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Tag: Subhash Ghai

  • Ghai faces fresh trouble over land in Andhra Pradesh

    Ghai faces fresh trouble over land in Andhra Pradesh

    MUMBAI: Subhash Ghai has been landing from one troubled spot to the other. After the apex court ordered him to return the 20-acre land on which his institute Whistling Woods International is based to the state government, Ghai has faced another embarrassment with the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) rapping the Andhra Pradesh Government over allotment of 20.10 acres of prime land to the institute in alleged violation of rules.

    In its latest report on land allotments in the state during the YS Rajsekhara Reddy government‘s tenure, the CAG has pointed out that the allotment of the institute land was in violation of the AP Ancient and Historical Monuments and Archaelogolical Sites and Remains Rules 1960.

    Based on a writ petition filed by a private person, the state High Court had in January 2010 suspended the state government’s order granting 20.10 acres of land to Ghai.

    Incidentally, the land allotted to the institute at Ibrahimbagh village under Golconda mandal in Hyderabad was next to Premamati mosque, a protected monument.

  • Film City wants to set up museum at Whistling Wood land

    Film City wants to set up museum at Whistling Wood land

    MUMBAI: Head of Film City Shyam Tagde has said that he would request the Maharashtra state government to use the recovered land of Subhash Ghai‘s Whistling Woods for the culture department‘s ambitious plan of setting up a Bollywood museum.

    “The project report of the museum is almost ready. If approved by the government, the plan on using the land could be envisaged,” he said.

    According to Tagde, the museum will act as an added attraction for tourists and help the government generate revenue.

    The Supreme Court had suggested that the government could lease out the land by inviting bids at market rates.

    The state government has already initiated procedure of recovering 12.5 acres of land from the institute after the Supreme Court ruling last Thursday.

  • State initiates move to recover Ghai’s Whistling Wood land

    State initiates move to recover Ghai’s Whistling Wood land

    MUMBAI: Following the Supreme Court’s directive, the state government has initiated the process to recover the land from Subhash Ghai where the film training institute Whistling Woods International is based.

    Film City managing director Shyam Tagde said that he sent a letter to the institute after the apex court’s verdict. “I wrote a letter to Whistling Woods on Wednesday evening asking it to return the land and spoke to its chief executive officer,” said Tagde. “The institute said it would cooperate,” he said.

    The state will initially recover 14.5 acres of 20 acres. The remaining 5.5 acres, on which the institute is built, can be retained till May 2014, the court had expressed.

    Tagde said the officials need three to four days to demarcate the land to be recovered, for which the measuring may start on Saturday.

  • Entire studio on hire for shooting schedule of Dabaang 2

    Entire studio on hire for shooting schedule of Dabaang 2

    MUMBAI: For the first time in Bollywood, an entire studio has been booked exclusively for a film. Kamal Amrohi Studios at Jogeshwari (East) has been booked for the shooting of the Salman Khan-starrer Dabaang 2.

    This means that the studio that houses 12 units will not be given out on hire till the first schedule of Dabangg 2 concludes, making it a first in the 55-year-old studio’s history.

    If that were not enough, producer and director Arbaaz Khan has deputed 80 security personnel to guard the sets, that resembles pockets of Kanpur.

    “This arrangement is exclusive to Salman. Till date, we haven’t extended such privileges to anybody. We are very close to him and his family. But please don’t ask me about the rates. We don’t discuss that on public platforms,” head honcho of Kamal Amrohi Studios Tajdar Amrohi has reportedly said.

    In another move, 80 bodyguards have been selected to man the studio for the entire shooting schedule. Earlier, the studio was booked for Rakesh Roshan’s Koyla and Subhash Ghai’s Khalnayak and had top security, but other units at the studio were given out for shoots of television shows.

  • Subhash Ghai opens 10th Third Eye Asian Film Festival

    Subhash Ghai opens 10th Third Eye Asian Film Festival

    MUMBAI: Filmmaker Subhash Ghai inaugurated the 10th Third Eye Asian Film Festival yesterday at the Ravindra Natya Mandir Complex, Prabhadevi, Mumbai.

