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<ul><li>Director <keyword id="7929" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="anurag-kashyap" source="Orion">Anurag Kashyap</keyword>’s <keyword id="75455" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="kennedy" source="Orion">Kennedy</keyword> will be screened in the Midnight Screenings section at the <keyword id="6362016" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="cannes-film-festival" source="Orion">Cannes Film Festival</keyword> 2023. </li><li>Kennedy stars Sunny Leone, Rahul Bhatt and Abhilash Thapliyal. </li><li><keyword id="6366702" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="cannes" source="Orion">Cannes</keyword> reserves midnight slots for interesting genre films or those with challenging content. </li></ul>Director Anurag Kashyap’s long-running tryst with the international film festival Cannes continues. His movie Kennedy becomes the only Indian film to be selected for a screening at the festival this year. Cannes announced its official lineup for 2023 on Thursday. Kashyap’s Kennedy is one of the three films to be screened at the festival’s midnight screening section. The festival will take place between May 16-27, 2023. <div type="twitter" handle="Festival_Cannes" handlename="Festival de Cannes" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/819874733038727168/j5nR2gtS_normal.jpg" favoritecount="1030" retweetcount="278" status="KENNEDY by Anurag KASHYAP #SéanceDeMinuit / #MidnightScreenings #Cannes2023" createdat="1681378764000" id="1646447987441246208"></div> Midnight Screenings were pioneered by the Sundance Film Festival. Cannes <a href="https://www.cannesguide.com/cannes-festival-guide/structure-of-the-cannes-film-festival/">included </a>the section in the early 2010s. As per Cannes, it “reserves a couple of midnight slots for interesting genre films or those with challenging content”. Most of the details about the movie have been kept under wraps, but Kennedy, which will premiere at the festival, stars Abhilash Thapliyal, Sunny Leone and Rahul Bhatt. Bhatt also starred in Kashyap’s crime-drama Ugly, which also premiered at Cannes. The makers of the movie have not yet announced its release date. As the news made it to the social media, film celebrities congratulated Kashyap, with ace director Sudhir Mishra <a href="https://twitter.com/IAmSudhirMishra/status/1646471490651705344">tweeting</a>, “You can’t keep Kashyap down for long. Our guy is back.” <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Anurag Kashyap’s long tryst with Cannes" comment="subhead2" text="Anurag Kashyap’s long tryst with Cannes">Anurag Kashyap’s long tryst with Cannes</cmsannotation> Kashyap’s movies have long found a spot at the Cannes Film Festival, starting with his claim-to-fame, the 2012 action-drama Gangs of Wasseypur. It was screened at the 2012 Cannes Directors’ Fortnight, which is an independent section of the Cannes Film Festival. The following year, his film Ugly was also screened at the Directors’ Fortnight section, where it received a standing ovation. His neo-noir crime drama Raman Raghav 2.0 premiered at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, again in the Director’s Fortnight section. Apart from these, Anurag Kashyap was one of the directors of the anthology Bombay Talkies, which also premiered under the Special Screenings section at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. Kashyap’s last film was the musical romantic drama Almost Pyaar with DJ Mohabbat, which starred Alaya F and Karan Mehta. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/personalities/news/gigantic-glass-houses-lasers-to-robotic-dinosaurs-exotic-hobbies-of-eccentric-billionaires/slidelist/99488942.cms">Gigantic glass house, lasers, robotic dinosaurs: Exotic hobbies of eccentric billionaires</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/top-premium-hybrid-cars-in-india-ferrari-296-gtb-amg-gt-63-s-e-performance-and-more/slidelist/99488880.cms">Top premium hybrid cars in India – Ferrari 296 GTB, AMG GT 63 S E Performance, and more</a>

Anurag Kashyap’s ‘Kennedy’ is the only Indian movie to be screened at Cannes 2023

The 68th annual <keyword id="6362016" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="Cannes-film-festival">Cannes Film Festival</keyword>, which starts today in the beautiful city of Cannes, France, is all set to make a lot of headlines, like it has been doing, year after year. 
 This year, the world would see not one or two but three Indian beauties walking down the red carpet of the Cannes film festival. All three divas, namely <keyword id="6366471" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Aishwarya-Rai">Aishwarya Rai</keyword> Bachchan, Sonam Kapoor and Katrina Kaif would be representing the popular international cosmetic brand, L’Oreal. 
 
This would be the Cannes debut of Katrina Kaif, as Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Sonam Kapoor have already appeared and represented the brand at the prestigious film festival. 
 
Katrina Kaif would be walking the red carpet on the first and second day of the festival, which means that she would be gracing the red carpet today and tomorrow. 
 
For Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, who completes 14 years at Cannes this year, the red carpet appearance would be towards the end of the festival, reportedly on 17th and 20th May. 
 
Sonam Kapoor, for whom this is the 5th Cannes appearance, would be showing off her elegance on 16th and 18th May. 
 
Talking of movies, there are two Indian feature films that will be screened under the Uncertain Regard section. The first one, titled Masaan has Richa Chaddha in the lead. The movie has been shot in Varanasi, is directed by Neeraj Ghaywan and co-produced by Anurag Kashyap. The second movie is Gurvinder Singh's Punjabi movie Chauthi Koot, which is a period drama set in Punjab of the 1980s. 
 
Other than this, there is a short movie to be screened, called Miyan Kal Aana, which is produced by actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui and directed by his brother Shams Siddiqui.

All that Bollywood can at ‘Cannes’

During the inauguration of the India pavilion at Cannes 2022 on Wednesday, Academy Award winner A.R. <keyword id="11852" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="rahman" source="Orion">Rahman</keyword> explained why we should tell stories about <keyword id="6576454" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="west" source="Orion">West</keyword> and try to break the boundaries. "I can't say much because I've been in the industry for almost 40 years - ten years of playing outside as a musician and 30 years as a composer. I was a director for the sensory cinematic experience," he said. Rahman further shared that despite the fact we have our stories to tell, we must not restrict ourselves. "Even though we have so many stories, we should tell stories about the West because we have a narrative about the West. We should be doing that." "The West does Gandhi, he (<keyword id="4993" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="shekhar-kapur" source="Orion">Shekhar Kapur</keyword>) is the man who has done 'Elizabeth: The Virgin Queen'. I am super inspired by him," he added while hinting towards filmmaker Shekhar Kapur. On the reason for choosing English language for his film, he elaborated: "The reason why I did this in the English language and for an international audience was to see if it is possible to break those boundaries and set a new path. Even if we fail it's fine. I am talking about Le Musk, the sensory cinematic experience in Cannes XR. I want to thank my whole team, and please do check it out and see how we can improve and celebrate it. God bless you all. Thank you so much." The Indian delegation led by I&amp;B Minister Anurag Thakur was present for the inauguration of the Indian pavilion at the ongoing Cannes Film Festival in France. <keyword id="598" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="deepika-padukone" source="Orion">Deepika Padukone</keyword> is attending the festival as a jury member, <keyword id="6356036" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="aishwarya-rai-bachchan" source="Orion">Aishwarya Rai Bachchan</keyword>, <keyword id="6354603" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="kamal-haasan" source="Orion">Kamal Haasan</keyword>, <keyword id="18461" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="r-madhavan" source="Orion">R Madhavan</keyword>, Shekhar Kapur and <keyword id="654350" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="tamannaah-bhatia" source="Orion">Tamannaah Bhatia</keyword> are among the Indian celebrities attending the 75th edition of the film festival. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/google-russia-has-no-money-to-pay-salaries-to-its-100-employees-heads-for-bankruptcy/articleshow/91658749.cms">Google Russia has no money to pay salaries to its 100 employees, heads for bankruptcy</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/entertainment/news/late-comic-book-legend-stan-lee-set-to-live-again-in-movies-as-marvel-studios-signs-20-year-deal/articleshow/91655455.cms">Late comic book legend Stan Lee set to live again in movies as Marvel Studios signs 20-year deal</a>

