AXN to screen action movies at Central Plaza, Mumbai

In a bid to widen its franchise, AXN, the action-adventure channel from Sony Entertainment Television (SET), plans to assume a more on-ground approach with a weeklong festival set to start on November 15, 2002 at Central Plaza, Mumbai.

In its schedule are Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Ocean's 11, Black Hawk Down and Mission Impossible among 28 movies that will be screened at the theatre. The Mumbai screening is the third leg of the Action Movie Festival that has so far visited Delhi and Pune.

"It is a 10-city tour, into its third year," says Rohit Bhandari, assistant vice-president, SET. "The aim is to extend the AXN experience from television sets to a much broader canvas where viewers can be converted into consumers on the ground," he explains. "It is an attempt to connect with audiences and help them understand the AXN brand better," he adds.

Supporting the channel in this initiative are brands such as Tata Indica, Parle Krackjack, Zip Telecom and Times Internet who will not only strut their stuff during the movie festival but are making their presence felt at a series of road shows around some of the high-profile colleges in the city. These shows, which started off on November 12, 2002, wind up today (November 14, 2002). "They are meant to create excitement and awareness for the festival besides providing an opportunity for the winners to avail of free movie passes," says Bhandari.

In fact, entry to the movie festival is possible through the road shows only where an entourage of young men and women will check the ‘action quotient' of bystanders at colleges such as St. Xavier's, National, Sophia and St. Andrew's. "Winners get redeemable coupons, which assures them viewership of a movie of choice," claims Bhandari.

Meanwhile, the channel is also gearing up for the premiere of the India Special series of reality show, Who Dares Wins. The programme will debut on November 17, 2002, at 8.00 pm with repeats on Mondays at 9.00 pm and Wednesdays at 11.00 pm. "We are fairly charged up about the show," reiterates Bhandari. "The production went on excellently well, the crowd at various venues was well behaved and overall participation was good," he asserts. "There was great excitement among people who participated on the show as well as those who cheered on, which will be obvious during telecast," he adds.

The India special series will conclude in the last week of December with the final episode to be telecast on December 29, 2002. © 2002 agencyfaqs!