Month: June 2009

BIG Pictures’ Suspense Thriller ‘Sikandar’ To Release On 21st August 2009

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Mumbai, 30th June, 2009: BIG Pictures, motion pictures brand from Reliance Big Entertainment in association with Sudhir Mishra will release its suspense thriller movie ‘Sikandar’ on 21st August, 2009.

Written and directed by Piyush Jha, shot in location in Kashmir, the film is about Sikandar who lives with his uncle and aunt in a small Kashmiri town. Now his life revolves round his foster parents, football, Nasreen, the new girl in town and dealing with some bullies. But life takes an unexpected (or was it expected?) turn when he picks up a gun from the ground. And thus, he gets drawn into the web of militants, power and violence.

‘Sikandar’ casts Parzaan Dastur, the adorable little Sardar from film ‘Kuchh Kuchh Hota Hai’, now in his teens, Ayesha Kapur of ‘Black’ fame as she makes her come-back as a lead actress and introduces Arunoday Singh in a key role. Also, lending their strength and verve are R. Madhavan and Sanjay Suri. The happening trio of Shankar Ehsaan- Loy, Sandesh Shandilya and Justin-Uday with lyrics by Prasoon Joshi, Neelesh Misra and Kumaar.

Sikandar is a novel new generation film that is steadily gaining popularity with international audience. The strong storyline is sure to resonate well in India with the film’s release on 21st August. It’s a film strong on content & emotive appeal,¿ says Mahesh Ramanathan, COO BIG Pictures.

To know more about the film log on to www.sikandar.bigflix.com /
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=48610492499

About Reliance Big Entertainment:

Reliance Big Entertainment Ltd. (RBEL, www.rbe.in) is the flagship media and entertainment arm of the Indian conglomerate Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (www.relianceada.com). It has a significant presence in filmed entertainment (film production, distribution, exhibition and TV content), broadcasting, studio infrastructure, processing, digital services, music, home video, animation, events, out of home, gaming and new media.

BIG Pictures, RBEL’s motion picture brand, has built a formidable Indian film production slate in English, Hindi and several other Indian languages, which it markets and distributes worldwide.The slate has projects with leading production houses and marquee Indian directors, both mainstream and arthouse, including Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Rakesh Roshan, Farhan Akhtar, David Dhawan,Anurag Basu, Kunal Kohli, Priyadarshan, Madhur Bhandarkar, Sudhir Mishra, Shaji N. Karun, Shyam Benegal, Rituparno Ghosh, Buddhadeb Dasgupta, M.S. Sathyu and Amol Palekar.

In Hollywood, RBEL has signed development deals with Julia Roberts’ Red Om Films, Nicolas Cage’s Saturn Productions,Jim Carrey’s JC 23 Entertainment, George Clooney’s Smokehouse Productions, Chris Columbus’ 1492 Pictures,Tom Hanks’ PlayTone Productions, Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment, Jay Roach’s Everyman Pictures and Brett Ratner’s Rat Entertainment.

RBEL’s associate company ADLABS is India’s largest film processing, exhibition and services company.

Reliance ADA Group (www.relianceada.com) is among India’s largest private sector, business houses and has interests in communications, financial services, health, energy, infrastructure and media & entertainment.

Further press release related queries please contact:

Preeti Puri Sharma
Vice President, PR
BIG Pictures
Email: .purisharma@relianceada.com

Rohini Bhandari
Manager, PR
BIG Pictures
Email: rohini.r.bhandari@relianceada.com

BIG Pictures’ ‘Ijjodu’ Nominated At Ahmedabad International Film Festival

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Mumbai, 25th June, 2009: BIG Pictures, the motion pictures brand of Reliance Big Entertainment’s Kannada film ‘Ijjodu’ has been selected for the Ahmedabad International Film Festival to be held in Ahmedabad from 25th June to 28 June, 2009.

‘Ijjodu’ is the official selection for the Feature Films Competitive Category. ‘Ijjodu’ will be screened on 27th June at this festival, where the film would have its world premiere.

‘Ijjodu’ stars Meera Jasmine, Anirudh, Srivatsa, Nagkiran and Arundhati Jathakara. It is directed by M S Sathyu. The film is a story of a young photo journalist’s brief encounter with a girl who was made a ‘Basavi’ at the altar of the village deity, to save people who were hit by a devastating epidemic. ‘Basavi’ is a cult very similar to that of the ‘Devdasi’. Director M. S. Sathyu and actress Meera Jasmine will be present for the film’s screening at the festival.

Commenting on the official selection for the competition, director M. S. Sathyu says, I am happy that Ahmedabad International Film Festival has selected ‘Ijjodu’ in the competition section. ‘Ijjodu’ has positive theme and will be of interest to Indian as well as international audience. The film juxtaposes the old and new, past and present, ritualistic and contemporary.

