For the 7th consecutive year, no one has been chosen for the country's highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Padma Vibhushan For Asha Bhosle, Padma Shri For Madhuri Dixit & M. Shyamalan
For the 7th consecutive year, no one has been chosen for the country's highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna.
"Aishwarya Rai Kanya Mahavidyalaya" On Amar Singh´s Birthday!
The foundation stone of 'Aishwarya Rai Kanya Mahavidyalaya', named obviously after the Bachchan 'bahu', is to be laid tomorrow in Daulatpur village under Fatehpur block of Barabanki district in Uttar Pradesh. The particular date of 27th January has been chosen because it also marks the birthday of Bachchans' family friend, Bhai Amar Singh of Samajwadi Party. Talking to us, retired I.A.S officer, Chandrama Prasad, who is looking after the arrangements, says that the 'Aishwarya Rai Kanya Mahavidyalaya' will later be affiliated to the CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education). The school will be run by veteran actress Jaya Prada's 'Nishtha Foundation' and she will be helped by Amar Singh.
Fans don't know where to draw the line: Anupam Kher
Mumbai, (IANS) Govinda isn't the only star to have been provoked by insolent fans. Veteran actor Anupam Kher has his own horror stories to tell and says such unfortunate incidents happen because people don't know where to draw the line.
"Recently in Baroda, while I was moving through a crowd, a man just pierced my thigh with a bobbin. I was stunned and bleeding. Luckily, I had the presence of mind to catch the man's hand. I asked him just one question. 'Why?' The man just looked at me, scared and confused," Anupam told IANS.
Anupam says that fans sometimes don't know where to draw the line.
"With the heroines, it's even worse. On so many occasions while shooting in public places the crowd has got over-familiar and started passing filthy comments about actresses.
"Why is it that a mob is provoked to behave badly? I'm sure those molesters on New Year's Eve at Juhu would've remained civil if they hadn't been together in a crowd."
Recalling another incident near home, Anupam shudders, "I was caught in a Ganapati procession in Mumbai. First, the passers-by just saw me in my car, smiled and waved. As time passed they got aggressive and began to pound on my car windows and jump on my bonnet. It was really scary. At times like these it's very difficult to keep your cool."
Actor-politician Govinda scorched the headlines recently when he slapped an intruder on the sets of "Honey Hai to Money Hai".
For all those who have been wondering where Anupam has been after the Govinda slapping incident, the actor was shooting in Madhya Pradesh for "Hawai Dada" and phone networks don't work there.
"I'm against physical violence of any kind. But let me also add that Govinda isn't the kind of person who loses his temper easily. I've shot innumerable films with him. I've seen him remain calm through the worst crises.
"The provocation has to be really severe for him to have reacted the way he did. Having said that, I repeat, resorting to violence is no remedy, especially when you're in the limelight. I learnt this the hard way."
"There's a very thin dividing line between adulation and abuse. Those who adore us stars can also get excessively insistent and abusive."
Anupam recalls his own much-quoted incident of physical violence against a journalist many years ago.
"It was a very unfortunate incident, and I apologised publicly. No matter what the provocation is, it's wrong to get physical."
Amitabh buys land for 'Aishwarya' girls' school
The superstar seems to be giving a new twist to his intention of buying land after the Allahabad High Court decided to condone the alleged fraud and forgery through which 2.5 bighas (about 70,000 sq ft) of government land was allotted to him during the Mulayam Singh Yadav regime. The court had cancelled that allotment last year.
Now the superstar has bought some land from private farmers in the district's Daulatpur village, about 40 km from state capital Lucknow, on which he is setting up a high school for girls.
Bachchan professes that his sole intention in buying land was to build an educational institution. On Jan 27, he is to lay the foundation stone for the school to be named after his glamorous daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai.
Hectic preparations are on at the 10-bigha plot that Big B recently purchased from different farmers in Daulatpur village to build what has been christened the 'Aishwarya Rai Bachchan Girls Intermediate College', a school for higher secondary students.
The actor has never explained what attracted him to Barabanki - a place with which he does not have even a remote connection.
Why Bachchan changed his original plan of naming the school after his eminent poet father, the late Harivansh Rai Bachchan, is not known either.
"The school would be a boon for all the girls in this area who cannot traverse some 40-45 km to the nearest existing girls' school," says local village head Raj Kumari Devi, who is as excited as the youth in the village over the prospect of meeting the entire Bachchan family.
