Pakistan artistes told not to sign Indian films

In the wake of Shiv Sena threatening Bollywood against giving assignments to Pakistani artists, the Lollywood bigwigs in Pakistan have advised their colleagues to stop signing Indian films and television shows.

Lollywood’s top director Syed Noor said it was shameful for the Pakistani artists, who visited India for fame and money, to work in the Indian industry after such insult. It is now clear that Indian fanatics leave no stone unturned to slander Pakistani artists but regretfully some of our artists like Verena Malik still wish to work in India, he said.

Senior actor and the president of Pakistan film artists association Mustafa Qureshi said the Shiv Sena has threatened and insulted our artists several times but despite such incidents, artists frequently visit India, to mint money. “They should at least keep in mind the respect of the country if they have not their own”, he said.

Chinese film industry races close to Bollywood

BEIJING: Box office earnings of the Chinese film industry have jumped a massive 64% in 2010, which is being regarded as a bad year for Bollywood. In fact, China's media regulators have predicted the local industry, regarded as a backward territory until recently, will surpass India and Japan by 2015.

The year 2010 saw a massive growth in the film industry with China 's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television reporting that a total of 500 films were made during the period. China ranked third behind Bollywood and Hollywood in terms of annual film output. It put the box office earnings of the local movie industry at $1.5 billion.

The Indian media has quoted film industry sources to say that the earnings in 2010 will be around Rs 10,000 crores ($2.2 billion) after rising 10-12 per cent over the 2009 revenue. The Indian industry has been caught in the 10-12% growth trend since 2008.
At present, the United States is ahead of all other markets as it notched box office revenue of $11 billion in 2010. Japan came second with $2.5 billion in earnings followed by India. China's media regulators expect China to overtake Japan by 2015.

The highest grosser in the Chinese market was a Hollywood film, Avatar, which earned $200 million accounting for over 13% of total sales. Next came a Chinese film, "Aftershock", that earned $100 million by telling the story of a earthquake. Another Chinese movie, "Let bullets fly" has made $75 million since its release in mid-December and its producers believe the total earnings will be much higher.

China's Film Bureau said in a statement that the country added 313 movie theatres. A total of 1,533 new screens were added resulting in a 25% growth in the country, which now has 6,200 screens.

Read more: Chinese film industry races close to Bollywood - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Chinese-film-industry-races-close-to-Bollywood/articleshow/7254578.cms#ixzz1AfYSC7Vl

Candice Boucher plays a sand artist in upcoming spy flick

Candice Boucher, a South African Playboy hottie who features in Percept's untitled next, essays the role of a sand artist in the espionage drama.

Directed by Prashant Chaddha (Aap Ka Surror), the film stars Sachin Joshi (the Managing Director of an energy drink endorsed by Shah Rukh Khan) and Arya Babbar.

The beauty had to train from a professional artiste for the role. She says, "Learning from a sand artiste from Belarus was an amazing experience.

It's an intricate art more difficult than oils and watercolours on canvas as sand keeps shifting all the time. One's concentration has to be sharper and more focussed."

As reported 'Playmate on board' (Hitlist, June 11), Candice was the nude centrespread attraction of Playboy magazine for April 2010 and is also the brand ambassador for an international jeans brand.

She was signed for the film during the FIFA World Cup in June (it was held in her home country) to up the project's glam quotient.

The movie is about an informant who has to go undercover to save his brother and the nation from the effects of a biological war.

Bollywood 2010 Review

So what if 'Dabangg' managed to scorch the box office with a rich haul of Rs 145 crore. The bitter truth is that it hasn't been a 'Dabangg' year for Bollywood in terms of revenue receipts. With nearly 180 films released this year, trade analysts are finding it hard to pick out the top ten blockbusters from an industry which is struggling with gargantuan loss figures averaging at Rs 300 crores. Technically there are just a handful of films that have managed to make sizeable profits this year. These include films like 'Dabangg', 'Golmaal 3', 'Once Upon A Time In Mumbai', 'Rajneeti', 'Housefull' and 'Peepli Live'.

But the biggest eye-opener of the year has been a small budgeted, completely experimental film. Dibakar Bannerjee's innovative take on modern love in a messed up age not only walked away with critical acclaim for its brave new idiom and its bold new theme, it also managed to teach Bollywood its most important lesson. With a production cost of just Rs 1 crore and a revenue of Rs 8 crore, the film has enunciated the new business model for the film industry.

