Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol in My Name is Khan

WASHINGTON: Grossing an estimated $1.86 million at the box office in its first weekend, Shah Rukh Khan starrer “My Name Is Khan” has broken the record for the largest opening weekend ever for a Hindi film in North America.

The Fox Searchlight release directed by Karan Johar averaged $15,500 from 120 theatres across the United States and Canada over Feb 12-14 weekend. The previous record was held by Shah Rukh’s musical extravaganza “Om Shanti Om” which grossed $1.76 million from 114 theatres when it was released over the Diwali holiday weekend in 2007.

“My Name Is Khan” opened Friday with $444,000, rose 65 percent to $734,000 Saturday, and is estimated to dip 7 percent to $682,000 on Sunday, Valentine’s Day.

Monday’s Presidents’ Day holiday in the US will lead to a four-day debut of more than $2 million. MNIK also generated the highest per-theatre average of any film in the Top 20 over the weekend.

Meanwhile “My Name Is Khan” is getting good reviews from US critics with variety.com saying “This riotously overstuffed and enormously enjoyable drama races forward with incredible drive.”

Trade publication Hollywood Reporter in a review from Berlin said, “It’s well worth the 162-minute journey” noting “Shah Rukh Khan comes to America (although in a Bollywood film) and shows why he is an Indian mega-star.”

“The thing about some Bollywood superstars is that they are actually fine actors as well as charismatic performers. So it’s not surprising in ‘My Name Is Khan’ to see Bollywood mega-star Shah Rukh Khan – he’s light-years beyond a mere superstar in Hindi cinema’s cosmology – challenge himself to expand his acting range and possibly his international fan base.”

“This is a movie not built for subtlety, but it does tackle a subject American movies have mostly avoided – that of racial profiling and the plight of Muslim-Americans. It also allows Shah Rukh Khan to display his talent to an even wider audience,” it says.

The Los Angeles Times called it “a sweeping epic in the melodramatic Bollywood manner yet emerges as a potent, engaging and timely entertainment.” MNIK “is a potent, energetic heart-tugger and Khan and Kajol, major Bollywood stars, are highly appealing and equal to the demand of their emotion-charged roles.”

“At its best ‘My Name Is Khan,’ set mainly in America, is an affecting fairy tale about the perils of goodness,” said the New York Times.

“‘Khan’ is one of a handful of Hindi films (“New York,” “Kurbaan”) about Indians living in a paranoid, post-9/11 America, and there’s something fascinating about looking at this country through a Bollywood lens, even when the story is a kind of fairy tale.”

“Skillfully directed by Karan Johar and with an evocative score by Shankar, Ehsaan & Loy, ‘Khan’ jerks tears with ease, while teaching lessons about Islam and tolerance,” the Times said.

Source: Economic Times

Vijay Iyer in Concert

Background:

Born in 1971 and raised in Rochester, New York, Vijay Iyer is the son of South Indian immigrants to the US. He received 15 years of Western classical training on violin beginning at the age of 3. He began playing the piano by ear in his childhood, and is mostly self-taught on that instrument. Vijay was also exposed to some Indian classical and religious music in his youth. His high school years saw a growing interest in jazz. After completing an undergraduate degree in mathematics and physics at Yale when he was 20, Iyer then went to Berkeley to do a Ph.D. in physics. Vijay continued to pursue his jazz interests and served as the house pianist in jam sessions at the Bird Kage, a famous club in North Oakland, which featured some of the best local musicians such as Ed Kelly and Smily Winters, as well as guest luminaries such as Pharoah Sanders. This greatly enriched his understanding of the jazz idiom and the lived jazz experience. In an interview with A Shuman (April, 1997), Iyer states “I found that the music we were playing was a profound expression of their lives, and the lives of the audience members as well.”

Source: Vijay Iyer, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vijay_Iyer&oldid=326765112 (last visited Jan. 3, 2010).