Amitabh is to be accompanied by wife Jaya, son Abhishek and Aishwarya. To add political spice to the show, there will be Bachchan family friend Amar Singh, the Samajwadi Party general secretary who was instrumental in getting Bachchan the earlier government land allotment in violation of laws.
Amar Singh is understood to be trying to ensure the participation of Samajwadi Party chief and former chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, besides three former chief ministers - Chandrababu Naidu (Andhra Pradesh), Farooq Abdullah (Jammu and Kashmir) and Om Prakash Chautala (Haryana). They are all members of what is known as the third front, the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA).
In an affidavit sworn before the high court that condoned Bachchan last month of forgery on the ground that he "was not involved in it", Bachchan had stated: "I purchased equivalent land in the same village and offered to donate it for construction of a school; why would I do that if I had any intention to usurp government land by fraudulent means?"
Replying to the state government's charges, the actor further argued: "So what if I am a non-resident of the village or even if my ancestors had not lived there? After all, there is no law to bar a non-resident to acquire land in a UP village."
According to the Uttar Pradesh government chief standing counsel Devendra Upadhaya, who argued the case against Bachchan: "The observation of the high court clearly showed that even the judge did not dispute the fact that some fraud or forgery was committed; but he felt that the surreptitious entry was not manipulated by Bachchan or carried out at his behest."
It looks as though Bachchan's idea behind the allotment was to safeguard the purchase of a huge 6-hectare farm in Pune district of Maharastra, where land revenue laws do not permit ownership of agricultural property by anyone other than a "farmer".
An obliging Uttar Pradesh administration under Mulayam Singh Yadav favoured Bachchan with a land record entry to give him the status of a "farmer". A certificate was promptly issued, allegedly under directions of Amar Singh. Later, on inquiry initiated by the Maharastra administration, Uttar Pradesh officials found the entry had been forged.
With his claim to the Pune farmland nearly forfeited, the mega star is apparently trying to prove that his only intent in acquiring land in Barabanki was to do start the girls' school.
Friday, January 25, 2008
India's first digital entertainment city in Hyderabad
The Andhra Pradesh government has joined hands with a consortium of animation and gaming firms and production houses to set up the project.
Under the public-private partnership initiative, the government and the consortium comprising FXLabs, Suresh Productions, DQ Entertainment and Gemini TV will also open an academy to offer courses in digital entertainment.
The work on the academy will begin in June and the first phase will be ready by December, said an official statement here late Friday.
The proposed digital city will also have incubators for start-up companies to make and test their products.
A special purpose vehicle called Digital Entertainment City Task Force (DECTF), comprising industry leaders and representatives of the government, has been formed. The government will allot 100 to 200 acres of land near Hyderabad, and the project is to be managed by the DECTF.
Aishwarya to pair with Rajnikant in 'Robot'
Aishwarya told the media that she would be pairing with Rajnikant in the movie being directed by Shankar. This will be her second project with Shankar after "Jeans", which released in 1998. She had starred opposite Prashant in "Jeans".
Two weeks ago, Shankar had signed up superstar Rajnikant for the lead role in "Robot". Since then, the media has speculated on Aishwarya or Deepika Padukone for the lead opposite Rajni.
According to the film industry sources, Shankar was in Mumbai with the script and the former Miss World responded positively after "having gone through the script thoroughly".
Even for Shankar's "Sivaji: The Boss", rumour mills had predicted Aishwarya as the female lead opposite Rajnikant, but low-profile Shriya Sharan was roped in at the end.
One of Rajnikant's daughters is also named Aishwarya. After the success of "Sivaji: The Boss", Shankar announced that he will repeat the 57-year-old actor in "Robot" - a Rs.1 billion film, which the industry predicts will be a greater success.
Both Rajni and Shankar are reportedly keen on "Robot" becoming an international success.
Maestro A.R. Rahman will compose the music. The film will be released in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu languages and will be distributed by London-based Ayingaran International.
King Khan, Preity Zinta bag teams in IPL bidding
Mukesh Ambani emerged as the highest bidder bagging the Mumbai team while liquor baron Dr.Vijay Mallya was not far behind when he won the bid for Bangalore. However, a surprising name among the winners of the bid was none other than Preity Zinta who has bagged the Mohali team.
