MUMBAI: Balaji Telefilms? chief executive officer of Television Manuj Agarwal has quit after spending close to two years in the organisation.

The board of directors has approved the resignation of Agarwal who was heading the television business of the group.

Prior to Balaji Telefilms, Agarwal was chief operating officer at Percept D?Mark, the experiential marketing arm of the Percept Group. Agarwal had replaced Nachiket Pantvaidya who quit Balaji in November 2009.

NEW DELHI: The much publicised television premiere of Vidya Balan starrer The Dirty Picture turned out to be a damp squib as the Information and Broadcast ministry directed Sony Entertainment Television to televise the movie post 11 pm.

The ministry contended that the film could be shown on television only late in the night as it came under the category of adult content.

Following a directive by the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court last week on a petition filed by a city lawyer, the I&B ministry made it clear to Sony that films with any adult content could not be shown at times when children are watching television and reiterated Rule 6(5) of the Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Rules in this connection.

Balaji Telefilms CEO motion pictures Tanuj Garg vented his frustration through micro blogging site Twitter, "It?s unfortunate that even after valid censor certificate being in place, the telecast was held (back). The cuts made to TDP (The Dirty Picture) were done in a manner that would not offend the larger populace, but completely retain the film?s creative integrity. Despite the cuts, forces in Delhi decided to hold the telecast!"

After the Allahabad High Court order, the producers had obtained an order from the Bombay High Court after agreeing to cuts and getting the film re-certified by the Central Board for Film Certification (which is understood to have earlier advised Sony to telecast the film only late in the night).

The film had been certified and released last year with an Adults Only certificate.

Both filmmaker Karan Johar and Tusshar Kapoor have tweeted in similar fashion, pointing out that the film was considered suitable for national awards.

Accordingly, Sony resorted to other programming at 12 noon and at 8 pm by running a scroll which read, "For unavoidable reasons, we regret to inform that the film The Dirty Picture will not be telecast today. Any inconvenience caused is deeply regretted."

While the morning slot was filed with ?Crime Patrol?, the evening slot had the telecast of the film ?3 Idiots?, screened without any commercial breaks.

The film, which has won Vidya Balan the National and several other awards for best actress, is based on the life of sensuous South Indian actress Silk Smitha and has been directed by Milan Luthria for Balaji Telefilms. The film also featured Naseeruddin Shah, Tusshar Kapoor and Emraan Hashmi.

The film, which collected Rs 790 million at the box office, was produced reportedly at a cost of Rs 320 million. The film has won three national awards.

MUMBAI: Seeking to tap a growing demand for trained personnel in India?s vast entertainment industry besides meeting its own needs, Balaji Telefilms is soon going to launch a chain of academies under the banner of Institute of Creative Excellence (ICE) that will train students aspiring for a career in TV and film entertainment industries.

The new academies are likely to come up in Delhi, Kolkata and Hyderabad besides Mumbai where the ICE?s pilot project was launched last year. The academies will offer courses in acting, direction, editing and scriptwriting, sound recording, cinematography and production among others, divulged ICE CEO Anurag Gupta.

The company will employ graduates to work on its content; it will also help meet the needs of the rest of India?s vast entertainment industry. The fees of the academies will range between Rs 300,000 to Rs 600,000 per semester.

Gupta, however, refused to divulge on the kind of investments that will go into the setting up of the academies as a matter of his company?s policy.

ICE offers three-six-month certificate programmes.

MUMBAI: Reliance Broadcast Network (RBNL) has appointed Simmi Karna as the business head for its television content production arm Big Productions.

In her new role, she will be responsible for creation and marketing of shows designed both for regional and Hindi GEC. She will also be responsible for the P&L (profit and loss) of Big Productions.

Karna will report to RBNL CEO Tarun Katial.

Her last stint was with Balaji Telefilms as chief revenue officer. 

On her appointment Katial said, ?Simmi?s vast experience across a variety of genres with her erudite stamp on programming makes her an asset to the organisation. Her ability to ideate and conceptualise basis audience preferences, while ensuring in line with clients? briefs is her strength which will work excellently when coupled with her people management skills to lead the business into its next level of growth.?

On her new role Karna added, ?The television industry is geared for exploratory programs and these are really exciting times for TV in India. RBNL has some great properties for television and I look forward to a challenging and exciting career in television production.?

Over the last 15 years, Karna has worked across television brands like Zee, Channel V and IMG, as a writer and creative director across genres of fiction, non-fiction, sports and fashion.