Pickle May 2014 Cannes India Special Issue

INDIAN ENTERTAINMENT BIZ GUIDE

www.picklemag.com

Cannes F i lm Market

I s sue

May 2014

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INDIAN ENTERTAINMENT BIZ GUIDE

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Cannes F i lm Market

I s sue

May 2014




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www.picklemag.in4 pickle entertainment biz guide LIKE PICKLE IN FACEBOOK

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We can takesector to $

Monetization in Media will be Our Focus

Meet us atPalais Level 01

Stand No. 22.02 – 24.01

Block your diary: Sept 19-20, New Delhi, India



September 19-20 2014

New

Del

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• 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

Get in touchKavita Saini

Ph: +91-11 - 45771016Email: [email protected]

Website: www.ciibigpicture.com

at India – The Big Picture Summit 2014

Indian M&E 100 billion

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us











Call For Entries

International Competition for the First Feature Films of DirectorsAbove The CutWorld Cinema

India Gold 2014New Faces in Indian Cinema

Film India WorldwideThe Real Reel

Dimensions MumbaiRetrospective

10,000,000 INR (200,000 US$ approx)

participation in the 16th Mumbai Film Festival.

Contact:

T: +91 22 61668874

Mumbai Film Festival Team in Cannes

Prasad Khatu


M


MIFA11 - 13 June 2014

The leading

animation film event

ANNECY 9-14June2014

7,100 delegates

80 countries

2,000 companies

340 buyers,

distributors and

investors

CO-PRODUCE

FINANCE

BUY

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NETWORK

PITCH

RECRUIT

DEVELOP

DISCOVER

FestivalMifa

Conferences

The world’s top market for the animation film industry

Where creativity turns into business

www.annecy.org


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We 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 fi lmmakers 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 fi lmmaker 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 fi lm.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 fi lm locations of Indian State Governments. Indian showbiz’s Khans dominate the Cannes Film Market. Top Indian studios are pitching with Shah Rukh Khan-starrer ‘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 fi lmmakers from India to make a mark in the international fi lm circuit, is at Cannes Film Market with fi ve brand new fi lms 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 game-changer, all that India needs are few policy reforms and we look forward to rapid changes and new directions when the new government takes offi ce soon. Our next issue will focus on Annecy and MIFA. Feel free to email your thoughts and suggestions.

n vidyasagarpickle [email protected], www.picklemag.com

Pickle Volume VII 8th edition

Published by Pickle Media Private LimitedEmail: [email protected]● Mumbai ● ChennaiNo.2, Habib Complex Dr Durgabhai Deshmukh RoadRA Puram CHENNAI 600 028

Printed by Bon GraphicsNew #7, Arumugam Nagar, Dayalan Garden, Chinna Porur,Chennai – 600 116Mobile: +91 9884816263Email: [email protected]

Editorial Coordinators :

M SaiEmail: [email protected]

For advertising: [email protected]

Pickle Handbook 2013 Copyright 2013 byPickle Media Pvt Ltd. All Rights Reserved.Pickle is an ad supported business guide tracking the fi lmed entertainment business in India. This is a curtain raiser issue for CII Big Picture Summit 2013.

Layout Design: M Agnes JulieConsulting Photo Editor: K K LaskarC

SM




SCREENINGMARKET

COUNTING DREAMSThursday, 15.05.2014, 17:30, GRAY 4

Meet us in Cannes: Fox Star Studios [email protected]

[email protected]+91 98201 89556



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

The 18 fi lms 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 fi lmmak-ers working today – Ken Loach, 71, and Mike Leigh, 71. The other is a three-cor-nered Canadian face-off involving David Cronenberg, Atom Egoyan and Xavier Dolan.Loach is vying for the festival’s top prize with a feature fi lm 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-

ish painter JMW Turner. Leigh, like Lo-ach, 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 fi rst golden fi nish in Cannes with fi lms 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 Hol-lywood, while Egoyan, who has been off the boil for a while now, has The Cap-tive in the fray. The fi lm is a psychologi-cal thriller that revolves around a man whose daughter is kidnapped.Quebecois director Dolan’s Mommy is described as a fi lm about a widow raising a troubled teenager with the aid of a mys-terious neighbour. The fi lmmaker is only 25 years old but he is already a Cannes veteran – his fi rst three fi lms have all been screened in the festival. Mommy is, however, Dolan’s fi rst fi lm in offi cial 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.


CANNES 2014


FOXCATCHER HOMESMAN JIMMY’s HALL

GRACE OF MONACO

MR TURNER SAINT LAURENT SILS MARIA

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


Godard, too, has never won the Palme d’Or. So, will Adieu au Langage (Good-bye to Language), a 3D fi lm, break the jinx for him? The last time Godard had a fi lm in Cannes was in 2010 – Film Social-isme 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 fi lms that will be closely tracked this year are Olivier As-sayas’ Sils Maria, Russian auteur Andrei Zvyagintsev’s Leviathan and Turkish hel-mer Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s Winter’s Sleep. Two-time Palme d’Or winners Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne will look to add one more with Two Days, One Night. The fi lm is a thriller in which French actor Marion Cotillard plays a character that has only 48 hours to convince her co-workers 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 Homes-man, 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, in-spired by the real-life story of an unmar-ried couple that was stoned to death by Islamists in 2012 in northern Mali.South America, usually a strong pres-ence in Cannes Competition, has only one fi lm in the race this year – relatively unknown Argentine director Damian Szifron’s Wild Tales. The Competition has two fi lms by female directors this year: Alice Rohrwacher’s Le Meraviglie (loosely translated as The Marvel) and Japanese fi lmmaker 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 fi lm in Competition – Val-eria Bruni-Tedeschi’s A Castle in Italy. The year before, it had none. Signifi cantly, the president of the Cannes

Saibal Chatterjee is an independent New Delhi-based

fi lm 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-fi lmmaker Gulzar.


TITLICast: Shashank Arora, Ranvir Shorey, Amit Sial

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 fi nally try marrying him off to ‘settle’ him.

