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Tag: Salman Khan

  • Yash Raj Films makes a major breakthrough in Japan

    Yash Raj Films makes a major breakthrough in Japan

    MUMBAI: Japan is a territory that doesn‘t have a presence of Indian cinema till now however this might soon change what with the Yash Raj Films making a breakthrough through its tie- up with Japan‘s oldest major movie studio Nikkatsu Corporation.

    The Japanese studio has released the Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif historic blockbuster, Ek Tha Tiger, directed by Kabir Khan on 7 March with a grand premiere in Tokyo.

    The premiere will be followed by the release of Yash Chopra‘s Jab Tak Hai Jaan that stars Shahrukh Khan, Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma later this summer.

    A press conference was held yesterday in Osaka which was attended by Ek Tha Tiger director Kabir Khan, YRF Overseas head Avtar Panesar, and YRF Production head Aashish Singh.

    The conference was hosted by the Consul General of India Vikas Swarup (also the well-known writer of Q&A – a book which went on to be made in to Slumdog Millionaire) and attended by 30 representatives of leading media outlets, including TV crews from MBS and KTV.

    The Consul General along with Kabir Khan and the esteemed guests of honour, touched upon the vibrant Indian film Industry and its emergence as a major export from India and how the arrival of Indian Films is extremely thrilling for the Japanese people and the 26,000 Indians that live there. Kabir Khan spoke about how the film was made, the stars and the locations used in the film and his desire to shoot in Japan in the near furture.

    Nikkatsu EVP international ops Akifumi Sugihara spoke about his company‘s commitment to Bollywood and his faith in YRF‘s content.

  • Thumps UP kicks-off new ‘Toofani’ campaign with Salman Khan

    MUMBAI: Thums Up makes a ‘Toofani‘ start to the year with a new campaign featuring Salman Khan.

    An extension of the ‘Aaj Kuch Toofani Kartey Hain‘, the Thums Up campaign once again urges its consumers to push the boundaries, to pave their own path and to unleash their potential.

    The campaign shows Khan adding his style quotient as he takes a ‘toofani‘ route to get his Thums Up, turning a mundane situation of a store running out of his favourite Thums Up, into an exciting tale of adventure and thrill.

    Khan inspires gut and gumption by taking complete control of the situation to get what he needs, undertaking a series of ‘toofani‘ acts to get his Thums Up.

    Mahesh Babu features in the south version of the campaign.

    Coca-Cola India VP marketing Anupama Ahluwalia said, “Thums Up has continued to be culturally relevant in India through the evolving expressions of masculinity. We believe masculinity today is the drive to find ones calling, to take the leap of faith and Thums Up is the iconic symbol that embodies the strength required to unleash the potential within. Through the latest campaign, Thums Up is aiming to make a cultural shift of acceptance that the hero is not divine anymore, but that it is there in all of us, it‘s just a matter of finding it, hence the Clarion Call “Aaj Kuch Toofani Kartey Hain”.

    Conceptualised by Leo Burnett, the TVC has been created by Leo Burnett chief creative officer India subcontinent KV Sridhar and Director Leo Burnet ECD Sainath Saraban.

    The TVC has been directed by Ravi Udyawar under the RU Films production banner. Meanwhile, the music has been composed by Ram Sampath (of Omgrown Music) to bring to life Amitabh Bhattacharya‘s toofani lyrics.

    The campaign will be amplified through a 360 degree integrated communication plan. Thums Up has a robust digital plan to leverage the campaign. This includes digital and social media platforms for targeted genres: Social, Video on Demand (VOD), Search, Travel, Games,Reach portals and Mobile.

    Sridhar said, “Thums Up campaigns are about adventure, dare-devil attitude and the ability to push beyond one‘s limits. The new campaign embodies these values, and having someone like Salman whose sheer screen presence is so dynamic really added to the experience. To find a script befitting Salman and Thums up and translating that on screen was both challenging and exciting. The end result is something we are all proud of and we hope the viewers enjoy watching the campaign as much as we did making it.”

