has achieved a free cash flow (FCF) of Rs 1,320 million in the 9M-2016. We look forward to announcing Q3 results of Eros International Plc later in February with a further update on other related matters. once again we thank our shareholders, business associates, the Indian film industry and other partners who have helped us strengthen our resolve even in tough times.”

    Revenue breakup: Eros breakup of revenue for 9M-2016 (nine month period ended 31 December, 2015): Theatrical Revenue – 44.2 per cent; Overseas Revenue – 29.3 per cent; Television and others 26.5 per cent.

    Total Expenditure in the current quarter declined 21.6 per cent YoY to Rs 270.59 crore (80.7 per cent of TIO) as compared to Rs 345.34 crore (70.4 per cent of TIO) and declined 27.1 per cent QoQ as compared to Rs 370.97 crore (73.5 per cent of TIO).

    The company’s EBIT (Earnings before Interest and Taxes) declined 53.9 per cent YoY to Rs 67.65 crore (20.2 per cent margin) as compared to Rs 146.63 crore (29.9 per cent margin) and declined 51.3 per cent QoQ as compared to Rs 139.01 crore (27.5 per cent margin).

    Employee Benefits Expense (EBE) in the current quarter increased 47.2 per cent YoY to Rs 14.12 crore (4.2 per cent of TIO) as compared to Rs 9.59 crore (two per cent of TIO), but declined 1.2 per cent QoQ from Rs 14.29 crore (2.8 per cent of TIO).

  • Q3-2016: Eros revenue down

    Q3-2016: Eros revenue down

    BENGALURU: The Sunil Lulla led Eros International Media Limited (Eros) reported a 31.7 per cent YoY drop in consolidated Total Income from operations (TIO) at Rs 335.35 crore in the quarter ended 31 December, 2015 (Q3-2016, current quarter). The company had reported TIO of Rs 490.73 crore in the corresponding prior year quarter. Operating revenue in the current quarter declined 33.6 per cent as compared to Rs 504.91 crore in the immediate trailing quarter (quarter on quarter or QoQ).

    Note: 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10 million = 1 crore
    All numbers in this are consolidated unless stated otherwise.

    Profit after tax (PAT) in the current quarter declined to almost a third (down 65.5 per cent) year on year (YoY) to Rs 37.77 crore (11.3 per cent margin) as compared to Rs 109.34 crore (22.3 per cent margin) and fell 58.2 per cent as compared to to Rs 90.30 crore (17.9 per cent margin) in the immediate trailing quarter.

    The company says its revenues vary quarter on quarter based on release slate. In Q3-2016, there was only one high budget film compared to three high budget films in Q3-2015 with only partial revenues of Bajirao Mastani.

    In Q3-2016, Eros says that one high budget, four medium and 10 low budget films were released as against three high budget, one medium and eight low budget movies in Q3-2015. During the quarter, 15 movies were released consisting of seven Hindi and five Tamil/Telugu films and three Regional film as compared to 12 films during Q3-2015, which included eight Hindi and four Tamil/Telugu films.

    Eros further informs that apart from the new release slate, a significant part of its revenue is contributed by monetisation of its valuable film library, and generally has a second half skew. Since catalogues revenues have longer payment cycles associated with them the company has decided to defer sales for couple of quarters until its receivables position normalises.

    Receivables

    As on 31 December, 2015, Eros says that its total receivables stood at Rs 6,358 million as compared to Rs 6,300 million as on 30 September, 2015. Receivables not due as of 31 December, 2015 was Rs 339.3 crore as compared to Rs 389.9 crore as on 30 September, 2015. Receivables over 365 days old were Rs 38.8 crore as of 31 December, 2015.

    Between 1 January, 2016 to 7 February, 2016, the company has seen a further collection of Rs 52.5 crore of receivables of the period up to 31 December, 2015. The company says that it remains confident to bring the overall receivables down to Rs 525 crore by the end of FY-2016.

