News

BookMyShow’s Red Lorry Film Festival crowned Venice winner “Paul and Paulette Take a Bath” and Cannes-winning “Souleymane’s Story” as winners of its competition segment over the weekend, as the sophomore edition of the Indian international film festival wrapped after three days of packed screenings across Mumbai.

“I’m Nevanka” claimed the Critics’ Pick award at the festival, which expanded to Hyderabad this year with its “Parallel Verse” program.

BookMyShow, India’s leading entertainment ticketing platform, launched the festival last year as part of its expansion beyond online movie ticketing into curated live experiences.

The competition winners were selected by a jury including filmmakers Vikramaditya Motwane, Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, Atul Sabharwal, PVR executive Sanjeev Kumar Bijli, critic Kaveree Bamzai and actor Prachee Shah Paandya, alongside honorary juror Ashish Hemrajani, co-founder of BookMyShow.

“What a joy to receive this award,” said Jethro Massey, director of “Paul and Paulette Take a Bath,...

Kevin Macdonald and Sam Rice-Edwards’ John Lennon and Yoko Ono documentary One to One: John & Yoko will get its Asia premiere as the closing film for the second edition of the Red Lorry Film Festival in India. The country’s international cinema showcase is organized by BookMyShow.

This year’s second edition of the festival features a lineup of more than 120 films, including premieres, retrospectives and special screenings. Among its titles are Oscar winner Anora, The Last Showgirl and such classics as Pretty Woman.

At the heart of the doc are the One to One Concerts, John Lennon’s only full-length performances after The Beatles, for which he was joined by Yoko Ono, The Plastic Ono Band, Elephant’s Memory and special guests. With remixed concert audio produced by their only son, musician Sean Ono Lennon, the film showcases newly restored and transferred footage, along with previously unseen and unheard personal archives,...

Chhaava Box Office: Beats Stree 2 To Become The First Hindi Film To Achieve This Milestone On BookMyShow(Photo Credit –Facebook)

Chhaava, starring Vicky Kaushal, Rashmika Mandanna, and Akshaye Khanna in key roles, exceeded all pre-release predictions by miles and has established several new records at the Indian box office. Despite spending over a month in theatres, the magnum opus isn’t showing any sign of exhaustion, indicating that it will still cover some distance. Currently, it is eyeing a comfortable entry into the 600-crore club, which will be a mind-blowing feat. Amid this, it has achieved a significant milestone on the online movie ticket booking platform, BookMyShow.

Chhaava topples mighty Hindi hits!

The Bollywood historical drama was never considered a contender for an all-time blockbuster. Considering the subject, it was expected to do well, but no one ever thought it would challenge recent industry hits. It surpassed the biggest Hindi hits one after another,...

Festival Flourishes

BookMyShow‘s Red Lorry Film Festival has landed two Academy Award-shortlisted films to anchor its sophomore edition, set for March 21-23, in Mumbai and Hyderabad. “Hollywoodgate,” from the producers of “Navalny,” shortlisted for documentary feature, offers an on-the-ground examination of Taliban-ruled Kabul. “Universal Language,” contending in the international feature category, presents an absurdist comedy-drama weaving multiple storylines between Tehran and Winnipeg.

The fest will showcase over 120 titles across both cities, marking its expansion with “Red Lorry Film Festival: Parallel Verse” in Hyderabad running alongside Mumbai’s “Take 2” edition. Notable selections include “When The Light Breaks,” which opened Un Certain Regard at Cannes 2024, and “999: The Forgotten Girls,” winner of the Miami Jewish Film Festival’s audience award.

New for 2025, the festival introduces a competition segment open to filmmakers, with submissions closing Jan. 7. Programming spans multiple languages including Spanish, French, German, Korean, Dutch, and Icelandic. BookMyShow COO, cinemas, Ashish Saksena...

Hollywood movie ‘Civil War’ will be the opening film at the upcoming inaugural edition of the Red Lorry Film Festival. The festival, which will feature over 100 titles from across the globe, offers attendees a chance to be a part of the exclusive premiere of ‘Civil War’ before its global release.

‘Civil War’ follows the story of a small team of military-embedded journalists who travel to the United States as the country is embroiled in its first Civil War since the 1800s, where the states of California and Texas have seceded from the nation to form the Western Forces.

