White City Entertainment Ltd. debuts with three films
White City Entertainment Ltd., a well established corporate of Delhi, is making its foray into film production with three films that will be directed by eminent filmmaker Mehul Kumar who has produced and directed golden and silver jubilee films like Krantiveer, Tirangaa and Marte Dum Tak and has been in the industry for more than 36 years. He has directed artistes like Amitabh Bachchan, Raaj Kumar, Dharmendra, Shatrughan Sinha, Govinda, Nana Patekar, Akshay Kumar, Karishma Kapoor, Naseeruddin Shah, Madhuri Dixit and Pran amongst others.

Muhurat of Shree Ashtavinayak’s Luck
Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision Ltd’s latest offering Luck, directed by Soham Shah, was launched recently at a Mumbai 5-star hotel. The auspicious coconut was broken by actor Imran Khan and the clap was given by Danny Denzongpa. The camera was switched by Manyata Dutt. The shooting of the film has begun in various locales of Mumbai. The film stars Sanjay Dutt, Mithun Chakraborty, Danny Denzongpa, Imran Khan, Ravi Kissen, Neha Uberoi and Rati Agnihotri amongst others.
One more heroine is yet to be finalised. The music has been composed by Salim Sulaiman and the action director is Allan Amin while cinematography has been done by Santosh Thundayil. The banner’s other films include Sanjay Gadhvi’s Kidnap, Shivam Nair’s Maharathi, Rohit Shetty’s Golmaal Returns, Neeraj Vohra’s Run Bhola Run and Anthony D’Souza’s Blue.

Sanjay Dutt to play the lead in Charles and I
Sanjay Dutt is all set to play the lead character, Charles, in People Pictures forthcoming racy thriller, Charles and I. The under-production movie, which will be helmed by ace director Prawaal Raman, tells the story of this enigmatic criminal who sent the police forces in half a dozen countries on a wild-goose chase. Talking about the choice of Sanjay Dutt for the lead role, writer and director Prawaal Raman says, “Charles is a complex character - a charming man with a dangerous mind and dangerous intentions. Finding the right actor who has the ability to exude all these qualities at the same time was a tough call. We were looking for an actor who radiates star power coupled with the finest acting prowess to portray Charles. The only actor in my opinion who fit that profile was Sanjay Dutt”. People Pictures, the entertainment arm of People Group, announced its foray into, filmed entertainment and movie-making business late last year. The company is currently working on four projects, and aims to become one of the creative film studios in the near future.

Sunil Doshi announces Hulla
From Sunil Doshi, the producer of cult yet most successful films like Bheja Fry and Mix Doubles comes another humorous treat titled Hulla. The film is written and directed by Jaideep Varma, a former advertising writer, music columnist and an author of the much-acclaimed novel Local published in 2005.
The film stars Sushant Singh and Rajat Kapoor in pivotal roles and is slated to release on June 20. The film’s music is by Indian Ocean and the other star cast includes Kartikadevi Rane, Mandeep, Vrajesh Hirjee and Dibyendu Bhattacharya.

UTV’s $203 million deal with The Walt Disney Company
UTV Software Communications has announced the successful closure of its preferential allotment to The Walt Disney Company. This was approved, where the committee allotted 93,52,500 equity shares of Rs 10 each at an issue price of Rs. 860.79 per equity share aggregating to around Rs 8,050 million ($ 203 million). The Promoter Group have also subscribed to 45, 32,000 warrants at the same issue price. With this, the Promoter Group and Disney will have equal stake of 32.10 per cent in UTV.

Anushka in Aditya Chopra’s Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi
Yash Raj Films’ Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, starring Shah Rukh Khan and being directed by Aditya Chopra, will have 19-year-old model Anushka Sharma from Bangalore playing the female lead opposite Khan. The film will go on the floors on May 16 and is expected to hit theatres worldwide on December 12.

