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Tag: Rohit Shetty

  • The show this season will be a blockbuster: Raj Nayak

    The show this season will be a blockbuster: Raj Nayak

    MUMBAI: Colors’ adrenaline pumping reality show, Khatron Ke Khiladi, is all set to return after a hiatus of nearly two years.

    The fifth season of the show will premiere on 22 March and will be aired every weekend at 9pm. Season five will transport 15 celebrity contestants to the dense forests of South Africa, where they will be seen battling untold odds, performing high-octane stunts and generally overcoming their deepest fears.

    With a tagline that reads ‘Darr Ka Blockbuster’ and stunt maestro-action filmmaker Rohit Shetty as host, Colors hopes to raise the bar even further with the upcoming season of its show.

    The daredevils participating in this edition include Ranvir Shorey, Nikitin Dheer, Mugdha Godse, Dayanand Shetty, Rajniesh Duggal, Rochelle Maria Rao, Gauhar Khan, Kushal Tandon, Gurmeet Choudhary, Debina Bonnerjee, Karanvir Bohra, Teejay Sidhu, Pooja Gor, dancer Salman Khan and Geeta Tandon.

    The channel has roped in Idea Cellular as the presenting sponsor, Gionee smartphone as the powered-by sponsor, and Mahindra & Mahindra, Amul Macho, Adjavis and Bajaj Electricals as associate sponsors.

    Colors officials chose to remain tight-lipped about the financial details of the show. Industry sources reveal that the channel could be charging anywhere close to Rs 2 lakh to Rs 2.5 lakh per 10 seconds of air time on the show.  “Moreover, the channel is spending close to Rs 2.5 crore per episode,” reveals the source.  

    In terms of the total ad revenue, the industry source adds, “Colors may well end up being in the black on this loss leading show as I believe the total revenue from advertising will tot up to about Rs 30 crore-35 crore this season.”  An advertising and promotional war chest of Rs 3 crore-5 crore has been kept aside for marketing Khatron Ke Khiladi. 

    So will season five be bigger than its predecessor? “With every season of Khatron Ke Khiladi, our aim is to raise the entertainment quotient and create edge-of-the-seat content to engage audiences’ week-after-week,” says Colors CEO Raj Nayak. “Be it contestant selection or programming and creative inputs, our teams ensure that viewers get the opportunity to witness the perfect amalgamation of action and entertainment as contestants push their boundaries to face their primal fears.”

    And why was Akshay Kumar replaced with Shetty this time around? “We share a great working relationship with Akshay Kumar, who hosted the last season, and it was a great experience working with him. This season was however about having a stunt visionary, who would not only drive contestants to perform better, but also be the architect of the stunts.  We wanted the host to own the stunts this time around,” reasons Nayak. “Who other than the stunt maestro himself (Shetty) to take on the mantle of hosting an action-packed adrenaline-charged show like Khatron Ke Khiladi?”

    With Shetty as stunt architect, Colors is looking to really push the envelope in that department. “Shetty will bring with him his own style of hosting and mannerisms that will add to the show’s entertainment quotient. Known for creating larger than life action sequences, he has entertained the masses with his films and I have no doubts that the show this season will be a blockbuster,” says Nayak.

    What made Endemol and Colors retain Cape Town, South Africa as the location of the shoot? In an earlier interview with indiantelevision.com, CEO of Endemol India, Deepak Dhar said that the South African team was well-equipped to come up with the kind of high-calibre stunts required this season.  Dhar described it as a ‘really mean season’ with high- level stunts and animals coming on the show as well. He said it would be packed with edgy content and explore some of the most interesting locales of South Africa, be it stunts involving choppers, cars, bikes or even underwater.

    An observer states that both Endemol and Colors would have found it quite difficult to make it as edgy as they did if the filming was to be done in India.

    More on season five:

    Unlike earlier seasons, it will not see partners holding contestants’ hands while performing some of the most challenging tasks. Also, each episode will feature three types of stunts performed by three sets of contestants.

