Pickle May 2014 Cannes Film Festival Edition

INDIAN ENTERTAINMENT BIZ GUIDE

Cannes Film Market Issue

M a y 2014

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INDIAN ENTERTAINMENT BIZ GUIDE

Cannes Film Market Issue

M a y 2014

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Meet us at Palais Level 01 Stand No. 22.02 – 24.01

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We can take I sector to $ 1 Monetization in Media will be Our Focus Block your diary: Sept 19-20, New Delhi, India

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at

New Delhi

• • • • • •

We welcome business delegation from all over the world Meet top India M&E leaders Focused B2B meetings Meet M&E offshore companies Meet with Indian buyers Meet with DTH, VOD and digital platform providers

September 19-20 2014

e Indian M&E $ 100 billion

us

at India – The Big Picture Summit 2014 Get in touch Kavita Saini Ph: +91-11 - 45771016 Email: kavita.saini@cii.in Website: www.ciibigpicture.com

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Call For Entries International Competition for the First Feature Films of Directors Above The Cut World Cinema India Gold 2014 New Faces in Indian Cinema Film India Worldwide The Real Reel Dimensions Mumbai Retrospective ï 0XPEDL )LOP )HVWLYDO RIIHUV FDVK DZDUGV DPRXQWLQJ WR DERXW 10,000,000 INR (200,000 US$ approx) ï )LOPV SURGXFHG DIWHU 1RYHPEHU VW DUH HOLJLEOH IRU participation in the 16th Mumbai Film Festival.

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06-05-2014 15:23:50

M FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK

S W

e are delighted to present the latest issue of Pickle to delegates at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and Market. India’s footprint at Cannes is visible - everywhere.

Artistic Director of the Cannes Film Festival Thierry Fremaux made a point when he said that the new breed of Indian filmmakers wants to be Martin Scorsese of cinema and acknowledged the changing Indian cinema.

Kanu Behl’s Titli is in the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival. The Indian focus will be on the parallel Cannes Critics Week, where Mumbai-based animation filmmaker Gitanjali Rao will be in competition with the 18-minute TrueLoveStory. It is a great leap for India at Cannes this year that YRF Entertainment’s US movie Grace of Monaco will be the opening film.

The India Pavilion is located at the 112 Village International, Riviera. The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, in partnership with FICCI, is organising the India Pavilion.

It will showcase Indian cinema across linguistic, cultural and regional diversities, with the aim of forging an increasing number of international partnerships in various realms.

In addition to the Indian Pavilion, CII, for the 12th consecutive year will be

at the Cannes Film Market at Palais (Stand 22.02-24.01) with exhibitors, B2B meetings and promote film locations of Indian State Governments.

Indian showbiz’s Khans dominate the Cannes Film Market. Top Indian studios are pitching with Shah Rukh Khanstarrer ‘Happy New Year’, Aamir Khan’s ‘PK’ and Salman Khan’s ‘Kick’. In addition to ‘Counting Dreams’, Fox Star Studios India will pitch for ‘Bang Bang’, ‘Bombay Velvet’ etc. Eros International’s big push is for Rajinikanth’s’ Kochadaiiyaan’. Viacom 18 Motion Pictures will focus on ‘Margarita, With A Straw’ directed by Shonali Bose.

The National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), which has emerged as the gateway for new talented filmmakers from India to make a mark in the international film circuit, is at Cannes Film Market with five brand new films for sales and distribution.

The Indian entertainment industry has all the pointers of achieving the same global success that the Indian IT industry has achieved. To be a gamechanger, all that India needs are few policy reforms and we look forward to rapid changes and new directions when the new government takes office soon.

Our next issue will focus on Annecy and MIFA. Feel free to email your thoughts and suggestions.

n vidyasagar pickle media nvidyasagar@gmail.com, www.picklemag.com Pickle Volume VII 8th edition Published by Pickle Media Private Limited Email: natvid@gmail.com ● Mumbai ● Chennai No.2, Habib Complex Dr Durgabhai Deshmukh Road RA Puram CHENNAI 600 028

Printed by Bon Graphics New #7, Arumugam Nagar, Dayalan Garden, Chinna Porur, Chennai – 600 116 Mobile: +91 9884816263 Email: bon_graphics@yahoo.co.in

Editorial Coordinators : M Sai Email: natvid@gmail.com

For advertising: natvid@gmail.com

C

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Pickle Handbook 2013 Copyright 2013 by Pickle Media Pvt Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Pickle is an ad supported business guide tracking the filmed entertainment business in India. This is a curtain raiser issue for CII Big Picture Summit 2013.

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Layout Design: M Agnes Julie Consulting Photo Editor: K K Laskar

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MARKET

SCREENING

COUNTING DREAMS Thursday, 15.05.2014, 17:30, GRAY 4

Meet us in Cannes: Fox Star Studios India 11

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06-05-2014 15:23:56

Cannes 2014: That

je ne sais quoi!

It’s that Croisette time of the year again. The stage is set for the 67th Cannes Film Festival and 18 masterworks are competing for this year’s Palme d’Or. Saibal Chatterjee takes a Pickle peek at the competition

T

he 18 films in Competition at the 67th Cannes Film Festival add up to a truly amazing line-up.

Among the red-hot titles are new works from some of the biggest names in world cinema, including the venerable but never easy to decipher Jean-Luc Godard, who, at 83, is back in a league that he is no stranger to.

Two separate battles within the Palme d’Or race will be of particular interest to cineastes, especially those in Canada and the United Kingdom.

One of these is a head-to-head between the two most revered British filmmakers working today – Ken Loach, 71, and Mike Leigh, 71. The other is a three-cornered Canadian face-off involving David Cronenberg, Atom Egoyan and Xavier Dolan.

Loach is vying for the festival’s top prize with a feature film that he has told the world is going to be his last, Jimmy’s Hall. It is a drama about a Communist activist who was deported from Ireland in the early 20th century.

Loach could be prevented from winning his second Palme d’Or by Leigh, who is weighing in with the keenly anticipated Mr Turner, a biopic of 19th century Brit-

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ish painter JMW Turner. Leigh, like Loach, is a previous winner on the Croisette and is in with a chance of a second Croisette triumph.

The aforementioned Canadian trio will be tilting at their first golden finish in Cannes with films that are as far apart in spirit and substance from each other as the directors themselves are.

Cronenberg competes with the Robert Pattinson starrer Maps to the Stars, which is a satire on contemporary Hollywood, while Egoyan, who has been off the boil for a while now, has The Captive in the fray. The film is a psychological thriller that revolves around a man whose daughter is kidnapped.

Quebecois director Dolan’s Mommy is described as a film about a widow raising a troubled teenager with the aid of a mysterious neighbour.

The filmmaker is only 25 years old but he is already a Cannes veteran – his first three films have all been screened in the festival. Mommy is, however, Dolan’s first film in official Competition in Cannes.

If Dolan wins the big prize, he will become the second youngest director to do so after Louis Malle, who was 24 when he won the trophy for The Silent World in 1956.

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06-05-2014 15:24:00

CANNES 2014

GRACE OF MONACO

FOXCATCHER

HOMESMAN

JIMMY’s HALL

Significantly, the president of the Cannes jury this year is Jane Campion, the only woman director to have ever taken home the Palme d’Or. She won for The Piano in 1993

MR TURNER 13

SAINT LAURENT

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06-05-2014 15:24:00

TITLI

Un Certain Regard

Cast: Shashank Arora, Ranvir Shorey, Amit Sial

INDIA AT CANNES

Directed by Kanu Behl

Produced by Dibakar Banerjee In the badlands of Delhi’s dystopic underbelly, Titli, the youngest member of a violent car-jacking brotherhood plots a desperate bid to escape the ‘family’ business. His struggle to do, so is countered at each stage by his indignant brothers, who finally try marrying him off to ‘settle’ him.

Titli, finds an unlikely ally in his new wife, caught though she is in her own web of warped reality and dysfunctional dreams.

They form a strange, beneficial partnership, only to confront their inability to escape the bindings of their family roots.

But is escape, the same as freedom?

Godard, too, has never won the Palme d’Or. So, will Adieu au Langage (Goodbye to Language), a 3D film, break the jinx for him? The last time Godard had a film in Cannes was in 2010 – Film Socialisme played in Un Certain Regard – but he skipped the festival. This time around, the nouvelle vague pioneer is expected to make the trip to Cannes in person.

If Godard gets his hand around the Palme d’Or, he will be the oldest ever Cannes winner. The legendary Akira Kurosawa was 70 the year (1980) his Kagemusha was adjudged the best.

The other Competition films that will be closely tracked this year are Olivier Assayas’ Sils Maria, Russian auteur Andrei Zvyagintsev’s Leviathan and Turkish helmer Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s Winter’s Sleep.

Two-time Palme d’Or winners JeanPierre and Luc Dardenne will look to add one more with Two Days, One Night. The film is a thriller in which French actor Marion Cotillard plays a character that has only 48 hours to convince her coworkers to forgo their remuneration so that she can keep her job.

Also in the running for the big prize are

Hollywood veteran Tommy Lee Jones’ second directorial effort The Homesman, Michel Hazanivicius’s The Search, Bennet Miller’s Foxcatcher, Bertrand Bonello’s YSL biopic Saint Laurent, and Mauritanian-born, Mali-raised director Abderrahmane Sissako’s Timbuktu, inspired by the real-life story of an unmarried couple that was stoned to death by Islamists in 2012 in northern Mali.

South America, usually a strong presence in Cannes Competition, has only one film in the race this year – relatively unknown Argentine director Damian Szifron’s Wild Tales.

The Competition has two films by female directors this year: Alice Rohrwacher’s Le Meraviglie (loosely translated as The Marvel) and Japanese filmmaker Naomi Kawase’s Futatsume no Mado (Still the Water), a romance about two teenagers isolated on a remote island.

This is a clear improvement on the past two years. Last year Cannes had only one woman-helmed film in Competition – Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi’s A Castle in Italy.

The year before, it had none.

Significantly, the president of the Cannes

Saibal Chatterjee is an independent New Delhi-based film critic and writer who has worked on the staff of several leading publications, served on the editorial board of Encyclopaedia Britannica’s volume on Hindi cinema and authored a biography of poet-filmmaker Gulzar.

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06-05-2014 15:24:03

TRUE LOVE STORY

tain rd

Critics Week

Script and Animation: Gitanjali Rao

Producer: Gitanjali Rao True Love Story is a journey through the seductive, treacherous streets of Bombay. In a city soaked in Bollywood dreams, it moves from the fantastical to the viscerally real. True Love Story is a painted ode to romance.

DIRECTOR’S NOTE: Bollywood is a religion in India. Yet what is it that makes millions of people believe in it so strongly, follow it with such passion, and celebrate it with such fervour? When life in reality for most Indians, is a day to day struggle for survival, steeped in deprivation, homelessness, lack of education and basic human rights, people go to the cinemas to forget reality. And Bollywood offers that fantasy for a few hours that becomes a religion.

Yet, when the same fantasy can be mistakenly believed for reality, the balance is lost. This film is an attempt at demystifying what Bollywood means to many a 17-year-old in love on the streets of Bombay. jury this year is Jane Campion, the only woman director to have ever taken home the Palme d’Or. She won for The Piano in 1993.

Female representation in Un Certain Regard is markedly more robust, with as many as six names on the distaff side.

The opening film of the section, Party Girl, has been co-directed by two women – Marie Amachoukeli and Claire Burger – along with a man, Samuel Theis.

Four other titles in the 19-film lineup boost the tally of women – French actress-director Asia Argento’s Incompresa, Pascale Ferran’s Bird People, Austrian filmmaker Jessica Hausner’s Amour Fou and South Korean July Jung’s A Girl at My Door.

That apart, the omnibus Bridges of Sarajevo, an anthology of 14 shorts made by European directors to commemorate the outbreak of World War I, has films by five women – Teresa Villaverde, Isild le Besco, Ursula Meier, Angela Schanelec and Aida Begic. The festival hosts a Special Screening of the film.

A debut film from India, Kanu Behl’s Titli, has made the Un Certain Regard cut. It is the country’s third film in four

years to make it to the section that is dedicated to new filmmakers and experiment-oriented cinema.

Two popular actors also have films in Un Certain Regard. Ryan Gosling, the star of Drive and Only God Forgives (both of which were in Cannes), has his first film as director, Lost River (re-titled from How to Catch a Monster).

French thespian Mathieu Amalric is in the mix with his latest directorial outing, The Blue Room.

The official selection has several important documentaries, including The Salt of the Earth, a film about legendary Brazilian photographer Sebastiao Salgado which has been co-directed by Wim Wenders, and Belarusian director Sergei Loznitsa’s record of the unrest in Ukraine, Maidan.

The festival will also see special screenings of Stephanie Valloatto’s Cartoonists – Foot Soldiers of Democracy and Los Angeles filmmaker Polsky Gabe’s Red Army, an exploration of the Russian ice hockey scene in the Cold War years. Red Army has been executive produced by Werner Herzog and Jerry Weintraub.

Everything you need as a film professional is here, re-introduce yourself to cinando.com Powered by the Festival de Cannes with the support of:

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06-05-2014 15:24:04

INDIA @ CANNES

Shri Bimal Julka

Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India

POLICY INITIATIVE

We Aim to Help Indian Films Transition to Global Markets he India Pavilion at Cannes will provide a platform for Indian filmmakers and producers to navigate the international waters in order to market their films in the world stage and hold fruitful discussions to forge important ties towards co-production arrangements.

