Prime Video has unveiled a 69-title 2024 slate of new and returning series and original and licensed films. The slate was revealed at a star-studded event in Mumbai on Tuesday hosted by Indian media personality Karan Johar.
Amazon executives present at the event included Mike Hopkins, head of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, Kelly Day, VP Prime Video International, James Farrell, VP, international originals, Gaurav Gandhi, VP, Apac and Mena, Sushant Sreeram, country director, India, Aparna Purohit, head of originals, India and Southeast Asia, Manish Menghani, director, content licensing, India, and Nikhil Madhok, head of Hindi-language, India.
Jonathan Nolan and Ella Purnell were on hand to provide a preview of upcoming series “Fallout.” The stars of all the Indian originals were also present.
“As we look at the next 250 million subscribers that we’re going to acquire, they are definitely going to come from outside of the United States. And...
Amazon executives present at the event included Mike Hopkins, head of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, Kelly Day, VP Prime Video International, James Farrell, VP, international originals, Gaurav Gandhi, VP, Apac and Mena, Sushant Sreeram, country director, India, Aparna Purohit, head of originals, India and Southeast Asia, Manish Menghani, director, content licensing, India, and Nikhil Madhok, head of Hindi-language, India.
Jonathan Nolan and Ella Purnell were on hand to provide a preview of upcoming series “Fallout.” The stars of all the Indian originals were also present.
“As we look at the next 250 million subscribers that we’re going to acquire, they are definitely going to come from outside of the United States. And...
- 3/19/2024
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Festivals
Leslie Shampaine and Pip Gilmour‘s feature documentary “Call Me Dancer” will have its world premiere at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, in competition for best documentary, on Feb. 9, followed by its New York premiere at the Dance on Camera Film Festival at the Lincoln Center on Feb. 10.
The film follows Manish Chauhan, a young and talented street dancer from Mumbai who struggles against his parents’ insistence that he follow a traditional path.When he accidentally walks into an inner-city dance school and encounters curmudgeonly 70-year-old Israeli ballet master Yehuda Maor, a hunger develops within him and he is determined to make it as a professional dancer, but the odds are stacked
against him.
Filmed in India, Israel, the U.K. and the U.S., the dance documentary features original songs by Jay Sean, music by Bangladeshi-American hip-hop artist Anik Khan and a score by British-Indian composer Nainita Desai.
Leslie Shampaine and Pip Gilmour‘s feature documentary “Call Me Dancer” will have its world premiere at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, in competition for best documentary, on Feb. 9, followed by its New York premiere at the Dance on Camera Film Festival at the Lincoln Center on Feb. 10.
The film follows Manish Chauhan, a young and talented street dancer from Mumbai who struggles against his parents’ insistence that he follow a traditional path.When he accidentally walks into an inner-city dance school and encounters curmudgeonly 70-year-old Israeli ballet master Yehuda Maor, a hunger develops within him and he is determined to make it as a professional dancer, but the odds are stacked
against him.
Filmed in India, Israel, the U.K. and the U.S., the dance documentary features original songs by Jay Sean, music by Bangladeshi-American hip-hop artist Anik Khan and a score by British-Indian composer Nainita Desai.
- 1/25/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
Aftershock (Tonya Lewis Lee and Paula Eiselt)
A work of deep pain and fervent justice, Tonya Lewis Lee and Paula Eiselt’s Sundance winner Aftershock examines the failings of maternal health support particularly as it relates to Black mothers. Centering on two NYC families forever torn apart after maternal deaths due to childbirth-related complications, the film takes an intimate look at the widowers and family left behind as they pick up the pieces to fight for change in a prejudiced system. Amongst its most interesting passages, the filmmakers also go back decades and beyond, filling in the historical foundation for how we ended up with our current, faltering maternal health system and setting the stage for how it can be changed.
Where...
Aftershock (Tonya Lewis Lee and Paula Eiselt)
A work of deep pain and fervent justice, Tonya Lewis Lee and Paula Eiselt’s Sundance winner Aftershock examines the failings of maternal health support particularly as it relates to Black mothers. Centering on two NYC families forever torn apart after maternal deaths due to childbirth-related complications, the film takes an intimate look at the widowers and family left behind as they pick up the pieces to fight for change in a prejudiced system. Amongst its most interesting passages, the filmmakers also go back decades and beyond, filling in the historical foundation for how we ended up with our current, faltering maternal health system and setting the stage for how it can be changed.
Where...
- 7/22/2022
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
There’s nothing like a good dance film to get your heart racing and your feet moving. And thanks to Netflix, there’s no shortage of great dance movies to choose from.
Whether you’re a fan of dance competitions or enjoy watching people bust a move, there’s something for everyone on this list.
Rejoice, Dance fans! We’ve compiled a list of the best dance movies streaming on Netflix.
So put on your dancing shoes and get ready to have some fun. These are the best dance movies on Netflix!
Step Sisters (2018)
“Step Sisters” is a dance movie with an important message. The film follows the story of Jamilah, a college student tasked with teaching a group of white sorority girls how to step.
She’s a student leader at Harvard Law School, the president of her sorority, the captain of her step dance crew, and a liaison...
Whether you’re a fan of dance competitions or enjoy watching people bust a move, there’s something for everyone on this list.
Rejoice, Dance fans! We’ve compiled a list of the best dance movies streaming on Netflix.
So put on your dancing shoes and get ready to have some fun. These are the best dance movies on Netflix!
Step Sisters (2018)
“Step Sisters” is a dance movie with an important message. The film follows the story of Jamilah, a college student tasked with teaching a group of white sorority girls how to step.
She’s a student leader at Harvard Law School, the president of her sorority, the captain of her step dance crew, and a liaison...
- 6/27/2022
- by Israr
- buddytv.com
After being lost in the tendrils of rights issues for many years, Mira Nair’s 1991 masterpiece Mississippi Masala is finally being brought back to audiences with a gorgeous new 4K restoration from Janus Films. Premiering the restoration at the 2021 New York Film Festival, there’s been a euphoria surrounding this re-release in a way that’s difficult to describe. Many resurrections of lost films each year develop a fervent passion from the film-loving community, but there’s something special about what’s happening with Mississippi Masala.
Maybe it has to do with how specifically beautiful the film is. Developed with her longtime creative partner, writer Sooni Taraporevala, it’s a story of love between Mina, a brown woman, and Demetrius (Denzel Washington), a Black man, in Greenwood, Mississippi. It’s also a story of pain, as Mina has ended up in Mississippi due to the exile of Ugandan Indians that...
Maybe it has to do with how specifically beautiful the film is. Developed with her longtime creative partner, writer Sooni Taraporevala, it’s a story of love between Mina, a brown woman, and Demetrius (Denzel Washington), a Black man, in Greenwood, Mississippi. It’s also a story of pain, as Mina has ended up in Mississippi due to the exile of Ugandan Indians that...
- 4/15/2022
- by Mitchell Beaupre
- The Film Stage
Arguably one of the more overlooked performances in the oeuvre of Denzel Washington, 1991s “Mississippi Masala,” also starring Sarita Choudhury, marks the second feature film of director Mira Nair. Setting a tender interracial love story against the backdrop of fragile race relations in rural Mississippi, the film, based on a screenplay by Sooni Taraporevala, caresses ideas of heritage, identity, and racial politics into its fold, pondering them with the gentle humanity with which the film is imbued.
Continue reading ‘Mississippi Masala’ 4K Restoration Trailer: Mira Nair’s Tender Romance Returns Starting April 15 [Exclusive] at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Mississippi Masala’ 4K Restoration Trailer: Mira Nair’s Tender Romance Returns Starting April 15 [Exclusive] at The Playlist.
- 4/7/2022
- by Matthew McMillan
- The Playlist
Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car triumphed this eve at the 14th Asia Pacific Screen Awards. The movie scooped best film, which Japanese filmmaker Hamaguchi shared with producer Teruhisa Yamamoto, and best screenplay, which the director shared with Oe Takamasa. Scroll down for the full list of winners on the night.
Further winners included Asghar Farhadi, who took Best Director for A Hero, and Hogir Hirori’s Sabaya, which win Best Documentary Feature Film.
Two Jury Grand Prizes were awarded this year, one to Abdullah Mohammad Saad, director of Rehana, and Leah Purcell for The Drover’s Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson.
Best Performance by an Actor was awarded to Georgian actor Merab Ninidze for Alexey German Jr’s House Arrest, while Best Performance by an Actress went to Azmeri Haque Badhon for Rehana. Nguyễn Vinh Phúc won achievement in cinematography for Taste.
This was Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s...
Further winners included Asghar Farhadi, who took Best Director for A Hero, and Hogir Hirori’s Sabaya, which win Best Documentary Feature Film.
Two Jury Grand Prizes were awarded this year, one to Abdullah Mohammad Saad, director of Rehana, and Leah Purcell for The Drover’s Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson.
Best Performance by an Actor was awarded to Georgian actor Merab Ninidze for Alexey German Jr’s House Arrest, while Best Performance by an Actress went to Azmeri Haque Badhon for Rehana. Nguyễn Vinh Phúc won achievement in cinematography for Taste.
This was Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s...
- 11/11/2021
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
Leah Purcell is the first Australian to be awarded the Jury Grand Prize at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards (Apsa) after being recognised for The Drover’s Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson.
A total of ten films from 11 countries triumphed at the 14th Apsa Ceremony tonight, which was presented from Hota (Home of the Arts) on the Gold Coast.
A re-imagining of the Henry Lawson short story, The Drover’s Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson follows a woman and her stubborn determination to protect her family from the harshness of life in the 1893 Snowy Mountains.
Purcell wrote directed, starred in, and co-produced the project, which was adapted from her stageplay of the same name.
The Apsa international jury said the final product represented “not only an artist’s total dedication to her craft but also a spirited act of courage and tenacity”.
“The Drover’s Wife is a film that quickly...
A total of ten films from 11 countries triumphed at the 14th Apsa Ceremony tonight, which was presented from Hota (Home of the Arts) on the Gold Coast.
A re-imagining of the Henry Lawson short story, The Drover’s Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson follows a woman and her stubborn determination to protect her family from the harshness of life in the 1893 Snowy Mountains.
Purcell wrote directed, starred in, and co-produced the project, which was adapted from her stageplay of the same name.
The Apsa international jury said the final product represented “not only an artist’s total dedication to her craft but also a spirited act of courage and tenacity”.
“The Drover’s Wife is a film that quickly...
- 11/11/2021
- by Sean Slatter
- IF.com.au
Documentaries
Toronto Raptors vice-chair and president Masai Ujiri has joined the upcoming documentary series on the Basketball Africa League (Bal), a partnership between the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the International Basketball Federation (Fiba), as an executive producer.
Fremantle and Passenger are producing the as yet untitled series, which tells the story of the creation, launch and inaugural season of the Bal, a new professional basketball league in Africa featuring 12 club teams from across the African continent. The series is being directed by emerging South African director Tebogo Malope.