Oscar winner A R Rahman says India should tell 'West stories' from its own narrative

<ul><li>Google Doodle is celebrating the Indian bollywood icon <keyword id="16975" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Zohra-Sehgal">Zohra Sehgal</keyword> today for her shattering the glass ceiling of Indian cinema back in 1946.</li><li>The movie was Indian cinema’s first film to gain international acclaim. </li><li>Sehgal also acted opposite the first <keyword id="492147" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="Doctor-Who">Doctor Who</keyword>, <keyword id="10019192" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="william-hartnell">William Hartnell</keyword>.</li></ul>Most millennials remember Zohra Sehgal as their favourite on-screen dadi in films like <keyword id="37921" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kabhi-Khushi-Kabhi-Gham">Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham</keyword>, <keyword id="37737" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="Dil-Se">Dil Se</keyword>, and Veer Zaara. But before she was the grandmother that we all know and love, Sehgal already had a long series of wins under her belt. This includes a brief stint in the original BBC series Doctor Who and acting in the first Indian movie — <keyword id="62426" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="Neecha-Nagar">Neecha Nagar</keyword> — that was met with international acclaim. <div type="image" title="ZohraSehgal_DoctorWho_TardisFandom_edited" msid="78377871" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Zohra Sehgal in Doctor Who&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Google Doodle today is celebrating Sahibzaadi Begum Zohra Mumtazullah Khan for shattering the glass ceiling of Indian cinema back in 1946. Sehgal’s was cast in Chetan Anand’s Neecha Nagar and the movie made it onto the screens at the Cannes Film Festival. It was Indian cinema’s first international critical success. <div type="image" title="neechanagat" msid="78377894" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;The poster for &amp;lt;em&amp;gt;Neecha Nagar&amp;lt;/em&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Zohra Sehgal travelled the world before settling in India Sehgal was born in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur. And her official title is actually Sahibzaadi Begum Zohra Mumtazullah Khan — a Rohilla Pathan of the Rampur nobility. In her early 20s, Sehgal left for Germany to study ballet, after which she travelled the world with legendary icon Uday Shankar for a decade. <div type="image" title="Uday_Shankar_Ballet_Troupe,_ca_(1935-37)" msid="78377906" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;The Uday Shankar Ballet Troupe. Also seen at the bottom left Zohra Segal, who joined in August 1935, and toured with Uday Shankar till he returned to India, 1938.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> In 1945, she returned to India to join the Prithvi Theatre and moved across the country with the troupe for shows. It was during this time that she signed onto Neecha Nagar. A little over a decade later, Sehgal moved to New Delhi as the newly appointed director of the Natya Academy. Acting with the very first Doctor Who Her stint at the academy was a short one, from 1959 to 1962, when she moved to London, and we saw her on the international stage across the first Doctor Who, William Hartnell. She posed as Sheyrah in season two of the series in the episode arc called <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/photonovels/crusade/two/index.html">The Crusade</a>. She also had a small role in the 1964 story Marco Polo. She only returned to India in the 1990s, where she continued to act and went on to win the Padma Shri in 1998 and the Padma Bhushan in 2002. Sehgal was 102 when she passed in 2014. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/top-stocks-to-watch-infosys-central-bank-of-india-dhfl-anuh-pharma-shalby-balaji-telefilms-and-others/articleshow/78376167.cms">Top stocks to watch— Infosys, Central Bank of India, DHFL, Anuh Pharma, Shalby, Balaji Telefilms and others</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/rbi-postpones-monetary-policy-meeting-new-dates-to-be-announced-soon/articleshow/78361698.cms">RBI postpones Monetary Policy meeting as the hunt for three new MPC members continues</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/defense/news/rajnath-singh-releases-indias-new-defence-acquisition-procedure-amid-india-china-border-dispute/articleshow/78362908.cms">Rajnath Singh releases India's new Defence Acquisition Procedure amid India-China border dispute</a>

Google Doodle celebrates Zohra Sehgal — Everyone's favourite dadi, an Indian royal and Doctor Who star