T

The global interest in India and in Indian films has grown manifold in recent times. While the mainstream commercial Indian film sector continues to grow, a new crop of Indian filmmakers has emerged in recent times. This is reflected in the Indian films that have been selected this year at Cannes. Our films and actors are now crossing over from diaspora audiences to mainstream international markets, and as a government body, our aim is to make this transition smooth by creating an enabling regulatory environment for both our film fraternity and the international one.

India has co-production agreements with nine countries. We encourage filmmakers to make use of this collaborative tool. To give a fillip to the film sector, the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting is working on various initiatives to facilitate growth. We are working on single window clearance mechanism for shooting .

To curb the menace of film piracy, new anti-piracy initiatives are being taken. The Ministry is launching awareness campaigns with industry bodies to fight piracy.

We have introduced some new incentives for budding filmmakers during the centenary year.

The first edition of National Students Film Festival and National Students Film Award was held

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The biggest strength of India is the diverse range of its vast 1.2 billion population, which embraces all kinds of cinema in Film and Television Institute of India last April; this year, the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Training Institute organized the second edition of the student festival and awards in Kolkata.

The 45th edition of the annual International Film Festival of India (IFFI) will be held in November 20-30, 2014 in Goa. The India Pavilion will provide information, regulations and entry forms for facilitating entries for IFFI .We look forward to seeing you at Goa. The biggest strength of India is its diverse range of 1.2 billion population, which embraces all kinds of cinema ,and content remains king for our film-makers. This version of the India Film Guide lists the 2013 winners of the National Film Awards and we hope they evoke passion and interest amongst the film-loving international community.

We welcome you to our country and hope our unmatched locales will bring out the fullest potential of your scripts.

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INDIA FOLLOWS AN OPEN DOOR POLICY FOR THE FILM SECTOR 100% FDI IN FILM SECTOR COVERING FILM FINANCING, PRODUCTION, EXHIBITION, MARKETING AND DISTRIBUTION 17

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06-05-2014 15:55:50

INDIA AT CANNES Sessions at the India Pavilion 14-25 May 2014

SCHEDULE

AT THE INDIA PAVILION | 112 VILLAGE INTERNATIONAL The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, in partnership with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), is organising the India Pavilion at the 67th Cannes Film Festival, May 2014.The Pavilion will showcase Indian cinema across linguistic, cultural and regional diversities, with the aim of forging an increasing number of international partnerships in the realms of distribution, production, filming in India, script development and technology, and promoting film sales and syndication THURSDAY, MAY 15 12.30 PM

INAUGURATION OF INDIA PAVILION His Excellency Shri Arun K. Singh, Indian Ambassador to France Shri Bimal Julka, Secretary, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India Dr A. Didar Singh, Secretary General, FICCI Uday Chopra, Actor and Producer Arash Amel, Screenwriter, Grace of Monaco Dr Kamal Haasan, Chairman, FICCI MEBC Ramesh Sippy, Filmmaker, Chairman, NFDC, & Co-Chair, FICCI Entertainment Committee Jerome Paillard, Executive Director Addresses His Excellency Shri Arun K. Singh, Indian Ambassador to France Shri Bimal Julka, Secretary, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India

THE MAKING OF GRACE OF MONACO With Uday Chopra, Actor and Producer Arash Amel, Screenwriter, Grace of Monaco 2.30 PM

THE JOURNEY TO CANNES – IN CONVERSATION WITH THE CAST AND CREW OF TITLI Panel Dibakar Banerjee Kanu Behl Ranveer Shorey Actors from Titli

FRIDAY, MAY 16 2.30 PM

CO-PRODUCTION: MERGING RESOURCES TO CREATE MAGIC Panel discussion and interaction with industry representatives between key countries and India, focusing on potential co-production arrangements for mutual benefit.

Shri Bimal Julka, Secretary, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India Panel Dave Gibson, CEO, New Zealand Film Commission Carolle Brabant, CEO, Telefilm Canada Nina Lath Gupta, Managing Director, NFDC Cindy Shyu, CEO, Lighthouse Productions, China Gayithiri Batra, Founder, Kleos Entertainment Group John Penotti, Ivanhoe Productions, USA Ritesh Batra, Producer and Filmmaker, India Moderated by: Bobby Bedi, Producer and Filmmaker, India 3.30 PM

IN CONVERSATION WITH INDIAN CINEMA LEGEND DR KAMAL HAASAN

Keynote

Followed by a discussion on:

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SATURDAY, MAY 17

SUNDAY, MAY 18

2.30 PM

4.00 PM

SINGLE WINDOW CLEARANCE: MAKING INDIA THE NEXT STOP FOR FILM SHOOTING

PROMOTING CINEMA: THE ROLE OF FILM FESTIVALS AND MARKETS

Presentation Raghvendra Singh, Additional Secretary (Films), Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India Panel Colin Burrows, CEO, Special Treats Pierre Assouline, West East Films Robyn Kershaw, Producer, Australia Supran Sen, Film Federation of India

Panel discussion with organizers of international film festivals and film markets Shankar Mohan, Director, International Film Festival of India Cameron Bailey, Director, Director, Toronto Film Festival Marit van den Elshout, Manager, Cinemart, Rotterdam International Film Festival Dorothee Wenner, Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlinale, Berlin Shivani Pandya, MD, Dubai International Film Festival Guneet Monga, CEO Sikhya Entertainment

4.00 PM

MEET THE INDIAN FILMMAKERS AT CANNES An interactive session with all Indian filmmakers in Cannes Sudhir Mishra Dibakar Banerjee Dr Kamal Haasan

Moderated by: Colin Burrows, CEO, Special Treats Productions

NETWORKING AT THE INDIA PAVILION THURSDAY, MAY 15

SATURDAY, MAY 17

SUNDAY, MAY 18

5.00 PM

11.00 AM

5.00 PM

FELICITATION OF TITLI – NETWORKING RECEPTION HOSTED

BY MINISTRY OF INFORMATION & BROADCASTING, GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

NETWORKING BRUNCH COHOSTED BY THE MINISTRY OF INFORMATION & BROADCASTING, GOVERNMENT OF INDIA, AND SCREEN AUSTRALIA

NETWORKING RECEPTION COHOSTED BY MINISTRY OF INFORMATION & BROADCASTING, GOVERNMENT OF INDIA, AND FILM FEDERATION OF INDIA

FRIDAY, MAY 16

5.00 PM

5.00 PM

NETWORKING RECEPTION CO-HOSTED BY MINISTRY OF INFORMATION & BROADCASTING, GOVERNMENT OF INDIA, AND NEW ZEALAND FILM COMMISSION

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NETWORKING RECEPTION CO-HOSTED BY MINISTRY OF INFORMATION & BROADCASTING, GOVERNMENT OF INDIA, AND GERMAN FILMS SERVICE

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FICCI AT CANNES FICCI has powered the Indian media and entertainment sector a lot. On behalf of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, FICCI has organizee the India Pavilion at Cannes this year.

FICCI’s annual event in India- FICCI FRAMES- is Asia’s biggest convention in the business ederation of Indian Chambers of Commerce (FICCI), organisers of the India Pavilion in partnership with Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, plays a vital role in India’s growth story. Through the last fifteen years, FICCI has been instrumental in bringing about several policy changes through consistent dialogue with policy-makers and stakeholders.

F

Skill Development NSDC.

FICCI has played an important role in getting industry status to Indian film sector. FICCI’s annual flagship event -- FICCI FRAMES is dubbed as Asia’s Biggest Convention on the business of Media & Entertainment bring together 2000 delegates, 200 speakers in over 35 sessions across three days.

“My goal and objective will be to work with you all to further reinforce this community and accelerate the growth of the industry. We all have made tremendous progress to show for the last two decades: as a community, we have shown an admirable commitment to enthrall Indians and the Indian diaspora with compelling content,” says Uday Shankar, Chairman, FICCI Media & Entertainemnt Committee and CEO, Star India.

The 16th Edition of FICCI FRAMES is slated for March 12-15, 2015, Mumbai. Over the years’ FICCI FRAMES has become a force to be reckoned with, evolving into a multi-faceted convention, covering the entire gamut of Media & Entertainment.

Delegates from 35 countries attend FICCI FRAMES. Every year, the partner country leads the foreign delegation at FICCI FRAMES with a specific focus and objective. The collaboration at FICCI FRAMES opens windows to treaties, technology, new ventures and business deals.

The Master Class and Workshop series at FICCI FRAMES brings top global gurus who will sharpen your industry knowledge and teach new concepts to further your growth in the domain you specialise in. FICCI also leads the Media and Entertainment Skills Council jointly with the Sector Skills Council of the National

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The Indian entertainment industry has achieved many milestones and soared over roadblocks with ease. Indian film industry veteran late Yash Chopra called Yashji had played a pivotal role in building Media and Entertainment as a cohesive community with a clear identity, and made FICCI FRAMES its most distinguished platform.

Well-known filmmaker Karan Johar, is the Chairman, FICCI FRAMES. The FICCI-KPMG M&E Sector Report and The Law Book by FICCI-Amarchand Mangaldas are the Bibles of the Indian showbiz industry. For a large number of media companies, the insights from the report help plan for the future and also fi netune business plans. FICCI FRAMES has been consistently releasing the annual report of the sector and the Law Book since 2001.

FICCI BAF Awards recognise talent in animation, gaming and VFX space at its annual award ceremony.

It receives over 500 entries from across 15 countries every year.

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06-05-2014 15:55:53

STAR FROM INDIA

KAMAL HAASAN BELIEVES India is a Great Laboratory of Filmmaking Deciphering the workings of brand Kamal Haasan is a tricky proposition for many. Not so for S Raghunath, who tracks actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan closely and runs into his mind to capture a few insights from this multifaceted maverick have had the opportunity on some occasions to discuss the Indian entertainment industry with Kamal Haasan. I also follow his work closely as I teach and research aspects relating to the business and organization of the media and entertainment industry. To me, he is an astute entertainment entrepreneur (though he may vehemently deny it) and a consummate artiste. What’s indisputable is that his influence extends far beyond just his movie credits.

I

Kamal Haasan is an important commercial force in South Indian cinema and his vision for the future of feature film business can demolish any opposition that gets into his innovative ways of creating, producing and distributing feature films domestically and internationally.

Kamal Haasan, who was at IIMB to inaugurate Vista 2013, an industry interaction festival of IIMB held in September 2013, is one of the few professionals in the Indian film industry who has been very keen on developing Centres of Excellence for Media and Entertainment.

He believes that management education is a necessity for everyone in the film industry. He has even urged the Prasad Institute in Chennai to offer a film course to students in Management schools. He strongly believes that Management professionals in the Media and Entertainment business must learn the basics of filmmaking.

Management professionals can make considerable difference to the strategic positioning of the media and entertainment companies and

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help them adapt to the economic and political changes happening in the country. There is work cut out for management professionals to create and manage entities that distribute, bank and own intellectual copyright. Angst, passion and urge are very vague words to him though he is an artiste par excellence. There are areas in the film industry that are ‘mission critical’, like scheduling and budgeting that do not attract professional attention. I recall him saying: “What we currently have in the film industry is only chaos management and not real management.” So what is his vision?

Haasan wants the Indian feature film industry to learn to focus on cost advantage, resulting in the production of entertainment content at the lowest possible cost, and keep increasing returns so that it becomes a very attractive industry that pays for experimentation. He believes India is a great laboratory of feature film making and can be a trendsetter even for Hollywood. He is of the opinion that India is not far behind in concept - it’s in the construct that our film industry fails. He is of the view that Hollywood benefited from the expertise of World War II veterans. With the skills they possessed, they became mechanics, sound engineers, lighting experts, plumbing experts and the industry became more professional thanks to the skills they brought into it. In Indian film industry, we need such skill sets. As we do not have them, we must create such skill sets, he feels.

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Kamal Haasan Actor, Director, Producer, and Chairman, FICCI MEBC

Kamal Haasan, 59, is one of India’s most feted film stars and an industry maverick. Long acclaimed for his method acting and encyclopedic insights into the art and craft of cinema, the Chennaibased Haasan has been one of the Indian film industry’s biggest stars over the last three decade, having acted in over 200 films.

Haasan is in Cannes Film Festival and Market. He is also the chairman of FICCI MEBC (South).

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06-05-2014 15:55:55

Haasan once remarked: “Our industry makes me think that we are like great rice eaters with no paddy fields…Who will sow? We know cooking and we know eating but we have no crop! We often see an off-time autorickshaw driver coming in as a light man; a thug comes in as a stuntman. Beach boys who do some adventure stuff slowly come into the industry and become stuntmen. There are no safety training measures or skill-imparting schools.”

He said he hopes to target all of them by setting up a centre that can impart the required capabilities.

Improving the know-how of the supporting industries can help develop the Indian feature film industry’s competitive advantage.

They are an integral part of the movie making industry: the talent agencies, the music and recording industry, trade industry, press, specialized research firms, the creative class and the technicians. Haasan believes an impressive level of industry know-how and talent developed through formal schools of relevant education and training should build and maintain the competitive advantage of the Indian movie industry as a whole.

