UTV to distribute Five Malayalam Films Chennai, 5th November 2013: UTV Motion Pictures today announced that it will handle the India theatrical distribution rights of five films in Malayalam including Mohanlal’s most awaited film- Koothara directed by Srinath Rajendran. After the stupendous success of Mohanlal starrer ‘Grandmaster’ directed by B. Unnikrishnan and Saji Surendran’s ‘Husbands in Goa’ in Malayalam in 2012, UTV is ready to release five Malayalam movies in the coming months, which promises to follow the success trend of its earlier releases. “We are delighted to line up a solid slate of films in Malayalam to release in the next four to five months. Each film has a uniQue story line and we are confident that they will be enjoyed by all the movie lovers,” said G. Dhananjayan, Chief, South Business - Studios, Disney UTV. “Disney UTV has a strong distribution network across India and we have been successful in reaching out to our audiences with our Hindi, English and more recently with South releases. We have an in-depth understanding of the market and we are excited to present five Malayalam films which have a great combination of good content and talent to our audiences. The films will be available to everyone, and will be released at a large scale which will cater to the huge demand of our viewers and exhibitors,” said Gaurav Verma, Director, India Theatrical Distribution - Studios, Disney UTV. About the films: 1. Koothara: Director - Srinath Rajendran Starcast - Mohanlal, Sunny Wyne, Bharath, Meera Jasmine, Samantha, Nazriya & others Release date - January 2014 Synopsis - After a Super hit film “Second Show”, writer Vini Viswa Lal and Director Srinath Rajendran are back together with Koothara. This big budget film star Mohanlal, Bharath, Sunny Wayne and Tovino Thomas along with Meera Jasmine, Samantha, Nazriya, Gauthami Nair, Janani Iyer, Akhila Sasidharan, and Jothirmayi. A dog of a special breed Kombai plays one of the central characters in the film. The film’s graphics effects are first of its kind in the in Malayalam film Industry by technicians who have worked for Oscar winning films like Life of Pai and Hugo. The Music of the film is by Gopi Sundar and Koothara is being shot in the exQuisite locales of Kozhikode, Lakshadweep, Kochi and Maldives. 2. Bicycle Thieves: Director - Jisjoy Starcast - Asif Ali, Aparna Gopinath, Aju Varghese & others Release date - 28th November 2013 Synopsis - The film stars Asif Ali, Aparna Gopinath, Aju Varghese, Salim Kumar and SiddiQue in the lead roles and is directed by Jisjoy. The story revolves around four friends who steal bicycles and sell them for their living. The Story of the film is written by Ajith Pillai who has also done the screenplay and written the dialogues. The music is by Deepak Dev, and cinematography is by Binendra Menon. 3. Pournami: Director - Albey Starcast - Sunny Wyne, Pournami, Biju Menon, Lalu Alex, Tovino Thomas & others Release date - February 2014 Synopsis - The film features Sunny Wayne and Pournami in the lead roles along with Tovino Thomas, Biju Menon and Lalu Alex. The film is set in the ‘80s and revoles around a road trip. The film is directed by Albey, ex associate of Jayaraj and is written by Vini Viswa Lal, who also has the super hit film “Second Show” to his credit. “Starring Pournami” promises to be a visual extravaganza that starts from the backwaters and greenery of Alleppey & Kuttanad and moves to the snow peaks of Ladakh, a voyage from South to North of India through picturesQue locales. The Music is by Kailas Menon and cinematography by Sinu Sidharth. 4. Rasputin: Director - Jinu G. Daniel Starcast - Vinay Fort, Archana Gupta, Aju Varghese, Srinath Bhasi & others Release date - December 2013 Synopsis - The film is a Romantic Comedy starring Vinay Fort, Archana Gupta, Sreenath Bhasi, Aju Varghese and Joy Mathew. The film is directed by Jinu G Daniel and the music is by Rony Abraham. Cinematography is by National Award winner Hari Nair. Rasputin is shot in and around Ernakulam. 5. Nikkah: Director - Azad Alavil Starcast - Srinath Bhasi, Shekar Menon & others Release date - January 2014 Synopsis - The film is based on a Malabar Muslim Marriage and is a musical comedy. The film is directed by Azad Alavil, a former associate of popular director Amal Neerad. The film stars Sreenath Bhasi and Sekhar Menon, in lead roles and the team will be seen together again post their hit film “Da Thadiaya”. The lyrics are by Yousafali Kecheri and music by Gopi Sundar. The cinematography is from Vipin Mohan and editing by Vijay Kumar. Disney UTV Studios Bringing together the best of both worlds, The Walt Disney Studios and UTV Motion Pictures have formed one of the leading film studios in India. The studio’s activities span across creative development, production, marketing, distribution, licensing, merchandising and syndication of films in India and worldwide. UTV Motion Pictures as a dominant player in the Indian film industry has been in the forefront of bringing Indian films to a global audience and the last decade in Indian cinema has seen UTV delivering some of the most iconic films including Swades, Rang De Basanti, Jodhaa Akbar, A Wednesday, Dev D, Khosla Ka Ghosla, The Namesake, Life in a Metro, Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!, Fashion, Kaminey, No One Killed Jessica, Raajneeti, Udaan, Peepli Live, Delhi Belly, Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu, Paan Singh Tomar, Rowdy Rathore, Barfi!, Heroine, Race 2, AnyBody Can Dance (ABCD), Kai Po Che!, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani and more recently Ship of Theseus, Chennai Express, Satyagraha and The Lunchbox. The studio has to its credit 4 films in the last 7 years to have been selected to represent India at the Academy awards; Rang De Basanti (2006), Harishchandrachi Factory (2009), Peepli Live (2010) and Barfi! (2012). In 2011, UTV also became one of the few studios to successfully venture into South Indian cinema with Deiva Thirumagal and Muran, and has had a successful run so far with Vettai, Masala Café, Mugamoodi, Thaandavam, Settai and Theeya Velai Seiyyanum Kumaru in Tamil, and Grandmaster and Husbands in Goa in Malayalam. UTV has a library of over 80 films including Hindi, Regional, Animation and International Productions, which have been showcased in over 50 festivals across 28 countries, receiving almost 350 awards in the last 7 years. The Walt Disney Studios has seen unprecedented box office success in India in 2012 with MARVEL’s The Avengers which was distributed and marketed in India by UTV Motion Pictures. The film emerged as the 4th highest grosser of all-time amongst Hollywood films in India. Iron Man 3 released in 2013 is by far the highest Hollywood grosser this year. Prior to this, Cars 2 and Pirates of the Caribbean 4 released in 2011 and were the biggest animation and live action titles of all time for Disney in the country. In 2010, Prince of Persia became the highest grossing western film in India that year. Earlier, Disney released its first live action Hindi feature Do Dooni Chaar in 2010 and subseQuently after the success of the film, released Anaganaga-O-Dheerudu, a Telugu feature targeted at the southern audiences and second Hindi live-action film Zokkomon. Coming up is an inimitable slate with films like P.K., Shatir in Hindi, Sigaram Thodu, Ivan Vera Madhiri, and Purambokku in Tamil, Thor: The Dark World and Saving Mr. Banks in English and many more. For further information, please contact: Sujata Chanda [email protected] +91 9892490579 Manisha Sharma [email protected] +91 9892438262 .