Indian film industry

[rockystone]

ZINDAGI NA MILEGI DOBARA grosses Rs.108 crores in 10 days


Eros International Media Ltd (Eros International), India's largest integrated film studio in association with Excel Entertainment has announced an exceptional first ten days performance for Zoya Akhtar's ZINDAGI NA MILEGI DOBARA. Eros International released the film worldwide on 15th July 2011 and the film has since grossed Rs.108 crores in 10 days with over Rs. 86 crores coming from India (Net Collection: Rs. 60 crores) and Rs. 22 crores from overseas.

The highly anticipated film enjoyed a wide release across 1800 plus screens and maximum showcasing across multiplex screens. The film performed brilliantly in the overseas markets as well and featured in UK Top 10, at No 7 and came out No. 15 on the Top 20 US charts in variety with the highest per screen average after HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS 2. It continues to remain in UK Top 10 at No.8 in week 2 as well.


The fun filled road film which has been shot largely across Spain stars Hrithik Roshan, Katrina Kaif, Farhan Akhtar, Abhay Deol and Kalki Koechlin. The film opened to rave reviews and a fabulous opening of Rs. 52.50 crores worldwide for the first weekend

[rockystone]

Despite bans 'Aarakshan' earns Rs 25 crore in four days

: Bans, protests and a long weekend may have affected the business of director Prakash Jha's new offering " Aarakshan", but despite all the problems, the movie about caste-based reservations in the Indian education system has managed to earn Rs.25 crore in four days. Trade analysts are hoping this will pick up in the second week.

Released Friday, the film starring Amitabh Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan, Manoj Bajpayee and Deepika Padukone, is described as a well-crafted film on the need for education. The film was said to be made for Rs.42 crore.

"The occupancy stayed around 60-70 percent. The film did not release in Uttar Pradesh. The response in Delhi was average. On Saturday-Sunday cops had stopped the screening of the film in Gurgaon due to security issues, so it did affect the business," said a source from PVR.

Yogesh Raizada, corporate head (Cinemas) of Wave Cinemas, said: The response to the film was not as good as we expected. We were expecting that the occupancy would be 100 percent as it was a long weekend but the occupancy has been 70 percent to 80 percent. It might be because most of the people went on vacation. The film is likely to pick up in the second week."

Jha had anticipated losses when the film was banned in three states - Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh for fear of anti-Dalit comments in the movie.

Though the ban was lifted in Andhra Pradesh on Staruday and in Punjab on Monday it is still on in Uttar Pradesh, which has the maximum Hindi speaking audiences. The Supreme Court Tuesday asked the Uttar Pradesh government to file its reply by Thursday to filmmaker Prakash Jha's petition seeking a stay of the ban.

"The film did not release in Uttar Pradesh as a result there was a 50 percent drop in our business," said Puneet Sahay, senior manager for programming and operations at Spice Cinemas, Noida.

"We were running old films and it's occupancy was also around 25 percent. We were looking upto 'Aarakshan' as it was a long weekend but due to the ban we have indeed suffered losses.

[azzi282]

Please do excuse me if this is an insensitive question but what were the reasons for the protests and the banning of this movie in some states?

[rockystone]

Bollywood's highest marketing budget

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...cs/9741737.cms

The makers of Bodyguard are sparing no expense to ensure a hat-trick of Salman Khan hits. The co-producer, Reliance Entertainment, has lined up a marketing and print budget of around Rs 22 crore - the highest so far in Bollywood. In a trade characterised by surprises and dramatic reversals of fortune, financiers are keen to cash in while the sun shines on Salman. (PTI Photo).

Bodyguard, another of Khan's trademark Eid releases, will open across 2,250 screens in 70 Indian cities and with 482 overseas prints. With such a huge release, the movie could score one of the biggest openings ever. After the huge success of Dabangg and Ready, which marked Salman's stunning comeback, Bodyguard's release will be closely tracked by the industry that banks as much on luck and hype as on glitz

[georgescifo]

The film Industry in India really looks gloomy, due to the lack of quality films of late...

