Top Producers Break Down Idealized Concept of a Pan India Film at CII Dakshin Conference

EXCLUSIVE: Paris-based sales company Charades has finalized a raft of deals with international buyers for its upcoming comedy Northern Comfort, which debuted at SXSW in March.

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.

, Jen made the decision to break up with Rishi after he told her that his parents didn't approve of their engagement due to her age. Jen is 47 years old while Rishi is 32 years old, and his parents couldn't accept the 15-year age difference.Jen and Rishi have actually been engaged for three years, but Rishi had been keeping it a secret from his parents.

Indian films are a box office mainstay and one, Jodi, from Rhythm Boyz Entertainment, hit big this weekend Stateside, grossing $734,000 on just 125 screens. In April, the film set a record as the most viewed Punjabi trailer in 24 hours (over 12 million views on YouTube).

Naman Ramachandran Sony Pictures International Productions (SPIP) is making its debut in Tamil-language cinema with a film starring Sivakarthikeyan. The project is currently identified as “SK21,” meaning that it is the 21st film starring Sivakarthikeyan, who headlines the film alongside Sai Pallavi. SPIP is producing alongside multihyphenate Kamal Haasan’s Raaj Kamal Films International (RKFI) and co-produced by God Bless Entertainment, with Haasan and R. Mahendran serving as producers with SPIP. The film, written and directed by Raj Kumar Periasamy (“Rangoon,” “Bigg Boss Tamil”), is billed as a tale of “guts and gore” and “high on patriotism.” It is based on a chapter in Shiv Aroor and Rahul Singh’s “India Most Fearless” series of books that recount stories of Indian military heroes. The film has commenced principal photography with a two-month schedule in the northern Indian state of Kashmir.

India’s Screenwriters Association (SWA) has expressed support for the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike and asked its members to down tools on U.S. films and series. 

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 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.

The Night Agent dropped out of the top three on Netflix’s list of most popular English-language TV shows for the week of April 24 to April 30. Meanwhile, The Diplomat held onto its crown.

strikes for the first time since 2007-08, more details are being released over what exactly led to the impasse in its talks with Hollywood studios on a new bargaining agreement. In its statement announcing the end of talks, the studios’ labor representatives, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, said that “mandatory staffing,” and “duration of employment” were the “primary sticking points” when it came to the failed negotiations.

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.

EXCLUSIVE: Ron Ninio, whose crime drama Kvodo was remade for Showtime as Your Honor, has signed with CAA for worldwide representation.

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.

William Earl Centered on a theme of celebrating locations on screen, Variety held a cocktail reception on the rooftop of Neuehouse in Hollywood Wednesday night, presented by Neom, a sustainable megacity and regional production hub located within Saudi Arabia’s northwestern corner. The event was attended by producers, production supervisors, location managers and others from across the film, television and content creation industries, offering Wayne Borg, Neom’s managing director of media, entertainment and culture, an opportunity to introduce others to what the region has to offer and incentivize decision-makers to consider bringing their productions to the Middle East.

EXCLUSIVE: The UK Asian Film Festival has set Bollywood stalwarts Poonam Dhillon and Rajkummar Rao as special guests for its Closing Gala, which takes places May 14 at the BFI Southbank in London.

Naman Ramachandran The rights of three songs from iconic 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical “The Sound of Music” have been acquired by Indian film “Music School.” The musical was adapted as a 1965 film by Robert Wise, starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer, which went on to win five Oscars and also had two live television adaptations – on NBC in 2013 and ITV in 2015. “Music School” is directed by Indian civil service officer-turned filmmaker Paparao Biyyala, who has obtained the rights for three songs from “The Sound of Music” – “Do Re Mi,” “So Long Farewell” and “Sixteen Going on Seventeen.” Veteran Indian composer Ilaiyaraaja has recreated the songs along with the London Philharmonic Orchestra to suit the sensibilities of an Indian audience.

Naman Ramachandran The cream of the southern Indian film industry was present in force at the just concluded Dakshin South India Media and Entertainment Summit in Chennai. Organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), southern region, the event kicked off with recent south Indian Oscar winners, Kartiki Gonsalves, director of winning documentary short “The Elephant Whisperers” and Prem Rakshit, choreographer of winning original song “Naatu Naatu” from “RRR” being felicitated. The stage was then set for a heavyweight filmmakers panel moderated by former Variety correspondent Anupama Chopra, with Mani Ratnam, director of Tamil-language blockbuster “Ponniyin Selvan: 1”; Vetrimaaran, whose acclaimed Tamil-language “Viduthalai Part 1” is currently on release; Rishab Shetty, star and director of Kannada-language smash hit “Kantara”; and Basil Joseph, director of Malayalam-language Netflix superhero film “Minnal Murali” participating.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles is expanding its efforts to engage the industry side of the business and in June will host its inaugural IFFLA Industry Day. The festival was founded in 2002 and, now in its third decade of operation, has pivoted to a strategy of year-round programming and events. The center piece of the IFFLA Industry Day will be a pitch competition that involves selected emerging and established film and TV writers and directors who pitch their upcoming project to a panel of executives from different sectors of the industry. The executives and a live public audience will provide feedback and heighten the sense of discovery. The winner will receive a $10,000 development grant.