ITV

Tag: Sonakshi Sinha

  • Best Deal TV to hit airwaves on 27 March; hops on multiple DTH & cable platforms

    Best Deal TV to hit airwaves on 27 March; hops on multiple DTH & cable platforms

    MUMBAI: Raj Kundra and Akshay Kumar’s television venture – Best Deal TV, which was earlier slated to launch on 18 March, will now hit airwaves on 27 March, 2015 at 10 am.

     

    As was reported by Indiantelevision.com, the launch of the 24×7 home shopping channel was delayed by a week or so.

     

    With just two days to go for the launch, the channel has inked distribution deals with major cable operators and direct to home (DTH) companies across the country.

     

    From 27 March onwards, the channel will be available on DTH platforms namely Videocon DTH (channel no. 135), Dish TV (channel no. 132) and Reliance Big TV (channel no. 225 & 312) as well as cable operators like Siticable Kolkata (channel no. 123), Incable Kolkata (channel no. 164), Incable Bangalore and Mysore (channel no. 126), Inspire Infratech (channel no. 16) and Fastway Punjab (channel no. 23) amongst others.

     

    The channel has also unleashed ‘countdown to launch’ videos featuring Akshay Kumar on social networking websites. The home shopping channel has tied up celebrities such as Sonakshi Sinha and Ekta Kapoor, who will sell their branded products on the channel.

     

  • Upen Patel refuses to endorse fairness products

    Upen Patel refuses to endorse fairness products

    NEW DELHI: Even as Bollywood’s Greek God Hrithik Roshan signed on the dotted line to endorse Emami’s Fair and Handsome face wash brand, actor Upen Patel has joined the list of actors who have refused to endorse fairness products as it encourages racist stereotypes.

     

    Bollywood actors like Akshay Kumar, Ranbir Kapoor, Randeep Hooda, Nandita Das, Bipasha Basu and Kangana Ranaut have previously refused to endorse fairness products. 

     

    On the other hand, actors like Shah Rukh Khan, John Abraham, Arjun Rampal, Shahid Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Sonakshi Sinha, Priyanka Chopra and Yami Gautam amongst a host of other actors have no qualms endorsing these products.  

     

    A source from the film industry said, “Upen was recently approached by a skin care brand asking him to endorse a skin-lightening product. But apparently, he turned down the brand. He refuses to endorse anything that puts a value or discriminates a person based on his skin colour, taking a stand similar to what Nandita Das had done a few years earlier.”

     

    Confirming the news, Patel said, “This fair skin obsession has to be discouraged. It is so regressive and problematic to put a value, negative or positive to skin colour. It is actually the seeds of racism and only promotes low self-esteem. For me, I believe in loving yourself just the way you are. Dusky, dark or wheatish, you are perfect.”

  • TV home shopping market to generate Rs 45-50 billion in FYE March 2015: MPA

    TV home shopping market to generate Rs 45-50 billion in FYE March 2015: MPA

    MUMBAI: India’s retail landscape has changed rapidly in recent years. Owing to increasing disposable incomes and a growing number of nuclear families with evolving lifestyles, the country is experiencing a shift towards organised retail.

     

    Organised players accounted for nine per cent of India’s overall retail trade in 2013. However, the year saw sales from modern retail formats growing slowly.

     

    Rising costs, combined with India’s infrastructure hurdles have prompted retailers to reconsider their expansion plans. This scenario has forced brands to look for newer mediums to distribute their products, especially in areas where modern retail penetration continues to be low. Backed by domestic as well as international investors, e-tailers such as Flipkart and Snapdeal have taken advantage and created a Rs140 billion ($2.3 billion) online retail industry.

     

    In the midst of this marketing blitzkrieg by e-tailers, TV home shopping, an established distribution platform with a much wider reach, has also taken giant strides.

     

    Although much smaller in comparison to the e-tailing industry, the TV home shopping industry has started to effectively leverage the reach of cable and satellite in India, estimated at 140 million households or 650 million people as of December 2014. In comparison, the number of internet users is estimated at 302 million.

