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Tag: Slumdog Millionaire

  • Swati Shetty’s & Grant Kessman’s prodco Bridge7 acquires Slumdog Millionaire sequel rights

    Swati Shetty’s & Grant Kessman’s prodco Bridge7 acquires Slumdog Millionaire sequel rights

    MUMBAI: For those who know Swati Shetty, they will always commend her for her never-say-die spirit. The Los Angeles-based former Netflix director international originals & acquisitions and  producer of Umrika has got together with former CAA agent Grant Kessman to set up a production outfit Birdge7.

    And amongst the first transactions it has done is acquiring the film sequel and television series rights of the Oscar winning, Danny Boyle-directed Celador produced Slumdog Millionaire.

    This is what the duo had to say after striking the deal with Celador: “Some stories stay with us long after the credits roll and ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ is undoubtedly one of them. Its narrative is universal, cutting across cultural and geograpahical lines and it embodies the kind of stories we love — ones that bridge entertainment with profound human experiences. What makes ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ extraordinary is not only its cinematic brilliance — spanning storytelling, music and its remarkable accolades, but also how it brought together talent from across the world to make a global winning team.”

    Celador International chairman Paul Smith expressed his confidence in the duo acquiring the rights and said the studio was looking forward to working with Bridge7. 
     

  • Discovery to premiere documentary on AR Rahman – ‘Jai Ho’

    Discovery to premiere documentary on AR Rahman – ‘Jai Ho’

    MUMBAI: Jai Ho – a documentary on music maestro AR Rahman, which has been screened at a few international film festivals earlier this year, is all set to have its television premiere in India on Discovery Channel. The channel will air the documentary on 26 October at 9 pm. 

     

    Jai Ho, which has been directed by Umesh Aggarwal, will take viewers through the unseen and unheard story of one of the finest musicians the world has ever known.

     

    Speaking to Indiantelevision.com about the documentary, Rahman says, “It’s an understated documentary. It’s not the kinds that makes a big fuss and that’s what I like about it. It has its own humour. It is about the music and its making and not just about me. Jai Ho has eminent people taking about me and it is fascinating to listen to them. I am lucky to have done a song on Jai Ho (for Slumdog Millionaire). It’s like a mantra for India, which has always been there. It fell in the place at the right time and the whole world has a portrayal of it. I am very proud of it.”

     

    Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific EVP and GM – South Asia Rahul Johri adds, “We are always looking for content that has the ability to surprise the audience. That’s our primary criteria and first preference when deciding on the channel’s content. We want people to acclaim, ‘Ohh wow, where did they get this idea from?’ And this show has that. It is different from all our other shows.”

     

    The documentary enables a window for the viewers into the personal life of Rahman from him leaving his education at a tender age to support his family to winning an Oscar as well as a Grammy. The programme depicts Rahman’s journey from working with Mani Ratnam forRoja to his first commercial break in Bollywood with Rangeela to his outstanding work in award winning movies.

    Throwing light on how he was on Rahman’s trail for almost six months to pitch the documentary idea to him, Aggarwal says, “I was in touch with his staff and I was told that Rahman would call me at 2:30 am. It was frustrating because I wasn’t getting an answer from him. So one fine day, I went to his office and met his sister. I explained the concept of the documentary to her. Precisely after five minutes, I met the man that I was trailing all this while. It took me six months to reach him and less than five minutes to talk to him about my content.”

     

    The documentary imparts details about Rahman’s personality, career, life, his love for music and his past life from the perspective of formidable personalities who have worked and observed his work and growth.

     

    The factual is shot across the world including Los Angeles where Rahman resides, London, Mumbai and Chennai which is his birthplace. When questioned about casting Rahman as the centre point of the show, he says, “He being the glory of India is just one peg. Whatever is spoken about him, it’s always a third party outlook. Rahman himself has never shared much on his own. This entire story comes from him as he narrates it and you get to know him as a person. This was my prime motive behind making this film. I think people should know that those who have reached to the top, don’t do so overnight. It takes time and that is what inspired me.”

     

    The channel has unleashed various promotional activities across its bouquet of 11 channels as well as created buzz on social media platforms.

     

    “We had started with eight channels in five languages. That is the trajectory we are on and we will speeding up our growth process. There has been a lot of localisation on our channels and going forward there will be more local and relevant content on the channel,” adds Johri.

     

    As was reported earlier by Indiantelevision.com, Jai Ho was recently screened at the 20th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF). It was also screened at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) in April this year. 

