All articles by Bhuvan Lall – Page 13
-
News
Bollywood film companies join IPO goldrush
The Indian stock market is set to be hit by a tidal wave of IPOs launched by Bollywood production houses planning to finance expansion plans that range from distribution arms to dotcom start-ups and a digital studio in Mumbai.As many as 35 Hindi feature film production companies are seeking a ...
-
News
Packer, Sahara to form Indian joint venture
Kerry Packer is trailing Rupert Murdoch's footsteps in India where he is negotiating to launch an international sports and events channels with Subrata Roy's Sahara Group.Packer arrived in India on Monday (March 27) for a three-day visit during which he announced his intention to invest $200m in television and entertainment ...
-
News
Star forms alliance with India's UTV
Rupert Murdoch-owned Star TV is taking a 12% stake in Indian broadcaster United Television (UTV), and has formed a strategic alliance with the company to jointly produce content intended for movie theatres, the Internet and TV.Under the terms of the deal, UTV and Star's Indian subsidiary, Star TV India, will ...
-
News
Szabo, Leigh headed for Kerala fest
The International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) has attracted several top film-makers to this year's event, including Istvan Szabo, Mike Leigh, Miklos Jancso and Marco Muller.The festival, to take place from March 31- April 7, has also been granted recognition by the Paris-based International Federation of Film Producers' Associations (FIAPF), ...
-
News
Zee launches English-language movie channel
Indian broadcaster Zee Network launched two 24-hour satellite channels on Saturday (March 18) - an English-language entertainment channel, called Zee English, and an English-language film channel, Zee Movies.Zee has acquired more than 700 films from US and UK companies for the launch, including Warner Bros International Television, MGM and CBS ...
-
News
PentaMedia forms joint venture with Digital Domain
Indian computer graphics company PentaMedia Graphics and US digital effects powerhouse Digital Domain have created a 50:50 joint venture to develop feature-length special effects-driven pictures for the international market. Further details of the venture, which will be based in Hollywood, will be announced in May. However Chennai (Madras)-based PentaMedia said ...
-
News
BBC signs deal with India's Broadcast Worldwide
BBC Worldwide has licensed the BBC branded block BBC Exclusive to India''s Broadcast Worldwide, the proposed network founded by former Star India CEO Rathikant Basu. Rupert Murdoch''s News Corp has a 5% stake in Broadcast Worldwide.The BBC Exclusive brand will be broadcast on the Broadcast Worldwide network in Gujarati, Marathi, ...
-
News
Murdoch unveils plans to pump up Indian investment
Rupert Murdoch''s News Corp is planning a fresh investment of several hundred million dollars in India''s television and information technology markets, including the launch of a raft of new channels to add to Star TV''s present line-up.Murdoch, who is currently on a five-day tour of India, announced plans to add ...
-
News
India's Penta in talks with Digital Domain
Indian computer graphics and animation company Penta Media and US-based Digital Domain are in talks about creating a joint venture.Although details of the talks are not public, the two companies are understood to be discussing both a technical and financial alliance.Meanwhile Penta and Silicon Valley-based 3D animation company 3Dmax Media ...
-
News
Murdoch to visit Indian politicians
Rupert Murdoch will visit India for five days from March 12 to review the expansion of Star TV. The News Corp boss was facing an arrest warrant in India until recently because a participant on the Nikki Tonight show, broadcast on Star, had abused Indian icon Mahatma Gandhi.The visit will ...
-
News
Gandhi film stirs political conflict in India
Following the trouble surrounding Deepa Mehta's Water, a second production filmed in India - Kamal Haasan's Hey Ram, about Mahatma Gandhi's assassination - is stirring controversy in different parts of the country.Several Indian political organisations are angry about what they describe as an incorrect portrayal of Mahatma Gandhi in the ...
-
News
Doordarshan changes name; gains autonomy
Indian state broadcaster Doordarshan will be renamed Prasar Bharati Corporation (Broadcasting Corporation of India) and receive a $250m grant when it becomes a fully fledged autonomous body from April 1 this year.The grant aims to cover the gap in resources Prasar Bharati Corp will meet when it gains autonomy. In ...
-
News
AFM: HBO Asia signs five-picture deal with J&M
HBO Asia has licensed five pictures from London-based production and sales outfit J&M Entertainment, including House On Haunted Hill which was distributed in the US by HBO sister company Warner Bros.The other movies in the deal are The Guilty and History Is Made At Night, both starring Bill Pullman, Bruno, ...
-
News
Star mulls Indian Internet drive
Star TV has joined the rush to invest in Internet ventures by unveiling plans to pump between $50m-$100m into Asian Internet properties including consumer portals in India.The company is planning to take between 10 and 20 per cent equity stakes in popular Indian consumer portals, according to News Corp India ...
-
News
India's GV, Asian Online form webcasting venture
Madras-based production outfit GV Films is linking up with UK internet portal Asian Online to create a joint venture focusing on internet broadcasting and related ventures.A memorandum of understanding was signed in London between GV chairman and managing director G. Venkateswaran and Asian Online on February 18. The board of ...
-
News
Bengal offers security to Mehta's troubled Water
The Indian state of Bengal has offered Deepa Mehta's troubled production, Water, safe passage if the film relocates to Calcutta or elsewhere in Bengal.Bengal chief minister Jyoti Basu said: 'If anyone tries to be disruptive after we grant the film permission to shoot, my government will ensure that such disrupters ...
-
News
Mehta's Water to relocate
Director Deepa Mehta has revealed that after weeks battling with protestors on the set of her film Water, she has decided to shift location from the Indian city of Varanasi."There is a good chance that the sets of Water will now float into the state of Madhya Pradesh, where chief ...
-
News
Mehta's Water off again following suicide attempt
Production on Deepa Mehta's Water has been halted again in the Indian city of Varanasi following a suicide attempt and further protests by local government. The controversial film, the third instalment in Mehta's Fire, Earth and Water trilogy, resumed filming last Thursday after India's federal government over-ruled protests by local ...