Ujiri was the architect behind the Raptors’ historic 2019 NBA Championship win and he also serves as president of Giants of Africa, the non-profit he co-founded in 2003, which uses basketball as a tool to educate and enrich the lives of African youth.
The first edition of Bal took place in May in Kigali, Rwanda. Working alongside showrunner and executive producer Richard Brown...
Toronto Raptors vice-chair and president Masai Ujiri has joined the upcoming documentary series on the Basketball Africa League (Bal), a partnership between the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the International Basketball Federation (Fiba), as an executive producer.
Fremantle and Passenger are producing the as yet untitled series, which tells the story of the creation, launch and inaugural season of the Bal, a new professional basketball league in Africa featuring 12 club teams from across the African continent. The series is being directed by emerging South African director Tebogo Malope.
Ujiri was the architect behind the Raptors’ historic 2019 NBA Championship win and he also serves as president of Giants of Africa, the non-profit he co-founded in 2003, which uses basketball as a tool to educate and enrich the lives of African youth.
The first edition of Bal took place in May in Kigali, Rwanda. Working alongside showrunner and executive producer Richard Brown...
- 10/28/2021
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
The re-release of Mira Nair’s unflinching 1988 story of street children, prostitutes and drug dealers shows it has lost none of its power
Mira Nair’s Salaam Bombay! from 1988 was developed through journalistic research into the street children of Mumbai with her screenwriting partner Sooni Taraporevala; now it is re-released and what strikes you is not simply its energy and vitality and its Dickensian storytelling appetite, but its fierce unsentimentality. This is a movie that withholds the resolution for which the audience might find itself longing, showing only how street children cannot imagine their own future as street adults, seeing only imprisonment or death. I found myself contrasting Garth Davis’s recent film Lion from 2017, about the true story of a street kid who fell asleep on a train and finds himself transported thousands of miles away to Kolkata without any means of getting back or explaining to the uncaring officialdom what has happened.
Mira Nair’s Salaam Bombay! from 1988 was developed through journalistic research into the street children of Mumbai with her screenwriting partner Sooni Taraporevala; now it is re-released and what strikes you is not simply its energy and vitality and its Dickensian storytelling appetite, but its fierce unsentimentality. This is a movie that withholds the resolution for which the audience might find itself longing, showing only how street children cannot imagine their own future as street adults, seeing only imprisonment or death. I found myself contrasting Garth Davis’s recent film Lion from 2017, about the true story of a street kid who fell asleep on a train and finds himself transported thousands of miles away to Kolkata without any means of getting back or explaining to the uncaring officialdom what has happened.
- 6/17/2021
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
The upward trend in Ott viewership goes to show that not even a pandemic can curb the hunger for entertainment. A prime digital entertainment platform, Netflix is a companion we all share as we observe quarantine amid the current Covid-19 scare. One film to have streamed on it and struck a chord with the Indian diaspora worldwide is ‘Yeh Ballet’, produced by Siddharth Roy Kapur’s Roy Kapur Films and helmed by Salaam Bombay and The Namesake writer, Sooni Taraporevala.
After being reviewed as a gem in the cluster of content available on the streaming platform, praises and love continue to come pouring in for the film. Most recently, in an interview with The Guardian, world-renowned Booker Prize-winning writer, Salman Rushdie conveyed that ‘Yeh Ballet’ made him cry. Upon being asked what made him cry and why, he said, “Watching Sooni Taraporevala’s film Yeh Ballet on Netflix. It took...
After being reviewed as a gem in the cluster of content available on the streaming platform, praises and love continue to come pouring in for the film. Most recently, in an interview with The Guardian, world-renowned Booker Prize-winning writer, Salman Rushdie conveyed that ‘Yeh Ballet’ made him cry. Upon being asked what made him cry and why, he said, “Watching Sooni Taraporevala’s film Yeh Ballet on Netflix. It took...
- 7/19/2020
- by Stacey Yount
- Bollyspice
As we continue to go through the lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, everyone’s best friend to pass the time right now is Netflix. The Ott platform gives unlimited entertainment to the audience through its varied selection of films and web shows.
One of the recently released films on the popular platform was Yeh Ballet. The Netflix Original film, directed by Salaam Bombay and The Namesake writer Sooni Taraporevala and produced by Siddharth Roy Kapur’s Roy Kapur Films, talks about the journey of two gifted teenagers from the underprivileged areas of Mumbai trying to fulfil their dreams of being ballet dancers and the obstacles they face on this path.
The film is perceived to be a hidden gem in the plethora of content on Netflix. And recently, during a Netflix Earnings Call, the CEO of Netflix, Reed Hastings has suggested the film in his list of recommendations. This...
One of the recently released films on the popular platform was Yeh Ballet. The Netflix Original film, directed by Salaam Bombay and The Namesake writer Sooni Taraporevala and produced by Siddharth Roy Kapur’s Roy Kapur Films, talks about the journey of two gifted teenagers from the underprivileged areas of Mumbai trying to fulfil their dreams of being ballet dancers and the obstacles they face on this path.
The film is perceived to be a hidden gem in the plethora of content on Netflix. And recently, during a Netflix Earnings Call, the CEO of Netflix, Reed Hastings has suggested the film in his list of recommendations. This...
- 4/24/2020
- by Stacey Yount
- Bollyspice
As we continue to go through the lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, everyone?s best friend to pass the time right now is Netflix. The Ott platform gives unlimited entertainment to the audience through its varied selection of films and web shows.
One of the recently released films on the popular platform was Yeh Ballet. The Netflix Original film, directed by Salaam Bombay and The Namesake writer Sooni Taraporevala and produced by Siddharth Roy Kapur?s Roy Kapur Films, talks about the journey of two gifted teenagers from the underprivileged areas of Mumbai trying to fulfil their dreams of being dancers and the obstacles they face on this path.
The film is perceived to be a hidden gem in the plethora of content on Netflix. And recently, during a Netflix Earnings Call, the CEO of Netflix, Reed Hastings has suggested the film in his list of recommendations.
This is...
One of the recently released films on the popular platform was Yeh Ballet. The Netflix Original film, directed by Salaam Bombay and The Namesake writer Sooni Taraporevala and produced by Siddharth Roy Kapur?s Roy Kapur Films, talks about the journey of two gifted teenagers from the underprivileged areas of Mumbai trying to fulfil their dreams of being dancers and the obstacles they face on this path.
The film is perceived to be a hidden gem in the plethora of content on Netflix. And recently, during a Netflix Earnings Call, the CEO of Netflix, Reed Hastings has suggested the film in his list of recommendations.
This is...
- 4/23/2020
- GlamSham
Most people who love movies have one that seems to speak directly to them, that might actually be a perfect, brilliant movie. That is the case, for me especially, with Sooni Taraporevala’s extraordinary Yeh Ballet. The Netflix original, produced by Siddharth Roy Kapur’s Roy Kapur Films, began streaming on Friday, February 21st.
I began ballet lessons at age five, went on to dance professionally and then teach to share my love of the dance form. Through so many years, ballet was, as said in the film, ‘100% my life.’ Consequently, any movie with the word ballet in it is going to get my attention. I was even more excited when I read the blurb from Netflix, “Discovered by an eccentric ballet master, two gifted but underprivileged Mumbai teens face bigotry and disapproval as they pursue their dancing dreams.”
I was sure I was going to love this movie. So,...
I began ballet lessons at age five, went on to dance professionally and then teach to share my love of the dance form. Through so many years, ballet was, as said in the film, ‘100% my life.’ Consequently, any movie with the word ballet in it is going to get my attention. I was even more excited when I read the blurb from Netflix, “Discovered by an eccentric ballet master, two gifted but underprivileged Mumbai teens face bigotry and disapproval as they pursue their dancing dreams.”
I was sure I was going to love this movie. So,...
- 2/25/2020
- by Stacey Yount
- Bollyspice
Review‘Yeh Ballet,’ now streaming on Netflix, is based on a true story of two men pursuing their ballet dreams, directed by Sooni Taraporevala.Saraswati DatarNetflix India Unlike Delhi, where power and pedigree are frequently asserted, Mumbai’s wealthy have their high-rise homes overlooking slums where some of the city’s poorest live. As the opening aerial shot of Yeh Ballet shows, prosperity and poverty are long standing neighbours in Mumbai. It’s a daily humbling reminder of the immense privilege of having an attached bathroom. Yeh Ballet, now streaming on Netflix, is based on the true story of Manish Chauhan and Amiruddin Shah, who were discovered by their Israeli ballet teacher Yehuda Maor. Both youngsters ended up being selected by ballet schools in America and are now pursuing their dreams in the dance form. Director Sooni Taraporevala who made a documentary on the two of them in 2017, writes a...
- 2/22/2020
- by Nikhita Venugopal
- The News Minute
Siddharth Roy Kapur’s Roy Kapur Films is all set to present a Netflix original film titled Yeh Ballet! You may ask yourself, what is this film all about? It is about Ballet!
Filmmaker Sooni Taraporevala directs the inspiring and hopeful journey of the two Mumbai boys, Amiruddin Shah and Manish Chauhan, their Israeli-American mentor Yehuda Maor and their families, who triumphed over their circumstances and achieved a feat no Indian ever has before – by making their way to prestigious global ballet institutes like London’s Royal Ballet Academy and the Oregon Ballet Theatre.
Check out the trailer
Siddharth said, “I am very excited about bringing this wonderful and inspiring story to the screen, and thrilled to have Sooni write and direct it. I have always admired her writing, and she has outdone herself with the superb script she has written. Having been involved creating an enduring dance and musical franchise like Abcd,...
Filmmaker Sooni Taraporevala directs the inspiring and hopeful journey of the two Mumbai boys, Amiruddin Shah and Manish Chauhan, their Israeli-American mentor Yehuda Maor and their families, who triumphed over their circumstances and achieved a feat no Indian ever has before – by making their way to prestigious global ballet institutes like London’s Royal Ballet Academy and the Oregon Ballet Theatre.
Check out the trailer
Siddharth said, “I am very excited about bringing this wonderful and inspiring story to the screen, and thrilled to have Sooni write and direct it. I have always admired her writing, and she has outdone herself with the superb script she has written. Having been involved creating an enduring dance and musical franchise like Abcd,...
- 2/12/2020
- by Stacey Yount
- Bollyspice
In a country where sports and films are prime attractions, the Vivo Ipl 2019 has driven the reach of Ott platform Hotstar to an unprecedented 267 million viewers, which is way more than the 148 million global subscriber base of streaming giant Netflix. Hotstar has reshaped not just the Indian Premiere League (Ipl) viewing experience in the country but of entertainment consumption too, offering over 100,000 hours of drama and movies in 9 languages and coverage of every major global sporting event.
