ITV

Tag: UTV

  • Sequel of ABCD being worked on; remake of Special 26 on cards

    Sequel of ABCD being worked on; remake of Special 26 on cards

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

    First let‘s talk of the sequel.

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

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

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

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

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

  • UTV to come out with a coffee book on the making of Paan Singh Tomar

    UTV to come out with a coffee book on the making of Paan Singh Tomar

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • Vidya Balan weds Siddharth Roy Kapoor

    Vidya Balan weds Siddharth Roy Kapoor

    MUMBAI: UTV Motion Pictures CEO Siddharth Roy Kapur tied the knot with Bollywood actor Vidya Balan on 14 December in a ceremony which was a mix of both Punjabi and Tamil traditions.

    The wedding took place in Mumbai and was a private affair in the presence of family and close friends of the bride and the groom.

    Bollywood actor Priyanka Chopra tweeted, "Congratulations to my friends Siddharth Roy Kapoor and Vidya Balan! They make such a beautiful couple..heres wishing them happiness forever!"

    Meanwhile, filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar tweeted, "My heart filled wishes to buddy Siddharth Roy Kapoor and Vidya Balan for the new phase of their lives together. Congratulations to the beautiful couple."

  • Niloufer Dundh calls it a day at Hungama Digital

    Niloufer Dundh calls it a day at Hungama Digital

    MUMBAI: Niloufer Dundh has resigned from Hungama Digital Media Entertainment as head – integrated media.

    Dundh told Indiantelevision.com that she will take a break for a while before she turns into an entrepreneur and launches her new venture in January-February.
    Over a stint of 3 years at Hungama, she was responsible for monetising properties across all of Hungama‘s lines of businesses like web, mobile, gaming and DTH.

    Prior to joining Hungama, she worked with UTV and Radio Mirchi in Sales division.

  • bindass bets on social media for marketing ‘Video Wars’ show

    MUMBAI: As the launch for its first daily format show Video Wars draws closer, Disney’s youth entertainment channel bindass is going full throttle to create a buzz around the show. This time though, the channel is leaning heavier on the social media and on ground engagement initiatives rather than the tried and tested ATL routes of television, print, radio and outdoor.

    Video Wars is a reality show that involves five contestants cataloguing a day in their life in the form of a video diary, which will then be aired for the viewers to see. Based on the content shot by the contestant, the viewers get to vote for their favourite and the least popular contestant will be eliminated at the end of the week. A fresh contestant will take his place the next week.

    Says Disney UTV executive director youth channels media networks Nikhil Gandhi, “Video Wars is a show that is in line with our ‘Rest Less. Do More.’ positioning as it empowers the youth with a camera and go out there and get famous. Since the show deals primarily with user generated content (UGC), we decided to focus on media like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. The aim is to engage with the youth wherever they are. We all know how active the youth are on social media.”

    bindass will launch the Facebook Stamp Campaign from 19 November along with a YouTube in search video campaign which will go live in the second week of the show.

    Apart from the digital space, bindass is targeting on ground engagement opportunities to interact with the youth. “The idea is to take the youth play beyond television. We want to be where the youth of today is – from college campus to concerts to cafeterias,” says Gandhi.

    Recently, the channel collaborated with the Enrique concert in Delhi and Pune where people wearing video ‘heads’ were deployed in order to create visibility for Video Wars. During the NH7 Weekender, bindass set up Video Wars booths where ‘Weekenders’ could shoot themselves and audition to appear on the show.

  • DisneyUTV Digital to distribute EA mobile games in India

    DisneyUTV Digital to distribute EA mobile games in India

    MUMBAI: DisneyUTV Digital, the digital arm of DisneyUTV, has partnered EA Mobile, the worldwide publisher for mobile games, to distribute their mobile games in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The games will be distributed by UTV Indiagames exclusively across carrier networks and local OEMs.

    DisneyUTV signed the distribution deal after EA games‘ two-year contract with Nazara Technologies expired this July.
    DisneyUTV will now provide gamers in India access to legacy titles from the EA Mobile portfolio including Need for Speed, Fifa ‘11, Monopoly, Bejeweled, Zuma, Tetris, EA Cricket ‘11, Bookworm and more. Gamers will also be able to enjoy the latest game releases from EA Mobile on the same day as they release internationally.

    Games ranging from across genres like sports, racing, puzzles, word games, arcade and action will be available in a price range of Rs 50 to Rs 99.

    “With feature phones and smartphones growing their presence in the Indian mobile market, the impetus to provide quality content on these platforms only gets bigger. With this relationship, we will increase the reach of EA’s popular games for the end users in the country and upsurge quality content in mobile entertainment. With strategic deals like these, we aim to further expand the gaming market across all possible mobile platforms available,” said DisneyUTV Digital MD Vishal Gondal.

    EA Mobile Asia Pacific GM Franck Villet said, “This partnership with DisneyUTV represents an exciting opportunity for EA to bring our best content to an even broader audience in a growing mobile gaming market.”

  • Kareena Kapoor-starrer Heroine gets eight brand associations

    MUMBAI: Kareena Kapoor, who plays a stellar role in UTV Motion Pictures‘ Heroine has become favourite of different brands. In other words, it can also be said that she leads the brand race.

    After The Dirty Picture and Kahaani, women-centric films have been garnering all the right attention, not just for being glamorous, but with great content and author-backed role, they are also collecting a moolah at the box-office.