    A 360-degree approach to KK5

    Colors is betting big on season five of Khatron Ke Khiladi. Not surprisingly, the channel has devised a 360-degree marketing and digital campaign to engage with its audience.

    It has designed an overall outreach programme including over 4,500 spots on television, 75 plus editions of key print, over 9,000 radio spots, OOH covering 70 cities, integrations for 17 days across 17 stations of Radio Mirchi, and DTH imprints to grab the attention of its target audience.

    To begin with, distinctive black and yellow hoardings have been placed at various consumer touch points across 70 cities in the country one week prior to the launch, to send out the key message of the show.

    On the cards is an adventure-based mobile game called ‘Khatron Ke Khiladi – The Game’, designed by Gameshastra Solutions, which can be downloaded on iOS and android platforms.

    On Twitter, the show has a dedicated page called @KKKonColors, which currently has over 4,000 followers. The Facebook page has more than 627,000 likes. There’s constant chatter about the contestants, trivia about the shoot and South Africa, bloopers and more to keep social media buzzing about the show.

    Colors has partnered with Radio Mirchi as its exclusive radio partner, who will engage listeners over a period of 17 days through 17 stations across the country. Radio Mirchi will review the show’s blockbuster opening on its premium property ‘Blockbuster Budhwar’ along with small segments during the day called ‘Meri Life Ka Blockbuster’ that will highlight the karnamas of real-life khiladis in the entertainment industry.

  • IIFA 2014: ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’ wins 9 technical awards!

    IIFA 2014: ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’ wins 9 technical awards!

    MUMBAI: The International Indian Film Academy today announced the winners of the technical categories of India’s most prestigious international awards, The Tata Motors IIFA Awards.
     

    The IIFA Magic of the Movies and Technical Awards are set to take place on the 25th of April in Tampa. This year’s Videocon d2h IIFA Weekend celebrations are slated for the last weekend of April, from the 23rd to the 26th in Tampa Bay. This will be IIFA’s debut in the United States.
     

    Running laps ahead of the pack, is the Milkha Singh biographical starrer ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’ with 9 wins in the technical category, bagging Best Cinematography (Binod Pradhan), Best Screenplay (Prasoon Joshi), Best Dialogue (Prasoon Joshi), Best Editing (P. S.Bharti),Best Sound Design (Nakul Kamte ),Best Sound Mixing (Pranav Shukla),Best Background Score (Shankar-Ehsaan- Loy), Best Costume Designing (Dolly Ahluwalia), and Best Make-Up (Vikram Gaikwad).
     

    With 2 awards is India’s very own superhero flick ‘Krrish 3’. The action-movie won Best Action (Sham Kaushal & Tony Ching Siu Tung) and Best Special Effects – Visuals (Keitan Yadav & Haresh Hingorani – Red Chillies VFX). Rohit Shetty’s blockbuster hit Chennai Express wins Best Song Recording (Vinod Verma for Lungi Dance) and Best Sound Mixing (Anup Dev) along with Bhaag Milkha  Bhaag.
                                                     

    The Technical Award winners and the Popular Award nominations are derived from the IIFA Voting weekend that took place earlier this month. The IIFA Voting process is a stringent and methodical procedure that is closely monitored by KPMG, the official auditors of the event. The popular category nominations have gone live for the global audience to participate in the voting process. Fans across the world can vote online via iifa.com/globalvoting2014   
     

    Wizcraft International Entertainment Pvt. Ltd promotes the IIFA Celebrations globally each year and travel to a new beau locale taking the Film fraternity with it to amalgamate and celebrate the best of both cultures, thereby taking Indian Cinema to a wider audience.
     

