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Tag: Raaja Kanwar

  • UFO Moviez aims to reach 500 screens by Diwali; to make international foray

    UFO Moviez aims to reach 500 screens by Diwali; to make international foray

    MUMBAI: United Film Organizers (UFO) Moviez a pioneer in digital cinema and with 400 theatres across 14 cities in India having its installations, has plans to increase the figure to 500 by Diwali.

    UFO moviez has tied up with producer Sajid Nadiadwala for his forthcoming film Jaan-e-mann for brand building promotion and to create awareness about digital cinema.

    “Our association with Jaan-e-mann is a joint promotional and brand building exercise. UFO will showcase the film in its 400 theatres across India and Jaan-e-mann will carry the branding of UFO in their print and optical media,” said UFO Moviez vice chairman and director Raaja Kanwar at a media briefing yesterday.

    UFO executive director and CEO Sanjay Gaikwad added, “By the time the film releases in Diwali, we will achieve our target of 500 theatres. And as per UFOs’ roll out plan we are to achieve a target of 1000 theatres by March 2007 and 2000 by March 2008.”

    With an objective to revolutionise the distribution and exhibition system in cinema, UFO was officially launched in November 2005 and within less than a years time, plans a foray into the international market.

    This initiative has been taken by UFO after acquiring the rights to Mpeg 4 Digital Cinema Solutions from DG2L Technologies Pvt Ltd.

    “The response that we have got from India is helping us to take this leap in the international market, say Middle East and European nations, where Bollywood films are popular. And with Mpeg 4 digital cinema solutions, the task will become easy. This technology will provide greater flexibility, effieciency and cost savings,” added Gaikwad.

    Digital screening of films through the technology offered by UFO not only reduces the cost of prints but also helps the distributors and exhibitors, who have to pay a nominal amount for acquiring the print of the film and showing it in theatres.

    “The distributer pays Rs 250 for a single print and the exhibitor pays Rs 275 for the same as compared to the Analog print for which they have to spend something between Rs 16,000 – Rs 17,000. Moreover, the server in the UFO system installed at the theatre can store upto 15 films, which gives flexibility to the exhibitors to play different films at different times of the day,” said Gaikwad.

    This technology is proving beneficial for the distributors and exhibitors in B and C cities where films would hit the theaters two-three weeks after its release, which would in return hamper the box office collection. But with digital cinema installations in these cities, audience are getting to see the films in the very first week of its release.

    UFO Moviez had recently announced that it will invest Rs 1.5 billion in the next three years to digitise 1,000 movie halls of Chennai-based Pyramid Saimira Theatres Ltd. As per a tie-up agreement between the two companies, UFO Moviez would provide end-to-end digital cinema solutions for these 1,000 theatres.

  • ‘Krrish’ strikes digital gold with UFO Moviez digital cinema screens

    ‘Krrish’ strikes digital gold with UFO Moviez digital cinema screens

    MUMBAI: UFO Moviez, the digital cinema network launched by Valuable Media Pvt Ltd. (an Apollo International subsidiary), announced the release of Krrish, the latest blockbuster starring Hrithik Roshan, directed and produced by Filmkraft Productions (India) Pvt. Ltd.

    Krrish went out on 87 UFO screens in the first week and 90 UFO screens in week two. These UFO screens account for 15 per cent of the total number of screens that the film opened with and also marks the biggest ever digital release of a Bollywood blockbuster on a single digital network platform.

    The movie has received one of the biggest openings in the history of Indian cinema – grossing close to Rs 700 million in its first week alone. Krrish opened at theatres across the world with 790 prints, 250 of them in overseas screens alone.

    Also, Krrish was released for global digital screening with 925 cinema screens exhibiting the film worldwide. Thus, the network has made its presence felt by accounting for 10 per cent of the total digital film screens in the world to exhibit Krrish since its release two weeks ago.

    UFO Moviez, spearheaded by founder directors Raaja Kanwar, Sanjay Gaikwad and Usman Fayaz, plans to create the largest chain of digital cinemas houses worldwide by 2007 in India. It is part of Group Apollo’s Media Initiative and was launched by the company’s chairman and managing director O S Kanwar and Yash Chopra in November 2005.

    Having initially set up 500 digital movie halls by August 2006 at an investment of Rs 800 million, UFO plans to scale it up progressively to 2000 cinema halls across the country at a total investment of Rs 3 billion.

    UFO International CEO Aditya Shastri said, “It is has been our privilege to be part of this success and bringing the latest in digital projection technology has surely been an advantage. We are proud of our association with Krrish and remain committed to ensuring pristine quality images with perpetual life with no compromise in quality. With Krrish’s trouble free shows under our belt, we can definitely stake our claim to a stable and rugged technology of digital viewing. The overall response towards digital cinema has been extremely positive and will be a constant source of motivation for us.”