Hindi
SAFF gets going in Goa
MUMBAI: The South Asian Film Festival (SAFF) got going in Goa yesterday with the screening of the Shammi Kapoor and Sharmila Tagore-starrer Kashmir ki Kali, screened as a special tribute to the late star.
The festival was declared open by Goa chief minister Digambar Kamat in the presence of Randhir Kapoor and Rajeev Kapoor, the scions of Kapoor family among representatives of South Asian Countries who were present at the ceremony.
Randhir Kapoor was felicitated by the state chief secretary Sanjay Srivastava in honour of the contribution of the Kapoor family to Indian Cinema. “Cinema knows no boundaries. Its just an emotion that we create. We should have lot of cultural exchange amongst the south Asian nations,” said Kapoor responding to the felicitation.
The festival‘s theme is ‘Dissolving Boundaries‘ – spreading the message of togetherness and oneness amongst the South Asian Countries including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Bhutan is the focus country for SAFF 2011. The annual festival will also pay tribute to Bangladeshi film maker Tareque Masud who was one of the two prime witnesses of the International War Crime Tribunal. Incidentally, Tareque was killed in a fatal bus accident near Dhaka on 26 August.
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.