He also believes that a quality film is always made with true talent and not just stars. “It is widely believed that K Balachander (a leading Tamil film director-producer) discovered me; I say he invented me,” Kamal Haasan once admitted in a conversation. He believes that the Indian film industry must develop and nurture marketing capabilities. He rues the fact that the industry is so closed that stakeholders don’t want a DTH happening because they believe it is a diversionary tactic or a renegade attempt at nothing useful.

Entertainment products like feature films have a shelf life including theatrical release, home entertainment, movie on demand, pay per view and pay TV. The exclusivity and the selection of each of these windows for delivery enable producers to practice price discrimination and capture a larger share of the value generated by their products. Feature films as products are expensive to produce but cheap to reproduce. The marketing costs of widely released feature films are almost equivalent to costs of producing the feature film.

And the release strategy that Haasan would like to follow is to capture larger and more diversified revenue streams as opposed to the risky business of relying on revenue generated

from theatrical exhibitions. In Haasan’s mind the relevance of the revenue generated by the first week at the box office has not been the only path to solvency as the DTH exploitation of the properties under copyright have increased their importance. He recognizes that the television market has access to advertising revenue and subscription revenue streams.

He does not think very highly of the Rs 100crore (Rs 1 billion) club concept. His argument: “We are a billion people and films are watched almost everywhere. At Rs 100 a ticket, what is Rs 100 crore? Is it a celebration?”

When we were discussing what management education can do for the industry, he said to me that he hoped it would cure the industry of its “head in the clouds” weakness and its megalomania. “A director should realize that he is the captain only of his ship not of the entire fleet. The art and the applause are all fine but we need effective management. Even the light boy should know what the business is all about,” he said.

We spoke about the 50 years that he has spent in the film industry, and he quipped, “I spent 25 years fumbling… I was learning on the job.” When he did 200 films, he said he felt like he had just completed his schooling. His journey in the film industry has been one where he had to keep constantly updating. Most industry people hate workshops but Haasan would say, “If Shakespeare comes today he will have to learn screenplay writing. He may take only two days to learn what took me two years but even Shakespeare will have to take classes and workshops. That’s the only way one can stay relevant in this profession”.

A passionate artiste, he understands that skills need training and updating. He went to the US when he was 29 and started taking screenplay classes. He was already a successful actor but in New York he learnt to marshal his skills and learnt the importance of sharing knowledge.

The first thing he did when he returned was to set an example by showing that there were no secrets in his skills. There was no magic wand; there was only technique.

He shifted to doing one film at a time. Now this implied that he wasn’t doing six films a year and his income would go down. It was a calculated leap of faith he took and it worked.

He did one film and his remuneration shot up by ten times. He became the change he was demanding.

Dr. S Raghunath is Dean (Admin) and a Professor of Corporate Strategy and Policy at Indian Institute of Management Bangalore. At IIM Bangalore he offers an elective course on Strategic Management In Media and Entertainment Industry in the executive post graduate programme and general management programme for Media and Film and Television Industry Professionals. He offers an elective course on “E Business Models and Strategies”.

He has written case studies on topics that include leadership and management challenges of Media and Entertainment Business.

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CII AT CANNES Apart from promoting select Indian states as ideal shooting locales globally, the CII Booth at the Palais area would also be coordinating B2B meetings between Indian and international stakeholders he Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has been representing the India participation at Cannes for more than a decade, positioning the Indian Entertainment industry on the global landscape. Apart from promoting select Indian states as ideal shooting locales globally, the CII Booth at the Palais area would also be coordinating B2B meetings between Indian and international stakeholders.

India’s participation at Cannes is aimed at not only promoting the Indian film industry, but also enhancing Trade and Investment for this sector and building ‘Brand India’ at Cannes.

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This year, CII also aims to promote Indian Services through Services Export Promotion Council (SEPC), an apex trade body set up by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India to facilitate service exporters of India.

CII will facilitate one-to-one B2B meetings, display brochures at the booth and poster space for companies. CII’s B2B Stand at the Cannes Film Market 2014, Palais will have participa-

tion from Indian showbiz companies and various tourism boards. State Tourism boards of Maharashtra, Gujarat will be present with us to highlight India’s treasured locations to attract global filmmakers and producers.

At Cannes, CII M&E Division will project its annual flagship conference ‘The Big Picture Summit’ would take place on 19 - 20 September 2014 at New Delhi with the objective of “Taking Indian M&E industry to $100 billion”.

The theme for this year is ‘Monetization strategies’ and we cordially invite international delegations and participation for the Summit. Visit our booth for more details.

With 28 States, 67 languages, 850 million people under the age of 35, five hundred TV channels, three billion cinema ticket sales and no major restrictions, India offers immense opportunity for filmmakers not only to shoot in India, but simultaneously work on an Indian version of the film that will give business access in India. And, there are no restrictions to dub and release the film in as many as five languages.

Everything you need as a film professional is here, re-introduce yourself to cinando.com Powered by the Festival de Cannes with the support of:

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06-05-2014 15:55:55

Ashok Amritraj Chairman and CEO Hyde Park Entertainment Group

Ashok Amritraj has been to Cannes these last 25 years and Hyde Park is, of course, a major player in the global marketplace. It will screen two films at Cannes- ‘Midnight Sun’ directed by Roger Spottiswoode and ‘Every Secret Thing’ starring Elizabeth Banks.

This year, Amritraj looks forward to being CII’s Brand Ambassador at the festival, and hosting a mixture of Indian and International PICKLE IN FACEBOOK www.picklemag.in 28 pickleand entertainment guide CII LIKE filmmakers executives biz at various events.

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06-05-2014 15:55:55

THE FACE OF INDIA AT CANNES

HOLLYWOOD WILL NEVER Be Able to Beat Indian Movies in India Hollywood maven Ashok Amritraj will be the Confederation of Indian Industry’s brand ambassador at Cannes 2014. He spoke at length to Praveen Dass, independent filmmaker, on the fast-changing dynamics of the global film business With over 100 films to his credit, Hollywood movie producer Ashok Amritraj, chairman of the Los Angeles-based Hyde Park Entertainment, is the most prominent Indian-origin player in Hollywood. The Chennai-born Amritraj - who began life as an international tennis pro alongside brothers Vijay and Anand before taking up film production – recently launched his autobiography, ‘Advantage Hollywood’ (Published by Harper Collins India) tells us of the challenges of making films for both US and international audiences; and on hoping and waiting for that $100 million Indian crossover movie Is there any key difference between the Indian approach to filmmaking and the Hollywood one?

I’d say writing. The whole art of writing is such a difficult and lonely art. People often ask me what is the most difficult part of the film industry and for me today, or for any of the major studios, it’s finding scripts. That’s why you see so many sequels. It’s very difficult to find original ideas well written. And if it’s difficult there (Hollywood) it’s difficult everywhere else in the world I think. The one thing we do well in Hollywood is that we give writers an important and central role. The process of writing is valued.

The players know that getting a good pitch is difficult. One of the things in India is that I always get actors and directors coming to pitch to me while very rarely do I get a writer

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to come and see me. But I do think things are changing in India. More interesting films are slowly being made with younger filmmakers here probably working harder on scripts.

That’s good. But writing is a big difference.

Besides size, scale and creative ambition.

Might there be something else? Our star system maybe?

Yeah, size and scale separate Hollywood not just from Indian cinema but also the rest of the world. So if you’re doing Spider-Man or Pirates of the Caribbean you’ve got this massive scale and six different layers of visual effects (VFX) and all of that comes at a very big price. With stars there’s something interesting: I think India is the only place where actors can do films, television and commercials and be as popular as they are. Over-saturation is not a problem here. It would be difficult for Will Smith or Tom Cruise to be seen on a game show, a $200 million movie and cola commercials in one day. US audiences would not accept so much.

That’s an amazing difference between India and the US. And then from the standpoint of producing films there’s the marketing, especially the international marketing required for many films. And while Indian films have done well abroad at the marketplace they mostly play only to the NRI market. So the challenge for Indian cinema with regard to Hollywood really is to make that big leap.

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(From L to R) Gulshan Grover, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Ashok Amritraj, Vivek Oberoi and CII’s Chandrajit Banerjee at CII Big Picture Summit 2013 in New Delhi

But that ‘crossover’ film proves elusive.

Other Asian cinema has done it. Not Indian.

It’s sort of a double-edged sword in that you have such a strong domestic market here (and this is one of the few places where Hollywood doesn’t dominate), and then you also have such a loyal NRI audience that when you make the movies for this audience that particular kind of film has difficulty translating to other audiences. So if you see Life is Beautiful or Amelie or Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - films that are translatable to a Western audience, it’s really a different kind of storytelling.

The storytelling here is very specific to Indian audiences. And while the good news for Indian producers is that this core audience is growing here, movies made for them will still have difficulty becoming that ‘crossover’, even though I hesitate to use that word. They just don’t appeal to non-Indian, mostly Caucasian audiences. How do you make a movie which appeals to the psyche of audiences here and there? That audience (in the US) thinks very differently. But I do hope to see an Indian film do that sometime and break that $100 million mark at the global box office (BO), even if one still sees reluctance to commit to making and then marketing such a film internationally.

And just how important has that international market become to Hollywood? Marketing movies to a whole globe has become a big challenge for producers and studios now.

When I started in the business in the early 1980s international was just 25-30% of business. Today it’s sort of pretty much flipped

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around, so two-thirds is global box office.

And yes, the marketing aspect has become a bigger challenge and become much more ‘day and date’. For instance, studios and independents like myself join forces to fight piracy which is estimated to cost us $5 billion in losses each year. There’s dubbing and censorship in various countries, which is also another challenge, and then leakage happens there.

And then for the global BO today you don’t want your movie to first release in America because everybody’s on social media and bad buzz there could kill many a movie. So, with the combination of piracy and the internet, it becomes important to do day and date for at least the top 15 international markets. The second thing of importance to come along that’s helped us is 3D. It helps fight piracy for many big films but also means huge marketing dollars are being spent by the studios. Marketing is probably more important than it has ever been because of this one global push, so you’d see Germany’s playing off of the US marketing, but then you have to do something else for Japan. So there’s a whole bunch of different things going on at the same time today. This is a challenge. And social media is a whole different ballgame. We have this kid, Nick Jonas, from the Jonas Brothers pop band doing a movie for us and he’s sitting in North Carolina tweeting all the time from the set and suddenly we see that there are 18 million followers. That’s incredible. The net has become more important for marketing and it will also become more important as a revenue source.

Video on Demand (VOD) is growing and more people will turn to that for a lot of viewing.

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But will new media fundamentally change the making and production of movies?

There’s been much talk of that for a while now

is a great example. That is a different audience and smaller market. But in your classic 14-24 age group, yeah, the stars matter much less so in Hollywood.

I hope there are enough people like me who always want to see their movies on the big screen, where possible. So as long that is our primary goal I don’t think the movie business will fundamentally change. There will always be that theatrical window and maybe after that the windows will change by country with people watching movies on laptops and mobiles.

In most countries around the world I think kids will still go to the movies on Fridays and Saturdays and will enjoy that experience – you go to the theatre, the lights go down, a hush comes on, the movie starts. Marketing is important and crucial but you can get to people differently today with new media. We do a lot of innovative marketing at festivals like Cannes and Toronto and then of course a lot of stars in Hollywood are also willing to be part of that marketing effort, which helps hugely.

Despite the global box office Hollywood still makes movies that are almost completely American. Might the template change a bit?

Could we see more of Asia?

Global audiences love Hollywood because it’s so American. For many across the world, in comparison to what’s being made in their countries, Hollywood movies are so much more visual, so much more intoxicating, as there’s clearly so much money being spent on them. $250 million is in many ways a ridiculous sum of money to spend on a movie but that advantage shows. The bar is set really high for what many moviegoers compare other fare to.

Big studios dominate the world with those big movies. So as a result let me point out that you also don’t have many of those smaller movies that Hollywood once made being churned out

Global audiences love Hollywood because it’s so American. For many across the world, in comparison to what’s being made in their countries, Hollywood movies are so much more visual, so much more intoxicating, as there’s clearly so much money being spent on them Despite star power waning?

Yes, stars matter less today in Hollywood. We saw that when the action generation of the 1980s changed into the VFX generation. You had guys who we’d never think of as action stars doing such films because the VFX started to become more important. So now you can cast a nobody as Batman or Spider-Man and you create a project where you don’t really need a Tom Cruise or a Brad Pitt anymore.

Sure, it doesn’t hurt to have Pitt in a film that’s not great and his star power does help it open big (look at World War Z) but the combination of superheroes and computer graphics-led sci-fi films have definitely led to the stars diminishing. And frankly, one good thing is that stars are more available today for smaller films.

They look for good scripts. They would rather do something different than run around on a stage in front of a green screen and let the computer do the rest. So star power still matters but just not in the way it did twenty years ago. There’s no question that newer generations of filmgoers are more geared to VFX and taking in much more information in shorter spans of time, so a single star doesn’t matter that much to them in a film. But in the US if you go with an older audience space, then some stars do make a difference. Meryl Streep

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now, especially for international markets. Far less of the Forrest Gumps and Chariots of Fire being made now. Smaller movies have to be willed into existence now. It’s trickier for producers. But the international market is a great market for all of us and as you say, India is one of the few markets where Hollywood is yet to make major inroads as it has in many other places, even in the rest of Asia, which is very big now. China is quickly turning into one of the biggest markets, the BO there is phenomenal and it will become the second biggest market for Hollywood in a few years. We already have $150 million grosses for a single movie coming in from there now, despite restrictions on the number of films going in. The trick is to get more movies in there - everyone’s working on that. Then South Korea is now huge. Japan has always been a big market. So yes, it is important to maintain a presence in Asia for Hollywood now.

