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Tag: Shamitabh

  • Bharti Airtel partners ErosNow for Wynk Movies

    Bharti Airtel partners ErosNow for Wynk Movies

    MUMBAI: Bharti Airtel has partnered with ErosNow for its carrier agnostic mobile application – Wynk Movies.

     

    A first-of-its kind video marketplace, Wynk Movies offers a specially curated library of thousands of movies and other videos from a host of partners including ErosNow.

     

    With this partnership, users of Wynk Movies can access ErosNow’s Bollywood content offering new and classic Bollywood movies including exclusive online premieres like Tanu Weds Manu Returns, Shamitabh, Badlapur, Happy Ending and NH 10 even before their television premiere.

     

    While the app content can be accessed across 2G, 3G, 4G and Wi-Fi services, users can enjoy the app best on 4G given its seamless internet capability.

     

    Wynk CEO Kartik Sheth said, “We always partner with the best and are confident that having Eros’s premium content as one of channels on our app will help drive faster adoption for video services in the country. As smartphones penetrate deeper leading to a surge in the consumption of videos on mobile, Wynk Movies will further empower users to seamlessly access the best of video content on the move.”

     

    Eros Digital CEO Rishika Lulla Singh added, “Armed with our content library and first mover advantage, our vision for ErosNow is to fulfil the growing consumer need for endless premium entertainment on-demand and on-the-go, whether on their smartphones, tablets, laptops or internet enabled devices. An important part of our strategy is to be platform-agnostic and we are delighted to tie up with Airtel, a leading player in its space and a front runner in the 4G revolution where we believe our content and distribution synergies will create a win-win consumer proposition.”

     

    Eros International president – business development Kumar Ahuja said, “ErosNow has already garnered over 19 million registered users worldwide for ErosNow and we believe our integration with Airtel for their Wynk Movies platform will further give momentum to our customer acquisition strategy.”

  • ‘Dum Laga Ke Haisha’ opens weak at the BO

    ‘Dum Laga Ke Haisha’ opens weak at the BO

    MUMBAI: Dum Laga Ke Haisha opens weak due to lack of promotion and Ayushmann Khurrana’s dropping popularity thanks to his last couple of films but, the film, being a simple and sincere theme and handling earns some good word of mouth.

     

    This shows on its collections on day two, Saturday, when the collections doubled while on Sunday they were two and half times of day one. However, all these in a lower range ending the opening weekend with Rs 6.08 crore.

     

    Ab Tak Chhappan 2, an attempt to ride the sequel wave, fails badly: the subject is outdated this being a sequel to an 11 year old original. Also, the subject and its lead players are no more relevant. And, to top it all, the content is poor and lacks imagination. The film fails to draw audience facing no show status at many theatres. The film’s collections remain as low on Saturday as on the opening day with a negligible rise on Sunday to collect Rs 4.4 crore for the first weekend.

     

    Badlapur sustains to an extent thanks to Varun Dhawan and Nawazuddin Siddiqi fans and the positive media hype as well as reviews. The film ended its first week with Rs 35.8 crore and may add some more as the week has poor oppositions in its second week.

     

    Roy suffers a huge drop in its second week collecting just about Rs 2.45 crore to take its two week total to Rs 35.85 crore.

     

    Shamitabh has added Rs 60 lakh in its third week taking its three week total to Rs 21.1 crore.

     

    Baby has added Rs 1.15 crore in its fifth week to take its five week tally to Rs 79.25 crore.

  • Box Office: ‘Badlapur’ delights critics

    Box Office: ‘Badlapur’ delights critics

    MUMBAI: Badlapur: Don’t Miss The Beginning gets much acclaim from critics. A noir film with black shades, there is little relief for seekers of entertainment. The fact that greatly cuts down on the expected footfalls at the cinemas. While the ‘A’ certificate keeps a lot of youth away, the genre does so to the ladies and family audience. It had an indifferent opening day of little over Rs 7 crore with Saturday doing only slightly better. On the other hand, collections remained stagnant on Sunday. The film managed opening weekend collections of Rs 23.6 crore.

     

    Qissa (Punjabi) was not expected to do much at the box office but has certainly earned rave reviews.