     

    The HomeShop18 and Star CJ Revolution

    According to a report released by Media Partners Asia (MPA), although the industry has been in existence since the 1990s, most of the earlier TV home shopping companies were restricted to selling religious or unbranded beauty products by purchasing commercial airtime to run infomercials on TV channels. The pre-digitisation era also saw an attempt to launch a dedicated TV home shopping channel – TVC Online. However, it stopped airing within one year of its launch in 2003. Majority of these products failed to meet quality expectations. As a result, consumers grew skeptical of TV home shopping. “Logistical challenges and infrastructural constraints added to the woes of the industry as they resulted in delayed product delivery to customers,” says the MPA report. 

     

    However, following the arrival of 24-hour dedicated TV home shopping channels, there has been a turnaround.

     

    HomeShop18 and Star CJ launched in 2008 and 2009 respectively, focusing on building customer trust by: 

     

    · Ensuring high quality products;

     

    · Creating technology enabled delivery and logistics networks; 

     

    · Establishing 24/7 multi-lingual customer service support centers.

     

    As the industry’s credibility rose, brands such as Samsung and Videocon started utilising the services of TV shopping players. In addition, leading service brands such as Bajaj Allianz and ICICI Lombard have also experimented with the platform. Since its inception, HomeShop18 has fulfilled over 20 million orders, having served more than 11 million customers, while Star CJ has catered to six million customers since launch.

     

    Industry Dynamics and Business Models

    The success of these two channels has encouraged more players to enter the market. Naaptol, which started as an e-commerce platform, has recently launched Blue, a 24-hour dedicated TV channel. In addition, the company has partnered with multi system operator (MSO) Hathway Cable & Datacom to launch Hathway Shopee, which is exclusively available on the MSO’s digital platform. 

     

    Similarly, another MSO Den Networks has entered into a 50:50 JV with Snapdeal to launch Den-Snapdeal TV Shop, the pilot for which launched in September 2014. Other key players include Planet M Shopping, HBN Telebrands and TVC Retail.

     

    Growing at 40-50 per cent year on year, the industry, as per MPA, has generated gross merchandise volume (GMV) sales of Rs 32 billion in FYE March 2014. MPA analysis also indicates that the TV home shopping market could generate between Rs 45-50 billion in FYE March 2015. The top three players: HomeShop18, Star CJ and Naaptol, hold the lion share with 85 per cent market share.

     

    Comprising both 24-hour dedicated channels and small and medium-sized firms, which buy independent airtime slots from multiple channels, gross commission revenues are estimated to range between Rs 10-12 billion for FYE March 2014. 

     

    On the cost side, while TV home shopping companies pay carriage fees to DTH and cable operators, they also incur airtime charges for slots on TV channels. MPA estimates that while a one-hour midnight slot on GECs costs Rs100,000, news channels charge between Rs 25,000-Rs 50,000.

     

    Overcoming the hurdles

     As is the case with e-tailers, India’s low credit card penetration and poor logistics infrastructure are proving to be the main challenges for TV home shopping players. As consumers in smaller towns are used to a “touch and feel” approach to the product before making payment, about 80 – 95 per cent of TV home shopping sales are driven by cash on delivery (COD). However, logistical difficulties often result in delayed deliveries and consumers refusing to accept delivery. Return rates are as high as 10-20 per cent of total transactions and adversely impact the business economics of TV home shopping companies, according to the MPA report. 

     

    To counter last mile delivery challenges, players such as Naaptol and TVC use the services of India Post, which has over 155,000 post offices of which more than 139,000 are in rural areas.

     

    TV home shopping versus e-tailers

    Although e-tailers function on a similar business model, the strategies adopted by TV home shopping players are in stark contrast to their online counterparts. 

