Tag: Rang De Basanti

“Follow your gut’, says Siddharth Roy Kapur as he shares his success mantra at IIFTC

Mumbai: In a fireside chat at the India International Film Tourism Conclave 2022, producer Siddharth Roy Kapur gave out his success mantra to a discerning audience consisting of 20 countries who had come to pitch their locations to Indian filmmakers—’Follow your gut.’

In a discussion with the South Swedish Film Commission head & European Film Commission Network co-president Mikael Svensson, Roy Kapur Films founder, MD Siddharth Roy Kapur said that he had always been in love with the story before he decided to produce it. Commenting on the occasion, he said, “When we decided to produce Rang De Basanti in 2005, many people warned us that the film may not work well, as in the ending, the cast dies, but we followed our gut. The success of the film paved the way for many more such projects and newcomers in the industry. Ronnie Screwvala backed talent whose stories we loved, irrespective of what the market or trade pundits might think.”

Answering a question by Mikael Svensson on his personal favourite film as a producer, Kapur answered, “The Last Film Show,” without batting an eyelid. Continuing the conversation, he said, “The Last Film Show is one of my favourite films as it makes the viewers fall in love with cinemas. An Indian Oscar is long overdue and all of us are keeping our fingers crossed. We Indians have a special grammar in our films, unlike others, namely the song and dance sequences. Many people might not like them, but I strongly feel that they should survive. Our country has space for both international cinema, regional cinema, and Hindi language cinema—due to the large audience size and the large Indian diaspora spread globally, whenever we start a film, it is primarily the Indian audience that we keep in mind.”

Commenting on the South Indian Film Industry, Kapur said, “The South Indian cinema is having its renaissance moment. The audiences have started accepting and appreciating such films.” On what goes behind choosing a shooting location for the film, the 48-year-old filmmaker said, “We as filmmakers, want to be true to the script and hence prefer to shoot at the actual locations as in the script. However, budget sometimes plays a role, and if we get something that may not look like a force fit but still be in our budget, then we select that location.”

Svensson also told the audience a lesser-known fact about the ex-president of the Producers Guild of India. He used to love acting in school and college and was the head of his college dramatics society. Kapur laughingly said, “Producers are acting all the time. I enjoyed acting in school and college, but being an actor professionally is different. I realised the differences early on and became a producer, as I believed it suited me more as a person.”

The evening was the second day of the three-day film tourism event, featuring over 50 international companies from over 20 countries coming to Bollywood, Mumbai to woo Indian filmmakers. The event saw participation from countries including Azerbaijan, Abu Dhabi, Krakow, Kazakhstan, Montenegro, Norway, Oman, Panama, Poland, Sri Lanka, Sweden, and Yas Island, to name a few.

October 17, 2022
Celebrate Republic Day special with ‘Beats of India’ only on MTV Beats

This Republic Day, MTV Beats is set to hit the patriotic notes with ‘Beats of India’. The channel will be playing a song every hour as a part of ‘Beats of India’ to intensify the patriotic vibes. From the inspiring ‘Vande Mataram’ by ‘A.R. Rahman’ to the energetic ‘Rang De Basanti,’ and from ‘Chak de India’ to ‘Aisa Desh Hai Mera,’ these songs are sure to emphasize on the importance of freedom and evoke your love for India with some of the most nationalistic Indian songs.

Show: Republic Day special- ‘Beats of India’

Date: 26^th January

Time: 8 AM – 11AM & 5 PM – 7PM

January 24, 2018
Spuul inks deal with UTV; to stream ‘PK’

MUMBAI: Online streaming service for Indian cinema and television content, Spuul has added the highest grossing Hindi movie of all time PK in its catalogue. Along with PK, subscribers can also watch other UTV titles like Rang De Basanti, Jodhaa Akbar, Kai Po Che, Barfi, Dev D and Chennai Express amongst others.

All movies will be available across platforms like web, mobile (iOS, Android), Smart TV (Samsung, Panasonic, LG) Airplay on iOS, and Chromecast on Android. Spuul will be offering these movies to subscribers in India, UK, Middle East and other major territories around the world.