    The opening ceremony saw the ‘Asian Film Culture Award‘ bestowed on noted Afghani filmmaker Siddiq Barmak. Barmak‘s film Osama will be screened tonight.

    The award presentation was followed by the screening of the festival‘s opening Film, 11 Flowers, directed by Chinese director Xioanshuai Wang.

    Some of the other important films to be screened at the festival are Nuri Bilge Ceylan‘s Distant, Italo Spinelli‘s Gangor, Rajesh Pinjani‘s Babu Band Bajaa and Asghar Farhadi‘s A Separation. Iranian filmmaker Monir Qeidi‘s On the Way to Villa will also be screened at the Festival.

    The week-long festival has been dedicated to Dev Anand who passed away in London on 3 December. Incidentally, he had inaugurated the first edition of the festival in 2002.

    The festival will close on 29 December with the screening of Ketan Mehta‘s as yet unreleased film Rang Rasiya.

  • SAFF to honour Shammi Kapoor with tribute

    SAFF to honour Shammi Kapoor with tribute

    MUMBAI: The South Asia Film Festival (SAFF) that opens in Goa on 15 September will honour Shammi Kapoor by way of a tribute, the organisers have said in a statement.


    “As a tribute to the legendary actor Shammi Kapoor, a special screening of his film Brahmachari would be showcased during the festival,” South Asia Foundation (SAF) secretary general Rahul Barua said.


    Apart from the 1968 film, Kapoor‘s 1964 film Kashmir Ki Kali, starring Sharmila Tagore, will also be screened at the festival.


    This year the festival has etched out a special segment on films from Bhutan. “In its 6th year, the festival promises a rich haul of more than 50 films from all the eight South Asian countries. Bhutan is the focus country of SAFF-2011. A delegation from the Bhutanese film industry and members of the Motion Pictures Association of Bhutan (MPAB) will represent its industry.”


    Veteran film personalities like Subhash Ghai, Randhir Kapoor, MaheshBhatt and Sharmila Tagore would conduct workshops on various aspects of filmmaking like scriptwriting and direction.


    The SAFF works towards policy advocacy and promoting peace and harmony with an objective of strengthening socio-cultural relationship among the South Asian countries.
     

  • ‘The branded slots, big movies have fetched revenues and viewership for the channel’ : Mohan Gopinath – Zee Cinema business head

    ‘The branded slots, big movies have fetched revenues and viewership for the channel’ : Mohan Gopinath – Zee Cinema business head

     Being the oldest player in the Hindi movie genre, Zee Cinema enjoys a good brand loyalty. The movie channel’s strength has been its huge library of movies. Regular festivals and branded slots have also helped the channel to maintain its audience base.

    In an interview with Indiantelevision.com’s Richa Dubey, Zee Cinema business head Mohan Gopinath discusses about the dynamics of the Hindi movie channel market and the plans ahead for the channel he heads.

    Excerpts:

    How has Zee Cinema evolved as a brand?
    Over the years, Zee Cinema has grown a consistent base of viewers. And we have continuously taken care of our brand.

    In 2007, we created many branded slots like ‘Showman Show’ which was a Raj Kapoor and Subhash Ghai film festival. It ran for 22 weeks wherein we showed almost all the RK Films like Bobby, Prem Rog, Sri 420, Ram Teri Ganga Maili.

    We created ‘Bhakti Ki Shakti’ for mythological movies on every Sunday morning at 8:30 am.

    This year we had a kids’ film festival called ‘Dopahar Zee Cinema Par’ for which we roped in Darsheel Safary as brand ambassador for the slot. We showed children films like Life Ho to Aisi, Tarzan the Wonder Car daily at 12:30 pm for almost a month.

    There are other slots like ‘Shaniwaar Ki Raat Amitabh Ke Saath’ and ‘Cinema Hall’ that have been worked as differentiating factor for us.

    Besides the branded slots, big movies have fetched revenues and viewership for the channel. All these factors have taken the channel to a grander scale.

    With movie acquisition taking the syndication route, how do you see the industry shaping up?
    For all the Hindi movie channels, there has always been a good supply of films over the years. However channels only prefer the ones that have worked in the box-office and are popular. As these films are only limited to 25 to 30 titles, the cost of satellite rights of these films have increased. Because of which the channels have formulated the syndication route. We have to still wait and watch as to where it goes.