When Uday Shankar, President of The Walt Disney Co Asia-Pacific and Chairman of Star and Disney India, introduced Hotstar to Disney's investors at the Investor Day conference in Burbank, he exuded pride in sharing how the platform had reached peak engagement of 300 million monthly active users, as per latest data.
The game is only going to get bigger with The Walt Disney Co's $71 billion deal with 21st Century Fox, as part of...
When Uday Shankar, President of The Walt Disney Co Asia-Pacific and Chairman of Star and Disney India, introduced Hotstar to Disney's investors at the Investor Day conference in Burbank, he exuded pride in sharing how the platform had reached peak engagement of 300 million monthly active users, as per latest data.
The game is only going to get bigger with The Walt Disney Co's $71 billion deal with 21st Century Fox, as part of...
- 4/16/2019
- GlamSham
Netflix has commissioned ten new original films in India.
The streaming giant will be working with big local directors and producers including Anurag Kashyap (Gangs of Wasseypur) and Ronnie Screwvala (Chennai Express). Genres of the new commissions include drama, sci-fi, thriller, horror, comedy and romance. Scroll down for the list of projects.
By the end of 2020, a total of 15 new original Indian films, including previously announced titles such as Music Teacher, Cobalt Blue, Chopsticks, Upstarts and Bulbul, will be available on the service.
“When Netflix launched in India, we changed the way Indian audiences enjoy their films,” said Srishti Behl Arya, Director – International Original Film, India, Netflix. “Given our diversity, history and culture, India is home to powerful stories waiting to be told to audiences around the world. The depth of talent and vision of our creators is enabling us to create films our members will love. We want to...
The streaming giant will be working with big local directors and producers including Anurag Kashyap (Gangs of Wasseypur) and Ronnie Screwvala (Chennai Express). Genres of the new commissions include drama, sci-fi, thriller, horror, comedy and romance. Scroll down for the list of projects.
By the end of 2020, a total of 15 new original Indian films, including previously announced titles such as Music Teacher, Cobalt Blue, Chopsticks, Upstarts and Bulbul, will be available on the service.
“When Netflix launched in India, we changed the way Indian audiences enjoy their films,” said Srishti Behl Arya, Director – International Original Film, India, Netflix. “Given our diversity, history and culture, India is home to powerful stories waiting to be told to audiences around the world. The depth of talent and vision of our creators is enabling us to create films our members will love. We want to...
- 4/15/2019
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Siddarth Roy Kapur, founder of Roy Kapur Films has an exciting array of movies to showcase to the audience. He unveiled the future plans of the production house in an exclusive chat with a leading international website.
Besides, The Sky is Pink, starring, Priyanka Chopra, Zaira Wasim and Farhan Akhtar, Roy Kapur Films’ next production is Saare Jahaan Se Achcha, which will be directed by Mahesh Mathai of Bhopal Express fame and written by Anjum Rajabali. The film is a biopic on Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian astronaut. A joint production with RSVP, the movie will feature an A-list cast, the announcement of which will be made by the end of this year followed by the movie going on floors in February.
Next in line is Sindbad, a thriller inspired by merchant navy officer, Audumbar Bhoi whose ship was attacked by Somali pirates. Directed by Vinil Mathew, the script has...
Besides, The Sky is Pink, starring, Priyanka Chopra, Zaira Wasim and Farhan Akhtar, Roy Kapur Films’ next production is Saare Jahaan Se Achcha, which will be directed by Mahesh Mathai of Bhopal Express fame and written by Anjum Rajabali. The film is a biopic on Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian astronaut. A joint production with RSVP, the movie will feature an A-list cast, the announcement of which will be made by the end of this year followed by the movie going on floors in February.
Next in line is Sindbad, a thriller inspired by merchant navy officer, Audumbar Bhoi whose ship was attacked by Somali pirates. Directed by Vinil Mathew, the script has...
- 10/23/2018
- by Stacey Yount
- Bollyspice
The incredible and inspiring journey of two boys from the slums of Mumbai to the world of international ballet, will be written and directed by Sooni Taraporevala.
Siddharth Roy Kapur’s Roy Kapur Films (Rkf) has signed on acclaimed filmmaker Sooni Taraporevala to bring to the screen the inspiring and hopeful journey of the two Mumbai boys, Amiruddin Shah and Manish Chauhan, their Israeli-American mentor Yehuda Maor and their families, who triumphed over their circumstances and achieved a feat no Indian ever has before – by making their way to prestigious global ballet institutes like London’s Royal Ballet Academy and the Oregon Ballet Theatre.
Sooni, known for her award-winning writing on Salaam Bombay, Mississippi Masala and The Namesake, has previously directed a Vr documentary on the same subject titled “Yeh Ballet”, for Anand Gandhi’s Memesys Lab.
When Siddharth read about the boys and saw this documentary, he was so...
Siddharth Roy Kapur’s Roy Kapur Films (Rkf) has signed on acclaimed filmmaker Sooni Taraporevala to bring to the screen the inspiring and hopeful journey of the two Mumbai boys, Amiruddin Shah and Manish Chauhan, their Israeli-American mentor Yehuda Maor and their families, who triumphed over their circumstances and achieved a feat no Indian ever has before – by making their way to prestigious global ballet institutes like London’s Royal Ballet Academy and the Oregon Ballet Theatre.
Sooni, known for her award-winning writing on Salaam Bombay, Mississippi Masala and The Namesake, has previously directed a Vr documentary on the same subject titled “Yeh Ballet”, for Anand Gandhi’s Memesys Lab.
When Siddharth read about the boys and saw this documentary, he was so...
- 9/13/2018
- by Stacey Yount
- Bollyspice
Sooni Taraporevala, frequent collaborator with Indian filmmaker Mira Nair, and screenwriter on films such as The Namesake, Mississippi Masala and Salaam Bombay, will write and direct real-life drama Ballet Boys.
The film will revolve around two Mumbai boys from the slums who, thanks to their Israeli-American mentor Yehuda Maor, escaped poverty to become dancers at London's Royal Ballet Academy.
Ballet Boys is based on the real-life stories of dancers Amiruddin Shah and Manish Chauhan. Taraporevala explored their stories in a Vr documentary, Yeh Ballet (This Ballet), from last year.
Former Walt Disney India CEO Siddharth Roy Kapur's banner Roy Kapur Films will produce ...
The film will revolve around two Mumbai boys from the slums who, thanks to their Israeli-American mentor Yehuda Maor, escaped poverty to become dancers at London's Royal Ballet Academy.
Ballet Boys is based on the real-life stories of dancers Amiruddin Shah and Manish Chauhan. Taraporevala explored their stories in a Vr documentary, Yeh Ballet (This Ballet), from last year.
Former Walt Disney India CEO Siddharth Roy Kapur's banner Roy Kapur Films will produce ...
- 9/12/2018
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Sooni Taraporevala, frequent collaborator with Indian filmmaker Mira Nair, and screenwriter on films such as The Namesake, Mississippi Masala and Salaam Bombay, will write and direct real-life drama Ballet Boys.
The film will revolve around two Mumbai boys from the slums who, thanks to their Israeli-American mentor Yehuda Maor, escaped poverty to become dancers at London's Royal Ballet Academy.
Ballet Boys is based on the real-life stories of dancers Amiruddin Shah and Manish Chauhan. Taraporevala explored their stories in a Vr documentary, Yeh Ballet (This Ballet), from last year.
Former Walt Disney India CEO Siddharth Roy Kapur's banner Roy Kapur Films will produce ...
The film will revolve around two Mumbai boys from the slums who, thanks to their Israeli-American mentor Yehuda Maor, escaped poverty to become dancers at London's Royal Ballet Academy.
Ballet Boys is based on the real-life stories of dancers Amiruddin Shah and Manish Chauhan. Taraporevala explored their stories in a Vr documentary, Yeh Ballet (This Ballet), from last year.
Former Walt Disney India CEO Siddharth Roy Kapur's banner Roy Kapur Films will produce ...
- 9/12/2018
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Nearly 60 international and Canadian producers will head to the Ontario Media Development Corporation’s (Omdc) annual International Financing Forum in Toronto.
The 10th anniversary edition of Omdc’s International Financing Forum (Iff), a feature co-financing market for English-language projects, will run Sept 13-14 during Toronto International Film Festival (Sept 10-20).
The projects include Drama, the third feature to be directed by Oscar-winning Us actress Helen Hunt, written by Justin W. Lo (‘Mistresses’).
Scroll down for more projects
The two-day event includes one-on-one meetings, an industry panel discussion, roundtable meetings, a networking luncheon, and a producers’ opening night networking reception.
Iff partners include Telefilm Canada, UK Trade and Investment (Ukti) and new sponsor Canadian Media Producers Association (Cmpa).
More than 750 meetings will be scheduled for the 37 producer teams (20 Canadian projects and 17 international projects).
In total, 56 producers have been selected to participate in the programme from countries including: Australia, Germany, India, Israel, Spain, Uganda...
The 10th anniversary edition of Omdc’s International Financing Forum (Iff), a feature co-financing market for English-language projects, will run Sept 13-14 during Toronto International Film Festival (Sept 10-20).
The projects include Drama, the third feature to be directed by Oscar-winning Us actress Helen Hunt, written by Justin W. Lo (‘Mistresses’).
Scroll down for more projects
The two-day event includes one-on-one meetings, an industry panel discussion, roundtable meetings, a networking luncheon, and a producers’ opening night networking reception.
Iff partners include Telefilm Canada, UK Trade and Investment (Ukti) and new sponsor Canadian Media Producers Association (Cmpa).
More than 750 meetings will be scheduled for the 37 producer teams (20 Canadian projects and 17 international projects).
In total, 56 producers have been selected to participate in the programme from countries including: Australia, Germany, India, Israel, Spain, Uganda...
- 9/1/2015
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
New projects from Larry Fessenden, Rkss and John McNaughton among line-up at sixth edition, taking place July 23-26 in Montreal.
Having announced a first wave during Cannes, Frontières International Co-Production Market has unveiled the full line-up for its upcoming sixth edition.
Among the additional projects announced are The Designer from Glass Eye Pix (Larry Fessenden, Peter Phok, Graham Reznick), Todd E. Freeman’s The Beautiful, Enric Folch’s Duel documentary The Devil on Wheels and Huan Vu’s H.P. Lovecraft’s adaptation The Dreamlands.
They join the already announced projects from the likes of John McNaughton (Carny Kill), Turbo Kid film-makers Rkss (Elora) and Srdjan Spasojevic (Whereout).
Frontières will run July 23-26 at the Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal, following its second European edition at the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival (Bifff) in April.
The expanded project line-up for the upcoming edition will see more projects participating in live pitch sessions.
Established in 2012 at...
Having announced a first wave during Cannes, Frontières International Co-Production Market has unveiled the full line-up for its upcoming sixth edition.
