Is Kareena really a profit partner in Heroine?

While one waits to see what really unfolds on screen once Heroine arrives on the big screen, at least off screen the film is pretty much turning out to be a saga in it’s own. So much so that Madhur Bhandarkar could well think of including that as a chapter within his film itself. Even though Kareena Kapoor camp is insisting that the numero uno actress has reached a ‘middle path’ by working out a deal that amounts to Rs. 8 crores as her overall remuneration, sources deny any such progress.

“It is surprising to read a different theory making rounds every week. First it was said that she had demanded for Rs.10 crores to play the title role of Heroine. Then a few days later it came down to Rs.8 crores. Now it is being said that it would be a mix of fees as well as profit sharing, all of which will finally amount to Rs.8 crores, hence making it a win-win situation for her as well as the makers (Bhandarkar and UTV Motion Pictures). The fact though is that none of this is true and the price as well as deal is all coming out of nowhere”, informs a reliable source.

No one is blaming Kareena for such rumours making the rounds though and insiders claim that some within the industry are having a field day giving rise to such speculations and assumptions.

“At a career stage where Kareena is currently, she doesn’t need to encourage any such stories. If you look at all so-called breaking news pieces carefully, she hasn’t said a single word about her fee so far. All she is saying is that she is getting what she deserves. The makers too respect this and hence everyone is on the same page. However, there are people around them who are throwing numbers, something which has started to seem a little repetitive off late”, the source adds.

Meanwhile insiders claim that while there is no profit sharing deal with either Kareena or Arjun Rampal (as has been claimed), the final remuneration is less than half of what is being claimed.

“But again as they say, never ask a man’s salary; or for that matter even a woman’s”, a trade insider quips, “What is of paramount importance is that Kareena has been confirmed for the film and we can now expect a terrific film in the offing. With the kind of insider’s view that she can bring to the role as well as the only actress at the top who comes with terrific acting capabilities coupled with glamour quotient, Madhur indeed has a winner in hands. It would be better if everyone starts contributing to making a good film now.”

Well that can pretty much be expected, what with the film kicking off with one schedule in November/December and then wrapping up by July next year.

Pregnant Bollywood actress Rai puts film on hold

MUMBAI: Bollywood star and former Miss World Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has put her latest film on hold due to her pregnancy, its producers said on Tuesday.

“At this point nothing is more important than Aishwarya’s well-being and good health,” UTV Motion Pictures, which is making the drama “Heroine”, said in an emailed statement.

“In that context, we have all mutually agreed that the best step would be to avoid shooting further, rather than proceeding with an incredibly demanding schedule over the coming months.”

News of the 37-year-old’s pregnancy was announced last week when the actress’ father-in-law, Bollywood screen legend Amitabh Bachchan, expressed his excitement at becoming a grandfather on Twitter and his blog.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, who won the Miss World title in 1994, is married to Bachchan’s 35-year-old actor son, Abhishek.

The former model, who has starred in more than 40 Indian movies, had been at the Cannes Film Festival with UTV chief executive Ronnie Screwvala in May to promote “Heroine”.

Indian media reports had speculated that she might be replaced in the lead role after her pregnancy was revealed.

Pooja Bhatt to take UTV to court owing to title row over Thank You

Even before its release this Friday (April 8), UTV Motion Pictures’ multi-starrer Thank You, directed by Anees Bazmee, finds itself in the midst of a controversy over its title. Actress and filmmaker Pooja Bhatt has been crying foul over the last few days claiming that the title Thank You belongs to her and was taken by UTV without her knowledge.

The actress has been fuming with rage and has even sent many mails to the Indian Motion Pictures’ Producers Association (IMPPA) and the Association of Motion Picture and TV Programme Producers (AMPTPP) in a bid to retain her title but her plea seems to have fallen on deaf ears.

Fed up with the loopholes in the system, Pooja now plans to take the matter to court.

Meanwhile producers UTV are confident that they have done no wrong and have all the documents in place which suggests that the title Thank You rightfully belongs to them.

One will have to wait and watch what turn this case takes in the days to come.

Bollywood small films became big in 2010

NEW DELHI: While 2010 saw some major releases such as “Dabangg and Rajneet reap rich rewards, the overall box office was weighed down by mostly lackluster performers (“Kites,” “Raavan”).

Independent box office figures for the year”s total box office gross are not available here but industry estimates reckon that with about 180 films releasing in 2010, the overall business registered a loss of about 30 billion rupees ($66 million).

Action romantic drama “Dabangg,” starring top actor Salman Khan, hauled in about 1.45 billion rupees that is considered the year”s biggest hit among a handful of hits. But what is interesting is that some success stories came via small films without major star power such as India”s 2010 Oscar entry “Peepli Live.”