Spuul global CEO Subin Subaiah said, “As one of the leading providers of Bollywood content to viewers across India, Pakistan, UK, US and Middle East, we are constantly investing in growing our library by adding new, popular and in many cases, offbeat titles to our list. PK’s addition to our rich UTV catalogue is yet another step in this direction.”

September 22, 2015
Sony Music reunites with Viacom 18 Motion Pictures and Rakeysh Ompraksash Mehra for the music of Bhaag Milkha Bhaag

MUMBAI: Sony music has teamed up with Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and Viacom18 for the music rights of the biopic – Bhaag Milkha Bhaag.

After ‘Rang De Basanti‘s musical success, this is the second project with Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra that adds another feather to Sony music‘s list. Co-produced by Viacom 18 Motion Pictures and Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag is based on the life of athlete, Milkha Singh. The title character is which is played by actor Farhan Akhtar.

The music is composed by the musical trio Shankar – Ehsaan – Loy with lyrics by Prasoon Joshi.

Sony Music Entertainment president India and middle east Shridhar Subramaniam said, "Our journey with Rakeysh began in the year 2005 with Rang De Basanti wherein we worked very closely with his team and created a huge success. Today while we work with him on Bhaag Milkha Bhaag we are all geared up to put in the same passion and energy. We are extremely confident of the subject and the music as it‘s an integral part of the film."

He further adds, "Prasoon Joshi‘s lyrics in Rang De Basanti elevated the musical experience and we are sure it will be the same this time too while Shankar Ehsaan and Loy always bring a fresh new angle to the music. At Sony Music, it‘s always a pleasure to work with Viacom 18 and we together will ensure a great musical journey for the listeners."

Mehra adds, "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag has been the most challenging experience. I have felt growth within myself as a film maker. The songs of the film is what a soul is to a body, we are lucky that Shridhar and his passionate team at Sony Music have joined hands and have become an integral part of the BMB family".

The music will roll out in May and the movie is slated for release in theatres on 12 July.

May 2, 2013
‘Water’ to finally make it to Indian theatres

NEW DELHI: After bagging an Oscar nomination in the Best Foreign Language category and being theatrically released in 57 countries, including the United Kingdom and Denmark, and having already brought in $ 5.6 million at the North American box office where it played in 150 theatres, Deepa Mehta’s Water will finally be seen in Indian theatres early next month.

The renowned director told a press conference in the Capital yesterday that the John Abraham-Lisa Ray-Seema Biswas starrer was being released on 9 March all over the country.
The film figured among the final five nominees for the ‘Best Foreign Language Film Category’ for the Oscars beating Indian entry Rang De Basanti. It went to the Oscars as a Canadian entry. The Oscars are being presented on 25 February and will air live on Star Movies.

The film is the third in the trilogy of films by Deepa Mehta after Fire and 1947 Earth, and deals with the plight of widows in the India of the 1930s. Fire tackled lesbianism while Earth dealt with the subject of India’s partition.

Set against Mahatma Gandhi’s Civil Disobedience movement of 1938, Water is a deeply moving tale of three women and their uprising against gender injustice and servitude in the ‘widow houses’ of India. The film’s release in India has been made possible by BR Films, a distribution firm owned by filmmaker Ravi Chopra.

Speaking at the press meet, Chopra said his decision to take up the release of the film in India was not impelled by the film winning an Oscar nomination. “The decision to release the film in India was made before the film bagged the Oscar nomination,” Chopra said. He added: ”It is a very cute film, a beautiful love story. It is a film which has won accolades and box office success galore in the US and in this sense made India proud in the West. This is all the more reason why I felt people in India should see this film.”

The theatrical release for the film in India comes almost seven years after protests by fundamentalists forced the filmmaker to suspend its shooting in Varanasi and abandon the project. The protestors alleged that the film was “anti-Hindu” and the sets of the film were set on fire by radical Hindu protesters who also burned Mehta’s effigy in the streets and threatened the director. Hundreds of army troops were deployed to protect the cast and crew but the production was finally forced to shut down.

The film was revived four years later with a different cast. John Abraham replaced Bollywood star Akshay Kumar while model-turned-actor Lisa Ray took the place of Nandita Das. The shooting of the film was undertaken in Sri lanka in 2005 though the locale is shown as Varanasi.