Ashish Saksena, COO – Cinemas, BookMyShow, said, “We are thrilled to present ‘Civil War’ as the opening film of Red Lorry Film Festival. From its visually stunning poster to its high production value, this film is a testament to the excellence of cinema.

“With impeccable sound design, cinematography of A+ quality, and critics...

A new survey, ‘The CineFiles’, has revealed that the Indian audience enjoys watching the movies on big screen, and that the audience is also highly skilled at planning for their cinematic outings in theatres as 74% of the audience keep a close watch on the new releases on the horizon at least three days in advance.

Ahead of this National Cinema Day, the report revealed that 98 per cent of Indians believe cinematic magic can only be brought alive on the big screen with a third of them attributing it to certain directors, themes, and VFX amongst others.

In fact, 90 per cent of respondents’ most likeable option for out-of-home experiences is catching the latest movie release in the theatre amongst other leisure activities such as shopping, live gigs, and adventure outings. The younger GenZ and Millennial groups think of the big screen experience for their movie-watching outing every week.

The report was...

A new survey, ‘The CineFiles’, has revealed that the Indian audience enjoys watching the movies on big screen, and that the audience is also highly skilled at planning for their cinematic outings in theatres as 74% of the audience keep a close watch on the new releases on the horizon at least three days in advance.

Ahead of this National Cinema Day, the report revealed that 98 per cent of Indians believe cinematic magic can only be brought alive on the big screen with a third of them attributing it to certain directors, themes, and VFX amongst others.

In fact, 90 per cent of respondents’ most likeable option for out-of-home experiences is catching the latest movie release in the theatre amongst other leisure activities such as shopping, live gigs, and adventure outings. The younger GenZ and Millennial groups think of the big screen experience for their movie-watching outing every week.

The report was...

The upcoming Justice League plot will show Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) enlisting newfound ally Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) to face an even greater threat. Determined to ensure Superman’s (Henry Cavill) ultimate sacrifice was not in vain, Bruce Wayne aligns forces with Diana Prince with plans to recruit a team of meta-humans to protect the world from an approaching threat of catastrophic proportions.

The task proves more difficult than Bruce imagined, as each of the recruits must face the demons of their own pasts to transcend that which has held them back, allowing them to come together, finally forming an unprecedented league of heroes. Now united, Batman (Affleck), Wonder Woman (Gadot), Aquaman (Jason Momoa), Cyborg (Ray Fisher) and The Flash (Ezra Miller) may be too late to save the planet from Steppenwolf, DeSaad and Darkseid and their dreadful intentions.

Will the superheroes succeed in their mission?

And…the wait is finally over!

New Delhi, Feb 5 (Ians) Home grown movie and events ticketing platform BookMyShow on Friday rolled out a transaction video-on-demand (Tvod) streaming platform in India that offers users the option to rent a movie for a finite duration or buy it for unlimited access.

The move comes at a time when the Covid-19 pandemic greatly disrupted the movie viewing experience as restrictions kept theatres out of bounds for audience for months.

With over 600 movie titles and over 72,000 hours of content, BookMyShow Stream will feature films and content from around the world along with India, the platform said.

With over 22,000 hours of content being "Exclusive" to the platform at launch, BookMyShow Stream will feature multiple marquee Premieres every Friday, it added.

"BookMyShow Stream' is a natural extension of our cinemas business and respects the existing theatrical windows for content. It empowers users to pay only for the content that they watch --...

CinemaBookMyShow said that the content will premiere on the platform every Friday, after the films theatrical run is done.Haripriya SureshOnline ticketing platform BookMyShow has rolled out a video-on-demand program ‘BookMyShow Stream’, where users can rent or buy movies. BookMyShow said it has over 600 titles and over 72,000 hours of content on the platform. For now, Wonder Woman 1984, Tenet and The Craft: Legacy are among the movies currently streaming on the platform. Content will also be exclusive to the platform, and prices vary across movies. The platform lets users rent or buy films, and features content that did not release in Indian theatres, and has categories such as Premieres, Exclusives, World Cinema, Missed in Theatres, Festival Favourites and dedicated Bundles. BookMyShow says options will be “extremely personalised” to the user based on their preferences, transactions and behaviour on BookMyShow. “Starting today, BookMyShow Stream will be home to Christopher Nolan’s Tenet,...

Cinema halls have received the green signal to operate with 100 per cent occupancy. It is positive news for the theatre owners, but not so for the box office just yet.

Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on Sunday allowed theatres to be operate with full capacity from February 1, except in containment zones, while adhering to health safety protocols. However, despite the call, the film trade could be months away from good business. Without big releases and a psychological block over Covid still looming in the minds of many, the audience is not interested in returning to theatres right away, irrespective of whether occupancy rules allow 50 or 100 per cent.

"It was long awaited. After the central government, we await go ahead by the state government. But it is a big breather for the exhibition industry. Now, we hope that the state governments are also proactive in giving us the permission," trade expert Girish Johar said.

By Natalia Ningthoujam

New Delhi, Oct 15 (Ians) With just a few hours left for cinema halls in India to open doors to the public on Friday after a long gap due to the pandemic, trade experts open up on the challenges facing the industry, safety measures to be taken and plans to bring back moviegoers to theatres.

Cinema halls were given the green signal to open from October 15, as per the guidelines of the Union Home Ministry and the Central government. While screening of films at some of the theatres on Thursday were dedicated to staff and family members, the general public can watch films on the big screen Friday onwards.

"Today (Thursday), we are doing a mock drill for opening and training our staff as to how to handle public from tomorrow in order to ensure smooth functioning," Raj Kumar Mehrotra, general manager at the Capital's Delite Cinema, told Ians,...

The Avengers: Endgame rerelease is officially heading to India. Marvel Studios is bringing the epic movie with extra footage internationally as it attempts to dethrone Avatar as the highest grossing movie of all time. As of this writing, Endgame is still about $22 million away from matching the record for the highest grossing movie of all time, which is after the Marvel Cinematic Universe installment was rereleased in North American theaters last weekend.

The Endgame rerelease is set to hit select theaters in India this weekend with the tagline: "One Last Time." The Russo Brothers previously revealed the rerelease would be global, but no further details were given when it comes to specific dates. With that being said, Endgame only brought in a little over $2 million overseas last weekend. BookMyShow's Ashish Saksena had this to say about the India rerelease.

"The hysteria surrounding Avengers: Endgame which released in April this year was unlike anything witnessed before,...

It was a well-fought battle, but Marvel isn’t accepting defeat just yet.

It’s amazing to think that in the two months since its theatrical release, Avengers: Endgame is just $22 million away from the all-time box office record, which, as we all know, is currently held by James Cameron’s Avatar.

While $22 million’s hardly a drop in the ocean for a comic book film, Endgame‘s pace has slowed down significantly these last couple of months, as more and more blockbusters – including Marvel’s own Spider-Man: Far From Home – pop up in theaters. And not even a re-release, jam packed with six whole minutes of bonus footage (*rolls eyes*), could get the job done.

Well, the studio’s giving it another go, as trade analyst Taran Adarsh confirmed on Twitter yesterday that Endgame‘s expanding its re-release out to new territories.

It's Official… #AvengersEndgame *extended version* is all...

The easiest way to grab a ticket is to log on to an online movie ticketing website with your credit card ready and hit the buy button before others do it. Marvel fans are finding themselves in a virtual race to grab a ticket for the highly anticipated superhero film Avengers: Endgame.

Follow the link to buy?Avengers: Endgame tickets

A popular ticketing site witnessed a record advance ticket sale with million plus tickets sold in just over a day. The site witnessed a peak of 18 tickets per second. This is days before the film releases in cinemas on April 26 in India in English and other Indian languages.

"We expect Avengers: Endgame to break more records as cinemas continue to open the advance bookings", said Ashish Saksena, Chief Operating Officer - Cinemas, BookMyShow, in a statement.

The Chief Programming Officer, Inox Leisure Ltd. Rajender Singh Jyala added, "As anticipated, across the country,...

Hollywood'Avengers...' is not just a movie, it's an epic culmination of a decade-long journey which the fans have taken with us across 22 films, said Bikram Duggal, Head - Studio Entertainment, Disney India.IANSMarvel StudiosMarvel fans are finding themselves in a virtual queue to grab tickets for the highly anticipated superhero film Avengers: Endgame. BookMyShow has witnessed a record advance ticket sales with one million tickets sold in just over a day. BookMyShow witnessed a peak of 18 tickets per second, even before the film releases in cinemas on April 26 in India in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. Ashish Saksena, Chief Operating Officer - Cinemas, BookMyShow, said in a statement issued on Monday evening: "We expect Avengers: Endgame to break more records as cinemas continue to open advance bookings." Avengers: Endgame is the 22nd film from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the latest after Captain Marvel, which released last month. The film stars Robert Downey Jr.,...