    Company speak

    Eros executive vice chairman and managing director Sunil Lulla said, “I am pleased to announce yet another profitable quarter from Eros International driven by the blockbuster success of Bajirao Mastani and a string of regional releases. Our results for the nine months ended December 2015 reflect the strong performance of our film slate with total domination of the box office charts withBajrangi Bhaijaan, Tanu Weds Manu Returns, Welcome Back, etc.; and strong television, ancillary and overseas revenues to complement the box office. We are very proud that our films have been dominating the Bollywood awards declared for CY2015. We continue to pride our green-lighting process and build on our portfolio strategy of films across varied budgets and languages backed by strong pre-sales to de-risk the business model.

    “We are upbeat about our film slate for FY-2017, which includes a string of high-octane releases such as R. Balki’s Ki & Ka, the hit franchise comedy Housefull 3, the highly anticipated rock musical franchise Rock On 2, the action drama, Shivaay and a host of regional releases amongst others,” continued Lulla.
    “We firmly believe that the company has a conservative capital structure and a well-funded balance sheet and we are proud to bring down our Net Debt/Equity ratio to just 0.11 with a free cash flow of Rs 1,320 million in the 9M FY2016. I am confident that with our clear strategic focus, differentiated revenue streams and regional strategy execution, we will continue to deliver solid results in the future and we thank all our shareholders and associates for their continued support,” added Lulla.

    Eros International Plc Group CEO Jyoti Deshpande added, “Calendar year 2015 has been nothing short of brilliant for Eros International operationally with a higher than average box office success of our entire film slate along with critical acclaim and awards to go with it. This year also marked the beginning of the monetisation of the 30 million plus registered users of Eros now our OTT platform and our foray into what could be potentially ground breaking Indo – China co-productions. We continue to support Eros International Media in every possible way with our strong balance sheet and are thrilled that Eros International Media has achieved a free cash flow (FCF) of Rs 1,320 million in the 9M-2016. We look forward to announcing Q3 results of Eros International Plc later in February with a further update on other related matters. once again we thank our shareholders, business associates, the Indian film industry and other partners who have helped us strengthen our resolve even in tough times.”

    Revenue breakup: Eros breakup of revenue for 9M-2016 (nine month period ended 31 December, 2015): Theatrical Revenue – 44.2 per cent; Overseas Revenue – 29.3 per cent; Television and others 26.5 per cent.

    Total Expenditure in the current quarter declined 21.6 per cent YoY to Rs 270.59 crore (80.7 per cent of TIO) as compared to Rs 345.34 crore (70.4 per cent of TIO) and declined 27.1 per cent QoQ as compared to Rs 370.97 crore (73.5 per cent of TIO).

    The company’s EBIT (Earnings before Interest and Taxes) declined 53.9 per cent YoY to Rs 67.65 crore (20.2 per cent margin) as compared to Rs 146.63 crore (29.9 per cent margin) and declined 51.3 per cent QoQ as compared to Rs 139.01 crore (27.5 per cent margin).

    Employee Benefits Expense (EBE) in the current quarter increased 47.2 per cent YoY to Rs 14.12 crore (4.2 per cent of TIO) as compared to Rs 9.59 crore (two per cent of TIO), but declined 1.2 per cent QoQ from Rs 14.29 crore (2.8 per cent of TIO).

  • Eros readies pipeline of 65 movies across 7 languages in 2016

    Eros readies pipeline of 65 movies across 7 languages in 2016

    MUMBAI: Even as it has been embroiled in controversy over the last few months regarding its accounting practices, Eros International is planning to release as many as 65 movies in 2016 across seven different Indian languages like Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Bengali and Punjabi.

     

    Additionally, Eros is also planning to release Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Bajirao Mastani in China and other international markets in 2016.

     

    HINDI

     

    Eros’ Hindi films pipeline for 2016 includes R. Balki’s Ki & Ka starring Arjun Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor, the promos of which are already out. The company will also be releasing Sajid Nadiadwala’s Housefull 3 starring Akshay Kumar, and Rohit Dhawan’s Dishoom starring John Abraham and Varun Dhawan.