Asked about the controversy surrounding the film, Chopra said, ”In the film, Deepa Mehta is talking about something that happened in India in the 1930s. One can differ with the director’s take on the hapennings, but nobody can deny that it happened. As an Indian I, after watching the film, did not feel that the film hurts Indian sensibilities in any way.”

Initially, the film will be released with about 100 prints all over India, including nine in Delhi. ”The film will initially be released in theatres in metros like New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Kolkata. Later, depending on the response, we will take it to smaller centers,” Chopra said.

Mehta said “winning a nomination at the Oscars is itself a matter of pride. from hereon it does not matter whether the film eventually wins an Oscar.” The film has been shortlisted along with Pan’s Labyrinth (Mexico), After The Wedding (Denmark), Days of Glory and the German Cold War drama The Lives of Others.

John Abraham said, “Deepa Mehta is an actor’s director. She understands her actors’ sensibilities and projects her characters very well. In fact, I am proud to say that finally I have a Deepa Mehta’s film on my CV.”

Released by Fox Searchlight in the US in April last year, Water went on to become one of the best reviewed films of the year, and the highest grossing Hindi-language drama
ever released in North America. It received the Freedom of Expression award from the National Board of Review, was named one of the top ten best pictures by the New York Film Critics online and received their humanitarian award.

Besides the Oscars nominations for Best Foreign Language film, Water has earlier recieved nine nominations and three awards at the 26th annual Genie awards (Canada’s Oscars), including an award for Seema Biswas for ‘Outstanding Actress in a leading Role’, ‘Achievement in Music-Original Score’ award for Mychael Danna and ‘Achievement in Cinematography’ award for Giles Nuttgens.

The film also won for Deepa Mehta the Best Director and Lisa Ray the Best Actress award in the 2005 Vancouver Film Critics awards and recieved a nomination for Best Canadian Film.

February 16, 2007
Big 92.7 FM observes World Cancer Day with kid’s from Tata Hospital

MUMBAI: Adlabs radio station Big 92.7 FM visited the children of the Tata Memorial Hospital a few days ahead of World Cancer Day which is commemorated on 4 February.

The station organized a party for the kids and even roped in actor Shiney Ahuja and Rang De Basanti director Rakesh Mehra to interact with the kids. Big RJ’s Anirudh and Baburao organised games for the kids like Antakshari.

While Nakli No. 1 – RJ Nitin added fun and laughter to the event with mimic acts, informs an official release.

Apart from the kids, the Hospital staff and parents was also seen participating along with the kids.

February 9, 2007
Star News-A C Nielsen survey says 63% in Gujarat want ‘Fanna’

MUMBAI: As Fanaa is all set to release tomorrow across the nation expect in the state of Gujarat, where the film exhibitors are hesitating to screen it till he tenders an apology for his recent anti-Narmada project statements.

Admits all this Star News in collaboration with A C Nielsen conducted a survey in Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Surat to ascertain the common man’s views on the issue. The findings indicate that 63 per cent of people in Gujarat want to watch the film and also prefers Aamir as a reel life hero as against a real life hero.

But away from the hum drum of the politics of ‘water’, what does the ‘aam junta’ in Gujarat really want? The survey indicated some findings:

* 63 per cent of people in Gujarat want to watch the film and only 33 per cent said they would not, 4 per cent said don’t know

* 52 per cent of the people do not agree with the BJP’s appeal to boycott the film, 40 per cent subscribe to BJP’s statements, 8 per cent were undecided

* 55 per cent of the respondents feel that Aamir’s statements on Narmada were inappropriate, 32 per cent felt it was appropriate, 13 per cent are undecided

* 40 per cent of the people said that they do not want the Bollywood star to act like the Rang De Basanti hero in real life, 36 per cent vouch for him and 24 per cent were undecided

August 25, 2006
Ekta & Smriti Irani to co-produce Star Plus soap ‘Thodi Si Zameen Thoda Sa Aasmaan’

MUMBAI: Ekta Kapoor’s Balaji Telefilms and Smriti Irani will co-produce Star Plus’ new weekend prime time venture Thodi Si Zameen Thoda Sa Aasmaan. The soap launches on 19 August Saturday at 10:30 pm.