Until three years ago, Rajnikanth’s films were runaway hits only down South. But the turning point came with Sivaji – The Boss. Its Tamil version was a hit in Mumbai. And its Hindi dubbed version did even better. Kuselan (2008) though was a debacle. But Endhiran/ Robot, the Rs 150 crore sci-fi fantasy adventure that opened last Friday, is looking to break all barriers, across language and box-office collections. And trade experts insist that despite a slow start, it is now streaking past the Ranbir Kapoor-Priyanka Chopra romcom, Anjaana Anjaani, even in the Hindi belt. Ashish Saxena, CEO, Big Cinemas, says that ...

The Sonam Kapoor & Abhay Deol starrer - Aisha has been lapped up by audiences. In the metros Aisha opened to about 65 - 70 per cent occupancy, while the smaller centers saw occupancy of about 35 - 40 per cent. The movie did a net business of Rs 36.60 million (Rs 3.66 crore) on its opening day (Friday). However, on Saturday Aisha did see an increase of about 25 - 30 per cent in collections.On Friday, Aisha picked up during the evening shows with some of the theaters running houseful. The weekend advance booking too is good but a lot more depends on how the film holds on Monday.PVR Cinemas CEO Kamal Gianchandani said, .Aisha has opened very well. It opened to occupancy at around 60 per cent at most of the plexes on Friday, and towards the night some of the shows were houseful. The advance booking too has been extremely encouraging. Surprisingly, the film...

 As India's first docu-drama to be released nationally and to receive rave reviews from critics and audiences alike, 'Leaving Home' has raised the expectations of documentary filmmakers even though it may be too early to call it a trend.Directed by Jaideep Varma, 'Leaving Home' has been released commercially in theatres in Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Ahmedabad, Noida and Hyderabad.' 'Leaving Home' was shot in digital and we are showing it in Big theatres, which have a digital projection capability. It saves cost and makes the film much more viable. Technology makes it possible,' says Ashish Saksena, COO, Big Cinemas, the exhibitor.That is also the reason why despite fans in Bangalore and Kolkata crying for the film, it may not be released there - these cities do not have digital projection screens.'I will have to make prints for the same. I don't have the financial capability to do that now,...

Big Cinemas, a subsidiary of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (R-adag), is offering free movies to all women on International Women's Day Monday.

The multiplex chain is celebrating the day by offering female audiences an opportunity to watch movie free of cost and the list includes "Road Movie", "Teen Patti", "Karthik Calling Karthik", "Atithi Tum Kab Jaaoge?", "Thanks Maa", "My Name Is Khan" and "Legion". "Women patrons, besides being our most loyal customers, are a prominent and growing customer demographic and at Big Cinemas, on the occasion of International Women's Day, through this celebration we would like to express our gratitude and appreciation for their continuous support," Ashish Saksena, COO, Big Cinemas, said in a statement. To avail the offer, women would have to arrive at the box office 45 minutes prior to the movie show and collect free tickets. They also get a chance to participate in a lucky...

3 Idiots has passed the cinegoer.s test with flying colours. The Aamir Khan-starrer raked in Rs 12.5 crore on Friday. Experts estimate the movie to net Rs 40 crore over the first weekend from the box office, with gross collections of Rs 65 crore. Khan.s last release, Ghajini, earned around Rs 40 crore net in the first four days, since the movie released on a Thursday. Aamir Khan said: .The response is huge, we are still gathering the enormity of opening collections. To match Ghajini.s opening day collections is something, to surpass Ghajini is completely overwhelming...3 Idiots would set the record for the biggest opening of this year,. added Ashish Saksena, COO, Big Cinemas. Till date, Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone starrer Love Aaj Kal topped the chart with net collections of Rs 28 crore on first three days, followed by Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani, featuring Katrina Kaif and Ranbir Kapoor and Akshay Kumar,...

In a restructuring exercise Big Cinemas has bought in PVR's Ashish Saksena as joint COO with Tushar Dhingra. The India operations will now be divided into two geographical units and Saxena will look after the company's operations in West and South India, while Dhingra will now move from the all India COO to operate in North, East and Central India.Saksena will join Big Cinemas on 14 September.  Adlabs Films CEO Anil Arjun said, "Big Cinemas network is expanding across the country and we are putting in place a core team of leaders to drive the strategy and the ...