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Lights, camera, little action: ‘Bell Bottom’, ‘Chehre’ yet to pull crowds

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Two back-to-back big releases — Akshay Kumar’s ‘Bell Bottom’ and the Amitabh Bachchan star vehicle, ‘Chehre’, both well-received by critics — may have buoyed the spirits of film exhibitors, but their box-office collections have been far from encouraging.

‘Bell Bottom’, which was released on August 19, according to trade analysts, has grossed Rs 18.55 crore till date. Compare this with the Rs 64.99 crore collected in its opening weekend by ‘Good Newzz’ (with Diljit Dosanjh), Akshay’s last film before the first nationwide Covid-19 lockdown. And that was far less than the extended opening weekend earnings — Rs 97.56 crore — of the other big 2019 film, ‘Mission Mangal’.

A number of factors have contributed to this significant drop in earnings: cinema theatres are still under lockdown in Mumbai and Pune, depriving Bollywood of 25 per cent of its revenues; the requirement in a number of malls for patrons to produce double vaccination certificates before being allowed in, which is affecting attendance in theatres located in malls; and, significantly, the closure of 1,500 single screens across India because of the pandemic-induced economic stress.

On ‘Chehre’, which opened on Friday, the analysts were not very bullish about box-office figures. Karan Taurani of Elara Capital predicted that it would make a “lifetime collection” of Rs 5-6 crore because of its “niche” storyline that only a “discerning audience” would appreciate.

Taurani also pointed out that collections have been low because of “very low occupancy in morning shows and night shows not being allowed”. He also blamed the low occupancies forced by social distancing norms being in force. Also, over the last eight days, barring this past Sunday, which did see a spike in Delhi as a result of Raksha Bandhan festivities, attendance in theatres was at an all-time low across Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

Exhibitors, however, are cautiously optimistic about their business coming back to life, even if partially, because of ‘Bell Bottom’ and ‘Chehre’.

Gautam Dutta, CEO, PVR Limited, said in a conversation with IANS: “Post the reopening of cinemas after the second wave, ‘Bell Bottom’ was the first big Bollywood movie to have hit the big screen. And it has done reasonably well within the restrictions in capacity, show limitations and weekend closures.”

He also emphasised the lockdown still in place for cinema theatres in “major markets such as Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.”

The sentiment was share by Rajender Singh Jyala, Chief Programming Officer, INOX Leisure.

Speaking to IANS, he said: “We have always said that the industry needed a couple of mass entertainers to kick off the recovery process, and we are glad that these have arrive and are doing phenomenally well, despite the restrictions.”

“We positively hope that the momentum built by the fantastic response to ‘Bell Bottom’ in the week gone by, and the hype around ‘Chehre’, would mark the onset of our revival journey.”

For Dutta, more than the initial numbers, it is the momentum that matters. He said to IANS: “We are encouraged by the release of the long-awaited ‘Chehre’ today. Hope this will encourage producers from the Bollywood fraternity to announce their big films for theatrical release and get movie-goers back to cinemas.”

Bollywood

Neha Sharma warns legal action against AI content without consent: No hiding behind fake account

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Mumbai, Oct 17: Actress Neha Sharma is the latest celebrity to raise her voice against the misuse of AI to created fake photos and videos.

She shared a post on her official handle on Saturday and warned those creating AI-generated content using her face.

Neha took to her official X (Formerly known as Twitter) timeline, and wrote, “Anyone using my face or likeness to create AI-generated videos or images without my consent is hereby warned to STOP IMMEDIATELY (sic).”

The ‘Crook’ actress made it clear that she has not permitted anyone to use her face or likeness to generate AI content. She further asked all to take down any such content and refrain from doing anything like that in the future.

“Take down all such content already posted and refrain from creating, editing, or circulating any further AI-generated videos or images using my identity. Using my face in this manner to misrepresent me or malign my reputation is completely unacceptable. I DO NOT CONSENT TO THE UNAUTHORIZED USE OF MY FACE OR LIKENESS”, she further penned.

Neha also warned of legal action against anyone creating, posting, or circulating such content.

“Consider this a formal warning: I WILL TAKE LEGAL ACTION AGAINST EVERY INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBLE FOR CREATING, POSTING, OR CIRCULATING SUCH CONTENT. No one should assume that hiding behind a fake account or the use of AI will protect them from accountability. TAKE IT DOWN NOW. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED,” concluded the post.

In the recent past, many members of the film fraternity have expressed their concern about how AI can be used to manipulate content.