[rockystone]

Film industry revenue may touch Rs 12,800 cr by 2015: Assocham

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...ow/9885041.cms

the Indian film industry revenue is expected to grow by 56 per cent to Rs 12,800 crore by 2015, from Rs 8,190 crore last year due to increasing digitalisation of the sector, Assocham said on Tuesday.

"The digital revolution is visibly impacting the distribution and exhibition of films in India as the industry marches towards completion of 100 years with revenue projection of Rs 12,800 crore by 2015," it said.

Backed with 12,000 theatre screens, 400 production houses and a huge viewership, the country has world's largest film industry in terms of number of films produced and ticket size, it added.

The industry body said over 1,000 films are produced every year in more than 20 languages in the country.

Digitalisation of film distribution and value-added services like movies on demand are set to open up new revenue streams and business models, it said, adding that the box office collections, at present, contribute about 80 per cent to the total film revenues.

"Technological advancements like digitalisation, onset of next generation networks and availability of sophisticated devices to access media are contributing to a growing chunk of ancillary revenues," Assocham said.

It said though the number of multiplexes is rising, the average number of screens is extremely low in India at 12 screens per million compared to 117 in the US.

The chamber further stated that the film industry loses Rs 300 crore to 400 crore a year due to piracy and there is a shortage of world-class institutions to provide film and media training.

[Reghu]

Rehman rocks again with a mix of all kind of falovours in Rockstar including Rock, Punjabi Folk, Hungarian folk, Qawwali, Sufi music and one of my favourites......Nadan Parinde...

Dowload Rockstar songs:Link

[rockystone]

Yash Raj launches company in Hollywood to make international films

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...w/10839448.cms

Veteran Bollywood banner Yash Raj Films has forayed into the international market by launching a Hollywood-based production and financing company that will produce international content.

The company named 'YRF Entertainment', will focus on developing and producing feature films for the US and the international market.

YRF Entertainment is funded by Yash Raj Films, the 41-year-old studio that was founded by filmmaker Yash Chopra. His younger son, Uday Chopra will serve as the CEO of YRF Entertainment.

"My family has a deep commitment to making and distributing quality films that entertain and enlighten audiences. I share that passion, as well as a love for American films that I have had since childhood. It is that enthusiasm and my love of the creative process of filmmaking that drove me to start this new venture," Uday Chopra said in a statement.

Uday has hired Jonathan Reiman to head development and production under him. Currently, YRF Entertainment is producing and financing 'The Longest Week', a comedy film, with stars Jason Bateman, Olivia Wilde and Billy Crudup.

Written and directed by Peter Glanz, the movie is being produced by Uday, along with Neda Armian. The executive producers are Jonathan Reiman, Chris Marsh, Stone Douglass and Taylor Materne.

The film tells the story of a bratty man-child played by Jason Bateman, who still lives with his parents in a Manhattan hotel, but suddenly finds himself evicted, disinherited and hopelessly in love with his best friend's heartthrob, played by Olivia Wilde. The shooting for the film began last week in New York.

Uday tracked down the project after the original financier had to abandon the film and immediately fell in love with the material.

YRF Entertainment is also building a slate of projects that it will develop and produce from the ground up. The first project the company will develop is an untitled action-comedy by Dan Ewen about two twenty-somethings, who run away from their podunk towns to pursue big dreams and become an unlikely but seemingly unstoppable duo after meeting serendipitously.

Back home, the parent banner Yash Raj Films continues to produce mainstream Bollywood films. Yash Chopra's eldest son Aditya's upcoming film, 'Ladies vs Ricky Bahl', a romantic comedy, starring Ranveer Singh and Anushka Sharma. The film releases on December 9.

Veteran filmmaker Yash Chopra returns to direction after almost seven years. The new untitled project will feature superstar Shahrukh Khan, Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma.

[rockystone]

3 Idiots wins over Chinese, collects Rs 11 crore in two weeks

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...w/11286751.cms

The Chinese are madly falling in love with Funsuk Wangdu and Ranchodas Chanchwad, characters in Amir Khan-starrer 3 Idiots, which was released in 2009, and became an instant hit at home.

