Film producer to launch IPO
MUMBAI: India's movie business, the world's most prolific producer which churns out an average of one film every two days, will approach the stock market for the first time next week when a leading film company opens its IPO.
Mukta Arts Ltd, founded by Subhash Ghai who has produced 14 Hindi language films over the past two decades, is in the market to raise one billion rupees ($22 million).
The book building issue, which opens on Monday, has set a floor price of 150 rupees per share. The face value of each share is five rupees.
"The purpose of this IPO is not to make money but to institutionalise the Indian film industry...to make it a clean industry that is well organised," Ghai told a news conference on Thursday.
In recent years Bollywood, the term used to describe India's movie industry which is predominantly based in Bombay, has acquired an unsavoury reputation over finances and so far, banks and financial institutions have mostly shied away from loans to film companies.
Most Hindi films are melodramas filled with violence, romance and song and dance sequences, and are extremely popular. They are often said to be the only binding factor in a diverse country which has more than two dozen languages.
Film company revenues used to rely on payments from cinemna halls but the growth of satellite television, Internet technology and an international audience in the Indian diaspora which is estimated to have a net worth of $100 billion has triggered predictions the industry is in for a boom.
Last month, Madame Tussaud's wax museum in London decided to have for the first time an image of an Indian actor when it chose leading star Amitabh Bachchan.
Global consultancy firm Arthur Andersen in a report published in April said Indian film exports are expected to touch around 147 billion rupees ($3.3 billion) by 2005, from around 15.5 billion rupees in 2000.
The opportunities offered by the new technology as well as the possibility of earnings from in-film advertising has led to a surge in movie production.
The Times of India newspaper said in its Sunday edition last week that 91 films were released from January to June this year, the highest tally recorded for the same period in the last five years.
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Zee plans a chain of 'Ecities'
The concept of entertainment complexes is set to take off in a big way
with the decision of the Zee Group of Companies, to set up
Entertainment Cities in New Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Chandigarh to
begin with. Zee has already bought a cinema hall in New Delhi.
Under the present land byelaws only an existing cinema hall can be
taken over and then converted into a multiplex. Located in West Delhi,
the Eciti will have over six cinema halls, foodcourt with restaurants
offering different cuisines, retail stores offering haute couture and
video games market. And to cater to the teenyboppers, discotheques will
come up in Eciti's where ever possible.
According to a source, Zee has also bought two properties in Mumbai,
and one each in Chandigarh and Ahmedabad as well.
Petroleum giant Reliance Industries Limited has already announced its
plans to set up a multiplex in Mumbai at Bandra-Kurla at a cost of Rs
30 crores.
Unlike New Delhi, Mumbai has no multiplex or a cinema hall with more
than one screen.
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'Deham': India's first sci-fi movie
Indian cinema is about to tread into new domains. To the delight of
the palates jaded with Bollywood's mainstream masala movies, Govind
Nihalani is readying himself with "Deham," probably India's first
science fiction movie.
'Deham' (means body), a bilingual film (English and Hindi) is funded
by Ford Foundation. The movie is based on an award-winning English
play, 'Harvest' by Manjula Padmanabhan. The film stars Kitu Gidwani,
Joy Sengupta, Ali Khan, Surekha Sikri, Mohan Kapoor, Sahila Thatte and
Saloni Mehta. Govind handles the camera too.
Set against 2020, the film is a social sci-fi quickie, as Govind
describes it. It looks at the problems of mankind in the 21st century.
In its 100- minute running time, the film foresees a grim future for
the country's poor, who are forced to become organ donors to the
wealthy to make the ends meet.
On a different plane the movie is also a reflection on interpersonal
relations. In the film, Kitu plays a passionate and neurotic woman
entangled in a complex relationship with a man, played by Joy
Sengupta.
To give a cinematic appeal to the play, Govind has brought about
certain changes in its setting. He wrote the screenplay without
changing the story or compromising the basic idea, but expanded the
characters a little. While the entire play is set in house, Govind has
brought his characters out to the city.
