- 12 films to release by March 2009
- Forays into regional cinema
- Set to release India’s biggest and most ambitious Indian animation project in December
Big Pictures, a member of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group has entered Bollywood in style and is slated to release 12 films in the next fiscal year. The group recently announced a series of forthcoming movies which will be produced and released under the banner of ‘Big Pictures’.
Commenting on this aggressive line up of films in the next quarter, Rajesh Sawhney President of Reliance Big Entertainment said, “All the films which are being released by Big Pictures are different in their genres and will appeal to different kind of audiences so releasing them close to each other is not an issue. We would like to provide content, which is successful in creativity and which would appeal to the audiences”.
The line up starts with Rock On!! , releasing on August 29th. Directed by Abhishek Kapoor and produced by Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar, Rock On!! also marks the debut of Farhan Akhtar and Prachi Desai. The film also stars Arjun Rampal, Purab Kohli, Shahana Goswami and Luke Kenny. Rock On!! is a story about four friends who put together the greatest band this country had ever seen but never made it. Years later, fate conspires to bring them together again and set them on a journey back to where they left off.
Following the box office success of Bheja Fry, Big Pictures has co-produced another film from the producers of Bheja Fry, titled ‘Hulla’ which is set to release on the 12th September. The film is written and directed by debutant director, Jaideep Verma and stars Sushant Singh, Rajat Kapoor and Katika Devi Rane.’ Hulla’, is an energetic bittersweet comedy turns a contemporary eye on something that is taken too much for granted in Indian cities, especially Mumbai private space.
Releasing next in line, on 25th September, is a supernatural thriller titled ’13 B’ starring Madhavan and Neetu Chandra. The film has been directed by Vikram.
November 7th, sees the release of Ahmed Khan’s ‘Paathshala’ starring Nana Patekar, Shahid Kapur and Ayesha Takia. Paathshala also boasts of an ensemble cast of acclaimed child artistes- Swini Khara (Cheeni Kum), Ali (Tararumpum), Dwij Yadav (Nanhe Jaisalmer).The film, a lighthearted comedy drama deals with the emotional bond shared between school kids and their teachers The film, said to be along the lines of ‘Taare Zameen Par’ has already generated a positive buzz in the trade circles.
Big Pictures has acquired the overseas distribution rights for the acclaimed Aamir Khan starrer ‘Ghajini’ slated for release on 28th November. The film has been directed by A.R.Murugadoss and also stars Asin and Jia Khan
Vengeance strikes back in December, with the release of ‘Karzzz’ starring Himesh Reshamiya and Urmila Matondkar. The film is a remake of yesteryear’s super hit musical drama (Karz) and has been directed by Satish Kaushik.
Also releasing in December, is ‘Banda Yeh Bindaas Hai’, directed by Ravi Chopra , starring Govinda, Lara Dutta and Tabu.
December 2008 also sees the release of Piyush Jha’s ‘Sikander -The Footsoldier’, which is a drama set in Kashmir and stars Madhavan, Sanjay Suri, Ayesha kappor and Parzan Dastur.
Releasing 2009 is Vashu Bhagnani’s romantic comedy ‘Do Knot Disturb’, directed by comedy king David Dhawan, starring Govinda, Sushmita Sen, Lara Dutta and Ritesh Deshmukh. Also slated for 2009, is Zoya Akhtar’s ‘Luck by Chance’, starring Farhan Akhtar, Juhi Chawla, Konkana Sen, Rishi Kapoor & Dimple Kapadia.
BIG Pictures is also set to release India’s biggest and most ambitious animation project ever in December. BIG Animation, the post production and animation studio division of BIG Pictures, will launch their first animated feature film tentatively titled ‘Little Krishna’. ‘Little Krishna’, based on the childhood tales and adventures of Lord Krishna is slated to be India’s biggest and most ambitious animation project ever. A team of artists and technicians who have worked closely with Hollywood animation studios are working on the project. Rajesh Sawhney, President of Reliance Entertainment says, “Animation is the next buzzword in the entertainment arena and keeping with the traditions, Reliance Entertainment has launched an ambitious project tentatively titled “Little Krishna”. It was difficult for us to imagine a more universally acceptable character than Krishna because not only is Krishna an integral part of Indian mythology and revered by millions across the world but also has a childlike innocence about him creating curiosity amongst kids.”