     

    On an annual basis, TV home shopping players advertise between 3,000-4,000 products with a high majority being private labels and small to mid-scale brands. In comparison, Flipkart and Snapdeal stock over 15 million and five million products, respectively, points out MPA. 

     

    “This strategy enables TV home shopping players to command commissions in the range of 30-40 per cent of the sale price, compared to 5-20 per cent for e-tailers,” says the report.

     

    The consumer demographic is also different. With over 80 per cent of TV households having access to pay-TV, majority of the orders originate from smaller towns. In contrast, sales of e-tailers are driven by markets with high English language proficiency and internet penetration. 

     

    Comparison with e-tailers on financials and value creation

    The MPA report highlights that despite incurring significant losses, most e-tailers are focused on driving valuations through exponential top-line growth. In contrast, TV home shopping firms have delivered balanced growth with profitability. In FYE March 2014, net revenue growth for HomeShop18 was similar to players such as Amazon India and ebay India. Moreover the TV segment for HomeShop18 was also profitable at Rs 150 million for 9M FY 2014.

     

    For the similar period, TVC Retail, which enjoys superior margins for its product profile, reported a net profit growth of 42 per cent year on year. While Star CJ and Naaptol are on the cusp of profitability, even newer players are exhibiting robust growth. 

     

    Den-Snapdeal JV has been growing at 200 per cent month-on month and is clocking a GMV of Rs 1 billion. The network expects to cross the Rs 5 billion mark by the end of the first year of operations. 

     

    Similarly, Hathway-Naaptol, primarily offering semi-branded products at high margins, is already enjoying an average monthly run-rate of Rs 15 million, since its launch in June 2014.

     

    E-tailer valuations seem justifiable only as a multiple of GMV. However, it is worth noting that their long-tail strategy is highly dependent on a substantial rise in India’s internet penetration. 

     

    “Partnering with MSO platforms or TV home shopping players can enable e-tailers to mitigate the risk of slower than expected internet growth. Hence, going forward, more JV deals such as Den-Snapdeal are likely to occur. This will mutually benefit both partners by drawing synergies from their existing businesses,” says the report. 

     

    Becoming future ready

    On the back of rising smartphone penetration, global TV home shopping giants such as QVC and HSN have streamlined their m-commerce operations to maximise revenue and profitability.

     

    “Realising that mobile internet, which accounts for 57 per cent of India’s internet users, could drive the next leg of growth, Indian players have followed suit. Although TV continues to account for 70 per cent of its transactions, HomeShop18 has witnessed 100 per cent Q/Q traffic growth on mobile platforms. Similarly, Star CJ expects its mobile website to account for 20 per cent of its transactions in the near future versus 6 per cent at present,” says MPA. 

     

    In the meantime, the industry continues to record impressive numbers. Naaptol expects its revenues to increase from Rs 1.65 billion in FYE March 2014 to Rs 3.45 billion in FYE March 2015. “Given that TV home shopping is still in its infancy in India, such trends are likely to continue for the next three – five years,” highlights the report. 

     

    The India Today group, recently launched Bag It Today. Business entrepreneur Raj Kundra in partnership with Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar has launched Best Deal TV, a celebrity driven venture. Targeting a reach of 35-40 million households, the channel will tie-up with celebrities such as Ekta Kapoor, Sonakshi Sinha and Yuvraj Singh. The celebrities will be signed on a profit sharing model. The channel will start by advertising 30 products from select categories such as lifestyle, home, health, fashion and beauty. Subsequently, it also plans to tap regional markets by roping in local celebrities in Tamil and Telugu markets.

     

    Apart from these, a few regional players are already working towards setting up TV home shopping channels. It might not be long before global home shopping giants and other strategic and financial investors start to enter the market.

  • Sonakshi Sinha trains with Tiger Shroff’s fitness trainer for Murgadoss’ next

    Sonakshi Sinha trains with Tiger Shroff’s fitness trainer for Murgadoss’ next

    MUMBAI: In her four-year career, Sonakshi Sinha has been part of several action films. But for the first time in her career, Sinha is getting the chance to actually perform extensive stunts in her next with director AR Murgadoss. The untitled woman-centric action film is ready to go on floors soon.