     

    Roy was a film beyond comprehension for a lot many people. A pretentious film, it gets some fair opening figures thanks to Ranbir Kapoor and Arjun Rampal in top billing. However, poor word of mouth keeps its first week limited to Rs 33.4 crore.

     

    MSG: The Messenger figures don’t matter since the tickets were booked en masse by the makers and whatever figures are released to the media are also by the same source (crossed Rs 100 crore according to them!)

     

    Shamitabh adds Rs 2.9 crore in its second week to take its two week tally to Rs 20.5 crore.

     

    Baby has collected Rs 2.8 crore for its fourth weeks to take its four week total to Rs 78.1 crore.

     

    Khamoshiyan has collected Rs 12 lakh in its third week to take its three week tally to Rs 6.62 crore.

     

    PK has added Rs 10 lakh in its ninth week to take its ten week total marginally up at Rs 330.05 crore.

  • ‘Roy’ fails to grab eyeballs at the BO

    ‘Roy’ fails to grab eyeballs at the BO

    MUMBAI: Roy does not quite go well with the moviegoer; a confusing film moving at snail’s pace with nothing happening through its lengthy trudge, the film had fair collections on the opening day thanks to names of Ranbir Kapoor and Arjun Rampal in the cast.

     

    The film maintained about same figures on Saturday but suffered a huge drop of about 50 per cent on Sunday because of India Pakistan World Cup match. The film managed weekend collections of Rs 24.9 crore.

     

    Controversial film MSG: The Messenger fails at the box office.

     

    R Balki’s experiment of a ventriloquist played by Amitabh Bachchan landing his rich baritone to an aspiring mute actor, Dhanush, fails to catch the audience’s fancy. While Bachchan may still be a media star, casting him in such a film is tricky business, Dhanush has little to charm the Hindi audience. Shamitabh does not add much to its already deficient weekend, ending its first week with a figure of Rs 17.6 crore.

     

    Baby continues to make the most of a run of poor oppositions over last three weeks. The film adds a reasonable Rs 6.5 crore in its third week to take its three week total to Rs 75.3 crore.

     

    Khamoshiyan has collected Rs 75 lakh in its second week to take its two week total to Rs 6.5 crore. Forced horror film sans content don’t work. A disappointing outcome for the investor.

     

    PK has added Rs 20 lakh in its eighth week. The film has put together Rs 329.95 crore in eight weeks.

  • ‘Shamitabh’ delivers weak opening at box office

    ‘Shamitabh’ delivers weak opening at box office

    MUMBAI: Director R Balki does come up with new ideas and his earlier two film, Cheeni Kam and Paa have been appreciated. This time though the idea may be different from the run of the mill but its execution is messed up. The drawbacks lie in right from a long winding script to execution and editing.

     

    Instead of cashing in on the idea, Shamitabh tries to cash in on Amitabh Bachchan’s histrionics and then going overboard with it. There seemed to be no curiosity for the film as the weak opening day audience response and the collections reflected this. The film had a slight improvement on Saturday and was better on Sunday but the slide has begun as the new week started. The film ended its opening weekend with a figure of Rs 12.45 crore, which is not enough to help it recoup its high price.

     

    The other two releases, Jai Jawan Jai Kisaan and Hum Tum Dushman, failed to find enough audience needed for a screening.

     

    Rahashya has managed to collect only about Rs 70 lakh in its first week.

     

    Baby reaped the benefit of poor oppositions and collected a reasonable Rs 16.7 crore in its second week to take its two week tally to Rs 68.8 crore.

     

    Khamoshiyan remains poor as the film adds precious little to its weekend collection of Rs 5.75 crore in the next four days as it ends its first week with figures of Rs 9.15 crore.

     

    Hawaizaada meets with a disastrous fate at the box office. Following its poor opening, it only goes downhill to end its first week with a meager Rs 3.55 crore.

     

    Dolly Ki Doli also gets to survive in its second week thanks to poor oppositions by adding Rs 1.1 crore in its second week to take its two week total to Rs 13 crore.

     

    PK collects approximately Rs 45 lakh in its seventh week for a seven week total of Rs 329.75 crore.

