http://www.rediff.com/movies/2004/mar/16ashok.htm

In three weeks, his movie, Walking Tall starring Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, Johnny Knoxville and Ashley Scott will hit the US box-office. Walking Tall opens on April 2 in over 3,000 screens.

While Amritraj is keeping his fingers crossed that Walking Tall will go the way of his last movie, Bringing Down The House (starring Steve Martin and Queen Latifah), which grossed over $ 130 million, he is looking at other projects.

Amritraj has bought the rights to two comic strips, Mandrake, The Magician and Phantom: The Ghost Who Walks.

He hopes to start filming Mandrake by the end of this year or early next year, though the cast for it has not yet been finalised. 'It will definitely be someone big in Hollywood who will play Mandrake," promises Amritraj. As for Phantom, he says, that the project is still in a 'development stage'.

A former tennis pro, Amritraj quit tennis to become a movie producer and turned out his first movie in 1984. His first big hit was Double Impact in 1991 which starred Jean Claude Van Damne.

Amritraj says that he is also desperately searching for an Indian girl to star in a movie that plans to make. The film is a love story between a girl working in a call centre in India and an American guy.

Rana

P.S.
Remember Mandrake?
I'm looking forward to Mandrake that used to be my favourite Comics serial.

Any news about Garth, another comics serial??

You mean Modesty Blaise right? Wasn't Garth a character from that strip.....Modesty Blaise was always one 'phatak' woman......sure would be nice for someone voluptuous to play her.....

Haven't heard of Modesty Blaise.

Garth was a daily comic serial in Hindustan (Hindi) and Hindustan Times (English) in the 60s and 70s. Each story used to run for about 6 months. Garth was a human super hero. Time travel, encounters with ETs etc, villains on earth etc were usually the story plots.

Rana

Sorry...your are right...i am confused....I do remember reading Garth in either The Evening News of India or some such newspaper in Bombay....yeah, super hero, great biceps.....Modesty Blaise was another strip, also carried by a newspaper in Bombay.....70s/80s

Amritraj...is this Vijay Amritraj wjo was in the Bond film Octopussy? I remember seeing him in an 80's Ninja film, which was pretty bad!

Nope...his youngest brother Ashok, a miserable failure at tennis, but a reasonable success at making B-grade Hollywood movies....heck he even got Queen Latifah and Steve Martin together recently (BRINGING THE HOUSE DOWN).....his other movie with Billy Bob Thornton and was it Bruce Willis and Kate Blanchet was a decent one...forget the name now.....

All three Amritraj brothers are film makers in Hollywood (Anand??, Vijay and Ashok). Mostly 'B' grade. At least how they started.

Lately, the youngest brother Ashok Amritraj has made it into the big league (Bringing Down The House starring Steve Martin and Queen Latifah, grossed over $ 130 million). These upcoming films mentioned here are by Ashok Amritraj.

Rana

'Bandits' was it? I thought it was average/good. I didn't know Amritraj was involved in it - it was a Barry Levinson film if I remember correctly.

Ashok Amritraj Filmography as on
http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hc&id=18 ... en&intl=us

Mostly erotic thrillers.

Executive Producer
• Moonlight Mile (2002)
• Antitrust (2001)
• Original Sin (2001)
• When the Bullet Hits the Bone (1995)
• Victim of Desire (1994)


Producer
• Walking Tall (2004)
• Bringing Down the House (2003)
• Antitrust (2001)
• Bandits (2001)
• What's the Worst That Could Happen? (2001)
• Tycus (2000)
• Beneath the Bermuda Triangle (1999)
• One Last Score (1999)
• Black Thunder (1998)
• The Capitol Conspiracy (1998)
• Dear Santa (1998)
• A Murder of Crows (1998)
• The White Raven (1998)
• My Magic Dog (1997)
• Operation Cobra (1997)
• Steel Sharks (1997)
• Alone in the Woods (1996)
• Crash Dive (1996)
• Night Hunter (1995)
• 9 Deaths of the Ninja (1985)



What's the diff bet Executive Producer and Producer?? Who is the real producer as far as Profits and Losses are concerned??

Rana

BTW,
1) It's mainly Ashok among the three Amritraj brothers who is into Hollywood Film productions. Vijay's filmography is limited only to a few films, mainly as an actor or associate producer.

2) Jag Mundhra (Kamla producer) used to be associated with Amritraj Brothers productions. But lately after the debacle of Monsoon (2001), he hasn't been much active. One film is scheduled for 2005, Backwaters (2005) (pre-production) http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0612730/

BANDITS it was...thanks !!



As far as my understanding goes : an exec producer is a salaried consultant that a producer hires to perform tasks such as location hunting, organising equipment, dates etc. He is hired for his experience and background in producing. Often times a successful producer is the one that will make his services available as an executive producer.