China opened its doors to the Raju Hirani film two weeks ago, and the Idiots have won over the Chinese as well, creating a record of sorts. In the two weeks since its release with 900 prints, the film has collected Rs 11 crore so far.

"Mainland China is the second biggest film market after the US, but is very tough to enter because only 20 foreign films (including Hollywood) can be screened in China in a year," said Sameer Rao, chief executive officer at Vidhu Vinod Chopra Productions who is elated at the response, and expects the film to have a long run at the box office in China, just like it did in Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, 3 Idiots was released in October, and is still running to packed houses, collecting close to 16 crore so far.

However, the success of Hirani's 3 Idiots may open the doors for other Bollywood films waiting to be released in China. "Films from various countries are given a chance to be released in China under the quota system. As 3 Idiots is doing very well, Indian films now have a better chance to be released in China. The local distributors too shall try hard as they have seen the response an Indian film can get," said Audrey Lee, owner of Chinese distribution firm Ekdo Films which has released 3 Idiots in some parts of China. The cost of dubbing and marketing in Mainland China has been borne by local distributors like Lee.

"The message in the film has been the 'pull' factor. Such a great response from a non-traditional territory like China is a welcome phenomenon for the Hindi film industry," said Anil Arjun, chief executive officer at Reliance MediaWorks, who has been closely involved with Reliance's overseas distribution.In the Chinese piracy market, the 3 Idiots, it is believed, had already become the highest selling Bollywood film, and estimates suggest over 1.3 lakh Chinese having watched a pirated copy of the film.

The only Bollywood film which got through the Great Wall before this and got a wide release was Karan Johar's My Name is Khan last year, which was distributed by Fox Star.

With the China release, 3 Idiots has become the highest grossing film in the overseas market with collections amounting to Rs 121 crore.

[karkal]

Indian movie industry to be worth $ 5 billion in 2 years: MPAA CEO

MUMBAI: India is the world's largest film tickets market and the movie industry in the country is poised to become a $ five billion industry in the next two years, Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) Chairman and CEO Senator Chris Dodd said today.

While delivering the inaugural keynote address at FICCI FRAMES 2012, Dodd said movies contributed about $ 640 million to the Indian economy annually.

"India is the biggest movie ticket market in the world, with 3.3 billion tickets sold every year. India's movie industry is in transition from being a $ 3.2 billion industry until two years ago, towards becoming a $ five billion industry in the next two years," he added.

This, Dodd felt, is a huge opportunity that the US motion picture industry is keen on tapping.

Stating that collaboration between the Indian and the US movie industries is is expected to increase, Dodd said "barriers that prevent production and distribution of content must be brought down."

He said the two industries would have to harness opportunities that technology has thrown up and do everything to bring artists of the two countries together.

Expressing concern about piracy of movies, Dodd said, "When content is stolen, it hurts all those who work in this industry. It hurts all those workers whose names don't appear on the marquee, just as it hurts those who make those movies."

He called for joint efforts between the industries to end theft of content as it is a major threat.

Dodd quoted an Ernst & Young report which said the Indian movie industry loses around $ one million due to content theft every year.

"Strong laws are necessary to stop content theft which hurts the movie industry. MPAA also appreciates the work that FICCI is doing in the area of intellectual property rights. I think it is also an important opportunity for the Indian government to move against online piracy," he said.

Refuting claims that technology had helped increase piracy, Dodd said, "Technology and content need each other. All gadgets need content. So it is a false argument that you have to choose either technology or content."

FICCI FRAMES is an annual global convention on India's media and entertainment industry.

[kalkibhagwan]

Kochadaiyaan: India's Avatar is fantasy stuff

Indian Cinema's answer to Avatar could change the way we think about Indian film for ever. Kochadaiyaan is one of the boldest hands an increasingly muscle-flexing Bollywood has played of late – it will be the first ever Indian film completely shot using performance capture technology, otherwise known as photorealism.

"India is a land of mythology and fantasy – and through this technology, we are able to watch that come to life," says the film's director Soundarya R Ashwin. "This will set a new trend and open [up] a whole new medium in Indian cinema – animation."

