STAR to do the first ever LIVE simulcast in English Entertainment across 5 channels for the 66th Primetime Emmy® Awards

The LIVE  telecast of English TV’s biggest night will be on 26^th of August across Star World, Star World HD, Star World Premiere HD,  FX and Fox Crime

For the first time ever, television’s most celebrated and premiere awards night will be simulcast live in India across the Star bouquet of channels. Touted as TV’s biggest night, the glamorous gala held annually witnesses the best names from the television fraternity walking the red carpet pre-show. From first time nominees to returning favorites each year, the best on prime television are rewarded. Viewers wait in anticipation, rooting for their favorite shows and actors to win the iconic Emmy award.  

Nominations for the 66th Emmy® Awards were announced last night by the Television Academy in California. For the first time, they implemented online voting for the nominations phase of the Emmy Awards.  The Academy’s membership embraced this change with a meaningful increase in voter participation, nominating programs and performers from broadcast, cable, premium cable and digital outlets.  These nominations underscore the membership’s dedication to recognizing quality content regardless of platform.

While Game of Thrones was the most nominated program with with 19 nominations, celebrated miniseries Fargo received 18 nominations and American Horror Story: Coven that aired on Star World Premiere HD received 17 nominations.  Other programs receiving ten or more nominations include Breaking Bad (Currently airing on FX), The Normal Heart, Saturday Night Live, House of Cards, Downton Abbey (Due to air on FX), Orange Is The New Black, True Detective and Modern Family (aired on Star World), among others.

Additionally, the many Drama and Comedy series receiving multiple performer nominations include The Big Bang Theory (Star World), Homeland (Star World), House of Cards, Mad Men (Star World Premiere HD), The Newsroom, Portlandia, Saturday Night Live, Shameless and Veep, among others.

This year’s performer nominations include a renowned group of actors many of whom are past Oscar nominees and winners.  This includes Chiwetel Ejiofor in Dancing On The Edge, Matthew McConaughey in True Detective and Julia Roberts in The Normal Heart, all of whom were nominated for an Oscar this past year.

Kevin Vaz, General Manager, Star India Pvt Ltd- English cluster says, “This is our first year as official broadcast partner for the Primetime Emmy Awards in India. Our vision is to make Emmy’s a household name in India like The Oscars and it’s for this very reason that we will simulcast the original airing and its repeat across our English GE Channels. Some of our biggest shows like Homeland, Breaking Bad and Mad Men have been nominated and we are glad that this year we will celebrate International TV’s biggest night on India’s biggest English Entertainment Network.”

Hosting the “66th Primetime Emmy® Awards”, will be Primetime Emmy winner Seth Meyers, a dynamic and multifaceted television personality all set to charm audiences with his inimitable wit. He shot to fame for his no-hold-barred style of commentary as a television anchor in the widely popular series Saturday Night Live, and is now the host of the talk show, Late Night with Seth Meyers. The event will be held at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles at will be telecasted at 5:30 am IST with a primetime repeat telecast at 7 pm IST on the 26th August 2014. After telecasting the celebrated Academy Awards, known as The Oscars on Star Movies, the Emmys is yet another premier broadcast acquisition to Star’s prolific portfolio.

Watch the three-hour Emmys Live on 26th of August at 5:30 am and at 7: 00 pm (repeat) on Star World, Star World HD, Star World Premiere HD, Fox Crime and FX.

Mika Singh's film ‘Balwinder Singh Famous Ho Gaya’ releasing On September 19

Popular artist Mika Singh, known for crooning over 50 hits like ‘Tu Mere Agal Bagal' , 'Singh is King' & 'Tu Mera Hero' , will soon make his production venture with ‘Balwinder Singh Famous Ho Gaya’ alongwith co-producers Sunil Agnihotri and Vandana Jain.

Produced by Mika Singh & 5 Rivers Productions and directed by Sunil Agnihotri, ‘Balwinder Singh Famous Ho Gaya’, which releases on September 19, is a musical comedy starring Mika Singh, Shaan, introducing Gabreila Bertante along with Anupam Kher, Rajpal Yadav, Asrani, Vindoo Dara Singh and others.

The film revolves around the two protagonists Mika and Shaan, who share the same name ‘Balwinder Singh’, their efforts to win the heart of the girl of their dreams, a multi-million estate without a known heir and over 130 Balwinder Singhs, who land up as claimants to the estate. ​

Wizcraft Founder Sabbas Joseph To Head EEMA - India’s Experiential And Event Marketing Association

The Event and Entertainment Management Association (EEMA) has announced Mr Sabbas Joseph, one of the three Founder Directors of Wizcraft, as its President to assume charge in a week from now.