Just on the outskirts of the old city limits of the megapolis of Kolkata stands the semi-urban hamlet of Boral, where a young art director with the advertisement agency D J Keymer shot his classic debut film '<keyword id="106892" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="pather-panchali" source="Orion">Pather Panchali</keyword>' (Song of the Road), some 70 years ago, to metamorphose into the celebrated movie maestro Satyajit <keyword id="6561" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="ray" source="Orion">Ray</keyword>. Ray or Manick-da as his close associates called him, whose 102nd birthday is being celebrated Tuesday with aplomb across the globe, chose the village as it "was only four miles from the city limits and this meant that we could make daily trips" as also because with his shoe-string budget to shoot the movie, he could hardly afford on-location shoots in faraway rural idles. "He used to come to this field between our house and the ancient twin Shiva temple and stand for hours under a tree staring and chewing a handkerchief. "My father asked him what was he really doing. Ray told him that this was his way of composing shots in his head," said <keyword id="5748880" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="tushar-kanti-ghosh" source="Orion">Tushar Kanti Ghosh</keyword>, 80, a scion of the <keyword id="701424" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="zamindar" source="Orion">Zamindar</keyword> family which used to own most of the land in this village turned part of the city at one time, adding with a wrinkled grin: "He told dad he wasted around a dozen handkerchiefs a day thinking about shots!" Ghosh met Ray at age eight, and played a small part as a student at the village school in 'Pather Panchali', shot over from 1952 to 1955. "He (Ray) asked my father if he could borrow some young boys for the movie ... I had two small parts in the film and naturally at that age I was thrilled," chuckled the octogenarian, who along with other fellow villagers never realised that their non-descript village would be thrust into international fame once the movie was released and showcased at Cannes as India's official entry. Opposite the pond where Ray had shot some of his scenes for 'Pather Panchali' lives Abhishek Paul, 31, a young artist who said he heard stories of the film's shooting from his grandmother. "The entire village was agog with excitement through the period the movie was shot ... today we feel a kind of pride that he chose our 'para' (locality)," said Paul. A small bust of Satyajit Ray stands at the turn of the road from the house he had rented for the shooting. Locals have garlanded it and put-up festoons to celebrate the renowned filmmaker's birth anniversary Tuesday. Satyajit Ray cast mostly amateur actors in his movie for which he raised money by pawning his wife's jewellery and taking a subsidy sanctioned by the then chief minister of West Bengal Late Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy, a fellow Brahmo Samaji. New York's Museum of Modern Art too chipped in with some support after noted American film director John Huston saw some of Ray's unfinished raw reels and declared it as the work of a "great filmmaker". "His first movie marked him out as being born into a different league ... 'Pather Panchali' was a far more realistic and yet stunningly beautiful presentation of rural India's life than we had ever seen before ... it touched the heart, not just the other senses," said <keyword id="466542" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="shoma-a-chatterji" source="Orion">Shoma A Chatterji</keyword>, veteran film critic and author of books on Satyajit Ray. No script was ever written for the movie as Ray believed the novel written by noted Bengali writer Bibhuti Bhushan Bandyopadhyay was far too lucidly written to require a script. Instead, "Satyajit Ray drew a storyboard for the entire movie - picturising every scene that he shot with the dialogues scribbled on the margins in a strong, neat hand ... this was typically Ray, a very meticulous director who planned every single shot long before executing it," explained Chatterji. The music for the movie was composed by the famous sitarist Ravi Shankar and was considered an epochal score by the film fraternity, but Chatterji said the two geniuses had their intellectual differences and "in later films, Ray started composing his own music". After initial hesitation, the movie which depicts a family's struggle to live in their rural ancestral village as the hero - a child named Apu - grows up, did surprisingly well with both the critics and in the box office. Times of India in a piece in 1956 said: "It is banal to compare it with any other Indian picture...Pather Panchali is pure cinema. There is no trace of theatre in it." In Cannes, his debut film was nominated for the Palme d'Or for the best film and won the Prix du document humain (best human document). Part of Ray's 'Apu Trilogy, Boral's debut on the big screen remains one of the most influential movies that the world has seen. Twenty years after it was released, another film maestro Akira Kurosawa said the movie continues "to stir up deep passions." However, the village itself no longer stirs any great artistic passions. The forest patches and farmland have been gobbled up by an ever-hungry city as the megapolis's realtors built middle-class 'dream' high-rises. The fields of 'Kash' flowers or kans grass which at one time ran parallel to the single line railway track where 'Pather Panchali's' main characters - Apu and Durga - ran around, have been replaced by more railway tracks and ugly warehouses while the plaintive whistle of the steam engine has given way to brash honking by diesel locomotives. "But some things still remain the same ... everyone still loves a good story and someday another Ray will discover another Boral to produce yet another compelling movie," said Ghosh. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/7-out-of-10-indians-are-unable-to-identify-ai-voice-call-scams-and-half-fall-for-scams-with-monetary-losses/articleshow/99924644.cms">7 out of 10 Indians are unable to identify AI voice call scams, and half fall for scams with monetary losses</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/several-twitter-users-logged-out-from-desktop-accounts-globally/articleshow/99925101.cms">Several Twitter users logged out from desktop accounts globally</a>

The urban hamlet where Satyajit Ray met 'Pather Panchali'

<ul><li> Conceptualised by McCann World Group, <keyword id="307078" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="maaza" source="Orion">Maaza</keyword>'s new campaign intends to strike a chord with people who often go out of their way to help others with acts of magnanimity and kindness.</li><li>It features <keyword id="6357912" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="amitabh-bachchan" source="Orion">Amitabh Bachchan</keyword> and Pooja Hegde. </li></ul>Maaza, Coca-Cola India’s homegrown mango drink has unveiled its latest campaign ‘Dildaar Bana De’, featuring the veteran actor Amitabh <keyword id="6354348" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="bachchan" source="Orion">Bachchan</keyword>, along with Pooja Hegde. The TVC has been directed by celebrated filmmaker Shoojit Sircar, who has previously showcased his talent with successful movies such as Vicky Donor, Piku, October, Sardar Udham, and many more. The new TVC will be amplified across TV, digital, and radio with a 360-degree approach. Maaza’s new ‘Dildaar Bana De’ campaign ties together the spirit of magnanimity with the king of fruits – the mango, also symbolic of prosperity and generosity. Conceptualised by McCann World Group, it intends to strike a chord with people who often go out of their way to help others with acts of magnanimity and kindness. The brand’s objective is also to contribute to the socio-economic development of Indian farmers. The homegrown brand Maaza is manufactured locally, using local ingredients, as part of the Company’s sustainable agriculture Initiative – ‘Fruit Circular Economy.’ Announcing the launch of the new campaign, Ajay Konale, Director Marketing, Nutrition Category, Coca-Cola India and Southwest Asia said, “Maaza is a heritage brand of our country - since 1976, it has been India’s most loved mango drink and a strong brand in the Company’s offerings in India. Maaza is known for its unparalleled taste of real, authentic mangoes and is a leading brand in the Mango segment. With this new positioning, we now aim to evolve the brand’s purpose, making it synonymous with Generosity &amp; ‘Dildaari’. We are extremely humbled to have Mr. Bachchan and Ms. Pooja Hegde onboard with us to bring alive Maaza’s new evolved philosophy.” The heartwarming TVC shows Pooja Hegde enjoying a game of cricket with the kids in her neighborhood, when she accidentally hits the ball outside the grounds, which ends up landing right inside Amitabh Bachchan’s home. Bachchan, who can be seen playing the role of a senior citizen and is infamous for never returning any balls that fall into his house – until he relishes a bottle of Maaza, which completely changes his mind and opens up his heart. The film ends with an unexpected act of ‘Dildaari’ from Bachchan, when he showers his collection of several balls that had ever fallen into his home, over the years. Director Shoojit Sircar added “Creating the Maaza TVC was an absolute delight and fun filled experience. Especially the character of Mr. Bachchan playing the role of a quirky senior citizen, who hoards all the balls being played by kids in his neighborhood. The scene, wherein Mr. Bachchan drinks Maaza, which brings about a sudden and positive shift in his attitude, is truly enjoyable and a pure testimony of his magnanimity. Pooja Hegde brings in her own exuberance and freshness to the film. Overall, I believe the film perfectly sums up to the values of ‘Dildaari’. Sambit Mohanty, Creative Head, McCann Worldgroup, said “Maaza is synonymous with ‘mango in a bottle’. Our new campaign for Maaza builds on the richness of this beverage and depicts the magnanimity that ensues upon drinking a Maaza. It was great fun working with Shoojit Sircar on this film and watching Mr. Bachchan turn-in yet another captivating performance.” Pooja Hegde, Indian actress and star of the new Maaza campaign, said, “Becoming the face of a brand that I have enjoyed drinking since my childhood, is an opportunity I could never have passed on. This campaign is very close to my heart, as it provided me with the special opportunity to co-star with my idol and inspiration - Mr. Bachchan, and also work with one of the greatest directors in Hindi cinema Mr. Shoojit Sarkar. I hope everyone watching the campaign film is inspired to spread positivity &amp; humanity with acts of generosity and magnanimity for those around them.” This New Year, Maaza is rejuvenating its purpose – to spread prosperity, and magnanimity among its consumers.

