Kamal Haasan Sets Disney Plus Hotstar Show Bigg Boss Ultimate, Sony Pictures India Tamil

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STREAMING

Revered Indian actor and filmmaker Kamal Haasan (“Papanasam”) will return as the host of “Big Boss Ultimate,” a Tamil-language version of the “Big Brother” format. Five seasons of “Bigg Boss Tamil,” hosted by Haasan, were broadcast on Disney’s Star Vijay channel and streamed on Disney Plus Hotstar. “Bigg Boss Ultimate,” however, will be a streaming exclusive and will be available only on Disney Plus Hotstar from Jan. 30. The new season will reunite some of the most popular contestants of past “Bigg Boss Tamil” seasons, giving them another opportunity to claim the title. One of the innovations on “Bigg Boss Ultimate” will be a 24-hour feed, which will allow the audience to watch what’s happening in the Bigg Boss house throughout the day.

FILM

Meanwhile, Sony Pictures Films India, the Indian local production arm of Sony Pictures International Productions, and Haasan’s Raaj Kamal Films International have teamed on an as-yet-untitled Tamil-language film, starring Sivakarthikeyan (“Doctor”) in the lead, to be written and directed by Rajkumar Periasamy (“Rangoon”). The film will be produced by Sony, Haasan and R. Mahendran and co-produced by God Bless Entertainment. While plot details were not revealed, Haasan said: “The power of a well-told story is transformative, and this story will move, uplift and inspire the audience in many ways.”

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Sony Pictures Films India already has an established presence in the Hindi-language film industry with its latest effort “Loop Lapeta,” an adaptation of “Run Lola Run,” set to bow directly on Netflix on Feb. 4. This will be its third foray into South Indian language cinema after Malayalam-language “Nine” (2019), starring and co-produced by Prithviraj Sukumaran, and upcoming Telugu and Hindi-language “Major,” starring Adivi Sesh, co-produced by actor Mahesh Babu.

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DEPARTURE

Barbara Salabè, president and country manager, Italy, Spain and Portugal at WarnerMedia will leave the company at the end of January. Salabè was responsible for the development and execution of WarnerMedia’s commercial and group marketing activities across Italy, Spain and Portugal and her remit included theatrical distribution, local theatrical productions, content licensing, home entertainment and consumer products, and ad sales and affiliate distribution for the WarnerMedia channels.

Prior to WarnerMedia, Salabè served as MD of musical production company Stage Entertainment, and was formerly senior VP and MD of Turner Broadcasting System Italia, where she led the creation of Cartoon Network, Boomerang and CNN Italia in Italy.

SALES

Dori Media Group has sold feature film “The Raft” to WarnerMedia Latin America for the streaming platform HBO Max and also linear rights for basic and premium pay tv. The Israeli adventure-drama film follows four diehard soccer fans, who, when Israel’s soccer team wins a crucial match and has a chance to reach the World Cup, are determined not to miss the game, even when it is moved to the nearby island of Cyprus. Inspired by the mythological journey of Kon-Tiki, they manage to construct a DIY raft on their own and cross a stretch of the Mediterranean Sea in an attempt get to the match on time.

“The Raft” premiered in Israel in July, 2021, and was a success. It is a Dori Media production in collaboration with Herzliya Studios.

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