Will Disney tie up with
Star India? Or will it ally with sibling joint
venture company ESPN-Star Sports? Reports
indicate it could be the latter. Ever since
it broke up with the Modis earlier this year,
rumours on Disney coming to India on its own
have been doing the rounds. Now reports suggest
it is in talks with various broadcasters to
sign a distribution and ad sales alliance.
For a category bursting with action - anima-
tion and children's programming - there
couldn't be better news.
The Times of India (TOI) has been making news
of late. There's the controversy over whether
or not it is ahead of the Hindustan Times
in Delhi in the National Readership Survey
2003. Then media circles were abuzz with rumours
about President Pradeep Guha's resignation.
TOI's decision to penalise sub-editors and
editors for mistakes as well as launch an
afternoon paper also has been talked about.
BW tried unsuccessfuly to get somebody senior
at TOI to comment on these issues. However,
a senior manager insists that Guha is not
on his way out. That was borne out by a long
memo Guha reportedly sent to TOI staffers
on the NRS controversy. But why NRS is not
releasing its 2003 figures, which reportedly
confirm TOI's lead, remains a mystery.
RONNIE Screwvala's UTV is the biggest film
production firm in India today. It has invested
almost Rs 110 crore on the five films it has
on the floor among others. Besides films like
LOC that it is distributing, UTV has a finger
in mega-projects like Farhan Akhtar's Rs 35-crore
co-production Lakshya and Ashutosh Gowariker's
equally big Swades. While Lakshya is 95% complete,
Swades gets underway next month. Besides,
there is the three-movie deal UTV has signed
with Star recently. Star will finance the
movies in return for their satellite telecast
rights.
There is a strong possibility that Tarun Katial,
the former head of programming at Star India,
will join Sony. According to reports he is
currently in Los Angeles meeting the big bosses
at Columbia Tristar, Sony's parent. In response
to a mail from BW, a Sony spokesperson denied
it saying: "This is a mere rumour at
this point in time."
NIKHIL Advani's Kal Ho Naa Ho is a certified
hit. According to trade website Ibosnetwork.com,
in two weeks the Rs 3-crore film has grossed
Rs 10 crore in India. Add about Rs 8 crore
from the US and UK markets and it's sure
to be one of the biggest grossers of this
year. The only other movies that come close
to it are Ravi Chopra's Baghban and Aziz
Mirza's Chalte Chalte.
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