 Sabbas Joseph is the creative force behind Wizcraft and heads sales and marketing, IP development, corporate business and brand activation divisions within the company. He has been an active member of the entertainment committees of CII, FICCI and EEMA. A master’s degree holder in political science from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, a professional in media and communication, Wiz Sabbas went on to study journalism at the Xavier’s Institute of Communications, Mumbai. Sabbas’s election for the post has been unanimous, while the formal announcement would be made at EEMAGINE 2014, EEMA’s Annual Convention to be held at Kochi from 18-20 July before the general body at the AGM.

EEMA’s President and Chairman at Fountainhead Entertainment Pvt Ltd, Mr Brian Tellis, would be doing a formal handover to Mr Joseph at the AGM scheduled for 18^th July in Cochin where the general body would be converging to appoint the new members of the  National Executive Committee,  and deliberate on other matters.

Mr.Michael Menezes, Founder President EEMA and Managing Director Showtime group said ‘ it's a step in the right direction and a very positive one for EEMA and the industry at large.

Brian Tellis said, "EEMA has grown organically since its inception 7 years ago.It now stands poised for exponential growth and increased relevance in the entertainment and experiential domains.This augers well for the Industry and its vision going forward"

Sabbas Joseph said, “ My role at EEMA gives me the humble chance to give back to an industry that we are passionate about. Global standards, global standards for engagement with clients and the supply chain need to be implemented and we are on a mission to do that in the shortest possible time. It’s an exciting opportunity"

Finding Fanny trailer gets 1 million views in 22 hours!

The trailer of Homi Adajania's next titled Finding Fanny has got an overwhelming response. It has garnered over a million views in just 22 hours. The quirky comedy stars Arjun Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur and Dimple Kapadia in key roles.
"Content is king and the reaction to Finding Fanny trailer proves just that. This is the movie to watch out for this year and we are very happy with the response and feedback that that we have getting on the trailer," says Vijay Singh, CEO, Fox Star Studios.
Producer Dinesh Vijan says, "Finding fanny is a film that needed the support of the online community and we are overwhelmed with the response to our trailer people especially the youth, are loving the 5 odd ball characters and embracing the madness that they bring."
Presented by Fox Star Studios, Finding Fanny is produced by Maddock Films. The film releases on September 12. Catch the trailer on http://bit.ly/1ohFzHG. 

It’s Atif Aslam for apna Akki

They may be masters in their own fields but Atif Aslam has never lent his voice for apna Akki. And producer Ramesh Taurani gave Atif Aslam that exciting opportunity – to croon or Khiladi Kumar.

Shot on the pristine beaches of Goa, the heart-touching, melodious, romantic Tera Naam Doon features Akshay Kumar and Tamannaah Bhatia.  Elaborates director duo Sajid-Farhad, “a special no-expenses-spared set  was specially erected for Tera Naam Doon and the the entire song has been shot in slow motion.” Besides Astif Aslam’s melodious voice, it is the treatment and the production values that will add on to the song’s impact.

Atif Aslam is excited that “my voice was in sync with Akshay Kumar’s personality." Akki returns the compliment. As for us, we see a hit combo that will make its mark and get oft repeated in Bollywood in the months to come… 

Check out Tera Naam Doon on http://youtu.be/32X3y2REoIc 

More about the film… Comedy flick It's Entertainment starring Akshay Kumar and Tamannah Bhatia’s also boasts of stalwarts of humour such as Mithun Chakraborty , Johnny Lever, Prakash Raj, Sonu Sood, and Krushna. The storyline revolves around Akhil Lokhande (Akshay Kumar) and Entertainment (the dog), and how Akhil, who initially comes up with devious plans to knock off Entertainment to inherit a fortune, ends up sharing a bond with the animal.

Producer Ramesh Taurani says, "Akshay and Entertainment's interaction is the USP of the film and forms a crucial part of the storyline with the supporting cast adding to the dynamics. With has action, comedy, drama and even a dose of romance. It’s Entertainment is a fun, family movie which will be enjoyed by people of all ages."  Produced by Tips industries Ltd and Jayantilal Gada’s (PEN), It's Entertainment releases August 8. Producer: Ramesh.S.Taurani, Creative producer Jay Shewakramani, Co-Producers Dhaval Jayantilal Gada , Kushal Kantilal Gada & Reshmaa Kadakia.