     

    Baar Baar Dekho – a love story starring Katrina Kaif and Siddharth Malhotra will be releasing in association with Dharma Production, whereas Rock On 2 featuring Farhan Akhtar and Shraddha Kapoor will be released with Excel Entertainment.

     

    After associating with producer-director Aanand L Rai on films like Tanu Weds Manu Returns and Raanjhanaa, Eros will release multiple films with Rai’s joint production company Colour Yellow Production. These include Nil Battey Sannata that has received a good response at various festivals including the 20th Busan International Film Festival, 59th BFI London Film Festival with Swara Bhaskar wining the Best Actress at the Silk Road Film Festival of China. Also in the pipeline are films like Happy Bhaag Jayegi, a comedy that will present the first-time pair of Abhay Deol and Diana Penty and Manmarziyan, a romantic drama starring Bhumi Pednekar and Ayushmann Khurrana. 

     

    Apart from these, Rai is also working on his own directorial film, which will go into production this summer.

     

    This Diwali, Eros will release Ajay Devgn’s action drama – Shivaay. 

     

    After co-producing films like Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela and Bajirao Mastani, Eros and Bhansali Productions will be joining hands on more co-productions, details of which will be announced at a later date. 

     

    Also scheduled to go on floor this year will be Eros and Phantom’s socio-drama superhero film Bhavesh Joshistarring Harshvardhan Kapoor to be directed by Vikramaditya Motwane.

     

    Other films slated to release in 2016 include Hansal Mehta’s critically-acclaimed Aligarh, Marathi director and National award winner Ravi Jadhav’s Hindi debut Banjo starring Riteish Deshmukh and Nargis Fakri, director Mohit Jha’s sports drama Saat Kadam and Pawan Kripalani’s psychological thriller Phobia starring Raadhika Apte.

     

    Eros will also release Vinay Sapru and Radhika Rao’s musical love story Sanam Teri Kasam starringnewcomers Harshvardhan Rane and Pakistani actress Mawra Hocane; Do Lafzon Ki Kahani by Deepak Tijori with Randeep Hooda and Kajal Agarwal as the lead pair along with Saif Ali Khan starrer Chef, a remake of 2014’s Hollywood hit Chef.

     

    REGIONAL LANGUAGES

     

    The company’s regional slate includes Marathi films like Sanjay Jadhav’s Guru, National award winning director Sujay Dahake’s Phuntroo, and Prakash Kunte’s & Jara Hatke. 

     

    Eros has already released the Telugu films – Balakrishna’s Dictator on 14 January, Pawan Kalyan’s Sardar Gabbar Singh, Mammootty’s Malayalam films White and Fahad Fazil’s Nale along with 2 Penkuttikalfeaturing Tovino Thomas, Amala Paul, Anju Kurian and Anna Fathima.

     

    Following the release of Bengali film Monchora by Sandip Ray with Abir Chatterjee and Raima Sen in January, Eros will release Prakton directed by Shiboprasad Mukherjee starring Prosenjit Chatterjee and Rituparna Sengupta paired together after a decade. 

     

    The Tamil movies’ in the pipeline include the Sivakarthikeyan starrer Rajini Murugan that released earlier this month; Suriya’s 24 directed by Vikram, Enkitta Mothathe, which is cinematographer Natarajan Subramaniam’s (Nutty) debut as an actor with Sanchita Shetty directed by Ramu Chellapa, actor Jaya Prada’s first Tamil production Uyire Uyire, Suriya’s Singam 3, Kai Neelam directed by Nalan Kumarsamy, Oru Kidayin Karunai Mamu directed by Suresh Sangiah and an untitled film starring mega star Karthi.

     

    The company is also collaborating with Harry Baweja to co-produce the sequel to the 3D animation film, Chaar Sahibzade, titled Chaar Sahibzaade 2 (Rise of Banda Singh Bahadur) followed by another 3D animation film Guru Tegh Bahadur. 