States Irani on her second most significant outing on tube after Kyunki Saas…, “Apart from co-producing the show with the production house that gave me India’s most celebrated show, I am extremely honoured that Star Plus has given me the opportunity to graduate from an actor to a producer.”

Thodi Si Zameen Thoda Sa Aasmaan, is a story of Uma didi, a 27-year old obedient daughter of a mill worker, who undertakes several jobs to run the family ever since the mill has shut. Set in the heart of Mumbai in a middle class “chawl”, it is mostly occupied by the mill workers, who are out of job; a story full of hardships and tribulations of a common man’s everyday life. Where Uma will hold the centre stage, as she will be looked up as a source of constant inspiration and driving force for the chawl people, who draw their strength and reason to live from her indomitable spirit!

The story and screenplay of the show is done by the acclaimed Bollywood writer Kamlesh Pandey, who was behind blockbuster movies such as Rang De Basanti and Tezaab. The soap is directed by Santram Verma.

July 26, 2006
Aamir Vs Aamir

Let me begin with a disclaimer. This is not a piece about how celebrities should conduct themselves in public or in media. It is not about whether or not they should get involved with or voice their opinions on politically or socially sensitive matters. It is not about whether they should do research on a controversial subject, acquaint themselves with ‘facts’ from both sides, and only then form an opinion instead of forming lazy opinions.

Enough and more has been written or spoken on these subjects. We have heard Aamir and his supporters from the ‘industry’ and elsewhere. We have seen other celebrities such as Arundhati Roy and Rahul Bose share their opinion with us on several news TV stations. In fact, only recently, I read a beautifully written piece by Rahul Bose on intentblog, one of the best open blogs I have seen.

It’s Aamir the actor who acts for a living versus Aamir the brand whose equity must be protected, grown and leveraged
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My goal here is a little different. A little less selfless and more commercial, if you may. As a practitioner of marketing and communication, I am intrigued by the issues the Aamir-Narmada-Fanaa episode raises, even after the episode itself seems to have blown over.

If you try to simplify an otherwise multi-textural issue, it’s Aamir the celebrity that endorses half a dozen high profile brands versus Aamir the concerned citizen who is compelled to raise his voice against seeming injustice. In fact, even more importantly, it’s Aamir the actor who acts for a living versus Aamir the brand whose equity must be protected, grown and leveraged.

Now look at what the brand did. It [doesn’t sound right to refer to Aamir, as ‘it’, does it?] jumped out of its popularly accepted, rather linear domain of acting-to-entertain, into uncharted territory. Out of the larger-than-life fantasy world of the big screen, Dolby sound, and carefully directed retakes, into the grimy and sweaty world that millions live in every day. It could not have been an easy choice. Particularly when a brand extension [Fanaa] was weeks away from its launch. I know there are people out there who believe Aamir’s Narmada outburst and rather ‘suddenly’ found social conscience were part of a carefully orchestrated bridge strategy between Rang De Basanti and Fanaa. If that is true, I wonder how many product or service marketing managers would take such a risk before a launch. In fact, whether Aamir’s Narmada voice was a marketing tactic is not the real issue here.

To me, the issue is whether brands need to learn a new lesson on how to communicate with their customers. Ever since brand management started as a discipline, most brands have tried to create and maintain a squeaky clean image, polished regularly by advertising. They have lived in a fantasy world where problems always disappear at the end of 30 seconds, ‘ordinary’ names always fail, rivals draw blood on an imaginary street. They have stood on pedestals and delivered sermons about the good and the evil, while obedient disciples listened with patience. Not unlike how Aamir and others in his profession talk to us in a theatre, if you think about it.

But the truth is, brands live in our minds and hearts and we live in a society. The society isn’t a fantasy world; it’s where we return when the three hours of fantasy are over. It’s where parents take interviews, so that kids can get admission into a school, where neighbors fight over relatively trivial issues, where corruption is something we practice in day time and watch on TV at night.

Do brands live in our society? With us? Should they?

If we want to move from an era where consumers move from just knowing our brand to liking it, a thought that is finding increasing acceptance amongst seasoned brand marketers, we should perhaps think of brands as social beings.