And India as a market? How is it viewed now by the studios?

It has grown and will continue to grow but it’s really nowhere close to where China is, or will be, for the basic reason that Indian movies dominate the scene. The dollar-rupee exchange rate is also a factor as yields from

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... continued from the front flap

‘He’s been a very good friend of mine for a very long time and I’ve watched his growth here in the Hollywood community. The success he’s achieved is deserving. He’s a wonderful, wonderful person. Very gifted, very knowledgeable about motion pictures.’

– SIDNEY POITIER ‘He’s a great man and we’ll continue to make big films together.’

– BRUCE WILLIS ‘To me, “Who’s who” is only Ashok…he’s been doing it for years, maybe ahead of his time. And taking cues from great personalities like Ashok we can bring Indian cinema to the West.’

This is an inspirational story of making it against the odds.

ASHOK AMRITRAJ is an internationally renowned, award-winning film producer.

His career, spanning thirty years and four continents, has seen partnerships with every major Hollywood studio. Amritraj’s box office hits include Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, Bringing Down the House, Bandits, Machete and Premonition.

– SHAH RUKH KHAN ‘Ashok came to me for advice on launching his film production company, and I said, “Ashok, if you do as well as a film producer as you have as a tennis player, you have nothing to worry about.” Well, that turned out to be true.

His company has…a significant reputation in the industry.’

In addition to his work in the entertainment business, Amritraj spends much of his time on his philanthropic endeavours. He lives in Los Angeles, California, with his wife and two children.

– GARRY MARSHALL, director, Pretty Woman and Raising Helen ‘Ashok is like this incredibly stylish ambassador on behalf of the film-maker, a combination of real old-world patron and true defender of the work.’

– BRAD SILBERLING, director, Moonlight Mile ‘He fights for the material and fights to support the film-maker.

He takes risks on people.’

Advantage Hollywood

As chairman and CEO, Amritraj has grown the Hyde Park Entertainment Group into a cutting-edge alternative to the traditional Hollywood studio system: capable of developing, financing, producing and marketing its films. Amritraj has used his hard-earned clout to bring together the cultures of the East and the West by fostering a collaborative multinational effort to connect the film-making talent and styles of India, Asia and Hollywood.

– CHARLTON HESTON ‘I felt like I could always turn to him. For a director, when you are harassed and exhausted, it’s very important to have a producer you can lean on.’

ASHOK AMRITRAJ

India to Hollywood and Hollywood to India and the rest of the world. In the tradition of classic movie-industry tales, the people who walk through these pages include Frank Sinatra, Sidney Poitier, Charlton Heston, Sandra Bullock, Steve Martin, Dustin Hoffman, Sylvester Stallone, Angelina Jolie, Bruce Willis, Nicolas Cage, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Kate Hudson and many more.

– GRAHAM TAYLOR, William Morris Endeavor ` 499

Cover design Amrita Chakravorty www.harpercollins.co.in

You’ve produced just one Indian film, ‘Jeans’, back in 1997. Any particular reason you didn’t come back for more?

No, not at all. That (mid 1990s) was a rather nostalgic period for me. I did want to come back and make an Indian film and wanted it in Tamil since that’s (Chennai) where I come from, so Jeans happened. Shankar was a fine up and coming director then, a brilliant choice; Aishwarya Rai too, as an actress – she was terrific – as was A R Rahman. But to be honest that whole process was long, it took two years from start to finish, and it’s hard to take that kind of time out to be away from Hollywood. It takes a great deal of personal attention to make a film. You have to be present here the whole time to do something like that which kind of puts my business there on hold.

That’s one reason. The second reason today is that while there are a lot of good filmmakers doing interesting things I look for a certain kind of method, a certain feeling in the script to take it up. We are currently looking at a couple of possibilities here and I’m hopeful that something comes out of that. I would love to find one (project) here that mixes Asian talent and Indian talent and reaches across cultures and see if works with international audiences.

And then take it to the US to see if the movie

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What are the chances that a shy, insecure kid from India could become one of the most successful producers in Hollywood?

Ashok Amritraj arrived in Los Angeles from Chennai, India, with little more than an easy smile and a promising tennis game, honed at the US Open and Wimbledon, then becoming a part of the Los Angeles Strings pro team that went on to win the World Team Tennis championship. He had fallen in love with movies as a child and now fell in love with Hollywood.

He longed to make the motion picture business his career. But how? He had no background in film (other than watching The Sound of Music thirty-four times), and no mentor or guide.

Flash forward thirty years. Ashok has become one of the most successful producers in Hollywood. He has made over a hundred films with global revenues in excess of $1 billion.

Advantage Hollywood

BIOGRAPHY

tickets are low. But really, I don’t think Hollywood movies will ever be able to beat Indian movies at the BO on Indian soil. Still, there’s been a lot of change that needs to be highlighted. Look how more people are going to theatres to watch Hollywood than ever before.

On an individual basis if you look at maybe $10-15 million for a movie from the Indian BO it doesn’t make it that big a market globally, but what used be a million or less fifteen years ago is now over ten times that. So that change is visible and if one could continue to grow that way it is phenomenal in a way. And Hollywood studios are ramping up their presence here, even if it’s mostly to produce Indian films.

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ASHOK AMRITRAJ

From Chennai to Wimbledon to Hollywood, this is a gripping tale of grit and determination, of overcoming extraordinary obstacles, of seizing opportunities. Beyond that, Ashok’s journey has been a struggle for balance: on the one hand, a very public life of professional and financial success, and on the other – a main theme of the book – coping with the life of an immigrant while staying true to his cultural heritage, which has meant everything from an arranged marriage to continual efforts towards bringing Continued on the back flap ...

works, because American insularity is an issue even today. ‘How is middle America - people in Iowa, Mississippi, Kentucky, Idaho etc going to come and watch this exotic foreign film?’ - that’s the question we often ask. You need to get through to them and also see it through their eyes. I mean it was also amazing for me to see when I went there in the 1970s, when you didn’t have CNN or the net bringing the globe to people’s living rooms, but it’s still a really big factor when looking at selling entertainment today.

Do you see Indian actors making a mark in Hollywood and global cinema in the near future? A handful have done so, in a small way.

Yes, I am more surprised that more Indian actors haven’t made it to Hollywood and made something of an impact. Irrfan Khan is one exception.

Maybe because he isn’t a superstar and he’s a fine, malleable type of actor who’s open to suggestion and fitting in to script requirements.

It’s no coincidence that foreign directors who come here end up using unknowns. They meet everybody I think but end up going with small actors because it’s easier to work them in a certain way as you see in a Life of Pi or Slumdog Millionaire or The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.

But the hope is that more Indian actors will go out there and do it. Thus far it’s been a trickle but it could change. I should point out that one significant area of change is second-generation Indian-American actors making an impact in the US. Sadly, America still tends to buy the stereotype. Even today it’s easier for America to see a Slumdog Millionaire about India rather than, say, a Wall Street set here, with Bentleys and Ferraris and all. Besides, I’m not so crazy about the caricature of ‘Indians’ you often see on screen but it helps in some way. The more brown skin you see on the screen - big screen or TV - the easier it gets to digest more for Americans and others. After all, it’s a whole mindset that needs to change in America.

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06-05-2014 15:55:58

stop in toronto and start something big.

TIFF Industry saw a 97% increase in attendance at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival Conference. To service this growth for 2014, we’ll expand our footprint in the Festival Village with: • a larger Conference venue • more meeting space in our Industry Centre • new outdoor promotional opportunities to support film sales • increased capacity for Press & Industry screenings Visit tiff.net/industry for more updates and to register today!

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06-05-2014 16:08:47

THOUGHT LEADER

Pierre Assouline

Only Films, Paris / Westeast Films, Mumbai pierre@westeastfilms.com

Biopics and Super Heroes

India has its own set of super heroes and biopics.

Inspiration for stories with spiritual content are everywhere, but nowhere more than from within the cradle of spirituality - India, with her rich oral and written tradition, says European Producer Pierre Assouline

B

iopics and Super Heroes are trending. The West is flooding the world with its film icons. Jordan Belfort, Mark Zuckerberg, Margaret Thatcher, Lincoln, Nelson Mandela, Lady Di, Yves Saint Laurent, and the ‘Cannes opener’ Grace Kelly are just a few examples of the biopic craze, but the only Indian film icon which went global was Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi. The only Indiandirected biopic which has had some international visibility is Shekhar Kapur’s Bandit Queen.

Although today’s Indian filmmakers have readily climbed onto the global biopic bandwagon, none have managed the crossover: Bhagat Singh (The Legend of Bhagat Singh), Silk Smitha (The Dirty Picture), Paan Singh Tomar (Paan Singh Tomar), Milkha Singh (Bhaag Milkha Bhaag), are just a few. Regional cinema biopics even outnumber Bollywood biopics, but they remain precisely that - regional.

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Could it be that Indian icons are less iconic than their Western counterparts? Or might it be that Indian biopics, as most Indian mainstream films of any genre, are suffering from a lack of Universal Cinematic Treatment.

Take Sant Tukaram. The extraordinary life of this famous Marathi Saint has inspired several biopics. The most recent, in 2012, contains precisely those elements which a biopic should avoid: 1) A from-birth-to-death exhaustive narrative: in Cinema exhaustive means exhausting. Cinema is rather the art of… ellipsis. 2) An academic linear narrative: for today’s audiences academic means boring… and so does linear. Academic means the film could have been directed by any replaceable director, as there is no recognizable style, direction choices, or creativity. 3) A 2 hours and 45 minutes film: such a length is unnecessary and weakens narrative power. Very few long LIKE PICKLE IN FACEBOOK

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06-05-2014 16:08:49

feature ďŹ lms would not have been much better had they been shortened ‌. Western audiences may not have the patience, as they are used to ďŹ lms not much longer than 100 minutes. Production-wise, lengthy ďŹ lms become a ďŹ nancial burden not only at shooting and post-production but also for theatrical distribution when instead of ďŹ ve daily screenings you can only manage four. 4) A poor period rendering with crude lights on freshly painted sets, freshly ironed brand-new outďŹ ts and obviously over made-up faces .‌ Does it have to be spelled out that this kills authenticity? 5) The actors are on their own and overact from a Western point of view.

Overacting is one of the factors that make many Indian ďŹ lms unwatchable in the West: subdued acting conveys more powerful emotion ‌ generates more cues for viewer imagination ‌ than any number of rolling eyes and gesticulations.

But above all, the problem in the 2012 Tukaram biopic is that the makers have set out to restrict Tukaram to social life boundaries. The director said “This is Tukaram before sainthood.� but we say “Before sainthood there is no Tukaram!�. How can a proper biopic be made with a misunderstood character? The social aspects of Tukaram’s life only become relevant in the light of his spirituality. Isolate them from bhakti, and they become insipid.

Contrast this with cult 1936 Sant Tukaramthe ďŹ rst Indian ďŹ lm with real international impact. Tukaram 1936 is charismatic. The audience is in full empathy with him and his abhangs. Why did International audiences receive this ďŹ lm so wholeheartedly

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whilst Tukaram 2012 failed to pass beyond Maharashtra? The explanation is also that in the 1930’s Indian cinematic language was identical to Western, it was Universal. There was no gap between Indian and Western idiom as there is today.

Super Heroes need help

Super Heroes! It looks as if in these times of ďŹ nancial turmoil American Studios do not know who else to turn to. The Marvel Franchise is dominating world screens with its Spiderman, Iron Man, X-Men, Captain America.... Rather than perpetuating its IP infringement tradition, India’s mainstream industry should remember its own invaluable and under-explored homegrown richness, the MahĆ—bhĆ—rata Franchise, the BhĆ—gavatapurĆ—na Franchise, the RĆ—mĆ—yana Franchise, all available, all IP free and all courtesy of VyĆ—sadeva and VĆ—lmĆŻki.

Inspiration for stories with spiritual content are everywhere, but nowhere more than from within the cradle of spirituality - India, with her rich oral and written tradition. It is time for Indian-crafted ďŹ lms to show the world the beauty of India’s spiritual culture, rather than follow Western ďŹ lms down the same old beaten track of portraying an “Indian genreâ€? associated only with misery and social conict as their main topics. Unfortunately, those of the new generation ďŹ lmmakers who are more apt in the handling of a Universal Cinema Language, have been Westernized to think that shabby hardship is the only theme that will take them to international festivals. Thanks here to

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Mahabharata painting by B.G. Sharma

the Anand Gandhis and the Ritesh Batras for their beautiful exception.

One may counter that so many films have been made in India from MahƗbhƗrata and RƗmƗyana. True enough if we include serials and animation, but which ones crossed over? International audiences are not ready to take seriously any emphatic Arjuna, Duryodhana or BhƯsmadeva in tacky sets with German Expressionism acting, reverb in the voice, and constant fan blowing in the hair.

Kurukshetra is no Disneyland

A specific MahƗbhƗrata project leaves me puzzled: the Disney/UTV Abhishek Kapoor project. The proclaimed ambition is to produce a two-part opus on the scale of a Lord of the Rings. This speaks volumes about the intended budget, and suggests that such a film could never break-even from the domestic territory and its natural extension, the Indian diaspora, alone.