     

    Commenting on the company’s line-up, Eros International Media managing director Sunil Lulla said, “We have seen an excellent 2015 with the resounding success of Tanu Weds Manu Returns, peaking with the multiple-record breaking Bajrangi Bhaijaan and ending the year with our crowning glory Bajirao Mastani. We are at a very exciting phase in Eros and have an equally promising slate coming up this year that will reinforce and further strengthen our leadership position in the Indian media and entertainment industry. As a strategy, we will continue to diversify our presence across difference film genres, budgets and languages with a mix of popular and content driven cinema. In a few weeks, we will showcase to the world the first set of films under our Trinity franchise banner. Also scheduled to go on floor this year are some exciting directorial ventures by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Kabir Khan, Aanand L Rai, Homi Ajadania, Sujoy Ghosh, Nishikant Kamat and Siddharth Anand. We hope and believe that 2016 will be just as magical as 2015 has been.”

  • Eros readies pipeline of 65 movies across 7 languages in 2016

    Eros readies pipeline of 65 movies across 7 languages in 2016

    MUMBAI: Even as it has been embroiled in controversy over the last few months regarding its accounting practices, Eros International is planning to release as many as 65 movies in 2016 across seven different Indian languages like Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Bengali and Punjabi.

     

    Additionally, Eros is also planning to release Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Bajirao Mastani in China and other international markets in 2016.

     

    HINDI

     

    Eros’ Hindi films pipeline for 2016 includes R. Balki’s Ki & Ka starring Arjun Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor, the promos of which are already out. The company will also be releasing Sajid Nadiadwala’s Housefull 3 starring Akshay Kumar, and Rohit Dhawan’s Dishoom starring John Abraham and Varun Dhawan.

     

    Baar Baar Dekho – a love story starring Katrina Kaif and Siddharth Malhotra will be releasing in association with Dharma Production, whereas Rock On 2 featuring Farhan Akhtar and Shraddha Kapoor will be released with Excel Entertainment.

     

    After associating with producer-director Aanand L Rai on films like Tanu Weds Manu Returns and Raanjhanaa, Eros will release multiple films with Rai’s joint production company Colour Yellow Production. These include Nil Battey Sannata that has received a good response at various festivals including the 20th Busan International Film Festival, 59th BFI London Film Festival with Swara Bhaskar wining the Best Actress at the Silk Road Film Festival of China. Also in the pipeline are films like Happy Bhaag Jayegi, a comedy that will present the first-time pair of Abhay Deol and Diana Penty and Manmarziyan, a romantic drama starring Bhumi Pednekar and Ayushmann Khurrana. 

     

    Apart from these, Rai is also working on his own directorial film, which will go into production this summer.

     

    This Diwali, Eros will release Ajay Devgn’s action drama – Shivaay. 

     

    After co-producing films like Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela and Bajirao Mastani, Eros and Bhansali Productions will be joining hands on more co-productions, details of which will be announced at a later date. 

     

    Also scheduled to go on floor this year will be Eros and Phantom’s socio-drama superhero film Bhavesh Joshistarring Harshvardhan Kapoor to be directed by Vikramaditya Motwane.

     

    Other films slated to release in 2016 include Hansal Mehta’s critically-acclaimed Aligarh, Marathi director and National award winner Ravi Jadhav’s Hindi debut Banjo starring Riteish Deshmukh and Nargis Fakri, director Mohit Jha’s sports drama Saat Kadam and Pawan Kripalani’s psychological thriller Phobia starring Raadhika Apte.

     

    Eros will also release Vinay Sapru and Radhika Rao’s musical love story Sanam Teri Kasam starringnewcomers Harshvardhan Rane and Pakistani actress Mawra Hocane; Do Lafzon Ki Kahani by Deepak Tijori with Randeep Hooda and Kajal Agarwal as the lead pair along with Saif Ali Khan starrer Chef, a remake of 2014’s Hollywood hit Chef.

     

    REGIONAL LANGUAGES

     

    The company’s regional slate includes Marathi films like Sanjay Jadhav’s Guru, National award winning director Sujay Dahake’s Phuntroo, and Prakash Kunte’s & Jara Hatke. 