  • Choreographer Longinus Fernandes joins Amelia and Satish Reddy for ‘Bollywood Dance Seminar’

    Choreographer Longinus Fernandes joins Amelia and Satish Reddy for ‘Bollywood Dance Seminar’

    NEW DELHI: Even as Japan and some Southeast Asian countries have taken to the dance styles of Indian cinema, the interest also appears to be spreading to Europe.

     

    Choreographer Longinus Fernandes, popular for choreographing Jai Ho from Slumdog Millionaire, is conducting a dance seminar and workshop organised by Oriental Dream and Scribes Paris India Connection (INC) at the prestigious club located in the heart of Paris this month.

     

    The workshop will start on 12 April at Club Montmartrois, 60 Rue Ordener in Paris, France.

     

    The Seminar will be a combination of all the ingredients of music, dance, costumes, drama and emotions. Fernandes has made actors in Slumdog Millionaire dance to his tunes and also directed a sequence in Hollywood film Eat, Pray & Love.

     

    Amelia of Oriental Dream said, “I am very happy to receive the Choreographer Longinus Fernandes from Bollywood. All passionate lovers of Indian dances and fans of Indian movies are very excited to meet him finally in real. This International Dance Seminar will be a big success in Europe.”

     

    Satish Reddy of Scribes INC said, “It was a pleasure to be associated with the workshop as we will be bringing more Indian artistes and Culture to Europe. I am happy that I am getting a chance to explore in Paris through this Seminar.”

     

    Many movies have been shot in Paris. Preity Zinta revived the trend after a long gap when she shot her last film Ishq in Paris. The Shammi Kapoor- Sharmila Tagore film An Evening in Paris was the first Hindi film to be filmed there. 

  • Dev Patel to star in ‘Lion’ with Nicole Kidman

    Dev Patel to star in ‘Lion’ with Nicole Kidman

    MUMBAI: The Slumdog Millionaire actor Dev Patel has been finalised to star with Nicole Kidman in the new The Weinstein Company drama Lion.

     

    The drama, based on the memoir ‘A Long Way Home’ by Saroo Brierley, follows a street kid from Calcutta (Patel) who is taken in and adopted by a couple in Australia.

     

    Garth Davis, who co-directed the Golden Globe-winning miniseries ‘Top of the Lake’ with Jane Campion, is set to helm the movie while Luke Davies, the screenwriter on Anton Corbijn’s upcoming Life, adapted the book for the screen.

     

    In addition to Lion, Patel plays self-taught Indian math genius Srinivasa Ramanujan in Matt Brown’s period drama The Man Who Knew Infinity. He will also star in Lionsgate’s Soviet-era thriller Child 44 and The Road Within, a remake of the hit German dramedy Vincent Wants to Sea.

     

    Patel also appears in John Madden’s upcoming The Second Best Marigold Hotel, the sequel to the 2011 hit, which Fox Searchlight will release in the US next year.

     

    It was earlier believed that Hugh Jackman would also star in the film, but as per media reports, the actor has denied any connection to the project.

  • Europe’s Largest South Asian Film Event is Back!

    Europe’s Largest South Asian Film Event is Back!

    MUMBAI: Executive produced by actor Emma Thompson, Sold will be the red carpet European Premiere opening night film of the Fifth annual London INDIAN Film Festival (July 10-17). This film is a powerful, survival against the odds tale about a young Nepali girl who is trafficked to Kolkata, India. Gillian Anderson stars with a great Indian and Nepali ensemble cast including Seema Biswas (Bandit Queen). Central highlights of the festival will be the UK Premiere of the true story Million Dollar Arm, from The Walt Disney Company, starring Jon Hamm (Mad Men) and Suraj Sharma (Life of Pi). Bollywood’s hottest actor Farhan Akhtar and South Indian cinematography supremo Santosh Sivan will be giving rare screen talks at the BFI Southbank. Closing the festival will be the World Premiere of Hemalkasa, an homage to the revolutionary human rights leader Prakash Baba Amte, starring Bollywood hero Nana Patekar. Many other special guests are expected to a packed week of UK first screenings.

    Now Europe’s largest platform for Indian cinema, the London Indian Film Festival returns to the Capital, in association with Pure Heaven, the British Film Institute, and official Hotel Partner Grange Hotels, celebrating the exploding movement of Indian Independent cinema and bringing to UK audiences a rare selection of cutting-edge films from some of the Indian subcontinent’s hottest independent talents. Going way beyond Bollywood, the festival presents a kaleidoscope of new films that challenge, shock, generate debate and present a more realistic view of India and the subcontinent today, in all its diversity. The festival will stretch citywide, opening in the West End at the historic Cineworld Haymarket, and continuing at BFI Southbank, Cineworld cinemas Wembley, Wood Green, Wandsworth and O2 in Royal Greenwich and ICA near the Pall Mall, so there is a screening near you.

