Bringing the concept of unity in diversity is the 5th Bhojpuri Film Awards. The award talks about National Integration by honoring the award for the Best film on National Integration apart from other general awards.

The press conference of the biggest Bhojpuri awards was held on 27th of February 2010 at the Country Club, Mumbai.

The event was graced with the presence of top personalities like Naghma, Surendra Pal, Kunika Lal, Udit and Deepa Narayan and legendary writer and director Sawan Kumar Tak.

It was a proud moment for Vinod Gupta the man behind the awards to declare that Bhojpuri Awards are one of its kinds to appreciate and take forward the legacy of Unity in Diversity.

After working in 9 languages Naghma today has become the face of Bhojpuri films. Appreciating the effort Naghma quoted, “Bhojpuri films have developed remarkably and its market has grown over the period of time. It is now a dream to see Bhojpuri films attain wider fame and name and since it is every artiste dream to get noticed and receive award for their hard work it would be nice if Bhojpuri Awards would soon reach the same status as that of Filmfare Awards.”

The event was made all the more special by celebrating actress cum politician Kunika Lal’s birthday.

When Producer Mr Kumar Taurani announced the music launch function of his upcoming film Prince starring Vivek Oberoi he promised a surprise. And surprise it was when what looked like normal shoppers at a mall suddenly took to coordinated dance steps and shook the 2 malls in Mumbai. But the most special surprise of the event was Vivek Oberoi’s jig at the end that left a big smile on everyone’s face long after the dust had settled down. The concept of a ‘Flash Mob’ was successfully executed to the delight of the ordinary shoppers at both the Phoenix Mills and the Oberoi Mall in Mumbai.

The day started on an unusual note when Vivek led a Flash Mob to perform a dance to the song ‘O Mere Khuda’, the first song from his upcoming film. Fans, who had been told via networking sites to expect something special were ready with their camera phones. They had to record and upload the videos and the lucky winner would be given the jacket worn by Prince, played by Vivek Oberoi.

The celebrations begun at the Phoenix Mills and went on to the Oberoi Mall where Vivek’s entry was even more special – for he came to the central area on his brand new Ducati bike that drove girls and boys berserk! The fans insisted on getting themselves clicked with him on his bike but only one lucky kid got to actually ride the bike. Post the dance jig Vivek took the podium and thanked his fans for being their in such large numbers.

The music of the film Prince was then officially launched by the Producers, Mr Kumar Taurani along with his wife Mrs Renu Taurani. Debutant director Kookie Gulati and music director Sachin Gupta were introduced to the press for the first time. After fielding questions from the media the action shifted to the Fashion Partner – Provogue’s store, where Vivek interacted with fans and signed autographs.

Prince releases in theatres on 26th March and the music is out now on Tips Music.

Raaj the Hailing from Asam, Raaj had never thought that one day he would share the same platform with his mentor.
On 18th Feb 2010 the day was more than just dreams when Raaj who has earlier given vocals to super hit numbers Ajnabi Khwab Mein from the film Superstar and Yeh Jism Jo from Acid Factory would match his tunes with his mentor composer Shamir Tandon.

Both the films bombed at the box office but Raaj has gained a lot not only in terms of experience but also is gaining popularity for his exceptional singing ability.

The credit for discovering such a talented voice goes to Shamir who wants the world to hear this magnificent voice and what better way to promote this talent in his own films.

Shamir has now made this boy do wonders for his forthcoming film Click. Rubayee is definitely a song to watch out for!

Business kicked off at MAMI’s Film Business Centre with the ‘Antichrist’ home video rights being bought over by Enlighten Film Society, an NGO dedicated to the cause of spreading good cinema by screening great National and International films.

This year MFF has introduced the Film Business Centre as a modest first step towards setting up a full-fledged “Film Market”. The aim is to provide a networking platform for the Indian distributors, producers, television channels and the foreign sales agents, festival directors and producers to enhance the international sales of Indian films under the aegis of the Mumbai Film Festival.

The Film Business Centre is open for the members of film industry on an invitation basis and the registered delegates of MFF and was held for a period of four days ending today, November 3, 2009 at Fun Cinemas, Andheri, the central hub for MFF.

Commenting on the opening sale, Mr. S. Narayan, Director of the Film Festival, said, “Ever long journey must start at a first step. The Film Business Centre is our first modest step in establishing a flourishing film market in India. We are happy that in the first year itself business deals have begun by the acquisition of AnitChrit’s video rights by an Indian company. The UK Film Council is also using this platform provided by Mumbai Film Festival to launch distribution of British independent films in India. We are also aware that business discussions have been taken place with Japanese companies and other European sales agents. This indicates that the seed which we have sown has started to grow.”

