Everyone in television is talking movies. If not making them then promoting them. After the 2002‘s biggest blockbuster by a mile, Gadar, Zee Telefilms is now all set to promote Telephoto Entertainments latest film Mitr - My Friend in the US.

Mitr is southern star Revathi‘s first directorial venture and is shot largely in Freemont, US.

Telephoto informed the Bombay Stock Exchange today that the feature film, which is scheduled for worldwide release on 14 February, has made a strategic tie-up with Zee TV (USA) for the promotion of the film in the US. The music rights of Mitr have been sold to Universal Music.

It was on Monday that it was reported that Zee hopes to be the first film production company in India to make a live-cum-animation movie Bhagmati. Made with a budget of Rs 430 million, Bhagmati is slated for a May 2002 release and will be the world‘s third such film, after Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Space Jam. Bhagmati involves a team of over 100 animators who have been appointed to create over 7,00,000 animated sketches for the film. The purpose, according to Zee officials, is to make the Western audience aware of India‘s rich heritage and culture.

After the corporate and auto awards, CNBC India, the country‘s fast growing dedicated business news channel, today announced the Mutual Fund awards of the year, in association with BNP Paribas.
Zurich Asset Management, Templeton Asset Management, Templeton India Growth Fund, Pioneer ITI Bluechip Fund Growth, Pioneer ITI Bluechip Fund, K Bond 99 Wholesale Plan Growth, JM Income Fund Growth, Prudential ICICI Balanced Fund Growth, and Alliance 95 Fund Growth will walk away with the top honours at the awards function to be held in Mumbai on 13 February.

Zurich Asset Management and Templeton Asset Management bagged the top CNBC India BNP Paribas Mutual Fund of the Year awards. Zurich won the Fund House of the Year award in the one-year category, while Templeton won the Fund House of the Year award in the three-year category.

Among the open-ended equity diversified funds, Templeton India Growth Fund walked away with the award in the one-year category. The Pioneer ITI Bluechip Fund Growth was the winner in the three-year category and the Pioneer ITI Bluechip Fund was the winner in the five-year category. In the case of open-ended debt or income funds, the K Bond 99 Wholesale Plan Growth was the winner in the one-year category, while the JM Income Fund Growth was the winner in the three-year category. Among open-ended balanced funds, Prudential ICICI Balanced Fund Growth won in the one-year category and Alliance 95 Fund Growth won in the three and five-year categories.

The company, a joint venture of Television Eighteen India Ltd and CNBC Asia, has reportedly also joined hands with Standard & Poor Fund Services (S&P FS) to form a credible platform for rating the entire range of mutual funds schemes existing in the country.

ESPN Software today apparently decided to go after the big boys in its ongoing tussle with the Hinduja Group‘s cable arm InCable Network.

Industry sources say that based on a complaint made by ESPN at the Shivaji Park police station in the central Mumbai suburb of Dadar, a first information report (FIR) was filed this evening against two senior Incable executives - chief executive Ram Hingorani and president Rajiv Vyas.

Apparently this time ESPN took another tack from that adopted on 25 January when two affiliated cable operators, Jagdish Shah and Bimal Navsaria, of Sri Sai Vision Santa Cruz East, were arrested for allegedly stealing ESPN and Star Sports signals. ESPN‘s case in this round of fisticuffs with the MSO seems to be that ultimate responsiblility for all InCable‘s operations - whether that of affiliates, franchises or joint ventures - rests with the heads of the organisation.

On the issue of their possible arrest, sources say anticipatory bail has already been secured.

Neither InCable nor ESPN Software representatives were however available for comment on the issue.

B4U Network has cancelled plans to launch operations in Australia and New Zealand and is instead looking to North Africa as its next area of coverage.

After the launch of operations in Canada in September 2001, B4U was hoping to bring Australia and New Zealand under its ambit as well by December but has cancelled on that for the present because "it is still far too small a market to launch in the current scenario," global chief executive officer Ravi Gupta revealed.

Gupta said B4U had already identified the platform on which it would be launching but declined to give details. However, in most foreign markets B4U beams on both direct-to-home (DTH) service and cable systems. Gupta said that it would take another three months before B4U started airing there. The countries being covered are Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.

Meanwhile, B4U Music which was to go pay in the UK in the beginning of the year has still to do so. Gupta said the modalities were still being worked through but expected it to become effective by March-end. According to reports B4U Music will be offered as a package with Sony Entertainment Television and B4U Movies. The combined pricing of Sony and the two B4U channels has not been decided yet and is being worked out.

Sony and B4U Movies have already entered into a joint pricing agreement in Europe. In the Middle East, B4U is being made available in three bouquets. Star, Zee TV and B4U share a common platform in the Pehla bouquet while only B4U is available in the Alawael network. Mini Pehla carries the music channel.

Once the North Africa feed is launched B4U will have a presence in the UK, US, Canada, Western Europe, Middle East, most of Africa and South Asia, Gupta said.