    But Kapoor has gone ahead and has managed to get maximum brands for her upcoming film Heroine. Trade pundits say she is ‘leading and coming at par with her male colleagues in the industry‘. Her much-awaited film has managed to get over eight brands on board. This is by far the most for any heroine-oriented film. Besides Lakme, Head and Shoulders and Monarch Universal for whom Kapoor already endorses, other brands like Cera, Rupa, Jealous 21 and the likes have also associated with the film for in-film integration and various media associations.

    While Lakme is launching Heroine-branded makeup under the Absolute range endorsed by Kapoor, apparel brand Jealous21 will soon be launching a special clothing line inspired by the clothes worn by her in the film. Industry sources estimate at least Rs 15-20 crores of brand spends to be blocked for promotions around Heroine.

    “My director Madhur Bhandarkar and producer UTV‘s vision is finally ready and I am glad I could live through Mahi the character. It‘s been an exhilarating experience and Madhur has pushed the envelope to bring out a strong performance from me. Heroine is a women oriented film and I am happy that brands today are open to associate with such films which was never the case before. The trend is changing and I‘m glad to have instigated it,” said Kareena Kapoor.

    Heroine has an author-backed role for Kareena and Madhur‘s zeal to make it the way he had envisioned has prompted many brands to see an opportunity worth associating. Even though it‘s a heroine led film, because of its sheer content and Kareena‘s strong brand recall, we have successfully managed to have key brands on board. The product placement is integrated with the film‘s storyline in a manner that is inherent to the narrative and accelerates the story further.” Observed Disney UTV executive director – marketing, studios, Shikha Kapur.

    It may be interesting to learn that the Vidya Balan-starrers Kahaani, The Dirty Picture and No One Killed Jessica had no brands associated with them, while the Priyanka Chopra-starrer Fashion had brands like Sunsilk, Lenovo, Reebok and Kimaya associated with it and the Sonam Kapoor-starrer Aisha had Loreal, Christian Dior Couture and DLF Emporio associated with it.

  • UTV launches interactive application for their upcoming film Barfi

    UTV launches interactive application for their upcoming film Barfi

    MUMBAI: UTV Motion Pictures has launched an innovative and interactive application called The Flavour of Barfi! for their upcoming film Barfi! on YouTube.

    Talking of the new application, Disney UTV, executive director marketing, studios Shikha Kapur said, “We constantly innovate in our film marketing to keep audiences engaged. Ranbir is a youth icon and has a huge online fan following. So, we decided to marry the theme of Barfi! with Ranbir‘s charismatic personality to create an exciting new experience on YouTube that will keep users entertained for hours.”

    Added Ranbir Kapoor, “When UTV came to me with this concept, I loved it because it‘s a totally new way to connect with my fans online. We shot extensively for this YouTube application and I am sure people will have an awesome time discovering the various moods and quirky styles of Barfi!”

    Barfi! directed by Anurag Basu also stars Priyanka Chopra and Ileana D‘Cruz in the lead. The film will hit worldwide theatres on 14 September.

  • UTV to distribute No Entry Pudhe Dhoka Ahe on 7 September

    UTV to distribute No Entry Pudhe Dhoka Ahe on 7 September

    MUMBAI: UTV will distribute No Entry Pudhe Dhoka Ahe on 7 September.

    The film is a Marathi remake of Boney Kapoor’s comic caper ad is made under the banner of Underground Films.

    The film stars Bharat Jadhav (playing Anil Kapoor’s role), Aniket Vishwas Rao (playing Fardeen Khan’s role), Pandrinath Kamble (playing Paresh Ganatra’s role), Saie Tamhankar (playing Bipasha Basu’s role), Kranti Redkar (playing Lara Dutta’s role), Manava Naik (playing Celina Jaitley’s role) and Sai Lokur (playing Esha Deol’s role). Director Ankush Chaudhari essays the role of Salman Khan.

    The extravagant big budgeted film was shot at exotic and rich locations in Goa and Mumbai.

    No Entry Pudhe Dhoka Ahe, a family entertainer, attempts to lure the Marathi film audience back to the cinemas.

    Incidentally, the film was a super hit in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam.

  • Triton creates Bloomberg UTV’s new ad campaign

    MUMBAI: Triton Communications has created a new brand campaign for Bloomberg UTV. The new campaign lays stress on Bloomberg being the original source of news and information and that its competitors in India report what it delivers.

    According to the company, with the business objective to launch the channel as an organic extension of Bloomberg, the world‘s largest financial news network, the communication objective was to establish Bloomberg UTV India as distinctly different from competitive alternatives.

    The agency felt that the communication challenge was to differentiate the brand in the Indian context and consistent with the global Bloomberg image and identity. It was further compounded by the brand‘s need to broad base itself.

    Triton Communications CEO and national creative director Renton D‘Sousa, “Research reveals that the viewer is interested in how the channel is fundamentally different rather than the run of the mill differentiators claimed by the genre. Whilst all business channels subscribe to the Bloomberg terminal for information, to BloombergUTV it is “it‘s raison d‘etre”. Hence ‘The Original Source‘. The positioning arrived enables the creative to substantiate the same with a distinct tone and bring it alive with a unique personality. The functional take away centers around incisive information, useful knowledge and actionable wisdom. The emotional take away is intelligence for the intelligent.

    The brand promise is communicated via the fundamental difference between BloombergUTV and other business channels by stating facts upfront. For starters, “Others report what we deliver”, the company said.

    BloombergUTV president Sriram Kilambi added, “The business news genre is full of the same stuff, which is very stock led, basically buy-sell hold. We at Bloomberg are about the larger picture – infrastructure, macro-economics, judiciary, policy, stocks and real-estate. We are justifiably proud of our news gathering heritage and are indeed the original source for most of the information that you see in your newspapers and your news channels. When Triton made that our positioning statement, we naturally loved it.”