Film Production
Catch the 1st international Bangla Cinema Carnival, organized by SVF, on Star Jalsha this sunday evening
MUMBAI: SVF, Eastern India’s largest movie production house recently organized an international Bengali cinema carnival in Bangkok with much fanfare. The star-studded, glitzy carnival, held in the Thailand capital, will air exclusively on Star Jalsha this coming Sunday (February 25), a must-watch for anyone who is interested in Bengali cinema. It is yet another first from SVF which ensured that Bengali filmdom finally landed on foreign shores.
From Dev to Ankush, Mimi to Nusrat and Imon to JeetGannguli, the Tollywood stars, singers and musicians were all there, singing, dancing and milling around, rubbing shoulders with one another. If Shruti Pathak started with the song Shubharambh, Nakash Aziz’s Jabra Fan, Lagnajita’sBasantoEsheGeche and Jeet’sChinteParli Na, had the audience in raptures.
While Sayantika grooved to superhits like TammaTamma and TuCheezBadi Hai Mast Mast as well as Phoolkoli and Remix Qawali; Nusrat performed on Aayat from the movie BajiraoMastani as well as Ami Je KeTomar’s title track. Yash made the fans go crazy when he danced to the peppy Mon from the movie Total Dadagiri and ThikEmonEbhabe; Mimi was seen dancing to the biggest party numbers of 2017KarGayiChull and Senorita as well as Emotional Saiyaan and Honey Bunny while Ankushchipped in with performances on Shona, Take it Easy and Darling and more
The first Bengali international film carnival was not just about songs and dances, though. It paid rich tributes to ‘Yesterday Actresses’ such as Suchitra Sen, Supriya Devi, Madhabi Mukherjee, Tanuja, Aparna Sen and Sandhya Roy. The tribute was brought alive by Rituparna Sengupta who danced to the numbers of the films these legendary actresses starred in.
SVF co-founder & Director, Mahendra Soni said “It’s an attempt from us to take Bengali cinema to international scene by organizing the carnival in the city of Bangkok, something few have thought of before. We are sure that people will enjoy watching this magnificent show on Star Jalsha on Sunday evening. The show will have a red carpet segment from 6 to 7pm, followed by a 4 hour performance based show till 11pm,’’
Dev brought the house down, dancing to Party Shoes and BhojoGournango (from the SVF-produced Bindass and Challenge), while Rituparna Sengupta danced to numbers like E ShudhuGaner Din and AajMon Chheyeche Ami HariyeJabo, rekindling nostalgia that seeped through the first-ever carnival of its kind.
Film Production
Priyanka Kaur Dhillon joins SVF Entertainment as lead for music distribution
A seasoned content dealmaker with 16 years in digital and satellite media joins the Bengali entertainment powerhouse as it pushes into the pan-India music market
Mumbai: Priyanka Kaur Dhillon has made her move. The content acquisitions and commercials veteran, most recently commercial manager at Sony Pictures Networks India, has joined SVF Entertainment as lead for music distribution, stepping into one of the more interesting briefs in regional entertainment right now.
SVF is no ordinary regional label. Over 30 years it has built a formidable legacy in Bengali cinema and music, driven by culturally resonant storytelling and a catalogue that consistently punches above its weight. Its recent success with Chiraiya underlines the point. But the Kolkata-based powerhouse now has its sights firmly set beyond Bengal, most visibly through Legacy, a rap reality series produced in collaboration with hip-hop label Kalamkaar that signals a deliberate push into the pan-India music ecosystem.
Dhillon brings precisely the kind of muscle SVF needs for that expansion. At Sony Pictures Networks India, she led film acquisition and commercials and handled music licensing across the entire satellite network. Before that, she spent nearly 15 years at Hungama, rising to assistant general manager and leading strategic content licensing for the platform’s digital entertainment business, with a particular focus on international markets. Her label relationships span the full roster: Sony Music, Universal Music, Warner Music, Believe International, Tunecore, The Orchard and a clutch of smaller aggregators. She has negotiated and closed deals with Hollywood studios, Bollywood production houses and regional content players alike, building pricing models and deal structures off data analysis rather than instinct.
Announcing the appointment, Dhillon said she was “thrilled to begin this journey with an iconic Bengali music label and content powerhouse,” adding that SVF’s “constant drive to push boundaries” was what drew her to the role.
SVF has spent three decades proving that regional does not mean limited. With a sharp commercial operator now steering its music distribution, its bid to go national just got a good deal more serious.