    The Videocon D2H IIFA Weekend is presented by Videocon D2H and the Tata Motors IIFA Awards is presented by Tata Motors. The IIFA Weekend &Awards will be broadcast globally on Star Plus, for the 10th year running. Visit Tampa Bay is the Official Destination Partner for the IIFA Weekend and Awards 2014 and Visit Florida, a key partner. Freedom Health Insurance are co-presenting sponsors for the IIFA Celebrations and Tampa Electric Company (TECO), a sponsor.

     

  • ‘Khatron Ke Khiladi’ to return soon in a repackaged avatar

    ‘Khatron Ke Khiladi’ to return soon in a repackaged avatar

    MUMBAI: “When you burst the blocks of your life, a blockbuster is created,” says filmmaker Rohit Shetty, who after giving blockbusters like the Golmaal franchise and Chennai Express is set to take on a new role that of a TV show host. The director, who is known for reviving the action genre on the celluloid, will be hosting the fifth edition of Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi with the tagline “Dar Ka Blockbuster”.

     

    As the tagline suggests, the show is going to burst the fear blocks of 12 celebrities in its upcoming edition, the announcement  was made amid much fanfare in the city last night. The show is set to return on the General Entertainment Channel – Colors after almost two years. With a changed format that will see 12 celebrities and no commoners, the show will be shot in Cape Town, South Africa over a month.

     

    “Few people from the production team are already in South Africa to make sure that the pre-production work is all done and set,” says Endemol India CEO Deepak Dhar, who is producing the show. Another group is ready to fly next week with the contestants.

     

    The last season of the show that premiered on Colors in June 2011 was also shot in South Africa. Dhar says that the country has been chosen again because the Endemol South Africa team is really well-equipped and would be helpful in coming out with a season full of adrenaline-rushing adventure.

     

    Dhar describes this season as a “really mean season” as the level of stunts have just gone up and the animals coming on the show are going to add to it. “With Rohit on board, the scale of the show has elevated. Plus, some of the best stunts from the Fear Factor US have been replicated,” he says.

     

    To give the audience a close view of what a contestant is going through while in a box full of cockroaches or a cage full of snakes, multiple cameras will be used. “Go Pro cameras, fly cameras and a lot of other hi-tech devices will be used to capture all the actions in the best possible way,” says Dhar.

     

    However, it is not so much about the technique in terms of filming as much as it is technique in terms of stunting, he remarks.

     

    But considering the varied types of stunts, a lot of new techniques have also been used to capture them. “The kinds of stunts we have picked up this time are varied in nature. We have chopper stunts, car stunts, bike stunts, underwater stunts besides a lot of other interesting activities that will make the show really entertaining,” says Colors Weekend programming head Manisha Sharma, adding that the show will be packed with edgy content and will explore some of the most interesting locales of South Africa.

     

    Dhar says the budget has also gone up by about 20 per cent as compared to the last season. While he doesn’t disclose the figure, a reliable source from the channel informs the production of a non-fiction show like this costs approximately 50-60 crore.

     

    Hitherto, the slot hasn’t been decided as the production is yet to begin. “That’s a discussion that going on internally as well,” says Colors CEO Raj Nayak when we quizzed him if KKK is going to replace India’s Got Talent. However, for the time-being what is fixed is that the show will be aired during the weekends.

     

    The last season was aired after Indian Premiere League got over. However, Nayak thinks that since cricket has become a year-round affair, it isn’t a threat for the show. “We may start the telecast alongside IPL,” he says as he remarks that if big budget Bollywood movies that were not released during the IPL season earlier can be released then KKK can also be telecast. However, if it runs parallel to the IPL, the channel may think of running a ticker with the score of the cricket match being played on that day.

     

    Nayak says that discussions about the advertisers and sponsors are still on. However, the channel is expecting good sponsorship deals. “Our sponsors come last as we ask for lots of money and a lot of negotiations go on,” he quips.

     

    Media planners think there shouldn’t be a problem in getting interesting deals for a show like KKK. Madison Media Sigma COO Vanita Keswani thinks that since the show is coming back after a gap, the interest of the viewers as well as the advertisers around it will be enthusiastic.

