ITV

Tag: Shri Krishna

  • Prem Sagar, veteran cinematographer and TV pioneer, passes on at 81

    Prem Sagar, veteran cinematographer and TV pioneer, passes on at 81

    MUMBAI: Prem Sagar, veteran producer, cinematographer and director, passed on at his Mumbai home on 31 August. He was 81. His son, producer Shiv Sagar, said: “With him, an entire era has gone.”

    Diagnosed with colon cancer a month ago, Sagar returned from hospital on 30 August and passed away peacefully a day later, coinciding with the Ganesh festival and Radha Ashtami. An alumnus of FTII Pune’s 1968 batch, he was a gold medallist for academics and a silver medallist for best student film photography.

    The son of legendary filmmaker Ramanand Sagar, he began with cinema—shooting and directing films with Jeetendra and Hema Malini—before pivoting to television. He launched Sagar Arts’ TV wing with Vikram Aur Betaal, a precursor to the cultural juggernaut Ramayan (1987), later followed by Shri Krishna. He also served as marketing director, travelling the globe to promote the company’s shows.

    Known for his technical originality and embrace of new technology, Sagar continued to stay engaged, even visiting the sets of Kamdhenu Gamata on Star Bharat shortly before his death. Shiv Sagar described him as “a guru, a storyteller, and a visionary who blended humour, patience and spirituality into his craft.”

    A prayer meet will be held in Mumbai on 3 September.

  • ‘Ghatothkach’ is the next character in animation

    ‘Ghatothkach’ is the next character in animation

    NEW DELHI: The success of animation films ‘Pandavas’, ‘Hanuman’ and ‘Shri Krishna’ has made filmmakers realize that Indian audiences accept characters from our epics.

    And it is also clear that the character has to be someone with either superhuman powers or extraordinary guts. Expectedly, the next animation film features Ghatothkach, son of Bhim and Hidimbi from the ‘Mahabharata’ as the hero.

    ‘Ghatothkach’- Master of Magic, lovingly called “Ghattu”, is about the magical escapades of Bhim’s son. The film will not only have magic, action, romance, comedy, and fantasy and but also foot-tapping songs.

    The film has been directed by Singeetam Srinivasa Rao who has been the director of several internationally acclaimed films, experimenting with unique subjects and platforms over a span of 50 years and across 60-odd films in his career. He is known for his innovative children’s films “Little John” and “Son of Alladin” a 3-D animated film. Other films include the dialogue-less film ‘Pushpak’ with Kamal Hassan and Amala, ‘Appu Raja’ again with Kamal Hassan, and ‘Mayuri’ on Sudhachandran’s own story.

    Shemaroo’s Vice-President Heren Gada said in a statement here that ‘As a content house, creation of content is the next step of us. In line with this strategy, we have ventured into creation of live-action and animation among other content. We look to bring unique entertainment genres across the various platforms that audience will love to consume.’

    Smita Maroo, Vice-President of the Animation Division at Shemaroo, said: ‘we were looking for some innovative project when we came across Director –Singeetam Srinivasa Rao. Mr. Rao mentioned that he was directing “Ghatothkach” which was under production at the Hyderabad-based Sun Animatics. The character of Ghatothkach and the script brought out the inner child in us and we were totally fascinated’.