Titli, fi nds 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, benefi cial partnership, only to confront their inability to escape the bindings of their family roots.

But is escape, the same as freedom?

Un CertainRegard

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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 fi lm 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-fi lm line-up boost the tally of women – French actress-director Asia Argento’s Incom-presa, Pascale Ferran’s Bird People, Austrian fi lmmaker Jessica Hausner’s Amour Fou and South Korean July Jung’s A Girl at My Door.That apart, the omnibus Bridges of Sara-jevo, an anthology of 14 shorts made by European directors to commemorate the outbreak of World War I, has fi lms by fi ve women – Teresa Villaverde, Isild le Bes-co, Ursula Meier, Angela Schanelec and Aida Begic. The festival hosts a Special Screening of the fi lm.A debut fi lm from India, Kanu Behl’s Titli, has made the Un Certain Regard cut. It is the country’s third fi lm in four

years to make it to the section that is dedicated to new fi lmmakers and exper-iment-oriented cinema.Two popular actors also have fi lms in Un Certain Regard. Ryan Gosling, the star of Drive and Only God Forgives (both of which were in Cannes), has his fi rst fi lm 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 offi cial selection has several important documentaries, including The Salt of the Earth, a fi lm about legend-ary 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 screen-ings of Stephanie Valloatto’s Cartoonists – Foot Soldiers of Democracy and Los Angeles fi lmmaker 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.comPowered by theFestival de Cannes

with the support of:


TRUE LOVE STORYScript 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 fi lm is an attempt at

demystifying what Bollywood means to many a 17-year-old in love on the streets of Bombay.

tainrd

Critics Week



POLICY INITIATIVEWe Aim to Help Indian Films

Transition to Global Markets

The India Pavilion at Cannes will provide a platform for Indian fi lmmakers and produc-ers to navigate the international waters in

order to market their fi lms in the world stage and hold fruitful discussions to forge important ties towards co-production arrangements.

The global interest in India and in Indian fi lms has grown manifold in recent times. While the mainstream commercial Indian fi lm sec-tor continues to grow, a new crop of Indian fi lmmakers has emerged in recent times. This is refl ected in the Indian fi lms that have been selected this year at Cannes. Our fi lms and ac-tors are now crossing over from diaspora au-diences 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 fi lm frater-nity and the international one.

India has co-production agreements with nine countries. We encourage fi lmmakers to make use of this collaborative tool. To give a fi llip to the fi lm 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 fi lm piracy, new anti-pi-racy initiatives are being taken. The Ministry is launching awareness campaigns with industry bodies to fi ght piracy.

We have introduced some new incentives for budding fi lmmakers during the centenary year. The fi rst edition of National Students Film Festi-val and National Students Film Award was held

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 No-vember 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 embrac-es all kinds of cinema ,and content remains king for our fi lm-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 fi lm-loving international community.

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

INDIA @ CANNES

Shri Bimal JulkaSecretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting,Government of India

The biggest strength of India is the diverse range of its vast 1.2 billion population, which embraces all kinds of cinema



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



THURSDAY, MAY 1512.30 PMINAUGURATION OF INDIA PAVILIONHis 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 Entertain-

ment Committee

Jerome Paillard, Executive Director

AddressesHis Excellency Shri Arun K. Singh,

Indian Ambassador to France



Government of India

Followed by a discussion on:

THE MAKING OF GRACE OF MONACOWith Uday Chopra, Actor and

Producer

Arash Amel, Screenwriter, Grace of

Monaco

2.30 PMTHE JOURNEY TO CANNES – IN CONVERSATION WITH THE CAST AND CREW OF TITLI

PanelDibakar Banerjee

Kanu Behl

Ranveer Shorey

Actors from Titli

FRIDAY, MAY 162.30 PMCO-PRODUCTION: MERGING RESOURCES TO CREATE MAGICPanel discussion and interac-

tion with industry representatives

between key countries and India,

focusing on potential co-production

arrangements for mutual benefi t.

Keynote



Government of India

PanelDave Gibson, CEO, New Zealand

Film Commission

Carolle Brabant, CEO, Telefi lm 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 Film-

maker, India

Moderated by:Bobby Bedi, Producer and Filmmaker,

India

3.30 PMIN CONVERSATION WITH INDIAN CINEMA LEGEND DR KAMAL HAASAN

INDIA AT CANNESSessions at the India Pavilion

14-25 May 2014

SCHEDULEAT 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, fi lming in India, script development and technology, and promoting fi lm sales and syndication





THURSDAY, MAY 155.00 PMFELICITATION OF TITLI – NET-WORKING RECEPTION HOSTED BY MINISTRY OF INFORMATION & BROADCASTING, GOVERN-MENT OF INDIA

FRIDAY, MAY 165.00 PMNETWORKING RECEPTION CO-HOSTED BY MINISTRY OF INFORMATION & BROADCAST-ING, GOVERNMENT OF INDIA, AND NEW ZEALAND FILM COMMISSION

SATURDAY, MAY 1711.00 AMNETWORKING BRUNCH CO-HOSTED BY THE MINISTRY OF INFORMATION & BROADCAST-ING, GOVERNMENT OF INDIA, AND SCREEN AUSTRALIA

5.00 PMNETWORKING RECEPTION CO-HOSTED BY MINISTRY OF INFORMATION & BROADCAST-ING, GOVERNMENT OF INDIA, AND GERMAN FILMS SERVICE

SUNDAY, MAY 185.00 PMNETWORKING RECEPTION CO-HOSTED BY MINISTRY OF IN-FORMATION & BROADCASTING, GOVERNMENT OF INDIA, AND FILM FEDERATION OF INDIA

