Tag: Siddharth Roy Kapur

UTV announces ‘Katti Batti’

MUMBAI: After clutter breaking and iconic films like Dev D, A Wednesday, Barfi!, Kai Po Che and numerous others, UTV Motion Pictures now is looking at bringing a unique love story about new age relationships and breaking up and making up in the world of today, the sort of contemporary romantic relationship never before seen on Indian celluloid – Katti Batti! The film will be directed by Nikhil Advani and will bring together the eclectic pairing of actors Imran Khan and Kangana Ranaut.

Katti Batti is an unusual love story with a twist, and has been creatively developed and driven by UTV Motion Pictures from its inception. UTV’s creative team first spotted the potential in Katti Batti’s script by first time writer Anshul Singhal. Then began the search for a director who could bring the same passion to the film, a search which ended with Nikhil Advani coming on board. UTV, Nikhil and Anshul have honed and polished the script for the past year to make it one of the most zany and heartwarming love stories in contemporary Hindi cinema.

“We are very excited to be taking our creative journey on Katti Batti to the next phase. It is a most unusual love story steeped in the culture and language of today’s relationships. We wanted to make sure that the script gets the right director at the helm and a cast that can justify the two incredibly real, funny and layered lead characters. Our creative team steered the entire project through wonderfully and we are thrilled to have Nikhil, Imran and Kangana on board for the film. We couldn’t have asked for a better director and cast for the film,” said Disney India managing director Siddharth Roy Kapur.

Advani added, “UTV spotted a gem of a script with Katti Batti and it was critical that it got the cast that justified it! Am personally elated by this casting combination as it is a dream to work with Kangana – her body of work has not dulled her ability to bring humility to her craft. Imran on the other hand is drawing from new personal experiences and emotions and brings with him as well, a fresh approach.”

Actor Imran Khan, who will be essaying the role of Maddy, said, “I have always wished to be a part of films that make me proud as an actor. Katti Batti will be one such film. My last outing with UTV gave the audiences Delhi Belly, and we have worked together in the past on many successful films like Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, I Hate Luv Storys and Ek Main aur Ekk Tu. Now we hope to recreate the magic with Katti Batti. Nikhil Advani is a great story teller and Kangana is one of the finest actors of our generation. I am eagerly waiting to kickstart the film!”

Kangana who plays the character of Payal concluded, “It is a beautiful story. Writers have used elements like the battle of the sexes, issues of urban couples, expanded truth and non linear narrative. We have one of the leading creative studios UTV as the producers and I have worked with them in the past on Fashion and Life in a Metro, two of my most memorable films. I just hope I do justice to this story that might change the perspective of love and love stories for us and for coming generations.”

Katti Batti goes on the floors later this year and is scheduled for a worldwide release in 2015.

July 30, 2014
Abhishek Maheshwari to lead Disney consumer products in India

MUMBAI: The Walt Disney Company in India has announced the appointment of Abhishek Maheshwari as vice president and head Disney consumer products. Maheshwari will take charge from 10 July and replaces Roshini Bakshi who resigned from the company to pursue other interests.

“Abhishek has been a key member of our management team since 2012. Over this time, he has worked closely on the integration of Disney and UTV, on identifying local growth initiatives for the Company and on formulating our long-term strategy in India,” said The Walt Disney Company India managing director Siddharth Roy Kapur.

“Abhishek brings to this role a deep understanding of our businesses along with a diverse set of leadership skills, and he is well placed to help us continue to grow our consumer products business in India,” he added.

In addition to focusing his energies on leading Disney’s consumer products business, Maheshwari will continue to oversee corporate strategy and business development for the company in India.

“Powered by the world’s biggest storytelling franchises, a rich slate of local content development and strong licensing partnerships, Disney has a wonderful opportunity to connect with audiences across the country in a deeper way than ever before,” said Maheshwari. “I am delighted to have this opportunity to help deliver Disney’s unique magic to Indian families.”

Before joining Disney, Maheshwari worked in various management roles for Kubera and prior to that with McKinsey & Company at its Mumbai and Stamford, Connecticut offices. Abhishek received a Master of Business Administration (MBA) with distinction from Columbia Business School and a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi.

“For nine years Roshini demonstrated the highest levels of commitment and dedication and leaves the business in a solid position for future growth,” said Roy Kapur. “We are extremely thankful for her contribution and wish her every success in the future.”