    The first weekend of this high-impact festival launches with Sold, on 10th July which explores the controversial theme of child trafficking; one school girl’s battle against the odds and the dangerous journey to liberate her from the Kolkata mafia; expect a glamorous line up of celebs to follow X Files and The Fall actress Gillian Anderson down the red carpet.

    On 12th July Rotterdam Film Festival headliner Qissa: Tale of a Lonely Ghost, has its UK Premiere, Irrfan Khan (Slumdog Millionaire, Life of Pi) plays a rural Punjabi father hell bent on having a son and heir, no matter what the consequences. Apur Panchali, based on a true-life story, is an emotionally charged homage to Satyajit Ray’s impoverished child character Apu and the real-life person who played one of the most famous child roles in world cinema. It screens on 13th July. By contrast Slamdance audience winner Hank and Asha explores a new generation of trans-global online romance, at ICA and Cineworlds across London. The festival’s Central Gala is the inspirational true story Million Dollar Arm that follows the uplifting journey of two Indian boys whose lives are transformed by a national TV contest and against the odds end up going to the US to train to become major sports stars.

     

    As well as films in the Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam languages, and UK/Pakistani film Anima State, in Urdu, the festival previews its first Bangladesh based film Shongram (Struggle) directed by Munsur Ali. In terms of special talks, India’s most celebrated cinematographer and acclaimed director Santosh Sivan gives a unique Masterclass at BFI Southbank, 11th July. The multi-talented singer, actor and director Farhan Akhtar rocks into town on 15th July and offers an insight on his high-octane career so far, including his iconic recent role as muscle rippling athletics hero Milkha Singh in Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. Expect lots of female fans! Bollywood icon Nana Patekar stars in the festival’s uplifting closing World Premiere of Hemalkasa. Directed by Samruddhi Porey it’s guaranteed to make you cry and smile at the same time.

    London Indian Film Festival also includes industry events at BAFTA, exploring UK and Indian subcontinent co-productions. The winner of the annual Satyajit Ray Short Film Competition will be announced at the end of the festival, with short-listed contenders battling it out at the ICA on 15th July. We are delighted to announce that our Major Sponsors this year will include Queen’s Award for Enterprise International Trade winner Sunmark Ltd, producers of Pure Heaven brand and founding sponsor Grange Hotels. The festival is also grant funded for by the BFI Film Festival Fund.

    Emma Thompson comments: “It is wonderful to have our film premiered at London Indian Film Festival, to raise awareness of child-trafficking, which is an issue close to my heart and is shockingly on the increase world-wide. We hope that this film will make people think and highlight the support for key charities such as The Helen Bamber Foundation and others working in this difficult area in India, Nepal and elsewhere”.
    Says Farhan Akhtar: “At its heart, Cinema is about sharing ones culture with the world. Be it on screen or in representation of ones work. I look forward to sharing my experiences, memories and motivations.”

    Cary Rajinder Sawhney, Festival Director comments: “We are delighted that the festival is now firmly established on the London and international scene after five amazing years. If you want to find out more about South Asian cinema, come to London and soak yourself in a week of magnificent, world class cinema”.

  • A.R. Rahman gives music for ‘Million Dollar Arm’

    A.R. Rahman gives music for ‘Million Dollar Arm’

    NEW DELHI: Suraj Sharma, who played the young man stranded on a raft with the tiger in Ang Lee’s ‘Life of Pi,’ and Madhur Mittal who portrayed Salim in the best Oscar winning movie ‘Slumdog Millionaire,’ along with actor Jon Hamm feature in the new Disney film ‘Million Dollar Arm’ being released this weekend in the United States.

     

    With its release last Friday, ‘Million Dollar Arm’ clashed with the giant ‘Godzilla’ remake distributed by Warner Bros.

     

    The film has been directed by Craig Gillespie from a screenplay written by Tom McCarthy. The film is based on the true story of baseball pitchers Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel who were discovered by sports agent J.B. Bernstein after winning a reality show competition. The film also stars Bill Paxton as pitching coach Tom House, Alan Arkin and Lake Bell. The film’s music is composed by A.R. Rahman. The movie is produced by Joe Roth, Mark Ciardi, and Gordon Gray for Walt Disney Pictures. 

     

    By the standards of the studio known for big-budget blockbusters, ‘Million Dollar Arm’ is a small film, with a budget of $25 million, a fraction of the $200 million it cost to make the soon-to-be-released ‘Maleficent’ with Angelina Jolie.