Antichrist, directed by Lars von Trier, is a about a couple who lose their young son when he falls out the window while they have sex in the other room. The mother’s grief consigns her to hospital, but her therapist husband brings her home intent on treating her depression himself. To confront her fears they go to stay at their remote cabin in the woods, “Eden”, where something untold happened the previous summer.

Speaking on acquiring the home video sale for Antichrist, Mr. Pranav Ashar, Chairman, Enlighten Society said, “The culture of watching foreign language movies is missing in India. Hence we want to spread the culture among the people of watching these kinds of films, which will help them to understand various cultures all across the globe. We want to be associated with cinema that will touch a common chord in everyone’s soul without the boundaries of time and space hence, we acquired the rights of AntiChrist. We are currently talking to the sensor board for a clearance for the film; based on their response we will release the movie on DVD in India.”

Enlighten Film Society begun with the objective to screen the greatest films of all genres the world has ever seen. Right from All Time Masterpieces never seen before in India on the big screen, to contemporary cults, action, comedy, romantic, drama, foreign language films, animation, documentaries, great commercial successes, children’s films, compilation of short films from all over the world, award winning films and much more.

Representatives from film production and distribution companies, film sales agents from various countries and directors of film festival attended the Film Business Centre during the 11th Mumbai Film Festival. Sales agents from companies such as UniFrance, UK Film Council, Pioniwa Film Co. – Japan, Channel Asia – Japan, Hanway Films -UK, b, Celluloid Dreams – France amongst many others were also present. Marit Capla, director Goteborg International Film Festival, Irene Dignardi former programming director Locarno Film Festival and many others were present too.

Films in competition at MFF are being viewed on 8 screens at Fun Cinemas (Andheri), Metro BIG Cinemas (Marine Lines) & BIG Cinemas R City (Ghatkopar) and judged by MFF 2009 Jury Members including: renowned Hollywood screenwriter and director Mr. Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, American Gigolo), Iranian filmmaker Mr. Jafar Panahi, Philippine filmmaker Mr. Brillante Mendoza, Indian filmmaker Mr. Shaji N. Karun and former Director of Locarno Film Festival Ms. Irene Bignardi.

This year MFF carries one of the richest cash awards for its International Competition for Directors who are Debuting Feature Films with a cash prize of US$ 100,000 (approx. Rs. 50, 00,000).  Additional awards include the Golden Gateway of India trophy for the Best Film, the Silver Gateway of India trophy and cash prize of USD $50,000 (approx. Rs. 25, 00,000) for the Jury Grand Prize. The best talent from these films will be awarded the Silver Gateway of India trophy and all films in this category are Indian premiers. Lastly, this year MAMI is introducing the Audience Choice Award [Silver Gateway of India trophy and cash prize of USD $20,000 (approx. Rs. 10, 00,000)].  Films from all sections except the retrospective and tributes are eligible.

Brand alliances for the festival include BIG FM 92.7, bollywoodhungama.com, Bigoye.com, Bigflix.com, BIG Cinemas, Fun Cinemas, BIG Events, BIGAdda.com, Reliance MediaWorks, Kingfisher Premium, Block Dog, Reliance Tech Services, Reliance Broadband, Jet airways, Sun-N Sand Hotel, Carzonrent, Bright Outdoor.

About MAMI:

Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI) is a body comprised of Indian film industry stalwarts which was founded in 1997 by late filmmaker Shri Hrishikesh Mukherjee. Noted filmmaker Shri Shyam Benegal heads the body that consists of film directors including: Yash Chopra, Ashutosh Gowarikar, Karan Johar, renowned actresses Shabana Azmi and Jaya Bachchan, actor-director Amol Palekar and Farhan Akhtar and the chairman of Reliance Big Entertainment Amit Khanna as Trustees.

Playwin handed over cheques of over Sixteen Crores to their jackpot winners at a grand ceremony in Mumbai. Mr. Amit Goenka, CEO, Pan India Network. Ltd.and Bollywood Diva Ms. Lara Dutta handed over the cheque for the amount of Rs. 60407995 to Mr. Sudhakar Nilkanth Telange, Rs 26556940 to Girdhar Mohan Kakrecha, Rs 19678702 to Rovellen Johnson D’silva and Rs. 50225774 to Mrs. Madhavi Ramachandra Dalvi respectively. For the very first time in the history of lotto gaming, an amount grossing over 16 crores has been handed over to the winners at one go. Playwin, pioneers in the lotto gaming industry re-iterates their stand as the most transparent players in the market.