June 3, 2014
Siddharth Roy Kapur bags ‘40 Under Forty’ India’s Hottest Business Leader Award 2014

MUMBAI: Disney India managing director Siddharth Roy Kapur has been awarded The Economic Times – Spencer Stuart ‘40 under Forty’ India’s Hottest Business Leaders Award 2014. Kapur received the award from HDFC executive chairman Deepak Parekh, one of the doyens of Indian industry.

Spencer Stuart and The Economic Times initiated the study by assembling a jury responsible for evaluation of all individuals under play in this category. A list of 2000 business leaders was drawn up and this was condensed on the basis of early market due diligence to a long-list. The assessment was done against criteria predefined by the jury, which shortlisted 80 business leaders in the interim meeting, who were taken to the final stage. The final 40 winners were identified based on a combination of quantitative business results (growth, margins and turnaround) as well as qualitative attributes (innovation, reputation, people leadership, and contribution to the ecosystem).

The jury was chaired by Parekh, while the other members on the panel were Spencer Stuart India managing director Anjali Bansal, Tata Communications chairman Subodh Bhargava, Boston Consulting Group, Asia Pacific chairman Janmejaya Sinha, Hindustan Unilever non-executive chairman and Unilever COO Harish Manwani, PepsiCo India chairman and CEO D Shivakumar and Info Edge India CEO and co-founder Sanjeev Bhikchandani.

Some of the other prominent names who received the honour included Zee Entertainment MD & CEO Punit Goenka, Snapdeal co-founder and CEO Kunal Bahl, Parle Agro CEO Schauna Chauhan and Flipkart co-founder and CEO Sachin Bansal, amongst others.

May 5, 2014
Punit Goenka receives ‘ET – ‘40 under Forty’- India’s Hottest Business Leaders Award’

MUMBAI: ZEEL MD & CEO Punit Goenka has received the prestigious ‘The Economic Times’40 under Forty’ – India’s Hottest Business Leaders Award 2014’. The award ceremony was held on 29 April at a glittering function held at the Four Seasons, Mumbai.

The award was presented to him by HDFC executive chairman Deepak Parekh. The list of the 40 winners was finalised by a study conducted by The Economic Times and Spencer Stuart to identify India Inc’s upcoming leadership.

Out of the original list of 2000 leaders, the final 40 were identified based on a combination of quantitative business results (growth, margins and turnaround) as well as qualitative attributes (innovation, reputation, people leadership, and contribution to the ecosystem). The jury was chaired by Deepak Parekh. The members on the panel were Spencer Stuart India managing director Anjali Bansal, Tata Communications chairman Subodh Bhargava, Boston Consulting Group, Asia Pacific chairman Janmejaya Sinha, Hindustan Unilever COO, Unilever and Non-executive chairman Harish Manwani, PepsiCo India chairman and CEO D Shivakumar and Info Edge India CEO and co-founder Sanjeev Bhikchandani.

Other notable names who received the honour are Flipkart co-Founder & CEO Sachin Bansal, Parle Agro CEO Schauna Chauhan, IndiGo Air president Aditya Ghosh and The Walt Disney Company India MD Siddharth Roy Kapur.

April 30, 2014
Disney India Announces Development of The Mahabharata

MUMBAI: Disney India’s studio business today announced plans to bring The Mahabharata, Indian Mythology’s greatest epic, to the big screen. The Studio is gearing up to recreate the magic of this remarkable story in live action at a scale never seen before in Indian cinema which will be directed by Abhishek Kapoor and written by renowned author Ashok Banker.

“Indian mythology has a great wealth of stories which have inspired legions of creative minds and The Mahabharata unarguably is the most ambitious and all-encompassing of them all. We believe this epic which has engaged generations of Indians will translate into a magnificent silver screen saga,” said Siddharth Roy Kapur, Managing Director – Disney India.

“The Mahabharata expresses the universal truth; it has defined my understanding of spirituality and of all humanity. I aim to translate this onto the big screen, engage minds and deliver a world class cinematic experience,” said director of the film Abhishek Kapoor. “There could be no one better than Disney India, with its prowess as a creative and distribution powerhouse, to narrate this epic in the manner that befits it.”

“It’s an epic as relevant and powerful today as it was millennia ago. Our attempt is to make the Mahabharata that brings alive the great human drama, the terrible conflict, and unforgettable characters, in a way you’ve never seen or thought of them before.” added Ashok K Banker.

For the first time in Indian cinema, a single narrative will be told across two movies. The film will go into pre-production post the completion of Abhishek Kapoor’s next venture with the studio, Fitoor, which goes on the floors in July.