Maaza brings together Amitabh Bachchan and Pooja Hegde to celebrate magnanimity in their new ad

Near the end of 2013, the animated movie <keyword id="6366669" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="Mahabharat">Mahabharat</keyword> was released and was touted as “India’s most expensive multi-starrer <keyword id="21778" type="TECHNOLOGY" weightage="80" keywordseo="animation">animation</keyword> film.” The voice actors included the who’s who of contemporary Indian cinema. Amitabh Bachchan lent his voice to the iconic character of Bhishma; Ajay Devgan was Arjun; Sunny Deol was Bheem and Vidya Balan was Draupadi. None of the actors charged any fee and yet, the movie had a budget of Rs 50 crore. After the first week, it managed to earn just Rs 1.5 crore. 
 
Mahabharat was a phenomenal flop. 
 
But much of it had to do with the low quality animation that people ended up watching on-screen. And the studio blamed for such below-par work was a Juhu-based one called Pen India Pvt Ltd. Surely, there was nothing wrong with the story – Mahabharat is one of the most popular epics in the world. And the voice-acting was top-notch. So the only factors behind the debacle were the quality of animation and marketing. 
 
Outsourcing kills creativity Like many other industries, animation in India earns most of its revenues through outsourced projects from American and European studios. According to a secondary research presented in the <keyword id="6372077" type="CITY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Nasscom">NASSCOM</keyword> Industry Report, the money earned by Indian animation and VFX studios from global projects has steadily increased over the past decade. 
 
While that is good news from a business standpoint, the increasing number of outsourced projects also means that the animators are constantly working under strict deadlines and their project work is always under remote supervision which hardly leaves any room for creative decision-making. For the global studios, the Indian animation talent is akin to a sweatshop where the designs and plans are already in place and the workers are only expected to execute them. Such an environment not only tramples upon creativity but also leaves little time to pursue one’s creative aspirations. The few animators who choose not to work for those studios often find it difficult to earn a decent living. This is because the domestic market for animation is quite small. In 2009, domestic projects only accounted for 30% of the total revenues the industry earned. The rest came from outsourced animation, gaming and VFX work. 
 
Failure to woo the target audience 
As animated movies are relatively new in India, one of the biggest mistakes happened in figuring out the right content for a particular demographic. If you were to look at some of the animated films that came from India and achieved very little success, you might end up thinking – here’s a country where kids love Hindu mythology. 
 
It might seem odd now but that’s exactly what the producers had in mind when they released movies like Ramayan, Chhota Bheem, Ghatotkach, Krishna, etc. All of these feature stories from Hindu mythology and as India has the largest Hindu population, the producers just assumed that these stories would be popular. What a wrong assumption to make! What they don’t realise is that these stories are already known to Indian kids and they are not getting anything new or original out of these films. However, the Indian film industry is partly to blame for this – originality has never been its strong point. 
 Animation film-makers of India need to learn from studios like <keyword id="161299" type="COMPANY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Pixar">Pixar</keyword>, <keyword id="11201" type="CITY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Dreamworks">DreamWorks</keyword> and Disney who come up with highly original scripts such as <keyword id="241494" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="40" keywordseo="Wall-E">WALL-E</keyword>, Kung-fu Panda, Madagascar, Toy Story, How to Train Your Dragon and more. On the other hand, the Indian audience must change their mindset and start enjoying good animated films. Discarding an animated movie as a ‘cartoon’ film is an indication that most Indian viewers still think that anything animated is meant ‘for the kids.’ If only our people grew up on Japanese Manga and Anime from a very early age… 
 
Training counts Animation can be taught while sketching is a talent that is honed over a longer period of time. So, the first thing wannabe animators need to know is that you need to love art, drawing and sketching. In India, people often choose animation as a career just because it is a booming sector. Five years ago, they might have chosen biotechnology or marine engineering for the same reason. But that’s not the way to go about choosing a career. There are a handful of really good schools in India for learning animation, illustration or design – such as the National Institute of Design (NID), Srishti School of Art and Design, <keyword id="2199190" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="40" keywordseo="J-J-Institute-of-Applied-Art">J.J. Institute of Applied Art</keyword>, etc. Aspirants should target these schools instead of opting for short-term certificate courses that promise placement. Some of the best Indian animators studied in these well-known institutions. For instance, Vaibhav Kumaresh, a student of NID, is one of the most coveted names in Indian animation. He is the one who created Channel V’s famous Sardar Simpoo Singh Sodhi and the Amaron Battery characters. Gitanjali Rao, an alumnus of J.J. Institute of Applied Art, won an award in <keyword id="6366702" type="CITY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Cannes">Cannes</keyword> in 2006 for her animated short, Printed Rainbow. 
 
The future of animation in India can go either way. If we can come up with a few studios which will devote resources and talent for consistently creating really good content and art, the production will be on par with the industry leaders. A good marketing team can then sell it to the world. But without such initiatives, animation in India may just end up being a prop for creating logos for production houses and meeting deadlines for other studios who will get all the credit for creativity.