  • ‘Shamitabh’….Amitabh unleashed!

    ‘Shamitabh’….Amitabh unleashed!

    MUMBAI: R Balki’s films are described as novel by Shamitabh’s lead actor, Amitabh Bachchan. But the system of a Hindi-speaking person dubbing for South Indian actors or vice versa is age old reality. So is that of one person dubbing for another. There is nothing new in Shamitabh except that here a mute person aspires to be a star and a voice is found for him.

    Dhanush is a small time lad from Igatpuri in Maharashtra helping his mother sell batata vada at the local state transport bus stop. Whatever money he gets, he spends on movies. When the cinema hall is brought down he barters with a video library, giving free batata vada and pakoda in exchange for a movie. That is where he also gets introduced to Hollywood movies.

    Dhanush is mute but is convinced he is an ace actor and can somehow make it big in the films. He often tries to run away from his village to reach Mumbai but is brought back once by convincing him that he is still too young to become a film star and again when his mother pretends to be sick so that he stays back.

    There comes a time when his mother is really ill and passes away. The way is open for Dhanush to go to Mumbai and try his luck. After a couple of failures in entering studios and trying to reach the famous film directors like Raju Hirani, Karan Johar, Rohit Shetty and so on, he finally makes it to a studio where he comes across Akshara Haasan, an assistant director who sympathises with this mute guy from a small town. She asks him to perform a scene and shoots it on her cell phone. Her director boss is duly impressed and decides to give him break. But what to do about his voice?

    Producers: Sunil Lulla, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, RK Damani, Gauri Shinde, Abhishek Bachchan.

    Director: R Balki.

    Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Dhanush, Akshara Haasan and cameos by Rekha, Javed Akhtar, Karan Johar, Rohit Shetty etc.

    The way out is to find a voice for him who will not dub for him but will playback his dialogue on his behalf. After some voice tests, they suddenly come across Bachchan, a weird character and a drunkard with a Christian cemetery as his abode. Bachchan has no solid back story for turning into what he has. The cemetery keeper charges him rent and also doubles up as his Man Friday. Now everybody knows about Bachchan’s rich voice, which does not quite match Dhanush’s personality. But, in the film’s story, that is what works for Dhanush since the film highlights mainly this aspect leaving aside his famous acting prowess which impressed those concerned.

    After some coaxing, Bachchan agrees to be the voice of Dhanush because he can get even with the entertainment industry; he had come to Mumbai forty years back to try his luck first in films and later on radio (the radio rejection happened to him in real life). Both rejected him because the filmmakers found his voice like that of a villain (no idea why he did not get a villain’s role!). He can now make a star out of Dhanush on the strength of his voice.

    Dhanush’s debut film makes it to the screen and in the very first weekend, he has become a superstar breaking the collection records of Aamir Khan as well as Salman Khan! He has taken the screen name of Shamitabh, combining his and Bachchan’s name as that makes him complete as an actor. But, no sooner does Dhanush become a star, he gets into an ego struggle with his voice, Bachchan: is he successful because of his acting or is it the rich voice he borrows from Bachchan?

    The voice acting conflict is introduced too early and goes on and on, becoming repetitive. If acting is what took Dhanush to the top, it is not emphasised on with most of the time the focus being on Bachchan and his booming voice. Finally comes a time when the ego clash leads to a parting of ways. While Dhanush attempts to prove himself with a film about deaf and mute love story, Bachchan tries to prove his point by lending his voice to another aspiring actor, who stammers and can’t deliver dialogues. Both fail in their respective efforts and realise that they complement each other. Akshara plays the mediator to bring them together.

    If Bachchan were to play only Dhanush’s voice, there would not have been much to do for him in the film. So there is extended footage on his lifestyle. Also, what he did very successfully for the first time in Amar Akbar Anthony, the mime in front of a mirror, and later in another film has been overused here. Bachchan is made to give multiple monologues which not only stretch the film but also bring negative returns. Director Balki seems to sell Bachchan more than his idea of a ventriloquist for mute actor.

