UTV Motion Pictures

Post the success of Kai Po Che (KPC), Amit Sadh is all set to work on a romantic comedy with UTV Motion Pictures.

UTV Motion Pictures, the makers of Ghanchakkar has done away with Sanjay Dutt's special appearance in the film. The movie has Vidya Balan and Emraan Hashmi in the lead. The makers of <em>Ghanchakkar</em>, who had planned to cast the actor in a cameo, have been apparently been forced to call it off, given the current circumstances around Dutt's imminent surrender. All was well till the recent verdict of the Supreme Court that went against Sanjay Dutt.

This is what happens when you hit a jackpot with your debut film itself. As all the filmmakers chase you for their respective projects and those who fail, spread rumours about the actor. The latest victim of stardom is Sushant Singh Rajput. After the success of <em>Kai Po Che</em>, most of the big banners want to have him on board, but the actor is in no mood or hurry to accept any project coming his way this time.

When Paan Singh Tomar released early last year, little did one realise that the film will go on to make such a significant mark globally. A story of an Indian athlete (represented India at the 1958 Asian Games in Tokyo, Japan) turned army man turned dacoit was an exciting concept for writer Tigmanshu Dhulia and Sanjay Chouhan to develop into a film. With great content, superb reviews, incredible word of mouth and a correctly targeted distribution strategy played a significant role in the film's success.

UTV Motion Pictures and director Abhishek Kapoor's upcoming film Kai Po Che will have its world premiere at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival scheduled to go underway next month. The film, based on Chetan Bhagat's novel <em>The 3 Mistakes of My Life</em>, will be screened at the film festival on February 13. It will hit screens in India on February 22. The film, which stars newcomers Sushant Singh Rajput, Raj Kumar Yadav and Amit Sadh in the lead roles, portrays the journey of three friends as they discover cricket, religion and business in their respective fields.

UTV Motion Pictures has announced its next home production in Tamil titled Sigaram Thodu that will be written and directed by Gaurav of <em>Thoonga Nagaram</em> fame. The pre-production work for ‘<em>Sigaram Thodu</em>’ has commenced and the film’s shooting is expected to begin from April (2013). The cast and crew, that is under finalization, will be announced shortly.

For quite some time, there were talks that UTV Motion Pictures and director Anurag Basu were hobnobbing with the idea of roping in Ranbir Kapoor to play a lead in his ambitious Kishore Kumar biopic. The latest on this is that Ranbir has been signed for the film. The hunt is now on for four heroines who would reprise the roles of the legendary singer’s wives namely Ruma Guha Thakurota, Madhubala, Yogita Bali and Leena Chandavarkar.

UTV Motion Pictures today announced the release date for Ghanchakkar as 21 June, 2013. Comic-thriller Ghanchakkar is directed by Rajkumar Gupta and stars Emraan Hashmi and Vidya Balan in the lead. This is the 3rd film in a row for Rajkumar Gupta and UTV after <em>Aamir</em> and <em>No One Killed Jessica</em>. The film has music by composer Amit Trivedi and lyrics by Amitabh Bhattacharya.

After wooing the Hindi speaking audience, UTV, the makers of Barfi! are toying with the idea of remaking the film in Tamil. According to sources, a top notch southern star has reportedly shown interest in the project. Said Disney-UTV Motion Pictures chief - South Business, "It is too early to talk about the remake of <em>Barfi</em>!. Although one of the leading heroes has expressed his interest to do the film and a good director has also agreed to make the film." Once the project is confirmed, the film will go on floors in February-March 2013, according to Dhananjayan.

UTV Motion Pictures has announced the release dates of three of its big-ticket films. While the Akshay Kumar-Sonakshi Sinha-starrer Joker will release on 31 August, the Anurag Basu-directed film Barfi! will release on 14 September. These will be followed by Madhur Bhandarkar-helmed Kareena Kapoor-starrer Heroine on 21 September (2012).