The Indian Film Company has announced its line-up for the Cannes Film Market, which kicks off in Cannes on Wednesday, 13th May.

Indian Films-Studio18’s slate includes its blockbusters, Jab We Met, Welcome, Singh Is Kinng and Golmaal Returns. The movie majors are also offering buyers Kidnap, Dil Kabaddi, 1971, Awarapan and Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd., among other titles, alongside tent poles like Ghajini, Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na and Sarkar Raj, in respect of which Indian Films owns select television and online rights. Future Bollywood films on the slate include the Anil Kapoor-produced Shortkut….The Con Is On, the Abbas-Mustan produced Life Partner and Ashtavinayak’s Luck.
Read the full story

THE INDIAN FILM COMPANY & BEND IT FILMS IN STRATEGIC TIE-UP TO PRODUCE GURINDER CHADHA’s NEXT

The Indian Film Company (TIFC) and Bend It Films announced their strategic tie-up for the co-production of acclaimed director Gurinder Chadha’s next venture, ‘It’s A Wonderful Afterlife’. The co-producers will enjoy global revenues in perpetuity.
Read the full story

The Aneez Bazmee-directed comic caper, WELCOME, has recorded pathbreaking collections internationally, emerging as the No.1 film of Christmas 2007. The magnum opus was promoted, marketed and distributed overseas by the international arm of Indian Films - Studio 18.
 
WELCOME has grossed more than $ 4.5 million (INR 18 cr) at the international box-office in just two weeks and is going strong in its third week as well. With no comparable tent-pole release in the weeks to come, WELCOME is poised to create even bigger milestones in film history. 

Of the total international two-week gross, $ 3.5 million has been mopped up from the three key markets alone - US, UK/Ireland & UAE, and the remaining from other European and Asia-Pacific markets.
 
In the US, WELCOME crossed $ 1 million on 63 prints at the end of its second week, much the same as the Gulf, where collections touched $ 1 million on 29 prints at the end of the second week and have held strong over the weekdays as well. WELCOME is reported to have beaten some of the biggest blockbusters in the UAE, including Namaste London, Heyy Babyy and Bhool Bhulaiyaa, making it the highest grossing film ever for Akshay Kumar in this territory.
 
In the UK/Ireland, WELCOME mopped up $ 1.5 million on 51 prints at the end of its second week, making it the highest fortnight gross for an Akshay Kumar title in this market. It was alongisde Hollywood biggies at No.8 in the coveted UK TOP 10 in its opening weekend having bagged the second highest opening in 2007 after Om Shanti Om. The box-office of WELCOME in two weeks in the UK/Ireland has overtaken that of films like  Guru, Chak Dey India, Ta Ra Rum Pum, Heyy Babyy and Bhool Bhulaiyaa, and in the days to come, it is set to oust the likes of Rang De Basanti, Partner, Namaste London and Lagey Raho Munnabhai in this region.

Music from the new film Welcome turned out to be a disappointment. I eagerly waited to hear the soundtrack that carries the names of musical directors Himesh Reshammiya and Anand Raj Anand. Of all the things that I expected, to be let down was not one of them. Maybe it has to do with my lack of enthusiasm for electronic sounds, or echoing voice effects. Maybe it is the unvarying beats in each of the songs that I found annoying.

Even though singers Shankar Mahadevan and Shreya Ghoshal were included among the featured artists, I found myself not even noticing when one song had ended and another had begun. Now while this all may seem a bit harsh to you, I will admit the title track did grab my attention. I would have to say of all the songs on the soundtrack, it would be the one I did like. That having been said, I do believe liking it had more to do with first hearing the song while watching the movie’s trailer at a theater, with Akshay Kumar’s face larger than life in front of me. Even so, the computer like voices repeating the word welcome bothered me.

I would say that the music from this soundtrack is something that you could dance to in a club yet not remember ever hearing. Now for those of you that enjoy club music, you may strongly disagree with me, to that I would say, enjoy the soundtrack. To all others, I would recommend saving this music for when you are watching the film. You may be “Welcome” but I would give it a miss.