March 24, 2014
M&E industry can grow much more than it is right now: Sanjay Gupta

MUMBAI: Star India CEO Sanjay Gupta while talking during the final session of day one at the 15th edition of FICCI Frames 2014 — “Talking Numbers: Hard Facts about M &E’s Economic Contribution” — said that it seems that “as the media and entertainment (M&E) industry we have really forgotten how big we truly are, we are not just about showbiz. I believe we are undervaluing ourselves and instead of being a $15 billion industry we should be somewhere around $ 60 billion (that is, four times).”

Gupta thinks that the industry has a potential to grow at the rate of 15 per cent, but it is rather doing just a shade below five per cent. “The industry, comprising of the stakeholders and the regulators, is having a very myopic view on how can we all come together to serve the consumer with what they want,” he remarked.

He also brought to the fore the hurdles that a new player in the market can come across. “If I want to introduce a product which is of superior quality than what other products are offering, I have regulatory restrictions on the pricing not to mention the pressing taxation on the content,” he said.

The session, which was anchored by Motion Picture Association (MPA) India MD Uday Singh, brought up many major points about the contribution of the M&E Industry in the country’s economy and the hurdles that need to be overcome to improve the numbers.

Besides Gupta, the panel comprised Viacom 18 Media group CEO Sudhanshu Vats, Disney India MD Siddharth Roy Kapur and Aditya Birla Group chief economist Dr Ajit Ranade who underlined the improvements that need to be brought in regulations, infrastructure, cutting down on piracy and much more.

It was Viacom 18 Media group CEO Sudhanshu Vats, who called attention to the issues associated to digitization. He said: “With an expected growth of 21 per cent in subscription revenues and 15 per cent in advertising revenue by the end of phase three and four of the digitisation, the future for the M&E industry looks bright. But the pressing issue that needs to be addressed is though 40 odd cities have been seeded with boxes are they also addressable?”

However, he thinks the future is bright for subscription driven markets with the oncoming of 100 per cent ad free channels like HBO Hits and HBO Defined.

The panelists also discussed the contribution of the three major players in the Indian movie business — Hindi, Tamil and Telugu cinema — that contribute nearly 43 per cent, 19 per cent and 14 per cent respectively to the total revenue generation from the film industry. Singh remarked that with nearly 1.8 million people working in this industry, it is certainly one of the important contributors to the GDP of the country.

Disney India MD Siddharth Roy Kapur said: “As far as the film industry is concerned, the three major areas of concern are creativity, infrastructure and piracy. Once we as a community get together and address these perils, I am sure the world will become a much happier place.”

According to Kapur, the top 10 box-office hits contribute to nearly 50 per cent or more to the overall collections from the film sector alone, and the top seven male stars contribute to 45 per cent of the year’s overall box-office collections.

Singh also brought up the topic of distribution and ARPUs (Average Revenue Per User), stating that with better addressability and packaging the ARPU will witness a substantial rise.

Aditya Birla Group chief economist Dr. Ajit Ranade concluded the discussion with some mind-numbing numbers and facts. “The industry is currently going through a rapid transformation and the contribution to the overall GDP will see improvement in coming time but we need to take into account that the government is always struggling with a fiscal deficit, thus reducing taxation is not the final resolution.”

“The right way forward is to move towards a micro payment format where the consumer pays for all the facilities he/she uses this will reduce a lot of disparities and only go onto strengthen the growth of the market and further contribute to the economy,” he concluded.

March 13, 2014
Disney India announces Siddharth Roy Kapur to replace Ronnie Screwvala

MUMBAI: The Walt Disney Company (TWDC) today announced that Managing Director Ronnie Screwvala will step down on 30th June 2014 and Siddharth Roy Kapur, currently Managing Director of Disney UTV’s studio’s business, will take over the Company’s India operations. Siddharth Roy Kapur will become managing director of TWDC India effective 1st January 2014, and Ronnie will assist in the transition until 30th June 2014.

Ronnie, started off as a local cable TV operator in Mumbai with cable TV service under the name ‘Network’ in 1981. He then went to work with Western Outdoor Studios and then started UTV Software Communications in 1990 along with Zarina Mehta, and Deven Khote. It was in February 2012 that the Walt Disney Company acquired a controlling interest in UTV by buying out Screwvala and other shareholders interest and it later even delisted it from the stock market. Since then he has been ranked among the most influential people by several publication right from Time magazine to Esquire and what have you.