Think big, but keep it small: that's the new survival mantra for a busted Bollywood that is battling the blues with biggies like 'Veer' and 'Kites' biting the dust. And it isn't LSD alone which is boasting about economies of scale. Films like 'Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge', 'Peepli Live', 'Tere Bin Laden' and 'Phas Gaye Re Obama' which had rational budgets and reasonable profits also prove that bloat is definitely a bad word in film business today. Even a film like 'My Name is Khan' which managed to gross a Rs 80 crore plus isn't being viewed as a big hit by trade analysts, simply because it cost Fox studios much more than that (Rs 100 crore) to buy and distribute the film.

Looking back, 2010 definitely stands out as the year of the small yet startling pack. Think of the films that stand out at curtain call...'Udaan', 'Tere Bin Laden', 'Well Done Abba', 'Peepli Live', 'Lahore', 'Do Dooni Char', 'Ishqiya' and LSD are some of the films that made the industry proud despite the absence of larger-than-life stars and shock-and-awe budgets. All they had was a sensible story told sensibly and sensitively. The films credited their viewers with both IQ and EQ (emotional quotient) and won instant applause for doggedly steering clear of the formula.

The year has seen an efflorescence of new directors and scriptwriters — Vikramaditya Motwane (Udaan), Habib Faisal (Do Dooni Char), Danish Aslam (Break Ke Baad), Abhishek Chaubey (Ishqiya), Anusha Rizvi ( Peepli Live), Abhishek Sharma ( Tere Bin Laden), Subhash Kapoor (Phas Gaye Re Obama), Punit Malhotra (I Hate Luv Stories), Vijay Lalwani (Karthik Calling Karthik), Maneesh Sharma (Break Ke Baad), Farrukh Kabir (Allah Ke Bandey), Abhinav Kashyap ( Dabangg), Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan (Lahore), Parmeet Sethi (Badmash Company) — who are willing to take risks and tell a different story. Contrast this with the unsavoury fate of the films by stalwarts — 'Veer', 'Raavan', 'Action Replayy', 'Kites', 'Rakth Charitra' — and the picture is clear. Old is no longer gold in an industry where the viewer profile has changed drastically and has been taken over by the digi-kids who like their drama current, contemporary and completely fresh.

In terms of entertainers, the year belonged to Salman for reinventing the superhero in 'Dabangg', Ranbir Kapoor for his riveting rendition of a desi Michael Corleone in Rajneeti, Ajay Devgan for rock steady roles in 'Once Upon a Time in Mumbai', 'Aakrosh' and 'Golmaal 3' and Vidya Balan for getting slutty in style in 'Ishqiya'. Of course, India still waits for Shiela ki Jawani to explode on screen this week.

Russian leader set for date with Bollywood

It won't be just fighter jets and nuclear reactors. Reviving Russia's romance with iconic actor Raj Kapoor, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will find time for Bollywood and go to a film studio in Mumbai during his visit next week.

"India is a superpower in films. Raj Kapoor was a hero in Russia," Russia's Ambassador Alexander Kadakin told reporters here Friday while briefing them on Medvedev's two-day visit that begins Tuesday.

The envoy said Medvedev will visit a film studio in Mumbai Wednesday and meet some Bollywood stars.

Bollywood films enjoy huge popularity in Russia. Raj Kapoor and Nargis were icons in Russia and their films "Awara" and "Shri 420" were big hits in the country.

Bollywood Kajol, Ajay Devgn: Couple In First Animation Film

Kajol and Ajay Devgn, the Bollywood couple who are loved by one and all are soon to come in the first ever animation film together.

The movie titled Toonpur Ka Superhero is a mixture of real actors and animated characters, which is something quite new on Indian shores as this combo has never ever been tried in Hindi films before.

The movie Toonpur Ka Superhero will also have Kajol's mom Tanuja playing the role of her reel life mom as well.

This film is estimated to be quite an expensive one and is Ajay Devgn's home production. All hopes are pinned on this project owing to the different take on its basic subject line and idea.

Some years back the couple had come in the film which had Ajay Devgn and Kajol co starring in Ajay's home production was titled Raju Chacha and was largely a very expensive film, but it had slumped at the box office without much ado, which did not leave Ajay and Kajol very happy.

However this time with this movie Toonpur Ka Superhero having animated characters coming besides human actors is going to create quite a furore in the Hindi film market.

Even though Kunal Kohli did attempt to get comic characters in his films like Hum- Tum but it was nothing like this Toonpur Ka Superhero where the interactions of humans and animated characters are going to be the main protagonists - something like that was seen in Hollywood's Who framed Roger Rabbit in the 80's.

So if you love cartoons talking to humans or love to fantasize, this one's for you!