    Have you syndicated any titles to other channels?
    Lately we have not done any such deal.

    All the Hindi movie channels are adopting this new business model. Why have you kept yourself away?
    We dont want to plunge into things. We would like to go with our own bank of movies.

    The newer films have shorter life span compared to the older ones. We are not discounting the newer set of movies but in older films there are some memories which you would want to recollect. Everything has its own patent time. Older movies have also done well. We have a different strategy and we would like to go ahead with that. We have done this since last so many years and established the brand.

    You can’t get better than a Big B. Ultimately the movies have to blend into good ratings and then monetize.
    ‘The strength of Zee Cinema has been its huge bank of library films‘

    What is your strategy to combat the increasing prize of a movie?
    We are very title driven. We are careful what we want to show with very limited purchase. We believe that equilibrium has to be maintained. Our purchase has been very careful.

    In that case you have not been very aggressive towards purchases?
    The strength of Zee Cinema has been a mixture of old movies. We have a huge bank of library films. Our viewers have constantly enjoyed watching them.

    And in terms of big ticket purchase, for this year we have Dhol, Dhamaal and Taare Zameen Par. So we have a happy mix of both.

    What other innovations have you done in the channel?
    We have tied up with Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na to promote our branded slot ‘Shaniwaar Ki Raat Sitaaron Ke Saath’ (Saturday 8 pm).

    We are running a contest wherein we will ask a question during the Saturday film. We have invited answers from colleges across India. The college which sends maximum right answers will meet Imraan Khan, the lead actor of Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na.

    Shaniwaar Ki Raat Amitabh Ke Saath developed its own set of loyalty. Why then did you think of revamping the slot?
    After four years we have revamped the slot ‘Shaniwaar Ki Raat…’. Now we will be showcasing all the big titles in it.

    We wanted to take things forward to a much larger canvas. Along with Amitabh films we will also premiere other big films with big stars.

    We have titles like Phir Hera Pheri, Dhol, Dhamaal, Vivah, Taare Zameen Par lined up for this slot.

    But conventionally big ticket film’s premieres are on Sunday in early prime time. Don’t you think a Saturday night premiere is too late for your viewers?
    If I want to explore my library to the fullest and want every movie to do well, then this is the best slot. And the kinds of movies that we have kept for this particular slot come with that kind of brand value and image.

    The premiere time depends from channel to channel. There is no hard and fast rule on Zee Cinema. Vivah can also come on Sunday 12:30 pm or on a Saturday night. It is a family oriented film.
    Is the market ready to accommodate new players?
    Every market goes through a correction. At the end of the day every channel has a good strategy. What is required is a good three to four months of consistent viewership. I acknowledge the presence of every player. The competition will make us healthy.
  • ‘Challenge is to scale up the production slate’ : Ravi Gupta – Mukta Arts CEO

    ‘Challenge is to scale up the production slate’ : Ravi Gupta – Mukta Arts CEO

     Subhash Ghai-promoted Mukta Arts has churned out several blockbusters in the past. But it has had to wait till 2006-07 to cross Rs 1 billion in turnover, dwarfing its earlier best performance of Rs 511.63 million in 2004-05.

    The plan now is to increase its production bandwidth and quickly build a large library. As part of this script, Mukta Arts has acquired a 50.01 per cent stake in Manish Goswami’s (who runs a TV content company Siddhant Cinevision) start-up movie company Red Carpet Films. A three-movie distribution deal has also been stitched with Eros for Rs 730 million.

    In an interview with Indiantelevision.com’s Sibabrata Das, Mukta Arts CEO says the company is set to produce 10 films a year by 2010 and create a talent pool from its film institute Whistling Woods International before it starts playing the real big game.

    Excerpts:

    How has Mukta Arts been able to hit record revenues in 2006-07?
    We had a 12-movie satellite telecast rights deal with Zee Cinema. The total size of the transaction is Rs 220 million; we got Rs 180 million in the fiscal 2006-07. We also sold the five-year home video rights to Shemaroo Entertainment for Rs 32.5 million. But there are other reasons for our strong performance in the fiscal. We released four movies in the year – Shaadi se pehle, 36 China Town, Apne sapna money money and Khanna and Iyer.