     

    But Walt Disney Studios’ executive vice president of film distribution Dave Hollis said, “We believe in great stories, both big and small, that depict values such as courage, ambition, hard work and family. ‘Million Dollar Arm’ is a great story that has those unique human themes throughout.”

     

    ‘Million Dollar Arm’ was shot partly in India. Jon Hamm – who played the ‘Mad Men’ character Don Draper – plays sports agent J B Bernstein who in a desperate bid to drum up clients goes to India to find baseball pitchers among the country’s cricket-loving sportsmen. It is a real-life story that warmed hearts over at the Walt Disney Co.

     

    The first part of ‘Million Dollar Arm’ shows a hot and chaotic Mumbai where JB struggles to get his improbable venture off the ground with a reality show. After frustrating rounds of tryouts, the American agent finds two strong arms in Rinku and Dinesh in rural India and brings them to Southern California, where they undergo training before being shown to Major League Baseball scouts.

     

    The young men find themselves struggling with the culture, the lifestyle and, most importantly, the business expectations that JB has from them. His neighbour Brenda, a doctor played by Lake Bell, works to suture the fraying relationship in time to save their chances of making it in American baseball.

     

    Despite working in conditions Hamm termed “remarkably warm and challenging,” the baseball tale with a global twist gave Hamm not only his first lead role in film but one that was decidedly more upbeat than the ad man that made him famous on television.

     

    “I love the fact that it has a family component to it and it has redemption,” said Hamm. “You leave the movie theater with a smile on your face. It’s a nice alternative to my other on-screen persona, who is a little bit darker.”

     

    Bell and Hamm, who are friends in real life, both highlighted one of the great advantages of working on a Disney film: for a change, they can send anyone in their families to see it and not have to worry about uncomfortable scenes. “It is nice to be part of a project that my sister can take her kids to,” said Hamm.

     

    Prior to ‘Million Dollar Arm,’ Hamm played an FBI agent in Ben Affleck’s 2010 crime caper ‘The Town’ and a part as the loathsome lothario in the 2011 women-driven comedy ‘Bridesmaids.’

     

    “I think you can make an argument that I was actually the star of ‘Bridesmaids,’” he joked.

     

    As he films the final episodes of ‘Mad Men’ to air next year on the AMC cable network, Hamm said he has no road map for his career post-Don Draper, although ‘Million Dollar Arm’ fit perfectly into his loose plan.

    The movie stars actors Suraj Sharma of ‘Life of Pi’ fame and Madhur Mittal of ‘Slumdog Millionaire’.

     

    “I just want to work on things I find interesting in some way and this is a perfect example of something I find interesting,” said Hamm, who happens to be a big baseball fan. 

  • Kochadaiiyaan to release globally on 11 April

    Kochadaiiyaan to release globally on 11 April

    MUMBAI: Eros International  Media Ltd (Eros International),  a   leading global company in the Indian film entertainment industry will release the eagerly awaited futuristic fantasy  event   of   the   year   ‘KOCHADAIIYAAN  – The   Legend,   a   Mediaone   Global Entertainment  Limited production, directed by Soundarya  Rajnikanth  Ashwin,   worldwide in cinemas on April 11, 2014.

    Kochadaiiyaan  features the unique visual mastery of Photorealistic Performance Capture technology for the very first time in the history of an Indian film. This technology has been previously seen in Hollywood masterpieces as Avatar, Tin Tin and Beowulf.

    Kochadaiiyaan  is an epic dramatization of good versus evil starring South Indian megastar Rajinikanth in a double role in a larger than life depiction. Also starring in the grand production is leading lady  Deepika Padukone  together with South India’s leading stars R. Sharath kumar, Nazar, Aadi, Shobana and Rukmini.

    Providing the musical score is Oscar-winning composer A R Rahman, whose list of credits includes a BAFTA, a Golden Globe and two Academy Awards for his outstanding musical contribution for the multi-Oscar winning film Slumdog Millionaire.

    Announcing the release of the film, Ms.Soundarya Rajnikanth Ashwin, the Director of the film said, “Following last year’s celebrations of India’s film making centenary we view the release of Kochadaiiyaan as part of the next steps of Indian cinema. For the first time a full length feature has been made using performance capture technology  in India and I truly hope this creates a whole alternate film making avenue apart from live action films in our country”.

     

    Mr. Sunil Lulla, Managing  Director, Eros International  Media Ltd added, “Eros is proud to present this magnum opus with Rajinikanth, which will take the Indian film industry to the next level. We are confident that this will be a landmark film in world cinema as a result of the ground breaking technology used. The film will be released in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Marathi, Bhojpuri, Bengali and Punjabi in India and overseas in more than 6,000 screens. We will be releasing an English version internationally as well”.
     