NETWORKINGAT THE INDIA PAVILION

SATURDAY, MAY 172.30 PMSINGLE WINDOW CLEARANCE: MAKING INDIA THE NEXT STOP FOR FILM SHOOTINGPresentationRaghvendra Singh, Additional Secre-

tary (Films), Ministry of Information &

Broadcasting, Government of India

PanelColin Burrows, CEO, Special Treats

Pierre Assouline, West East Films

Robyn Kershaw, Producer, Australia

Supran Sen, Film Federation of India

4.00 PMMEET THE INDIAN FILMMAKERS AT CANNESAn interactive session with all Indian

fi lmmakers in Cannes

Sudhir Mishra

Dibakar Banerjee

Dr Kamal Haasan

SUNDAY, MAY 184.00 PMPROMOTING CINEMA: THE ROLE OF FILM FESTIVALS AND MARKETSPanel discussion with organizers of

international fi lm festivals and fi lm

markets

Shankar Mohan, Director, Interna-

tional 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 Interna-

tional Film Festival

Guneet Monga, CEO Sikhya

Entertainment

Moderated by:Colin Burrows, CEO, Special Treats

Productions





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

Federation of Indian Chambers of Com-merce (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 fi fteen years, FICCI has been instrumental in bringing about several policy changes through consis-tent dialogue with policy-makers and stake-holders.

FICCI has played an important role in getting industry status to Indian fi lm sector. FICCI’s an-nual fl agship 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.

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 Me-dia & Entertainment.

Delegates from 35 countries attend FICCI FRAMES. Every year, the partner country leads the foreign delegation at FICCI FRAMES with a specifi c 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 FIC-CI 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

Skill Development NSDC.

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

“My goal and objective will be to work with you all to further reinforce this community and ac-celerate 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 compel-ling content,” says Uday Shankar, Chairman, FICCI Media & Entertainemnt Committee and CEO, Star India.

Well-known fi lmmaker 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 num-ber of media companies, the insights from the report help plan for the future and also fi ne-tune 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 ani-mation, gaming and VFX space at its annual award ceremony.

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


www.picklemag.in23 pickle entertainment biz guide LIKE PICKLE IN FACEBOOK wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww w.ww.www.ww.wwwwwwww.wwww.w.ww.wwwwww.ww.wwwww.www.wwwwwwwww.wwwwwww.wwwwwwwwwww.wwwwwww.ww.wwwwwwwwwwww.w.w.www.w.wwwwwwwwww.ww.wwwwwwwwwww.wwwwwwwww.wwwwwwwww.wwwwwwwwwww.wwwwwwww.wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.ww.wwwwwwww.wwwwwwwww.ww.www.wwwww...wwww...pppipiipipiiiipippiiipipipiiipiiiiipippipiiiiipppipiiiiipppipiiipppppippiipipippppppippiiippippippiiiipppippppipiipipppppppipipppppppipippipppppppiipppppippipipppppppppppippppppppppipiipipipppipppppppiipppppppppiipppppppppppppppppppppppppiiippppppppiiipppppppiipppppppppppppppppppppppppp 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KAMAL HAASAN BELIEVES India is a Great

Laboratory of FilmmakingDeciphering the workings of brand Kamal Haasan is a tricky proposition for many. Not so for S Raghunath, who tracks actor-fi lmmaker Kamal Haasan closely and runs into his mind to capture a few insights from this multifaceted maverick

I have had the opportunity on some occa-sions to discuss the Indian entertainment in-dustry 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 infl uence extends far beyond just his movie credits.

Kamal Haasan is an important commercial force in South Indian cinema and his vision for the future of feature fi lm business can demol-ish any opposition that gets into his innovative ways of creating, producing and distributing feature fi lms 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 fi lm 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 fi lm industry. He has even urged the Prasad Institute in Chen-nai to offer a fi lm course to students in Man-agement schools. He strongly believes that Management professionals in the Media and Entertainment business must learn the basics of fi lmmaking.

Management professionals can make consid-erable difference to the strategic positioning of the media and entertainment companies and

help them adapt to the economic and politi-cal 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 fi lm 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 fi lm in-dustry is only chaos management and not real management.” So what is his vision?

Haasan wants the Indian feature fi lm industry to learn to focus on cost advantage, resulting in the production of entertainment content at the lowest possible cost, and keep increas-ing returns so that it becomes a very attrac-tive industry that pays for experimentation. He believes India is a great laboratory of feature fi lm 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 fi lm industry fails. He is of the view that Hollywood benefi ted from the expertise of World War II veterans. With the skills they pos-sessed, they became mechanics, sound engi-neers, lighting experts, plumbing experts and the industry became more professional thanks to the skills they brought into it. In Indian fi lm industry, we need such skill sets. As we do not have them, we must create such skill sets, he feels.

STAR FROM INDIA


Kamal Haasan, 59, is one of India’s most feted fi lm stars and

an industry maverick. Long acclaimed for his method acting and

encyclopedic insights into the art and craft of cinema, the Chennai-

based Haasan has been one of the Indian fi lm industry’s biggest

stars over the last three decade, having acted in over 200 fi lms.

Haasan is in Cannes Film Festival and Market. He is also the

chairman of FICCI MEBC (South).

Kamal HaasanActor, Director, Producer, and

Chairman, FICCI MEBC



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 set-ting up a centre that can impart the required capabilities.Improving the know-how of the supporting industries can help develop the Indian fea-ture film industry’s competitive advantage. They are an integral part of the movie mak-ing industry: the talent agencies, the music and recording industry, trade industry, press, specialized research firms, the creative class and the technicians. Haasan believes an im-pressive level of industry know-how and talent developed through formal schools of relevant education and training should build and main-tain 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 ad-mitted 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 se-lection of each of these windows for delivery enable producers to practice price discrimina-tion 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 di-versified 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 in-creased 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 100-crore (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 en-tire 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 in-dustry 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.


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

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has been representing the India partici-pation at Cannes for more than a de-

cade, positioning the Indian Entertainment industry on the global landscape. Apart from promoting select Indian states as ideal shoot-ing 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 fi lm industry, but also enhancing Trade and Investment for this sec-tor and building ‘Brand India’ at Cannes.

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, Govern-ment of India to facilitate service exporters of India.