Till date Playwin has announced 70 crorepatis and over 3,000 lakhpati’s from all over India making it one of the most successful forms of gaming within a short span of 7 years since its establishment. Playwin is fast changing perception about lottery and is now widely accepted by all SEC classes barring exceptions. The jackpot wins of our 4 Lucky Crorepati winners further re-emphasizes this fact. By creating winners, Playwin has helped them to fulfill their long cherished dreams

Mr. Sudhakar Nilkanth Telange of Nagpur city, 64 years of age and an accountant by profession feels proud to be the lucky winner of Thursday Super Lotto whereas Mr. Girdhar Mohan Kakrecha 44 years of age, residing in Mumbai feels the luck is truly on his side as Playwin’s Thunder Ball has completely transformed his life. Mr. Rovellen Johnson D’silva, Marine engineer 50 years and a resident of Mumbai is on cloud nine as he considers himself very lucky to win this jackpot amount as he can now secure his family’s future. Mrs. Madhavi Ramachandra Dalvi, 62 years of age is elated to about her new found Crorepati tag which she secured through the huge jackpot she won through the Saturday Super Lotto. The retailers who sold these tickets will be getting 1% commission of the winning jackpot amount.

Playwin has always advocated and operated standing strong on their principles of transparency. Following its acceptability and huge success it has also revamped its logo which completely signifies the pinnacle of its growth. The new logo depicts touching new heights, as with time Playwin has given opportunity to millions of people fulfill their dreams and aspiration. By creating winners Playwin has supported the company’s motive of providing success beyond imagination

Commenting on the occasion, Mr. Amit Goenka (CEO), Pan India Network Ltd averred, “Playwin through this cheque handover ceremony strengthens its position as one of the most transparent players in the market. We are proud to say that this is the first time that a lotto company has given away a jackpot amount as big as this in one to 4 winners at a go. Over the years, Playwin has created a number of winners and have helped them to fulfill their dreams and long cherished goals. The jackpot win is a product of sheer perseverance on the part of its winners combined with an element of luck. We at Playwin promote responsible gaming and stand firm on our pillars of operational transparency and legality across gaming business. It brings us immense pleasure to witness our winners who have won our lottos pursue their dreams. We have been constantly trying to reach out to people from every segment of society, and have so far received a really good response from them”.

Playwin has always recognized its responsibility towards the wider communities they operate in. As a gaming company they operate with various gaming platform such as retail terminals, online presence through myplaywin.com & mobile presence through SMS mode.  Playwin has become most successful forms of gaming within a short span of 7 years since its establishment. With a winner created every five seconds, Playwin creates around 400,000 winners everyday which gives ample testimony to the fact that Playwin is not only the most popular platform for gaming, but the most credible one as well.

About Pan India Network Ltd.

Playwin is the lotto & gaming brand of Pan India Network Ltd., part of the 2.4 Billion Dollar Essel Group of Companies. The biggest jackpot was won by a single winner of Rs. 17.29 Crore on Playwins Thursday Super Lotto. Till date Playwin has announced 70 crorepatis and over 3,000 lakhpati’s from all over India making it one of the most successful forms of gaming within a short span of 7 years since its establishment.

Established since 1976, the Cairo International Film Festival is classified as a category “A” festival as recognized by the FIAPF (International Federation of Film Producer’s Associations) and is undoubtedly the oldest and most important festival in the Middle East and has been an inspiration to several other budding festivals. This year the CIFF will acknowledge its honored tradition and welcome the new generation of brilliant filmmakers from India by honoring Indian Cinema. The festival will be held from 10th to 20th November in Cairo and will be attended, besides others, by Salma Hayek, Samuel L. Jackson, Lucy Liu and Tom Berenger, who is also a member on the international jury.

Directed by Kabir Khan, produced by Aditya Chopra and starring John Abraham, Katrina Kaif, Neil Nitin Mukesh and Irrfan, NEW YORK released in over 900 screens worldwide on June 26, 2009 and ever since has continued to garner worldwide acclaim and recognition.

NEW YORK is a contemporary story of 3 young friends whose beautiful lives are turned upside down by larger events beyond their control. The film was critically acclaimed as well as wholeheartedly accepted by audiences the world over.

Kabir Khan has been especially invited by the Cairo International Film Festival to attend the festival this year. He will address the audience and media after New York’s opening night screening.

At an exciting evening planned for the customers of Reliance Trends, Katrina and Ranbir were at the store to promote their much awaited romantic comedy ‘Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani’. The sizzling duo enthralled the audience and shared some special moments of the film. The most eagerly awaited film presents the new chemistry between Katrina Kaif and Ranbir Kapoor and their funnily weird love story.