    With a loose script which comes in bits and pieces as it moves from one artiste to another while also trying to build a romance between Dhanush and Akshara (one sided though from Dhanush) it leads to many tedious moments. The director seems to have little control thereafter stretching the film to 153 minutes with a story based on just three artistes. The music by the legendary composer, Illaiyaraaja, is mediocre, best of the lot being two ringtone kind of numbers in Ishq e phillum…. And Piddly si baatein…. Background score is fine. Dialogue, mainly Bachchan’s lines, are good. Editing is slack. Climax is abrupt and poor.

    It is an Amitabh show all the way though he is overburdened. Dhanush overacts at times and is just passable. Akshara fails to make a mark, her dressing may be contemporary youth kind but makes her lack femininity.

    On the whole, Shamitabh fails to deliver.

  • Star takes World Cup promotion to a different level

    Star takes World Cup promotion to a different level

    MUMBAI: The official broadcaster of Cricket World Cup 2015 for Indian subcontinent – Star Sports – is leaving no territory uncovered. The sports venture of Star India in association with Lowe Lintas + Partners has already unveiled a youth-centric campaign titled, #wontgiveitback, for the upcoming tourney. Soon after that the broadcaster roped in Amitabh Bachchan – the man with the deep baritone voice – as commentator. Bachchan will make his commentary debut during the India – Pakistan match on 15 February, 2015.

     

    When questioned about the developments, sources in Star revealed, “Amitabh Bachchan’s inclusion in the commentary panel is a joint promotional activity between the upcoming movie Shamitabh and Star. Amitabh Bachchan has a great voice, and his joining the commentary panel is a huge achievement.”

     

    As per information available with Indiantelevision.com, Bachchan is likely to be joined by Kapil Dev and Harsha Bhogle on the panel.

     

    The #wontgiveitback video, through word of mouth, has gained appreciation as well as criticism. The video depicts aggressive team India responding back to opposition’s sledging and arrogance, they state they will give it back whatever oppositions puts against them. But they won’t give the World Cup back.

     

    When asked about the entire preparation of the video Lowe Lintas + Partners’ national creative director Arun Iyer said, “We made the video keeping the entire country in mind but special attention was given to attract the youth of the nation. Aggression and attitude were the major elements we tried to depict. The video resulted in a lot of talk, with many criticizing the video terming it irrelevant considering the current performance of the Indian team. But what delights us is the fact that there is a huge portion of cricket lovers who liked the video irrespective of team India’s current performances.”

     

    Star has already taken substantial steps to make the marquee event bigger and better and if sources are to be believed then Star Sports is soon going to launch another video focusing on the India – Pakistan match. With 10 days to go, the broadcasters are getting as innovative as possible to make the event a national blockbuster.

     

  • ‘When two work together towards a common goal, it helps both’: Bachchan

    ‘When two work together towards a common goal, it helps both’: Bachchan

    NEW DELHI: It is not right to equate a character he or she plays on screen to the person, and the film Shamitabh in many ways gives this message, according to megastar Amitabh Bachchan.

     

    Bachchan said that while Dhanush used his voice in the film, he took the character further by bringing his own originality to the character he enacted.

     

    Speaking at a press meet, Bachchan revealed that he recorded the entire voice-over of the film in the editing room under the supervision of the film’s director R Balki before the film was shot.

     

    Shamitabh, starring Bachchan and Dhanush, will see the debut of Akshara Haasan. The movie is about a journalist who comes across a good actor without a voice and then meets a decrepit haggard elderly man with a good voice, and tries to match the two. While she succeeds, the two men gradually are overcome by their respective ego problems, and she has to resolve that.

     

    Bachchan related a dialogue in the film to stress the fact that every person has his or her own value. He said there was a dialogue, which says whisky can be had with or without water. He said, “I do not drink. So, Dhanush is both whisky and water.” But when two people go together, they are bound to succeed, and the film also stresses this, he added.

     

    Asked about his writer-director Balki, Bachchan said he had worked with Balki in Cheeni Kum and then in Paa and had found the director gives a different touch to his style of filmmaking.

     

    Speaking about the difference between Bollywood and Tamil cinema, Dhanush said, “Except for the language, almost everything is the same. One difference however is that down in the South, we have to give just five interviews whereas here we have 523 interviews lined up for us.”