Kochadaiyaan was shot between January and March of this year in Chennai – then at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire – and is currently in post-production.

The hi-tech technique is instantly recognisable from such Hollywood blockbusters as The Lord of the Rings and The Matrix Reloaded.

"It's a highly technical process. But in its simplest form, when filmed in a 3D space, the actors' actions are captured and then attached to a 3D model. The rest is worked on worked on thereafter."

The titular lead character in the film is played by 61-year-old superstar (and father of the director) Rajinikanth, who is so famous on the sub-continent he doesn't need a second name. Meanwhile, the score has been composed by double Academy Award winner A R Rahman.

The movie's team believe they have a breakout global hit on their hands: "What we have achieved sets new standards in the Indian film industry," says Ashwin.

[Gudavalli]

A Chronicle of Bollywood's Musical, Colorful Celebrations of India

India's commercial film industry, the globally popular phenomenon known as Bollywood, has always had a rich history of celebrating patriotism through movies and music that highlight the mother country. As India's Independence Day winds down, here's a look at a few haunting classics and some foot-tapping contemporary songs that pay homage.

Click the link for more..

[Gudavalli]

Movie fever grips Technopark

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Technopark will be hosting two film festivals soon. Members of two film clubs formed by techies, 'Nakshatra' and 'Prathidhwani', are now busy finalizing their plans for these festivals. While Nakshtra has just formed a core committee of its film club and is planning to host a film festival in the coming months, Prathidhwani has recently announced its entries for the Qisa film festival.

"Qisa is a platform to showcase short films directed by techies. It is also a forum for budding filmmakers and movie enthusiasts to mingle and explore the nuances of short-film making," said Prathidhwani secretary Rajeev Krishnan.

The festival will be held at the Park Centre at Technopark on September 15. The entry is restricted to short films shot after August 1, 2010 and directed by the staff of any Technopark company. The movies will be reviewed by a jury of three -- poet Rosemary, children's film director Nooranad Ramachandran and M S Thomas, who was jury member in various film festivals.

"Cash prizes will be given to the best short film, best director and best actor at a separate award function on September 20 followed by screening of the award-winning films," said Krishnan. The last date of submitting entries for Qisa is August 31.

[Gudavalli]

Saregama to exit film production, aggressively enter TV serials

India’s oldest music company, Saregama India, is gearing up to rebrand itself.

Through a more digital focus, an aggressive entry into television soap operas and an exit from the “not so lucrative” film production business, the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group company is likely to come up with a new logo and strategy in a month.

“We will come up with a new brand identity next month and have already assigned one agency for this. It will be a new branding for Saregama, with a more youthful and uncluttered logo. We have chalked out the future road map. While there are plans to enter the television space more aggressively, we are exiting the films business,” said Sanjiv Goenka, chairman of the Group.
The company’s restructuring exercise, with an emphasis on the digital space, might not just focus on the mobile arena but on other opportunities, too, including an e-commerce portal model. Ahead of the brand makeover, Saregama is on the hunt for a new chief executive officer who will take charge of the new growth plans.

In films, it had released Jhoota Hi Sahi in 2010, directed by Abbas Tyrewala and starring John Abraham. “The pan-India response for the movie was below average, despite the film having a notable director, actors and the Oscar-winning music director, A R Rahman,” said the company’s annual report last year. Other notable ventures included Japanese Wife and Soundtrack.

“We lost too much of money in film production and it is impossible to monitor that. Music and television software would be the two strong arms of the company,” Goenka added.

The firm already has marked its presence in television production in all the four South Indian languages, through hit serials such as Athipookal, My Dear Bootham, Velan, Soolam and Raja Rajeshwari. It has also produced a 13-episode non-fiction programme Prayaschit - Gunahon Ke Zakhm on Sony Entertainment Television.

Divulging plans for an aggressive foray into national media, Goenka said, “We will enter into soaps. Though we won’t be like a Balaji, we will have to evolve in the business. Soon, you will see Saregama programmes in multiple channels, the first of these being a telefilm on STAR Plus soon.”