" When I read the play 'Harvest', I found the idea very original,"
says Govind. "And the element of futuristic technology in the play
added to my excitement. And while I was devising the cinematic
structure of the play, I was constantly in touch with Manjula. She
participated in developing additional scenes for the film version."
The film went to floors in mid May and was completed recently after a
regular non-stop seven week shooting schedule.
No doubt, with the release of 'Deham' a new leaf will be turned over
in the history of Indian cinema.
'Deham' is brave attempt by Govind Nihalani and is seen as a harbinger
to a movement that is likely to bring new sensibility and vocabulary
to Indian cinema.
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'Uttara' for Venice festival
Eminent film-maker Buddhadeb Dasgupta's national award-winning Bengali film 'Uttara' (The Wrestlers) has been selected for the competitive section of the prestigious Venice International Film Festival next month.
"We are very impressed by Uttara which we consider a really very strong, very poetic and visually stunning: the best Indian film in years...," said Festival Director Alberto Barbera in a letter to the film-maker who bagged this year's just announced national award (Golden Lotus) as the Best Director.
Uttara has been inspired by the incident of burning of Australian Missionary Graham Staines in Orissa last year and was shot in remote areas of Purulia district. It was shot without any fanfare with Swiss assistance after producers backed out owing to the explosive subject of the film.
The selection of the film assumes significance as it is after 12 years that an Indian film has been selected for the prestigious Venice Film Festival.
Very few Indian films have been invited in this highly celebrated competitive section of the Venice Film Festival. Satyajit Ray's 'Aparajito' was awarded in this festival while Dasgupta's film 'Grihayuddha' was also in Venice competition in 1981 and bagged the Fipresci Award.
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A look at the Top 5 movies of the year 2000
Dulhan Hum Le Jayenge completed 100 days last week and Kaho Naa Pyaar
Hai notched up a superb silver jubilee. The year 2000 saw the release
of about 91 films till June 30th which is a higher figure than the
previous year. Out of these 91 films, only a marginal 7 percent made a
mark at the box office while the rest were duds at the box office.
Looking the top 5 films of the year, the no.1 position goes to Rakesh
Looking the top 5 films of the year, the no.1 position goes to Rakesh
Roshan's Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai which is still going strong in about 84
theatres in the country. The success of this movie gave rise to two
brilliant performers in Hrithik and Anmisha and gave birth to Hrithik
mania which is still spreading like a fever in the country as well as
overseas.
Kya Kehna bagged the second position with it's strong and a
never-before-told story. It bought into limelight fading stars such as
Preity, Saif and Chandrachur and silenced critics who always wrote off
women oriented movies.
The no.3 position goes to Mansoor Khan's Josh. Shahrukh Khan who
desperately needed a hit to counter the Hrithik mania found solace
in this movie. It added an icing on the cake to Aishwarya's rising
graph career and made people sit up and look at Sharad Kapoor's
performance as well as gave one more chance to Chandrachur Singh.
Mansoor Khan could not celebrate the success of this movie as his
mother expired one week after the release.
Hera Pheri which mesmerized the Bombay audiences with it's humorous
and comedy flair bagged the fourth position. It was also a winner in
some of the southern regions. Paresh Rawal emerged as the real hero of
the movie while it proved that Akki and Sunil Shetty could also manage
to do comedy.
Going by the current collections, Refugee bags the fifth position.
Though the film is a major let-down, it has managed to attract
audiences due to the debut of two artistes, Abhishek Bachchan and
Kareena Kapoor and the hype created around the movie.
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Cold war between Salman Khan and Kajol
Kajol is never going to work again with Salman Khan and we are ready to bet on this.
Because things are not going well between Salman Khan and Devgan family. At a party recently, when Kajol quizzed Salman about her papa Shomu Mukherjee's film, Salman started his story that it was a bad film and he just could not digest it. Kajol could not appreciate the fact that it was an insult to her father and cold vibes developed between them. The damage was already done and the two don't care to talk to each other forget giving a smile. For them, the other does not exist at all. And Ajay Devgan has also thrown in his support behind his wife by assuring that Devgan Software and Entertainment Ltd will no longer distribute Salman's movies anymore.
