Anubhav Sinha to direct political film next
Mumbai, Feb 25 Filmmaker Anubhav Sinha is gearing up to direct a film soon which will either be a love story, political drama or a thriller.
Sinha, who had last directed Shah Rukh Khan starrer 'Ra.One', is ready with three scripts and he is likely to start work on one by this year end.
"I have three scripts ready, one is a love story, other is a political film and the last one is a thriller.
'Doli Armaanon Ki' actress injured
Mumbai, Feb 25: Small screen actress Neha Marda, who plays Urmi in TV show "Doli Armaanon Ki", met with an accident Tuesday morning while driving to the sets of the show. She suffered minor scratches.
She was driving the car, which is badly damaged, and she was rescued by bystanders and police.
Neha had a narrow escape and doctors are examining her as they suspect internal injuries, said a statement.
However, Neha has refused to skip the shoot as she does not want the production house to face any inconvenience.
In the past, the actress was seen in the popular TV show "Balika Vadhu" as Gehna
Filmmaker Mahendran feels Illayaraja's music has his films' soul
Chennai: Veteran writer-filmmaker J. Mahendran, who is teaming up with maestro Illayaraja for the 12th time for a yet-untitled Tamil project, says the music of the legendary composer has been the soul of his films.
Mahendran and Illayaraja have collaborated for films such as "Mullum Malarum", "Pagalil Oru Iravu" and "Johnny".
"Usually, filmmakers rope in Illayaraja expecting some chartbusters, but I have never demanded hit music from him. His music has been the soul of my films for over a decade now. We have worked in eleven films and the music of each album is special," Mahendran told IANS.
"Our relationship has gracefully aged with us. I narrate all my stories first to him and then to others. This has been a ritual and it continues. After reading my story, he would suggest a suitable title. He will also suggest a title for my latest film," he added.
He says the composer's music becomes the narrative in his films.
"Some of the dialogues in my films are wonderfully complemented by his music. In fact, at times his music has served as the dialogues in some of my films. He has the talent to use his music to build a narrative," said Mahendran.
The 74-year old filmmaker, who has worked with superstar Rajinikanth predominantly, has decided to work with newcomers in his new film.
News Broadcasters Association objects to charges made by Kejriwal
New Delhi: The collective body of Indian news channels, News Broadcasters Association (NBA) has objected to what it called "unverified, unsubstantiated and highly defamatory" charges being levelled against news channels by Arvind Kejriwal of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and their members attributing "corrupt motives".
In a press released issued by NBA, the media body said AAP leaders are "accusing the electronic media for not giving enough coverage or ignoring this or that party, without specific details to substantiate such charges."
" It is shocking to note that the very parties that gained immensely from media coverage are today turning against the electronic media, when they are under scrutiny on issues of governance.
"NBA is equally shocked by the statement of the Home Minister of India that he would crush the electronic media and that a “close watch” was being kept on them.
"NBA categorically states that a news channel’s endeavour is to cover news worthy events across all segments of national and international life and to present news to viewers which is current and relevant.
IPL still the most favoured sporting event, CSK, MI, most valued teams
Event's prize money is at least Rs 100 crore more than the combined prize money of all other leagues currently played in the country
Despite mounting criticism against the Indian Premier League (IPL) and allegations of rampant match fixing, a report published on Tuesday by KPMG and CII has pegged the IPL as the most lucrative sporting event in the country.
According to the report, the event’s prize money of Rs 240 crore is at least Rs 100 crore more than the combined prize money of all other leagues currently played in the country. World Hockey Series comes at a distant second with prize money of Rs 78 crore while Indian Badminton league comes in a third at Rs 54 crore. KPMG has meanwhile said that the event’s total revenue of Rs 867 crore is a stark comparison to many of the global sporting events including the National Football league (NFL) and the Major league Basketball (MLB). The study has pegged the total revenue of NFL at Rs 54507 crore while the MLB generated revenue to the tune of Rs 42200 crore annually.