Pyramid Saimira to release Kuselan
Pyramid Saimira Entertainment Limited, Singapore, a wholly owned subsidiary of Pyramid Saimira Group, the world’s fastest growing entertainment conglomerate, has bagged the rights of worldwide release with 11 years Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) of much talked about, Rajinikanth - starrer film Kuselan, in both Tamil and Telugu for an undisclosed amount. The company plans to release the movie by the end of July 2008. Speaking about the development, Mr. P. S. Saminathan, Group Chairman, Pyramid Saimira Group said, “We are extremely glad to have acquired all rights for Rajinikanth’s forthcoming venture. Speaking on the occasion Mr. Mukesh Mehta, distribution head of Pyramid Saimira Group said, “We are extremely glad to associate with Seven Arts Films and Kavithalaya Group. Seven Arts Films is a reputed production house who was given successful story line and Kavithalaya Group promoted by Mr.K.Balachandar, an Industry Giant and Veteran Director who infact introduced Rajinikanth. Further this film is co-produced in Telugu by Vyjanthi Movies, a reputed production house who was given blockbuster hit with almost all the film stars in Telugu industry”.
Pyramid Saimira had earlier distributed / exhibited Sivaji in Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Malaysia with 252 screens, 928 shows daily and 6.78 lakh seats and earned considerable collections. Pyramid Saimira distributes almost eight films a month on an average in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam and many other languages. Kuselan is being produced by Kavithalaya and Seven Arts Films in Tamil and Vyjanthi Movies and Seven Arts Films in Telugu. Rajinikanth is co-starred by Pasupathy, Meena, Nayantara, and Vadivel in Tamil and in Telugu, Rajinikanth is co-starred by Jagapathy, Babu, Sunil, Meena and Nayantara. G.V.Prakash is composing music for both the movies. The film is a remake of the highly successful classic Malalyalam film, Kadha Parayumbhol.

Saif to work with Homi Adajania again
After Being Cyrus, Saif Ali Khan and Homi Adajania team up yet again with their second venture Thagi, an action flick which will be made under Saif’s production house Illuminati Films. Thagi, an action film is about a crook (thug) played by Saif who goes on a conning spree. According to sources, Saif chose Adajania as his director because he feels their sensibilities match and work wonders together on screen. Thagi is going to be an out and out masala caper but with Saif and Homi’s sensibilities. Looks like, after his much appreciated act in Being Cyrus, Saif is all set to wow the audience with yet another maverick performance.

Adlabs acquires interest in Malaysian cinema chain
Adlabs Films Limited, part of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, has entered into an agreement for acquisition of majority and controlling interest in Malaysia-based Lotus Five Star Cinemas and will be operating a 51- screen cinema chain in Malaysia.
The chain will have a footprint across Malaysia and will be playing mainstream Hollywood films as well as Chinese and Malay, in addition to movies in Indian languages such as Hindi and Tamil.
The international network, in addition to Malaysia, comprises 220 screens covering the East, Mid-West and West Coast of USA as also Mauritius and Nepal. Adlabs Cinemas is the largest cinema chain in India and presently has 160 screens nationwide.

Orion Pictures in talks with Warner Bros
Mukesh Talreja and Nikhil Advani of Orion Pictures Private Limited are in talks with Warner Brothers to remake the Hollywood blockbuster Wedding Crashers. The company is in talks with two big actors to play the lead in this remake. Speaking on the decision to make the film, Mukesh Talreja said, “I have seen Wedding Crashers and I think it is a great property that would certainly lend itself to a Bollywood remake and I am very happy that we will be doing this in the right way in association with Warner Brothers.” Commenting on the same, Blaise Fernandes of Warner brothers India said, “Yes, we are talking to Orion Pictures on the possibilities of re-making Wedding Crashers in India. Orion has shown keen interest in this project and they (Orion) have lined-up some of the best talent for this project. Both WB and Orion will come back to you on this project the moment we have finalised the details”. Orion Pictures at the moment, have the prestigious Chandni Chowk to China in association with Ramesh Sippy Entertainment, which is presented by Warner Brothers near completion. The film stars Akshay Kumar and Deepika Padukone.
The other films that they will be starting this year include their big animation project tentatively titled Ab Dilli Door Nahi, Milap Milan Zaveri’s Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai! The other three films form an interesting package, which we intend to make public soon, and shall go on floors in the next few months. This would include a film to be directed by Nikhil Advani, Vikramaditya Motwane and Shivam Nair.

Aarti Chhabria signs Indra Kumar’s next
Aarti Chhabria has reportedly signed Indra Kumar’s next comedy after Dhamaal, titled Daddy Cool, in which she’ll be playing the lead opposite Suniel Shetty. Aarti plays Suniel’s wife. The film also stars Aashish Chowdhry, and Tulip Joshi and is being currently being shot in Karjat.