That means Raj Kanwar will have a tough time finding distributors for Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega. Well Salman's stand on this incident : Sach Bola Diya To Darna Kya.
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Swiss people resent the shooting of Bollywood films
The increasing number of Bollywood films being shot in Switzerland has reportedly caused resentment among the Swiss people who have now started complaining against the invasion of Bollywoood.
They say that the shooting blocks roads and disrupts communication. Also the loud music used for shooting the songs adds to their woes. To counter all the resentment, Swiss TV is making a documentary to inform them how all the dancing on the roads, as part of film shoots which they abhor, is a source of extra income to the country. The documentary will be aired on the Swiss TV in October. As many as 38 Indian films were shot in Switzerland Last year.
Let's hope that Swiss does not swish off bollywood from their country.
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Amitabh-Karodpati in More than one way!
Only Amitabh Bachchan could do it. Top the popularity ratings even on the small screen. His adaptation of the hugely popular ionternational show 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire' - 'Kaun Banega Karodpati' for television, has caught the fancy of the entire nation. In fact the entire country sits glued to their sets from monday through Thursday, from 09:00 - 09:45 pm every night; to watch the elegant Mr B host the show. The TRP ratings of the show have gone through the roof already and even Asians living abroad are trying to get hold of it either through channel subscriptions or on video. And ever since a certain participant from Delhi ended up winning rupees twenty-five lakhs (2.5 million) the phone lines to participate in the show have been jammed with calls. So much so that no one can get through. Already all other rival channels are in a panic and currently increasing show budgets and planning a counter-offensive. Short of getting Shah Rukh, Hrithik or Aishwarya to host a show, we doubt anything can match the star power of the mighty (and well-spoken) AB. So what if it's for the small screen.
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Juhi's class sets her apart
A certain class and benevolence has always separated Juhi Chawla from her ilk.
Her upbringing in a family where education, etiquette and propriety were given their due importance, Juhi was bound to imbibe all the sophistication to cultivate herself as a true lady.
A mother heading the hospitality of the Taj Group, primary education in Mumbai's Fort Convent, college education in HR and Sydenham and all those growing up years in South Mumbai led to the formation of the refined young actress of Bollywood.
A thorough friend, Juhi's commitment and a sense of attachment to her friends is for life. According to filmi journo and Chawla's college mate, Omar Qureshi, Juhi is a person to stick by her friends, newcomers or stars. That is how her firm friendship with Shah Rukh Khan started. SRK was too grateful to star Juhi for agreeing to work opposite him, a newcomer then, in Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman.
The story of a sparky showdown between the actress and her first ever filmi friend, Aamir Khan, is quite famous. It is sad that such good friends (it is told that Juhi refused to proceed with any of her family celebrations till Aamir and his wife arrived) never really got back.
It just took Aamir to crack a joke at Juhi's expense when the actress was not in a good frame of mind. That was it. She blew it off. And the sensitive Aamir never really forgave her. History of that sort should not repeat itself. Juhi's trustworthiness and trusting nature makes her a precious friend to lose.
But if grapevines are to be believed, Ms Chawla has again been hurt. This time it is another close buddy and business partner, Shah Rukh Khan.
SRK, reportedly, has been ignoring Chawla, partner in his company 'Dreamz Unlimited'
in making decisions for the company's work, including finalizing details of the company's next production Ashoka, The Great. This has peeved the lady. One only hopes Juhi does not take it too close to her heart. If she does, it will be SRK's turn to lose a prized pal.
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Sholay - big party
So 'Sholay' completes 25 years since it's release date on the 12th of August this year. And the Sippy's are planning the mother of all parties to celebrate the momentous event of probably the greatest (and most successful) Indian movie ever made. The Taj Mahal hotel in Bombay has been chosen as the venue (they are also going to be part sponsors of the party) and an entire set of Ramgarh village is going to be constructed there. The Sippys are pretty excited about it too and are planning a guest list of a thousand people (probably more than those living in Ramgarh in the movie). It is creating a lot of anticipation and sponsors are pouring forth to shell out money to pump the event. Arre o samba, party kab hai, kab hai party?
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