     

    Eros has already released the Telugu films – Balakrishna’s Dictator on 14 January, Pawan Kalyan’s Sardar Gabbar Singh, Mammootty’s Malayalam films White and Fahad Fazil’s Nale along with 2 Penkuttikalfeaturing Tovino Thomas, Amala Paul, Anju Kurian and Anna Fathima.

     

    Following the release of Bengali film Monchora by Sandip Ray with Abir Chatterjee and Raima Sen in January, Eros will release Prakton directed by Shiboprasad Mukherjee starring Prosenjit Chatterjee and Rituparna Sengupta paired together after a decade. 

     

    The Tamil movies’ in the pipeline include the Sivakarthikeyan starrer Rajini Murugan that released earlier this month; Suriya’s 24 directed by Vikram, Enkitta Mothathe, which is cinematographer Natarajan Subramaniam’s (Nutty) debut as an actor with Sanchita Shetty directed by Ramu Chellapa, actor Jaya Prada’s first Tamil production Uyire Uyire, Suriya’s Singam 3, Kai Neelam directed by Nalan Kumarsamy, Oru Kidayin Karunai Mamu directed by Suresh Sangiah and an untitled film starring mega star Karthi.

     

    The company is also collaborating with Harry Baweja to co-produce the sequel to the 3D animation film, Chaar Sahibzade, titled Chaar Sahibzaade 2 (Rise of Banda Singh Bahadur) followed by another 3D animation film Guru Tegh Bahadur. 

     

    Commenting on the company’s line-up, Eros International Media managing director Sunil Lulla said, “We have seen an excellent 2015 with the resounding success of Tanu Weds Manu Returns, peaking with the multiple-record breaking Bajrangi Bhaijaan and ending the year with our crowning glory Bajirao Mastani. We are at a very exciting phase in Eros and have an equally promising slate coming up this year that will reinforce and further strengthen our leadership position in the Indian media and entertainment industry. As a strategy, we will continue to diversify our presence across difference film genres, budgets and languages with a mix of popular and content driven cinema. In a few weeks, we will showcase to the world the first set of films under our Trinity franchise banner. Also scheduled to go on floor this year are some exciting directorial ventures by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Kabir Khan, Aanand L Rai, Homi Ajadania, Sujoy Ghosh, Nishikant Kamat and Siddharth Anand. We hope and believe that 2016 will be just as magical as 2015 has been.”

  • ASCI launches e-learning programme on responsible advertising

    ASCI launches e-learning programme on responsible advertising

    MUMBAI: In keeping with ASCI chairman Narendra Ambwani’s 2015 vision of ‘Self-discipline by creators of advertising’, the Advertising Standard Council of India (ASCI) has launched an e-learning training programme for advertisers and communication professionals, at a nominal price.

     

    “We at ASCI are happy to launch this e-learning programme, which has culminated as a result of hard work put in by our team over several months. It is a proactive approach that would enable the creators of advertising to get their advertisements “Right the first time.” There is a direct and tangible business benefit associated with it, as a trained individual would be able to avoid costly reworks of modifying or pulling down of advertisement by adhering to simple dos and don’ts set out in the code,” said Ambwani.

     

    ASCI’s e-learning will offer its modules to all members; non-members, students and other interested individuals. This e-learning programme would be especially useful for students aspiring to make a career in advertising and marketing communication, legal and regulatory professionals by adding a feather in their CV with this additional qualification. ASCI is also offering special discounts to educational institutes. Prominent personalities from the field of advertising like Piyush Pandey, R. Balki and Sam Balsara have participated and lent their support to the e-learning modules.

     

    The e-learning course is designed in several modules, which the users can complete at their own pace within a six month window. Each of these modules consists of engaging multimedia content followed by a quiz.

     

    · Introduction to ASCI (one module)- Advertising Self-regulation and ASCI

     

    · ASCI advertising Codes (four modules)- Truthful and honest representation, non-offensive to public, against harmful products/situations and fair in competition

     

    · ASCI category guidelines (four modules)- Brand Extension, Food and Beverages, Educational Institutions and Automotive vehicles

     

    · ASCI processes (four modules)- Supers, Complaints Registrations and Monitoring, Complaint processing and ASCI Membership

     

    On successful completion, the user is awarded with a certificate.