To be viable the project needs to aim at a wide International release. A venture which aims at a specific target naturally equips itself with the required enabling assets to reach that target. Not this film.

Abhishek Kapoor is no Peter Jackson and the writer Ashok Banker is no Fran Walsh or Philippa Boyens. We know Abhishek Kapoor for two simple feel-good movies that fared pretty well domestically. For both films, the rare foreign reviews contrast with the positive domestic ones: the usual predictable twists oozing with syrupy good intentions do not travel well. Ashok Banker is a successful novelist but a neophyte screenplay writer. None of his scripts have

been turned into films, and the rare ones which have been optioned seem to have been shelved. To be fair, novelists who can easily transition to writing screenplays are thin on the ground. But here the main problem does not lie in the technicalities of screenplay writing. The Ashok Banker approach to Shastras such as RƗmƗyana or MahƗbhƗrata is mundane and speculative.

The proper approach to MahƗbhƗrata is to be found in MahƗbhƗrata itself (ShƗntiparva 348. 51-52 and Bhagavad-gƯtƗ 4.1): it must be handed down through paramparƗ, disciplic succession of spiritual scholars to be understood as it is. Only a fool would reinvent the wheel rather than following the instruction manual when operating a specific device. The mundane approach is bound to produce a MahƗbhƗrata lacking in its philosophical potency and spiritual emotion, which are the number one asset for the film to reach the audiences’ heart worldwide. We have experienced it in the past with Peter Brook’s The MahƗbhƗrata based on Jean-Claude Carrière’s script. In contrast to Banker, Carrière is a brilliant scriptwriter, but his unenlightened approach reduced the Holy Epic to an ordinary saga.

None of this is to say that Cinema cannot take all the freedom in expressing an auteur’s vision on a Holy Scripture.

For example I love both Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ and Monty Python’s Life of Brian. One boldly sticks to the Bible, the second falls hilariously into satirical delirium. But neither misleads the audience. The Disney MahƗbhƗrata project presents itself as the rendering of the real thing, but the Kapoor-Banker tandem can only generate an ersatz.

For the first time producers have the financial power to do MahƗbhƗrata justice.

They bear the responsibility to make this project a MahƗbhƗrata global cinematic reference for today and many decades to come. Kurukshetra is no Disneyland, and there is potential for damage to go far beyond a mere box office crash.

Pierre can be reached at Cannes at +33(0)613215900

If not misleading, Cinema can take all the freedom in expressing an auteur’s vision on a Holy Scripture 36

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06-05-2014 16:08:50

G

Global Connections...

Unlimited Possibilities

AMERICAN FILM MARKET

速

& CONFERENCES

November 5-12, 2014 / Santa Monica In Cannes: Riviera B7/C8

www.AmericanFilmMarket.com

The American Film Market is produced by the Independent Film & Television Alliance速

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I

www.ifta-online.org

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EROS INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

KUMAR AHUJA President, Business Development Mob: +91 9820298265 kumar.ahuja@erosintl.com

BOOTH NO PALAIS 01 STAND 25.02

ALICE COELHO VP Syndication Sales Mob: +44 79 6464 9700 alice.coelho@erosintl.com

Eros International Media operates on a vertically integrated studio model managing content as well as distribution and exploitation across all formats globally, including cinema, digital, home entertainment and television syndication. It has over 1900 films in its library and is at Cannes with new films. Eros can be reached at Cannes Stand PALAIS 01 Stand 25.02.

KOCHADAIIYAAN Kochadaiiyaan is a historical magnum opus starring Indian superstar Rajinikanth. It narrates a story of powerful deception, portraying Rana, a passionate and fierce warrior, who returns to his homeland with a veiled agenda, to avenge his father Kochadaiiyaan’s unjust death at the hands of the reigning king of Kotaipattinam. The conflict of emotions and the blood battle that arises along the treacherous path down love and war that Rana takes to fulfil his destiny is the main plot of this story. This phenomenal 3D feature is being directed by Soundarya Rajinikanth. The original sound for this musical masterpiece is being composed by AR Rahman. The story, screenplay and dialogues have been written by director KS Ravikumar.

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the e o

al

JAI HO J J Jai, an upright common man is fighting a solitary war against corruption and injustice. Honest and c incorruptible, he has made it his in mission to help as many people as m he can. His mantra is quite simple h help somebody and then request h that person to lend a helping hand to th somebody else - thus forming an ever growing circle of people helping each other. Jai Ho is the warrior cry of someone determined to win at all costs.

Director: Sohail Khan | Cast: Salman Khan, Tabu, Daisy Shah | Producer: Sunil Lulla, Sohail Khan

SHAADI KE SIDE EFFECTS S S Side effects are funny, sometimes they are a wonderful surprise... and sometimes they are a w mixed bag. Lovers becoming friends.. But not m Sid (Farhan Akhtar) and Trisha (Vidya Balan).

S Theirs is a shaadi (marriage) where they are T lliving out each other’s fantasies, turning them iinto reality peppered with love, lust & longing.

Shaadi Ke Side Effects is a witty, sexy comedy S that redefines happily ever after - if there really is one.

Director: Saket Chaudhary | Cast: Farhan Akhtar, Vidya Balan | Producer: Balaji Motion Pictures, Pritish Nandy Communications

KRRISH 3 After defeating the villainous Dr. Siddhant Arya and bringing his father Rohit back from the dead, Krrish continues fighting against evil and saving innocent lives.

Krishna is living a happily married life with Priya, while Rohit is using his scientific brilliance to benefit society.

Krrish is everyone’s favorite superhero saviour.

Director: Rakesh Roshan | Cast: Hirthik Roshan, Priyanka Chopra, Kanagan Ranaut, Vivek Oberoi | Producer: Rakesh Roshan

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RAMLEELA Ram, the local village Romeo, is a colorful, charming yet dramatic vagabond whereas Leela is an unbridled and passionate village Juliet. The only thing in common between these two strangers is their families’ hatred for each other. Set in a land of guns, vengeance against a magnificent musical backdrop, Ram and Leela fight the world to live their own dreams. What will happen when they declare their love to the world? Will their families relent or will Ram and Leela carve their own destiny?

Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali | Cast: Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Supriya Pathak | Producer: Kishore Lulla, Sanjay Leela Bhansali

PURANI JEANS P P Purani Jeans is a film based on the belief that friendship is like a pair of b old jeans- the more you wear them o tthe better it gets. This is the belief tthat the protagonist Siddharth Ray comes to realize as he rediscovers c bonds of friendship on his return b tto India from New York after 12 years. The film travels with Siddharth as he explores equations with his past-to rebuild friendships with his four friends whom he grew up with in a small town in Himachal Pradesh in India.

Director: Tanushri Chattrji Bassu | Cast: Tanuj Virwani Aditya Seal Izabelle Leite | Producer: Manju Lulla 40

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06-05-2014 16:08:59

EUROPEAN FILM MARKET  IT ALL STARTS HERE.

513 Feb 2015

8,400 Participants 490 Exhibitors 1,500 Buyers 790 Films 1,100 Screenings WWW.EFM-BERLINALE.DE

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06-05-2014 16:09:02

YASH RAJ FILMS @ CANNES

Avtar Panesar

VP International Operations, Yash Raj Films

YRF ALL SET FOR CANNES

With an Enviable Slate of Films With a worldwide presence in over 85 countries Yash Raj Films is eyeing a bigger slice of the action at at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. YRF’s Avtar Panesar spoke to Pickle on his firm’s key focus areas at Cannes 2014 YRF has captured the attention of Cannes Film Festival. Everyone is excited about Kanu Behl directed ‘Titli’ which is in the Un Certain Regard section. Also YRF Entertainment has backed the festival’s opening film ‘Grace of Monaco’.

Its an honour to have two films from an Indian studio being showcased in Cannes and I am delighted that colleagues from all areas in the business are telling me what a proud moment it is not just for YRF but India. So it’s very humbling.

What will be your highlights at Cannes Film Market this year? You seem to have a great line up for the next 18 months We are already getting a great response to Titli. We’re delighted with our partnership with Dibakar Banerjee as Titli has really set the tone for two companies that might seem very different from the outside but share a common passion for putting a film above all else. We’re

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looking forward to the film version of the Detective Byomkesh Bakshy which is another coproduction with Dibakar Banerjee Productions and this one is directed by Dibakar.

We have also acquired the distribution rights to perhaps one of the most awaited films of the year in terms of the commercial space -- Red Chillies’ Happy New Year with Shah Rukh Khan - as he teams up with Farah Khan again after delivering two super hits films on their previous collaborations.

Ranveer Singh has arrived (and how!) in the last year and we’re looking forward to his new film Kill Dil (No place for Love), Habib Faisal returns with a wonderful script and directs Daawat-E-Ishq (Recipe for Love) after his last outing with Ishaqzaade and a host of other titles that take us in to the new year – with another Shah Rukh Khan biggie ‘Fan’ produced

by Aditya Chopra and directed by Maneesh Sharma after his last sleeper hit, Shuddh Desi Romance, which was premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last year.

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06-05-2014 16:09:04

Q A

India is ranked fifth in the international box office market, at $1.5 billion. (China’s on top with $3.2 billion, Japan-$2.4 billion, UK-$1.7 billion, France-$1.6 billion). How do you see this trend going forward for Indian showbiz?

I see India taking over all these figures, the fact is that we sell more tickets than anyone, but our weak currency keeps us down. That’s the harsh reality.

Once this changes, these numbers will change.

This is YRF’s third consecutive year at Cannes and results are visible to everyone.

Has Cannes been a catalyst for the studio?

Yes, this is the third consecutive year where we have a presence in terms of an office. We will be at our usual offices at Résidence l’Impératrice next to the Grand Hotel, but I have been coming to Cannes for a number of years prior to that. The fact is if you’re in this business you can’t afford not to be at Cannes. We have had some great results due to the exposure at Cannes and we hope this year will be equally good.

Yash Raj has two Shah Rukh Khan films on its movie slate - ‘Happy New Year’ (this Diwali in October) and ‘Fan’ (August 14, 2015).

Just how much does Shah Rukh Khan excite international buyers at Cannes?

Last year, under your leadership, YRF did a fantastic road show for the Japanese media to interact and showcase with Indian film studios at Mumbai. Has this strategy worked?

It was hospitality rather than strategy. It has been a fruitful exercise and has helped us both to understand each other better. As you know we have already released feature films in Japan cinemas and are now looking to close some TV deals too, as well as exploring some cooperation on doing some TV documentaries on the Indian film business. We seem to have triggered some intrigue and hope to build on that.

What attracts Bollywood as a genre to the world?

I always say that Shah Rukh Khan’s appeal in the international sphere is unparalleled. He is popular with everyone. We’re really proud and excited to be selling two new films of his and I have already been getting a huge response from all over but China in particular.

Despite the name – it’s basically NOT Hollywood and that’s what I think is our USP. Our strength is emotional content, telling human stories that resonate the world over, irrespective of what language you speak. Add to that the music, dance, colour vibrancy, its an addictive mix. As I always say, Indian movies are llike Indian food – it’s an acquired taste, but once you’re hooked ,you can’t get enough of either.

Also ‘Dhoom 3’ (D:3) has done wonders to Indian cinema as well as to YRF. Tell us about D:3’s upcoming China release in May...

Asia seems to be the missing link for Indian films - leaving out pockets in the SAARC region?

D:3 is today the number one film in the history of Indian cinema. The film has broken all records both in India and internationally. The film is opening in Taiwan on 9th May and it goes out in Mainland China on 2000 screens 23rd May – we’re absolutely thrilled.

That’s building, slowly but surely. We just need to be persistent and patient. That said, we do have presence in the entire Asian belt which we are cultivating.

Do you see any synergy between India and China in the filmed entertainment space?

Certainly, I think it’s a partnership waiting to happen. Some very positive things are developing and I see big things for the future.

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YRF’s film catalogue has some of the finest Indian films around. Do you see it reaching out to new audiences in the digital space?

It already is. We are in over 85 countries through iTunes and Netflix as well as other platforms.

This is just the tip of the iceberg and no doubt this number will rise in the coming years.

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YASH RAJ FILMS Résidence L’impératrice / Left Of Grand Hotel, 3rd Floor 44 Boulevard De La Croisette 06400 Cannes, France Email: cannes@yashrajfilms.com / avtar@yashrajfilms.com Tel: Mob: + 33 - 621943420 India Mob: + 91 9920 347780 AVTAR PANESAR Vice-President, International Operations

Yash Raj Films is at Cannes Film Market to showcase the current slate of YRF tentpole films for 2014 & 2015. They are are also looking to syndicate the YRF catalogue of films along with “Dhoom: 3” - the highest grossing film in Indian cinema history

HAPPY NEW YEAR An action-packed musical heist

Directed by: Farah Khan Produced by: Gauri Khan and Karim Morani (Red Chillies Entertainments Pvt Ltd) Starring: Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Abhishek Bachchan, Boman Irani, Sonu Sood, Vivaan Shah

TITLI T IIn the badlands of Delhi’s dystopic underbelly, Titli, the youngest member of a violent carT jjacking brotherhood plots a desperate bid to escape the ‘family’ business. His struggle to do, e sso is countered at each stage by his indignant b brothers, who finally try marrying him off to ‘‘settle’ him. Titli, finds an unlikely ally in his new wife, caught though she is in her own web of warped reality and dysfunctional dreams. They form a strange, beneficial partnership, only to confront their inability to escape the bindings of their family roots. But is escape the same as freedom?