  • Salman Khan to unite with Wanted team for sequel

    Salman Khan to unite with Wanted team for sequel

    MUMBAI: Three years after the release and subsequent success of Wanted, producer Boney Kapoor will once again team up with director Prabhu Deva and Salman Khan for its sequel Wanted 2.

    It is said that Kapoor has already intimated Khan of the project. Though the actor has agreed to do the film, his only pre-condition is that the second part of the franchise should be original. Accordingly, an original script is being penned.

    It is well-known that Wanted was a remake of Puri Jagannath‘s Telugu hit Pokiri, but Khan doesn‘t want to touch South Indian remakes as of now. So, after Sajid Nadidwala‘s Kick (a remake of a Telugu film) and Sohail Khan‘s Mental (remake of Stalin), the Dabangg star doesn‘t want to work in remakes any more.

    In fact, Sohail Khan was keen to do a South Indian remake with the older Khan. But the latter preferred Sher Khan. Likewise No Entry was a remake of South Indian film. But its sequel No Entry Mein Entry is an original script.

  • Brand Fevicol benefited most from Dabangg 2 association, Ormax

    MUMBAI: Fevicol leads the list of brand that tied up with Salman Khan‘s Dabangg 2, according to an independent study conducted by research agency Ormax Media.

    Fevicol evidently benefited from the usage of the brand name in the popular song ‘Fevicol Se‘, featuring Kareena Kapoor with Salman Khan.

    The study was conducted a week after the release of the film. As many as 12 brands had associated with Dabangg 2.

    Following Fevicol on the list is Colgate Active Salt, which had run a contest called the ‘Colgate Active Salt Dabangg 2 Challenge‘ with Sonakshi Sinha.

    Third on the list is Suzuki Hayate that is being endorsed by Khan himself. It had also run a multimedia contest with bikes as prizes.

    The study noted that other brands like Thums Up, Gillette, Dixcy Scott and Fastrack could not milk the association because of which they did not register significant recall.

    Meanwhile, despite having no association with the movie, Revital emerged as the brand with the strongest association with Khan. The consistent brand endorsement by Khan over the last few months ensured that it benefits from any ‘Salman Khan‘ event, including a film release like Dabangg 2.

    Ormax Media CEO Shailesh Kapoor said, “Upto 15-20 brands tie up with big films, but only about 3-4 actually derive any real value out of the association. We had conducted a similar study when Ra.One released, and now plan to conduct such researches for big releases at regular intervals. Using such research, brands can benefit from learnings derived from associations of various kinds, and use these learnings as an input into their own film associations.”

  • Salman Khan to make low-budget films

    Salman Khan to make low-budget films

    MUMBAI: Ever since he co-produced the edutainer Chillar Party under his banner Salman Khan Being Human Productions (SKBHP) with UTV Motion Pictures in 2011, the actor has been lying low on the production front since he was shooting for two of 2012‘s biggest entertainers Ek Tha Tiger and Dabangg.

    Meanwhile, last year there were talks that Salman was keen to produce Hindi remakes of two of Mahesh Manjrekar‘s Marathi films: Shikshanachya Aaicha Gho (2010) and Mi Shivajiraje Bhosale Boltoy (2009). But nothing transpired.

    But now, Salman has indicated that he would remake the two films. “I loved both his (Manjrekar‘s) films. We are working on them (script for the Hindi versions) right now,” he revealed.

    But, the important aspect worth noticing is that the actor, who is known to be adept to big budget films, wants to make films on smaller budgets. “Technically, the money that goes into production isn‘t the foundation‘s money, since it goes from our pockets. Still, the idea is to make a good film with little money that brings in big business and helps our foundation grow,” he maintained.

    Interestingly, the aim of SKBHP is to make films for kids, which are quintessentially feel-good in nature.