     

    Akshara, whose mother Sarika, father Kamal Haasan and sister Shruti are all part of the film industry, said, “It was a wonderful opportunity and an amazing experience for me.” She went on to say that she did not feel intimated because of any comparisons, since each of her family members have their own style.

     

    The song Piddly, rendered by Bachchan, which has become really popular, was brought in conversations frequently as it has been used to fight piracy.

     

    Bachchan also said that since the film is about the film industry, several other known personalities would be seen on screen. Answering a question about his stint in the industry, he said, “I have found that over the last forty-five years, filmmakers are becoming more impatient. However, they are more knowledgeable now about what’s happening all over the world, and this includes usage of new technologies.”

     

    Presented by Eros International, the film has music by Ilaiyaraaja and has been produced by Sunil Lulla, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, R K Damani, Gauri Shinde, and Abhishek Bachchan. The lyricists are Swanand Kirkire, Kausar Munir for ‘Sha Sha Sha Mi Mi Mi’.

     

  • “I have nothing to lose in Bollywood”: Dhanush

    “I have nothing to lose in Bollywood”: Dhanush

    MUMBAI: R. Balki’s upcoming movie, Shamitabh will feature Amitabh Bachchan, Dhanush and Kamal Haasan’s daughter Akshara Haasan in lead roles.

     

    Dhanush, who has always played larger-than-life roles in his south flicks, has picked an unconventional role this time round. He feels motivated to experiment with roles in Bollywood as according to him, he has nothing to lose here.

     

    Last seen in the romantic drama Raanjhanaa opposite Sonam Kapoor, Dhanush said, “I have been trying to mix my characters as much as possible down south. There, one image is stuck, so I am restricted. Here in Bollywood, I have nothing to lose. So, I experiment with my characters. I am thankful to Balki who has given me this film.”

     

    Talking about his experience of working with Amitabh Bachchan, he said, “I don’t know if I have done enough work to deserve to be working with Mr Bachchan. God has blessed me with this film.”

     

    Akshara Haasan, who will be making her Bollywood debut with Shamitabh, added, “I really look up to Amitabh Bachchan and Dhanush but when we got on the sets, they made me feel very comfortable and made things easier for me.”

     

    Shamitabh, which also stars Rekha, is set to release on 6 February 2015.

     

  • Rekha and Amitabh Bachchan together in ‘Shamitabh’

    Rekha and Amitabh Bachchan together in ‘Shamitabh’

    MUMBAI: Award winning actor Dhanush, who made his debut in Bollywood with Raanjhana has just wrapped up the shooting of his second hindi film Shamitabh. The latest buzz is that, the film with Dhanush, Akshara Haasan and Amitabh Bachchan in lead will also star yesteryear sensation and an evergreen beauty Rekha.

     

    This was reveled by the Dhanush at the micro-blogging site Twitter, “LOOK whom I’m sharing screen space with, in Shamitabh. The one and only REKHA JI !!! #beautyforever,” he tweeted.

     

    Although it’s not clear whether they will have any scenes together, but Amitabh Bachchan and Rekha will be in a movie together after three decades.

     

    Shamitabh is an upcoming Hindi film scripted and directed by R Balki. The film is jointly produced by Sunil Lulla, R Balki, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, RK Damani, Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Sunil Manchanda and Dhanush under their respective production banners. Ilaiyaraaja has composed the soundtrack album and background score for the movie, while cinematography was handled by PC Sreeram

     

    Shamitabh is slated to release worldwide on 6 Feburary 2015.

     

    Last seen together in Silsila, Bachchan and Rekha have co-starred in many movies in the past including like Immaan Dharam (1977), Khoon Pasina (1977), Ganga Ki Saugandh (1978), Muqaddar Ka Sikander (1978), Mr Natwarlal (1979) and Suhaag (1979). She has also dubbed for two Bachchan-starrers; she was Sridevi’s voice in Aakhree Raasta (1986), and also dubbed for Soundarya and Jayasudha in EVV Satyanarayana’s Bollywood debut Sooryavansham (1999)