Directed by: Kanu Behl | Produced by: Dibakar Banerjee (Yash Raj Films/DBD) | Starring: Shashank Arora, Ranvir Shorey, Amit Sial US Sales: XYZ Films | International Sales: Westend Films 44

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06-05-2014 16:09:05

DHOOM:3 (D:3) D:3 is today the number one film in the history of Indian cinema. It has broken all records both in India and internationally. The film is opening in Mainland China on May 23 on 2000 screens

FAN

Directed by: Vijay Krishna Acharya Produced by: Aditya Chopra

(Yash Raj Films) Starring: Aamir Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, Katrina Kaif, Uday Chopra

Shah Rukh Khan, the man with one of the greatest fan followings globally, will now play the role of being ‘the biggest’ fan himself in the forthcoming YRF movie, FAN

Directed by: Maneesh Sharma | Produced by: Aditya Chopra (Yash Raj Films) Starring: Shah Rukh Khan

DAAWAT-E-ISHQ (RECIPE FOR LOVE) A deliciously romantic coming together of Gulrez ‘Gullu’ Qadir (Parineeti Chopra) a Hyderabadi shoe-sales girl disillusioned with love because of her encounters with dowry-seeking men; and Tariq ‘Taru’ Haidar (Aditya Roy Kapoor) a Lucknowi cook who can charm anybody with the aroma and flavours of his biryani and kebabs. In the clash of diametrically opposite but equally spicy cultures of Hyderabad and Lucknow, Gullu and Taru arrive at a “tuning-setting”, rewrite traditional recipes of love, crush old-fashioned world-view and serve their very own dish of passion.

Directed by: Habib Faisal | Produced by: Aditya Chopra (Yash Raj Films) | Starring: Aditya Roy Kapur, Parineeti Chopra

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06-05-2014 16:09:07

K KILL DIL ((No Place for Love) O Once upon a time in North India, two killers – Dev (Ranveer Singh) and Tutu k ((Ali Zafar), roamed free. Abandoned when young and vulnerable, Bhaiyaji w ((Govinda) gave them shelter and… nurtured them to kill. All is normal in n ttheir lives until destiny throws free sspirited Disha(Parineeti Chopra) into the mix. What follows is a game of defiance, deception and love.

Directed by: Shaad Ali | Produced by: Aditya Chopra (Yash Raj Films) | Starring: Ranveer Singh, Ali Zafar, Parineeti Chopra and Govinda

DETECTIVE BYOMKESH BAKSHY! (Detective BB) In a contemporary interpretation of war torn Calcutta during the 1940’s, the film follows the first adventure of Byomkesh, fresh out of college, as he pits himself against an evil genius who is out to destroy the world.

It’s his wits against the most villainous arch criminal the world has seen, in a world of murder, international political intrigue and seduction.

This is the first in a series that will feature Bengali bestseller writer Saradindu Banerjee’s most famous creation and India’s widest read and best known detective character for the first time in a Hindi feature.

Directed by: Dibakar Banerjee | Produced by: Dibakar Banerjee (Yash Raj Films/DDP) | Starring: Sushant Singh Rajput

DUM LAGA KE HAISHA (Perfect Mismatch) DUM LAGA KE HAISHA revolves around the life of a small town couple - Prem and Sandhya.

From overcoming his fear of the English language to dealing with an overbearing father, Prem (Ayushmann Khurrana) discovers that his oversized and mismatched wife, Sandhya (Bhumi Pednekar), who he thought was a spanner in his business and life, will actually lead him to something quite cool.

Directed by: Sharad Kataria | Produced by: Maneesh Sharma (Yash Raj Films) | Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana & Bhumi Pednekar

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06-05-2014 16:09:08

MARDAANI (Fearless) S Shivani Shivaji Roy is an astute cop w working in a Mumbai Crime Branch u unit. Deft at picking up hidden clues and fearless in confronting hardened a criminals, Shivani stumbles on a case c tthat will change her life forever.

Starring Rani Mukerji in the lead, playing S tthe role of a cop for the first time, the rraw and gritty film will be a distinct departure from Pradeep Sarkar’s style d of filmmaking.

Directed by: Pradeep Sarkar | Produced by: Aditya Chopra (Yash Raj Films) | Starring: Rani Mukerji

GUNDAY (Renegades) Gunday is a story about what happens when you lines are drawn on mother earth to create borders.

Gunday is a film about displacement, love, and survival of the fittest, but most of all about the family we choose… Friends!

Directed by: Ali Abbas Zafar | Produced by: Aditya Chopra (Yash Raj Films) | Starring: Ranveer Singh, Arjun Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and Irrfan Khan

BEWAKOOFIYAAN (Stupid in Love) Mohit is a marketing whiz kid vying for a step up the career ladder...

Mayera – a financial brain with a penchant for shoes…

They’re a young middle-class corporate couple that’s ambitious and likes the good life too.

They work hard, they party hard.

They’re also passionately in love with each other.

Their belief: You can live on love and fresh air…

Their obstacle: Mayera’s wilful bureaucratic father V.K Sehgal.

The obstinate old man believes that only a rich man can bring Mayera happiness and a mid-level executive like Mohit simply isn’t good enough!

Exactly how fragile are relationships in these times where consumer lifestyles dictate their very nature and intensity? Who gets the last laugh when recession strikes and the lack of money tests love... credit-cardjunkies private-sector Mohit-Mayera; or safe-playing sarkari, V.K. Sehgal?

Directed by: Nupur Asthana | Produced by: Aditya Chopra (Yash Raj Films) Starring: Rishi Kapoor, Ayushmann Khurrana, Sonam Kapoor 47

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06-05-2014 16:09:18

FOX STAR STUDIOS INDIA PVT LTD.

ROHIT SHARMA Head – International Sales & Distribution Mob: + 91 98201 89556 rohits@in.foxstarstudios.com

KANIKA VASUDEVA Associate Vice President – International Sales & Distribution kanika.vasudeva@in.foxstarstudios.com

Fox Star Studios India is a joint venture between 20th Century Fox and STAR, Asia’s leading media conglomerate, to produce world-class local- language films for worldwide distribution. At the Cannes Market this year Fox Star will be selling their latest films for 2014-2015

COUNTING DREAMS (HAWAA HAWAAI) Arjun moves to the big city along with his mother and little sister. Out there he discovers a hidden world of inline skating through coach Lucky, who mentors kids to become skating champions. While Arjun starts nursing the dream to learn skating under Lucky, his four friends get together to make this dream come true for him. In this endearing story of hope and aspirations, will Arjun’s dreams take flight?

Director: Amole Gupte | Starring: Partho Gupte, Saqib Saleem

HUMSHAKALS Humshakals, as the title suggests, is all about people who are look-alikes and the comic confusion that follows them. It’s about two heroes and one villain each in a triple role!

Director: Sajid Khan | Starring: Saif Ali Khan, Riteish Deshmukh, Raam Kapoor, Bipasha Basu

BOMBAY VELVET Set against the jazz age of Mumbai, the story spans a period from the late 1940’s through to the 1970’s. Bombay Velvet is the story of the rise and fall of one boy Balraj who transforms into Karan, a gangster in Mumbai post Independence and on the verge of becoming a metropolis.

Director & Writer: Anurag Kashyap | Starring: Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, Karan Johar 48

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06-05-2014 16:09:19

BANG BANG An unassuming bank receptionist Harleen Sahni’s (Katrina Kaif) simple, sedate life changes forever when she finds herself unwittingly involved in the affairs of Rajveer Nanda, a charming yet mysterious stranger after a chance encounter with him.

Director: Siddharth Anand | Starring: Hrithik Roshan, Katrina Kaif

CITYLIGHTS The movie is based on the life of a trader in Rajasthan who comes to the city of Mumbai with his wife and daughter in hope of a better life. Their encounter with the big city and how they tackle the rising challenges nurtured by the power of their love is what the movie is all about. It’s an official remake of the British movie Metro Manila which received critical acclaim and was lauded at British Independent Film Awards, Amazonas Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, and Hamburg Film Festival. It was also Britain’s entry for the best foreign language film category at the 86th Academy Awards.

Director: Hansal Mehta | Starring: Rajkumar Rao, Gitanjali Thapa, Rajesh Sharma

FINDING FANNY FERNANDES Finding Fanny is an off the cuff, comical story about a bunch of oddballs who venture out to find Stefanie Fernandes (Fanny); in the process, they discover a strange sense of solace and love amongst each other, and end up seeing a point to their previously pointless lives.

Director: Homi Adajania | Starring: Deepika Padukone, Arjun Kapoor, Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi, Panjaj Kapur 49

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06-05-2014 16:09:43

VIACOM18 MOTION PICTURES

GAYATRI GULATI Head- Revenues & International Business Sales gayatri.gulati@viacom18.com

Viacom18 Motion Pictures is India’s finest fully integrated motion pictures studio that has emerged as a force to reckon with by delivering a stream of critically and commercially successful films

Bombay Talkies One hundred years of Hindi cinema is celebrated in four short stories directed by four eminent directors of Indian Cinema- Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Banerjee, Karan Johar and Anurag Kashyap.

Cast: Rani Mukherjee, Randeep Hooda, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Saqib Saleem etc. | Highlight: screened at Cannes Film Festival 2013 (Gala Screening, Tribute to India)

Kahaani Directed by Sujoy Ghosh, the film is a desperate, heart wrenching and suspense tale of a pregnant woman in search of her husband.

Cast: Vidya Balan, Parambrata Chatterjee and Nawazuddin Siddiqui | Highlight: Grossed US$ 20 million Worldwide. Won 3 National Awards (Best Screenplay, B Bestt Editi Editing & S Special Jury i lJ award) 5 Filmfare Awards (including Best Actress and Best Director), 5 Colors Screen Awards (including Best Actress and Best Story) and 5 awards at Zee Cine Awards.

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06-05-2014 16:09:54

MARGARITA, WITH A STRAW Director: Shonali Bose | Cast: KalkiKoechlin (protagonist), Revathy (mother), Sayani Gupta (girlfriend) | Produced by: Viacom 18 Motion Pictures, Ishan Talkies and NileshManiyar | Music: Mickey McCleary | Lyrics: Prasoon Joshi Original | Language: Hindi | The film duration: - 117 mins The script won the Sundance Global Film maker award in 2012.

Cast pics (this is only for ref, is not a still from the film nor in character) Laila is a spunky, talented, attractive 19year-old girl from a close knitmiddle class Delhi family. She was born with cerebral palsy – which meant that at birth her brain was damaged affecting her motor skills.

Her speech is distorted and she sits in a wheelchair. But she is super bright and funny. She is also very talented and composes music. A brilliant mind trapped in a disobedient body.

Laila is very close to her mother, ShubhanginiDamle. Her mother has been the one who has fought with society against discrimination and pushed for her daughter to be accepted in the “normal” world. As a result of her efforts Laila goes to college in the prestigious Delhi University.

And when Laila’s heart is broken, it is her mother who enables her to continue her education at NYU. At NYU Laila meets the fiery, feisty, dynamic Khanum – a blind woman originally from Bangladesh who came out to her parents at the age of 14. And the good looking, chilled out, Californian dude – Jared.

Always curious about sexuality Laila never dreamed that she would actually experience it. And how! Confused about it she nevertheless goes with her heart and body and doesn’t limit herself.

Laila goes home to India at the end of the semester at her mother’s behest.

Khanum is invited too. Secrets and lies surround everyone and ultimately become meaningless in the face of death. Shubhangini’s death from cancer – something she had known she had but kept from Laila. As Laila’s world crashes – she embraces her pain and anguish and is ultimately able to rise and grow from it. She realizes how much she has always hated her body. At the end of the film Laila, radiant and confident, goes on a special date. With herself.

At times heartbreaking, at times hysterically funny – Margarita, With a Straw breaks all stereotypes of disabled women and brings forth a bold character that has never been seen in Indian or world cinema – and yet at the same time is utterly relatable.

QUEEN

SPECIAL 26

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06-05-2014 16:09:57

DISNEY INDIA - UTV RIVIERA STAND G1 NEHA KAUL Head International Distribution - Studios Sales neha.kaul@disney.com

Coming up from the Studio in 2014-15 is an inimitable slate that features some of the biggest talent names in the most highly anticipated Indian ďŹ lms across genres including P.K.(from the makers of the Indian blockbuster 3 Idiots), Pizza 3D, Kick, Raja Natwarlal (previously titled Shatir), Haider, Phantom, Khoobsurat, and Jagga Jasoos

Highway A young city girl, full of life, is on the highway at night, with her fiancĂŠ.

Suddenly, her life changes when she is abducted by a group of rustic criminals and her life will never be the same again. Panic strikes among the kidnappers, when they realise the girl is a daughter of a leading industrialist with strong political connections. But the leader of the group is adamant to go ahead with the plan. Days pass, as the tempo runs and miles turn, and after an initial horror of dealing with her rustic captors, the air changes, she feels that she has changed as well. A strange bond begins to develop between her and the oppressor. She starts feeling free in this captivity. She does not want to return and wishes that this journey would never end.

But they are not made for each other. Maybe this feeling is just a passing phase. Maybe not.

Director: Imtiaz Ali | Cast: Randeep Hooda, Alia Bhatt

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06-05-2014 16:10:01

2 States The story follows the ups and downs of a modern, forward-thinking couple Krish Malhotra (Arjun Kapoor of Ishaqzaade, Gunday fame) and Ananya Swaminathan (Alia Bhatt of Student Of The Year, Highway fame) who are drawn together by fate when they meet as students.