     

    “The telecast of a format year after year leads to decaying of the idea. A break is good as it would bring certain rejuvenation,” she says and adds the show already has a brand name that will work for it. As far as the sponsors and advertisers are concerned, Keswani thinks that till the time the content of a show is good, they will put in their money. “Any way, these days the advertisers look for better content and not ratings as ratings may or may not come in even if the show is good,” she remarks.

     

    Contestants who will be vying to conquer their phobias comprise Ranvir Shorey, Nikitin Dheer, Mugdha Godse, Dayanand Shetty, Rajniesh Duggall, Rochelle Maria Rao, Gauahar Khan, Kushal Tandon, Pooja Gor, Mahhi Vij, Salman Khan and Geeta Tandon.

  • Kareena Kapoor heads for an unconventional path, career-wise

    Kareena Kapoor heads for an unconventional path, career-wise

    MUMBAI: Kareena Kapoor Khan is keen to balance her work in commercial cinema with more challenging films. The 32-year-old Pataudi bahu has announced that she has been signed by director Dev Benegal for Bombay Samurai which features Farhan Akhtar as well as by Rohit Shetty for the sequel of Singham.

     

    While projects with Sudhir Mishra and Aanand Rai are also under discussion, Dibakar Banerjee is keen to cast the actress in his next film venture. Kapoor recently admitted that she missed out on working with Ram Leela director Sanjay Leela Bhansali after she walked out of the film, but claims she has “no regrets.”

  • ‘Chennai Express’ halts on &pictures

    ‘Chennai Express’ halts on &pictures

    MUMBAI: Did you get a reminder call from Shah Rukh Khan to watch Chennai Express on &pictures? Following the success on Zee TV which garnered 19,541 TVTs, Shah Rukh Khan and Rohit Shetty’s gigantic blockbuster, Chennai Express will now halt on &pictures on 23 November at 8:00 pm.

    The new Hindi movie channel is pulling all stops to make this premiere an even a bigger success than Zee TV. The channel has devised an interesting digital mechanism to promote the premiere of this blockbuster film.

    “It is the first of its kind initiative on Hindi movie genre space,” asserts Zeel marketing head (national channels) Akash Chawla. “It is a challenge now for &pictures. When there is a platform as big as Zee TV and when there is a movie as big as Chennai Express and the ratings are as big as what they had come when it was last aired, it makes it that very important for the newly launched &pictures. The challenge for us it to come up with a strategy that is new and different from what was used the last time it was telecast on Zee TV.”

    “But in terms of the way in which we are building Chennai Express on the channel is aggressive and different. While we are very aggressive on the traditional medium, a lot of hoardings are up in Bombay and for print we are digging deep into the markets also. The brand &pictures is very different as compared to Zee TV so the tonality of the promotion is extremely different as compared to what you saw on Zee. A complete blend of mass media and digital in a big way.”

    The brand &pictures is very different as compared to Zee TV, says Akash Chawla

    So what are the innovations? Breaking new ground, a unique IVRS (Interactive Voice Response System) model has been created. Through this, viewers can just give a missed call on this toll free number 18001035515 and get a reminder about the movie on their phones in Shah Rukh Khan’s own voice. It works like an alarm clock wherein one can set a reminder about the telecast of the movie and receive a call on the D-Day. The channel is promoting this number on-air as well as on social media.

    Interestingly, Brandlogist, a digital creative agency based in Delhi has been roped in for these innovations.

    There’s more good news for all movie bloggers and travel freaks! Tapping again into the digital media, the channel is sending four lucky bloggers on the actual Chennai Express train. The group of bloggers will take the train from Mumbai and will go to Chennai and while they travel, they will tweet and write on various forums with regards to their actual travel experience happening on the Chennai Express with the &pictures hashtag. This is another novel way that the movie is going to be promoted via blogging community. Actual experiences and pictures will also be uploaded real-time.