     

    Sinha has already started prepping for her role, and has been intensively training to sport a super fit body. She has been training with Bollywood’s famous fitness expert, Kuldeep, who has also trained Tiger Shroff, amongst others.

     

    A source said, “Sonakshi has started rigorous workout sessions to improve her flexibility and core strength. Her regimen includes stretching, exercises for flexibility, acrobat training as well as Yoga. Throughout this period, her diet excluded all kinds of oily, sweet and junk food, and featured more high-protein food items.”

  • ‘Tevar’ collects Rs 21.7 crore in opening weekend

    ‘Tevar’ collects Rs 21.7 crore in opening weekend

    MUMBAI: The solo release of the week, ‘Tevar’ suffered due to its outdated theme as the film is a remake of a 2003 Telugu original, ‘Ukkadu’. The action, the film’s mainstay, is oft repeated over the past few years. The film also lacks in romance as well as chemistry between the lead pair – Arjun Kapoor and Sonakshi Sinha.

     

    ‘Tevar’ opened to an average response and the collections dropped in the following shows as unfavourable reports emerged. The film has collected a mere Rs 21.7 crore in its opening weekend.

     

    On the other hand, the Rajkumar Hirani directed ‘PK’ starring Aamir Khan continued its dream run at the box office. Making the most of Christmas holidays and poor oppositions for three weeks, the movie crossed the Rs 300 crore mark. The film has collected Rs 42.1 crore in its third week to take its three week total to Rs 311.7 crore.

     

    ‘Take It Easy’, a film aimed at children, performed poorly at the box office, having collected only Rs 35 lakh in its first week.

     

    ‘Mumbai Can Dance Saala’ had a disastrous first week with collection figures barely crossing Rs 10 lakh mark.

     

    Anurag Kashyap’s ‘Ugly’ has managed to put together Rs 2.3 crore for its second week taking its two week total to Rs 7.8 crore.

     

    ‘Linga’ (dubbed) starring superstar Rajinikanth and Sonakshi Sinha has fared below average. The original Tamil movie has also suffered at the box office and not much was expected from the Hindi dubbed version as the South legend has little following in the Hindi market.

     

    Ajay Devgn’s ‘Action Jackson’ has added another Rs 10 lakh in its fifth week to take its five week tally to Rs 58.9 crore.

     

  • Rentrak partners with Eros International for box office reporting

    Rentrak partners with Eros International for box office reporting

    MUMBAI: Rentrak, a company that measures movies and TV everywhere, has announced its partnership with Eros International. As part of the deal, the company will collect box office information of Eros’ films across India. The first Eros film Rentrak will collect data on is ‘Tevar’, which released on 9 January.
                                                  
    “We are thrilled to work with Eros as we continue to grow our International coverage, which now includes the operation and collection of theatre-level attendance and box office information from 36 countries. The inclusion of Eros to our service is a powerful addition to our clients in India,” said Rentrak’s worldwide movie measurement business president Ron Giambra.  “Rentrak is thrilled to continue help India make its film production more transparent with our global box office reporting capabilities,” he added.

    Eros International CEO Jyoti Deshpande said, “We are delighted to partner with Rentrak for box office measurement in India. I believe this tie up will help accelerate positive change and herald a new era of transparency in the Indian movie industry.”
     
    Rentrak’s Box Office Essentials and International Box Office Essentials are the movie industry’s source for comprehensive global box office intelligence and are used as the currency by every studio in the United States as well as distribution entities around the world. Boasting a global footprint of the worldwide movie market, Rentrak is able to provide its clients with real-time box office intelligence, through one unique system, which allows users to view real-time online reports from anywhere around the world.
     