Among the additional projects announced are The Designer from Glass Eye Pix (Larry Fessenden, Peter Phok, Graham Reznick), Todd E. Freeman’s The Beautiful, Enric Folch’s Duel documentary The Devil on Wheels and Huan Vu’s H.P. Lovecraft’s adaptation The Dreamlands.
They join the already announced projects from the likes of John McNaughton (Carny Kill), Turbo Kid film-makers Rkss (Elora) and Srdjan Spasojevic (Whereout).
Frontières will run July 23-26 at the Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal, following its second European edition at the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival (Bifff) in April.
The expanded project line-up for the upcoming edition will see more projects participating in live pitch sessions.
Established in 2012 at...
- 6/10/2015
- by ian.sandwell@screendaily.com (Ian Sandwell)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Kunal Nayyar has been cast in Sikhya Entertainment’s sci-fi drama Punha, marking The Big Bang Theory star’s first acting role in Hindi.
Directed by Arati Kadav, Punha revolves around technology that enables people to create a replica of a deceased loved one, to help them cope with their loss. Nayyar will play the only son of a couple who dies in an accident and is replicated by his parents, but becomes conscious that he’s not really human.
Kadav, who previously worked for Microsoft and has made several short films, wrote the script with Zain Matcheswalla.
Sikhya Entertainment’s Guneet Monga is producing the film with Ben Rekhi. “It’s a story with international appeal and having Kunal will help us reach both Hindi and English-speaking markets,” Monga said.
Rekhi added: “It’s an opportunity to look at how we tackle issues like death and loss in the age of technology.”
Production is scheduled...
Directed by Arati Kadav, Punha revolves around technology that enables people to create a replica of a deceased loved one, to help them cope with their loss. Nayyar will play the only son of a couple who dies in an accident and is replicated by his parents, but becomes conscious that he’s not really human.
Kadav, who previously worked for Microsoft and has made several short films, wrote the script with Zain Matcheswalla.
Sikhya Entertainment’s Guneet Monga is producing the film with Ben Rekhi. “It’s a story with international appeal and having Kunal will help us reach both Hindi and English-speaking markets,” Monga said.
Rekhi added: “It’s an opportunity to look at how we tackle issues like death and loss in the age of technology.”
Production is scheduled...
- 11/24/2014
- by lizshackleton@gmail.com (Liz Shackleton)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Kunal Nayyar has been cast in Sikhya Entertainment’s sci-fi drama Punha, marking The Big Bang Theory star’s first acting role in Hindi.
Directed by Arati Kadav, Punha revolves around technology that enables people to create a replica of a deceased loved one, to help them cope with their loss. Nayyar will play the only son of a couple who dies in an accident and is replicated by his parents, but becomes conscious that he’s not really human.
Kadav, who previously worked for Microsoft and has made several short films, wrote the script with Zain Matcheswalla.
Sikhya Entertainment’s Guneet Monga is producing the film with Ben Rekhi. “It’s a story with international appeal and having Kunal will help us reach both Hindi and English-speaking markets,” Monga said.
Rekhi added: “It’s an opportunity to look at how we tackle issues like death and loss in the age of technology.”
Production is scheduled...
Directed by Arati Kadav, Punha revolves around technology that enables people to create a replica of a deceased loved one, to help them cope with their loss. Nayyar will play the only son of a couple who dies in an accident and is replicated by his parents, but becomes conscious that he’s not really human.
Kadav, who previously worked for Microsoft and has made several short films, wrote the script with Zain Matcheswalla.
Sikhya Entertainment’s Guneet Monga is producing the film with Ben Rekhi. “It’s a story with international appeal and having Kunal will help us reach both Hindi and English-speaking markets,” Monga said.
Rekhi added: “It’s an opportunity to look at how we tackle issues like death and loss in the age of technology.”
Production is scheduled...
- 11/24/2014
- by lizshackleton@gmail.com (Liz Shackleton)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Kunal Nayyar, star of The Big Bang Theory, is heading the cast of Aditya Bhattacharya’s A Momentary Lapse Of Reason, an English-language crime drama shooting in India and Los Angeles.
Sendhil Ramamurthy (Heroes), Lance Reddick, Alex Brendemuehl and Neha Chauhan also star in the film, about a rich young slacker who is sent to Los Angeles to sign over a family building to a Russian conglomerate following his father’s death. After refusing to sign the papers, he finds himself up against rogue cops and the Russian mob.
“It’s an American crime drama with an Indian protagonist and you never see that,” Nayyar told Screen. “I’m known for playing a nerd so this was an opportunity to show a different facet of what I do.”
Nayyar’s film career is taking off with roles in Canadian comedy Dr Cabbie, which is scheduled for Us release on November 26, and Sooni Taraporevala’s upcoming 3 And A...
Sendhil Ramamurthy (Heroes), Lance Reddick, Alex Brendemuehl and Neha Chauhan also star in the film, about a rich young slacker who is sent to Los Angeles to sign over a family building to a Russian conglomerate following his father’s death. After refusing to sign the papers, he finds himself up against rogue cops and the Russian mob.
“It’s an American crime drama with an Indian protagonist and you never see that,” Nayyar told Screen. “I’m known for playing a nerd so this was an opportunity to show a different facet of what I do.”
Nayyar’s film career is taking off with roles in Canadian comedy Dr Cabbie, which is scheduled for Us release on November 26, and Sooni Taraporevala’s upcoming 3 And A...
- 11/22/2014
- by lizshackleton@gmail.com (Liz Shackleton)
- ScreenDaily
The Big Bang Theory's Kunal Nayyar has been cast in the upcoming Three and a Half, produced by Mira Nair. The film is directed by Sooni Taraporevala, a longtime collaborator with Nair, penning titles such as Mississippi Masala, The Namesake and the Oscar-nominated Salaam Bombay. Taraporevala made her directing debut with 2007's Little Zizou, which was presented by Nair along with Viacom18 Motion Pictures. “Both Mira And Sooni have been instrumental in inspiring me to be an actor,” Nayyar told The Hollywood Reporter. “Watching their movies growing up, I realized it was possible to be an Indian artist
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- 11/14/2014
- by Nyay Bhushan
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The National Film Development Corporation (Nfdc) announced thirty-two projects selected for the Co-Production Market to be held during Film Bazaar in Goa from November 20-24, 2014.
The lineup includes 18 Indian and 14 international projects. The international projects include two films from the Us, two from Sri Lanka, a film from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Norway, France, Germany, Singapore and United Kingdom each and an Ifp project which is selected through Nfdc collaboration with Independent Filmmaker Project, USA.
Indian projects:
• By/Two – Directed by Devashish Makhija and produced by Dutta Dave
• The School – Directed by Suchita Bhhatia and produced by Vivek Kajaria
• Blossoms (Pallavi)- Directed and produced by Nila Madhab Panda
• Nuclear Hearts – Directed by Bornila Chatterjee and produced by Tanaji Dasgupta
• Seven (Saat)- Directed by Ashish Bende and produced by Suhrud Godbole
• Medium Spicy – Directed by Mohit Takalkar and produced by Nikhil Mahajan
• The Invisible One – Directed by Amit Datta...
The lineup includes 18 Indian and 14 international projects. The international projects include two films from the Us, two from Sri Lanka, a film from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Norway, France, Germany, Singapore and United Kingdom each and an Ifp project which is selected through Nfdc collaboration with Independent Filmmaker Project, USA.
Indian projects:
• By/Two – Directed by Devashish Makhija and produced by Dutta Dave
• The School – Directed by Suchita Bhhatia and produced by Vivek Kajaria
• Blossoms (Pallavi)- Directed and produced by Nila Madhab Panda
• Nuclear Hearts – Directed by Bornila Chatterjee and produced by Tanaji Dasgupta
• Seven (Saat)- Directed by Ashish Bende and produced by Suhrud Godbole
• Medium Spicy – Directed by Mohit Takalkar and produced by Nikhil Mahajan
• The Invisible One – Directed by Amit Datta...
- 10/13/2014
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
Sooni Taraporevala at DearCinema IndieTalk
DearCinema organized IndieTalk with renowned screenwriter Sooni Taraporevala on July 19 in Mumbai. This is what the writer of films like Salaam Bombay!, The Namesake and Mississippi Masala had to say:
Some people say: only write what you know. Some people say: write what you don’t know. I say: write what you don’t know but be responsible to the subject and find out everything there is about it before you start writing. Research is an invaluable tool for me as a writer. It’s like free material and I can’t imagine why more people don’t go out and help themselves to it. Our imaginations are limited while the real world is much more exciting – if you research, the world is your oyster. The more particular you are about a story, the more universal it becomes. It’s not the other way around.
DearCinema organized IndieTalk with renowned screenwriter Sooni Taraporevala on July 19 in Mumbai. This is what the writer of films like Salaam Bombay!, The Namesake and Mississippi Masala had to say:
Some people say: only write what you know. Some people say: write what you don’t know. I say: write what you don’t know but be responsible to the subject and find out everything there is about it before you start writing. Research is an invaluable tool for me as a writer. It’s like free material and I can’t imagine why more people don’t go out and help themselves to it. Our imaginations are limited while the real world is much more exciting – if you research, the world is your oyster. The more particular you are about a story, the more universal it becomes. It’s not the other way around.
- 8/4/2014
- by Editorial Team
- DearCinema.com
Sooni Taraporevala
DearCinema will organize the next session of IndieTalk on July 19 in Mumbai with writer-director Sooni Taraporevala who is well-known for penning the screenplays of Salaam Bombay!, Mississippi Masala and The Namesake.
This session of IndieTalk is supported by Catapooolt, a leading crowdfunding website in India.
Sooni, who was recently conferred a Padma Shri (India’s fourth highest civilian honour), has worked extensively in both India and Hollywood. Her films have been shown at major international film festivals and have won awards. In the interactive session, she will share her insight about writing content-driven films meant for global audiences.
The three broad themes of the discussion will be around writing Salaam Bombay, an original script based on extensive ground research; Namesake, which is an adaptation of Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel of the same name; and Little Zizou, the film that she directed apart from writing it.
Sooni wrote her first screenplay,...
DearCinema will organize the next session of IndieTalk on July 19 in Mumbai with writer-director Sooni Taraporevala who is well-known for penning the screenplays of Salaam Bombay!, Mississippi Masala and The Namesake.
This session of IndieTalk is supported by Catapooolt, a leading crowdfunding website in India.
Sooni, who was recently conferred a Padma Shri (India’s fourth highest civilian honour), has worked extensively in both India and Hollywood. Her films have been shown at major international film festivals and have won awards. In the interactive session, she will share her insight about writing content-driven films meant for global audiences.
The three broad themes of the discussion will be around writing Salaam Bombay, an original script based on extensive ground research; Namesake, which is an adaptation of Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel of the same name; and Little Zizou, the film that she directed apart from writing it.