    In a major brand tie-up, Eros International and Mediaone have also tied up with Karbonn Mobile to launch 1 million Kochadaiiyaan branded mobile phones to celebrate the release of the film. The exclusive Karbonn ‘Kochadaiiyaan’ mobile phones will have screen savers and must-have images from the film along with the trailer and the signature tune of the film. These special Kochadaiiyaan mobile phones are intended to launch in February 2014, during the audio launch of the film.

    Kochadaiiyaan  was shot extensively at Pinewood Studios in the UK with a team of world-class technical experts including the London based Centroid Studios,  a state of the art facility for Full Body Motion Capture, which has worked on various Hollywood productions including the recent Brad Pitt starrer World War Z as we// as Pirates of the Caribbean,  lronman  2 and Harry Potter, and Counter  Punch  Studios from Los Angeles, who have been behind successes such as Beverly  Hills  Chihuahua.  They worked in collaboration with Faceware  Technologies, United Kingdom, who have worked on The Mummy 3 and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button for the Facial Capturing technology. A team of technical experts from South India and China have worked on this technology, with the best production facilities in London, for the overall completion of the project.

  • Akshay Kumar & Ashvini Yardi to release Fugly on 16 May 2014

    Akshay Kumar & Ashvini Yardi to release Fugly on 16 May 2014

    NEW DELHI: After the success of their first venture OMG: Oh My God!, actor Akshay Kumar and Ashvini Yardi are all set to release Fugly, a coming-of-age drama set in the by lanes of Delhi.

     

    The film’s release date has just been announced as 16 May 2014.

     

    Produced by the Grazing Goat Pictures and directed by Kabir Sadanand, Fugly is shot extensively in Delhi and the breathtaking locations of Leh. It is the story of four friends – Dev, Devi, Gaurav and Aditya and how this carefree bunch, at the threshold of their lives, get caught in a Fugly incident, which sucks them slowly into the big bad world of corruption, politics and the real society in the capital.

     

    The central characters are played by an ensemble of some of the freshest faces to emerge from India: Anil Kapoor’s nephew Mohit Marwah, Olympic medalist Boxer Vijender Singh, grand niece of Sayed Jaffery Kiara Advani and Slumdog Millionaire actor Arti Lamba will make their Bollywood debuts in the film. The film also sees the fondly remembered Anjali, from the 1998 blockbuster, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Sana Saeed, in a special song and Jimmy Shergill who returns to the big screen after Bullet Raja.

     

    With Fugly, Akshay and Ashvini have followed up the huge success of their first film venture, OMG: Oh My God, and their regional successes, the critically acclaimed Marathi film 72 Miles Ek Pravas, and the Punjabi comic-caper ‘Bhaji in Problem’.

     

    Spearheading investment into quality, subject-driven film-making, Grazing Goat Pictures is taking Hindi and regional cinema to new heights with a range of innovative and fresh projects.

  • 12 Years a Slave wins Peoples Choice Award

    12 Years a Slave wins Peoples Choice Award

    MUMBAI: The movie directed by Steve McQueen has been awarded the People’s Choice Awards at the Toronto International Film Festival of 2013. The movie stars Chiwetel Ejiofor with Michael Fassenbender and Benedict Cumberbatch.

    The story revolves around an 1853 true memoir of a free black man sold into slavery. Previous wins have been Slumdog Millionaire and The King’s Speech. The movie is now expected to make rounds at the Oscars as well.

    Fox Searchlight will start showing the movie from 18 October. It debuted at Telluride Film Festival and has newcomer Lupita Nyong’o. Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner and Bill Pohlad are among the producers. The screenplay is done by John Ridley while Fox Searchlight and Regency Enterprises will be distributing it.
    Philomena won the runner up while Prisoners was second runner up.

  • Danny Boyle plans Trainspotting sequel in 2016

    Danny Boyle plans Trainspotting sequel in 2016

    Mumbai: To mark the 20th anniversary of his film Trainspotting which he made in 1996, filmmaker Danny Boyle has evinced hope of releasing the sequel titled Porno in 2016.

    Trainspotting was based on a novel by Irvine Welsh and the Slumdog Millionaire director‘s new film would loosely adapt his follow-up novel Porno, it is understood.

    “This has been a long time coming. The ideal time would be Porno in 2016 because it was 1996 when Trainspotting came out. 20 years… It‘s like, wow, where did that go?” Boyle said.

    The director said he is still waiting for the right script from his long-time collaborator John Hodge, who wrote several of Boyle‘s biggest films including Trainspotting and the upcoming heist thriller Trance.