Mumbai, May 16th, 2009: Following the first look unveiling of the film ‘Kites’ on May 15th, 2009 at the Cannes Film Festival, BIG Pictures hosted a grand cocktail reception for the ‘Kites’ cast, crew and international buyers and distributors.
Thereafter Hrithik Roshan, Barbara Mori, Rakesh Roshan along with Prasoon Joshi walked the red carpet to attend a screening of the Hollywood film ‘Bright Star’ directed by Jane Campion, who Hrithik is a fan of. For the evening, Barbara was dressed in a black Roberto Cavalli gown and Hrithik Roshan sported a tuxedo designed by Anaita Shroff Adajania.
For all of you thinking this is Jr. Roshan’s first time on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival, you stand corrected. This is in fact his second time. The first time was actually 14 years ago. Hrithik says, I was here 14 years ago as an assistant to the Film Federation of India J Om Prakash, who was also my grandfather. I remember walking the red carpet and got a few glimpses of all the stars and felt pretty insignificant at that time.
Barbara adds, This is my first time in Cannes. Kites is a beautiful love story and I am so happy to be here with this movie particularly because I feel very proud of it. I am really excited to be in Cannes.
‘Kites’ also stars Kangana Ranaut, Nick Brown and Kabir Bedi in pivotal roles. ‘Kites’ is being marketed and distributed worldwide by BIG Pictures. The film is being readied for release in the last quarter of 2009. Two versions of the film are being readied. In the international markets, ‘Kites’ will release in the English language version where as in India, the film will release in the Hindi version, which has been shot simultaneously.
BIG Pictures is marketing 18 news films at the Cannes Film Festival over and above its vast catalogue of films.
About BIG Pictures
BIG Pictures, motion pictures brand of Reliance Big Entertainment Ltd, plans to invest US$300 million into Indian based film productions till December 2010. It has distributed several films in markets such as North America, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates and the new division will be responsible for securing and facilitating deals with key distributors in all other markets to reach over 100 countries worldwide.
In 2009, BIG Pictures has 18 films lined up in seven different Indian languages catering to a varied audience across the world. The Incompatible (Ijjodu in Kannada), Afterword (Shob Choritro Kalponik in Bengali), Kutty Srank- a sailor’s story (Kutty Srank in Mayalam and The Window (Janala in Bengali) received their debut screenings during the European Film Market 2009.
About Reliance Big Entertainment Pvt Ltd.
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 world cinema, 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, Brett Ratner’s Rat Entertainment.