Ahmebadad International Film Festival is organized by FulMarxx Integrated Filmed Entertainment Company in collaboration with Berlinale (Berlin International Film Festival) and Tampere Film Festival, Finland. The festival curators include Dorothee Wenner, Director, Berlin Interntional Film Festival and Jukka Pekko Laakso, Director, Tampere Film Festival, Finland.

BIG Pictures’ Two Films Competing At Bollywood & Beyond Film Festival, Germany

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Sikandar and Samaantar nominated at Bollywood & Beyond Film Festival, Germany

Mumbai, June 15, 2009: BIG Pictures’ two films ‘Sikandar’ and ‘Samaantar’ have been nominated at Bollywood & Beyond Film Festival to be held in Stuttgart, Germany from 14- 19 July, 2009.

While ‘Sikandar’ has been selected as a part of the official competition and would compete for the ‘German Star of India’ award, Marathi language film ‘Samaantar’ is competing in the ‘Audience Award’ category at the Bollywood & Beyond Film Festival.

Mahesh Ramanathan, chief operating officer, BIG Pictures says, “The selection of ‘Sikandar’ and ‘Samaantar’ reaffirm our strategy of taking Indian films global and are a strong shot in the arm for BIG Pictures’ efforts to walk away from the beaten track and produce world cinema titles in 9 Indian languages. The nominations will hopefully turn into awards thus enabling these films to expand their distribution footprint internationally. We are confident ‘Sikandar’s’ bold counterpoint against terrorism will continue to resonate strongly in more festivals & with film makers around the world. With ‘Samaantar’ Amol Palekar’s mastery of his craft has been rewarded again.”

‘Sikandar’ is a suspense thriller starring Parzaan Dastur and Ayesha Kapur along with R. Madhavan, Sanjay Suri and Arunoday Singh. The film has been written and directed by Piyush Jha. Sikandar’ was also recently screened at the International Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA).

‘Samaantar’ is a heart- wrenching drama starring Amol Palekar and Sharmila Tagore. The film is written by Sandhya Gokhale and directed by Amol Palekar himself.

The Bollywood & Beyond Film Festival is the only festival in all of Germany which is entirely dedicated to Indian films. The Festival started in the year 2004 and is currently in its fifth year. In 2008, the festival had approximately 13,000 visitors.

BIG Pictures’ ‘Yaavarum Nalam’ Completes 100 Days ‘Yaavarum Nalam’ Grosses Rs 13 Crore At The Box Office

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Mumbai, June 15th, 2009: BIG Pictures’ Tamil film ‘Yaavarum Nalam’ starring R. Madhavan and Neetu Chandra completed 100 days at the box office on 14th June.

‘Yaavarum Nalam’ is directed by Vikram K. Kumar. It released on 6th March, 2009 and has grossed a collection of Rs 13 crore at the box office. The film has faired extremely well in all theatres in Chennai, Chengalpattu and Coimbatore cities.

Additionally, Yaavarum Nalam’ has done well in all BIG Cinemas properties in Coimbatore, Salem, Madurai, Dindugal, Sivakasi, Vellore, Pondicherry and Tanjore cities, which constituted approximately 20% of the films’ entire gross box office collection.

Sunir Kheterpal, Chief Operating Officer – BIG Pictures says, We are delighted with the 100 day milestone that ‘Yaavarum Nalam’ has crossed. Yaavarum Nalam was a challenging film to market and distribute and we were able to do so effectively with the help of our team in Chennai, who contributed invaluably by localizing the marketing & promotions. We are glad to have experienced success in the Tamil Film Industry with our first release itself.

Even as the film completed its 100th day at the box office on 14th June, director Vikram K. Kumar is currently in Shanghai attending the Shanghai International Film Festival where the film’s Hindi version ’13 B’ is being screened to a large section of international audience over a period of three days from 13th to 15th June.

BIG Pictures & Puja Films Unveil The First Look Of David Dhawan’s ‘Do Knot Disturb’ At IIFA 2009

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Present at the event were Govinda, Riteish Deshmukh, Lara Dutta, Sushmita Sen and David Dhawan

Macau, June 12th, 2009: BIG Pictures, the motion pictures brand of Reliance Big Entertainment and Puja Films today unveiled the first look of their forthcoming film DO KNOT DISTURB at IIFA, 2009 at Macao.

DO KNOT DISTURB is a laugh riot from David Dhawan, one of India’s most successful film-makers. The cast of the Film includes the finest comic talent from Bollywood – Govinda, Riteish Deshmukh, Lara Dutta, Sushmita Sen, Sohail Khan, Ranvir Sheorey and Rajpal Yadav, which, put together with David Dhawan, is undoubtedly the best combination for a comedy film and this is evident from the Film’s Teaser Promo and Key Art Posters.

DO KNOT DISTURB also marks the coming together of the Super Hit Comedy Jodi No. 1 of David Dhawan and Govinda after a gap of two years. Their last film together was the blockbuster PARTNER.