    In recent times, Eros has also entered into Indian regional cinema with a strong line up of Bollywood, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam releases this year. Eros is also one of the biggest international distributors for Bollywood movies with penetration in over 50 countries.
     
    India with 3.5 billion admissions per annum is already the largest consumer of movies in the world. As studies suggest, with seamless digitisation in the movies business, proliferation of multiplexes across the length and breadth of the country, Indian movies increasingly capturing the imagination of world markets, the Indian movie industry is set to make giant strides in terms of box office revenues and compete with the fastest growing markets in the world in near future.
     
    The Eros-Rentrak tie-up assumes greater significance in this transformative phase and will provide a positive thrust towards making the rapidly growing, vastly potent yet complex Indian movie industry, transparent.  

    The latest offering from Eros – Tevar stars Arjun Kapoor and Sonakshi Sinha in the lead. Eros’ upcoming films include Shamitabh, a film by R. Balki and starring India’s biggest super star Amitabh Bachchan.

     

  • ‘Tevar’….Bad attitude!

    ‘Tevar’….Bad attitude!

    MUMBAI: Boney Kapoor has a fancy for acquiring the rights of south Indian films, usually Telugu, and remking them in Hindi. The logic is that the film has proved itself with at least one part of India and, hence, entails less risk. What is more, this remaking business has worked for Boney in most cases. ‘Tevar’ is a remake of the 2003 Telugu hit, ‘Ukkadu’.

    Early in the film, Arjun Kapoor sings a song, ‘Main tou Superman..’, and then carries that attitude through the film. He does not fly or wear cape but fights like a mean machine. He keeps himself fit by playing kabbadi.

    With his three friends, Arjun, roams around his town, Agra. Unwittingly, he happens to cross paths with the ‘bahubali’ of neighbouring Mathura, Manoj Bajpayee. Manoj’s brother, Rajesh Sharma, is the state Home Minister while his cousin is the local MP, a convenient situation for him and his goons to run riot in the area; he rules over it like a tyrant.

    Manoj sees Sonakshi Sinha at a dance festival and falls heads over heels in love with her. He approaches her taking his own marriage proposal and, on being refused, he becomes more determined and approaches her TV journalist brother. Her brother insults Manoj and pays with his life.

    Producers: Sanjay Kapoor, Sunil Lulla.

    Director: Amit Ravindernath Sharma.

    Cast: Arjun Kapoor, Sonakshi Sinha, Manoj Bajpayee, Subrat Dutta, Rajesh Sharma, Raj Babbar, Deepti Naval.

    The only way out now for Sonakshi is to run away from the town, proceed to Delhi and go ahead with her study trip to the US. But, Manoj spots her at the interstate bus depot and forces her to go with him. That is when Arjun watches the scene and thrashes Manoj only to realise later that he has taken ‘panga’ with a don. He can either leave the town or protect Sonakshi till she gets her visa and leaves the country in few days.

    What follows is hide and seek game between the Arjun-Sonakshi duo and Manoj’s goons. Manoj’s brother, Rajesh, is uncomfortable with his brother’s way of dealing with the issue open to public eyes. He decides to help. He calls the police chief, Raj Babbar, to deploy his entire police force to trace the girl. When Babbar realises that his own son has kidnapped the girl, the chase is now two fold, police as well as goons are after the couple. The director also takes the liberty to create rain during Holi season to add thrill to the chase.

    Things are now becoming monotonous but soon enough, it is time for Arjun to fight Manoj’s men to finally qualify to take on Manoj himself. Of course the hero wins but he has to remain clean so, finally, Manoj has to take a bullet from Subrat Dutta, the family’s goon-in-chief, who wants to inherit Manoj’s title of ‘bahubali’.

    Though the film may feel a bit lengthy at two hours and 39 minutes, director Amit Ravindernath Sharma has done a worthy job in his debut feature film. He has made sure make ‘Tevar’ more colourful than the Telugu original and has added finesse despite it having been shot in the bylanes of small cities. However, what goes against ‘Tevar’ is that it is made from a dated film of 2003 and many similar films have been made since. Also, the ‘bahubali’ business has been overused and not palatable anymore. There has been enough of one man felling 10 goons and ‘Tevar’ goes overboard with it making it repetitive and tedious.