CII will facilitate one-to-one B2B meetings, dis-play 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 vari-ous tourism boards. State Tourism boards of Maharashtra, Gujarat will be present with us to highlight India’s treasured locations to attract global fi lmmakers and producers.

At Cannes, CII M&E Division will project its annual fl agship conference ‘The Big Picture Summit’ would take place on 19 - 20 Septem-ber 2014 at New Delhi with the objective of “Taking Indian M&E industry to $100 billion”. The theme for this year is ‘Monetization strate-gies’ and we cordially invite international del-egations and participation for the Summit. Visit our booth for more details.

With 28 States, 67 languages, 850 million people under the age of 35, fi ve hundred TV channels, three billion cinema ticket sales and no major restrictions, India offers immense op-portunity for fi lmmakers not only to shoot in In-dia, but simultaneously work on an Indian ver-sion of the fi lm that will give business access in India. And, there are no restrictions to dub and release the fi lm in as many as fi ve languages.






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 fi lms 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

fi lmmakers and executives at various CII events.

Ashok AmritrajChairman and CEO

Hyde Park Entertainment Group



HOLLYWOOD WILL NEVER Be Able to Beat Indian

Movies in IndiaHollywood maven Ashok Amritraj will be the Confederation of Indian Industry’s brand ambassador at Cannes 2014. He spoke at length to Praveen Dass, independent fi lmmaker, on the fast-changing dynamics of the global fi lm business

With over 100 fi lms to his credit, Hollywood

movie producer Ashok Amritraj, chairman

of the Los Angeles-based Hyde Park En-

tertainment, is the most prominent Indi-

an-origin player in Hollywood. The Chen-

nai-born Amritraj - who began life as an

international tennis pro alongside brothers

Vijay and Anand before taking up fi lm produc-

tion – recently launched his autobiography,

‘Advantage Hollywood’ (Published by Harper

Collins India) tells us of the challenges of mak-

ing fi lms for both US and international audi-

ences; and on hoping and waiting for that

$100 million Indian crossover movie

Is there any key difference between the Indian approach to fi lmmaking and the Hollywood one?

I’d say writing. The whole art of writing is such a diffi cult and lonely art. People often ask me what is the most diffi cult part of the fi lm indus-try and for me today, or for any of the major studios, it’s fi nding scripts. That’s why you see so many sequels. It’s very diffi cult to fi nd origi-nal ideas well written. And if it’s diffi cult there (Hollywood) it’s diffi cult everywhere else in the world I think. The one thing we do well in Holly-wood 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 diffi cult. 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

to come and see me. But I do think things are changing in India. More interesting fi lms are slowly being made with younger fi lmmak-ers 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 In-dia is the only place where actors can do fi lms, television and commercials and be as popular as they are. Over-saturation is not a problem here. It would be diffi cult 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 fi lms there’s the marketing, espe-cially the international marketing required for many fi lms. And while Indian fi lms 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.

THE FACE OF INDIA AT CANNES



But that ‘crossover’ fi lm 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 Hol-lywood doesn’t dominate), and then you also have such a loyal NRI audience that when you make the movies for this audience that par-ticular kind of fi lm has diffi culty translating to other audiences. So if you see Life is Beautiful or Amelie or Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - fi lms that are translatable to a Western audi-ence, it’s really a different kind of storytelling. The storytelling here is very specifi c to Indian audiences. And while the good news for In-dian producers is that this core audience is growing here, movies made for them will still have diffi culty 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 fi lm do that sometime and break that $100 million mark at the global box offi ce (BO), even if one still sees reluctance to commit to making and then marketing such a fi lm internationally.

And just how important has that internation-al 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 busi-ness. Today it’s sort of pretty much fl ipped

around, so two-thirds is global box offi ce. And yes, the marketing aspect has become a bigger challenge and become much more ‘day and date’. For instance, studios and in-dependents like myself join forces to fi ght pi-racy which is estimated to cost us $5 billion in losses each year. There’s dubbing and censor-ship 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 fi rst release in America be-cause 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 fi ght piracy for many big fi lms but also means huge marketing dollars are being spent by the studios. Mar-keting 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 to-day. 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 fol-lowers. 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.

(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 will new media fundamentally change the making and production of movies? There’s been much talk of that for a while now

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 peo-ple watching movies on laptops and mobiles. In most countries around the world I think kids will still go to the movies on Fridays and Sat-urdays and will enjoy that experience – you go to the theatre, the lights go down, a hush comes on, the movie starts. Marketing is im-portant 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 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 fi lms because the VFX start-ed 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 re-ally need a Tom Cruise or a Brad Pitt anymore. Sure, it doesn’t hurt to have Pitt in a fi lm 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 fi lms have defi nitely led to the stars di-minishing. And frankly, one good thing is that stars are more available today for smaller fi lms. 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 mat-ters but just not in the way it did twenty years ago. There’s no question that newer genera-tions of fi lmgoers are more geared to VFX and taking in much more information in shorter spans of time, so a single star doesn’t mat-ter that much to them in a fi lm. But in the US if you go with an older audience space, then some stars do make a difference. Meryl Streep

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.

Despite the global box offi ce 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

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 pro-ducers. 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 com-ing in from there now, despite restrictions on the number of fi lms 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 mov-ies dominate the scene. The dollar-rupee exchange rate is also a factor as yields from

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



tickets are low. But really, I don’t think Holly-wood 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 high-lighted. 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 fi fteen 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 fi lms.

You’ve produced just one Indian fi lm, ‘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 fi lm and wanted it in Tamil since that’s (Chennai) where I come from, so Jeans happened. Shankar was a fi ne up and coming director then, a brilliant choice; Aishwarya Rai too, as an actress – she was terrifi c – as was A R Rahman. But to be hon-est that whole process was long, it took two years from start to fi nish, and it’s hard to take that kind of time out to be away from Holly-wood. It takes a great deal of personal atten-tion to make a fi lm. 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 fi lmmak-ers 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 cou-ple of possibilities here and I’m hopeful that something comes out of that. I would love to fi nd 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

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 fi lm?’ - 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 en-tertainment 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 some-thing of an impact. Irrfan Khan is one exception. Maybe because he isn’t a superstar and he’s a fi ne, malleable type of actor who’s open to suggestion and fi tting 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 cer-tain 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 signifi cant 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 cra-zy 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.

