India’s Screenwriters Association Asks Members To Stop Work On U.S. Projects

Naman Ramachandran India’s Richa Chadha and the U.K.’s William Moseley will headline the cast of India-U.K. co-production “Aaina.” The film, set between London and India, is a drama about the impact of the cycle of violence, both within cultures and on human beings in the form of PTSD. It marks the feature directorial debut of Markus Meedt, who previously directed several acclaimed shorts, including “Shelter” and “Anonymous” and episodes of mini-series “Let’s Get Macho.” Chadha starred in “Gangs of Wasseypur” and “Masaan,” both of which debuted at Cannes. She was most recently in Disney+ Hotstar series “The Great Indian Murder.” Moseley made a mark as a child actor in the Narnia franchise. He was one of the leads in “Land of Dreams,” which debuted at Venice, and was also in Indian film “Margarita With A Straw,” which had festival play at Toronto, Busan and London.

Naman Ramachandran Indian multiplex chains PVR and Inox, which merged earlier this year, have launched a combined distribution arm PVR Inox Pictures, formerly PVR Pictures, “to increase investments in content acquisition to streamline high quality content for the Indian market, generate further opportunity for underrepresented storytellers and independent creators, and deliver a robust content slate to the Indian audience.” PVR Inox operates a network of 1689 cinema screens in 361 properties across 115 cities in India and Sri Lanka, and holds 43% share of multiplex screens in India. PVR Inox Pictures is the largest independent distributor of foreign language films and a prominent distributor of Indian films, in India.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The premium end of the streaming video sector in India is poised for shake-up, with Reliance Industries’ JioCinema challenging the SVOD dominance of Disney+ Hotstar, new research suggests. “The India Online Video Report: Analysis of Consumption, Content & Investment Trends,” from Singapore-based Media Partners Asia, shows total consumption across the online video sector reached 6.1 trillion minutes for the 15-month period from Jan 2022 to Mar 2023. Within that period, the SVOD, AVOD and freemium platforms accounted for some 12% of viewing time, up from 10% in 2021. Social services such as YouTube and TikTok accounted for 88% of viewing time.

Indian exhibitor PVR Inox, recently formed by the merger of the PVR and Inox cinema brands, has launched a new motion pictures arm, PVR Inox Pictures, which will ramp up acquisitions of international content for the India market. 

Elsa Pataky is proud of her daughter’s work. The Spanish actress shared a photo of her home’s art studio, which has a stunning view of animals and trees. She also showed off some of India Rose’s art work.

JioCinema Premium has revealed an annual subscription plan of INR999 ($12.13) for Warner Bros. Discovery content. Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) is behind Viacom18 and JioCinema. Warner Bros. Discovery and Viacom18 signed a multi-year agreement recently making JioCinema India’s new streaming home for HBO, Max Original and Warner Bros. content from May. The WBD content had previously been carried on the Disney-owned Star TV platform. But the deal with Star expired at the end of March.  Television series will premiere on JioCinema on the same day as the U.S. The deal includes current and future seasons of HBO’s “House of The Dragon,” “The Last of Us,” “Succession” and “The White Lotus,” and returning seasons of “True Detective: Night Country,” “Euphoria,” “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty” and “Perry Mason.”

Dave Chappelle returned to San Francisco Thursday night with a surprise show at the Masonic Auditorium. He didn’t like what he’s seen in the City by the Bay.

EXCLUSIVE: Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions has entered into a strategic content partnership with fellow Indian production house, Sikhya Entertainment, founded by Guneet Monga.

Priyanka Chopra is opening up about being bullied while attending high school in Boston, revealing it became so severe she she returned to her native India.

Ethan Shanfeld It’s pouring rain in New York City, and Mercury Lounge is packed wall-to-wall with a few hundred 20-somethings — so tightly that Peter Cat Recording Co. must clear a path through the Lower East Side rock club to journey from the front of the house to the stage. Fans stand on sofas to catch a glimpse of the New Delhi-based five-piece as crew members climb over the audience, shuttling beers from the bar to the band. During the show, devotees hand gifts to the musicians and shout requests for deep cuts. Afterward, frontman Suryakant Sawhney, cloaked in a black button-down and eyeliner, smokes cigarettes outside with fans eager to shake his hand.

India Amarteifio is all everyone is talking about after the debut of Queen Charlotte on Netflix.