British Indian recording artist Jay Sean on a float during the 2009 India Day Parade in New York

Background:

Jay Sean was born Kamaljeet Singh Jhooti in Hounslow, West London, England, to Sharan and Bindi Jhooti, Punjabi Sikh immigrants from India. He was raised in Southall and displayed musical talent at an early age. At age 11, he and his cousin Pritpal Rupra formed a hip hop duo named “Compulsive Disorder”. His stage name at the time was MC “Nicky J”, with the “J” being derived from the first letter of his last name “Jhooti”. He eventually came to be known by the nickname “Jay” among his friends.

He later enrolled in Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry at Queen Mary, University of London, to study medicine before he dropped out in 2003 to pursue a singing career. For his music career, he chose the stage name Jay Sean; “Jay” was the nickname his friends knew him as (derived from his previous stage name “Nicky J”), while “Sean” is derived from “Shaan”—a nickname he was called at home by his grandmother—which means “shining star” or “pride” in Punjabi.

And Now:

On 15 October 2008 during the MOBO Awards, Jay Sean announced that he had signed with the American hip-hop oriented record label Cash Money Records distributed via Universal Republic Records making him the first British Asian singer to sign with an American label. His American-debut single was “Down” featuring American rapper and label mate Lil Wayne. It topped the Billboard Hot 100, replacing Black Eyed Peas. This makes him the first British Asian artist to top the Hot 100 since Freddie Mercury of Queen in 1980 (Yes, Freddie Mercury was Indian as well), and the first solo Asian artist to do so. Having sold three million copies, “Down” is the best-selling single by a British/European male artist in North America since Elton John’s “Candle in the Wind” in 1997. In addition, “Down” rose in airplay to over 115 million listener impressions on US radio. In November 2009, Sean’s next single from his album, “Do You Remember,” was released. It entered the Hot 100 top ten on the week of January 9, 2009 breaking “a three-week streak of no titles moving into the top 10″ since December 2009.

Source: Jay Sean, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jay_Sean&oldid=335348122 (last visited Jan. 3, 2010).

Hollywood Studios are India-bound

“We have recognised that the Hollywood studios are very small in the Indian market. We are less than 10 per cent in this market place,” Michael Ellis, president and managing director of Motion Pictures Association (Asia-Pacific), said.

Motion Pictures Association serves as the voice and advocate of the American motion picture, home video and television industries.

“We are encouraging all our studios to invest in India with co-productions with films or TV deals and it is exciting because then we will be making products for the Indian market; we will try to participate at that level,” he added.

It was Columbia TriStar Motion Pictures that started the trend by co-producing “Saawariya” with Sanjay Leela Bhansali Films. Warner Bros took it forward by co-producing “Chandni Chowk To China” with Rohan Sippy and buying distribution rights for “Saas Bahu Aur Sensex”.

Joining the league was Walt Disney Co. that inked a joint venture with Yash Raj Films for animation film “Roadside Romeo”.

But none of the joint ventures made money. Ellis, however, says this is just teething problem and that Hollywood studios will have to continue collaborating with filmmakers here to tap the Indian market.

“We cannot always win. This is a tough business. This is learning. You do not get it right on day one. Many films in America do not succeed. But the films that some of the studios have made have certainly raised the awareness that we’re doing films here.

“The Indian film products clearly dominate and they (Bollywood filmmakers) understand this market far better than we can,” said Ellis.

Highlighting the nature of such investments, he added, “Our studios are investing more into local films coming in the next year. They have (the studios) all got a whole slate.

“It is not just going to be one film that they have. It is going to be a series of films over next year and they have already got the scripts up and running. They are identifying the producers and will make those films in the traditional Indian way,” he said.

Does that mean Hindi content from the foreign stable?

“Everybody is looking at different products mix but, yes, you’ll be seeing more Hindi-type movies,” he said.

One such project is Karan Johar’s upcoming “My Name Is Khan”, which has been acquired by Fox Star for reportedly $20 million. The studio has also signed a two-film deal each with Vipul Shah and A.R. Murugadoss.

Hollywood screenplay writer-director Paul Schrader will also make a film titled “Xtrme City”, about the Mumbai mafia and slums, in collaboration with Bollywood director Anubhav Sinha and writer Mushtaq Sheikh.

“The studios are committed. They’ve got funding lined up, got great projects on line, great scripts and they’re also identifying the right producers (here) to make that film. There’s a terrific market here that could be explored.