Sooni wrote her first screenplay,...
- 7/2/2014
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
The Mumbai Mantra Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab announced the eight fellows of the 2014 lab today.
Ashvin Kumar (Noor) Bornila Chatterjee (Nuclear Hearts) Neeraj Ghaywan and Varun Grover (Fly Away Solo) Gaurav Madan (Shaktipur Crude) Deepanjali B Sarkar (Svadharma) Sanjay Talreja (The River Murder) Navneet Behal (Experiments with Truth), co-written with Maitrey Bajpai and Ramiz Ilham Khan Dylan Mohan Gray (The Last Day of Winter), co-written with Vikramaditya Motwane)
The selected writers will be mentored by American and Indian screenwriters such as Golden Globe winner Naomi Foner (Running on Empty, Golden Globe for Best Screenplay and Oscar nomination in the same category), Sooni Taraporevala (Salaam Bombay). Here is the complete list of mentors:-
Naomi Foner
Michael Handelman
Dante Harper
James V Hart
Anjum Rajabali
Malia Scotch Marmo
Elena Soarez
Sooni Taraporevala
Rose Troche...
Ashvin Kumar (Noor) Bornila Chatterjee (Nuclear Hearts) Neeraj Ghaywan and Varun Grover (Fly Away Solo) Gaurav Madan (Shaktipur Crude) Deepanjali B Sarkar (Svadharma) Sanjay Talreja (The River Murder) Navneet Behal (Experiments with Truth), co-written with Maitrey Bajpai and Ramiz Ilham Khan Dylan Mohan Gray (The Last Day of Winter), co-written with Vikramaditya Motwane)
The selected writers will be mentored by American and Indian screenwriters such as Golden Globe winner Naomi Foner (Running on Empty, Golden Globe for Best Screenplay and Oscar nomination in the same category), Sooni Taraporevala (Salaam Bombay). Here is the complete list of mentors:-
Naomi Foner
Michael Handelman
Dante Harper
James V Hart
Anjum Rajabali
Malia Scotch Marmo
Elena Soarez
Sooni Taraporevala
Rose Troche...
- 3/16/2014
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
New Delhi, Jan 25: Bengali film icons Supriya Devi and Sabitri Chatterjee, Bollywood's "Ooh la la" girl Vidya Balan, veteran actor Paresh Rawal, filmmaker Santosh Sivan, animation veteran Ram Mohan and writer Sooni Taraporevala have been named for the Padma Shri awards announced on the eve of the 65th Republic Day.
Vidya has come a long way from being a bespectacled character on TV show "Hum Paanch" to being a National award-winning actress and defying her fashion critics time and again with her acting skills. A versatile talent, she has delivered impeccable and power-packed performances in films like "The Dirty Picture" and "Kahaani".
A.
Vidya has come a long way from being a bespectacled character on TV show "Hum Paanch" to being a National award-winning actress and defying her fashion critics time and again with her acting skills. A versatile talent, she has delivered impeccable and power-packed performances in films like "The Dirty Picture" and "Kahaani".
A.
- 1/25/2014
- by Anita Agarwal
- RealBollywood.com
The award-winning film director picks her cultural highlights of the moment, from Haneke's Amour to The Book of Mormon
Born in Orissa, India, and educated at Delhi university and Harvard, film director Mira Nair is one of the few women to have won the Golden Lion award at Venice – for Monsoon Wedding in 2001. Nair splits her time between New York and Uganda and has founded two non-profit organisations: the Salaam Baalak Trust for street children in India, established using the proceeds from Salaam Bombay!, her 1988 debut feature; and Maisha, an educational centre in east Africa. Her new film, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, is an adaptation of Mohsin Hamid's novel and is out 10 May.
Film: Amour
I look out for anything by Michael Haneke. The worlds he creates are taut and mysterious, and in this case, full of unspoken love. I love the austerity and the love in Amour, and of course the performances.
Born in Orissa, India, and educated at Delhi university and Harvard, film director Mira Nair is one of the few women to have won the Golden Lion award at Venice – for Monsoon Wedding in 2001. Nair splits her time between New York and Uganda and has founded two non-profit organisations: the Salaam Baalak Trust for street children in India, established using the proceeds from Salaam Bombay!, her 1988 debut feature; and Maisha, an educational centre in east Africa. Her new film, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, is an adaptation of Mohsin Hamid's novel and is out 10 May.
Film: Amour
I look out for anything by Michael Haneke. The worlds he creates are taut and mysterious, and in this case, full of unspoken love. I love the austerity and the love in Amour, and of course the performances.
- 4/27/2013
- by Corinne Jones
- The Guardian - Film News
Sooni Taraporevala [Photo:Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi]
S alaam Bombay! that is being re-released today marked the beginning of Sooni Taraporevala’s screenwriting career and a momentous association with filmmaker Mira Nair twenty-five years ago. Since then, Sooni Taraporevala has given memorable screenplays like The Namesake and Mississippi Masala that won her the Osella award for Best Screenplay at the Venice Film Festival in 1991. She has also dabbled in direction with Little Zizou (2008). Taraporevala talks about her first film, the Cannes Camera d’Or winner and Oscar-nominated Salaam Bombay!, the art of adaptation, her friend Mira Nair and her plans for direction:
Twenty-five years since you wrote your first screenplay. How do you feel about it now?
I think it’s one of the best I have written. We saw the movie again last week and everyone’s comments were that it looks like it was made yesterday. It has not dated except for the...
S alaam Bombay! that is being re-released today marked the beginning of Sooni Taraporevala’s screenwriting career and a momentous association with filmmaker Mira Nair twenty-five years ago. Since then, Sooni Taraporevala has given memorable screenplays like The Namesake and Mississippi Masala that won her the Osella award for Best Screenplay at the Venice Film Festival in 1991. She has also dabbled in direction with Little Zizou (2008). Taraporevala talks about her first film, the Cannes Camera d’Or winner and Oscar-nominated Salaam Bombay!, the art of adaptation, her friend Mira Nair and her plans for direction:
Twenty-five years since you wrote your first screenplay. How do you feel about it now?
I think it’s one of the best I have written. We saw the movie again last week and everyone’s comments were that it looks like it was made yesterday. It has not dated except for the...
- 3/22/2013
- by Nandita Dutta
- DearCinema.com
A special screening of Salaam Bombay! was held at Cinemax Versova on Saturday to commemorate its 25th anniversary in the presence of director-producer Mira Nair and screenwriter Sooni Taraporevala. Several members of the cast including Raghubir Yadav (Chillum), Hansa Vithal (Manju Golub) and Shaukat Azmi (Brothel madam) were in attendance.
On this occasion, Nair released the new trailer of her latest The Reluctant Fundamentalist which will open in Indian theatres on May 10.
“I began filmmaking with the ideological question of whether art can change the world and then Salaam Bombay! led to the formation of the Salaam Baalak Trust,” Nair said about her debut film which won a Camera d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival 1988 and was nominated for an Academy award in 1989.
Nair said she was happy to bring the film back to the young audiences in India.
Nair and Taraporevala also re-released the book “Salaam Bombay!” originally...
On this occasion, Nair released the new trailer of her latest The Reluctant Fundamentalist which will open in Indian theatres on May 10.
“I began filmmaking with the ideological question of whether art can change the world and then Salaam Bombay! led to the formation of the Salaam Baalak Trust,” Nair said about her debut film which won a Camera d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival 1988 and was nominated for an Academy award in 1989.
Nair said she was happy to bring the film back to the young audiences in India.
Nair and Taraporevala also re-released the book “Salaam Bombay!” originally...
- 3/17/2013
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
The film Girl Rising has helped to highlight what aid workers have known for years: that educating young women helps them and their communities flourish and succeed
Anne Hathaway, Cate Blanchett, Meryl Streep and Freida Pinto are among the most watched women in the world. Now, with a handful of other stars, they have come together to tell the stories of nine unknown girls, all of whom struggled to acquire what should be a universal right: an education.
In a project launched to coincide with International Women's Day, the four actresses have been joined by Selena Gomez, Priyanka Chopra, Chloë Moretz, Salma Hayek, Kerry Washington and Alicia Keys. All have given time to make Girl Rising, which has its premiere in New York on Thursday.
The film, made by documentary director Richard E Robbins, began as an investigation into a fact universally acknowledged by international aid workers: that educating girls...
Anne Hathaway, Cate Blanchett, Meryl Streep and Freida Pinto are among the most watched women in the world. Now, with a handful of other stars, they have come together to tell the stories of nine unknown girls, all of whom struggled to acquire what should be a universal right: an education.
In a project launched to coincide with International Women's Day, the four actresses have been joined by Selena Gomez, Priyanka Chopra, Chloë Moretz, Salma Hayek, Kerry Washington and Alicia Keys. All have given time to make Girl Rising, which has its premiere in New York on Thursday.
The film, made by documentary director Richard E Robbins, began as an investigation into a fact universally acknowledged by international aid workers: that educating girls...
- 3/3/2013
- by Vanessa Thorpe
- The Guardian - Film News
"Girl Rising" is a new film directed by Richard E. Robbins that is at the center of 10x10, a worldwide campaign to help educate and empower girls. The film previewed at the Sundance Film Festival in conjunction with the release of its trailer, shown below. The film focuses on the stories of nine girls around the world; each narrated by the likes of Cate Blanchett, Priyanka Chopra, Selena Gomez, Anne Hathaway, Salma Hayek, Alicia Keys, Chloë Moretz, Liam Neeson, Frieda Pinto, Meryl Streep, and Kerry Washington. Each story is written by a writer from their native country: Marie Arana, Edwidge Danticat, Mona Eltahawy, Aminatta Forna, Zarghuna Kargar, Maaza Mengiste, Sooni Taraporevala, Manjushree Thapa, and Loung Ung. Director Robbins states, “With Girl Rising, I wanted to make a beautiful film that met three distinct goals: change minds, change lives, and change policy, around educating girls. The stories of these amazing girls are at.
- 1/22/2013
- by Sophia Savage
- Thompson on Hollywood
The Mumbai Film Festival (October 18 – 25, 2012) is the largest film festival in India with over 100,000 attending. The Festival is 14 years old itself but Reliance Big Entertainment, the company that backs both Dreamworks and Im Global, one of U.S.’s foremost international sales agents, has backed this festival for the last 4 years and the result is a scaled up festival. It is part of the Mumbai Academy of Moving Image, a not for profit trust founded in 1997 by Indian Film Industry personalities led by renowned filmmaker late Hrishikesh Mukherji. Its 220 films are all free.
Parenthetically, though not part of the festival itself, Mumbai is "'in the news" with the Tiff's City-to-City program focusing on Mumbai. This was organized by Cameron Bailey directly with filmmakers in Mumbai and is not a Mumbai Film Festival program…Also of interest is that Mumbai also hosts India's largest international Queer Film Festival For Everyone which was held in May of this year with the Alliance Francaise de Bombay.