Animation
In India In Dire Need Of Good Content And Marketing

<ul><li>The platform uses over two decades of BookMyShow’s rich user understanding and data insights to focus on personalised content discovery with access to a finely curated selection of <keyword id="180362" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="world-cinema">world cinema</keyword>.</li><li>Warner Bros’ <keyword id="6631414" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Wonder-Woman-1984">Wonder Woman 1984</keyword>, Tenet and Sony Pictures’ The Craft: Legacy to be available on <keyword id="10709129" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="BookMyShow-Stream">BookMyShow Stream</keyword> starting February 5th.</li></ul>BookMyShow is all set to usher in a whole new movie-watching experience. It has rolled out ‘BookMyShow Stream,’ a homegrown Transaction Video-on-Demand (TVOD) streaming platform. With over 600 movie titles and 72,000+ hours of content, BookMyShow Stream will feature a handpicked, specially curated library of some of the best, celebrated and award-winning films and content from around the world along with India that users can Rent or Buy and watch. With over 22,000 hours of content being Exclusive to the platform at launch, BookMyShow Stream will feature multiple marquee Premieres every Friday. BookMyShow Stream is a highly data-rich offering that focusses on relevant and targeted content for consumers across specific film categories such as Premieres, Exclusives, World Cinema, Missed in Theatres, Festival Favourites and dedicated Bundles and has been built on the back of over 21 years of rich consumer understanding and data insights on user behaviour and preferences garnered on the platform. Starting today, BookMyShow Stream will be home to <keyword id="127480" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Christopher-Nolan">Christopher Nolan</keyword>’s Tenet, Gal Gadot starrer Wonder Woman 1984 and Horror fantasy The Craft: Legacy, giving Indian cinephiles an opportunity to catch these blockbusters that they missed in theatres. Besides these, films like Alone, Yes God Yes, The Peanut Butter Falcon, The Guilty, Les Miserables, Unhinged and acclaimed Russian Sci-fi thriller Coma, from premium Independent studios will premiere exclusively on BookMyShow Stream. BookMyShow Stream will feature marquee Hollywood content through partnerships with leading Global production giants including Sony Pictures, Warner Brothers and Universal Pictures amongst others. The platform will also bring compelling films from the library of major Indian production houses such as Viacom18, Shemaroo and Rajshri Productions as also Regional content providers like Divo and Sillymonks, amongst several others. BookMyShow Stream will be one of the first Indian streaming platforms to host acquired content from Independent Film distributors like PictureWorks, Superfine Films, Impact Films, Kahwa Entertainment and VR films. Bringing the magic of world cinema to Indian audiences, the movie streaming platform aims to be the go-to destination for some of the best and most popular World Cinema spanning countries such as Spain, France, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Germany, Slovakia and Netherlands. The content available on BookMyShow Stream is amongst the most celebrated films across key International Film Festivals including award-winning showcases at the Cannes Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, Berlin International Film Festival and Sundance Film Festival, to name a few. Commenting on the launch of BookMyShow Stream, Ashish Saksena, COO - Cinemas, BookMyShow said, “With ‘BookMyShow Stream’ – the largest Made-in-India Transaction Video-On-Demand platform yet, we are moving a step forward towards nurturing India’s movie consumption habit by providing users the best of global cinema right to their personal screens. ‘BookMyShow Stream’ is an innovation that is a result of over two decades of deep consumer understanding and robust data insights on user behaviour and preferences. It will give entertainment lovers access to highly curated cinema offerings from around the world, thanks to some long-term, marquee and exclusive partnerships with global &amp; Indian content powerhouses. ‘BookMyShow Stream’ is a natural extension of our cinemas business and respects the existing theatrical windows for content. It empowers users to pay only for the content that they watch - a prevalent trend in other global cinema markets, as yet untapped at scale in India. ‘BookMyShow Stream’ aims to inculcate global consumption trends by providing a highly curated avenue for handpicked cinema from across the world. With flexible purchase options and a seamless user interface, this new offering furthers BookMyShow’s journey from being a gateway to an evolved curator of tent pole content experiences." BookMyShow Stream will offer users the option to rent a movie for a finite duration or buy it for unlimited access with prices that suit all pockets. The streaming platform will offer an extremely personalised and seamless experience based on a user’s preferences, transaction and behaviour on BookMyShow, thus enhancing the discovery and streaming process significantly. Developed in-house and compatible with multiple devices, BookMyShow Stream enables an extremely personalized experience for content discovery including a seamless streaming flow and checkout experience across all formats of viewing. BookMyShow Stream will be available for viewing on BookMyShow’s mobile app and website as also Apple TV, Android TV, Firestick, Chromecast and desktop browsers. BookMyShow Stream will allow users to experience features such as downloads, offline viewing and casting.

You can now watch movies on BookMyShow Stream

In the past few days many celebrities have raised their voice against the appointment of TV actor <keyword id="258297" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Gajendra-Chauhan">Gajendra Chauhan</keyword> as the <keyword id="2898983" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="FTII-chairman">FTII chairman</keyword>. Now film-maker <keyword id="30014" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Vivek-Agnihotri">Vivek Agnihotri</keyword>, whose political satire ‘Buddha In A Traffic Jam’ recently won the Best Original Screenplay in a foreign language award at the Madrid International Film Festival, has extended full support to FTII students. Pointing towards the qualification of Chauhan, he told Business Insider (BI) that “one can’t give a chance to a raw pilot to fly a Dreamliner and an intern to do a bypass surgery on a patient.” The controversy is very far from over; the students of the prestigious <keyword id="129188" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Film-and-Television-Institute-of-India">Film and Television Institute of India</keyword> (FTII) have been agitating for over 30 days and have declared that they would continue to protest against <keyword id="14666" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="BJP">BJP</keyword> member Chauhan’s appointment as the new head of the governing council. 

	Agnihotri, who directed movies such as ‘Hate Story’, and ‘Chocolate’, ‘Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal’, told BI: “Chauhan is not qualified for this job. I don’t care what movies he has done or their quality. What matters is that he has no track record, views, and above all vision for cinema.”
 

	Chauhan, who played the role of 'Yudhishthir' in popular television serial "Mahabharata", on his part remained unfazed and said he should be given a chance and allowed to work.
 The film-maker, whose wife actor <keyword id="6158" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Pallavi-Joshi">Pallavi Joshi</keyword> has stepped down on July 6 from the <keyword id="2929545" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="FTII-Society">FTII Society</keyword> in an expression of solidarity with students, said: “Chauhan claims he has done over 70 serials. So what? Even a junior artist does over 1,000 films.” Chauhan is not suited for the job, he said. On being asked about the role of the <keyword id="384646" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Information-and-Broadcasting-Ministry">Information and Broadcasting Ministry</keyword> in the controversial appointment, Agnihotri said: “I think I&amp;B authorities underestimated the FTII. They thought it is just an institute with few hundred scholars somewhere in Pune. Who will bother? But it (the decision to appoint Chauhan) boomeranged on them.” 

	He further said the appointment has nothing to do with syllabus or any other administrative issues. “It is about prestige of the institute which, now, everyone unanimously believe will be hampered by Chauhan’s appointment.”
 

	Justifying the strike, he said FTII students are politically more active than engineering or MBA students. In Vivek Agnihotri’s view, an alumnus of Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), Delhi, the government should not hesitate to change the chairman.
 

	One such change will set the precedence for other institutes and bring the government under pressure, he said, adding: “There will be chaos. It is a complex situation and I am sure sooner or later our pragmatic PM will intervene and find a solution.”
 Agnihotri has worked in advertising agencies including Ogilvy &amp; Mather, JWT and has been a founder member of <keyword id="2947231" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="McCann-Erickson-in-India">McCann Erickson in India</keyword>. 
	(Image: Indiatimes)

Film-maker Vivek Agnihotri says, you can’t give ‘anyone’ a chance to run FTII

​The Oscar fights never go out of fashion in India. We have not made our mark there yet in spite of many Indian connections with movies like Life of Pi and <keyword id="32892" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Slumdog-Millionaire">Slumdog Millionaire</keyword>. But when it comes to selecting India’s official entry for the Foreign Language Film category at the <keyword id="9344" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="Academy-Awards">Academy Awards</keyword>, the heat is full on. This time, there were as many as 22 contenders and some entries like Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, English Vinglish, Celluloid, Shabdo, Ship of Theseus and <keyword id="6354603" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Kamal-Haasan">Kamal Haasan</keyword>’s Vishwaroopam created a lot of buzz. But the final battle royal seemed to have boiled down to just two – Mumbaikar <keyword id="1539946" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Ritesh-Batra">Ritesh Batra</keyword>’s <keyword id="1678680" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="The-Lunchbox">The Lunchbox</keyword> and Goa-born <keyword id="1602536" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Gyan-Correa">Gyan Correa</keyword>’s <keyword id="1602537" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="The-Good-Road">The Good Road</keyword>. However, The Lunchbox lost to The Good Road, which earlier bagged the national award for the best Gujarati feature film. Correa’s flick was picked by a 19-member jury, appointed by the <keyword id="291689" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Film-Federation-of-India">Film Federation of India</keyword> (FFI). 
 
