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Tag: Sushil Kumar Agrawal

  • Guru Dutt’s ‘Pyaasa’ only India restored film to compete at 72nd Venice Film Fest

    Guru Dutt’s ‘Pyaasa’ only India restored film to compete at 72nd Venice Film Fest

    MUMBAI: Pyaasa – a timeless masterpiece by Guru Dutt has become the only Indian film restored by an Indian company for a world premiere in the competition section at the 72nd Venice Film Festival.

     

    Ultra Media & Entertainment, which holds the negative rights of Pyaasa, had 45 experts working round the clock for over four months to restore and bring back the film to its original quality and showcase it globally.

     

    Pyaasa will compete with 20 other restored films from all over the world for the coveted “Venice Classics Award” for the best restored film.

     

    The 72nd Venice Film Festival will be held from 2 – 12 September 2015 in Venice.

     

    The 1957 Pyaasa stars Guru Dutt, Waheeda Rehman and Mala Sinha.

     

    The film has been restored completely for the Venice Film Festival with an objective of preserving and presenting it in its original quality to the global audience. Pyaasa will be screened on 11 and 12 September, 2015 in Sala Volpi auditorium at the Venice Film Festival. 

     

    Ultra Media & Entertainment CEO Sushil Kumar Agrawal said, “It gives us immense pleasure to present a cult classic like Pyaasa to the global audience. There is a huge fan following of Guru Dutt all over the world who have not been able to see this ageless magic in its original form and glory. It took us nearly four months to restore this film frame by frame and we are happy that the final outcome of the restored version can now be seen in its original form.”

     

    “Out of the many classics that we have restored, Pyaasa has a special place in our hearts. It is one of the rarest gems of Indian cinema and we take great pride in preserving it and showcasing it globally. In fact the film has already created substantial buzz and we have several distribution enquiries from various parts of the world. We are also planning a major theatrical release of Pyaasa post its screening at the Venice Film Festival,” he added. 

     

    Ultra is planning to promote and market the film at the festival and is expecting demand from international distributors, sales agents, ancillary content aggregators and exhibitors for the restored version of Pyaasa at the festival.

     

    The most challenging part after acquiring the rights was sourcing the authentic materials to complete the preservation. After much effort, Ultra found the original camera negatives of the film at an archive in India, However a lot of the parts of the negatives were either damaged or lost/ 

     

    Ultra decided to use as much parts as possible from the original camera negative and a few parts were used from 35mm prints. A new digital transfer was created in 2K resolution on the ARRISCAN film scanner.This in-house technology of Ultra Studio & Digital Lab helped in applying a multidisciplinary, data-centric approach to the entire film’s restoration process. 

     

    Once the complete film was digitally transferred, came the most challenging part of restoration. Thousands of instances of dirt, lines, scratches, splices, warps, jitters and green patches were manually removed frame by frame under careful supervision by experienced artists The in-house talented professionals used a specialized film content mending and defect removal mechanism in their repair process. They carefully selected the best way to restore this priceless classic to its original quality. 

     

    The original monaural soundtrack was remastered at 24-bit from the 35mm optical soundtrack. Clicks, thumps, hiss and hum were manually removed frame by frame at the Ultra sound studio. The film will be presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.33:1 “Venice Classics” has been a crucial section of the Venice Film Festival, which has been premiering world class restored classics in the festival. The prime objective of this section is to bring back to spotlight old, underestimated and neglected films of the past, which have been restored an year back by film archives, cultural institutions or production companies around the world. 

     

    Over the years, Ultra has also restored various Indian classics like Chori Chori, Half Ticket, Paighaam, Insaniyat and Dil Tera Deewana amongst others.

  • Ultra to promote 3D Marathi films

    Ultra to promote 3D Marathi films

    MUMBAI: Ultra Media & Entertainment is all set to promote 3D Marathi films in India. Ultra Studios & Digital Labs – a division of Ultra Media & Entertainment with its state of the art studio will be offering various end-to-end 3D film making solutions for the Marathi filmmakers in subsidized rates globally.

     

    A custom made solutions package will be provided for every 3D filmmaker as per their unique requirements under this vertical. The core idea behind this initiative is to provide specialized, hi-tech 3D content output of global standards for these filmmakers in India.

     

    The various services offered under this vertical will be: 2D to 3D Stereoscopic Conversion using the studio’s in-house indigenous software VFX for 3D films; analytical quality measurement and enhancement software application; providing specialized 3D direct cameras on rental supply made to order 3D camera rigs on rental; and provide technically sound stereographers for film direction and assistance etc.

     

    In the recent past, the Marathi film industry has been churning some interesting 3D films but with a rare frequency. The first 3D film in Marathi Aai Mala Maru Nako was made by Satyaprakash Mangtan and released in 2012. This was followed with Zapatlela 2 by Mahesh Kothare in 2013. Dhyaaas, which released in 2014 was the last 2D to 3D stereoscopic film in Marathi that was released in India. 

     

    Currently young filmmakers are making interesting films on various contemporary and out of the box subjects. This has opened up a new set of viewers who patronize such films. 3D technology can enhance viewing experience especially of films made by these makers in certain genres like sci-fi, action and adventure, horror and thriller etc. 

     

    Ultra, in the recent past, had successfully provided complete 3D solutions to many national and international projects. Especially by providing these 3D solutions package, Ultra particularly wants these experimental filmmakers to experience the “Make in India” phenomenon in its true sense. 