“With Hollywood funding or adaptation of scripts and with some production techniques, we have to recognise that there is also a way to do Indian films here. We have to learn that as well,” he added.

Ellis, who was here to launch piracy reports released by the Motion Picture Distributors Association (MPDA), is “optimistic” about the cross-industry trend.

“The overall co-production and the cross-pollination is good for our industry in America, the Indian film industry and other film industries in other countries too,” he said.

Source: IANS by way of Real Bollywood

Disney is releasing the highly acclaimed movie Taare Zameen Par in the US

The critically-acclaimed film that won numerous Filmfare and Screen Awards and was selected to be India’s official submission to the 2009 Academy Awards would be available on 3-Disc DVD/CD set with a new English language track.

It has a suggested retail price of $29.99 (US) and $35.99 (Canada).

“Like Stars on Earth” includes seven infectious Bollywood dance numbers, vividly imagined animated interludes and a brand new English-language track for a cross-cultural celebration of creativity and individuality. The emotional and entertaining release features an eight-year-old misfit with his head in the stars who learns that being different can also mean being special.

“A little twinkling star of a movie” according to BBC Movie Reviews, “Like Stars on Earth” is a sparkling example of why Indian cinema has rapidly become the most popular film import to the US.

Produced, directed and starring Aamir Khan, one of India’s most acclaimed filmmakers (Lagaan, 2002 Academy Award nominee, Best Foreign Language Film, India), the film was originally brought to a worldwide theatrical audience by UTV Motion Pictures.

“Like Stars on Earth” also features young newcomer Darsheel Safary in an astonishingly nuanced performance that earned him a 2007 nomination for Best Actor in India’s prestigious Filmfare Awards. It was one of India’s top grossing theatrical films of 2007.

In this touching and inspiring film, eight-year-old Mumbai native Ishaan Awasthi (Darsheel Safary) lives in a world where letters dance exuberantly with the brilliant colours, lively animals and joyfully soaring kites of his fantastical imagination. Struggling to read and write and unable to deliver the good grades and disciplined behaviour expected by his parents and teachers, Ishaan is shipped off to a boarding school to straighten out.

Almost 200 miles from home and suffering from homesickness, Ishaan alone is unmoved when a new art teacher (Aamir Khan) energizes the classroom by asking students to think, dream and imagine, instead of merely following the rules.

Determined to draw the introverted child out, the teacher sets about helping Ishaan find the wondrous power of creativity that lies within him.

Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc., a recognized leader in the home entertainment industry, is the marketing, sales and distribution company for Walt Disney, Touchstone, Hollywood Pictures, Miramax and Buena Vista product, which includes DVD, Blu-ray Disc and electronic distribution. Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc. is a division of The Walt Disney Studios.

Source: IANS by way of Bollywood

Some of 2009's top grossing Hollywood movies in India

• With a global gross of over $800 million, the sequel Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen drew people into theatres in droves, be it for vehicles turning into robots or the equally artificial looking Megan Fox.
• Disaster movies always make a killing overseas, and Columbia’s 2012 was no different as things went boom, bang, splash all across the world.

  Jimi Mistry played the token Indian scientist, not that he drove the domestic box office sales up.

• Besides Avatar, Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince is the year’s other big hit — and the eight biggest hit in movie history — having raked in $929 million across the world. Not that it comes as a massive surprise.

  The film did wonderfully in India, but then you’d be hardpressed to find a country where the tremendously hyped adaptations of J K Rowling’s books don’t work.

• From one bestseller to another. Dan Brown is an author who seems to mesmerise audiences by the legion, and Angels and Demons, the Ron Howard adaptation of the sequel to The Da Vinci Code made $485 million worldwide.

  Much controversy was created by churches everywhere, but none of that hurt the film’s box office.

• The surprise hit of the year was The Hangover, a movie about three grown men stumbling drunkenly around Las Vegas, over one wild night.

  The small film ended up netting Warner Bros $459 million worldwide, and did massively well in Indian multiplexes, especially in Delhi and Mumbai.

• Twilight, the vampire love story is a year old, but it was only after its sequel New Moon was breaking box office records in the US that the first part finally hit Indian theatres.