    With the help of the blogging community associated with Indi Bloggers, these bloggers from Mumbai and Delhi will get to win this experience on the Chennai Express train.  A page on Indi Blogger will track the entire journey from start to finish in real time. There will also be a live feed of their tweets, blogs and pictures on social media.

    Over and above the digital initiatives, an aggressive marketing strategy has been initiated on other mediums including TV, Radio, Print, Outdoor, OOH and Cable.

    At present, the new channel has its official Twitter page with twitter handle @AndPicturesIN and boasts of more than 4,300 followers. The page is buzzing with tweets and re-tweets related to Chennai Express with hashtags #chennaiexpressandyou. It has also launched its official Facebook page which has more than 57,000 likes.

  • Rohit Shetty and Reliance MediaWorks partner again for ‘Chennai Express’

    Rohit Shetty and Reliance MediaWorks partner again for ‘Chennai Express’

    Mumbai 21st August 2013: Reliance MediaWorks (www.reliancemediaworks.com) has again partnered with film director Rohit Shetty for his latest offering ‘Chennai Express” which released in August 2013. Reliance MediaWorks provided solutions for services in visual effects, Digital intermediate (DI) and Digital Cinema Mastering for the film. The Company also worked on SD telecine for the rushes and HD color correction for the promo deliveries in various formats across delivery platforms. The processing lab also worked on negative processing & the final release prints of the film.

    Chennai Express is about a man’s journey from Mumbai to Rameshwaram and what happens along the way after he falls in love with the daughter of a don. The film top lines Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone and is produced by Red Chillies Entertainment and UTV Motion Pictures.

    The Team at Reliance MediaWorks has delivered 68 minutes of 1300 Visual Effects shots along with an elaborate colour grading Digital Intermediate (DI). The Reliance MediaWorks DI team included colorist Makarand Surte, Sr. Line Producer Dilesh Gupta, who were ably supported by the entire DI team

    Mr. Naveen Paul – Creative Head for VFX, Reliance MediaWorks said “It has been a privilege and a challenge to work with the combination of Rohit Shetty and Shah Rukh Khan, on Chennai Express. The duo gave us a free hand to execute their vision. It has been an absolute honour for us to be associated with such dedicated team of professionals who allowed the free flow and interaction of ideas and creativity.” Naveen credits his team comprising Pankaj Kalbende, Ranadheer Reddy, Abrez Mohammed, Vinoth Ganesh along with others who worked on executing and delivering the result.

    We would like to thank the team at Red Chllies and Rohit Shetty for their support and trust in our capabilities, Added Nishit Shetty, Vice President, Operations, Reliance MediaWorks.

  • SRK starrer Chennai Express storms ahead with Rs 92 crore

    SRK starrer Chennai Express storms ahead with Rs 92 crore

    MUMBAI: Rohit Shetty’s big budget action-comedy Chennai Express has made the most of the Eid weekend solo release. The Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone starrer’s high decibel promotion has also paid rewards as the film has swept the box office to set a new weekend collection record. Also, calling it a clean family entertainer has helped, as the film ended its weekend (paid previews on 8 August included) with Rs 92 crore, an outstanding fete on all counts.

    Having exhausted a lot of its ‘Must Watch’ audience, the film has slowed down at multiplexes but holding on well at single screens. The film left no chance of using various platforms for promotions, SRK featured on popular television fiction and non-fiction shows over the past one month including Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah, Madhubala: Ek Ishq Ek Junoon, Jhalak Dikhla Jaa, Comedy Nights With Kapil to name a few.

    Of the smaller releases of the last week, BA Pass starring Shilpa Shukla (Chak De India! fame) seems to have impressed the critics as a noir film! The film managed to put together Rs 5.35 crore for its first week.

    Rabba Main Kya Karoon starring Akash Chopra, Arshad Warsi, Paresh Rawal and Riya Sen has bordered on the one crore rupees mark in its first week.