Director: Abhishek Varman | Cast: Arjun Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Amrita Singh, Revathy, Ronit Roy

Haider The classic tale of Hamlet comes alive in the mesmerizing locales of Kashmir as Haider. The riveting drama, takes the audiences through the extraordinary life of the protagonists, epic characters, dramatic turns, compulsive plots, and enthralling performances from Shahid Kapoor, Tabu, Khan, Shradha u Irrfan Khan Kapoor and Kay Kay Menon, directed by Vishal Bhardwaj.

Director: Vishal Bharadwaj | Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Tabu, Kay KayMenon

Everything you need as a ďŹ lm professional is here, re-introduce yourself to cinando.com Powered by the Festival de Cannes with the support of:

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06-05-2014 16:10:02

NATIONAL FILM DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION (NFDC) RIVIERA STAND C5A RAJESH DAS Head - Distribution - Sales & Acquisition rajesh@nfdcindia.com

The National Film Development Corporation Ltd. was formed by the Government of India with the primary objective of planning, promoting and organizing an integrated and efficient development of the Indian film industry. At Cannes, NFDC seeks partnerships with international production and sales agents to collaborate on new films

FOUR COLOURS (CHAURANGA) F A fourteen year old dalit (lower caste) boy is growing up in an unnamed corner of India. His dream is to go to a town a sschool like his elder brother and his reality is to look after the pig that his family owns. His only escape is to sit a top th a tree and adore his beloved passing by on her scooter.

His unspoken love is as true as his mother’s helplessness H who cleans the cowsheds of the local strongman’s w mansion, with whom she also has a secret liaison. When m the h boy’s b ’ elder ld brother b h comes on a vacation to the village, he soon finds out about his younger brother’s infatuation. The learned elder brother makes him realize the need to express his love and helps him write a love letter. Will things remain the same in the village after this love letter is delivered? Especially when the girl is the village strongman’s daughter? Inspired by a true event, Chauranga (Four Colours) is a fictional account of six days in a dark corner of India. A story of the violence of class oppression that still exists in Rural India.

Director and Writer: Bikas Ranjan Mishra | Production Company: Anti Clock Films | Co-Production: NFDC

SUNRISE (ARUNODAY) Inspector Joshi is a grieving father searching for his daughter Aruna, kidnapped years ago when she was six. In his despair, life converges with a recurring dream in which Joshi pursues a shadowy figure who leads him to ‘Paradise’, a night-club where teenage girls dance to a leering crowd. He is convinced he will find Aruna there and vows to bring her back to Leela Leela, his broken wife wife.

Director: Partho Sen-Gupta Production Companies: Independent Movies Ltd (IN), NFDC (IN), Dolce Vita Films (FR) Infinitum Productions (IN), Aryasaa Cine productions (IN) 54

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06-05-2014 16:10:02

MAJHI THE MOUNTAIN MAN (MAJHI THE MOUNTAIN MAN) Dashrath Manjhi is famously known in India as “the Man who broke a mountain for love”. The film “Majhi - the Mountain man” is a true story about that legendry man- a story, so true that it is “stranger than fiction”. Dashrath Manjhi was a poorest of the poor man from the lowest of the low castes, living in a tiny village in the poor state of Bihar. A great big mountain separated this village from the rest of the world. Manjhi, loved his wife beyond belief. One day, as his pregnant wife carried his mid day meal across the mountain to him, she fell down from the mountain and died. Shocked and angry, Majhi swore to break the mountain and make a path so that no one else would ever suffer her fate. With just a hammer and a chisel he started what was perceived as an impossible task.

Director: Ketan Mehta | Writer(s): Ketan Mehta, Mahender Jhakkar Production Company: Maya Movies Pvt Ltd Co-Production: NFDC

FIG F IG FRUIT AND THE WASPS ((ATTIHANNU AT MATTU KANAJA) Gou Gouri, a documentary filmmaker, takes a journey along with her friend Vittal. She is trying to collect material for her documentary project on instrumental music, and instruments used in some parts of south India. They go to instr a vill village with the help of Basanna, a school teacher. They travel to meet an instrumental musician, who has gone some place elsewhere to give a performance. Both are forced to stay in the village till the musician returns. The fo film tries to capture the human attitude when they are placed in a condition/situation/ environment which is familiar and at the same time unfamiliar. As the seemingly simple yet complex situations develop, how these characters fit in to a landscape and climate as much mental as physical. Some time “vision” isn’t what is visible, sound isn’t exactly what is heard.

Director and Writer: M S Prakash Babu Production Company: NFDC

TWENTY MEANS TWENTY (VEES MHANJE VEES) Vees Mhanje Vees is about how young Shailaja strives to fulfil the promise made to her ailing father and how she achieves the target of 20 students set by the State Education Department. Shailaja Vaidya, a Final Engineering student, suspends her studies and returns to her native village Shibarga to reopen Sharada Vidya Mandir, the school started by her ailing father Annaji Vaidya. The school is housed in one of the rooms of their large house. Shailaja an ‘inexperienced’ teacher is unable to control or teach the 12 children in class. To make matters worse she gets a circular from the Education Department stating that schools which have less than 20 students will be shut down. Shailaja’s determined to achieve the target of 20 students. She uses innovative teaching methods that attract many more children thus ensuring that Sharada Vidya Mandir remains open.

Director and Writer: Uday Bhandarkar; Production Company: NFDC 55

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06-05-2014 16:10:03

LIGHTHOUSE PRODUCTIONS @ CANNES

Cindy Shyu Theil Chairman, Lighthouse Productions

BLENDING INDIA AND CHINA ONSCREEN

The Best of Two Civilizations A legendary film icon from India and one from China are likely to feature in ‘Gold Struck’, an Indo-Chinese film by Light House Productions in association with India’s KLEOS Entertainment Group. Lighthouse Chairman Cindy Shyu Theil speaks to Pickle about the project and about Cannes 2014 How has this Indo-Chinese film production shaped uo so far?

Very good. In fact, we can safely call this as the first India and China production venture.

We are on the stage of signing the key talent from both the countries. And we have received immense support from each level of the value chain starting from diplomacy level to trade.

What will be your focus at the Cannes Film Market 2014?

Cannes 2014 will focus will be partnering with studios and pre- sales activity.

You have Tony Cheung and Cory Yuen as directors of ‘Gold Struck’. Some insights into the star casts from India and China?

Yes both of them have got a huge latitude of

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work, respect, excellence behind them. On the signing the Talents, we are on the last level of discussions and closing with the biggest legends from India and China.

‘Gold Struck’ is the first major India-China film production; even before a treaty/agreement is signed. What are the prospects of India and China collaborating in the filmed entertainment space?

Yes, indeed, Gold Struck will be a landmark film because of the two cultures coming together.

We are at the right time as the co-production treaty is being pursued. We have the full support of the government, as diplomats from both the countries will identify this film and it could be instrumental in building bridges.

Besides, both India and China have been

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06-05-2014 16:10:07

GOLD STRUCK is going to be the first Indo-Chinese film venture. An action comedy that melds the cultures of two ancient civilizations, India and China, puts them through an alchemist’s furnance and blends it into a hilarious time travelling extravaganza like Back to the Future with typical Chinese action comedy with Bollywood flavour. The tag line of the film: ‘Does man control gold... or does gold control man?’

identified as big revenue-driven markets and are still evolving. Gold Struck strives to set an example in mixing the two styles of filmmaking, into one. We know something there and have been entertaining audience for six years now.

global market. Any audience is always hungry for good content and entertainment. Our presales response has been very positive.

Opportunities on the audio-visual front of an India-China co-production agreement are abundant. Both countries have vastly diverse natural landscapes that provide rich backdrops and talented artists with varied skills that complement each other. India has good post production facilities and skilled CG talent.

Light House Productions is based in Hong Kong with offices in Beijing, Los Angeles and Mumbai. Light House’s clear and driving mission is to bring universally appealing inspirational films to light that not only transcend national boundaries but celebrate cultural differences as well.

Light House is content driven and believes in simplistic story telling. Light House has a great team of talent and directors working hard to ensure the content has the potential to reach the widest audience base possible.

China’s audience is hungry for new visual and emotional experience in the cinema. There’s a growing interest in Indian films in China which will fuel growth in tourism in India. India’s audience would like to see more Chinese films. Coproduction films help bridge cultural gap which will in turn improve relationships between countries on all fronts – political and commercial.

What makes you think that this India and China collaboration will work?

The content, the best mix of talent from both the countries makes it work. Above all, Gold Struck delivers a strong message that entertainment, emotions do not have barriers. They are limitless. Using time travel, Gold Struck has both modern and ancient time. It has Chinese kung fu, Indian martial art, Indian traditional and Bollywood dance and song. It also has Chinese and Indian marital match-making traditions. As an action/romantic comedy with predominantly English as its predominant language, Gold Struck will have global reach.

These four elements- action, romance, comedy and English- are universal in nature.

What is in it for global audience? What has been the response of buyers in pre-sales?

The original language of the film is in English which defeats the language barrier. Secondly, the interesting mix of talent, directors and crew, and music is something that the audience can look forward to. Gold Struck has a potential to target is both diasporical and the

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Tell us about Light House Productions?

How did you zero in on your India partner Gayathiri Batra of Kleos Entertainment?

Gayathiri Batra was introduced by the Indian Ambassador’s daughter as she had seen her work and commitment. We wanted our India partner to have an understanding of both India and global markets, be like-minded, have high professional standards, be driven and have integrity. Gayathri has been a name to reckon with with vast experience in spearheading her portfolios with India’s best conglomerates. She has a great network, rapport and relationship with talent, trade, distributors etc. We are happy we found the one who shares our professional vision and spiritual goal.

China is the second largest box office market in the world after USA… Yes, China is rising and the box office revelations have been stupendous. For instance, a small budget film called Lost In Thailand had a box office of 200 Million dollars. The Film market is experiencing an upward trend. China’s box office receipts increased 30 percent to over RMB 17 billion ($3.7 billion), making China the world’s second-largest box office market.

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06-05-2014 16:10:07

Gayathiri Batra Founder & Chairman of KLEO

LOOKING TO STRIKE GOLD WITH ‘GOLD STRUCK’

Incredible India & Charming China Founder & Chairman of KLEOS Entertainment Group, Gayathiri Batra, who has partnered with Light House Productions for the IndoChinese film ‘Gold Struck’, says the film will be a groundbreaking collaboration that will draw on the strengths of two cinematic traditons and will show the way for many more such joint ventures How do you view the Indian film market today? How has the shift been for you from working in various studios to being an independent producer?

The Indian film market is going through interesting times, not only domestic but globally as well. It has evolved and is still evolving, creating a space for novelty in content consumption.

The mindsets, the perceptions are not restricted anymore. New vistas of revenues are constantly opening up. Earlier 80-90% of revenues depended on box office. Today, plethora rights that are non-theatrical constitute 35-40% in the monetization life cycle of the film. The viewing habits of audiences have changed due to the choice of entertainment and engagement habits. The relationship between content and consumer is only getting stronger and stronger

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due to devices like phones, and also so many apps that are available today.

The shift from being a part of the best of studios to an independent producer has been a learning process. There is an autonomous system which is collaborates the key divisions with a specific role play. Here you are a part of a larger system and its an open ground that leaves you to do what you desire, visuals, create and bring together all in the value chain as a producer in order to keep the project feasible both creatively and commercially. Also dealing with all the challenges and handling matters like fund raising, investor handling, talent, etc. It is a great experience and every day one learns.

How did your association with Light House Productions begin?

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Q A

Do you find language a barrier? Have you learnt Mandarin?

Language cannot be a barrier when likemindedness prevails. The goals and objectives are the same between us producers. But yes, there is one important word I have learnt in Mandarin ‘KOWTHING’... which means ‘fix it’

During my trip to Beijing, I met the Indian Ambassador in Beijing, his daughter introduced Light House Productions to me.

You have been working on the project for close to a year. What are the main lessons learnt?

I must admit that it is wonderful to be working with Cindy Shyu Theil (CEO) and Michelle Chan (MD). There are many aspects that I am working with on Gold Struck, starting from understanding and bringing the right collaboration with distribution houses, corporates, talent and designing the landscape of distribution worldwide. It is a great learning to be working in collaboration with like-minded team and one biggest lesson is our emotions speak the same language globally and entertainment has the power to break barriers in many ways.

Both India and China have their strengths in the showbiz space. What is the film industry view from India on this project?

This is a once in a lifetime project which has a mammoth potential not only commercially, but in terms of multi-dimensional benefits like bringing two cultures together. India and China are fast emerging markets and the growth pattern are of similar natures in media and entertainment. Our industry has been very positive towards Gold Struck and they are keen to partner from India not only for India but even to be part of a larger latitude.

Even Hollywood studios who have entered the Indian market have Indian audiences as their primary target. What will be the global appeal of ‘Gold Struck’?

India is a very lucrative market and that explains the level of interest for Hollywood studios. Gold Struck’s global appeal is the content, bridging two cultures together with an interesting mix of romance, action and comedy, which is universal all across the world.