  The film’s doing well, thanks to its already-hit status. New Moon did very well in India too, making a bigger profit than the other Friday release in the same week, Rocket Singh Salesman Of The Year.

• Star Trek is the year’s best-reviewed franchise film, and Lost creator J J Abrams has made a career out of wowing audiences and emptying their wallets.

  The film did enormously well around the world, and the nostalgia-aided reception across Indian cities was overwhelming.

• It’s a bit of a surprise to see a director like Quentin Tarantino feature on a biggest hits list, but the auteur did his bit by pasting Brad Pitt right across his poster and promising a gloriously gory war film.

  The film Inglourious Basterds defies all expectations — and Brad’s role is really small — but so does its box office take.

• Pixar wins. It’s a rule that Pixar sweeps away all competition and picks up megabucks at the global box office, this latest — and fantastically reviewed — effort netting them over $500 million worldwide.

  The film Up, about an old man and a young boy, might well be an Oscar nominee for Best Picture.

• Isn’t it all about the squirrels? Fox’s unbelievably successful Ice Age franchise grows with each sequel, and this third installment, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs netted them a whopping $878 million.

  They might as well spend a billion and make the next part a live-action version.

Reported by: Raja Sen in Mumbai
Source: Rediff

Other websites have listed these movies among their top ten money makers in India:

• Danny Boyle’s “Slumdog Millionaire” starring Dev Patel and Freida Pinto in the lead with music by A.R. Rahman
• McG’s “Terminator Salvation” starring Christian Bale and Sam Worthington
• Gavin Hood’s “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” starring Hugh Jackman and Liev Schreiber
• Justin Lin’s “Fast and Furious” starring Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster

A scene from Avatar

The company earned $4 million (over Rs 18 crore) from a deal to create 200 shots of the 1,600-odd shots in Avatar. Fox Star Studios is believe to have spent $180 million (over Rs 840 crore) on special effects.

Prime Focus is increasingly becoming a hot favorite among Hollywood filmmakers and, as a result, has worked on some box-office blockbusters like New Moon and GI Joe. Almost 80 per cent of New Moon’s special effects were done by Prime Focus.

“It takes at least six months for one Hollywood project. Therefore, we sign three-four movies in a year,” said Namit Malhotra, founder and global CEO, Prime Focus.

According to Malhotra, Hollywood is a big market and one needs to be where the business comes from. Therefore, Malhotra has set up facilities in New York, London and Los Angeles, apart from the India set-up. “Most of the work is done there for Hollywood projects simply because India is not yet ready for the level of work international studios want,” added Malhotra. Prime Focus has a 1,200-strong workforce of which almost 750 personnel are based in India. Going forward, Prime Focus plans to outsource work to India, for which it is training its Indian team.

“Eventually both projects will be jointly handled by the international and Indian teams,” said Malhotra.

In addition to the international movie business, Prime Focus is a name filmmakers swear by in Bollywood too. Special effects of almost all big-ticket Bollywood films, like Blue, Paa, Wake up Sid, Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani and De Dhana Dhan came under Prime Focus’ fold. The company is now working on the much-awaited Karan Johar-Fox Star Studios’ My Name Is Khan, starring Kajol and Shah Rukh Khan. Prime Focus works on almost 50 Bollywood films in a year, controlling over 65 per cent of the domestic market.

Formed in 1995, Prime Focus has climbed up the ladder, working first on ad films and then television content, and now on movies. The company took a big leap in 2006 when it raised Rs 115 crore from the capital market.

It acquired a stake in UK-based high-end post production facility VTR Plc, which helped it set shop in UK. It also acquired a visual effects boutique Clear Plc. It later forayed into North America through an acquisition. Prime Focus’ market cap is around Rs 296 crore.

The Indian VFX industry’s size in estimated at Rs 280 crore in 2009, versus Rs 230 crore in 2008. By 2013, the VFX industry in India has the potential to grow to Rs 560 crore, according to Ficci-KPMG’s report.

Reported by: Aminah Sheikh / Mumbai December 20, 2009, 0:27 IST
Source: Business Standard