BIG Pictures, has also ventured into regional cinema and is slated to release films in Bengali, Punjabi, Tamil Telegu, Kannada, Gujarati, Marathi and Malayalam.
After the success of their last Punjabi film, ‘Mittin Wajaan Mardi’, BIG Pictures and legendary director Manmohan Singh team up yet again to release their next Punjabi film titled ‘Mera Pind – My Home’ starring noted Punjabi singer Harbhajan Mann and cricketer turned Member of Parliament Navjot Singh Sidhu seen in a film for the first time ever. The film releases 5th September 2008.
BIG Pictures is also set to release legendary Bengali director Rituparno Ghosh’s ‘Sob Charitro Kalpanik’ on 10th October 2008. Incidentally the film also marks actress Bipasha Basu’s debut in Bengali cinema. Also in the offing is Rituparno Ghosh’s next film, titled, ‘Sahib, Biwi Air Ghulam’.
BIG Pictures will also release a Gujarati film titled ‘Dholi Taro Dhol Waje’ on October 28th .The film is directed by Govindbhai Patel and stars Upendra Trivedi, Naresh Kanodia, Roma Manek, Kisha & Reena.
Moreover, BIG Pictures also has a line up of Tamil and Telegu films in various stages of production. Due to release this September is ‘Yavaram Nallam’, a mystery thriller in Tamil, directed by Vikram with Madhavan and Neetu Chandra in the lead. ‘Autograph 2’, directed by Cheran with star cast Cheran, Sneha, Navya Nair & Mallika will also be released in 2009.
Releasing 2009, is a Malayalam film ‘Kutty Srank’ directed by Sahji Karan, starring Mamooty, Kamilinee Mukherjee & Meena Kumari (Srilankan), Siddique & Suresh Krishna.
Amongst Kannada films, BIG Pictures will release ‘Ijjodu’ in 2009. The film is directed by M.S Sathyu and stars Meera Jasmin & Anirudhta Jatkar.
BIG Pictures will also release a Marathi film, ‘Samaantar’ in 2009. The film is a drama directed by Amol Palekar and stars Amol Palekar, Sharmila Tagore, Sameer Adhikari & Radhika Apte.
Commenting on this impressive line up of regional films in the fiscal year, Rajesh Sawhney, President of Reliance Entertainment says “We would like to provide quality content, which is successful in creativity and would appeal to the audiences across geographic and linguistic divides”.
About Reliance Big Entertainment
Reliance Big Entertainment is the flagship Media and Entertainment Company of Reliance – Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, with significant presence in film entertainment, broadcasting and new media ventures.
RBEL is investing over USD 1 billion in its Filmed Entertainment business and will commence roll-out of its first set of Indian movies later this year.
The company has already signed a slew of top-end directors/producers, including Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani’s Excel Entertainment, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Madhur Bhandarkar, Shyam Benegal, Sudhir Mishra, Vipul Shah, etc. Reliance Big Entertainment also acquired majority stake in ND Studio in Karjat earlier this year. Company has also built a state of the art animation studio in Pune: Big Animation, which will release its first movie later this year.
Reliance Big Entertainment recently announced development silos with Nicolas Cage’s Saturn Productions, Jim Carrey’s JC 23 Entertainment, George Clooney’s Smokehouse Productions, Chris Columbus’ 1492 Pictures, Tom Hank’s Playstone Productions, Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment and Jay Roache’s Everyman Pictures.
Adlabs, a Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group Company, operates largest number of multiplex screens in India. Adlabs recently acquired 251 screens in the US and 51 screens in Malaysia.
Reliance Big Entertainment recently acquired iconic Lowry Digital Images, a leading image enhancement and restoration services company in the US.
The company has the largest FM radio network spanning 44 stations, offline and online movie rental business ¿ Bigflix.com, and owns other leading new media initiatives like Zapak.com [No. 1 online games portal in India], Bigadda.com [No. 1 Indian social network] and Jump Mobile [leading mobile gaming company that recently tie-up with Manchester United].
Further press release related queries please contact:
- Preeti Puri Sharma
Vice President, PR
BIG Pictures - Joanne D’souza
BIG Pictures