    The film has good dialogue. The music is very good with ‘Superman….’, ‘Radha nachegi…’ and ‘Joganiya…’ providing a variety. Two songs have been filmed beautifully. Arjun is getting slotted in this tapori fighter image which provides little scope for histrionics. Sonakshi fails to charm. Manoj looks spent. Raj Babbar and Deepti Naval are okay. Dutta impresses.

    1. ‘Tevar’ has no prospects at multiplexes catering neither to kids or family. Single screen business will be just average at best.

  • ‘Action Jackson’…Twin torture

    ‘Action Jackson’…Twin torture

    MUMBAI: The trend of action has crossed the satiation point and has reached the point of immediate return. Time to stop these super human action scenes, where just one blow can cause a guy to fall or make a speeding car do summersaults. This film is one more addition to a single screen theme made for multiplexes where, only Salman Khan has been able to carry them through.

    Ajay Devgn is a Superman in his both roles, that of Vishi and AJ, though he does not wear a cape with his underwear outside. While Ajay in India is a small time crook partnered by his sidekick, Kunaal Roy Kapoor. Sonakshi Sinha is an unlucky girl whose luck changes when she opens a mall dressing room door and happens to watch Devgn in his birthday suit. After that, things stop going wrong with her. She thinks her luck has changed after watching Devgn’s lower body sans pants or underclothes. The makers’ idea of comedy is that, all her four female friends also want to watch Devgn to change their luck. The humour is totally lost on the viewer.

    For most of the first half, the Devgn in India monopolises the screen, generally romancing Sonakshi and doing nothing important. He is supposed to be a mandavli king in Mumbai, the guy who is an unofficial arbitrator of disputes who is available at a price. You are shown him hitting someor continuity of events.

     

     

    Producers: Gordhan Tanwani, Sunil Lulla.

    Director: Prabhu Dheva.

    Cast: Ajay Devgn, Sonakshi Sinha, Yami Gautam, Manasni Mamgai, Kunaal Roy Kapoor.

     

    As if one Devgn was not trying your nerves with his personal video games where he destroys innumerable uniformed red suit guys armed with guns and Ninja-to, the Ninja swords, the other can do even better. He is the trouble-shooter cum shooter for an Indian don operating from Bangkok. The don here is a caricature, probably drawn by a cartoonist, inspired by the villains from Farz (1967) or Dr No (1962) or Shaan (1980).

    The villain is sinister, his sister, Manasvi Mamgai, is even more so. She displays a bust line any man would be attracted to which the Bangkok Ajay Devgn is not for whom she has developed the hots. Because this lad is committed to the love of his life, Yami Gautam. Manasvi wants Devgn at all costs and orders to kill Yami who is already pregnant though not married to Devgn yet. But, Yami has this strength to survive all assaults which could prove fatal for any normal being.

    As if the first part was not bad enough, the two Devgns meet to share the burden of the second half. And, if the film was not going anywhere so far, now it does; it goes haywire! You don’t know which Devgn is which and you are also convinced, nor does the director!

    This film has no script nor a definite track. The direction by Prabhu Dheva is pits, most amateur. Actually, the film is grossly directionless; there is no continuity from a sequence to another one. Even choreography, which is Prabhu’s forte, is pathetic. As for performances, Devgn is poor, Sonakshi is rank bad, Yami tries to match her and the villain is comic. The only good portrayal comes from Manasvi, playing a maniacal lover. Kunaal Roy  Kapoor is a liability.

    The film is poor on all counts including music, continuity, editing, photography and dialogue.

    Action Jackson is the worst film of the year and may even win the worst film of the decade status!

    ‘Bhopal: A Prayer For Rain’…Miniaturised version?