Saregama has a consolidated net profit of Rs 84 lakh for 2011-12, compared to a net loss of Rs 14.3 crore in 2010-11. Net sales for the period under review also saw a marginal rise to Rs 72.9 crore, compared to Rs 72.8 crore for the financial year ended March 2011.

[Gudavalli]

A survey of the top hit Indian films

It has indeed been a fascinating exercise to see which films proved the topmost box-office hits in each year from 1950 till the present. Their successes proved eye-openers not just for film buffs, industry and trade but frequently for their makers themselves, proving that hits happen and cannot be designed! In the concluding segment of this 7-part series, we look at a summation and analysis after finding out the top hits of 2010 and 2011 and the possible winners of 2012.

The Salman Khan factor
In 2010, Salman Khan's home production, the actioner Dabangg effortlessly made the top spot. A comic strip-like entertainer loaded with film-boosting music (a phenomenon seen in Hindi films after years) and wacky humour, it was released on Eid exactly a year after his hit Wanted. In 2011, Khan completed his Eid hat-trick with the year's topper Bodyguard, another action drama that was also a home production. Both films marked the debuts of their directors - Abhinav Singh Kashyap and Siddique, who had made the Southern original of the latter film and made his Hindi debut. Bodyguard also marked the 'return' of Himesh Reshammiya not just to mentor Khan (who had introduced him 13 years earlier and last worked with in 2005) but also to freelance composing in a film in which the composer was not the lead actor!
In 2012, the trade opines that Khan's Ek Tha Tiger will lead the year's bounties. The possible competitors are Son Of Sardaar, Khiladi 786, Khan's own Dabangg 2 and Yash Raj Films' (producers of Ek Tha Tiger) film with Shah Rukh Khan.

Interesting stock-taking
What is yet not clear to some readers is the fact that this series was only about the biggest box-office grosser in each year from 1950 till today. It is certainly not a reflection of the best films or even an annual round-up of every year's best films or biggest hits.
As socio-cultural and political pictures in the country kept metamorphosing, trends too changed, were broken, set and reset. Cinema, needlessly to say, underwent mammoth changes with things altering for better or worse. Stars, star filmmakers, composers, singers and banners came and went - or grew and sustained. Economics in filmmaking and in the post-release business spiraled beyond imagination, and technology hit the skies, especially after the world shrunk with the computer, globalization and open trade policies and literacy and new markets for our films (especially overseas) opened up. The multiplexes had their own impact on the trade as filmmaking patterns and technique underwent paradigm changes.

It was fascinating to watch how this influenced the choice of viewers' favourites, notwithstanding intrinsic film merits, marketing genius, quality of competition and so on. If patriotic dramas of diverse genres, Samadhi, Upkar, Ankhen (1968), Hukumat and Border, triumphed in their respective years, there were clear-cut reasons for that, like an iconic leader's memories (Netaji in Samadhi) or presence (Shastri in Upkar) or betrayal by neighbouring countries.
Numero Unos A survey of the top hit films - Concluding Part The choices in the global era were the most significant. Even as the media went to town about 'evolving tastes in cinema', the even-more smart audience decided and decreed that nothing could substitute for the classic Hindi movie that was a perfect buffet of family entertainment. Different movies, indeed, had to be completely outstanding to reach the top zone, like Baiju Bawra, Munna Bhai MBBS and 3 Idiots. Romance led overall, followed by action (some films blended both or either with other formats like patriotism, social issues and so on). South remakes did come in, and unique genres included Munna Bhai MBBS and Koi…Mil Gaya.
Myths were also shattered. Crime dramas were around since 1950 (Samadhi) and did not arrive with Amitabh Bachchan. History was created when the Salim-Anarkali sagas Anarkali and Mughal-E-Azam both made it within a decade. Love stories with debutant star-pairs were instant hits in Bobby, Ek Duuje Ke Liye, Hero, Maine Pyar Kiya and Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai.