     

    In their endeavor to provide a one-stop shop service for the Marathi film industry from shooting the first scene to the end DPX/ DCP format, Ultra Studios recently also started providing them with their state of the art, in-house post-production facilities in subsidized rates.

     

    Ultra Media & Entertainment MD Sushil Kumar Agrawal said, “We at Ultra have always offered all our services abreast with its latest technology. Currently Marathi cinema is going through a very interesting phase with films made in all genres possible for the global audience. I can foresee many Marathi films being made in 3D in the immediate future and our specialized 3D film solutions will only enhance the story telling and viewing experience for the audience. By offering these exclusive services in subsidized rates we only would like to help these filmmakers. It will actually assist them to completely concentrate in their craft of making interesting 3D films with less commercial burden.”

  • Ultra to provide offline & online solutions to Marathi film industry

    Ultra to provide offline & online solutions to Marathi film industry

    MUMBAI: Ultra Media & Entertainment has ventured into offering end to end turnkey solutions for the Marathi film industry. To cater to the Rs 400 crore industry, growing at the rate of 25 per cent per annum, Ultra has setup a separate SBU to cater to the varied needs of the Marathi filmmakers. This unit will be driven by a core team in Mumbai, which is well versed with the Marathi film industry and will be serviced throughout Maharashtra.

     

    Additionally, the company, which has earlier produced and distributed Marathi films like Gondya Martay Tangada, Lonavala Bypass; Houn Jau De and Saalina Kela Ghotala, is looking at re-entering the space. Ultra Media & Entertainment MD Sushil Kumar Agrawal said, “Ultra has plans to produce Marathi films in the near future.”

     

    Under this vertical, Ultra will provide various offline and online, state of the art services for the Marathi film makers who have the script, finance, star cast and locations ready for their film. The array of offerings provided for the completion of their films will be as follows:

     

    – Cameras on rental

    – Post Production

    –  Media Buying & Planning: Print, Electronic, Digital, Radio, Online etc

    –  Marketing: BTL activities & ground events with star cast across various target centres in association with brands

    –  Promotions: Publicity Design, Branding, In Theatre promotions, Theatrical trailers

    –  Marketing: Branding, Media Tie-ups, Marketing Alliances, Hospitality Partnerships, Public Relation Campaigns

    –  Outdoor Campaign: Billboards, Bus Shelters & Panels, OOH Media

    –  Revenue Generation: In-Film and Co-branding associations

    –  Content Syndication: Music, Satellite, Home Video, Digital & Emerging media rights

    –  Digital & Social Media: Website Designing, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter & Instagram campaigns, Blog Updates, SEO maintenance

    –  Distribution: Domestic & overseas in theatrical and other allied formats

     

    In its endeavour to provide a one stop shop service for the Marathi film industry from shooting the first scene to the end DPX/ DCP format, Ultra Media & Entertainment will also provide them with its in-house post production facilities. The studio based in Mumbai offers a range of services through its indigenous softwares and latest technologies including dubbing, sound recording, mixing, editing, VFX and other related facilities; digital intermediate (DI) and Colour Grading (CG); 2D to 3D Stereoscopic Conversion; Digitisation in various formats; Content scale up from SD to 4K and 6K formats; Frame by frame restoration in various formats; Colorisation from B/W to colour; Editing, Audio and Sound Engineering and technology and manpower to shoot films in the original 3D format.

     

    In the recent past, Ultra has released music rights in audio CDs, mp3 formats and executed social media marketing campaigns for Marathi films like IPL, Samarthya, Ekta Ek Power, Pehli Bhet, Ghungarachya Nadat and Friendship B Alert.

     

    Agrawal added, “Since 1986, we have been in the forefront in producing and distributing various interesting content worldwide. Foraying into offering various turnkey services under one roof for the Marathi film industry makes a logical extension for our business portfolio. This industry is going through a very interesting phase currently and we would like to do our bit for the talented film makers, who are churning some very interesting content for the global audience. Along with the government, which has taken various measures to boost this industry, we also would like to support them in offering our expertise and services in a very cost effective form. Ultra also has plans to produce Marathi films in the near future.”

  • Ultra making Jal Bin Jalpari with Panda at helm

    Ultra making Jal Bin Jalpari with Panda at helm

    MUMBAI: Ultra Distributors, the Rs 3 billion film production, distribution and restoration company headquartered in Mumbai, is in the process of making a children‘s film titled Jal Bin Jalpari directed by Nila Madhab Panda, known for his debut film I Am Kalam.

    Ultra group CEO Sushil Kumar Agrawal said, “After watching I Am Kalam, I was fascinated about the film, message and the director‘s vision. When Panda, narrated me the story of Jal bin Jalpari, I was very much confident of his vision and thought that this is the best opportunity to be socially active through mainstream cinema.”

    The film will tackle issues like increasing water scarcity and the skewed child sex ratio through the children‘s viewpoint.

    The cast of the film comprises of Parvin Dabas, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Suhasini Mulay, VM Badola, Rahul Singh and Harsh Mayar of I Am Kalam.

    The film will be shot in one single schedule in November-December in various locations in north India, including Haryana and Delhi.

    Two Delhi kids, Lehar Khan and Krishang Trivedi are playing the protagonist duo of Shreya and Sam, while Salman and Hebron from NGOs Salaam Balak Trust and Ummeed will play other vital child characters along with Harsh Mayar.

    Panda, recently back from Cinekid International Film Festival, Amsterdam, said that buyers from countries like Germany, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium, Taiwan and Argentina have evinced great interest in the new film considering that I Am Kalam did very good business in these countries.