Cover design Amrita Chakravortywww.harpercollins.co.in

` 499

BIOGRAPHY

ASHOK AMRITRAJ

Advantage Hollywood

‘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.’

– 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.’ – 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.’

– 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.’

– GRAHAM TAYLOR, William Morris Endeavor

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 ...

... continued from the front flap

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.

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

AS

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ITR

AJ

Advantage

Hollyw

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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:

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Visit tiff.net/industry for more updates and to register today!



Biopics and Super Heroes

Biopics and Super Heroes are trend-ing. The West is fl ooding the world with its fi lm 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 fi lm icon which went global was Richard At-tenborough’s Gandhi. The only Indian-directed biopic which has had some international visibility is Shekhar Kapur’s Bandit Queen. Although today’s Indian fi lmmakers have readily climbed onto the global biopic bandwagon, none have managed the cross-over: 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.

Could it be that Indian icons are less icon-ic than their Western counterparts? Or might it be that Indian biopics, as most Indian mainstream fi lms 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 nar-rative: 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 fi lm 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 fi lm: such a length is unnecessary and weakens narrative power. Very few long

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

THOUGHT LEADER

Pierre AssoulineOnly Films, Paris / Westeast Films, Mumbaipierre@westeastfi lms.com



feature fi lms would not have been much better had they been shortened …. West-ern audiences may not have the patience, as they are used to fi lms not much lon-ger than 100 minutes. Production-wise, lengthy fi lms become a fi nancial burden not only at shooting and post-production but also for theatrical distribution when instead of fi ve daily screenings you can only manage four. 4) A poor period render-ing with crude lights on freshly painted sets, freshly ironed brand-new outfi ts and obviously over made-up faces .… Does it have to be spelled out that this kills au-thenticity? 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 fi lms unwatchable in the West: subdued acting conveys more pow-erful 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 Tu-karam before sainthood.” but we say “Be-fore sainthood there is no Tukaram!”. How can a proper biopic be made with a mis-understood 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 Tukaram- the fi rst Indian fi lm with real international impact. Tukaram 1936 is charismatic. The audience is in full empathy with him and his abhangs. Why did International audi-ences receive this fi lm so wholeheartedly

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 Univer-sal. There was no gap between Indian and Western idiom as there is today.

Super Heroes need helpSuper Heroes! It looks as if in these times of fi 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 Mah bh rata Franchise, the Bh gavata-pur na Franchise, the R m yana Fran-chise, all available, all IP free and all cour-tesy of Vy sadeva and V lm ki.Inspiration for stories with spiritual con-tent are everywhere, but nowhere more than from within the cradle of spiritual-ity - India, with her rich oral and written tradition. It is time for Indian-crafted fi lms to show the world the beauty of In-dia’s spiritual culture, rather than follow Western fi lms down the same old beaten track of portraying an “Indian genre” as-sociated only with misery and social con-fl ict as their main topics. Unfortunately, those of the new generation fi lmmakers who are more apt in the handling of a Universal Cinema Language, have been Westernized to think that shabby hard-ship is the only theme that will take them to international festivals. Thanks here to



the Anand Gandhis and the Ritesh Batras for their beautiful exception.One may counter that so many fi lms have been made in India from Mah bh rata and R m yana. 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 Bh smadeva in tacky sets with German Expressionism acting, reverb in the voice, and constant fan blowing in the hair.

Kurukshetra is no DisneylandA specifi c Mah bh rata project leaves me puzzled: the Disney/UTV Abhishek Ka-poor 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 fi lm could never break-even from the domestic territory and its natu-ral extension, the Indian diaspora, alone. To be viable the project needs to aim at a wide International release. A venture which aims at a specifi c target naturally equips itself with the required enabling assets to reach that target. Not this fi lm. Abhishek Kapoor is no Peter Jackson and the writer Ashok Banker is no Fran Walsh or Philippa Boyens. We know Abhishek Ka-poor for two simple feel-good movies that fared pretty well domestically. For both fi lms, the rare foreign reviews contrast with the positive domestic ones: the usual predictable twists oozing with syrupy good intentions do not travel well. Ashok Bank-er is a successful novelist but a neophyte screenplay writer. None of his scripts have

been turned into fi lms, 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 R m yana or Mah bh rata is mundane and speculative. The proper approach to Mah bh rata is to be found in Mah bh rata itself (Sh nti-parva 348. 51-52 and Bhagavad-g t 4.1): it must be handed down through parampar , 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 specifi c device. The mundane approach is bound to produce a Mah bh rata lacking in its philosophical potency and spiritual emotion, which are the number one asset for the fi lm to reach the audiences’ heart worldwide. We have experienced it in the past with Peter Brook’s The Mah bh rata based on Jean-Claude Carrière’s script. In contrast to Banker, Carrière is a brilliant scriptwriter, but his unenlightened ap-proach reduced the Holy Epic to an ordi-nary saga.None of this is to say that Cinema can-not 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 Py-thon’s Life of Brian. One boldly sticks to the Bible, the second falls hilariously into satirical delirium. But neither misleads the audience. The Disney Mah bh rata project presents itself as the rendering of the real thing, but the Kapoor-Banker tandem can only generate an ersatz.For the fi rst time producers have the fi -nancial power to do Mah bh rata justice. They bear the responsibility to make this project a Mah bh rata global cinematic reference for today and many decades to come. Kurukshetra is no Disneyland, and there is potential for damage to go far be-yond a mere box offi ce 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

Mahabharata painting by B.G. Sharma

G



The American Film Market is produced by the Independent Film & Television Alliance® I www.ifta-online.org

AMERICAN FILM MARKET& CONFERENCES

®

November 5-12, 2014 / Santa Monica

Global Connections...Unlimited Possibilities

In Cannes: Riviera B7/C8 www.AmericanFilmMarket.com



EROS INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

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 fi lms in its library and is at Cannes with new fi lms. Eros can be reached at Cannes Stand PALAIS 01 Stand 25.02.

