शुक्रवार, 2 नवंबर 2012

KAHAANI WINS BEST SCREENPLAY


Since its inception till date, Pen India Pvt. Ltd and director Sujoy Ghosh’s film Kahaani has been winning accolades one after the other. Recently, during the South Asian Rising Star Film Awards at New York, USA, Kahaani won the award for “Best Original Screenplay”. Sujoy got the award for the best screenplay amongst nominees like Anurag Kashyap for Gangs Of Wasseypur, Akshat Verma for Delhi Belly, Juhi Chaturvedi for Vicky Donor and Gurvinder Singh for Alms Of The Blind Horse.
“I am really happy and humbled by the response that Kahaani has garnered since its release. Kahaani has been able to succeed because of the audience and their faith in the film. I am very thankful to them and to South Asian Rising Star Film Awards for finding Kahaani’s screenplay befitting for the award,” said a visibly excited Sujoy. “Kahaani is a story that has connected very well with the audience because it is their story. Sujoy did a brilliant job as a director and a writer and we at Pen India have been excited about this project since the first day,” said Jayantilal Gada, CMD, Pen India Pvt Ltd.

The film will soon be adapted in Tamil and Telugu by Endemol Production House and in English by Yash Raj Films. Vidya Bagchi, played by actress Vidya Balan, arrives in Kolkata from London to find her missing husband. Seven month pregnant and alone in a festive city, she begins a relentless search for her husband. With nothing to rely on except fragment from her memories about him, all clues seem to reach a dead end when everyone tries to convince Vidya that her husband does not exist. She slowly realizes that nothing is what it seems. In a city soaked in lies, Vidya is determined to unravel the truth about her husband - for herself and her unborn child even at the cost her own life.
Presented by Jayantilal Gada and a Boundscript production, the film was produced by Sujoy Ghosh and Kushal Gada; and released by Viacom 18 Motion Pictures. The film also stars Nawazuddin Siddhiqui and Saswata Chatterjee. The music was composed by music director duo Vishal-Shekhar.

THE OFFICIAL STATEMENT FROM THE LAWYERS OF ADF

The case of ADF is that a producers/distributor/exhibitor cannot be allowed to enter into a tie-in arrangement which adversely affects competition. YRF has entered into a tie-in arrangement with the exhibitors in a manner that it has made it compulsory for the exhibitors to exhibit the untitled movie of YRF on Diwali day and two weeks thereafter with all 4 shows. A tie in arrangement in the present circumstances of YRF of compulsory showing an unnamed movie on a date fixed in advance with the exhibitor while entering into an arrangement to show the film “Ek Tha Tiger” itself violates the provisions of the competition Act, 2002 more particularly Section 3. It is well known fact that YRF is the most dominant player in the film business for the past four-five decades.
YRF is vertically integrated i.e. it has a studio, production house, in house director, all the equipments required for the production and it has distribution arms all over the world which creates a dominant presence/impression before an exhibitor.  
Under the threat of not delivering “Ek Tha Tiger” which was the only film to be released on Eid/Independence day (an unusual day being a Wednesday for a film release), YRF forced the exhibitors to tie in the release of the untitled movie (which is now titled as “Jab tak hai jaan”) on the Diwali day i.e. 13.11.2012 which is also an unusual day for release i.e. Tuesday. ADF is entitled to release its movie on the Diwali day which right is protected under Article 19(1)(g), Indian Contract Act and Competition Act, 2002 and provide effective competition to YRF’s movie. 
But for YRFs tie-in arrangement with the exhibitors which is apparent from the various agreements executed by YRF, ADF would have achieved single screen exhibitors in the range of more than 1200. However, because of the tie-in arrangement, ADF has achieved only about 600 nos. of single screens which clearly shows the cause against YRF.
To substantiate the above through some examples, a catchment like Dadar in Mumbai has 7 single screen cinemas out of which ‘Son of Sardaar’ has only 1, and ‘Jab tak hai Jaan’ has 6. In Hyderabad city, out of 17 single screen (Hindi playing) cinemas, ‘Son of Sardaar’ has only 2, and ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’ has 15. The trend is similar almost all India which can be scrutinized by anyone. 
For ADF’s last movie i.e. “Bol Bachchan” ADF had achieved about 1350 number of single screens which film was released on 6th July, 2012. ADF could have also restricted the release of YRF’s movie on Diwali day by entering into tie-in arrangements then but ADF has always been fair and in any case does not carry dominance which YRF has in the market to dictate anti-competitive terms.  
YRF is trying to hide behind its dominant position in the film market. It is wrongly touting this cause of action to be based upon an alleged enmity between Mr. Ajay Devgn and Mr. Shah Rukh Khan, which does not exist. The case of ADF is legally maintainable and ADF shall fight till the end on this legal issue.