As part of the exclusive promotion at Reliance Trends, the first 25 customers, shopping above Rs. 5,000/- got free music CDs of the Movie and the top shopper over the weekend at the store got an opportunity to click photographs with the stars. Another added attraction was the Reliance Trends Graffiti Wall for customers to pen their wishes and messages for the charming actors.

Reliance Trends, the Apparel, Luggage and Accessories division of Reliance Retail, is a one stop shop for all your fashion shopping. Reliance Trends offers a homogeneous mix of private brands and external brands across men’s, women’s and children’s categories to fulfill every customer’s requirement. Some of the most renowned brands in the country like Peter England, John Players, Raymond, Vimal , Reid and Taylor, Basics, Kraus, Duke, etc are present at the store either directly or through their sub brands, most of these exclusively for Reliance Trends.

The Private Label brands include Network range of garments which comprises of formal office wear collection for men and women, while the Netplay range showcases a smart casual collection for the evolving workplace. The DNMX range has been developed with a clear focus on the youth of India, offering them exclusively crafted fashion garments like Denims, T shirts etc. Graviti, the innerwear range for men offer the best of inner and lounge wear for today’s man.

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About Reliance Retail Limited

Reliance Retail Limited (RRL), a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited opened its first retail store in November 2006 and today operates more than 900 stores in over 85 cities, spanning 14 states with over 4.2 million sq ft of trading space. RRL is a multi-format retailer that operates Reliance Fresh – a neighborhood store concept, Reliance Digital – a consumer durables and information technology concept, Reliance Mart – a hyper market concept, Reliance Trends – an apparel specialty concept, Reliance Wellness – a health, wellness & beauty concept , iStore by Reliance Digital- an Apple specialty store concept, Reliance Footprint -a footwear concept, Reliance Jewels – a jewellery concept, Reliance Time-Out- a books, music & entertainment concept, Reliance Super- a Minimart concept, Reliance Living Homeware – a household utilities specialty store concept, Reliance Living Furnishings-a specialty store concept for home furnishings, Reliance Living Furniture-a home office furniture specialty concept, Reliance Home Kitchen- a kitchen’s solution specialty store concept, Reliance AutoZone – an automotive specialty concept and Vision Express-an optical specialty store concept.

About Reliance Industries Limited

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) is India’s largest private sector company on all major financial parameters with a turnover of Rs. 1,46,328 crore (US$ 28.85 billion), cash profit of Rs 22,365 crore (US$ 4.41 billion), net profit (excluding exceptional income) of Rs. 15,637 crore (US$ 3.02 billion) and net worth of Rs 126,373 crore (US$ 24.92 billion) as of March 31, 2009.

RIL is the first private sector company from India to feature in the Fortune Global 500 list of ‘World’s Largest Corporations’ and ranks 117th amongst the world’s Top 200 companies in terms of profits. RIL ranks 75th in the Financial Times FT Global 500 list of the world’s largest companies. RIL is rated as the 15th ‘Most Innovative Company’ in the World in a survey conducted by the US financial publication-Business Week in collaboration with the Boston Consulting Group.

As a continuing commitment towards partnership with the Indian game development industry, this is the second time Sony Computer Entertainment Europe is working with an Indian game development company to publish ‘Desi Adda: Games of India.

Desi Adda: Games of India comes with a number of firsts:

-  1st console game completely developed by Indian Development Studio for the PSP
-  1st console game to be playable in 3 Indian languages : Hindi, Punjabi and in Tamil
-  Features 6 traditional Indian games: Pachisi, Goat & the tiger, Kite Fight, Kabaddi, Gilli Danda and the beat matching dance game

‘Desi Adda: Games of India’ emanates from the inspiration drawn from the good old, traditional games of India on to a contemporary and modern platform. The interest about such traditional games will help broadbasing both the usage of PlayStation as well as the knowledge of the game amongst the young Indians.

The partnership between Sony Computer Entertainment with GameShastra Solutions Pvt Ltd has resulted in the development and publishing of ‘Desi Adda: Games of India‘, for India as well as the global market.

Developed for both: PS2™ and PSP™, ‘Desi Adda: Games of India’ will be available in the Indian market at a suggested retail price of Rs. 499/- for PS2 and Rs. 999/- for the PSP.