KUMAR AHUJAPresident, Business DevelopmentMob: +91 [email protected]

ALICE COELHOVP Syndication SalesMob: +44 79 6464 [email protected]

BOOTH NO

PALAIS 01

STAND 25.02

KOCHADAIIYAANKochadaiiyaan is a historical magnum opus starring Indian superstar Rajinikanth. It narrates a story of powerful deception, portraying Rana, a passionate and fi erce 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 confl ict of emotions and the blood battle that arises along the treacherous path down love and war that Rana takes to fulfi l 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.



the e o

al

JAI HOJai, an upright common man is fi ghting a solitary war against corruption and injustice. Honest and incorruptible, he has made it his mission to help as many people as he can. His mantra is quite simple - help somebody and then request that person to lend a helping hand to

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

JJfi cinmhhth

SHAADI KE SIDE EFFECTSSide effects are funny, sometimes they are a wonderful surprise... and sometimes they are a mixed bag. Lovers becoming friends.. But not Sid (Farhan Akhtar) and Trisha (Vidya Balan). Theirs is a shaadi (marriage) where they are living out each other’s fantasies, turning them into reality peppered with love, lust & longing. Shaadi Ke Side Effects is a witty, sexy comedy

that redefi nes happily ever after - if there really is one.

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

SSwmSTliS

KRRISH 3After defeating the villainous Dr. Siddhant Arya and bringing his father Rohit back from the dead, Krrish continues fi ghting against evil and saving innocent lives. Krishna is living a happily married life with Priya, while Rohit is using his scientifi c brilliance to benefi t society. Krrish is everyone’s favorite superhero saviour.

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

www.picklemag.in



RAMLEELARam, t he 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 magnifi cent musical backdrop, Ram and Leela fi ght 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 JEANSPurani Jeans is a fi lm based on the belief that friendship is like a pair of old jeans- the more you wear them the better it gets. This is the belief that the protagonist Siddharth Ray comes to realize as he rediscovers bonds of friendship on his return to India from New York after 12

years. The fi lm 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

PPbottcbt


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8,400 Participants490 Exhibitors 1,500 Buyers 790 Films 1,100 Screenings

EUROPEAN FILM MARKET IT ALL STARTS HERE.513 Feb 2015


YRF ALL SET FOR CANNESWith 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 fi rm’s key focus areas at Cannes 2014YRF 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 Entertain-ment has backed the festival’s opening fi lm ‘Grace of Monaco’.

Its an honour to have two fi lms 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 hum-bling.

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 Ti-tli. We’re delighted with our partnership with Dibakar Banerjee as Titli has really set the tone for two companies that might seem very dif-ferent from the outside but share a common passion for putting a fi lm above all else. We’re

looking forward to the fi lm version of the De-tective Byomkesh Bakshy which is another co-production 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 fi lms 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 fi lms on their previous collaborations.

Ranveer Singh has arrived (and how!) in the last year and we’re looking forward to his new fi lm 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 an-other 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.

Avtar PanesarVP International Operations, Yash Raj Films


YASH RAJ FILMS @ CANNES


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 offi ce. We will be at our usual offi ces at Résidence l’Impératrice next to the Grand Hotel, but I have been com-ing 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 fi lms on its movie slate - ‘Happy New Year’ (this Di-wali in October) and ‘Fan’ (August 14, 2015). Just how much does Shah Rukh Khan excite international buyers at Cannes?

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 fi lms of his and I have already been getting a huge response from all over but China in particular.

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...

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

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

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

Last year, under your leadership, YRF did a fantastic road show for the Japanese media to interact and showcase with Indian fi lm stu-dios 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 fi lms 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 fi lm business. We seem to have triggered some intrigue and hope to build on that.

What attracts Bollywood as a genre to the world?

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 lan-guage 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.

Asia seems to be the missing link for Indian fi lms - leaving out pockets in the SAARC re-gion?

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.

YRF’s fi lm catalogue has some of the fi nest Indian fi lms 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 Netfl ix as well as other platforms. This is just the tip of the iceberg and no doubt this number will rise in the coming years.

QA

India is ranked fi fth in the international box offi ce 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 fi gures, 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.




AVTAR PANESARVice-President, International Operations

HAPPY NEW YEARAn 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

YASH RAJ FILMSRésidence L’impératrice / Left Of Grand Hotel, 3rd Floor44 Boulevard De La Croisette06400 Cannes, FranceEmail: cannes@yashrajfi lms.com / avtar@yashrajfi lms.comTel: Mob: + 33 - 621943420 India Mob: + 91 9920 347780

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

TITLIIn 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 fi nally try marrying him off to ‘settle’ him. Titli, fi nds 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, benefi cial 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

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

Directed by: Vijay Krishna AcharyaProduced by: Aditya Chopra (Yash Raj Films)Starring: Aamir Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, Katrina Kaif, Uday Chopra

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 fl avours 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

FANShah 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

FAN



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

KILL DIL (No Place for Love)Once upon a time in North India, two killers – Dev (Ranveer Singh) and Tutu (Ali Zafar), roamed free. Abandoned when young and vulnerable, Bhaiyaji (Govinda) gave them shelter and… nurtured them to kill. All is normal in their lives until destiny throws free spirited Disha(Parineeti Chopra) into

the mix. What follows is a game of defi ance, deception and love.

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

K(Ok(w(nts

DETECTIVE BYOMKESH BAKSHY! (Detective BB)In a contemporary interpretation of war torn Calcutta during the 1940’s, the fi lm follows the fi rst 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 fi rst 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 fi rst time in a Hindi feature.

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



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

Starring Rani Mukerji in the lead, playing the role of a cop for the fi rst time, the raw and gritty fi lm will be a distinct departure from Pradeep Sarkar’s style

of fi lmmaking.