As a protective measure, many of them, including Akshay Kumar, Varun Dhawan, Anil Kapoor, Shilpa Shetty, Preity Zinta, Kartik Aaryan, Mrunal Thakur, and Suniel Shetty, have even approached the court to protect their identity, image, and personality rights from AI-generated misuse.

Meanwhile, recently, a morphed video of actress Janhvi Kapoor from the ‘Devara’ song ‘Chuttamalle’ surfaced on social media, raising some new concerns.

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Rajinikanth calls Deva “a person of pure gold”; pays homage to late music director!

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Chennai, Oct 17: Tamil Superstar Rajinikanth on Saturday paid glowing tributes to late music director Deva, saying that he was a man without lies or deceit and that he was “a person of pure gold”.

Rajinikanth, who visited the residence of the late music director to pay homage to Deva, put out a video clip soon after in which he paid rich tribute to the much liked music director.

In hsi video, Rajinikanth said, “The sudden demise of my dear friend, music director Deva, is both shocking and sorrowful. He has scored music for three of my films –‘Annamalai’, ‘Baasha’ and ‘Arunachalam’. All three films were very big successes.”

Rajinikanth then went on to say, “When my friends insisted on opting for A R Rahman while making ‘Padaiyappa’, I went to Deva and told him that I was opting for A R Rahman, he stood up, held my hand and said, ‘Please, by all means, do so.’ I told Deva that I did not want him to mistake me. He replied, ‘I am saying this with happiness, please go ahead. That boy (A R Rahman) is coming up well. Please do well. I am very happy. It is my good fortune that I have done three films with you.'”

Citing this instance, Rajinikanth said, “Deva was a person of pure gold who was without lies or deceit. He has struggled a lot in life. He had four younger brothers and used to perform in concerts and at weddings to take care of them. Even after he became a star in the film industry, he did not let go of his brothers and kept them with himself. He was such a wonderful family man and a good human being.”

The Superstar observed, “Even when Ilaiyaraaja was ruling the roost, Deva created a style for himself and succeeded big time.”

Recalling that when Deva visited him two-and-a-half years ago, he had said, “Everyone is doing concerts. I too would like to do concerts. You must come and inaugurate my concert,” Rajinikanth recalled, “I very happily went and participated in that event.”

“Deva then did concerts abroad and was very successful. He came after going on a tour to meet me. Three months ago, he came after going to either Canada or Australia and said, ‘I am very happy. Youngsters are welcoming me so happily. I am feeling so happy Rajini sir. With this happiness, I will live for another 10 to 15 years,'” Rajinikanth recalled.

The actor said, “Maybe God thought Deva was a very nice person and that he should come to him when he was happy itself and therefore called Deva to him. May his soul rest in peace. My deepest condolences to his family members.”

For the unaware, Chennai, well known Tamil music director Deva, who has scored music for over 400 films in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada, passed away at a private hospital here on Saturday.

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Kajol gives us a glimpse of today’s Anjali as ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’ turns 28 years old

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Mumbai, Oct 16: One of Bollywood’s most iconic movies, ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’, completed 28 years since its release on Friday. Commemorating the milestone, Kajol took a trip down memory lane and recreated her look as Anjali from the drama, co-starring Shah Rukh Khan and Rani Mukerji.

The photos featured Kajol posing in a red jacket with short hair and minimal makeup, giving us an idea of how Anjali might look today.

She also wrote a hilarious caption to go with the images, “Can magic ever be recreated? Here’s Anjali a couple of years later (sic).”

Earlier today, the maker of the drama, Karan Johar, also uploaded a clip on his Instagram that included some precious memories from the film.

KJo’s latest post opened with Shah Rukh Khan’s popular dialogue from ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’, “Pyaar dosti hai,” followed by some of Shah Rukh, Kajol and Rani’s BTS masti on the set, along with musical sequences.

At the end, we could once again hear Shah Rukh’s dialogue, “Hum ek baar jeete hain, ek baar marte hain, shaadi bhi ek baar hoti hai, aur pyaar bhi ek baar hota hai.”

The director further added the caption, “Our ode to everything pyaar & dosti Happy #28YearsOfKuchKuchHotaHai to all of us! Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (sic).”

Dropping the nostalgic video on his Insta Stories, KJo simply wrote, “28 years” followed by some heart emoticons.

The core cast of ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’ has Shah Rukh as Rahul, Kajol as Anjali, and Rani Mukerji as Tina. The movie also saw Salman Khan as Aman.

The first directorial venture of Karan Johar, ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’ holds a special place in the hearts of movie buffs even now.

The songs such as ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’, ‘Koi Mil Gaya’ and ‘Ladki Badi Anjaani Hai’ composed by Jatin-Lalit, also gained a lot of popularity among music lovers.

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