One thing's for certain with such big names from entertainment and business world now associated with this event, apart from top cricketers, it will indeed be a spectacle when the season kicks of somewhere in the middle of this year.
Mallika 50 lakhs ‘n’ Bipasha 90 lakhs
Kareena kapoor celebrates her birthday sans Shahid
This space had informed you that Kareena had celebrated her birthday on the sets of 'Sa Re Ga Ma Pa' along with the launch of the music of 'Jab We Met'. Adding spice to the news is the fact that after the show ended, Kareena was picked up from the venue by none other than Saif Ali Khan.
Saif was reportedly waiting for a good two hours for Kareena to wrap up the music launch event. He did not attend the event, but immediately after the event, he picked up Kareena from the venue and they drove off together in his car. A source says "Saif waited in his car for nearly two hours till Bebo finished the event, after which they left together."
Ben Kingsley reveals his Mumtaz Mahal - Aishwarya Rai bachchan
Sir Ben, one of the world's most honoured actors with four Academy Award nominations for his memorable role of Gandhi, apparently considered Aishwarya over Bengali beauty Bipasha Basu. However, the actor feels that his fans may forget him as Gandhi after his work as Shah Jehan.
"May be for a little while they might," Kingsley smiles, "but I hope to be remembered as Gandhi forever."
Sir Ben also disclosed, "The movie is on the building of the Taj Mahal. The romance will also include Shah Jehan's abject isolation for years in a prison cell. I had spoken to Aishwarya last year while we were working on The Last Legion and she very generously agreed to do the movie with me. My production house is working with a screenwriter on the project. I have very clear ideas about how I want to approach the subject."
Bhumika Chawla ready for wedding bells
According to reports, Bhumika and Bharat will tie the knot on October 25 in Mumbai. The wedding will be on a small scale with family and close friends, including some celebrities from the film industry.
Bhumika was last seen in Feroz Abbas Khan's movie 'Gandhi My Father'.
Life after marriage is wonderful: Aishwarya
"I am feeling wonderful. I am very happy. By the grace of God, everything is wonderful," Aishwarya Bachchan nee Rai said in Cannes where she is set to walk the red carpet with her husband at the film festival.
In perhaps her first interview after her marriage on April 19, the Bollywood actress said, "It's all things good. It's a blessing. And it's a wonderful family," she said, going on to describe Abhishek as "superlative and fantastic".
Aishwarya said she had found wonderful parents in her parents-in-law Amitabh and Jaya. Asked if she had changed after marriage, she said, "No. I am just a normal girl in a wonderful time of my life, a very special time. It's fantastic. It's all things good." Aishwarya said she was at the Cannes Film Festival for a day after which she would continue with her holiday that is at its fag end.
She said she was looking forward to working with husband Abhishek and father-in-law Amitabh in `Sarkar II'. "...Which will be a kind of working with family as we are all related now. It's always a privilege to work with actors like Abhishek and an iconic legend like my father-in-law," Aishwarya said. The Bachchans will also be seen together in Karan Johar's forthcoming project.
Salman Khan in guest appearance in Saawariya
The story of Saawariya is based on Raj Kapoor -Nargis romance.The story revolves around a hindu boy falling in love with a muslim girl.Rumormongers say that Saawariya is the love story of Sanjay Leela Bhansali.He loved a muslim girl but could not marry her due to some reasons.The third song from Saawariya has Salman Khan in guest appearance : Yun Shabnami starts as a slow love ballad set near a mosque. But the number soon picks up tempo and changes gears into a qawalli. Towards the end of the video when the words Saawariya play, you get a glimpse of Salman Khan. Dressed in a traditional, black sherwani his towering screen presence is just unmistakable. But why is Salman suddenly featuring in the promos? Perhaps the Ranbir-Sonam chemistry is simply not enough to take on Shahrukh Khan's 'OMO'.
Sonam Kapoor Rocks
She is beautiful,vivacious, and simple. She is going to be the next Madhuri Dixit of bollywood.Anil Kapoors daughter is hardworking and is ready to learn. Her simplicity will make her the darling of masses.
Hrithik’s Sister Joins Bollywood
Another Roshan joins the line…………..well its not junior Hrithik. There is still time for him. The next to join the movie league is Sunaina Roshan, Hrithik's sister.
(She is on the left side in the picture)
However, she will not be acting; she will be co-producing a movie "Krazzy 4" along with her father Rakesh Roshan. "Sunaina is co-producing Krazzy 4 with me," informs Rakesh Roshan.