    Producers: Sumanto Roy, Ravi Walia.

    Director: Ravi Kumar.

    Cast: Rajpal Yadav, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Martin Sheen, Mischa Barton, Kal Penn, Fagun Ivy Thakrar, Manoj Joshi, Joy Sengupta, Martin Brambach, David Brooks.

     

    December 2014 marks 30 years since the world’s worst disaster, The Bhopal Gas Leak tragedy took place. The incident is reported to have killed over 3500 people, blinded many, led to deformed new-borns and has survivors who live with handicaps and all suffered because of the lethal MIC (Methyl Isocyanate) gas leak from the pesticide maker giant Union Carbide Plant in Bhopal.

    To make it a human interest story and avoid documentary approach, the film involves a settlement of poor labourers who have built their jhoogi jhopdis around the Carbide plant because most of them work for the company. The film keeps in centre the protagonist, Raghuvir Yadav, and his family to make it a story instead of a documentary.

    Yadav gets his first entry into the Carbide plant as a sweeper and soon graduates to look after the safety division. Now, he controls the release of MIC, its temperatures and controls he knows nothing about. This responsibility is thanks to the death of his neighbour who died because of a cyanide leak on his body.

    Meanwhile, the manager at the plant is worried about the plant closing down due to a famine which has left the Carbide product unsold and gathering at the factory following failure of crops.

    There are a couple of guys who are aware of the risk factor of the Carbide unit; one of them is the company’s Safety Officer while the other is the publisher of the local rag, a two page newspaper, Motwani, played by Kal Penn.

    It is the day Yadav is getting his 17 year old sister married in his basti next to the plant and the negligence and cutting corners leads to the lethal MIC gas leak where thousands die.

    The film has excellent performances by Yadav, Tanishta and, of course, Martin Sheen, who plays Warren Anderson, the CEO of the plant at that time.

    Bhopal: A Prayer For Rain is just about 29 years too late to touch today’s generation. Also, gas tragedy is trivialised with limited footage at the end.

    ‘Sulemani Keeda’….Of the makers!

    Producers: Various.

    Director: Amit V Masurkar.

    Cast: Naveen Kasturia, Mayank Tiwari, Aditi Vasudev, Karan Mirchandani, Krishna Singh Bisht, Rukshana Tabassum, Razzak Khan

     

     

    Sulemani Keeda, I suppose, is a Mumbai slang for someone with adventurous instincts which, more often than not, are sure to backfire on him. As you go through this 90 minute film, you realize that almost half a dozen producers who invested their bit in the film, can claim to have the same Sulemani Keeda. The film has been in the tins for over two years and was also screened at the MAMI a couple of years back.

    It is the story of two friends, Naveen Kasturia and Mayank Tewari, who are aspiring film writers and are struggling to get a foothold in the film industry. Most of the time, they don’t even get an entry into an actor’s or producers’ office who, otherwise, are a household name. They live on rent together and as they can’t always pay rent on time, they are exploited piecemeal by the landlord’s son, Krishna Singh Bisht. And, he too writes couplets and aspires to be part of this duo.

    The pair gets to showcase their talent only among a bunch of friends and after one such occasion, Mayank is attracted to a girl, Aditi Vasudev, who is scheduled to leave for the US for further studies. However, Mayank and Aditi embark on a Mumbai Darshan mission over next few days and, as it happens in all film stories, it creates a divide between Mayank and Naveen. Mayank is totally distracted from his aim in life as he realises he has fallen in love with Aditi.

    Aditi is ready to take off when Naveen urges Mayank to go stop her if he really loves her. But, as it invariably happens in all the films, Aditi is determined to go ahead with her plans. No last minute getting off plane scene here.

    The friends have parted ways, Mayank takes off to Ladakh to pen his script while Naveen blends with the mainstream and becomes successful in film writing.