     

    Being an online platform, the programme will be accessible to everyone from anywhere at any time.

     

    Yahoo India Advertising Operations director Vishwas Govindarajan became the first industry professional to enroll for the e-learning programme and bagged the ASCI e-learning certificate.

     

    “This is the era of digital technology where advertising bombards every available space. In such an extremely versatile and dynamic medium, self-regulation plays a vital role. If the ad content falls below the regulatory standard set for advertising, it may result in irreparable damage, both to the brand and the company. ASCI e-learning programme is a “Must have” tool for every advertising professional,” said Govindarajan.

  • ‘Shamitabh’ delivers weak opening at box office

    ‘Shamitabh’ delivers weak opening at box office

    MUMBAI: Director R Balki does come up with new ideas and his earlier two film, Cheeni Kam and Paa have been appreciated. This time though the idea may be different from the run of the mill but its execution is messed up. The drawbacks lie in right from a long winding script to execution and editing.

     

    Instead of cashing in on the idea, Shamitabh tries to cash in on Amitabh Bachchan’s histrionics and then going overboard with it. There seemed to be no curiosity for the film as the weak opening day audience response and the collections reflected this. The film had a slight improvement on Saturday and was better on Sunday but the slide has begun as the new week started. The film ended its opening weekend with a figure of Rs 12.45 crore, which is not enough to help it recoup its high price.

     

    The other two releases, Jai Jawan Jai Kisaan and Hum Tum Dushman, failed to find enough audience needed for a screening.

     

    Rahashya has managed to collect only about Rs 70 lakh in its first week.

     

    Baby reaped the benefit of poor oppositions and collected a reasonable Rs 16.7 crore in its second week to take its two week tally to Rs 68.8 crore.

     

    Khamoshiyan remains poor as the film adds precious little to its weekend collection of Rs 5.75 crore in the next four days as it ends its first week with figures of Rs 9.15 crore.

     

    Hawaizaada meets with a disastrous fate at the box office. Following its poor opening, it only goes downhill to end its first week with a meager Rs 3.55 crore.

     

    Dolly Ki Doli also gets to survive in its second week thanks to poor oppositions by adding Rs 1.1 crore in its second week to take its two week total to Rs 13 crore.

     

    PK collects approximately Rs 45 lakh in its seventh week for a seven week total of Rs 329.75 crore.

  • ‘Shamitabh’….Amitabh unleashed!

    ‘Shamitabh’….Amitabh unleashed!

    MUMBAI: R Balki’s films are described as novel by Shamitabh’s lead actor, Amitabh Bachchan. But the system of a Hindi-speaking person dubbing for South Indian actors or vice versa is age old reality. So is that of one person dubbing for another. There is nothing new in Shamitabh except that here a mute person aspires to be a star and a voice is found for him.

    Dhanush is a small time lad from Igatpuri in Maharashtra helping his mother sell batata vada at the local state transport bus stop. Whatever money he gets, he spends on movies. When the cinema hall is brought down he barters with a video library, giving free batata vada and pakoda in exchange for a movie. That is where he also gets introduced to Hollywood movies.

    Dhanush is mute but is convinced he is an ace actor and can somehow make it big in the films. He often tries to run away from his village to reach Mumbai but is brought back once by convincing him that he is still too young to become a film star and again when his mother pretends to be sick so that he stays back.

    There comes a time when his mother is really ill and passes away. The way is open for Dhanush to go to Mumbai and try his luck. After a couple of failures in entering studios and trying to reach the famous film directors like Raju Hirani, Karan Johar, Rohit Shetty and so on, he finally makes it to a studio where he comes across Akshara Haasan, an assistant director who sympathises with this mute guy from a small town. She asks him to perform a scene and shoots it on her cell phone. Her director boss is duly impressed and decides to give him break. But what to do about his voice?

    Producers: Sunil Lulla, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, RK Damani, Gauri Shinde, Abhishek Bachchan.

