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Tag: Raj Kapoor

  • Kabir Sadanand to recreate Abid Surti’s Bahadur for big screen

    Kabir Sadanand to recreate Abid Surti’s Bahadur for big screen

    MUMBAI: Actor, writer, director Kabir Sadanand, known for his film Tum Milo Toh Sahi, is geared up to recreate Abid Surti‘s famous cult comic hero Bahadur of Indrajal comic, in his next titled Bahadur vs Bahadur.


    Sadanand was quoted saying, “Bahadur has been a character that has always inspired me. I am making a film on him. However, it is too early to talk about the project just yet. We will be in a better position to talk about the film within a couple of months.”


    The film would be made under Sadanand‘s own production banner Frog Unlimited.


    Bahadur was a comic book hero published by Indrajal Comics and created by Aabid Surti in 1976. The comics were published in various languages including Hindi, English and Bengali.


    The plot of Bahadur focused on dacoity, revolved around Bahadur, the son of a dacoit Vairab Singh who died in a combat with the Police. Incidentally, Bahadur, then a teenager, was adopted by Vishal, the police officer who shot Vairab Singh.


    It is being rumoured that A-list actors have evinced interest in being cast in Sadanand‘s new venture.


    Earlier, many filmmakers including the late Raj Kapoor had shown keen interest in translating Surti‘s comic hero into a Bollywood star but failed in their attempts.

  • Raj Kapoor retrospective at MoMA

    Raj Kapoor retrospective at MoMA

    MUMBAI: As part of a retrospective it has organised of Raj Kapoor, the New York-based Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) will showcase eight classics of the legendary actor, director-producer. The retrospective, which will roll from 6 January, will go on till 16 January.

    Presented in 35 mm prints, ‘Raj Kapoor and the Golden Age of Indian Cinema‘ offers an introduction to one of the most ravishing and influential periods of world cinema.

    The exhibition is curetted by Noah Cowan, Artistic Director, TIFF Bell Lightbox, and organised by TIFF, IIFA, and RK Films, with the support of the Government of Ontario. It is organised for MoMA by Joshua Siegel, Associate Curator, Department of Film, The Museum of Modern Art, MoMA said in a statement.

    Largely unknown in North America, except to filmgoers of South Asian descent, Kapoor is revered not only in India but also throughout the former Soviet Union, the Middle East and beyond.

    Kapoor founded RK Films in 1948, and it became the most important Hindi studio of the post-Independence era-and the one most commonly associated with the nebulous and often misunderstood expression Bollywood.

  • ‘The branded slots, big movies have fetched revenues and viewership for the channel’ : Mohan Gopinath – Zee Cinema business head

    ‘The branded slots, big movies have fetched revenues and viewership for the channel’ : Mohan Gopinath – Zee Cinema business head

     Being the oldest player in the Hindi movie genre, Zee Cinema enjoys a good brand loyalty. The movie channel’s strength has been its huge library of movies. Regular festivals and branded slots have also helped the channel to maintain its audience base.

    In an interview with Indiantelevision.com’s Richa Dubey, Zee Cinema business head Mohan Gopinath discusses about the dynamics of the Hindi movie channel market and the plans ahead for the channel he heads.

    Excerpts:

    How has Zee Cinema evolved as a brand?
    Over the years, Zee Cinema has grown a consistent base of viewers. And we have continuously taken care of our brand.

    In 2007, we created many branded slots like ‘Showman Show’ which was a Raj Kapoor and Subhash Ghai film festival. It ran for 22 weeks wherein we showed almost all the RK Films like Bobby, Prem Rog, Sri 420, Ram Teri Ganga Maili.

    We created ‘Bhakti Ki Shakti’ for mythological movies on every Sunday morning at 8:30 am.

    This year we had a kids’ film festival called ‘Dopahar Zee Cinema Par’ for which we roped in Darsheel Safary as brand ambassador for the slot. We showed children films like Life Ho to Aisi, Tarzan the Wonder Car daily at 12:30 pm for almost a month.

    There are other slots like ‘Shaniwaar Ki Raat Amitabh Ke Saath’ and ‘Cinema Hall’ that have been worked as differentiating factor for us.

    Besides the branded slots, big movies have fetched revenues and viewership for the channel. All these factors have taken the channel to a grander scale.

    With movie acquisition taking the syndication route, how do you see the industry shaping up?
    For all the Hindi movie channels, there has always been a good supply of films over the years. However channels only prefer the ones that have worked in the box-office and are popular. As these films are only limited to 25 to 30 titles, the cost of satellite rights of these films have increased. Because of which the channels have formulated the syndication route. We have to still wait and watch as to where it goes.

    Have you syndicated any titles to other channels?
    Lately we have not done any such deal.

    All the Hindi movie channels are adopting this new business model. Why have you kept yourself away?
    We dont want to plunge into things. We would like to go with our own bank of movies.