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

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GUNDAY (Renegades)Gunday is a story about what happens when you lines are drawn on mother earth to create borders.Gunday is a fi lm about displacement, love, and survival of the fi ttest, 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 fi nancial 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-card-junkies 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



FOX STAR STUDIOS INDIA PVT LTD.

ROHIT SHARMAHead – International Sales & DistributionMob: + 91 98201 [email protected]

KANIKA VASUDEVAAssociate Vice President – International Sales & [email protected]

HUMSHAKALSHumshakals, 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 VELVETSet 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

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 in-line 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 fl ight?

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

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 fi lms for worldwide distribution. At the Cannes Market this year Fox Star will be selling their latest fi lms for 2014-2015



FINDING FANNY FERNANDESFinding Fanny is an off the cuff, comical story about a bunch of oddballs who venture out to fi nd 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

BANG BANG

An unassuming bank receptionist Harleen Sahni’s (Katrina Kaif) simple, sedate life changes forever when she fi nds 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

CITYLIGHTSThe 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 offi cial 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 fi lm category at the 86th Academy Awards.

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



VIACOM18 MOTION PICTURES

GAYATRI GULATIHead- Revenues & International Business [email protected]

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

Bombay TalkiesOne 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)

KahaaniDirected by Sujoy Ghosh, the fi lm 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, Best Editing & Special Jury 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.

B t Editi & S i l J



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.

Laila is a spunky, talented, attractive 19-year-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


DISNEY INDIA - UTV

NEHA KAULHeadInternational Distribution - Studios [email protected]

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 fi 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

HighwayA young city girl, full of life, is on the highway at night, with her fi ancé. 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

RIVIERA STAND G1



2 StatesThe 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

HaiderThe 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, Irrfan Khan, Shradha Kapoor and Kay Kay Menon, directed by Vishal Bhardwaj.

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

u Irrfan Khan Shradha






NATIONAL FILM DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION (NFDC)

RAJESH DASHead - Distribution - Sales & [email protected]

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 effi cient development of the Indian fi lm industry. At Cannes, NFDC seeks partnerships with international production and sales agents to collaborate on new fi lms

FOUR COLOURS (CHAURANGA)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 school 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 a tree and adore his beloved passing by on her scooter. His unspoken love is as true as his mother’s helplessness who cleans the cowsheds of the local strongman’s mansion, with whom she also has a secret liaison. When

the boy’s elder brother comes on a vacation to the village, he soon fi nds 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 fi ctional 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

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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 fi gure who leads him to ‘Paradise’, a night-club where teenage girls dance to a leering crowd. He is convinced he will fi nd Aruna there and vows to bring her back to Leela, his broken wife.

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

Leela his broken wife

RIVIERA STAND C5A



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 fi lm “Majhi - the Mountain man” is a true story about that legendry man- a story, so true that it is “stranger than fi ction”. 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 FRUIT AND THE WASPS (ATTIHANNU MATTU KANAJA)Gouri, a documentary fi lmmaker, 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 a 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 fi lm 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 fi t 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

Co-Production: NFDC

FFIG((AATGouwithher instra vill

travel to meet an instrumentalgive a performance. Both are fo

TWENTY MEANS TWENTY (VEES MHANJE VEES)Vees Mhanje Vees is about how young Shailaja strives to fulfi l 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



BLENDING INDIA AND CHINA ONSCREEN

The Best of Two Civilizations

A legendary fi lm icon from India and one from China are likely to feature in ‘Gold Struck’, an Indo-Chinese fi lm 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 fi lm production shaped uo so far?

Very good. In fact, we can safely call this as the fi rst 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 di-rectors of ‘Gold Struck’. Some insights into the star casts from India and China?

Yes both of them have got a huge latitude of

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

‘Gold Struck’ is the fi rst major India-China fi lm production; even before a treaty/agree-ment is signed. What are the prospects of India and China collaborating in the fi lmed entertainment space?

Yes, indeed, Gold Struck will be a landmark fi lm 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 sup-port of the government, as diplomats from both the countries will identify this fi lm and it could be instrumental in building bridges.

Besides, both India and China have been

LIGHTHOUSE PRODUCTIONS @ CANNES

Cindy Shyu TheilChairman, Lighthouse Productions




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

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 com-plement each other. India has good post pro-duction facilities and skilled CG talent.

China’s audience is hungry for new visual and emotional experience in the cinema. There’s a growing interest in Indian fi lms in China which will fuel growth in tourism in India. India’s audi-ence would like to see more Chinese fi lms. Co-production fi lms help bridge cultural gap which will in turn improve relationships between coun-tries 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 enter-tainment, emotions do not have barriers. They are limitless. Using time travel, Gold Struck has both modern and ancient time. It has Chi-nese kung fu, Indian martial art, Indian tradi-tional 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, com-edy 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 fi lm is in English which defeats the language barrier. Second-ly, the interesting mix of talent, directors and crew, and music is something that the audi-ence can look forward to. Gold Struck has a potential to target is both diasporical and the

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

Tell us about Light House Productions?

Light House Productions is based in Hong Kong with offi ces in Beijing, Los Angeles and Mum-bai. Light House’s clear and driving mission is to bring universally appealing inspirational fi lms to light that not only transcend national bound-aries 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.

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 in-tegrity. 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 hap-py we found the one who shares our profes-sional vision and spiritual goal.

China is the second largest box offi ce mar-ket in the world after USA…

Yes, China is rising and the box offi ce revela-tions have been stupendous. For instance, a small budget fi lm called Lost In Thailand had a box offi ce of 200 Million dollars. The Film mar-ket is experiencing an upward trend. China’s box offi ce receipts increased 30 percent to over RMB 17 billion ($3.7 billion), making China the world’s second-largest box offi ce market.

GOLD STRUCK is going to be the fi rst Indo-Chinese fi lm

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 fl avour. The tag line of

the fi lm: ‘Does man control gold... or does gold control man?’



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 Indo-Chinese fi lm ‘Gold Struck’, says the fi lm 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

Gayathiri BatraFounder & Chairman of KLEO

How do you view the Indian fi lm market today? How has the shift been for you - from working in various studios to being an independent producer?