Whereas a producer has to sell his product(movie) to a studio, distributor for exhibiting, an exec producer has only to worry about making things available to the director as he might want it. He is essentially a facilitator of things to the director who in turn is responsible for the creative completion of a film.

*E&OE.
Someone correct me if I am wrong....

Walking Tall looks like crap. But it's going to make $ because of Rock.

http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/m ... v_id=53195

Walking Tall


1973 - USA - Action

Starring Joe Don Baker, Elizabeth Hartman. Directed by Phil Karlson. (R, 125 minutes).

A runaway box-office hit to the tune of $17 million, Walking Tall is the unabashedly manipulative story of real-life Tennessee sheriff Buford Pusser. As played by Joe Don Baker, Pusser can either be regarded as a tireless champion of justice or a baseball bat-wielding hooligan. But with some of the most scurrilous villains this side of a Republic serial as the main targets of Pusser's wrath, the audience cannot help but applaud the sheriff's strongarm methods. When the town baddies seek vengeance by killing Pusser's wife (Elizabeth Hartman), the you-know-what really hits the fan! Never resorting to subtlety, Walking Tall was such a winner that it spawned two sequels, a made-for-television movie, and a weekly TV series-none of which were enjoyed by the real Buford Pusser, who had long since died under questionable circumstances. At the time of the film's theatrical release, the MPAA rating system was comparatively new, so the studio launched an ad campaign aimed at parents, letting them know that the "R" rated Walking Tall contained violence and not sex, and therefore was good family entertainment! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Wasn't Jeans produced by Amritraj Brothers??

What a lavish production values and excellent cinematography for AJOOBA song, filmed all 7 Ajoobas (Wonders) of the world. They must have spent lot of money for that song.

Rana

BTW, excellent DEI-EROS DVD.

Some excerpts; Screenindia Ashok Amritraj interview:

http://www.screenindia.com/fullstory.ph ... nt_id=7642

Global Player

Devesh Sharma

After a succcessful career in Tennis, Ashok Amritraj turned his hands towards filmmaking. In the last 20 years, he has produced some 85 films and his banner, Hyde Park Productions, commands tremendous respect in Hollywood. Excerpts from an interview:

Tell us something about your forthcoming film Walking Tall
Walking Tall is an actioner starring Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. It is a loose remake of a 70s film by the same name. It is the story of a man who arrives in a small town and cleans up the corruption. You can say it is a westerner in the High Noon tradition.

Your previous release Bringing Down The House insulted just about every ethnic group in America. How did you get away with it?
(Laughs). Such films happen once in a lifetime. We test-screened it at various centres and at every venue the audience response was different. Truth always wins in the end and the film succeeded because it painted an unflattering but true picture of modern day American society. The class barriers do exist but underneath we are all human beings. The colour of our skin shouldn’t stop us from making friends. That was the underlying message of the film and its good run at the box-office has proved that the message hit home.

It was brave of you to cast Queen Latifah as the heroine.
(Smiles) Queen Latifah is a fabulous actress. Her talents came to light during Chicago and she is destined for greater heights in future.----


It is rumoured that you have acquired the rolling rights to comic characters Mandrake and Phantom and plan to make an animation film with them in the lead?
The first part of the rumour is certainly true. I have bought the rights of these two figures from Herst corp. However, instead of animation, I plan to make live-action films. They are both in the planning stage right now. The first film will be made on Mandrake and right now I’m in the process of talking to several A-list Hollywood actors to enact the role. A lesser known star will star in Phantom. I grew up reading the comic strips and it gives me great pleasure to have acquired these rights. It is like a dream come true.

Mandrake and Phantom don’t enjoy the kind of popularity that Spiderman enjoys in America. Do you plan to go on a media blitzkrieg to promote these characters?
It is a fact that as of now my target audience, comprising pre-teens, teenagers and people in the early 20s, are more or less unfamiliar with Mandrake and Phantom. I have several things, like the re-issue of the comic books, merchandise tie-ups, bringing out stickers and plastic figurines of the characters in my mind to increase their popularity. In India they still have mass appeal and I’m certain that the Indian audience is going to love the film versions.


Have you ever thought of casting Indian artistes in any of your future films?
I’m planning to make a love story between an American guy and an Indian girl. It will star a big American star and a beautiful Indian girl. I’m searching for a suitable face to play the heroine and will probably start filming early next year.

The name of your banner, Hyde Park Productions, is certainly intriguing.
(Grins) As a tennis professional, I played often on the British circuit. During my stay in London, I used to spend quite a lot of time roaming around in Hyde Park. While searching for a name for my banner, I remembered those idyllic walks and named my production house after the famous landmark to commemorate those memories.

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