    Bajatey Raho coined as a revenge comedy and having some well known names to boast off like Tusshar Kapoor, Dolly Ahluwalia, Ranvir Shorey, Ravi Kishan, Vinay Pathak, Vishakha Singh struggled to put together another Rs 55 lakh in its second week to take its two week total to Rs 7.05 crore.

    Ramaiya Vastavaiya which marked the debut of Girish Kumar alongside Shruti Hassan collected Rs 1.2 crore in its third week to take its three week total to Rs 25.85 crore.

     

    D-Day has done reasonably well to collect Rs 1.5 crore in its third week to take its three week total to Rs 19.5 crore.

     

    Bhaag Milkha Bhaag which saw Farhan Akhtar depict the role of ‘the flying sikh’ Milhka Singh has collected Rs 8.5 crore in its fourth week to take its four week total to Rs 102.75 crore.

  • Karan Johar plans Salman Khan film helmed by Rohit Shetty

    Karan Johar plans Salman Khan film helmed by Rohit Shetty

    MUMBAI: What a team it would be if plans of Karan Johar to make a film with Salman Khan and Rohit Shetty fructifies.

    It is being said that Karan will soon produce a film under his banner Dharma Productions. The film that would star Salman in the lead would be directed by Rohit.

    For Rohit, working with Dharma Productions means something big. “People are saying it’s going to be one of the biggest collaborations ever. But for me it’s a film that I want to work hard for. I want to make a good and highly successful commercial film for the production house not to prove anything or to anyone but to pay tribute to a man who is not with us – Yash Johar.”
    If the project materialises, Karan’s desire to work with Salman Khan in a full-fledged feature film will be fulfilled.

  • Bol Bachchan crosses Rs 1 bn worldwide

    Bol Bachchan crosses Rs 1 bn worldwide

    NEW DELHI: Bol Bachchan, the Rohit Shetty directed film which surprised with its opening revenues, has now amassed Rs 54.3 million net box office on Wednesday, taking the worldwide gross box office number to Rs. 1.02 billion, according to an official release.

    The film has grossed Rs 884 million in India, the stement said.

    Presented by Fox Star Studios, the Shree Ashtavinayak Cinevision and Ajay Devgan Films’ produced film is shaping up to be Devgan-Shetty‘s biggest film ever.

    The film stars Ajay Devgan, Abhishek Bachchan, Asin and Prachi Desai in the lead roles.

  • Ormax Media study ranks Singham top favourite in 2011

    Ormax Media study ranks Singham top favourite in 2011

    MUMBAI: The Rohit Shetty directed Singham is the top favourite film of Bollywood audiences in 2011 while the Zoya Akhtar film Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and the Imtiaz Ali directed Rockstar take the next two positions respectively, according to a recent study.

    The next three positions are occupied by Salman Khan’s Ready and Bodyguard just a notch ahead of Shah Rukh Khan’s Don 2, according to Ormax Media’s consumer-based yearend report titled ‘Front Page 2011’.

    The latter half of the chart consists of more experimental films that lacked a big star. In particular, No One Killed Jessica performs creditably at No. 7. It is the only film in this list that had an opening weekend of less than Rs 150 million and yet found appreciation on the strength of its content.

    Commenting on the results, Ormax Media CEO Shailesh Kapoor said, “There are various award shows that give away Best Film awards. However, this ranking is based on structured consumer data from more than 32,000 cinegoers across India. There can’t be a bigger award than this!”

    The ranking of the top ten favourite Bollywood films of 2011 was derived on the basis the ‘Word of Mouth’ (WOM) score of the film, using data collected through consumer research throughout the year. The WOM score represents the percentage of audiences who liked the film enough to recommend it strongly to their friends.

    While box office business is heavily influenced by the opening weekend of a film, the WOM score reflects the audience feedback on the content alone, irrespective of the marketing or the distribution of the film.