The Mumbai Film Festival also works with Unifance and French Rendez-Vous.
Sections include Discovery, Retrospective - this year to feature 50 years of the Cannes Critics Week, International Competition which awards $200,000 to a first feature.
Three new developments are taking place this year.
1. To celebrate 100 years of Indian cinema, the festival is launching a new competition for Indian films (called 'India Gold') with cumulative cash rewards of around $30,000 Us. The winners will be selected by an international jury to be announced.
2. The festival is moving to historic South Bombay. The festival, previously held mostly in the Juhu and Andheri districts of Mumbai – where Bollywood is located - will now take place in the south of the city, the historic center of old colonial Bombay with amazing Victorian landmarks – train station, court house, with the National Centre for the Performing Arts (Ncpa) and Inox Theatre as the main venues. The retrospective of restored films will be screened in a third theater - a historic art deco theater named the Liberty Cinema – so named because it was built in 1949, the year of India's independence from Britain. For more information on the Liberty see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_Cinema
3. The Spotlight on Film Restoration and Preservation. For the first time, a section of the festival (programmed by Ian Birnie, U.S. Representative for the Mumbai Film Festival) will be devoted to screenings of restored classic films with a particular focus on Twentieth Century Fox. Screenings will be introduced by various archivists all of whom are leading experts in the field. A panel will bring together Western archivists and their Indian counterparts and the discussion will focus on the economic challenges and new technologies that are changing the future of film preservation.
The American participants are:
Schawn Belston, Senior VP, Library and Technical Services, Twentieth Century Fox
Margaret Bodde, Executive Director, The Film Foundation
Mike Pogorzelski, Director, The Academy Film Archive
Douglas Laible, Managing Director, World Cinema Foundation
TheTwentieth Century Fox Archive will present 8 films spanning 40 years in the 'Fox Classics' series. Note: all were restored in-house at Fox, and by Fox in association with the Academy Film Archive (Afa) and with The Film Foundation (Ff)
Sunrise (1928/b&w/94 min.) dir: F.W. Murnau; w /George O'Brien, Janet Gaynor, Margaret Livingston.(Fox/Afa)
How Green Was My Valley(1941/b&w/118 min.) dir: John Ford; w/ Walter Pigeon, Maureen O'Hara. (Fox/Afa)
Laura (1944/b&w/88 min.) dir: Otto Preminger; w/ Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb. (Fox in-house)
Leave Her to Heaven(1945/color/110 min.) dir: John Stahl; w/ Gene Tierney, Cornel Wilde, Jeanne Crain. (Fox/Afa/Ff)
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953/color/91 min.) dir: Howard Hawks; w/ Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell.(Fox in-house)
Wild River(1960/color/110 min./CinemaScope) dir: Elia Kazan; w/ Montgomery Clift, Lee Remick, Jo Van Fleet. (Fox/Afa/Ff)
The Leopard (1963/color/187 min.) dir: Luchino Visconti; w/ Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon, Claudia Cardinale.(Fox/Ff/Cineteca di Bologna)
Two for the Road(1967/color/110 min./Panavision) dir: Stanley Donen; w/ Audey Hepburn, Albert Finney. (Fox/Afa)
In addition to the Fox titles, 7 additional restored films will be screened.
The Academy Film Archive will present two recent restorations from their ongoing project to restore all the films by the great Indian director Satyajit Ray:
Charulata(1964/b&w/117 min.) w/ Soumitra Chatterjee, Madhabi Mukherjee, Shailen Mukherjee.
The Chess Players (1977/color/129 min.) w/ Sanjeev Kumar, Saeed Jaffrey, Shabana Azmi
The Film Foundation will present two recent restorations:
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1945/color/163 min.) dir: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger; w/ Roger Livesey, Deborah Kerr, Anton Walbrook.
Once Upon a Time in America (1984/color/ ??? min.) dir: Sergio Leone; w/ Robert DeNiro, James Woods, Elizabeth McGovern.
The World Cinema Foundation will present its new restoration of a classic Indian film:
Kalpana (1948/b&w/155 min.)
The Cineteca Bologna will present two restored Italian silent classics as part of an Italian Cinema retrospective.
Sections of the Festival
Dimensions Mumbai, a short film competition of films dealing with any aspect of life in Mumbai and targeted to the Mumbai Youth below 25 years was introduced in 2008.
An International Competition for the First Feature Film of directors with the award money of Us $ 150,000 (Us $ 100,000 for the Best Film and Us $ 50,000 for the Jury Grand Prize) was introduced in 2009. The UK Film 'White Lightn'in won the 2011 Best Film Award and Austria-Italy co-production La Pivillina won the Jury Grand Prize.
The Audience Choice Award carrying U.S. $ 20,000 for any film participating in the Festival, (excepting the Retrospectives and Tribute sections) was introduced in 09 as well. The Indian Film 'Road to Sangam' won this award.
International Lifetime Achievement Award was conferred on the Greek filmmaker Theo Angelopoulos.
A new initiative Mumbai Young Critics was introduced in '09 as well. 24 college students selected from more than 80 aspirants recommended by the colleges in Mumbai went through a workshop conducted by the German writer and film critic Daniel Kothenschulte for three days before the Festival. This group watched the films in the festival, wrote about them in Festival publications and newspapers and also selected a film for the Mumbai Young Critics Award.
Last year the festival showcased over 200 films from 60 countries across various sections at its three venues- Cinemax Versova, Cinemax Sion and Metro Big Cinemas.
The festival hosts a special section ‘4me Rendez-Vous’, in collaboration with Unifrance, Embassy of France in India and Consulate General of France in Mumbai. The section screens the best of New French Cinema, which last year included ‘The Snows of Kilimanjaro’, ‘The Conquest’ and ‘Declaration of War’ amongst others.
Last year's highlight was the special presentation by Lee Yong Kwan, Director, Busan International Film Festival, who presented a selection of the latest Asian Films from Busan.
Lifetime Achievement Award was conferred on the legendary actor Morgan Freeman. Olivia Harrison widow of George Harrison presented the documentary film “George Harrison: Living in the material World”.
The Festival strengthened and consolidated its academic activities with an Indo-German Script Development Workshop scheduled from 11th to the 13th of October just ahead of the festival opening. Speakers at the workshop included the renowned directors Dani Levy, Thorsten Schulz, Screenwriters Anjum Rajabali and Sooni Taraporevala amongst others.
This year's Festival continues to facilitate cinema business with the Mumbai Film Mart, created 'by' the industry, 'for' the industry, 'in' the industry hub - Mumbai, the Film Capital of India. The Mumbai Film Mart saw participation from the biggest Entertainment Industry players, both from India and abroad. In the three days, over 2,000 meeting requests were received, 400 meetings were carried out face to face, while an equal number took place among the senior decision makers from leading film production houses, buyers, sellers, festival programmers and independent filmmakers as they milled around and networked with each other.
Among the many firsts, the Mart attracted all the forthcoming big ticket films such as ‘Ra One’, ‘Don 2’, ‘Rockstar’, ‘Ricky Behl v/s Ladies’, ‘The Dirty Picture’, ‘DesiBoyz’ , tabled for acquisition and distribution in the non-traditional markets for Indian Cinema in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, Germany, France and Latin America. The focus on these countries attracted leading buyers that included Huayi Brothers Media Corp. (China), NikkatsuCorp.(Japan), Happinet Corp.(Japan), Showbox (Korea), Apex Entertainment (Korea), Cj Entertainment (Korea), Top Films (Ukraine), Novo films (France), Rapid Eye (Germany), Im Global (USA), amongst many others.
The International Jury will be responsible choosing the winners out of 14 films, all first features of debut filmmakers around the world, awarding them with a huge cash prize. This way we would like to recognize and encourage the first time filmmakers, going in line with the festival theme of discovery.
Apart from the main international section, there are many other sections including the world cinema, Indian Frame, New Faces in Indian Cinema, Documentaries etc. Please do check out their website www.mumbaifilmfest.com for more information. Last year, it screened about 220 films from 60 countries.
Composition of Mami:
Shyam Benegal, Eminent Filmmaker – Chairman
Amit Khanna, producer, lyricist and Chairman of Reliance Entertainment
Amol Palekar, acclaimed actor-director
Ashutosh Gowarikar (Oscar Nominee - Best Foreign Language Film for Lagaan)
Farhan Akhtar, one of the youngest directors and actor
Jaya Bachchan, acclaimed and award winning actress
Karan Johar, director-producer of some of the most successful films at the box office
Ramesh Sippy, well known filmmaker of Sholay fame
Shabana Azmi, renowned actress who has won acclaim and awards Internationally
Yash Chopra, producer-director, doyen of the Hindi film industry.
Narayan is the Director and head programmer, Anu is second in command.
And there is a selection committee that screens all the competition films – industry people and critics in Mumbai.
About Reliance Big Entertainment
Reliance Big Entertainment Ltd. (Rbel) is the flagship media and entertainment arm of India's Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, with a significant presence in film entertainment (film production, distribution, and exhibition), broadcasting and new media ventures.
Rbel's motion picture brand, Reliance Big Pictures ( www.reliancebigpictures.com ) has built a impressive film production slate in Hindi, English & other Indian languages, which it markets and distributes worldwide. Following Reliance Big Picturess association with Im Global, the company now benefits from an international sales team with an excellent reputation and global presence dedicated to selling its Bollywood and regional language slate. Going into production in November is the $45 million ðDreddð, which Reliance Big Entertainment is co-financing with Im Global.
In Hollywood, Reliance Big Pictures has partnered with Steven Spielberg and Stacey Snider on the formation of DreamWorks Studios and hasdevelopment deals with Nicolas Cage's Saturn Films, Jim Carrey's Jc 23 Entertainment, George Clooney's Smokehouse Productions, Chris Columbus'1492 Pictures, Tom Hanksð Playtone Productions, Brad Pitt's Plan B Entertainment, Jay Roach's Everyman Pictures, Brett Ratnerðs Rat Entertainment,Julia Robertsð Red Om Films and Brian Grazer and Ron Howardðs Imagine Entertainment.
Also worth noting: the competition section of the festival is for first features and carries a Grand prize of Us$100,000 and a Jury prize of Us$50,000.00, with a percentage of the money of allocated to the sales agent who submitted the film. With 14 features, the odds are better than most lotteries… This was last year's lineup http://www.mumbaifilmfest.com/Mami/films_list.php The Salesman, one of the films their U.S. Representative Programmer, Ian Bernie (former longtime Lacma programmer) selected, won the Jury Award and Best Actor.