Should brands take a social stance? Or should they avoid any kind of controversy and stay sanitized and clean?
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Not everyone in our society is our friend. Some people whose ideas and opinions are similar to ours, who have interests and hobbies common to ours, who help us face a challenge or leverage an opportunity, become our friends. Others become someone else’s friends. People fight normal fights, but we are most often loyal to our friends regardless of who is fighting against them. And while we might have many types of friends and sometimes we lose touch with some of them, we don’t change with friends very frequently.

Do we see our brand as a friend like this?

Here comes the provocation. In a world where people [consumers?] are getting increasingly cynical of marketing, advertising and brands, should we start breaking down some of the practices that built our powerful brands yesterday? Should we attempt to make the simple principles of friendship and social relationship work to create a relationship between our brand and attention challenged consumers?

Should our brands step down from the hallowed pedestal and mingle with the masses? Should they take stances on issues of social importance and urgency, even if some of them might be controversial and ‘politically’ sensitive?

Net, should brands take a social stance? Or should they avoid any kind of controversy and stay sanitized and clean?

How come Aamir thought of doing something that Shah Rukh, Amitabh, Aishwarya, Lataji and Hritik haven’t done? Is Aamir the only one? How about Shabana? How about Gere?

How come we regard Benetton, Bullet, MTV, Diesel, Harley, Zippo, Apple, Red Bull differently from countless others?

If we think of brands broadly as mainstream and leading-edge, how they have built themselves, what chances they have taken, who owns them and how they behave, we might find some directions and explanations. But, then, that’s a broader subject, isn’t it?

Do you have an opinion on brands taking a social stance. Help Ravi Kiran write the next chapter. Post your thoughts to editor@indiantelevision.com

(The author is South Asia CEO Starcom MediaVest Group)

June 20, 2006
Star India acquires four films including ‘Rang De..’ from UTV for Rs 160 million

MUMBAI: Star India has acquired the telecast rights to the Aamir Khan starrer Rang De Basanti from UTV. The block buster film has been bought over along with three other UTV productions as a package for around Rs 160 million, according to market sources.

The other three movies Star has acquired are Chup Chup Ke, The Blue Umbrella and an un-titled David Dhawan project.

Confirming the acquisition to indiantelevision.com, Star Entertainment India CEO Sameer Nair said Star channels would premiere Rang De Basanti in the last quarter of the calendar year. “We have acquired four movies, including Rang De Basanti, from UTV through a package deal. We will telecast Rang De Basanti some time around October 2006,” says Nair. However, Nair refused to confirm the acquisition price.

Rang De Basanti has been the biggest grosser for UTV Motion Pictures this year. The movie, starring the ensemble cast of Aamir Khan, Madhavan, Soha Ali Khan, Kunal Kapoor, Siddharth, Sharman Joshi and Alice Patten, is directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra.

Scheduled for a 9 June release, Chup Chup Ke will see popular director Priyadarshan delivering yet another South remake. The film is the Hindi version of the Malayalam blockbuster laugh riot Punjabi House. Chup Chup Ke stars Shahid Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor, Neha Dhupia, Paresh Rawal, Rajpal Yadav and Om Puri.

The Blue Umbrella, directed by Vishal Bharadwaj has Pankaj Kapur donning the title role. Released in December 2005, this low-budget movie had won a lot of critical acclaim. The fourth movie in question is a David Dhawan venture which is about to go on floor.

The new UTV collection beefs up Star India’s blockbuster bank. The network has already acquired titles such as Krrish, Taxi No.9211 and Bluffmaster. Some of the other movies Star has acquired this year include Apaharan, Ankahee, Shikhar, Family and Aksar.

While Star India has pocketed a significant number of big movies to telecast this year, competitiors Zee Cinema and Max are gearing up for some tough fight. Zee Cinema has re-branded its driver property Shaniwaar Ki Raat Amitabh Ke Saath and recently telecast the big movie Garam Masala. Other key telecast rights the channel holds include Umrao Jaan, Pyare Mohan and Home Delivery, according to sources.

On the other hand, Max is banking on some of the 2005 blockbusters such as Salaam Namaste, Kalyug and Zeher. It is expected that Yash Raj Films’ latest release Fanaa and the upcoming biggy Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna will also go to Max.

June 1, 2006