When the Oscar Winning Director Ang Lee Interacted with Superstar Kamal Hassan!

 
 After a splendidly successful Mumbai sojourn, the Oscar winning director Ang Lee who is currently in India to spark off the Life Of Pi promotions, visited the southern city of Chennai with castSuraj Sharma, Tabu and Irrfan Khan.
After a traditional Indian welcome and a massive press conference we hear that the Director spent a considerable time interacting with superstar Kamal Hassan!! The Indian actor proved to be an immense admirer of Lee and the duo had a wonderful time chatting about films, magic and more!
After Danny Boyle, Hugh Jackman and Titanic's producer Jon Landau, Fox Star Studio Hosted the Celebrated Filmmaker Ang Lee in India!
The most spectacular cinematic event of 2012, the release of 20th Century Fox’s Oscar buzz generating festive release, ‘Life Of Pi’ set sail in magnificent style as Academy Award Winning Director Ang Lee along with co-producer David Lee showed exclusive footage from the film to Mumbai and Chennai audiences.
In an unprecedented first, India is the first country for the celebrated film maker. India amongst the international countries to promote what is being touted as one of the most phenomenal films out of Hollywood this year, with a hugely India centric appeal!
The man behind some of the most prestigious and acclaimed films such as Sense and Sensibility(1995), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000, which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film), Hulk (2003), and Brokeback Mountain (2005), for which he won an Academy Award for Best Director, Ang Lee had visited Mumbai and then it would be Chennai along with David Lee (Co-Producer of Life Of Pi), main lead and debutante Suraj Sharma, Tabu and Irrfan Khan! 
From the Oscar winning director, Life of Pi 3D is the visually stunning tale of a boy who is adrift at sea in a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger after his family is drowned in a shipwreck. Not only is the film a global platform of Indian talent with its cast and crew, but some of India’s most scenic spots were tapped for the film, a first of its kind for a Hollywood film. Amidst racks of fabulous saris and colorful fabrics, many of which were used for the vibrant market scenes filmed in Pondicherry, India, where Pi spent his early year, there is a rich multicultural depth to the movie. One can see the countryside of Southern India in the hillside town of Munnar along with the French elegance of Pondicherry on 3D!
Life of Pi is based on Yann Martel’s beloved book, one of the biggest publishing events of the past decade. The book has sold over seven million copies worldwide and continues to sell over 1,000 copies per week and has won the prestigious Mann Booker Prize, and was a New York Times bestseller for over a year.

Acclaimed singer Madhushree's birthday bash!


Close friends of acclaimed singer Madhushree threw a party for her on her birthday at Grillopolis in Andheri (W). Madhushree's husband Robbie Badal, veteran actor Prem Chopra, veteran producer Saawan Kumar Tak, Udit Narayan, Champak Jain of Venus, directors Anil Sharma and Lovel Collolus, lyricist Irshad Kamil and many other celebrities came in hordes to wish her. Check out the adjacent pics!

Vikram Bhatt throws a Halloween Party for cast and crew of 1920:Evil Returns


If there’s one director associated with horror films in India,it has to be Vikram Bhatt –The fear peddler ,whose proved time and again ,his mettle at the genre, going by the box office numbers and the benchmarks he’s set with his film
The director whose forthcoming venture sees its release Nov 2nd – threw a huge Halloween bash at a popular lounge in the suburbs for the entire cast and crew of the film.
Says a source “Vikram wanted to throw a bash for the team of 1920:Evil Returns along with their friends and family and thought Halloween would be the ideal occasion since he has always been associated with the horror-thriller genre. The entire party was customized with the look of the film keeping in sync with the theme of the hit franchise”.
With over 25 films to his credit, director /producer and screen writer Vikram Bhatt,with a slew of horror blockbusters, right from Raaz,1920 to Haunted and the recent Raaz 3,has established himself the face of Indian horror.

Vikram Bhatt now dons the producer cum writer’s hat for the sequel of ASA Production’s 2008 hit ,1920-Evil Returns , a tale of mysterious evil, merciless killings and possession, soon to see its release 2nd November 2012.

Actors who aced the Anti-Hero roles on screen

  Bollywood has always loved its heroes, but it's the anti-heroes, the flawed, unpredictable, and dangerous ones, who often steal the sh...