BANGALORE: Costa Coffee India (Costa) has started promoting the Bolllywood film ‘I am’ in some of the 75 of its select outlets in India. The movie will be released on April 29. A part of the film’s crew – director Onir, actors Juhi Chawla and Sanjay Suri launched Costa’s ‘Ice Cold Costa’ range of 21 beverages to beat the summer heat.
Onir’s directorial ventures includes the film ‘My brother Nikhil’.
The coffee chain plans to double its outlets this year in India revealed company sources, as also to up the number in Bangalore from 15 to 30.
Industry sources say that no money has changed hands for the co-promotion. The coffee chain gains because of the celebrity launch of its new beverage range and the movie gains from the promos at the coffee chain’s cafes’.
“I am is a film that has been partly funded through social media sites like facebook and Twitter. Onir requested people to become co-owners of the film by donating anything from Rs 1,000 upwards,” revealed Suri.
“The below the line costs of the film are around Rs.30 million. We have a profit sharing arrangement with the actors by way of fees,” revealed Onir. “We’ve collected around Rs. 10 million through social media, which was our target, the rest of the funding has been manage by Juhi Chawla. So in effect, the movie has about 400 co-owners,” he added.
“The number of prints will be decided on Tuesday (April 25) next. We have about 110 prints of which around 30 are non-digital for some theaters in India and Australia. We may go up to 150 prints. PVR is doing the distribution for us,” further revealed Onir during a discussion with indiantelevision.com
“‘I am is about issues and dilemmas that bruise the modern Indian society. Unravelling and exploring these tribulations, the film unfolds many a tale of individuals struggling to find their identity, and uphold their dignity in a world that is callous, cold and unsympathetic,” said Suri.
“Shot in four different cities across India, I am is a fusion of stories where the protagonists share a common dream – a desire to regain their lives, to regain an identity which has been taken away from them, “ said Chawla.
The film runs through stories of four people –Aifa, Megha, Abhimanyu and Omar. Besides Chawla and Suri, the star cast of the film includes Manisha Koirala, Nandita Das, Rahul Bose, Purab Kohli, Abhimanyu Singh and Arjun Mathur among others. Suri and Onir are its co-producers and Juhi Chawla, Jay Mehta, Sangita Modi, Anish Modi its associate producers.