    Director: R Balki.

    Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Dhanush, Akshara Haasan and cameos by Rekha, Javed Akhtar, Karan Johar, Rohit Shetty etc.

    The way out is to find a voice for him who will not dub for him but will playback his dialogue on his behalf. After some voice tests, they suddenly come across Bachchan, a weird character and a drunkard with a Christian cemetery as his abode. Bachchan has no solid back story for turning into what he has. The cemetery keeper charges him rent and also doubles up as his Man Friday. Now everybody knows about Bachchan’s rich voice, which does not quite match Dhanush’s personality. But, in the film’s story, that is what works for Dhanush since the film highlights mainly this aspect leaving aside his famous acting prowess which impressed those concerned.

    After some coaxing, Bachchan agrees to be the voice of Dhanush because he can get even with the entertainment industry; he had come to Mumbai forty years back to try his luck first in films and later on radio (the radio rejection happened to him in real life). Both rejected him because the filmmakers found his voice like that of a villain (no idea why he did not get a villain’s role!). He can now make a star out of Dhanush on the strength of his voice.

    Dhanush’s debut film makes it to the screen and in the very first weekend, he has become a superstar breaking the collection records of Aamir Khan as well as Salman Khan! He has taken the screen name of Shamitabh, combining his and Bachchan’s name as that makes him complete as an actor. But, no sooner does Dhanush become a star, he gets into an ego struggle with his voice, Bachchan: is he successful because of his acting or is it the rich voice he borrows from Bachchan?

    The voice acting conflict is introduced too early and goes on and on, becoming repetitive. If acting is what took Dhanush to the top, it is not emphasised on with most of the time the focus being on Bachchan and his booming voice. Finally comes a time when the ego clash leads to a parting of ways. While Dhanush attempts to prove himself with a film about deaf and mute love story, Bachchan tries to prove his point by lending his voice to another aspiring actor, who stammers and can’t deliver dialogues. Both fail in their respective efforts and realise that they complement each other. Akshara plays the mediator to bring them together.

    If Bachchan were to play only Dhanush’s voice, there would not have been much to do for him in the film. So there is extended footage on his lifestyle. Also, what he did very successfully for the first time in Amar Akbar Anthony, the mime in front of a mirror, and later in another film has been overused here. Bachchan is made to give multiple monologues which not only stretch the film but also bring negative returns. Director Balki seems to sell Bachchan more than his idea of a ventriloquist for mute actor.

    With a loose script which comes in bits and pieces as it moves from one artiste to another while also trying to build a romance between Dhanush and Akshara (one sided though from Dhanush) it leads to many tedious moments. The director seems to have little control thereafter stretching the film to 153 minutes with a story based on just three artistes. The music by the legendary composer, Illaiyaraaja, is mediocre, best of the lot being two ringtone kind of numbers in Ishq e phillum…. And Piddly si baatein…. Background score is fine. Dialogue, mainly Bachchan’s lines, are good. Editing is slack. Climax is abrupt and poor.

    It is an Amitabh show all the way though he is overburdened. Dhanush overacts at times and is just passable. Akshara fails to make a mark, her dressing may be contemporary youth kind but makes her lack femininity.

    On the whole, Shamitabh fails to deliver.

  • ‘When two work together towards a common goal, it helps both’: Bachchan

    ‘When two work together towards a common goal, it helps both’: Bachchan

    NEW DELHI: It is not right to equate a character he or she plays on screen to the person, and the film Shamitabh in many ways gives this message, according to megastar Amitabh Bachchan.

     

    Bachchan said that while Dhanush used his voice in the film, he took the character further by bringing his own originality to the character he enacted.

     

    Speaking at a press meet, Bachchan revealed that he recorded the entire voice-over of the film in the editing room under the supervision of the film’s director R Balki before the film was shot.

     

    Shamitabh, starring Bachchan and Dhanush, will see the debut of Akshara Haasan. The movie is about a journalist who comes across a good actor without a voice and then meets a decrepit haggard elderly man with a good voice, and tries to match the two. While she succeeds, the two men gradually are overcome by their respective ego problems, and she has to resolve that.

