Our Bureau

Mumbai , Aug.16

ULTRA Movie Channel Ltd, one of India's largest movie VCD and DVD distributors with a library of over 1,500 titles, announced its entry into film distribution for theatres. The company has acquired exclusive rights to top grossing children's movies from Keystone Entertainment in India and SAARC countries. Keystone Entertainment, based in North America, produces films for global audiences. It is famous for its family film franchises, produced under the Keystone Family Pictures banner.

"Going to the movies is perhaps the most popular form of relaxation across the globe. While flocking to movies had gone out of fashion in the 1990s, multiplexes with excellent amenities are drawing people back to theatres once again. This has been bolstered by the fact that Hollywood movies are today launched simultaneously in India, besides being dubbed in regional languages. We feel the time is just right to enter the segment and, given our success with family entertainment, this is a natural extension of our business," says Mr Sushilkumar Agrawal, Managing Director, Ultra Movie Channel Ltd.

"The kids' movie genre has not been tapped fully yet in India, and this venture underlines our focus on providing children between four and 14 years with quality information and entertainment," added Mr Agrawal.

Ultra plans to target metros and mini-metros across India, and release all its movies in four languages — English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. The company will release 10 Keystone movies in the next 15 months. The first, Air Bud was released recently and was well received across all territories.

Two other movies, Spymate and Chestnut, currently under production, would be released simultaneously across all international markets, including India, around Christmas this year. Keystone has released eight of the ten movies in the international market with great success, grossing around Rs 400 crore. Ultra hopes to replicate the success in India.

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