    Mukta Arts has a basket of 26 movies. Will we see the revenue rub-off from the remaining 14 movies even in 2007-08?
    The library will come up for renewals in different periods. We expect the total earning potential of the fully amortised library of 26 movies to be upward of Rs 400 million in every five-year window.This will come from re-issue rights of satellite, direct-to-home (DTH), cable, home video, terrestrial TV and other electronic media rights. It will add to our bottomline and our turnover. But the challenge is to scale up the production slate and build a larger library in quick speed.

    Which is why Mukta Arts acquired a 50.01 per cent stake in start-up company Red Carpet Films?
    The idea is to increase the bandwidth of our production capability. We bought the stake in the newly started movie company at par value. Though Red Carpet Films has not produced any movie so far, it has a distribution deal in place with Eros; it will also have Eros financing four mid-budget movies.

    Manish Goswami already runs a successful TV content company. We expect Red Carpet Films to produce at least four movies a year. We will have another source to ramp up our production. We hope to have a film project every quarter through Red Carpet Films. We are also talking to other potential filmmakers for projects.

    Are you creating divisions inside Mukta Arts to produce movies for different segments?
    Mukta Arts will produce big budget films. Mukta Searchlight will make movies for niche audiences while Malpix will be engaged in regional language films. The segmentation approach is necessary since these are films having distinct identity. We expect to step up our production to 10 films a year. This should be further ramped up including movies produced to release directly on digital format.

    But 2007-08 doesn’t look like a scale up year for Mukta Arts?
    We should be having four films in the year. We have already released Good Boy Bad Boy. While Bombay to Bangkok will be on 18 January, Black & White (directed by Subhash Ghai) will release on 7 March. The Marathi movie will also get reflected in the year. Cycle Kick may come up in the fiscal but Right yaa Wrong will get into the next financial year. We are also producing Yuvraaj (Rs 400 million budget film directed by Ghai) which is slated for release in 2008-09.

    The acceleration in producing more movies will be possible once we build an infrastructure for it. Our long term vision is to create a backward integration into education which will drive up talent pool. We expect to benefit from the talent that will get created at Whistling Woods International.
    ‘You can’t lock in stars and star directors. The model works with younger talent; lock them at an early phase‘

    Are you widening the base of Whistling Woods International?
    We plan to franchise it beyond the mother campus. We are looking at other key production centres like Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai. We also plan to take it overseas like Dubai Media City, South Africa and Nigeria.

    Exhibition contributes to 34 per cent of the company’s revenues. Will this go up this year?
    We do bookings for PVR (all theatres), Adlabs (north), Fun City (north) and Wave Cinema. We also distribute 6-7 movies every year.

    Why did you then get into a deal with Eros for distributing three of Mukta Arts’ films?
    We will get paid Rs 730 million and Eros will have the distribution rights for five years. It made business sense for us as we were getting a higher amount.

    Many film production houses have gone in for long term deals with stars and directors. Why has Mukta Arts stayed out of it?
    There are only limited number of stars and star directors. Besides, we also don’t believe that this is the best way forward. You can’t lock in stars. The model works with younger talent; lock them at an early phase.

    Why did Mukta Arts sell out to Adlabs and exit from the digital cinema joint venture?
    Adlabs bought out our 50 per cent stake in the joint venture company, Mukta Adlabs Digital Exhibition. We realised that there is no standardisation in the marketplace. Globally, there is no technology which meets industry standards. We felt that if we were betting on the wrong technology, it could be a high risk business and our investments would go down the drain.

    Does Mukta Arts have a digital plan?
    We are learning how to create and repurpose content for digital media. We are also launching two websites – bollywoodmoviemax.com which will have digital downloads and indianfilmtrade.com. Both are on the testing stage.

    Mukta Arts had floated a subsidiary for TV production. Is there any move to energise this company?
    Mukta Telemedia is developing concepts. We are open to TV but the hurdle is that the IPR stays with broadcasters. We want to retain IPR.
     