Pakistani singer Ali Zafar serious about Bollywood

Ali Zafar plays Imran Khan's brother in Yash Raj Films' Mere Brother Ki Dulhan. And that's not all. The Pakistani actor-singer who became popular with Tere Bin Laden, has got himself a business manager in Mumbai. He will spend some time in the city. His wife and baby will join him soon and stay on till November.

"After that, I return to Pakistan for a charity concert in aid of flood victims with performances by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Ali Azmat and (Azmat's band) Junoon along side me. But I am very serious about pursuing an acting career in Mumbai, " he admits.

Zafar began shooting last week for Mere Brother Ki Dulhan at Pataudi. Apparently, he agreed to be part of the project only because his role was modified to suit his pop icon stature.

According to sources, when the part was to be played by Riteish Deshmukh, it wasn't as pivotal as the leads played by Khan and Katrina Kaif. When Zafar flew down to Mumbai to discuss his role he "suggested" that the character be modified, thereby turning the film into a full-fledged love triangle.

Apparently, he has also made it clear that he should be as prominently featured in the hoardings, posters and trailers, as his co-stars.

Speaking from Delhi, he says, "An actor always brings his own sensibilities into a project. So yes, the role has been fine-tuned to suit my personality. And there's an understanding between the producers and me about the way I'll be presented. It's all been amicable."

Zafar is clearly determined to not repeat the mistakes of other Pakistani actors who fizzled out after their Bollywood debuts.

Fail to impress box-office

Last Friday was a crowded week with as many as 16 films jostling for eyeballs at the box-office windows. These included five Hindi films - Aashayein, Hello Darling, Antardwand, Soch Lo, Madholal Keep Walking and Gumshuda- and two English re-releases James Cameron’s 3D Avatar with nine minutes of never-seen footage and Vertigo and its dubbed Hindi version, Khoon Ka Khel.

Add to the list one English sequel, Crank 2 (dubbed in Hindi as Kaminey, Company), an English flick Bitch Slap - and a Malaysian animated flick, Geng. Followed by a bouquet of regional films - the Bengali Aarohan, three Marathi films, Navra Ali Bayko Lovely, Sa.. Sasucha and Pardh, one Gujarati film Preet Piyu Ne Parnetar and even a rare Sindhi film, Tappad Tension Tey. And what we had was a veritable potpourri that, with the exception of Avatar, which grossed Rs 1.60 crore over the weekend in India, was largely unpalatable.

Aashayein“Isn’t it ridiculous!’ says an aggrieved trade analyst Taran Adarsh. “Even during Eid or Diwali, the market cannot take more than two-three films. And this is the lean Ramzan and Shraddh period. Every producer believes that his film is Sholay and samnewale cholay and releases his film to 5-10 per cent collections. Some of the films even had to cancel shows because there were no takers.”

Distributor Ramesh Sippy doesn’t find anything shocking about this annual flop parade. “It’s the only time small films can get an opening at multiplexes. If they wait till mid-September and October, they will be bulldozed by the biggies. So they brave the numbers and come out in the hope that they will strike a chord,” he points out.

Sushil Rajpal, producer-director of the National Award-winning Antardwand, echoes his view. “September 27 was the only Friday I was getting theatres, so my
distributors, PVR, decided to go ahead with the release,” he sighs.

Antardwand got decent reviews, but couldn’t make an impact commercially. “You need a strong film to work at this time. Last year, I released Wanted in the Bombay territory three days before Eid. It was a crowdpuller from the first show. This year, even though it’s not as big a hit, Lafangey Parindey has been holding on,” reasons Sippy.

Trade analyst Amod Mehra pegs last week’s loss at between Rs 20-40 crore for the industry and believes that it’s time our filmmakers learnt from others’ fall and do not go down the same path. “Of course, in some cases, the producers have no choices. I hadn’t even heard of films like Gumshuda and Soch Lo before,” he says.

Malplix Films Hello Darling was just one of the many films that didn’t get a release overseas, while Percept’s 18-month delayed Aashayein, was a washout abroad. “No NRI would pay in dollars and pounds to watch a comedian (Javed Jaffrey) play hero to three non-happening actresses or watch another hero (John Abraham) die,” Mehra argues.

This week, the industry’s hopes are pinned on Dharma Productions’ We Are Family that Mehra describes as a “decent family film”. But the one everyone is looking forward to is Salman Khan’s Eid release Dabangg.

“It’s got the Wanted feel, Salman’s looking hot and the music too has caught on. It will be a plus film for the producer from day one,” predicts Mehra. “Even after paying fancy terms, distributors have managed to woo the exhibitors with the promise of houseful shows and recover their costs. And that is a rarity today.”