Hindi
NFDC plans script deveplopment workshop at IFFI
MUMBAI: Alongside the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) beginning on 23rd November, 2007, the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) will be organizing the Film Bazaar from 24th to 26th November, 2007.
The Film Bazaar is aimed at providing an interactive platform between prospective buyers and sellers of film rights from India and abroad. The international participants, among others, for the Film Bazaar are, Global Film Initiative, Back Up Films, Onoma International, Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation, Shanghai Film Group, China Film Co-production, Arclight Films Malaysian Broadcasting Corporation, Astra and Miriam Arab of Cannes Market. Sales agents and financiers including Fortissimo Films and Paris based Memento Films, and Germany’s Pandora are set to attend the three-day event.
As part of the Film Bazaar, 15 pre-selected projects drawn from all over India will be presented to the participants. These projects are at different stages of Development.
The NFDC is also organizing a Script Development Workshop, Screenwriters Bloc which is scheduled to begin in Goa on Sunday as a run up to the IFFI. The Workshop pairs six mentors with the writers of eight pre-selected screenplays. Danis Tanovic, Bernd Lichtenberg and Olivia Hetreed are among the high-profile writers who will mentor eight students.
Tanovic wrote as well as directed No Man’s Land, while Lichtenberg’s credits as writer include Goodbye Lenin! And Hetreed scripted Girl With A Pearl Earring. The three European writers will join India’s Shaji Karun (Nishad), Anjum Rajabali (Legend of Bhagat Singh) and Ashwini Malik (Clever And Lonely) as mentors at the six-day workshop. In addition, writer-director Mani Ratnam (Guru) will participate as a guest mentor and hold a master class.
Participating projects include English-language scripts such as Pubali Chaudhuri’s Happy Ever After, along with scripts in Hindi and other Indian languages.
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.