The trend of smaller films has been growing over recent years and it now seems that the industry has expanded to include both formulaic blockbusters and edgy fare.

“What is essential is the strength of content more than just star power that audiences will respond to positively,” said Balaji Motion Pictures CEO Tanuj Garg.

The Mumbai-based production house released the year”s edgiest film, “Dibakar Banerjee”s Love, Sex Aur Dhokha” (via Balaji”s “alternative” banner Alt Films), which pushed the envelope with its digitally shot look and feel exploring urban sexuality. It grossed an estimated 80 million rupees, easily recovering its 10 million rupees budget.

“The fact that observers were not sure if a film like “LSD” could work in cinemas showed the resistance to such fare, but the film”s success proved everyone wrong,” added Garg.

Balaji also tasted success with gangland drama “Once Upon A Time In Mumbai,” a more mainstream release starring top actor Ajay Devgn, whose star power also contributed to the success of political thriller Rajneeti from major banner UTV Motion Pictures.

Devgn, along with top actress Katrina Kaif (also seen in “Rajneeti” and latest release “Tees Maar Khan”), are considered the year”s most bankable stars.

But it was smaller films that found favor, such as comedies “Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge” and “Phas Gaye Re Obama” (both released by Warner Bros. Pictures India), while Walt Disney Studios India also experimented with another comedy, “Do Dooni Chaar” starring veteran actor Rishi Kapoor.

Hollywood studios in India largely played safe when it came to blockbuster releases. Fox Star Studios” “My Name Is Khan” starring superstar Shah Rukh Khan was the only major star vehicle from a Hollywood studio here.

But industry estimates reckon that despite the film”s strong haul of about 800 million rupees, “FSS” probably didn”t turn a profit with Khan given the film”s high acquisition and marketing costs, rumored to be about 1 billion rupees.

“The trend of previous years where budgets and acquisition costs spiraled out of control are now being corrected,” said UTV Motion Pictures CEO Siddharth Roy Kapur. “Films that were greenlit this year were probably priced at more realistic levels than in the past, which means that the industry has gone through a correction that was required.”

But what makes 2010 a bit of a damp squib is the resounding thud of major flops such as the much anticipated “Kites” starring top actor Hrithik Roshan and Mexican TV actress Barbara Mori.

Released worldwide by Reliance Big Pictures, romantic drama “Kites” was also seen as an experiment in making an international Indian film targeting a crossover audience, when Hollywood director Brett Ratner (“Rush Hour”) recut and “presented” the film for its U.S. release.

Similarly, another Reliance film, acclaimed director Mani Ratnam”s “Raavan” also performed below expectations despite an extensive marketing campaign and screenings at the Venice and Pusan festivals.

Again, it was a small film like UTVMP”s “Udaan” that got international attention as India”s only official Cannes entry this year (in the Un Certain Regard category), putting the spotlight on emerging talent like the film”s debutant director Vikramaditya Motwane.

The new year will begin with an offbeat release “No One Killed Jessica,” based on a real incident, the murder of a Delhi-based fashion model Jessica Lal.

As Motwane said, “I think it is safe to say that India is on the verge of a breakthrough in terms of a new kind of Indian cinema that can appeal to a larger audience. We are getting there in terms of competing with other countries.”

Rahaman nominated for Golden Globe Awards

MUMBAI: A. R. Rahaman – the musical genious from India – has been nominated in the Best Original Score for Motion Picture category for the 2011 Golden Globe Awards. The nomination of Rahaman is for his work in Danny Boyle”s 127 hours.

The composer himself reacted to the nomination by saying “This is a blessing beyond words.”

The Chennai based composer is a double Oscar winner. The two Oscars had been awarded to him in 2009 for the music in Slumdog Millionaire. Slumdog Millionaire too had been Danny Boyle”s film. AR Rahaman had also won a Golden Globe in the same year for the same film.

The Golden Globe Awards is being hosted by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for the 68th time in January 2011.

Today, the Golden Globes recognize achievements in 25 categories; 14 in motion pictures and 11 in television.

Danny Boyle”s 127 Hours is nominated in two other categories – Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture (Drama) and Best Screenplay (Motion Picture).

Girish Johar to join Balaji Motion Pictures

Girish Johar, who was with UTV Motion Pictures as Associate Vice President, will be joining Balaji Motion Pictures as their Distribution Head and will be heading the acquisition of content for Balaji. He will also overlook distribution of their inhouse productions, in the national and world markets.