Producer/s : Firoz A. Nadiadwala
Director : Anees Bazmee
Music : Anand Raj Anand, Himesh Reshammiya and Sajid-Wajid
Lyrics : Sameer, Shabbir Ahmed and Anand Raj Anand
Vocals : Anand Raj Anand, Akruti Kakkar, Himesh Reshammiya, Kalpana, Shaan, Soumya Raoh, Shankar Mahadevan, Wajid
Label : Junglee Music

Candid pictures on the sets of WELCOME

As in India, Indian Films-Studio 18 and their worldwide distributors have gone aggressive with the release of the commercial mega comedy,
‘Welcome’, which is releasing in several places this week on Thursday to coincide with Eid.

Studio 18’s overseas division is releasing ‘Welcome’ on as many as 205 prints, which includes countries like the UAE, UK, Ireland, US & Canada, Fiji, Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, Morocco, Hongkong, Philippines and Holland, to name a few.

All the international prints of ‘Welcome’ will be subtitled in English ,with the UAE prints being subtitled in Arabic and English. In Belgium, the ‘Welcome’ print will release with Dutch subtitles for the local audience.

What: Press Meet of Welcome with Katrina Kaif
Where: Sun-n-Sand Hotel, Mumbai

At 56 years young, Nana Patekar can’t be held down. Well, at least he couldn’t up until his recent severe foot injury. Now, he’ll be out of commission for two months at the very least. It happened on the sets of his new comedy Horn OK Pleasss.

“It happens. It was quite a freak accident. I was dancing and twisted my ankle when my foot hit a stone. I heard something crack. I had a torn ligament. I had to go through an operation.”

Homebound for some time, he’ll be catching up on reading, cooking, exercising and finishing his script that he wants to direct early next year. It is a love story about an older man and a younger woman. Patekar wants either Vidya Balan or Rani Mukherjee for the role.

At the present time, Patekar has two films on the floor, the completed Shagird with director Tigmanshu Dhulia and Rakesh Sarang’s Horn Ok Please, which needs a bit more work to be completed. It would have been finished my the month’s end sans Patekar’s injury.

Patekar’s next release is Anees Bazmi’s Welcome with Akshay Kumar, Mallika Sherawat, Anil Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Feroz Khan and Paresh Rawal. When asked about his dancing with Mallika, Nana gets uncharacteristically shy. “Arrey nahin! I just do what the director asks me to. But I do enjoy dancing, I can’t deny that. Never mind I can’t do much of that right now.”

The music of Welcome may have three composers, but according to the reviews it may be three composers too many. We know the adage, “too many chefs in the kitchen spoil the soup.” Unfortunately, it seems that this is just what has happened to the soundtrack of Welcome.

For the three composers, Anand Raaj Anand, Himesh Reshammiya and Sajid-Wajid, to receive only two stars in review, isn’t good no matter how you slice it. Hopefully, since the film itself looks interesting, the cine-goers will look beyond the music (although a big part of Indian cinema) and watch it anyway.

After three consecutive smash hits, ‘Namastey London’, ‘Heyy Babyy’ and ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa’, Akshay Kumar’s fourth release of 2007, ‘Welcome’, is finally at the door.

Releasing theatrically on December 20, the club-thumping music of the eagerly awaited comedy, ‘Welcome’, the most star-studded release of 2007, will release worldwide this weekend. The soundtrack features six commercial tracks shot in South Africa and Dubai, scored by as three heavyweight music composers, Sajid-Wajid, Himesh Reshammiya and Anand Raj Anand.

Producer Firoz Nadiadwala, whose previous smash hits include ‘Hera Pheri’ and ‘Phir Hera Pheri’, wittily remarked, “We were looking to have variety on the soundtrack. We opted for three composers because we couldn’t get five!”

The audio release of ‘Welcome’ also marks the launch of the Times Group’s brand, Junglee Music, the umbrella brand that will spearhead the group’s entry into the music of Hindi language and regional feature films.

‘Welcome’ stars Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Nana Patekar, Anil Kapoor, Paresh Rawal, Feroz Khan and Mallika Sherawat in lead roles.