Hindi
‘Tasher Desh’ based on Tagore play set for release on 23 August
NEW DELHI: The film Tasher Desh (The Land of Cards), a fantasy film in Bengali made on a play by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore directed by Q (Qaushiq Mukherjee), will be released in theatres on 23 August with English sub-titles.
The film which has already been screened in Rome, London, Amsterdam and Toronto Film Festivals, has been produced by the National Film Development Corporation, Overdose Joint, AKFPL (Anurag Kashyap Films Pvt Ltd), Entre Chien Et Loup, and Dream Digital Inc.
The film stars Rii (Rituparna Sen), Tillotama Shome, Joyraj Bhattacharjee, Soumyak Kanti De Biswas, Anubrata Das, Arijit Dutta, Imaad Shah, Tinu Verghis, and Maya Tideman.
Though the original play and music is by Tagore, the music in the film is by Neel Adhikari/Miti Adhikari/Q. The musicians featuring in the film are Asian dub foundation Susheela Raman Sam Mills Eric Truffaz Moog Conspiracy Anusheh Sahana Bajpai Jens chr. Bugge Wesseltoft Tanmoy Bose Jivraj Singh Diego Neel Adhikari Miti Adhikari Arijit Chakraborty Seth Blumberg Esme Folley Nirmalya de Biswas Mainak nag Choudhury.
The film is in the form of a story-teller wanting to tell a story. The story he tells mingles between his own story and that of a queen and her son banished to a palace where they lead a life of luxury and decadence. An oracle whispers the secret words to the prince and he leaves the palace with his friend, the merchant’s son. Their boat sinks and they arrive at the land of cards where the inhabitant cards are governed by a military regime. The prince and his friend get caught and bring about a change in the women cards with music and prophecies of love. The woman cards revolt. The king who banished them surrenders and the prince finds the meaning of life.
Hindi
UFO Cine Media Network unveils ‘India’s biggest cinema moment ever’
Dhurandhar 2 and Toxic tipped to deliver rare pan-India scale for brands
MUMBAI: UFO Cine Media Network is pitching an upcoming dual-film release weekend as what it calls the largest advertising opportunity cinema has offered in India, banking on an estimated 100 million cumulative footfalls nationwide.
The initiative, branded “India’s Biggest Cinema Moment Ever”, is anchored around the simultaneous release of Dhurandhar 2 – The Revenge and Toxic, two high-profile action films expected to dominate screens across regions and languages. Trade projections, supported by cinema measurement tool Procat, suggest the combined lifetime theatrical run could deliver one of the widest audience concentrations seen in recent years.
Dhurandhar 2 – The Revenge, an India–Pakistan spy thriller, is set to release in five languages, broadening its appeal across northern and southern markets. The franchise has already built a sizable multilingual following through theatrical runs and streaming platforms. Toxic, fronted by pan-India star Yash, is expected to draw heavy footfalls across southern circuits and beyond, buoyed by the actor’s proven box-office pull.
UFO, which operates an in-cinema advertising network spanning more than 4,100 theatres, is positioning the release window as a rare moment of synchronised national attention. Its footprint covers multiplexes and single screens across over 1,500 towns and cities, allowing advertisers to deploy campaigns at scale during a single weekend.
Executives at the company argue that cinema’s value lies not just in reach but in attention. Unlike digital or television, audiences are captive, emotionally engaged and free from distraction, they say, translating into stronger recall and measurable returns for brands. With advertisers increasingly focused on performance-led media planning, UFO is framing the dual release as comparable in scale to India’s largest broadcast and sporting properties.
Industry observers note that as theatrical exhibition expands deeper into Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets, such tentpole weekends are becoming anchor moments for annual media strategies. If Dhurandhar 2 – The Revenge and Toxic deliver as expected, the weekend could set new benchmarks not only for box office numbers, but also for cinema’s evolving role as a high-attention advertising medium.