    The newer films have shorter life span compared to the older ones. We are not discounting the newer set of movies but in older films there are some memories which you would want to recollect. Everything has its own patent time. Older movies have also done well. We have a different strategy and we would like to go ahead with that. We have done this since last so many years and established the brand.

    You can’t get better than a Big B. Ultimately the movies have to blend into good ratings and then monetize.
    ‘The strength of Zee Cinema has been its huge bank of library films‘

    What is your strategy to combat the increasing prize of a movie?
    We are very title driven. We are careful what we want to show with very limited purchase. We believe that equilibrium has to be maintained. Our purchase has been very careful.

    In that case you have not been very aggressive towards purchases?
    The strength of Zee Cinema has been a mixture of old movies. We have a huge bank of library films. Our viewers have constantly enjoyed watching them.

    And in terms of big ticket purchase, for this year we have Dhol, Dhamaal and Taare Zameen Par. So we have a happy mix of both.

    What other innovations have you done in the channel?
    We have tied up with Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na to promote our branded slot ‘Shaniwaar Ki Raat Sitaaron Ke Saath’ (Saturday 8 pm).

    We are running a contest wherein we will ask a question during the Saturday film. We have invited answers from colleges across India. The college which sends maximum right answers will meet Imraan Khan, the lead actor of Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na.

    Shaniwaar Ki Raat Amitabh Ke Saath developed its own set of loyalty. Why then did you think of revamping the slot?
    After four years we have revamped the slot ‘Shaniwaar Ki Raat…’. Now we will be showcasing all the big titles in it.

    We wanted to take things forward to a much larger canvas. Along with Amitabh films we will also premiere other big films with big stars.

    We have titles like Phir Hera Pheri, Dhol, Dhamaal, Vivah, Taare Zameen Par lined up for this slot.

    But conventionally big ticket film’s premieres are on Sunday in early prime time. Don’t you think a Saturday night premiere is too late for your viewers?
    If I want to explore my library to the fullest and want every movie to do well, then this is the best slot. And the kinds of movies that we have kept for this particular slot come with that kind of brand value and image.

    The premiere time depends from channel to channel. There is no hard and fast rule on Zee Cinema. Vivah can also come on Sunday 12:30 pm or on a Saturday night. It is a family oriented film.
    Is the market ready to accommodate new players?
    Every market goes through a correction. At the end of the day every channel has a good strategy. What is required is a good three to four months of consistent viewership. I acknowledge the presence of every player. The competition will make us healthy.
  • Shemaroo releases ‘RK Films-The Immortal Collection’

    Shemaroo releases ‘RK Films-The Immortal Collection’

    MUMBAI: Shemaroo has released the album RK Films – The Immortal Collection on VCD. The album, which is a six VCD pack, is a collector’s item featuring 72 songs from films produced under the RK Banner. Three VCDs of the pack comprise 36 songs from Black and White era while the other three comprise 36 songs in colour.

    The RK Banner is synonymous with melodies and good music which has entertained music lovers over several decades. Raj Kapoor always believed that good music was an essential ingredient for the success of a film. Over the years R. K Banner has delivered some of the best songs which are considered to be Gems for music lovers.

    Shemaroo says that the pack celebrates 51 years of R.K.Films, right from Aag (1948) to Aa Ab Laut Chalen (1999) as it unfolds one melody after the other from India’s most prestigious movie-making banner. The films range from the ones in which Raj Kapoor has acted/ directed to the ones which he has only directed. It also consists of films like Boot Polish, Ab Dilli Dur Nahin and Jagte Raho which were directed by rank outsiders for the R.K.Banner as well as films like Kal Aaj Aur Kal which was directed by Randhir Kapoor.

    Shemaroo adds that The Immortal collection series has been presented in the form of an album.

  • Zee to launch dubbed movie channel in Russia

    Zee to launch dubbed movie channel in Russia

    MUMBAI: One area where Zee Telefilms is clearly ahead of rivals Star and Sony is in channel initiatives internationally. Keeping that tradition alive, Zee is launching a 24-hour movie channel in September that will air Indian films dubbed in Russian.

    Zee group chairman Subhash Chandra revealed his channel plans to Hindu Business Line on the sidelines of an address he gave to the Madras Management Association in Chennai yesterday.

    Considering how well Hindi movies in particular have been received in Russia (the late Raj Kapoor’s films were a rage there), it would surprise no one if Zee has a winner here.It was on 13 March that the Network began beaming Zee in Indonesia. There too the channel was dubbed in the local language Bahasa. Zee is available on the multi-channel satellite pay-television platform Astro Nusantara as a package.

    In Indonesia, the channel’s content is sourced from the flagship channel Zee TV library and localised with Bahasa Indonesia dubbing and Bahasa Melayu subtitling, to reflect the different language, lifestyle and viewing habits of audiences in the three countries Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.