The Indian fi lm market is going through inter-esting times, not only domestic but globally as well. It has evolved and is still evolving, creat-ing a space for novelty in content consumption. The mindsets, the perceptions are not restrict-ed anymore. New vistas of revenues are con-stantly opening up. Earlier 80-90% of revenues depended on box offi ce. Today, plethora rights that are non-theatrical constitute 35-40% in the monetization life cycle of the fi lm. The view-ing 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

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

The shift from being a part of the best of stu-dios to an independent producer has been a learning process. There is an autonomous system which is collaborates the key divisions with a specifi c 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, cre-ate 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?



During my trip to Beijing, I met the Indian Am-bassador 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 work-ing with Cindy Shyu Theil (CEO) and Michelle Chan (MD). There are many aspects that I am working with on Gold Struck, starting from un-derstanding and bringing the right collabora-tion 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 fi lm indus-try 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 benefi ts like bringing two cultures together. India and China are fast emerging markets and the growth pat-tern are of similar natures in media and enter-tainment. Our industry has been very positive towards Gold Struck and they are keen to part-ner 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 univer-sal all across the world.

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 fi rst 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 infl uence ‘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 fi lm. The fi lm 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 fi lmmaking , perspectives and attitude towards the craft.

What are the common things you fi nd be-tween India and China in the fi lm sector?

The growth in business and history of culture, mysticism, spirituality. Above all, the common-ality 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 strate-gies in productions, bringing together the com-mercial elements by the way of talent and the music, all the while keeping in mind the rev-enue streams of the project - that’s part of the whole process.

Q

A

Do you fi nd language a barrier? Have you learnt Mandarin?

Language cannot be a barrier when like-mindedness 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 ‘fi x it’



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, Aus-tralia 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 in-troduce a new payment option for consum-ers wherein they can pay through their mobile operator. In addition, we have also partnered

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 chan-nels 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 To-day Network, BBC, and ZEE.



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 fi rst 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 An-droid users (28%). The News genre has grown from an average 18-19% share of total viewer-ship to nearly 30% post Dec due to the pre-elections coverage. Apart from this, regional language channels and sports are also highly popular. But in general, the trend of consum-ing 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-

fer a ‘TV viewing experience’ to our consum-ers and hence the focus was on the interface. Now our second phase will focus on ‘enhanc-ing user experience’. Hence we will explore strategic partnerships with international stu-dios to bring rich premium content bouquet to our consumers. Ditto TV will also have exclu-sive 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 ex-plore 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 par-adigm 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 adop-tion 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

The changing consumer life-

style and preferences has led

to emergence of new avenues

for content consumption. With

the growing adoption of smart-

phones and tablets, Television

and mobile screens are converg-

ing to offer a new way for con-

tent consumption while on the

go. We now are seeing content

developers trying to tailor make

content for mobiles consump-

tion which is testimonial to the

immense potential that this cat-

egory holds for the media and

entertainment industry aheadDebashish GoshChief Knowledge offi cer – Essel Group


We at Ditto TV are committed to

making the user experience as

seamless, convenient and mem-

orable as possible. We want to

offer viewers the largest collec-

tion of premium content, spread

across diverse genres and also

offer the convenience of paying

subscriptions through variety of

payment options in order to en-

hance their viewing experience.

We are confi dent that our efforts

to offer a seamless video viewing

experience will allow consumers

to enjoy our varied content on

Ditto TVManoj PadmanabhanBusiness Head, Ditto TV


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 develop-ment at Ditto TV in recent times is the tie up with mobile payment provider Fortumo to in-troduce a new mobile payment option to fur-ther 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 mo-bile 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 con-tent can now be consumed online on the new-ly launched website – www.dittotv.com. The website is specially designed with complete ease-of-use to give you the best streaming and surfi ng experience and it includes added features and new modes of payment.

Ditto TV powers Dishonline: Ditto TV also powers the complete backend of the Dishon-line 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 val-ue to aggregators of content like production houses and movie companies that own block-busters 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-

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 part-nership with large catalogued movie compa-nies 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 interna-tional 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 pat-terns across categories such as GEC, movies, news, sports and music besides Video-On-de-mand 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 view-ership to nearly 30% post December due to the pre elections coverage. These are quite interesting fi ndings for us as they act as mark-ers 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 of-fer 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 fi rst operator-agnostic service of its kind and it is present across all Operat-ing Systems such as Android, iOS, Symbian, Windows, Windows PC, Windows phone, Win-dows 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 view-ing 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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INDIA MUST INCREASE Its Attractive Power for

Foreign Film-shootsThe Journalist Visa rule presents a peculiar problem, says producer Pierre Assouline

Already the most prolifi c fi lm production country in the world, India could also fast become one of the natural top

choices as a shooting destination for foreign productions.

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

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

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

Currently, ‘The Journalist Visa’ is an enigma to foreign fi lmmakers. It covers too large a professional spectrum and culturally, fi lm di-rectors, producers, cast or technicians have never identifi ed themselves with the journalist label. Their fi rst reaction when told to apply for a ‘Journalist Visa’ is : “But, I’m not a journal-ist!”

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 fi lmmakers, actors and crews is not ap-propriate procedure.

● From the outset it sends out the wrong signal to potential fi lm-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 fi lmmakers, producers, cast and crews are requested to apply for a ‘Journalist Visa’ although they and their fam-ilies intend to visit India merely as tourists.

● 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-trans-parent decisions inevitably upset foreign professionals and discourage them from choosing India as their shooting destina-tion.

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

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

In our globally connected world, for effective prevention of negative or inadequate images of India being exported, it is best to forget tradi-tional censorship, and instead offer competent free consultancy to educate foreign fi lmakers 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

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MAKE YOURSELF VISIBLE IN PICKLE JUNE 2014 ANNECY & MIFA ISSUE.

INDIA AND BEYOND

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.


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Pickle May 2014 Cannes India Special Issue

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