    Sulemani Keeda falls in no definite genre and, hence, ambles around most of the time. The film’s treatment reminds one of 1970s NFDC films, slow moving and not going anywhere. There are some wise words of advice for aspirants through the duo by Mahesh Bhatt and Anil Sharma. Direction is fair. Naveen and Mayank put in a good performances. Aditi passes off a permanent pout for acting.

    Despite 1970s touch, this is described as ‘Contemporary film making’ for want of definite genre slot. Not that a money-spending cine-goer cares.

  • Emami ropes in Kangana Ranaut as brand ambassador

    Emami ropes in Kangana Ranaut as brand ambassador

    MUMBAI: The FMCG major, Emami, has taken a relook at the competitive body lotion category, with the launch of the all-new BoroPlus Total Results Moisturising Lotion. The body lotion is expected to drive the winter sales and bolster the growth momentum of Rs 400 crore BoroPlus portfolio which contributes significantly to the company’s overall turnover.

     
    The company has signed actor Kangana Ranaut for the new product. The company believes that the actor with the rare combination of mass and niche appeal epitomises an independent-minded modern woman and essentially a beauty with brains—a trait which resonates with the TG of the brand.   

    Talking about her association with the brand, Ranaut said, “I am thrilled to be associated with BoroPlus, an iconic brand that is synonymous with protection. Hailing from a small-town in Himachal Pradesh, I am well aware  of the havoc which winters can create to one’s skin. After all these years, I have finally got a body lotion which combats 8 signs of dryness effectively making the skin look luminous and glowing. BoroPlus Total Results Moisturising Lotion is now my answer to all my winter woes.”

    Emami director Priti A Sureka said, “Winter Lotion is a category on a high growth path, both in urban and rural centres, with more than 800 crore in value sales in 2013-14. The category being populated with many players, competition is cut-throat. We have reworked on the overall capability by infusing new advanced product formulations, packaging etc which will deliver heightened customer satisfaction. The all-new BoroPlus Total Results Moisturizing Lotion differentiates itself through its efficacy of treating 8 signs of dryness, thus offering total results.  Kangana, with her rare combination of mass and niche appeal across urban and semi urban cities gels well with our brand persona and is a perfect choice as one of our brand ambassadors…”

    The brand endorsers’ list of brand BoroPlus has a legacy of star power of legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Sonakshi SInha and Bipasha Basu.

    The launch of BoroPlus Total Results Moisturising Lotion would be supported by a 360 degree integrated communication, including digital media.  Directed by White Light Moving Pictures,   a TVC featuring Kangana Ranaut will go on air soon this month.  The campaign would be supplemented by a formidable modern trade and point of sales approach to connect with customers nationally along with print, outdoor and digital promotions.

     

  • Now, Sonakshi dons the producer’s hat

    Now, Sonakshi dons the producer’s hat

    MUMBAI: After Ranbir Kapoor and Anushka Sharma, Sonakshi SInha is now the latest to join the production bandwagon. The Dabangg actress with her brothers Luv and Kush has launched a new production house Kratos Entertainment.

     

    Kush SInha took to twitter to make the announcement, “Sonakshi, Luv and I are happy to announce the formation of our production company – Kratos Entertainment.”

     

    Reportedly, the siblings had been thinking over the prospect for long and were waiting for the right time and opportunity. It still remains to be seen which project they undertake for their debut venture.

     

    Earlier Ranbir Kapoor had announced that he would co-produce his upcoming movie Bombay Velvet with Phantom productions, owned by Anurag Kashyap. His second production venture will again be his upcoming movie Jagga Jasoos. Actress Anushka Sharma, who is awaiting the release of her next PK, also is also set to try her hands as a producer for one of her upcoming movies – NH10. The actress, who will also play the lead in the venture, is co-producing it with the production house – Phantom.

     

    Sonakshi SInha will soon be starting up with the promotions of Action Jackson, she is also shooting for the movie Tevar and finished shooting for her south debut Lingaa with Rajnikant.