What they tweeted 
A Press release said the decision had been unanimous, but congratulatory and disgruntled tweets followed. Here’s a look at some of the significant ones. 
 
Gujarat chief minister <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword>: Delighted to know that Gujarati film The Good Road has been chosen to represent India at Oscars. My best wishes. 
 
<keyword id="7929" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Anurag-Kashyap">Anurag Kashyap</keyword> (the film-maker co-produced The Lunchbox with <keyword id="197931" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Guneet-Monga">Guneet Monga</keyword>): Feeling very, very disappointed, can’t comment on the film I have not seen, but it better make it to final five… I don’t know who the federation is. But it goes to show, why we completely lack the understanding to make films that can travel across borders… I hope and pray I am wrong and it actually is a film that knocks the socks off everyone… We should then make a clean policy, you want to send the best film, then send the national award winner. Or send the one most likely to win... Anyway, disappointment and anger aside… let’s go back to make cinema… 
 
<keyword id="3778" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Karan-Johar">Karan Johar</keyword> (The director-producer turned presenter for The Lunchbox): Really shocked and disappointed… #LUNCHBOX had every factor working in its favour... we may have just lost our golden chance… SAD!!! 
 
Ritesh Batra (Director, The Lunchbox): Congrats to The Good Road. Hope it makes it all the way, else it will be a lost chance by FFI-appointed jury that lacks vision. Hope I am wrong… 
 
The Good Road and The Lunchbox: Head-to-head 
Some industry experts are not too enthusiastic and feel that The Lunchbox would have been a better Oscar choice for several reasons. So here is a head-to-head for our readers, along with some lesser-known facts. 
 
Auteur cinema is gaining prominence. Written by Correa himself, The Good Road is a documentary-style collage of stories woven around the highway where the protagonists lose their way, struggle on their personal quests and evolve in a way that touches the heart. The Lunchbox, on the other hand, brings to life the ever-present Mumbai dabbawalas (tiffin carriers) and a bitter-sweet story of bonding that starts with a misplaced lunchbox (according to a Harvard University study, the delivery system is so excellent that just one in a million lunch boxes will go to a wrong address). Each film reflects its director’s vision instead treading the beaten path. 
 
Both Correa and Batra did it hands-on. It was real-life research for both the directors. Correa got into a truck and went on a journey, getting to the core of things before he created his story. Batra worked as a <keyword id="415857" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Dabbawala">dabbawala</keyword> for a week to get the hang of it. 
 
But they come from different industries. That’s right. Batra studied Economics and worked as a consultant for Deloitte. He left the job to join the Graduate Film Program at New York University, but dropped out after a year and a half due to fund crunch. Correa is from the advertising space but decided to have a go at film-making. 
 
In spite of debacle, The Lunchbox gets a bite of the global pie. According to media reports, it has already been sold to 30 different territories globally and could be the first Indian film with 3 foreign producers – ASAP Films of France, Rohfilm of Germany and Cinemosaic of America, along with <keyword id="66984" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="NFDC">NFDC</keyword>, Sikhya <keyword id="4578" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="entertainment">Entertainment</keyword>, Dharma Productions and DAR Films from India. It can also be the first Indian movie to be released across 100 screens in Germany. Incidentally, the film was made on a shoestring budget of $1.5 million. On the other hand, NFDC produced The Good Road, but it doesn’t have an <keyword id="1878880" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="American-distributor">American distributor</keyword> yet. 
 
But what about Oscar compatibility? The Lunchbox might have got a favourable push at the Oscars, had it been chosen. For one, <keyword id="16207" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Irrfan-Khan">Irrfan Khan</keyword> is a familiar name (his roles in The Warrior, Mighty Heart, Slumdog Millionaire and The Amazing Spider-man certainly helped) and the movie has already received some rev reviews at Cannes, Telluride, Toronto and India. Moreover, <keyword id="6411012" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Sony-Pictures">Sony Pictures</keyword> Classics will be distributing the film in the US and that could have been another plus. The Good Road has one Oscar connection, though. Its sound designer Resul Pookutty has already won an Oscar for Slumdog Millionaire in 2009. 
 
Bottom line: Till date, only three <keyword id="143" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Bollywood">Bollywood</keyword> movies made it to the nomination stage of the Oscar. These include Mehboob Khan’s Mother India (1957), <keyword id="7999" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Mira-Nair">Mira Nair</keyword>’s Salaam Bombay (1988) and <keyword id="17233" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Ashutosh-Gowariker">Ashutosh Gowariker</keyword>’s Lagaan (2001). The Good Road belongs to the art house pack, but going by the poor track record of other ‘arty’ films (Salim Ahamed’s Abu, Son of Adam in 2011, <keyword id="82569" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Anusha-Rizvi">Anusha Rizvi</keyword>’s Peepli Live in 2010 and <keyword id="33044" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Kalpana-Lajmi">Kalpana Lajmi</keyword>’s Rudaali in 1993), will Gollywood’s (a concoction of Gujarat and Bollywood) tryst with Oscar produce something more fruitful this time? Also, will it be possible for the Lunchbox team to push the movie at the Oscars even without the government’s backing? Let us wait and watch how ‘independent’ our independent cinema is in reality. 
 
With additional input from Agencies 
Image courtesy: Indiatimes

‘Good Road’ Tops India’s Oscar Race; Will ‘Lunchbox’ Get The Global Pie?

<h1>
	<a href="http://www.bestmediainfo.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/ADFEST-2014-logo.jpg"></a></h1>
 Adfest 2014 has announced the shortlists in eight categories for the 2014 <keyword id="71296" type="COMPANY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Lotus">Lotus</keyword> Awards as three days of <keyword id="6356234" type="POSITION" weightage="40" keywordseo="Speaker">Speaker</keyword> Sessions, Workshops and Award Presentations kicked off today at <keyword id="6357117" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="bangkok">Bangkok</keyword>. It concludes on Saturday, March 8.

	Among the shortlists announced so far, Indian agencies have secured 16 shortlists, of which eight are for Press Lotus alone, followed by five shortlists for Film Craft Lotus, two for Media Lotus and one for Radio Lotus.

	Among agencies, Grey Worldwide India bagged the most shortlists at six for its work for Duracell. McCann India has three shortlists - two for its campaign for Audiobooks and one for its campaign for Star Aids Awareness.

	JWT India and Creativeland Asia secured two shortlists each while BBDO India, Linen and Unimagic Studios secured one shortlist each.