Parenthetically, though not part of the festival itself, Mumbai is "'in the news" with the Tiff's City-to-City program focusing on Mumbai. This was organized by Cameron Bailey directly with filmmakers in Mumbai and is not a Mumbai Film Festival program…Also of interest is that Mumbai also hosts India's largest international Queer Film Festival For Everyone which was held in May of this year with the Alliance Francaise de Bombay.
The Mumbai Film Festival also works with Unifance and French Rendez-Vous.
Sections include Discovery, Retrospective - this year to feature 50 years of the Cannes Critics Week, International Competition which awards $200,000 to a first feature.
Three new developments are taking place this year.
1. To celebrate 100 years of Indian cinema, the festival is launching a new competition for Indian films (called 'India Gold') with cumulative cash rewards of around $30,000 Us. The winners will be selected by an international jury to be announced.
2. The festival is moving to historic South Bombay. The festival, previously held mostly in the Juhu and Andheri districts of Mumbai – where Bollywood is located - will now take place in the south of the city, the historic center of old colonial Bombay with amazing Victorian landmarks – train station, court house, with the National Centre for the Performing Arts (Ncpa) and Inox Theatre as the main venues. The retrospective of restored films will be screened in a third theater - a historic art deco theater named the Liberty Cinema – so named because it was built in 1949, the year of India's independence from Britain. For more information on the Liberty see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_Cinema
3. The Spotlight on Film Restoration and Preservation. For the first time, a section of the festival (programmed by Ian Birnie, U.S. Representative for the Mumbai Film Festival) will be devoted to screenings of restored classic films with a particular focus on Twentieth Century Fox. Screenings will be introduced by various archivists all of whom are leading experts in the field. A panel will bring together Western archivists and their Indian counterparts and the discussion will focus on the economic challenges and new technologies that are changing the future of film preservation.
The American participants are:
Schawn Belston, Senior VP, Library and Technical Services, Twentieth Century Fox
Margaret Bodde, Executive Director, The Film Foundation
Mike Pogorzelski, Director, The Academy Film Archive
Douglas Laible, Managing Director, World Cinema Foundation
TheTwentieth Century Fox Archive will present 8 films spanning 40 years in the 'Fox Classics' series. Note: all were restored in-house at Fox, and by Fox in association with the Academy Film Archive (Afa) and with The Film Foundation (Ff)
Sunrise (1928/b&w/94 min.) dir: F.W. Murnau; w /George O'Brien, Janet Gaynor, Margaret Livingston.(Fox/Afa)
How Green Was My Valley(1941/b&w/118 min.) dir: John Ford; w/ Walter Pigeon, Maureen O'Hara. (Fox/Afa)
Laura (1944/b&w/88 min.) dir: Otto Preminger; w/ Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb. (Fox in-house)
Leave Her to Heaven(1945/color/110 min.) dir: John Stahl; w/ Gene Tierney, Cornel Wilde, Jeanne Crain. (Fox/Afa/Ff)
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953/color/91 min.) dir: Howard Hawks; w/ Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell.(Fox in-house)
Wild River(1960/color/110 min./CinemaScope) dir: Elia Kazan; w/ Montgomery Clift, Lee Remick, Jo Van Fleet. (Fox/Afa/Ff)
The Leopard (1963/color/187 min.) dir: Luchino Visconti; w/ Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon, Claudia Cardinale.(Fox/Ff/Cineteca di Bologna)
Two for the Road(1967/color/110 min./Panavision) dir: Stanley Donen; w/ Audey Hepburn, Albert Finney. (Fox/Afa)
In addition to the Fox titles, 7 additional restored films will be screened.
The Academy Film Archive will present two recent restorations from their ongoing project to restore all the films by the great Indian director Satyajit Ray:
Charulata(1964/b&w/117 min.) w/ Soumitra Chatterjee, Madhabi Mukherjee, Shailen Mukherjee.
The Chess Players (1977/color/129 min.) w/ Sanjeev Kumar, Saeed Jaffrey, Shabana Azmi
The Film Foundation will present two recent restorations:
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1945/color/163 min.) dir: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger; w/ Roger Livesey, Deborah Kerr, Anton Walbrook.
Once Upon a Time in America (1984/color/ ??? min.) dir: Sergio Leone; w/ Robert DeNiro, James Woods, Elizabeth McGovern.
The World Cinema Foundation will present its new restoration of a classic Indian film:
Kalpana (1948/b&w/155 min.)
The Cineteca Bologna will present two restored Italian silent classics as part of an Italian Cinema retrospective.
Sections of the Festival
Dimensions Mumbai, a short film competition of films dealing with any aspect of life in Mumbai and targeted to the Mumbai Youth below 25 years was introduced in 2008.
An International Competition for the First Feature Film of directors with the award money of Us $ 150,000 (Us $ 100,000 for the Best Film and Us $ 50,000 for the Jury Grand Prize) was introduced in 2009. The UK Film 'White Lightn'in won the 2011 Best Film Award and Austria-Italy co-production La Pivillina won the Jury Grand Prize.
The Audience Choice Award carrying U.S. $ 20,000 for any film participating in the Festival, (excepting the Retrospectives and Tribute sections) was introduced in 09 as well. The Indian Film 'Road to Sangam' won this award.
International Lifetime Achievement Award was conferred on the Greek filmmaker Theo Angelopoulos.
A new initiative Mumbai Young Critics was introduced in '09 as well. 24 college students selected from more than 80 aspirants recommended by the colleges in Mumbai went through a workshop conducted by the German writer and film critic Daniel Kothenschulte for three days before the Festival. This group watched the films in the festival, wrote about them in Festival publications and newspapers and also selected a film for the Mumbai Young Critics Award.
Last year the festival showcased over 200 films from 60 countries across various sections at its three venues- Cinemax Versova, Cinemax Sion and Metro Big Cinemas.
The festival hosts a special section ‘4me Rendez-Vous’, in collaboration with Unifrance, Embassy of France in India and Consulate General of France in Mumbai. The section screens the best of New French Cinema, which last year included ‘The Snows of Kilimanjaro’, ‘The Conquest’ and ‘Declaration of War’ amongst others.
Last year's highlight was the special presentation by Lee Yong Kwan, Director, Busan International Film Festival, who presented a selection of the latest Asian Films from Busan.
Lifetime Achievement Award was conferred on the legendary actor Morgan Freeman. Olivia Harrison widow of George Harrison presented the documentary film “George Harrison: Living in the material World”.
The Festival strengthened and consolidated its academic activities with an Indo-German Script Development Workshop scheduled from 11th to the 13th of October just ahead of the festival opening. Speakers at the workshop included the renowned directors Dani Levy, Thorsten Schulz, Screenwriters Anjum Rajabali and Sooni Taraporevala amongst others.
This year's Festival continues to facilitate cinema business with the Mumbai Film Mart, created 'by' the industry, 'for' the industry, 'in' the industry hub - Mumbai, the Film Capital of India. The Mumbai Film Mart saw participation from the biggest Entertainment Industry players, both from India and abroad. In the three days, over 2,000 meeting requests were received, 400 meetings were carried out face to face, while an equal number took place among the senior decision makers from leading film production houses, buyers, sellers, festival programmers and independent filmmakers as they milled around and networked with each other.
Among the many firsts, the Mart attracted all the forthcoming big ticket films such as ‘Ra One’, ‘Don 2’, ‘Rockstar’, ‘Ricky Behl v/s Ladies’, ‘The Dirty Picture’, ‘DesiBoyz’ , tabled for acquisition and distribution in the non-traditional markets for Indian Cinema in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, Germany, France and Latin America. The focus on these countries attracted leading buyers that included Huayi Brothers Media Corp. (China), NikkatsuCorp.(Japan), Happinet Corp.(Japan), Showbox (Korea), Apex Entertainment (Korea), Cj Entertainment (Korea), Top Films (Ukraine), Novo films (France), Rapid Eye (Germany), Im Global (USA), amongst many others.
The International Jury will be responsible choosing the winners out of 14 films, all first features of debut filmmakers around the world, awarding them with a huge cash prize. This way we would like to recognize and encourage the first time filmmakers, going in line with the festival theme of discovery.
Apart from the main international section, there are many other sections including the world cinema, Indian Frame, New Faces in Indian Cinema, Documentaries etc. Please do check out their website www.mumbaifilmfest.com for more information. Last year, it screened about 220 films from 60 countries.
Composition of Mami:
Shyam Benegal, Eminent Filmmaker – Chairman
Amit Khanna, producer, lyricist and Chairman of Reliance Entertainment
Amol Palekar, acclaimed actor-director
Ashutosh Gowarikar (Oscar Nominee - Best Foreign Language Film for Lagaan)
Farhan Akhtar, one of the youngest directors and actor
Jaya Bachchan, acclaimed and award winning actress
Karan Johar, director-producer of some of the most successful films at the box office
Ramesh Sippy, well known filmmaker of Sholay fame
Shabana Azmi, renowned actress who has won acclaim and awards Internationally
Yash Chopra, producer-director, doyen of the Hindi film industry.
Narayan is the Director and head programmer, Anu is second in command.
And there is a selection committee that screens all the competition films – industry people and critics in Mumbai.
About Reliance Big Entertainment
Reliance Big Entertainment Ltd. (Rbel) is the flagship media and entertainment arm of India's Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, with a significant presence in film entertainment (film production, distribution, and exhibition), broadcasting and new media ventures.
Rbel's motion picture brand, Reliance Big Pictures ( www.reliancebigpictures.com ) has built a impressive film production slate in Hindi, English & other Indian languages, which it markets and distributes worldwide. Following Reliance Big Picturess association with Im Global, the company now benefits from an international sales team with an excellent reputation and global presence dedicated to selling its Bollywood and regional language slate. Going into production in November is the $45 million ðDreddð, which Reliance Big Entertainment is co-financing with Im Global.
In Hollywood, Reliance Big Pictures has partnered with Steven Spielberg and Stacey Snider on the formation of DreamWorks Studios and hasdevelopment deals with Nicolas Cage's Saturn Films, Jim Carrey's Jc 23 Entertainment, George Clooney's Smokehouse Productions, Chris Columbus'1492 Pictures, Tom Hanksð Playtone Productions, Brad Pitt's Plan B Entertainment, Jay Roach's Everyman Pictures, Brett Ratnerðs Rat Entertainment,Julia Robertsð Red Om Films and Brian Grazer and Ron Howardðs Imagine Entertainment.
Also worth noting: the competition section of the festival is for first features and carries a Grand prize of Us$100,000 and a Jury prize of Us$50,000.00, with a percentage of the money of allocated to the sales agent who submitted the film. With 14 features, the odds are better than most lotteries… This was last year's lineup http://www.mumbaifilmfest.com/Mami/films_list.php The Salesman, one of the films their U.S. Representative Programmer, Ian Bernie (former longtime Lacma programmer) selected, won the Jury Award and Best Actor.
