hill bound: Govind Prasad, Priyanka Trivedi, Prosenjit and Goutam Ghose. Picture by Pradip Sanyalhouse arrest: The sets of Big Brother Germanylate release: A moment from Asterix and the Vikings

nThe sky will take a whole month more to fall on our heads. Asterix and the Vikings, adapted from Asterix and the Normans, will premiere in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore on July 14, French National Day. But Calcutta must wait till August 11 to catch the indomitable Gauls in action on big screen.

?We have acquired 12 prints for the film. It is a costly proposition. So we are looking at the three major cities for a start,? Harish Sharma, film booking manager of Star Entertainment, which distributes the film in India, told Metro.

Calcutta?s turn comes on August 11 with Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Goa. ?Calcutta used to be an important market for English films even 10 years back. But despite the multiplexes, the audience has dropped except for big films,? added Jiten Hemdev, director of Star Entertainment, from Mumbai.

Asterix and The Vikings combines the spirit of the comic strip with state-of-the-art animation techniques produced from more than 100,000 drawings. In the 22 million-euro film, Asterix and Obelix set sail for the dangerous Viking territory to rescue Justforkix, the teenage nephew of the Gaul chief. Not only do they have to fight the Vikings, but they also encounter one big obstacle in Abba, the cute but ruthless daughter of the Vikings chief, with whom Justforkix has fallen madly in love.

The film, produced by M6 Studio, France, is directed by Stefan Fjeldmark and Jesper Moller and has star voices like Paul Giamatti (Sideways), Evan Rachel Wood (Thirteen), Sean Astin (Lord of the Rings) and Brad Garrett (Finding Nemo). It also contains the hit song Let your heart decide by Celine Dion.

There are already two big films running in the halls that are a hit with this age-group ? Krrish and Superman Returns. But the distributors are banking on the two weeks that have passed since their release. ?We cannot keep the film waiting. Another big film Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna comes in August,? Sharma explained.

The French Embassy is also lending its weight to the premiere. In Calcutta, though, the theatres have not been decided on yet. ?It is sure to release in the multiplexes. A major single-screen address is being considered,? revealed an official of Piyali Films, the local distributor.

But Calcuttans can take heart. ?India is the first country to release the film in Asia. In Britain too, it releases next month,? assured Hemdev, signing off with a movie message ? ?See more English films and we will definitely come to Calcutta first!?

nIt?s been a rage in every country it?s been to, and now Big Brother is coming to India. The Endemol format has been bought by Sony and the channel plans to launch the show soon.

For those not familiar with the mega show on international television, Big Brother is a reality show about 12 individuals living for 100 days in a house. The twist is that they will have no contact with the outside world, not even through newspaper, television or mobile. Every week after a round of exacting ?things to do?, one member of the household will be eliminated by the rest of the participants and by audience voting.

?Big Brother is an unscripted soap opera,? Rajesh Kamat, managing director of Endemol India, tells Metro. ?It has rocked more than 70 countries and is already into Season 7 in the UK, Season 6 in Germany and Season 5 in Spain. We have different versions of the show like Big Brother Village where the action takes place in a village or Big Brother Couples where couples and not individuals are staying in the house. In India, we will be having the celebrity version where all the 12 participants will be famous people from the world of TV, films and sport.?

But which celeb would possibly be willing to ?disconnect? from normal life for 100 days and be locked up in a house? ?We also feared that celebrities may not agree but we have been proved wrong as lots of known faces have shown an interest and we are currently selecting the best people,? reveals Kamat.

?But then Big Brother is the biggest reality game show in the world. Just to give one an idea how huge the show is ? we usually set up five to 10 cameras for a reality show, in Big Brother we have a 35-camera set-up!?

Thanks to those cameras, the zillions of footage recorded will be used in spin-offs of the show like Big Brain (where a psychiatrist analyses the actions of a participant), Big Mouth (a talk show where the week gone by is analysed) and Diary Room Uncut (squeezing out confessions from participants).

nIn its bid to look different, Tollywood has added Nepal to its list of exotic outdoors. The snow-capped peaks and placid lakes have provided the backdrop for Ravi Kinagi?s Maryada, pairing Prosenjit with Priyanka Trivedi for the first time.

Back in the city after shooting two song-and-dance sequences in Kathmandu and Pokhra, the cast can?t stop gushing about Nepal?s serene locales. ?It was a fantastic experience. We have shot at sites that had not been exploited in a long time. We shot at the same spot where the famous Hare Rama Hare Krishna sequence was filmed. That apart, the incredibly beautiful lake at Pokhra and the old castles would be hard to find,? said Prosenjit, for whom this was the first trip to Nepal in almost 17 years.

?I was apprehensive about going to Nepal because of the political problems. But the people were very warm, and the serenity of the place, especially the sunrises and sunsets, was just right for our shoot,? added Priyanka, for whom the romantic family drama marks her return to tinsel town after a two-year break.

Rolling out the red carpet for the film fraternity at a gathering on Tuesday evening, consul-general of Nepal Govind Prasad said: ?We can definitely say that the country is now safe and secure as a shooting destination. The Film Development Corporation of Nepal is ready to extend all support required to carry out a shoot here.?

Also present at Tuesday?s get-together was film-maker Goutam Ghose, who also wishes to shoot in Nepal.

Through with 90 per cent of the shoot, the Maryada team will head for Hyderabad soon to shoot the climax of the film set for an October release.