    Why did Mukta Arts not pick up equity in Dubai-based Arab Venture Corporation?
    We had the option in the Dubai-based company which was launching a channel but decided against it. We took it up as a turnkey project.
     
    Mukta Arts had a movie production deal with Zee. Is it being extended?
    It was a single project deal. We have released Khanna and Iyer (featuring talent from Zee’s Cinestar Ki Khoj) and there is no plan yet to do more movies for Zee.
     
    Do you see movie producers holding on to rights rather than selling them for a longer period as other forms of exploitation like direct-to-home (DTH) open up?
    The number of DTH subscribers are too limited now. It will take a few more years to grow. We don’t want to deny ourselves the revenues by holding on to the rights. We lock ourselves into five-year deals like we recently did with Zee.

  • The History channel puts the spotlight on Bollywood’s top notch directors in ‘Bollywood Bosses’

    MUMBAI: What makes Karan Johar the ultimate entertainer? Why is Ram Gopal Verma fascinated with anything that is larger than life? Why is Vidhu Vinod Chopra strident on doing things his way ? Find out all the answers on The History Channel’s entertaining new series, ‘Bollywood Bosses’ premiering February 19. The series will be aired every weeknight at 10 pm till February 24.

    ‘Bollywood Bosses’ takes a look at the careers of some of the biggest directors who have redefined the Hindi film industry. This February, join contemporary film makers such as Farhan Akhtar, Karan Johar, Yash Chopra, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Ram Gopal Varma, Mahesh Bhatt, Subhash Ghai and Vidhu Vinod Chopra on the channel, as they look back at their lives and share the story of their journey – their struggle, box office lows, financial disasters to finally finding unparalleled success.

    “Bollywood Bosses is a great example of the kind of entertaining programming that The History Channel offers its viewers”, said Joy Bhattacharjya, Senior Vice President, Programming. ” The channel’s latest offering caters to viewers who are keen on delving into the scintillating and glamorous lives of some of India’s renowned directors. It profiles these ground breaking directors and reveals different aspects of their work that is seen by millions of people every year. The presentation of the programme brings these directors’ struggles and accomplishments to life making history entertaining and more relevant for the viewers, ” he added.

    The series provides an unprecedented access to not just the directors in profile, but virtually every top star & technician who counts in today’s Bollywood industry. Unique visual styles for each film and mimicking the technical signatures of the director in focus gives the series a glossy look.

    Tune in every weeknight at 10 pm to watch these interesting personalities in Bollywood Bosses only on The

  • Madhuri Dixit shares her ‘kahani’ on Radio City

    Madhuri Dixit shares her ‘kahani’ on Radio City

    MUMBAI: For its special episode of ‘Meri Kahani’ Radio City has roped in Madhuri Dixit as a guest on the show. The radio channel reveals that this is the actress’ first ever radio interview.

    Other guests to feature on this show in the past are personalities like Lata Mangeshkar, Subhash Ghai, Jitendra, Shilpa Shetty, Tabu, Khayyam and Anil Kapoor. This special episode will be telecast on 21 January at 1:00 pm.

    The episode will be aired across the cities of Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Lucknow. In this one-hour show, the actress reminisces her soulful moments and milestones of her extraordinary life and career that will strike a chord, leaving a lasting impression in the minds of millions of fans across the country.

    The show format of Meri Kahani gets the stars to talk about their lives, childhood stories, the backgrounds in which they have grown up, the start of their careers, struggling years, turning points and the important people who have been instrumental in shaping up their great lives.

    They also talk about their future plans and views on the Indian film and music industry. The show presents an exhilarating combination of all that listeners always wanted to know about their favourite stars and their lives.

    According to Radio City head programming Vikas Varma ‘At Radio City, it has always been our aim to connect with our listeners and the experts of the entertainment industry in a unique way.

    ‘Meri Kahani’ provides an opportunity to the legends of the industry to take a pause from their hectic lives and trace their journey to success and fame. The unique format of this new show has captured millions of listeners who connect with some unforgettable and unheard aspects in the journey of their favourite stars as they relive their past. Bringing yet another such exciting episode with ‘Madhuri’ on Meri Kahani which will keep our listeners tuned into Radio City thus living to our commitment to provide innovative and exciting programming to our listeners consistently.”