  • Inkaar fizzles at box office

    Inkaar fizzles at box office

    MUMBAI: Of the three movies released on Friday, the multiplexes had pegged their hopes on Inkaar. Sadly, the Sudhir Mishra-directed movie did not live up to the expectations. The film opened to weak response and failed to improve over the weekend and had Rs 52.5 million to show for its first three days.

    The other two releases – Mumbai Mirror and Bandook failed to find audience.

    Vishal Bhardwaj‘s Matru Ki Bijla Ka Mandola did not succeed in selling its hackneyed story which built a film around a character artiste leaving little for the lead pair to do. Having opened to a tepid response, it could not improve through its first week run and ended its first week with figures of Rs 313.5 million. The film showed a massive drop over its second weekend and will go down as the first notable flop of 2013.

    Paresh Rawal and Rajeev Khandelwal starrer Table No 21 survived week two and added Rs 17.5 million for the week taking its total collection to Rs 112.7 million.

    Salman Khan‘s Dabangg 2 collected Rs 27.5 million in its fourth week taking its total to Rs 1.45 billion. The number of screens and the opening week indicated a Rs 1.50 million business but the film may fall short of that mark by few million.

  • Inkaar: A love story badly told

    Inkaar: A love story badly told

    MUMBAI: Inkaar has been widely promoted as a film on sexual harassment at work place. Ideally, the work place here is an ad agency. Ad agencies are generally identified with glamour because that is what they cater through their ads and are thought to be full of people with open and free minds. It helps the cause of the film because, otherwise, ad agencies are not the only place where romances, affairs or molestations happen. Whatever the perceptions created, Inkaar, in a nutshell, is just another love story.

     

    Producers: Tipping Point Films, Viacom 18.
    Director: Sudhir Mishra.
    Cast: Arjun Rampal, Chitrangada Singh, Deepti Naval, Vipin Sharma, Gaurav Dwivedi, Mohan Kapoor, Rehana Sultan.

    Arjun Rampal is a high flying ad executive, the CEO of a happening agency with a US tie-up. Since ad agencies are generally identified with their leaders, Rampal is a legend in his own right in the ad world. Like all good leaders he encourages and grooms his team. One such person he has chosen to groom and hone talent of is Chitrangada Singh, a sensuous, sharp and ambitious girl from a small town, Solan in HP. Even before she can prove herself, Rampal is struck by her poise and beauty; if you count his ogling her at all meetings and briefings that happen in any office, he is obsessed with her!

     

    Rampal takes Singh under his wings, she shows sparks and soon her talent and contribution make her the blue eyed girl of the agency. The proximity leads to a romance between Rampal and Singh. The job creates many opportunities to travel and spend time together and soon the relationship becomes physical.

     

    Singh has also impressed the owners, especially the American partner, and she is soon delegated to the American partner agency. On her return, before the romance can rekindle, a management move to make her the creative head of the agency leads to parallel powers in the agency. After all, she is an ambitious woman and has no reason to say no despite Rampal‘s suggestion not to accept as he thinks she was not yet ready for the responsibilities.

     

    In the egos clash, romance is sacrificed, and this being a creative field, also sacrificed are some client accounts. Every time Singh needs Rampal‘s help, there are hurdles, or so she feels. Due to their past liaison, she smells a demand for sex whenever she encounters him. Exasperated, she decides to complain of harassment against her CEO, Rampal. You would expect a horde of woman activists to descend on him and newspaper headlines all over. But, no, here it is all hush, hush, no media and no activists, only one social worker; Deepti Naval sits on an inquest.

     

    As both the parties are called to testify in turns, the film‘s narrative comes in flashbacks because the inquest hears a particular incident told by Singh, Rampal follows with an explanation. This leads to unfolding of the film in various flashbacks. This does not help the cause of gripping the viewer with a taut telling of the story and fails to involve him. Other colleagues also tell their part in the events over the years. While a bias is evident against Singh from most colleagues, Naval also thinks that with two attractive persons working closely, sex is bound to happen! When the matter is not clear, Naval asks the panel sitting with her to vote on guilty or not guilty!