Girish has successfully released and marketed more than 100 films, including JODHAA AKBAR, A WEDNESDAY, FASHION, DEV D, RACE, WAKE UP SID and many more. He was also the National Head for UTV for all their Disney releases. His prior work experience was with UTV, Sony Pictures and PVR.

Peepli [Live] Wins Award at Durban International Film Festival

Aamir Khan Home Productions upcoming film Peepli [Live]. This film was directed by debutant Anusha Rizvi, she won her first award for Best Feature at the Durban International Film Festival Peepli [Live].

Peepli [Live] is scheduled to be launched in India on 13th August and will be released by UTV Motion Pictures.

Peepli [Live] is a funny comedy about the media frenzy, political hypocrisy and general chaos that comes when a poor farmer committed suicide to save the family farm.

Aamir Khan has toured cities across the world like Los Angeles, New York, New Jersey, Dubai and Australia to promote the film. Peepli [Live] was recently shown to students at USC in LA.

Peepli [Live] Movie Trailer

Tere Bin Laden

Walkwater Media and IBC Motion Pictures’ satirical film Tere Bin Laden is written directed by Abhishek Sharma.

Read more here:
Tere Bin Laden

UTV conducts online survey among teenagers as part of marketing plan for Udaan

In a unique way to promote its forthcoming film Udaan, UTV Motion Pictures conducted a large scale online among youngsters in the age group of 12-19 years. The idea behind this survey was to get an insight into the minds of a teenager and understand their behavioural patterns. Moreover since Udaan talks about the story of a father-son relationship and depicts what a teenage mind goes through, the makers thought that conducting such a survey would be a great idea to create awareness for their film. The survey was conducted across major Indian cities such as Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi / NCR.

Following are some of the results of the survey:

Around 30% of teens said that if given a chance they would like to change their study stream / career

30% of the teens said that they were not comfortable talking to their parents about the problems faced by them

40% of boys had smoked in their teens

40% of girls and more than 50% of boys admitted to having consumed alcohol in their teens

More than half of the teens wanted the official age to drink to be lowered to 16

Around 45% of teens admitted to having stolen money from their parents without them knowing

2 out of every 3 boys admitted to having watched a porn film by the time they were 16 years old

1 out of every 4 girls admitted to having watched a porn film by the time they were 16 years old

1 out of every 3 boys admitted that they had bunked school to watch an adult film

Every second teen has already kissed someone of the opposite sex

15% of boys and girls acknowledged getting intimate with somebody in their school/ college loo

One out of every 5 teens (both boys and girls) claimed to have had sex

9 out of 10 boys and 7 out of 10 girls are ok with premarital sex

45% of teenage girls felt that if they got pregnant, they would go for an abortion without ever letting their parents know.

Nearly 1000 teenagers have already taken part in this survey and the makers UTV plan to incorporate the results on the posters, promos and other marketing campaign of their forthcoming film Udaan.

UTV – Indiagames launched I Hate LUV Storys mobile game

Click above for event stills

UTV – Indiagames have announced the launch of the official mobile game for I Hate LUV Storys. Film’s cast Imran Khan and Sonam Kapoor along with the director Punit Malhotra unveiled the game recently at a hotel in Mumbai.

With stunning visual elements and character animation, the mobile game takes all the luv-struck gamers into a virtual world of Jay and Simran where the gamer has to step into the shoes of Imran Khan A.k.a Jay and interact with Sonam Kapoor – Simran and Sameer Dattani – Raj for an exciting game experience.

In level one – Theatre Blues, Jay has been forced to watch a film with Simran and Raj and he has a task to irritate Simran without getting caught. Once he succeeds he moves on to- Love Cocktail, where he has to secretly fill in Raj’s glass and get him completely drunk at Simran’s cocktail party. Moving on to the third level: Dance Envy , Jay has to groove and perform some jazzy dance moves with Giselle and ensure that Simran gets jealous, In the fourth leval Race for Love, just like the movies, Jay realizes this true luv for Simran and has to theatre stop Simran before it is too late!

Announcing the launch of the game, Samir Bangara, COO, UTV Indiagames said,
“This movie has excellent pedigree coming from Dharma and UTV Motion Pictures with a young star cast that our gaming audience identifies with. The romantic genre was also interesting as we see an increasing mix of women in our user base. The different game experiences including a racing game, ensure appeal across our target audience while keeping with the theme of the movie.”

Talking about this Association Punit Malhotra said, “I Hate Luv Storys is a fun, young film made with a lot of heart. I am sure people will really like this fun, young film made with a lot of heart. I am sure people will really like this gaming experience by Indiagames as it’s interactive, enjoyable and engaging.”

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