Chennai Super Kings owned by India Cements and Mumbai Indians owned by Reliance Industries Ltd have the highest valuation amongst the IPL teams, Jaideep Ghosh, Partner at KPMG said.
Earlier this month, American Appraisal Associates had said that Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians have a valuation of Rs 450 crore each while Sun Risers Hyderabad has a valuation of Rs 155 crore according to the report. The report had pegged the valuation of the Indian premier League at Rs 19820 crore or $ 3.2 billion. Vijay Mallya’s Royal Challengers Bangalore is valued at Rs 320 crore while Shah Rukh Khan’s Kolkata Knight Riders has a current valuation of Rs 430 crore.
“The total value of various franchise brands in IPL is over $400 million. This does not represent the value of the IPL brand as a whole and only represents the value of individual franchise brands. We estimate that on average, brand value could represent anywhere between 30% and 40% of the business value of individual franchises, depending on the performance and brand rank of the franchise”, the report by American Appraisal said.
The valuations of IPL teams have come at a time when the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is looking to shift a major leg of the IPL to South Africa after the union government said that it will not be in a position to provide security to the event. BCCI is expected to take a decision on the venue after a meeting later this month.
According to the study conducted by KPMG, IPL teams generate revenues of Rs 1-3 crore per match played during the event. The Indian Premier League’s merchandise market is expected to touch Rs 2500 crore by 2020 according to a report published by US based American Appraisal Associates while the sporting event’s valuation has been pegged at Rs 19820 crore.
The BCCI’s decision to push a portion of the Indian Premier league (IPL) out of the country due to Lok Sabha elections is meanwhile expected to affect the franchises and the broadcasters alike with the cost of logistics likely to shoot up and time difference between the countries affect broadcasting time slots and advertising revenues.
“The BCCI haven’t discussed it so far and a decision is likely to be taken soon. We haven’t started calculating the cost factor so far, but we will lose a major portion of the ticket revenues”, Raghu Iyer, CEO of Rajasthan Royals said. According to estimates, the ticket revenue amounts to Rs 20-30 crore of the team revenue.
Multi Screen Media, the broadcasters of the event have meanwhile said that the matches will be telecast as per Indian time “Our viewers are used to tuning in at 4pm and 8pm for IPL matches. The BCCI has assured us that the matches will happen at these times and the weekend matches will take place at prime time” Rohit Gupta, Chief Sales Officer of MSM had earlier told Business Standard.
AirAsia offers half-a-million free tickets on select routes
Mumbai: Malaysian low-cost airline AirAsia, which is awaiting flying permit from the DGCA to launch its services in the domestic market, today said it is offering half a million free seats along with 1.8 million low fare promotional seats from Kuala Lumpur on select routes.
The bookings under the offer, which commenced yesterday, can be made till March 2 and will go on till March 2 for the travel period from October 1 to April 30 next year, AirAsia said in a release here.
As part of the scheme, the airline has offered an all inclusive fares starting from as low as Rs 6,999 from Kochi, Kolkata, Tiruchirappalli, Chennai, Bangalore to Kuala Lumpur, the airline said adding, the fares for Chennai-Bangkok sector have been fixed at Rs 7,999.
“This free seats promotion allows everyone to enjoy exquisite holiday destination options at very fair and realistic prices,” AirAsia group chief commercial officer Siegtraund Teh said.
Apart from domestic destinations (in Malaysia), the international destinations which are being offered under the promotion include Singapore, Jakarta, Bandung, Medan, Bali, Bangkok, Hat Yai, Surat Thani, Ho Chi Minh City, Phnom Penh among others, through AirAsia’s five Malaysian hubs in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Johor Bahru, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu, the release said.
The promotional offer is available for booking at airline’s website as well as via AirAsia’s mobile apps which are available on iPhone, Android devices, the Blackberry Z10 and the Windows Phone platform, the release said.
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