Atindriya Bose, Country Manager – PlayStation, Sony Computer Entertainment said,

“We are very proud to launch the first Indian game on PSP with localized content, in 3 Indian languages completely developed in India These are the long-established, traditional games of India that are now inspiring games on the very modern interactive platform of PlayStation. On PS2™ and PSP™ platform, people will, for the first time, get to play these time-honored games and carry forward the flavors of traditional India to the newer generations”.

Prakash Ahuja, CEO, Gameshastra, said, “When we presented the concept of  Desi Adda  to SCEE , we were pleasantly surprised with the enthusiasm and the support that we got from SCEE to build India based thematic content for the Indian market and the Diaspora globally. We are very excited with the way the game has evolved and are thankful to SCEE for all their belief in launching this title across their major platforms. Currently, we are also working on a new genre of game based on Indian Martial Arts, along with multiple titles for the PSP Minis platform for the global market.”

The game is the story of Avinash, son of an NRI businessman, who comes to visit his ancestral village. Since Avinash has lived all his life abroad, and this is his first visit to an Indian village, he is fascinated by   what he sees. The story unfolds as he roams around the village, plays the   different  village  games, and meets Gowri and Gopal, a couple who are in   love,  but  cannot  get  married  as  the  village head, Garjan Singh, is   opposed  to  their  match.  Avinash must now seek different people in the   village, who play a part in this story one way or the other, and try to   find a way to get the Gowri and Gopal married and also save the village from the evil plans of Garjan Singh.

The 6 traditional Indian games include:

* Pachisi -Pachisi is a turn based board game played using the cross shaped board and two rectangular dice. It’s a game of change and strategy. Pachisi game played between the Pandavas and Kauravas is the significant event in the great epic of Mahabharata.

* Aadu Puli Aatam (Goat & the Tiger) – This is a hunt game and game between the extravagant Tigers and the deceitful goats. The general rule of this interesting strategy game is the number of tigers varies from 1 to 4, and the number of goats from 11 to 12 to 23 or 24. The general aim is to hem in the tigers so that they cannot move, but the arrangement of pieces, the method of play and the rules of capture vary from game to game.
* Kite fight – In India people fly kites to cut other kites. Specially made threads, mostly coated with fine powdered glass, are used for the kite fight. Kites are made from colored paper and are available in various shapes. Two bamboo sticks called “tuddah” (which is straight) and “Kaamp” which is arched, hold the paper together. The string attached determines the performance of the kite.
* Kabaddi – Two teams compete with each other for higher scores, by touching or capturing the players of the opponent team. Each team consists of 12 players, of which seven are on court at a time, and five in reserve. The two teams fight for higher scores, alternating defence and offense.

* Gilli Danda is a game like cricket or baseball but without a ball and with a different set of rules. The ball is replaced by a small stick called Gilli. The Gilli 3 to 4 inches long and both the ends are tapered. Danda is a 24 inches long cylindrical stick used like a bat.  Player can enjoy batting the Gilli or fielding among the free cattle.

* Dance game is a beat matching game, in which the user has to match the beats of a song playing in the background, by pressing a combination of buttons at the right time as they scroll on the bottom of the screen. The aim is to try and successfully press the right combination of buttons at the right time in order to win the game.

About Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE), based in London, is responsible for the distribution, marketing and sales of PlayStation®3, PlayStation®2, PSP™ (PlayStation®Portable) and PlayStation®Network software and hardware in 99 territories across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Oceania. SCEE also develops, publishes markets and distributes entertainment software for these formats, and manages the third party licensing programs for the formats in these territories. Since the launch of PlayStation 3 in November 2006, over 23.7 million units have been sold globally and continue to be sold at a record level.   Maintaining its position as one of the most successful consumer electronic products in history, PlayStation 2 has sold over 138.8 million systems worldwide.  Since its launch at the end of 2004, over 52.9 million PSPs have been sold globally, highlighting the importance of the portable entertainment market.  With the huge increase in interest and accessibility of network applications and network gaming, over 27 million accounts have registered to PlayStation Network, the free-to-access interactive environment, and over 560 million items have been downloaded.

More   information   about   PlayStation   products   can   be   found   at www.playstation.com    or    visit    the    Virtual    Press   Office   at www.scee.presscentre.com.

PlayStation, PLAYSTATION and the PlayStation logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.  PS3 and PSP are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.  All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

About GameShastra:

India’s largest Game Services company –GameShastra is the leading game studio in India developing games for the emerging Indian market and publishing games on digital distribution platforms globally. A winner of the Red Herring award as one of the top 100 technology startups in 2007 has grown significantly to now have  a portfolio of over 200+games across consoles,handheld devices and smart phones .Studio is located in Hyderabad India with development and marketing teams in California and New York.