     

    When there is no inquest in progress, the ad world seems busy in revelry, drinking and generally having fun.

     

    Rampal has decided enough is enough and SMSs his resignation and heads home to Shahranpur to meet his father of various flashbacks in the film, Kanwaljeet Singh. Before that, he has had a confrontation with Singh in the washroom. When asked by Singh about his attitude, his response is ‘Because he was angry and because he loved her‘. Singh remembers it and its time for her also to pick up her car keys and follow Rampal to Shahranpur!

     

    Due to the piecemeal style of the script, the direction never gets a handle on the proceedings. Music lacks appeal.

     

    Rampal, as a lover in flashbacks and an annoyed accused in present is good in latter part. Singh is mainly glamour. Rest have no definite roles to play.

     

    Inkaar, has opened with poor response with little chance of improving.

     

    Mumbai Mirror: Lacks face value

     

    Producer: Raina S Joshi.
    Director: Ankush Bhatt.
    Cast: Sachin Joshi, Gihana Khan, Prakash Raj, Vimala Raman, Mahesh Manjrekar, Aditya Pancholi, Prashant Narayanan, Ra

    A guy wanting to be the clone of Salman Khan is understandable. After all, Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan have had hundreds of them. But the hero here, Sachin Joshi, in his self financed film, also wants to clone a Salman Khan film! So, Mumbai Mirror is to be watched with Joshi as its hero but while imagining you are watching Salman Khan on screen.

     

    Joshi, in his pretence of playing Salman Khan, brings along the same actor, Prakash Raj to play the villain. What lets him down is his thin voice.

     

    Joshi is a police inspector in a station headed by his maternal uncle, Mahesh Manjrekar. He drinks, womanises, gambles on cricket matches and finally, also takes to snorting drugs. However, when it comes to action, he is never found wanting. Worst crime a man can commit, according to him, is raise a hand on woman of which he is unforgiving. Typically, he had a thing going with a bar dancer, Gihana Khan, who is now the don Raj‘s mole.

     

    Raj is the biggest don of Mumbai owning almost 70 per cent dance bars in the city, a man whom no policeman can touch. Joshi and Raj are soon to be pitted as the latter wants to open a dance bar in Joshi‘s precinct which Joshi would allow as long as there are no dance girls involved. Joshi also learns that dance bars are just a front and the real business behind this façade is that of drugs.

     

    The war between Raj and Joshi peaks and game of chess laid out in Raj‘s den now becomes real as both try to outwit the other. As a result, Joshi is suspended from the force. He continues his fight and, in the process, also meets a TV reporter, Vimala Raman, to add a mild romantic angle to the proceedings. Joshi adds another bad man, Aditya Pancholi, to the fight, turns Raj and Pancholi against each other. He is surprised to trace the source of drugs supply, and carries out the final elimination. Also eliminated is the corrupt CBI man and Raj‘s puppet, Sudesh Berry.

     

    To fill up the screen and make the film watchable, there is a line up of some known talent in the cast. There is always some action on screen but the problem is that there is nothing new. Dialogue by Ghalib Asad Bhopali is good when not remixing old Salman Khan lines. Music is out of sync. With a seasoned supporting cast, the performances are good. Joshi, Gihana and Raman are okay.

     

    Mumbai Mirror, lacking face value, finds no takers and is faced with no show situation.

  • Atul Agnihotri mulls action film with bro-in-law Salman Khan

    Atul Agnihotri mulls action film with bro-in-law Salman Khan

    MUMBAI: Filmmaker-actor Atul Agnihotri, who along with his brother-in-law Salman Khan gave a stupendous hit in Bodyguard, is all set to again team up with the actor for his proposed upcoming film said to be an action film.