"The film is about four mentally unstable people who escape from the mental hospital in order to explore the world. They are out on a one-day trip. The film goes on to show if these four characters are crazy or is it the world that is actually crazy," narrates Roshan.
The bollywood fever has not spared her and like her brother, she also enthralled by the world of Moviemaking has joined the brigade. As it his sister's first movie, and though caught up with lot of work at present Hrithik will be doing an item song. It is not just Hrithik but Sharukh also, who will be doing an item number.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Music Launch of ‘Jodhaa Akbar’
The musical notes of the film have been given by A.R.Rahman who has successfully given the essence of Mughal era in the scores. The music has been released under the newly launched UTV music label.
Although there were celebrities like Amitabh Bachchan, A.R. Rahman, Sonu Nigam, Javed Akhtar, Akbar Khan, Zayed Khan, Ashutosh Gowarikar, Hrithik's wife Suzanne Khan, Shatrughan Sinha, Kulbushan Kharbanda, Raza Murad, among others to graced the function, the couple who stole the limelight was none other than the leading cast of the film, Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. The highlight of the function was the speeches of the stars of the movie on the film and their respective characters in the film.
14th Star Screen Awards
'Taare Zameen Par' proved to be a dream debut for Aamir Khan as the film bagged six main awards including the Best Director (Aamir Khan) which he shared with Shimit Amin for 'Chak De' ,Best Child Actor (Darsheel), Best Story (Amol Gupte), Best Lyricist (Prasoon Joshi), Best Supporting Actor (Aamir Khan) and Best Dialogue.
The best female playback singer award went to Shreya Ghosal for "Guru" while Soham won the Best Male Playback Singer Award for the film Life in a Metro.
Shreya Talpade - Caught in the act
Shreyas also played a lot of pranks with co-star Lina who was quite keen on learning hindi. When the schedule became hectic, Lina like a sweet girl on Talpade's request would go up to Nagesh and say, "Kamine, kya kar raha hai, humme break chahiye (what are you doing? Give us a break). Later, Nagesh would explain what it actually meant.
"It was sheer fun to watch her expression, thereafter. Sadly, she stopped taking lessons from me." says Shreyas, who learned Thai from Lina.
Sonam Kapoor to enter Roshan camp
Apparently, Rakesh was keen to cast Sonam after being impressed by her looks and performance in 'Saawariya' and hence he visited her father Anil Kapoor and spoke to him about casting her. Anil was obviously very thrilled and immediately agreed that Sonam be paired opposite Hrithik in Rakesh's next film.
However, Rakesh has not yet confirmed the news and simply says, "I am still working on the script."
Shruti Hassan ready for her big Bollywood debut
This romantic musical will also be Vasu's son Jackie Bhagnani's debut film. Jackie has trained himself at Levitation, Inc. - that is revolutionizing the stunt industry. He is aiming for the top slot with his debut film.
Vivek Sharma, who has just completed 'Bhootnath' will direct the film. Sajid-Wajid will score the music of the film. Vasu Bhagnani says, "We had a meeting with Sruthi regarding this film. She is being actively considered. I am planning to launch this movie next month".
The daughter of superstar Kamal Haasan and actor Sarika is obviously proud, even grateful, for her genes. "It would never be enough to say how much I have learnt from my parents," says the multi-talented Shruti who is a singer, song-writer and and will soon display her acting talents too.
Shruti has already done the playback for a dance item by Mallika Sherawat in 'Dashavataaram'. She has also sung and written songs for films, after completing her course from the Musicians Institute in Hollywood. Apart from it, she has debuted with an independent music album. The she has a Tamil movie which is to be produced by 'Gnanam films', will be directed by Nishikanth Kamath and the hero is Madhavan. With so much to her credit, the gal surely has hellova talent.
Salman Khan - Guess who is the real one?
"I am really very touched that my fans have chosen me to appear in Madame Tussauds, and hope that the figure brings a lot of enjoyment to Bollywood followers the world over," Salman said.
Salman Khan won the public poll for the staute beating nine other Indian mega stars - including Madhuri Dixit, Hrithik Roshan, Lata Mangeshkar and Abhishek Bachchan.
Airtel Bindass India Concert
Ever-so-funny Sajid Khan hosted the two-hour show which saw some live performances from Shahrukh Khan on title number of 'Mein Hoon Don' along with 'Aankhon Mein Teri' from his latest hit OSO.