Ronnie is throwing an early farewell party tonight for his colleagues at his south Mumbai residence. A well deserved celebration if there ever was one!

October 23, 2013
Sequel of ABCD being worked on; remake of Special 26 on cards

MUMBAI: There‘s something more about the releases of last week viz ABCD – Any Body Can Dance and Special26 — one film is going to have a sequel and the other could be remade in several languages.

First let‘s talk of the sequel.

Buoyed by the positive response that ABCD – Any Body Can Dance has been receiving, producers UTV has roped in Remo D‘Souza once again to work on the sequel of the film.

Confirming the same, Remo said, “Though talks of the sequel were being heard in the corridors of filmdom for quite some time, it is now that UTV has whole-heartedly backed my vision. I‘m very much excited to have been offered two more films under the banner. One of them is the sequel of ABCD on which I‘m working on right now.”

The film will retain the cast of ABCD with a few fresh additions.

Commented Disney UTV Studios managing director Siddharth Roy Kapur, “ABCD showcases Remo‘s ability to thrill and entertain his audience while at the same time he has sensitively handled emotion and drama. Having worked with a team of superb dancers, he has brought out the actor in each one of them. We‘re thrilled to be continuing our association with him.”

For Special 26, filmmakers down south and the east have approached the makers of the film for the remaking rights in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Bengali.

February 15, 2013
UTV to come out with a coffee book on the making of Paan Singh Tomar

MUMBAI: When Paan Singh Tomar released early last year, little did one realise that the film would go on to make such a significant mark globally.

A story of an Indian athlete (represented India at the 1958 Asian Games in Tokyo, Japan) turned army man turned dacoit was an exciting concept for writer Tigmanshu Dhulia and Sanjay Chouhan to develop into a film. Great content, superb reviews, incredible word of mouth and a correctly targeted distribution strategy contributed to the success of the film.

In its zest to immortalise the story, UTV Motion Pictures, the producer of the film, has decided to come out with a coffee table book on the making of Paan Singh Tomar. Journalist turned author Priyanka Jain was roped in to write about it. (She has earlier co-written a book on Vinod Chopra along with scriptwriter of 3 Idiots Abhijat Joshi).

The book will give readers a good glimpse of the real and reel life of PST with some never seen before pictures depicting his life. Both director Tigmanshu Dhulia and leading actor Irrfan are backing this project.

Says Disney UTV Managing Director – Studios, Siddharth Roy Kapur, “It is very important for filmmakers and studios to archive stories around iconic movies which have the ability to inspire future generations. As an industry we have not done enough so far to document our incredibly rich cinematic heritage, and this is a small step in that direction. To see the film alive in the form of a book is a way to share the experience of Paan Singh Tomar with all those who were touched by the movie.”

Observes Tigmanshu Dhulia, “The story of Paan Singh Tomar was so captivating that both UTV and I believed that it needed to be told so much so that as a rare case UTV even funded the research for this film. The story of the making of the film Paan Singh Tomar, I believe, is equally compelling. Paan Singh Tomar‘s struggle is not very different from what our real heroes face even today. Hence the book and the film will be contemporary even today.

February 5, 2013
UTV’s Kai Po Che to premiere at Berlin Film Fest

MUMBAI: UTV Motion Pictures‘ upcoming film Kai Po Che is scheduled to have its world premiere at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival scheduled to go under way next month.

The film, based on Chetan Bhagat‘s novel The 3 Mistakes of My Life, will be screened at the film festival on 13 February.

The film, which stars newcomers Sushant Singh Rajput, Raj Kumar Yadav and Amit Sadh in lead roles, portrays the journey of three friends as they discover cricket, religion and business in their respective fields.

Said Disney UTV Managing Director – Studios, Siddharth Roy Kapur, “We are incredibly proud that Kai Po Che has been selected for a world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival. What is even more creditable is that it is the only Indian film in the official panorama selection announced by the festival this year.

For a film dependent entirely on its strong story line rather than its lineup of stars, this is a huge achievement and for that I would like to commend Abhishek Kapoor and his entire cast and crew for bringing all their talent and passion to bear, to make Kai Po Che a film for the ages.”

Set against the backdrop of religious politics, the story of Kai Po Che underlines the three mistakes made by Govind. The film as well as the book is set in Gujarat and hence the title Kai Po Che.

Thirty-one fictional features from 23 countries will provide insights into contemporary world cinema production at the 10-day-long Berlin ale festival.

The film will hit screens in India on 22 February.

January 17, 2013