Principal Cast of the Film including Govinda, Riteish Deshmukh, Lara Dutta and Sushmita Sen were present along with the Director – David Dhawan, the Producer – Vashu Bhagnani and Member of the Board of Reliance Big Entertainment, Prasoon Joshi.

Director David Dhawan says, “My motive of making films is to make people laugh and make them forget their worries, even if temporarily. DO KNOT DISTURB has been made with the same objective and I hope to bring smiles to the audiences worldwide with this film.”

Sunir Kheterpal, COO – BIG Pictures adds, “IIFA is an outstanding promotional platform for films and we are delighted to unveil the First Look of DO KNOT DISTURB at IIFA. BIG Pictures in conjunction with Puja Entertainment has planned an innovative 360 degrees promotional and marketing activity around the Film, which will be unveiled over the coming days.”

Producer Vashu Bhagnani adds, “I am extremely happy to continue my association with BIG Pictures. DO KNOT DISTURB marks my reunion with both David Dhawan and Govinda. Together, we have given many successful films in the past and we firmly believe that DO KNOT DISTURB will also keep both, stakeholders as well as consumers, laughing all the way.”

Music of the Film has been composed by the famous duo Nadeem – Shravan, lyrics by Sameer and screenplay by Yunus Sejawal.

DO KNOT DISTURB marks BIG Pictures’ second association with Puja Films, the first being Kal Kissne Dekha, which released worldwide yesterday on 12 June, 2009.

BIG Pictures To Release ‘Kal Kissne Dekha’ In Over 500 Screens Worldwide

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Mumbai, June 10th, 2009: BIG Pictures, the motion pictures brand of Reliance Big Entertainment will release Kal Kissne Dekha worldwide on 12th June.

Kal Kissne Dekha will release in over 500 screens worldwide. Kal Kissne Dekha will release in 460 screens in India and in 50 screens overseas. In the overseas, the film is releasing in USA, UK, UAE, Singapore, Mauritius & Fiji in the first week, with a further increase in locations in the subsequent weeks.

Kamal Gianchandani, Head of Domestic Distribution, BIG Pictures says, Kal Kissne Dekha’ in this summer’s first major Hindi film to release in all multiplexes and single screens. BIG Pictures is releasing the film in over 460 screens domestically, so as to get optimum penetration in the market.

Prior to Kal Kissne Dekha, BIG Pictures has launched debutant actors like Farhan Akhtar in Rock On, Neil Nitin Mukesh in Johnny Gaddar and Harman Baweja in Lovestory 2050. In keeping with our practice to promote new talent, BIG Pictures is now launching Jackky Bhagnani and Vaishali Desai in Kal Kissne Dekha.

Kal Kissne Dekha (www.kalkissnedekha.com) is the most anticipated debut movie of 2009. It is the first film to release post the end of the strike. Kal Kissne Dekha is the story of Nihal, a young college going boy who can see the future. The film also stars Rishi Kapoor and Archana Puran Singh in pivotal roles.

The film is written and directed by Vivek Sharma and has music by Sajid- Wajid. It is produced by Vashu Bhagnani.

BIG Pictures & Puja Films To Release ‘Kal Kissne Dekha’ On 12th June ‘Kal Kissne Dekha’ Is The First Film To Release Post End Of Strike

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Mumbai June 4, 2009: BIG Pictures, motion pictures brand of Reliance Big Entertainment and Puja Films today announced release dates of their forthcoming film ‘Kal Kissne Dekha’ worldwide.

‘Kal Kissne Dekha’ will release on coming Friday, 12th June, 2009. It will be the first Bollywood film to release worldwide after the two month strike between Producers-Distributors and Exhibitors.

Announcing the release date, Sunir Kheterpal, Chief Operating Officer, BIG Pictures says, “We are glad to announce that BIG Pictures and Vashu Bhagnani’s much awaited film ‘Kal Kissne Dekha’ will release worldwide on 12th June. The audience will now have the option to watch ‘Kal Kissne Dekha’ is any cinema of their choice and we hope to attract significant number of audience as this is the first release after over two months.”

Kamal Gianchandani, Head of Domestic Distribution, BIG Pictures adds, “We at BIG Pictures are glad that the strike is over and this summer’s first film ‘Kal Kissne Dekha’ will be releasing in all multiplexes and single screens. BIG Pictures is working towards releasing this film comprehensively so as to get maximum penetration in the domestic market.”

‘Kal Kissne Dekha'(www.kalkissnedekha.com) is a young love story which marks the debut of Jackky Bhagnani and Vaishali Desai. Produced by Puja Films (Vashu Bhagnani) and distributed worldwide by BIG Pictures, the film also stars Rishi Kapoor, Archana Puran Singh and Satish Shah. ‘Kal Kissne Dekha’ has been shot extensively across the picturesque locales of South Africa and New Zealand. ‘Kal Kissne Dekha’ is directed by Vivek Sharma and the film’s music has been scored by versatile Sajid-Wajid.