- 8/31/2012
- Sydney's Buzz
The 13th Mumbai Film Festival, a Reliance entertainment initiative organized by Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (Mami) that kick started on 13th October, concluded this evening, after showcasing over 200 films from 60 countries across various sections at its three venues- Cinemax Versova, Cinemax Sion and Metro Big Cinemas. The gala eight day affair came to an end with its closing film Dolphin's Tale directed by Charles Martin Smith starring Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd amongst others which was followed by the closing night awards function event at 'Sun n Sand' hosted by actress Essha Koppikhar. The event witnessed numerous celebrities that include award winning International and Indian actors, directors and producers. The International lifetime achievement award was given to Morgan Freeman and Indian lifetime achievement award was given to Gulzar. In the International Competition category, The Golden Gateway Award and cash prize of Us $ 100,000 for The Best Film was presented to French...
- 10/21/2011
- by Bollywood Hungama News Network
- BollywoodHungama
The 13th Mumbai Film Festival, a Reliance entertainment initiative organized by Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (Mami) that kick started on 13th October, concluded this evening, after showcasing over 200 films from 60 countries across various sections at its three venues- Cinemax Versova, Cinemax Sion and Metro Big Cinemas. The gala eight day affair came to an end with its closing film Dolphin's Tale directed by Charles Martin Smith starring Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd amongst others which was followed by the closing night awards function event at 'Sun n Sand' hosted by actress Essha Koppikhar. The event witnessed numerous celebrities that include award winning International and Indian actors, directors and producers. The International lifetime achievement award was given to Morgan Freeman and Indian lifetime achievement award was given to Gulzar. In the International Competition category, The Golden Gateway Award and cash prize of Us $ 100,000 for The Best Film was presented to French...
- 10/21/2011
- by Bollywood Hungama News Network
- BollywoodHungama
The 13th Mumbai Film Festival (Mff), a Reliance entertainment initiative organized by Mumbai Academy of Moving Image today announced that Marry Me and Family by Neelesha Barthel has been selected to be presented at the intensive three day workshop. This project was selected from numerous other submitted projects. The screenplay in its third draft had received script development support by the German Federal Film Board in the past and German Broadcaster Zdf is signed in as a co-production partner for the feature film debut of Writer/Director Neelesha Barthel. The Three day workshop will be held from the 11th to the 13th of October 2011, in association with Life Entertainment, "Germany and India 2011-2012- Infinite Opportunities", Primehouse, dffb, Hff and Skw Schwarz Rechtsanwälte. The workshop will bring together some of the best script writers, directors and teachers from India and Germany. Amongst them: Dani Levy (Go for Zucker, My Führer...
- 10/11/2011
- by Bollywood Hungama News Network
- BollywoodHungama
The 13th Mumbai Film Festival (Mff), a Reliance entertainment initiative organized by Mumbai Academy of Moving Image today announced that Marry Me and Family by Neelesha Barthel has been selected to be presented at the intensive three day workshop. This project was selected from numerous other submitted projects. The screenplay in its third draft had received script development support by the German Federal Film Board in the past and German Broadcaster Zdf is signed in as a co-production partner for the feature film debut of Writer/Director Neelesha Barthel. The Three day workshop will be held from the 11th to the 13th of October 2011, in association with Life Entertainment, "Germany and India 2011-2012- Infinite Opportunities", Primehouse, dffb, Hff and Skw Schwarz Rechtsanwälte. The workshop will bring together some of the best script writers, directors and teachers from India and Germany. Amongst them: Dani Levy (Go for Zucker, My Führer...
- 10/11/2011
- by Bollywood Hungama News Network
- BollywoodHungama
Writer Director Neelesha Barthel will present her Wueste-Film-Project Marry Me & Family at the Indo-German Script Development Workshop at 13th Mumbai Film Festival Mumbai, 3 October, 2011. The 13th Mumbai film festival, a Reliance entertainment initiative organized by Mumbai Academy of Moving Image today announced that Marry Me and Family by Neelesha Barthel has been selected to be presented at the intensive three day workshop. This project was selected from numerous other submitted projects. The screenplay in its third draft had received script development support by the German Federal Film Board in the past and German Broadcaster Zdf is signed in as a co-production partner for the feature film debut of Writer/Director Neelesha Barthel. The Three day workshop will be held from the 11th to the 13th of October 2011, in association with Life Entertainment, "Germany and India 2011-2012- Infinite Opportunities", Primehouse, dffb, Hff and Skw Schwarz Rechtsanwalte. The workshop will bring...
- 10/3/2011
- by Bollywood Hungama News Network
- BollywoodHungama
Writer Director Neelesha Barthel will present her Wueste-Film-Project Marry Me & Family at the Indo-German Script Development Workshop at 13th Mumbai Film Festival Mumbai, 3 October, 2011. The 13th Mumbai film festival, a Reliance entertainment initiative organized by Mumbai Academy of Moving Image today announced that Marry Me and Family by Neelesha Barthel has been selected to be presented at the intensive three day workshop. This project was selected from numerous other submitted projects. The screenplay in its third draft had received script development support by the German Federal Film Board in the past and German Broadcaster Zdf is signed in as a co-production partner for the feature film debut of Writer/Director Neelesha Barthel. The Three day workshop will be held from the 11th to the 13th of October 2011, in association with Life Entertainment, "Germany and India 2011-2012- Infinite Opportunities", Primehouse, dffb, Hff and Skw Schwarz Rechtsanwalte. The workshop will bring...
- 10/3/2011
- by Bollywood Hungama News Network
- BollywoodHungama
The 13th Mumbai Film Festival will host an Indo-German script development workshop for screen-writers, directors, producers and film students willing to explore the opportunities in Intercultural storytelling and globally accepted story development between Germany and India.Scheduled to be held from 11 - 13 October, 2011, the workshop will include discussions by global and Indian speakers including director Dani Levy, Ashutosh Gowarikar, Anjum Rajabali, Sooni Taraporevala, Thorsten Schulz and Rajat Kapoor.With discussions on topics scheduled ...
- 9/21/2011
- BusinessofCinema
The 13th Mumbai Film Festival, a Reliance entertainment initiative announced an impressive line-up of about 200 films under various sections films for the festival earlier today at a press conference held by Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (Mami) chairman, Shyam Benegal, trustee Amit Khanna and Mff director Srinivasan Narayanan. Scheduled to be held from October 13 to 20, 2011 with Cinemax Versova as the main hub of the festival and screenings programmed at Metro Big Cinemas and Cinemax Sion, the 13th Mumbai Film Festival will showcase the best of truly global cinema. Shyam Benegal, Chairman, Mami announced that the Brad Pitt starrer Moneyball will be the Opening Film at the festival and Morgan Freeman starrer Dolphin Tale will be the Closing Film. Among the spectacular list of films that will have their India premieres include the highly talked about Melancholia, directed by Lars Von Tier, The Whistle Blower starring Rachel Weiz, George Clooney's...
- 9/20/2011
- by Bollywood Hungama News Network
- BollywoodHungama
The 13th Mumbai Film Festival, a Reliance entertainment initiative announced an impressive line-up of about 200 films under various sections films for the festival earlier today at a press conference held by Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (Mami) chairman, Shyam Benegal, trustee Amit Khanna and Mff director Srinivasan Narayanan. Scheduled to be held from October 13 to 20, 2011 with Cinemax Versova as the main hub of the festival and screenings programmed at Metro Big Cinemas and Cinemax Sion, the 13th Mumbai Film Festival will showcase the best of truly global cinema. Shyam Benegal, Chairman, Mami announced that the Brad Pitt starrer Moneyball will be the Opening Film at the festival and Morgan Freeman starrer Dolphin Tale will be the Closing Film. Among the spectacular list of films that will have their India premieres include the highly talked about Melancholia, directed by Lars Von Tier, The Whistle Blower starring Rachel Weiz, George Clooney's...
- 9/20/2011
- by Bollywood Hungama News Network
- BollywoodHungama
The 13th Mumbai Film Festival will host an Indo-German script development workshop for Screen-Writers, Directors, Producers and Film Students willing to explore the opportunities in intercultural storytelling between Germany and India.
Scheduled to be held from the 11th to the 13th of October 2011, the three day workshop will include discussions by Director Dani Levy (My Fuhrer and Go for Zucker) , Director, Producer and Writer Ashutosh Gowarikar (Lagaan, Swades), Screenwriter Anjum Rajabali (Raajneeti, Aarakshan), screenwriter and Director Sooni Taraporevala (Namesake, Salaam Bombay), Writer and Director Thorsten Schulz (Boxhagenerplatz, In the name of innocence) and Actor, Director and Producer Rajat Kapoor amongst others.
Discussions will be held on various topics like: The secret about stories crossing borders and International influences in national film storytelling.
“Any writer, director and producer who has at least one film to his/her credit can apply for the workshop. Film direction and script writing students from the...
Scheduled to be held from the 11th to the 13th of October 2011, the three day workshop will include discussions by Director Dani Levy (My Fuhrer and Go for Zucker) , Director, Producer and Writer Ashutosh Gowarikar (Lagaan, Swades), Screenwriter Anjum Rajabali (Raajneeti, Aarakshan), screenwriter and Director Sooni Taraporevala (Namesake, Salaam Bombay), Writer and Director Thorsten Schulz (Boxhagenerplatz, In the name of innocence) and Actor, Director and Producer Rajat Kapoor amongst others.
Discussions will be held on various topics like: The secret about stories crossing borders and International influences in national film storytelling.
“Any writer, director and producer who has at least one film to his/her credit can apply for the workshop. Film direction and script writing students from the...
- 9/19/2011
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
Utv World Movies has introduced ‘Premier – The Short Film Competition’, entries for which will open from 23rd February till 15th March 2011. The best of the entries will get a chance to be showcased on Utv World Movies.
The contest will be judged by a panel of three renowned directors – Raj Kumar Gupta, Paresh Mokashi and Sooni Taraporevala. It is open to both amateur and professional film makers.
Contestants need to upload their entries via a ‘youtube’ link (duration: 10 mins or less) via an entry procedure on the Utv World Movies website i.e. www.utvworldmovies.com. The theme for the contest is ‘Premier – implying First Time Ever’.
The winners will also get a chance to work with director Paresh Mokashi. Through this initiative, the channel aims to recognize, handpick and showcase some upcoming talent in the short film segment.
The contest will be judged by a panel of three renowned directors – Raj Kumar Gupta, Paresh Mokashi and Sooni Taraporevala. It is open to both amateur and professional film makers.
Contestants need to upload their entries via a ‘youtube’ link (duration: 10 mins or less) via an entry procedure on the Utv World Movies website i.e. www.utvworldmovies.com. The theme for the contest is ‘Premier – implying First Time Ever’.
The winners will also get a chance to work with director Paresh Mokashi. Through this initiative, the channel aims to recognize, handpick and showcase some upcoming talent in the short film segment.
- 2/22/2011
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
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