Dubai a Major overseas market for Indian films Yash Chopra
Pakistan has potential to be the largest market but is closed to Indian films
Dubai, December 16, 2005: Celebrated Indian film-maker Yash Chopra said that Dubai ranks amongst the top three markets for Indian films worldwide. The US and the UK are ranked one and two respectively. His distribution company, Yash Raj Films, has opened its Dubai office after New York and London.A canny businessman in addition to being a doyen of Indian cinema, Yash said: “It is not surprising that Dubai is such a huge market for Indian movies. Its multicultural ethos and position as the gateway to the region is the reason for its success. It is expanding every day, every minute and every second and the Dubai International Film Festival ensures that the movie business will grow here.”
Commenting on the Pakistani market that is officially closed to Indian films, Yash said: “India and Pakistan share the same culture. By keeping that market closed, the biggest losers are the Pakistani government and film goers. My informed estimate of the thriving illegal business in Indian DVDs and VCDs is to the tune of US$50 million annually. Their government is losing out on entertainment related income and film generated tourism. I have been denied a visa to shoot a movie in Pakistan and so have many of my colleagues.” Described as a gentle giant with a golden touch, Yash is involved in all aspects of the Indian movie business. He writes, produces and directs his own movies, encourages new directors by producing their movies, has a music company and runs a global distribution business. His latest venture is the opening of India’s most advanced post-production studio. One of his movies, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jaayenge (The brave-heart takes the bride) has become the longest running Indian film of all time by showing for 530 weeks in India.
“I have been honoured here at Dubai and feel that this award is as important as my first. With an award comes additional responsibility. You promise to do your best to live up to the faith people have placed in you. There can be no resting on your laurels,” he concluded. Yash Chopra’s work spans four decades in the Indian film industry. He is credited with such timeless Indian classics as Deewaar, Kabhi Kabhie and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. His box-office smash hit Lamhe and the more recent cross-border drama Veer Zaara have been screened as part of the DIFF 2005 tribute program.
Last Chance to See World-Famous Films at DIFF
15 films from Africa, India, Sri Lanka, US and Arab world on last day of the Festival
Dubai, December 16, 2005 – Brand new and award-winning films from around the world will be playing for the last time today (Saturday, December 17), the closing day of the second Dubai International Film Festival.The 15 films screening today at CineStar Cinemas at Mall of the Emirates and the Madinat Theatre include two films from the Festival’s new ‘In Honor of Africa’ program: the critically acclaimed and Oscar-nominated South African film Yesterday, the moving story of a young HIV-positive mother determined to move on with her life and protect her daughter; and U-Carmen eKhayelitsha (Carmen in Khayelitsha), an innovative South African interpretation of the opera Carmen.
Yesterday, the focus of a special charity screening at the Festival last night (Friday, December 16), tells the story of a brave young woman named Yesterday, who lives in rural Kwazulu-Natal with her young daughter, Beauty, as her husband works the mines in faraway Johannesburg. After discovering she is HIV-positive, Yesterday finds herself ostracized by her community and at the receiving end of brutal beatings from her husband. As her husband’s life starts to succumb to the ravages of AIDS, Yesterday continues to care for him, all the while hoping that she can live long enough to see her daughter start school.
The film, directed by Darrell James Roodt, one of South Africa’s most prolific filmmakers and the creator of the anti-apartheid feature Place of Weeping, Cry the Beloved Country and Sarafina!, received South Africa’s first Oscar nomination. Also on today’s screening schedule is the lively pre-teen documentary Mad Hot Ballroom, the true story of 11-year-old public school students in New York who take up competitive ballroom dancing as an after-school activity; and Mongolian eagle master documentary Kiran Over Mongolia. Films from the subcontinent also get one last airing today, with Sri Lankan film Guerrilla Marketing and Bengali film Reaching Silence (Nisshabd).
Reaching Silence, the first feature film from documentary film maker, author and photographer Jahar Kanungo, may be the perfect antidote for city dwellers stressed by the pressures of the concrete jungle. The film focuses on Sarit, a 30-year-old executive who develops a sudden and inexplicable sensitivity to sound in the middle of the hustle and bustle of Delhi. Besieged by blaring loudspeakers, children crying and screeching tyres at every turn, he abandons his career and returns to his quiet hometown in Bengal, thinking he has found the solution.
The fast-paced and smart Guerrilla Marketing, meanwhile, has reaped a great deal of interest in Sri Lanka and with Sri Lankan populations abroad. From the Arab world, Franco-Algerian film Once Upon a Time in the Oued and Moroccan films Memory in Detention and the Wretched Life of Juanita Narboni will also have their last screenings today. Audiences around the UAE also have a last chance to see Kosovo: The Hand of Friendship, which focuses on the UAE Armed Forces’ involvement in rebuilding Kosovo at the height of the Balkan crisis.
The second Dubai International Film Festival ends Saturday, December 17. The Festival is presented by Dubai Media City and its Founding Sponsors are Dubai Duty Free, Dubai Properties, Emirates, Etisalat and the Madinat Jumeirah – the Arabian Resort. The Festival’s Gold Sponsors are Bin Hendi Enterprises, National Bank of Dubai, Showtime, The Kanoo Group and The Palm Jumeirah; the Silver Sponsors are Filmworks, Motivate Publishing and Sony.