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Tell us about the locations where ‘Gold Struck’ will be shot Gold Struck will be shot in US, exotic places in China and India and will have interesting locales like forts and palaces from Udaipur, Buddhist caves of Ajanta and Ellora and in Mumbai. This would be the first international production that would be shooting in Ajanta and Ellora caves and Maharashtra Tourism and government have extended full support and are facilitating it.

How much technology and VFX will influence ‘Gold Struck’? Are you planning to make Indian and Chinese talent work behind the scenes in this project?

The technology would be state of the art for Gold Struck. The proportion of VFX will be about 35-40% in the film. The film has ancient and modern time and also ‘time tunnel travel’ as well. The talent is very involved and they would be happy to work behind the scenes.

As they are excited about the knowledge exchange that will take place in various levels starting from the style of action or filmmaking , perspectives and attitude towards the craft.

What are the common things you find between India and China in the film sector?

The growth in business and history of culture, mysticism, spirituality. Above all, the commonality is in emotions and content. Both countries like action and comedy.

How have you mitigated the element of risk in what you are doing currently?

Risk mitigation starts from the drawing board itself. Starting from smart and tactical strategies in productions, bringing together the commercial elements by the way of talent and the music, all the while keeping in mind the revenue streams of the project - that’s part of the whole process.

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06-05-2014 16:10:07

INDIAN OTT LEADER

Around the World with www.dittotv.com Ditto TV of Zee New Media, ZEEL’s digital business arm, has witnessed a remarkable growth garnering over 3.25 lakh subscribers and over 2 million + registered users in 251 countries including the UK, the UAE, New Zealand, Australia and the US. An insight into this entertainment revolution How has been Ditto TV’s growth in recent months?

Since its inception, Ditto TV has witnessed a remarkable growth garnering over 3.25 lakh paid subscribers, two million users and over a half a million downloads till date. Ditto TV has a huge network spanning across 251 countries including the UK, the UAE, New Zealand, Australia and the US. It has also strengthened its position in the APAC region with viewers from 17 countries, including Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, Thailand, New Zealand and Taiwan have access to Live ZEE content using the Ditto TV app.

One strategic development in the recent months was the tie–up with Fortumo to introduce a new payment option for consumers wherein they can pay through their mobile operator. In addition, we have also partnered

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with ‘Payment Solution Providers’ like Oxigen, itzcash, Payworld and Pay1 which offers Ditto TV users the convenience to make payments at these solution provider kiosks or even at the nearest retail outlets. On the content offering, Ditto TV has added three channels from the Times Television Network (TNN) - ET Now, Times Now and Zoom to its bouquet and the 24 hour international channel, Bikini TV is also now available LIVE on the app. Ditto TV also launched a new campaign ‘Jab BhiKare Indian TV Shows Ka Mood’ in the UK market.

Today, Ditto TV offers over 70 LIVE TV channels and access to premium Video on Demand content through its strategic alliance with India Cast Media Distribution, Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd., BIG Magic TV, BIG RTL Thrill, Multi Screen Media (Sony Entertainment Television), TAJ TV Limited, Sri Adhikari Brothers, TV Today Network, BBC, and ZEE.

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The changing consumer lifestyle and preferences has led to emergence of new avenues for content consumption. With the growing adoption of smartphones and tablets, Television and mobile screens are converging to offer a new way for content consumption while on the go. We now are seeing content developers trying to tailor make content for mobiles consumption which is testimonial to the immense potential that this category holds for the media and entertainment industry ahead Debashish Gosh Chief Knowledge officer – Essel Group

What do people like to see on the move on the tablet or phone? What is it that they would like to order and watch?

The changing lifestyle and preferences among consumers has led to a paradigm shift in content consumption patterns. Increasingly, people are opting for alternate avenues to consume content and television is no more the first screen option. A recent survey from Ditto TV threw up some interesting statistics and trivia on user habits: iOS users are heavy viewers of news channels along with GECs while Android users prefer to watch GECs and regional channels. Furthermore, Android is the most popular OS on Ditto TV in terms of number of users while PC users consume the maximum playtime (31%) followed by Android users (28%). The News genre has grown from an average 18-19% share of total viewership to nearly 30% post Dec due to the preelections coverage. Apart from this, regional language channels and sports are also highly popular. But in general, the trend of consuming GECs is highest followed by sports, news and then movies / VOD. What are your goals for DITTO TV in the next one year?

Since its launch, Ditto TV has grown to become one of the leading players in the OTT space.

During our launch phase, the idea was to of-

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fer a ‘TV viewing experience’ to our consumers and hence the focus was on the interface.

Now our second phase will focus on ‘enhancing user experience’. Hence we will explore strategic partnerships with international studios to bring rich premium content bouquet to our consumers. Ditto TV will also have exclusive content tailored for the platform catering to both Indian and international audiences. We have also introduced new payment options to further enhance the user experience. Ditto TV is now gearing up to introduce new payment models, offer social media integration, and explore strategic partnerships with international content owners to have access to on-demand content from global channels & networks OTT has become a trendsetter and here to stay. How does Ditto TV look at this trend?

Over the last decade, there has been a paradigm shift in content consumption habits among consumers. Increasingly, they are opting for new alternate avenues for content consumption which led to the emergence of the OTT sector. Today, with the growing adoption of smartphones, better internet services and demand for ‘content on the go’, the OTT segment is enjoying a strong affability among consumers. One key aspect that will drive this burgeoning OTT segment will be content and the user experience. Players like Ditto TV are well poised to garner a lion’s share of viewers

We at Ditto TV are committed to making the user experience as seamless, convenient and memorable as possible. We want to offer viewers the largest collection of premium content, spread across diverse genres and also offer the convenience of paying subscriptions through variety of payment options in order to enhance their viewing experience.

We are confident that our efforts to offer a seamless video viewing experience will allow consumers to enjoy our varied content on Ditto TV Manoj Padmanabhan Business Head, Ditto TV

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06-05-2014 16:10:08

because of the variety and the rich premium quality content they offer. In addition, Ditto TV also looks at innovative means to enhance the consumer mobile viewing experience through ‘mobisodes’. Ditto TV has also introduced new payments options such as payment through mobile operator or through payment solution providers, to further enhance the consumer experience. Even leading DTH players in the country are launching their OTT app which is a clear indication of the immense potential and future for the OTT segment.

What are the three new things that you have built in to Ditto TV platform in recent times?

New payment option: One strategic development at Ditto TV in recent times is the tie up with mobile payment provider Fortumo to introduce a new mobile payment option to further simplify the overall consumer experience.

With this partnership, Ditto TV users can now subscribe to their favourite content on Ditto TV and make payments directly through their mobile operator, and without the need of a credit card, cash on delivery (COD), or net banking options. This payment model is available for both post- paid and pre- paid mobile users.

New website: In addition, we have also content can now be consumed online on the newly launched website – www.dittotv.com. The website is specially designed with complete ease-of-use to give you the best streaming and surfing experience and it includes added features and new modes of payment.

Ditto TV powers Dishonline: Ditto TV also powers the complete backend of the Dishonline app, an offering from India’s leading DTH Company aimed at providing TV, Movies, TV Shows and VOD on the move. The launch of DishOnline (powered by Ditto TV) gives Dish TV a huge competitive advantage as it is the only service provider in the cable TV and DTH industry to offer this one-of-a-kind facility.

On the content front, Ditto TV has added three new channels- ET Now, Times Now and Zoom to its bouquet and the 24 hour international channel, Bikini TV is also now available LIVE on Ditto TV! What are your expectations from large catalogued movie companies? How would you like to engage with them?

Platforms such as Ditto TV present good value to aggregators of content like production houses and movie companies that own blockbusters and other critically acclaimed works since they are able to tap a wider viewership and cover a greater section of audience, all through one medium. According to market sta-

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tistics close to 42 per cent of the movie trailers were consumed through mobile devices and with a number of applications and websites now coming up, mobile television has become an independent medium in itself, with a very loyal audience base. Hence a strategic partnership with large catalogued movie companies is bound to be a win-win situation for all.

We are already in talks with some prominent movie distribution and production houses at the moment. Going forward our key focus will continue to be to explore partnership international content owners / production houses to bring rich premium content for our consumers and enhance their viewing experience.

Cannes Film Festival bring the best of the content creators from across the world?

What content do look for?

Getting the right content mix to the viewer is very essential. And hence to feel the pulse of our viewers, we studied their usage patterns across categories such as GEC, movies, news, sports and music besides Video-On-demand available in the OTT format on devices.

A varied mix of preferences was shown by the users with 41% of the total time consumed on GECs, while The News genre has grown from an average 18-19% share of total viewership to nearly 30% post December due to the pre elections coverage. These are quite interesting findings for us as they act as markers when we search for fresh content; we now know what our preferences should be when we engage with content producers and sales agents. Consequently, Comedy, Action and Kids content are some of the genres which offer immense potential. We already have made a foray into the kids genre by adding Pogo and Cartoon Network to our bouquet of channels.

We are also interested in international premium content, which has hitherto not been exposed to Indian Television.

We have several platforms today. Is Ditto TV present on all of them?

Ditto TV is the first operator-agnostic service of its kind and it is present across all Operating Systems such as Android, iOS, Symbian, Windows, Windows PC, Windows phone, Windows MAC as well as on Connected TVs. Each platform is unique in its features and capabilities and hence the challenge here was to develop the best cross-formatted app, rather than for just couple of platforms. Ditto TV uses Central Content Distribution System to share content across multiple platforms for a seamless viewing experience. Ditto TV was ranked #1 on the AppleApp Store within a week of its launch, and listed in ‘Featured Apps’ on the BlackBerry App World & Windows Store ‘Spotlight’.

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Spécialités Indian Dishes TANDOORI & CURRY Want to combine lunch or dinner with CANNES meetings?

Try Maharajah for a delicious meal

Le Restaurant

MAHARAJAH Timings: 12 to 14:30h and from 19 to 23h 29, rue Jean Jaurès – 06400 Cannes For reservation call 04 97 06 50 56 or email: jacqueline.perrot2@free.fr rt Po s ne an C ar Ne to

We welcome you our new restaurant

LE PUNJAB 27 rue du Suquet – 06400 CANNES Timing: 12h to 15h and 19 to 24h For reservation call 04 97 06 50 56

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06-05-2014 16:10:08

SHOOTING IN INDIA

INDIA MUST INCREASE Its Attractive Power for Foreign Film-shoots

The Journalist Visa rule presents a peculiar problem, says producer Pierre Assouline ● There have been several examples where some members of the same crew and the same shooting project have been granted a ‘Journalist Visa’ while others have been refused. Such inconsistent and non-transparent decisions inevitably upset foreign professionals and discourage them from choosing India as their shooting destination.

lready the most prolific film production country in the world, India could also fast become one of the natural top choices as a shooting destination for foreign productions.

A

With its vast range of stunning locations, studio stages, equipment rental houses, state-ofthe-art facilities, talented cast and crew, it is clear that India today has that potential.

● ‘The Journalist Visa’ for foreign filmmakers, producers, cast and crews is inefficient and fails to serve its original purpose as it does not stop those with a “negative” filming project from filming whatever they wish.

An essential mechanism to ensure this growth is the creation and activation of a National Film Commission and a one-stop shop for all clearances. Many successful models exist in several countries, which the authorities may easily examine, in addition to proposals discussed at industry conferences.

Authorities should realise that the celluloid era when Customs Officers had the power to physically stop undesired film material from leaving India is over. Today, a foreign (or even Indian) filmmaker can upload any amount of ‘negative’ footage in the privacy of his hotel room, and instantly send it anywhere on the planet.

To these proposals I would add the resolution of the peculiar `Journalist Visa’ problem.

Currently, ‘The Journalist Visa’ is an enigma to foreign filmmakers. It covers too large a professional spectrum and culturally, film directors, producers, cast or technicians have never identified themselves with the journalist label. Their first reaction when told to apply for a ‘Journalist Visa’ is : “But, I’m not a journalist!”

Although the authorities’ intention in terms of prevention of inadequate or negative image of India being exported to foreign countries is understandable, lumping together journalists with filmmakers, actors and crews is not appropriate procedure. ● From the outset it sends out the wrong signal to potential film-shoots and their producers that things are not going to be easy, as already the semantics to qualify their activity are rather abstruse. ● It is even perceived as absurd when the same foreign filmmakers, producers, cast and crews are requested to apply for a ‘Journalist Visa’ although they and their families intend to visit India merely as tourists.

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In our globally connected world, for effective prevention of negative or inadequate images of India being exported, it is best to forget traditional censorship, and instead offer competent free consultancy to educate foreign filmakers and help pinpoint clichés and prejuices against Indian society and Indian culture in their screenplays.

IN OUR GLOBALLY CONNECTED WORLD, IT IS BEST TO FORGET TRADITIONAL CENSORSHIP, AND INSTEAD OFFER COMPETENT FREE CONSULTANCY TO EDUCATE FOREIGN FILMMAKERS AND HELP PINPOINT CLICHÉS IN THEIR SCREENPLAYS

pickle entertainment biz guide

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06-05-2014 16:10:22

MAKE YOURSELF VISIBLE IN PICKLE JUNE 2014 ANNECY & MIFA ISSUE. Pickle reaches out to audio visual companies in over 50 countries; Targets global buyers and distributors; Film Festivals and markets; Animation production companies; Global companies looking at offshoring from India; Co-production seekers and location service providers. Pickle business guide tracks the entertainment business in India.

INDIA AND BEYOND 68

pickle entertainment biz guide

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06-05-2014 16:10:23