	The shortlisted entries from India:
 
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="alignleft">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td nowrap="nowrap" valign="bottom" width="192">
				Entry Title</td>
			<td nowrap="nowrap" valign="bottom" width="129">
				Brand</td>
			<td nowrap="nowrap" valign="bottom" width="175">
				Agency</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td colspan="3" valign="bottom" width="496">
				Category: Press Lotus</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td colspan="3" valign="bottom" width="496">
				Sub-Category: Best Of Household Products &amp; Maintenance</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td valign="bottom" width="192">
				Ageless Wonder- Music</td>
			<td valign="bottom" width="129">
				Duracell</td>
			<td valign="bottom" width="175">
				Grey Worldwide India</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td valign="bottom" width="192">
				Ageless Wonder- Man</td>
			<td valign="bottom" width="129">
				Duracell</td>
			<td valign="bottom" width="175">
				Grey Worldwide India</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td valign="bottom" width="192">
				Ageless Wonder- Woman</td>
			<td valign="bottom" width="129">
				Duracell</td>
			<td valign="bottom" width="175">
				Grey Worldwide India</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td valign="bottom" width="192">
				Duracell Positive &amp; Negative- Dock</td>
			<td valign="bottom" width="129">
				Duracell</td>
			<td valign="bottom" width="175">
				Grey Worldwide India</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td valign="bottom" width="192">
				Duracell Positive &amp; Negative- Console</td>
			<td valign="bottom" width="129">
				Duracell</td>
			<td valign="bottom" width="175">
				Grey Worldwide India</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td valign="bottom" width="192">
				Duracell Positive &amp; Negative- Monkey</td>
			<td valign="bottom" width="129">
				Duracell</td>
			<td valign="bottom" width="175">
				Grey Worldwide India</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td colspan="3" valign="bottom" width="496">
				Sub-Category: Best Of Communication Media &amp; Publications</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td valign="bottom" width="192">
				William Shakespeare</td>
			<td valign="bottom" width="129">
				Audiobooks</td>
			<td valign="bottom" width="175">
				Mccann Worldgroup India</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td valign="bottom" width="192">
				Mark Twain</td>
			<td valign="bottom" width="129">
				Audiobooks</td>
			<td valign="bottom" width="175">
				Mccann Worldgroup India</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td colspan="3" valign="bottom" width="496">
				Category: Radio Lotus</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td colspan="3" valign="bottom" width="496">
				Sub-Category: Best Of Corporate</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td valign="bottom" width="192">
				Beep-Beep</td>
			<td valign="bottom" width="129">
				Election Campaign</td>
			<td valign="bottom" width="175">
				Linen-A Lintas Group Company Gurgaon</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td colspan="3" valign="bottom" width="496">
				Category: Film Craft Lotus</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td colspan="3" valign="bottom" width="496">
				Sub-Category: Directing</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td valign="bottom" width="192">
				Lal Batti (Red Beacon)</td>
			<td valign="bottom" width="129">
				News Nation</td>
			<td valign="bottom" width="175">
				Unimagic Studios Mumbai</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td valign="bottom" width="192">
				The Magic Of Frooti</td>
			<td valign="bottom" width="129">
				Frooti</td>
			<td valign="bottom" width="175">
				Creativeland Asia</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td colspan="3" valign="bottom" width="496">
				Sub-Category: Editing</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td valign="bottom" width="192">
				Parallel Journeys</td>
			<td valign="bottom" width="129">
				Nike</td>
			<td valign="bottom" width="175">
				JWT India</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td colspan="3" valign="bottom" width="496">
				Sub-Category: Original Music Score</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td valign="bottom" width="192">
				Parallel Journeys</td>
			<td valign="bottom" width="129">
				Nike</td>
			<td valign="bottom" width="175">
				JWT India</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td valign="bottom" width="192">
				The Magic Of Frooti</td>
			<td valign="bottom" width="129">
				Frooti</td>
			<td valign="bottom" width="175">
				Creativeland Asia</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td colspan="3" valign="bottom" width="496">
				Category: Media Lotus</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td colspan="3" valign="bottom" width="496">
				Sub-Category: Best Use Of Screen And Displays</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td valign="bottom" width="192">
				The B-Movie</td>
			<td valign="bottom" width="129">
				Star Aids Awareness</td>
			<td valign="bottom" width="175">
				Mccann Worldgroup India</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td colspan="3" valign="bottom" width="496">
				Sub-Category: Best Use Of Ambient - Small Scale</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td valign="bottom" width="192">
				Stick It Art</td>
			<td valign="bottom" width="129">
				Public Awareness</td>
			<td valign="bottom" width="175">
				BBDO India</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>
 
 This year, 56 jury members from 18 cities were tasked with judging the 2014 Lotus Awards with <keyword id="1739834" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="40" keywordseo="Tor-Myhren">Tor Myhren</keyword>, World <keyword id="2105864" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="40" keywordseo="Chief-Creative-Officer-at-Grey-and-President">Chief Creative Officer at Grey and President</keyword> of <keyword id="2105863" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="40" keywordseo="Grey-New-York">Grey New York</keyword>, as <keyword id="585295" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="40" keywordseo="Grand-Jury">Grand Jury</keyword> <keyword id="2540" type="POSITION" weightage="40" keywordseo="President">President</keyword>.
 Adfest received 3,253 entries from 41 cities to this year's competition. The top five cities by number of entries are Tokyo, Mumbai, Bangkok, <keyword id="6356662" type="COUNTRY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Singapore">Singapore</keyword> and <keyword id="6370280" type="CITY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Manila">Manila</keyword>.
 There are 17 categories in the 2014 Lotus Awards: Film Lotus, Radio Lotus, Press Lotus, Outdoor Lotus, Interactive Lotus, Mobile Lotus, Direct Lotus, Promo Lotus, Design Lotus, Print Craft Lotus, Film Craft Lotus, New <keyword id="303" type="POSITION" weightage="40" keywordseo="Director">Director</keyword> Lotus, Effective Lotus, Media Lotus, Integrated Lotus, INNOVA Lotus and Lotus Roots. 
	 
	Courtesy: <a href="http://www.bestmediainfo.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href, '', 'resizable=no,status=no,location=no,toolbar=no,menubar=no,fullscreen=no,scrollbars=no,dependent=no'); return false;">Bestmediainfo</a>