    Said Atul in confirmation, “I am doing a movie with Salman. It is completely an original script…and not a remake. It is in a scripting stage and I am actively involved in the project.” “The work is under progress. It is difficult to talk more about it as we are still working on it,” he added.

    Considering that most of Salman‘s films like Wanted, Dabangg, Bodyguard, Ek Tha Tiger and Dabangg 2 have revolved around larger-than-life-action and were all blockbusters, the producer is also not shying away from taking the benefit of this genre.
     

    If all goes well, Atul intends to begin work on this project from next year.

    It may be remembered that Atul made his debut as a director with Dil Ne Jise Apna Kaha made in 2004 that featured Salman Khan, Preity Zinta and Bhoomika Chawla. But the film didn‘t do well. Undeterred by this, he directed and even turned producer with Hello in 2008, a film based on the novel One Night at a Call Centre in which Salman had a cameo.

    Atul returned to production with Salman-Kareena Kapoor starrer action-romantic film Bodyguard in 2011 that went on to become a huge hit at the box office.

  • Salman Khan is best admired star on social media

    Salman Khan is best admired star on social media

    MUMBAI: Salman Khan beat Amitabh Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan to become the most admired star on the social media.

    Looks like with two back-to-back Rs 100 crore hits last year in Ek Tha Tiger and Dabangg 2 and the unprecedented success of Bigg Boss 6, Khan has once again proved that he‘s the undisputed king of Bollywood, box office and the idiot box.

    The Dabangg actor also won an award for the best use of social media at this year‘s Zee Cine Awards. A research conducted by Asterii Analytics said, “We used sophisticated web analysis tools to scan millions of pages on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, blogs and online forums to quantify the total volume of buzz and conversations on Bollywood stars.

    A shortlist of 30 possible candidates was developed in the first phase. We developed 25 parameters to rank the candidates on the total volume of buzz. Using this four-phased process, we came to a single score and the top three candidates were Salman, Shahrukh and Bachchan. And Salman Khan emerged as the winner with a consistently high margin.”

    Salman has 7,516,597 fans on Facebook and 3,266,882 followers on Twitter. Not just that, the actor has fan club pages on Facebook and Twitter with over 757,057 and 577,919 followers respectively.

  • A tepid box office week

    A tepid box office week

    MUMBAI: The first Friday jinx seems to continue as three out of four new releases of the first Friday of 2013 had to be discontinued unceremoniously from many cinema halls.

     

    Table No 21, thanks to Paresh Rawal in top billing, is the only one to survive as well as have some collection figures to show for itself. The film has managed to collect Rs 58 million during its first weekend. The collections in North have been badly affected due to severe cold conditions.

     

    The three films withdrawn by the exhibitors are Rajdhani Express, Meri Shadi Karao and Dehraadun Diary for want of audience response.

     

    Arbaaz Khan‘s sequel to Dabangg starring brother Salman Khan in the lead role of Chulbul Pandey, Dabangg 2 has just about exhausted its potential at the end of the second week as the collections showed a peak of Rs 80 million on Sunday and went down to Rs 20 million on Thursday, collecting Rs 315 million in all and taking its two-week total to Rs 1.31 billion.

     

    Akshay Kumar and Asin‘s Khiladi 786 collected Rs 10.5 million in its fourth week. The movie‘s box-office net now stands at Rs 658 million.

     

    Aamir Khan, Rani Mukerjee and Kareena Kapoor Khan starrer Talaash added Rs 7.5 million in its fifth week to take its total collections to Rs 945.6 million.

     

    Four releases are lined up for Friday, 11 January. The exhibitors, especially multiplexes, expect Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola to bring the audiences back to cinemas after a couple of dull weeks. The release problems for Vishwaroopam with multiplexes still continue as of today because the producers have planned to release the film on the DTH platform first with which the multiplex owners are not in agreement. The other two releases are Gangoobai and Four Two Ka One.