Naman Ramachandran Indian studio Excel Entertainment has promoted business head Vishal Ramchandani to the newly created position of CEO. An MBA by qualification, Ramchandani joined Excel in 2008, in the marketing division. In 2013, he was entrusted with the duties of heading the division, where he spearheaded award-winning marketing campaigns for films such as “Fukrey,” “Baar Baar Dekho,” “Gold” and “Gully Boy.” In 2018, Ramchandani was elevated to the position of business head. In this role, he played a pivotal role in transforming Excel Entertainment from a creative production house to a studio that self-funds, markets and distributes its films. Under his leadership, the company’s distribution business diversified with the K.G.F. franchise, which became a nationwide blockbuster. He was also instrumental in Excel expanding into different verticals such as a talent division and co-production deals, as well as facilitating new media ventures.

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike has garnered attention from other film industry unions around the world.

Naman Ramachandran The next decade will belong to Indian stories, according to Sushant Sreeram, country director of Prime Video India. Sreeram was delivering a keynote at the ongoing FICCI-Frames 2023 convention in Mumbai. “The coming decade belongs to Indian stories, with streaming enabling expansion of linguistic palette and content diversity,” Sreeram said. The executive also highlighted the impact of streaming services on the Indian media and entertainment industry, noting their role in taking Indian stories to a global audience. “By offering convenient and easy access to the finest Indian content, OTT [streaming] players have made Indian entertainment accessible to viewers worldwide,” Sreeram said.

Naman Ramachandran Indian media and entertainment company IN10 Media Network has launched its film division, MovieVerse Studios. The film studio aims to “produce fresh and engaging content in Hindi and regional languages that connect with theatre-going audiences and those on streaming platforms,” the studio said in a statement. The studio has revealed a diverse slate across genres. These include an action survival rescue drama based on a true story in partnership with Bake My Cake Films, helmed by Sandeep Leyzell and Shobhna Yadav, which has hit films like “Batla House,” “Dasvi” and the upcoming “Tehran” to its credit. It will be directed by Umang Vyas (“Ventilator,” “Dear Father”).

Naman Ramachandran India is the fastest growing market market in the world for giant streamer Netflix and Monika Shergill, VP, content, for the country, has a clear plan to keep the trajectory going. “A healthy streaming business, according to us, has to be built on the strong fundamentals of engagement, where we are doing very well, and revenue and profit as a global service. We are a profitable service – in many of our markets, we are on the path to profitability,” Shergill told Variety. Earlier this year, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos had said that content watching grew by 30% last year in India and revenue grew by 25%. In a subsequent earnings call, Sarandos addressed the importance of pricing in India, saying: “We’ve got to get pricing and the main payment methods right.”

Naman Ramachandran India’s official entry to the 2023 Oscars, Pan Nalin’s “Last Film Show,” and Rima Das’ acclaimed 2017 festival favorite “Village Rockstars,” are amongst the films screening at the inaugural Nirvana – Festival de la Culture et du Cinema Indiens. Taking place in Saint-Tropez May 26-28, the festival will also screen Shubhashish Bhutiani’s 2016 Venice winner “Hotel Salvation” and Rajat Kapoor’s “RK/RKAY” (2022). On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of India’s independence, the director’s cut of the international version of Ketan Mehta’s freedom fight themed “The Rising” (2005) will be screened. Indian filmmakers Sundaram Tagore, Deepa Sahi, Surina Narula and Sanjay Bhutiani will speak at a roundtable on Indo-French cinema.

quarterly earnings report.Imax reported quarterly revenue of $86.9 million and earnings of $5.1 million or 4 cents per share on a diluted basis and 16 cents per share on an adjusted basis. That beat Wall Street projections of $77.5 million in revenue and adjusted EPS of 15 cents per share, according to analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research.

Naman Ramachandran Indian streamer Sony LIV and production house Applause Entertainment have extended their existing partnership with two new series and renewals for four more. Among the new series, “36 Days,” produced in association with BBC Studios India is a suspense thriller, directed by Vishal Furia, featuring an ensemble cast including Neha Sharma, Purab Kohli, Shruti Seth, Chandan Roy Sanyal, Amruta Khanvilkar, Sharib Hashmi, Shernaz Patel, Faishal Rashid, Chahat Vig and Kenneth Desai. “Kafas” (“Cage”) is a social drama series starring Sharman Joshi, Mona Singh, Vivan Bhathena, Preeti Jhangiani and Mikail Gandhi in lead roles and directed by Sahil Sangha.

Naman Ramachandran A galaxy of senior Indian content creators shared their insights on burning topics dominating the local landscape. They were speaking at at Indiantelevision.com’s annual industry event, The Content Hub, in Mumbai on Tuesday. At the Content Creation: No More Formulas panel, Shobha Sant, head of content alliances at Jio Studios, broke down the process behind the selection of its 100-title slate. Sant said that the selection was the result of five years of very a definite plan in terms of understanding audience segmentation and what people are watching.