Adfest 2014 Kicks Off: India Secures 16 Shortlists On Day 1

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>Bill Murray is a notoriously quirky actor who refuses to play by Hollywood's rules.
One of the most interesting things about the 64-year-old actor is how he is pitched, and chooses, his projects.
According to a 2013 <a href="http://www.vanityfair.com/online/oscars/2013/10/bill-murray-rushmore" target="_blank">Vanity Fair</a> article, Murray "relies on a mythical 1-800 phone number to screen projects. On the off chance that a filmmaker does manage to track down said number, convince Murray to take part in his/her project, and lure him to his/her set, the unpredictable comedian-actor can apparently be extremely supportive, even taking <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-measly-amount-bill-murray-made-for-rushmore-2013-10#ixzz3EuV1Ds5t" target="_blank">substantial pay cuts</a> and offering up his own funds if he believes enough in a project." Writer/director <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0577647/" target="_blank">Theodore Melfi</a> experienced a similar situation recently while trying to pitch Murray a script.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>
The actor would eventually agree to star in Melfi's directorial debut <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2170593/" target="_blank">"St. Vincent,"</a> which recently premiered at the Toronto Film Festival - but Melfi first had a wild ride finding Murray.
Melfi <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2014/09/05/casting-bill-murray-st-vincent-toronto-film-festival/15148287/" target="_blank">told USA Today's Andrea Mandell</a> that "The nuts and bolts is (Murray) has no agent and manager, as everyone knows. You just call the 1-800 number. And I left, I don't know, a dozen messages. It's not his voice on there. It's a Skytel voicemail with a menu. You have to record the message and send the message. It's so confusing. I think if you can get through that and believe in it, he might call you back."
With no response to his messages, Melfi began calling Murray every week. When that didn't work, Melfi wrote a handwritten note to the actor and sent it through the post office to a New York address provided by Murray's lawyer.
Two weeks later, Melfi finally got a response from Murray through his lawyer, asking that the filmmaker snail mail a script to another post office box on Martha's Vineyard. 
Melfi <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2014/09/05/casting-bill-murray-st-vincent-toronto-film-festival/15148287/" target="_blank">tells USA Today</a> the chain of events that happened next:
"Two or three weeks after that, my phone rings and he goes, 'Ted? It's Bill Murray. Is this a good time?'
I pull over and he goes, 'Listen, I got this script of yours and I don't know who you are. I don't Google people. I don't know who you are, what you do. Tell me about yourself.' So that was 20 minutes of me stammering around trying to tell Bill Murray who I am."
Murray then suggested the two meet for coffee the following day, despite being on different coasts. When Melfi's work commitments didn't allow him to fly to New York from Los Angeles the next day, Murray invited the filmmaker to accompany him to the Cannes Film Festival later that week.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>When that didn't work, Melfi asked for a "better number" to reach the actor when he returned from Cannes. Murray responded, "No no, you've got the number."
Three weeks later, Melfi received a text: "Ted it's Bill. Can you meet me at LAX in an hour?"
No longer bogged down with work commitments, Melfi jumped at the opportunity. "I go to baggage claim and there's a guy in a black rumpled suit holding a card that says 'B. Murray' on it. Bill Murray comes walking down the hall with his golf bag and goes, 'Ted? You want to talk about the script? Let's go for a drive.'"
<a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2014/09/05/casting-bill-murray-st-vincent-toronto-film-festival/15148287/" target="_blank">What happened next</a> was unlike any other Hollywood casting:
"So we get in this town car with this driver and we stop and get four In and Out grilled cheeses and two orders of fries. And he pulls out the script from his attaché case; it's got dog-ears on it, some scratches here and there. And we drive from L.A. to three hours south at the Pechanga Indian reservation. I have no idea where I am or where I'm going. We drive and drive and drive. We end up at the back of this reservation on a golf course. He has a house there. We talk about the script the entire way.
We pull into this house and he tours me around. He's got tangelo trees and avocado growing next door. I used the bathroom. I go back outside and he goes, 'Alright, this is great. Do you think we should do it?' (Melfi says he'd love to.) He goes, 'OK, we're gonna do it. We'll make the movie.' I said, 'That's so great Bill, just one thing, if you could do one thing for me. Could you tell someone other than me that this happened? No one is going to believe this story. I can't possibly go to the studio and say Bill Murray said yes on the way to the Indian reservation in the back of a town car. Murray said, 'I'll call someone, don't worry about it.' "
While Melfi's story may sound like a once-in-a-lifetime wild good chase, the filmmaker <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2014/09/05/casting-bill-murray-st-vincent-toronto-film-festival/15148287/" target="_blank">assured USA Today</a>, "You might think so but if you talk to any director who's cast Bill Murray, they all have a similar story."
"St. Vincent" opens in theaters October 24th. Naomi Watts, Melissa McCarthy, and Chris O'Dowd also star. Watch the funny trailer below:

A Filmmaker Describes The Crazy Process Of Casting Bill Murray In A Movie

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>Soon-to-be 21st Century Fox CEO James Murdoch believes India is set to be the "single greatest opportunity over the next five to 10 years."Speaking at the Cannes Lions <keyword id="35666" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="advertising">advertising</keyword> festival, Murdoch said the country is "entrepreneurial," there's a "huge appetite" for media and entertainment, and "an explosion of internet growth."India forms Fox's biggest business in Asia, and while Murdoch admitted it has "had its ups and downs" over the years, he said: "India is an emerging super power - an extraordinary place to do business."Earlier on in his session, Murdoch lauded the Indian streaming platform Hot Star as an exciting new launch from the region. Hot Star lets users watch live TV shows, cricket, and movies for free.Murdoch was grilled on the dynamics of the family-run Fox business. First he was asked whether he and his father Rupert ever disagree on anything."Not much," was the response, with Murdoch saying the "vision" from when Rupert Murdoch was acquired in the 1980s was "very clear": To create "incredible, differentiated content.He was then asked what happens when he and his brother Lachlan don't agree. Lachlan is soon going to be at the helm of Fox business, becoming co-executive chairman alongside Rupert Murdoch.James Murdoch responded: "The family is obviously a big shareholder in the business. We are very invested in each other's success and it's very much a partnership. We see very eye to eye on the business. It's a question of making sure we are all keeping our eyes on the ball, and on the goal."That includes ensuring editorial decisions are not a reflection of the Murdoch family's own personal opinions, with Murdoch saying, with regards to Fox News: "I don't let my politics get involved in my business."Beyond Fox, Murdoch also spoke on his views around the wider media industry, and the opinions he holds that are not shared by other media companies.He said: "In this business, I do think that not enough people are optimistic enough, and enthusiastic enough about the video business. I think actually people like to talk about old media/new media - there's always idea of being this zero sum game."Murdoch said there are only a "handful of studios" that can create high quality mass market programming."When I hear some people in other businesses, and some of our competitors talk, they seem to be very vexed, concerned, and I think the real challenge becomes not how you can adapt to change but how you can really develop a high appetite for change," Murdoch said. "There's a lot of hand-wringing and not enough enthusiasm."The growth of video has also seen a lot of "re-bundling" in the market - the rise of Hulu and Netflix, for example, rather than the better known recent trend of "unbundling," where cable and TV packages are broken up into smaller parts so consumers can choose particular channels."I think the streaming business is attractive. I think you're going to see new bundles emerge, probably smaller in terms of the brands there, and more investment based on fewer brands, higher quality [content.] The real challenge is avoiding getting caught in the middle ground. Not being distinctive enough. Not innovating enough," Murdoch said.That's part of the reason why - despite previously breaking out lots of sub-brands like Fox Reality, Fox Soccer, and so on - Fox has chosen to focus on five big, distinctive brands - Entertainment, FX, Fox Sports, Fox News, and National Geographic - Murdoch added.Asked whether Fox might look at different types of bundling, Murdoch responded: "I think it's too early to say," bu that the company remains open-minded. However, "pure a la cart pricing" (where consumers pay per channel) is "super confusing for customers.""We know bundling will generally drive prices down, and drive consumption up," Murdoch said. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-beats1-video-ad-2015-6">This ad will get you excited for Beats1, the first global radio station</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="dueTh1dTpR5vyFFkKQ5uag8Z_67jFcsa" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

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