Priyanka Chopra set the dance floor afire with her mind blowing performance on 'Aaj ki Raat' from the film 'Don' while Dia Mirza dazzled on 'Where's the Party Tonight?' from the film 'Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna'. Big-mouthed and big (you-know-what) Rakhi Sawant performed on the 'Beedi' number from Omkara.
The 'Dance with SRK Contest' chose three lucky winners to dance with King Khan at the concert. Nine yr old Mumbai kid Viddhi says, "I can't believe that I was invited for the concert and danced with Shahrukh Khan…" 20 year old Ankur from Kolkata says, "Dreams meet reality through the Bindass India concert." Richa from Delhi exclaims, "I was dead nervous was not sure what was happening to me…. had to pinch myself to wake me up."
The concert will be telecast on Bindass on Republic Day January 26.
Katrina Kaif to appear in a Tamil action thriller
However, though Kaif has not appeared in any of the Tamil films as yet, she has done Telugu and Malayalam films. In Malayalam, she played the female lead in the Mammootty starrer, 'Balram Vs Tara Das'.
Yana Gupta in the music video of ‘Groundshaker 2′
The 'Groundshaker 2' album will be launched on February 1 at the Second City Suite, Sherlock Street in Birmingham. The event will reportedly have live performances from some of the artists featured in the album.
Sushmita Sen’s no-nonsense attitude
The actress had initially agreed to do the movie to be directed by Dharmesh Darshan after hearing its narration from the director in August last year. When she was paid advance money out of her total fee of Rs.10.25 million, it was agreed that a bound script would be sent to her in November.
But instead of a script, what she received was a piece of paper in which the director had briefly outlined her role in the movie. Moreover, the role therein was totally different from the one briefed out to her earlier.
Moreover, with Sush backing out from the project, Govinda, the movie's leading man, also walked out of it saying without the actress playing the female lead, the whole concept of the movie would change. And he would not like that.
Hope, this make everyone clear about about Sushmita's don't-take-me-for-granted attitude!
Govinda has no regrets for slapping the man
However, Govinda has no regrets for his action and pleas it as a case of self-defence saying that the man was misbehaving with the artists. Govinda's action is also being supported by two female artists alleging that Santosh had assaulted them on the sets and that Govinda was right in rebuking him.
"I was just standing with another girl on the sets of Money Hai to Honey Hai. That guy was pushing us around. When he was standing near Govinda and started doing the same things, the actor hit him," said one of the girls.
The actor's secretary Shashi Sinha told agencies that Govinda "was provoked by constant disturbance created by the visitor. The man was seated behind Govinda and would continuously hit the chair with his toes whenever the actor would sit down to take a break from the song sequence he was shooting".
Sherlyn Chopra to do the bedroom act for a noble cause
According to PETA India's chief functionary Anuradha Sawhney, the ad will feature Sherlyn in a Victoria's Secret kind of outfit on a set that would resemble a bedroom. Sherlyn would wield whips and chains in the ad.
The theme of the ad, conceptualized by PETA, would be, "whips and chains should be left to the bedroom and not used on animals in circus."
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Amitabh to do voiceover for 'Jodhaa-Akbar'
Once again, Amitabh Bachchan will be doing the voiceover as the narrator in Ashutosh Gowariker's magnum opus "Jodhaa-Akbar", an epic tale of love and the golden period of Mughal history featuring the life of Jalaluddin Akbar and his Hindu queen Jodha.
Asked if he's doing it because of Aishwarya Rai's presence, the Big B demurs: "No, that's not the reason. I had also done the voiceover for Ashutosh Gowariker's 'Lagaan'. In 'Jodhaa-Akbar' I'll be serving as the narrator."
Gowariker, who had to be present at the movie's lavish music release Jan 9 in spite of a bad back, says the Big B was the only choice for the narrator's role.
"It had to be someone who could convey both the gravity and historicity of the era," said the director.
Is Amitabh being brought in because the film's editing needs explanation?
"No, not at all," laughed Gowariker. "It isn't because of the editing at all. It's just that the historical details need to be punctuated. And who better equipped for the task than Amitabh Bachchan?"
Other films where Big B did the voiceover and narration include "Bawarchi", "Balika Badhu", "Shatranj Ke Khilari", "Tere Mere Sapne", "Parineeta" and "Swami".
- IANS
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