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Tag: Sahara Movie Studios

  • ‘Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain’ wows American audiences

    ‘Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain’ wows American audiences

    MUMBAI: Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain, the social thriller scripted around the Bhopal gas tragedy of 1984, has opened to rave reviews in American theatres. Directed by Ravi Kumar and produced by Sahara Movie Studios and Rising Star Entertainment, the film has found an emotional resonance with audiences and critics alike.

    Martin Tsai of the Los Angeles Times calls the film “a revolutionary cautionary tale” applauding how “Kumar vividly recreates the Bhopal disaster.”

    Gurinder Chadha, director of much-loved films like Bend It Like Beckham, calls Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain “outstanding, a must see film!” Kerry Kennedy, niece of former US President John F Kennedy, tweeted: “Saw Bhopal starring Martin Sheen tonight… powerful film must see for all interested in business and human rights.” Naomi Canton of Asia House called the movie “better than Slumdog Millionaire and 12 Years A Slave” while Liza Forman of Financial Times London wrote that Bhopal is “a story that needed to be told.”

    Sheen, who plays Union Carbide CEO Warren Anderson in the film says: “When I was invited to participate in the film about the Bhopal incident I felt compelled to accept.  And the response to the film here reinforces the faith I had in the subject. It has been 30 years since the tragedy but it is as relevant as ever.”

    Reacting to the overwhelming response to the film in the US, Sahara Movie Studios producer Seemanto Roy said: “We are very happy with the way the film has been received in America and now hope that Indian audiences take to the film and the youth becomes aware of the mistakes that were made in the past.”

    Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain, produced by Sahara Movie Studios and Rising Star Entertainment will release in India on 5 December 2014.

     

  • Abundantia Entertainment beefs up creative team

    Abundantia Entertainment beefs up creative team

    MUMBAI: Abundantia Entertainment has beefed up its team significantly by adding former Viacom18 Motion Pictures creative chief Shivaji Dasgupta and former Sahara Movie Studios’ head of content & development Shikhaa Sharma to its people line-up.

     

    Established with the vision of producing and supporting progressive, high-quality entertainment content, Abundantia Entertainment has taken strong strides, especially in its motion pictures business, in a short span of time.

     

    Top-lining the announcement, Shivaji Dasgupta, an industry veteran of two decades, has played a key role in green-lighting and producing some of the finest and most critically acclaimed films of the last decade. With hands-on production experience to boot, Dasgupta’s impressive filmography includes Gangs of Wasseypur, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Madras Cafe, Kahaani, LSD, Once Upon A Time in Mumbai and Chashme Baddoor amongst others. Dasgupta will run Abundantia’s creative & production business and will have additional charge of commercial affairs for his slate of films.

     

    To spearhead Abundantia’s content development and incubation business across films, television and digital, it has brought on board Shikhaa Sharma who was until recently in-charge of the content and development function at Sahara Movie Studios and has also served in senior roles in the creative functions at Balaji Motion Pictures and Tips Industries in the past. Sharma’s filmography includes recent hits like Lootera, The Dirty Picture, Shor In The City and Race. Sharma’s core strength of identifying and mentoring new talent has seen her successfully support work from first-time writers and directors in the past.

     

    Dasgupta and Sharma will manage their roles independently while reporting to Abundantia founder and CEO Vikram Malhotra. Speaking on the new additions to the team Malhotra said, “Creativity, ideas and innovation are at the heart of Abundantia’s business model. I am delighted that we now have two of the brightest and most experienced creative minds in the business leading the charge at Abundantia. Shivaji has been associated with some of the finest film content in recent times and his production and commercial acumen will significantly enhance the quality and profitability of our slate. In Shikhaa we have somebody with formidable creative understanding and content development ability and coupled with her deep industry relationships, I look forward to taking our creative capability to the next level. I am confident that this dynamic duo will raise the bar for creative content in our business.”

     

    Driving the model of creating ‘talent-studio partnerships,’ Abundantia has assembled an impressive line-up for the first two years of operations of its motion pictures business. Combined with a strategic stake acquisition of Crouching Tiger Motion Pictures, the studio announced multiple film deals with production houses led by some of the hottest names in the movies business in India. Top-lining the slate are projects with Neeraj Pandey (A Wednesday, Special 26), Shoojit Sircar (Vicky Donor, Madras Cafe) and Nikhil Advani (D-Day, Kal Ho Na Ho) as well as up-coming talent like Soumik Sen (Gulaab Gang) and a set of talented first-time directors. At various stages of production, the slate will witness releases starting as early as mid-2014.