Two more facts stood out: a huge amount of new talent came in through these films on camera and behind it; either as debutant or in terms of their career or brand-defining breakthroughs, and a significant chunk of the films here were home productions of various actors. Of the 64 films that made it from 1950 to 2011, 15 films were connected with stars.

Music, obviously, remained a star for most of the journey. It was only in the late '80s, '90s and millennium, to an extent, that one saw one-hit albums. Lip-synched songs were sought to be demolished by a certain confused brigade from the mid-millennium, but even in this deviant phase, Farah Khan, A.R.Murugadoss, Rajkumar Hirani and the two Khan blockbusters ensured the trend came back in a big way. While no film without songs saw entry into this elite list, Laxmikant-Pyarelal's Hukumat in 1987 has the dubious distinction of being the only film without a single popular song!

The scoreboard
However, Laxmikant-Pyarelal did end up leading the tally among composers with 12 films, followed by Naushad, Kalyanji-Anandji and Anu Malik with five films each and Shankar-Jaikishan and Ravi with 4 each. Lyricist Anand Bakshi took the clear lead with 14 films. Lata Mangeshkar had 36 films, but none in the millennium. Mohammed Rafi and Kishore Kumar led among the males.

Contrary to expectations from Amitabh Bachchan, it is Salman Khan who takes the lead with eight films, from which four are solo leads. Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Aamir Khan, Rishi Kapoor and Anil Kapoor followed with four films. Madhuri Dixit with 5 films reigned over Vyjayanthimala and Hema Malini with four films each. Interestingly, Shammi Kapoor's three films were all as character artistes!

Numero Unos A survey of the top hit films - Concluding Part Having a unique distinction of films in all the four decades till he was alive was director Raj Kapoor under his RK Films banner (Awara, Shree 420, Sangam, Bobby, Ram Teri Ganga Maili). He also took the lead among all filmmakers and banners. Other than the Filmistan banner with three films in the '50s, no other filmmaking company came close. Yash Chopra directed Waqt and Deewaar and produced DDLJ, also presenting son Aditya Chopra's Dhoom 2. Among directors who had two films in this list are Nandlal Jaswantlal, Raj Khosla, Manoj Kumar, Ramesh Sippy, Subhash Ghai, Indra Kumar, Anil Sharma, Sooraj R.Barjatya, Rakesh Roshan and Rajkumar Hirani. Eminent banners that made an entry more than once here were BR Films, Trimurti Films of Gulshan Rai (Johny Mera Naam, Vidhaata), Vinod Chopra Productions, Vishesh Films of the Bhatts (Raaz, Murder), Filmkraft Productions of Rakesh Roshan, and Tips, as co-producers of Raja Hindustani and Raaz.

Trendsetters and trend-breakers
Clear pioneers in their respective genres were Baiju Bawra (commercial acceptance of classical music), Nagin (supernatural dramas with snakes in human forms), Madhumati (reincarnated lovers), Ganga Jamuna (popularizing the Bhojpuri dialect), Mother India and Waqt (multi-star trends, the latter also consolidating the lost-and-found family genre), Sangam (first film shot abroad), Upkar (Pran in a positive role and singing special songs), Bobby (teenage musical romance), Roti Kapada Aur Makaan and Sholay (multi-star films), Amar Akbar Anthony (item-based entertainment), DDLJ (Punjabi overdrive in Hindi films and shooting overseas as a trend), Raaz (resurgence of horror as a genre), Koi…Mil Gaya (sci-fi film), Murder (erotic thriller), No Entry (naughty comedy) and Dabangg (resurgence of lip-synched songs and an all-popular music score that boosted the opening of a film).

Needless to add, a huge number of these films were dark horses that no one expected to top the grade. This was especially true of Baiju Bawra, Phool Aur Patthar, Aradhana, Do Raaste, Haathi Mere Saathi, Bobby, Sholay (the biggest hit in the history of Indian cinema), Ek Duuje Ke Liye, Hero, Maine Pyar Kiya, Raaz, Munna Bhai MBBS, Murder and No Entry. Distributors were actually treating some of these films as pariahs and no buyers were forthcoming!