     

    Bachchan related a dialogue in the film to stress the fact that every person has his or her own value. He said there was a dialogue, which says whisky can be had with or without water. He said, “I do not drink. So, Dhanush is both whisky and water.” But when two people go together, they are bound to succeed, and the film also stresses this, he added.

     

    Asked about his writer-director Balki, Bachchan said he had worked with Balki in Cheeni Kum and then in Paa and had found the director gives a different touch to his style of filmmaking.

     

    Speaking about the difference between Bollywood and Tamil cinema, Dhanush said, “Except for the language, almost everything is the same. One difference however is that down in the South, we have to give just five interviews whereas here we have 523 interviews lined up for us.”

     

    Akshara, whose mother Sarika, father Kamal Haasan and sister Shruti are all part of the film industry, said, “It was a wonderful opportunity and an amazing experience for me.” She went on to say that she did not feel intimated because of any comparisons, since each of her family members have their own style.

     

    The song Piddly, rendered by Bachchan, which has become really popular, was brought in conversations frequently as it has been used to fight piracy.

     

    Bachchan also said that since the film is about the film industry, several other known personalities would be seen on screen. Answering a question about his stint in the industry, he said, “I have found that over the last forty-five years, filmmakers are becoming more impatient. However, they are more knowledgeable now about what’s happening all over the world, and this includes usage of new technologies.”

     

    Presented by Eros International, the film has music by Ilaiyaraaja and has been produced by Sunil Lulla, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, R K Damani, Gauri Shinde, and Abhishek Bachchan. The lyricists are Swanand Kirkire, Kausar Munir for ‘Sha Sha Sha Mi Mi Mi’.

     

  • Rentrak partners with Eros International for box office reporting

    Rentrak partners with Eros International for box office reporting

    MUMBAI: Rentrak, a company that measures movies and TV everywhere, has announced its partnership with Eros International. As part of the deal, the company will collect box office information of Eros’ films across India. The first Eros film Rentrak will collect data on is ‘Tevar’, which released on 9 January.
                                                  
    “We are thrilled to work with Eros as we continue to grow our International coverage, which now includes the operation and collection of theatre-level attendance and box office information from 36 countries. The inclusion of Eros to our service is a powerful addition to our clients in India,” said Rentrak’s worldwide movie measurement business president Ron Giambra.  “Rentrak is thrilled to continue help India make its film production more transparent with our global box office reporting capabilities,” he added.

    Eros International CEO Jyoti Deshpande said, “We are delighted to partner with Rentrak for box office measurement in India. I believe this tie up will help accelerate positive change and herald a new era of transparency in the Indian movie industry.”
     
    Rentrak’s Box Office Essentials and International Box Office Essentials are the movie industry’s source for comprehensive global box office intelligence and are used as the currency by every studio in the United States as well as distribution entities around the world. Boasting a global footprint of the worldwide movie market, Rentrak is able to provide its clients with real-time box office intelligence, through one unique system, which allows users to view real-time online reports from anywhere around the world.
     
    In recent times, Eros has also entered into Indian regional cinema with a strong line up of Bollywood, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam releases this year. Eros is also one of the biggest international distributors for Bollywood movies with penetration in over 50 countries.
     
    India with 3.5 billion admissions per annum is already the largest consumer of movies in the world. As studies suggest, with seamless digitisation in the movies business, proliferation of multiplexes across the length and breadth of the country, Indian movies increasingly capturing the imagination of world markets, the Indian movie industry is set to make giant strides in terms of box office revenues and compete with the fastest growing markets in the world in near future.
     
    The Eros-Rentrak tie-up assumes greater significance in this transformative phase and will provide a positive thrust towards making the rapidly growing, vastly potent yet complex Indian movie industry, transparent.  

    The latest offering from Eros – Tevar stars Arjun Kapoor and Sonakshi Sinha in the lead. Eros’ upcoming films include Shamitabh, a film by R. Balki and starring India’s biggest super star Amitabh Bachchan.