Yuvraj is a bundle of energy: Bipasha Basu

Bollywood actress Bipasha Basu had a great time working with cricketer Yuvraj Singh while shooting an ad campaign.

"It was fun and Yuvi is a bundle of energy. It feels great working with him," Bipasha said about shooting an advertising campaign with him for Reebok.

Asked about the brand, she said: "The stylish clothes and patterns are amazing. Being a fitness conscious person myself I associate with it as it is the kind of clothing I wear. I am sporty person and these clothes are a part of my life."

The company spokesperson said there was great chemistry between the actress and the cricketer during the shoot Monday.

"The chemistry between the duo is evident. And the combination looks classy not just in this ad campaign, but for the other sub-brands too. We will have the classic, rugby looks among others that will be revealed."


Courtesy:hindustantimes.com
Complete artical HERE

Shibani to rock Hollywood with her singing

Famous Bollywood singer, Shibani Kashyap, who rose to fame with her chartbuster number 'Ho Gayi Hai Mohabbat Tumse', is all set to rock Hollywood with her melodious voice.

The 'Zinda hoon main' singer composer has just signed for a Hollywood movie Blood Money being produced by US based Golden Gate Creations Limited, in which she will compose and sing the songs.

"Well, it feels nice to work in different countries, know the culture and musical tastes of the people across borders," says the elated composer, who is on a spree to add international numbers in her list.

"I am really excited for this new Hollywood venture. The producer and writer of "Blood Money" are of Indian origin.

They were looking for an Indian voice for their project. Offer came my way and I accepted," she says.

The corporate, political thriller named Blood Money is a cause-oriented film about financial terrorism. It will be shot in various locations which include India, North America and other Asian locations. The film will combine realistic cinema with drama and songs of Bollywood in a unique mix of dramatic and popular sensibilities.


Courtesy:screenindia.com
Complete artical HERE

Girish Karnad elected as UNESCO ambassador

Renowned playwright and actor Girish Karnad has been elected as one of the world theatre ambassadors by UNESCO's International Theatre Institute.

The Paris-based organisation has extended this unique honour to about a dozen living artists including British theatre and film director Peter Brook, Italian playwright Dario Fo, French theatrical legend Ariane Mnouchkine and German choreographer Pina Bausch.

Karnad, 70, is considered one of the most outstanding playwrights of contemporary India and his plays have been translated and produced in several languages over the past 40 years.

Karnad has been honoured with Sangeet Natak Akademi (1972), Padma Shri (1974) and Padma Bhusan (1992).


Courtesy:screenindia.com
Complete artical HERE

I deliberately choose difficult roles: Hrithik Roshan

Bollywood movie star Hrithik Roshan says he deliberately chooses difficult roles such as the Mongol emperor in the new historical romance ``Jodha Akbar'' because they challenge him to excel as an actor.
`
Jodha Akbar,'' scheduled to debut later this month, is based on a 16th century romance between the emperor and Hindu princess Jodha Bai, played by Bollywood beauty Aishwarya Rai.

``I really want to do films that scare me so much that I won't be able to afford it if they don't fare well,'' Roshan said in an interview in the latest issue of Cine Blitz magazine on Wednesday.

``It is only when it seems to threaten the value of my job would I be consciously giving it my best,'' he said.

But Roshan said what he loathed most playing Akbar was wearing a lot of heavy jewelry and armor. He said it was awkward to wear earrings and chunky necklaces that were needed to reflect the royalty of the 16th century.

``How will you fight when you cannot even stand up? What if you fall with all that weight on you?'' he asked.

Roshan has enjoyed several blockbuster successes. Over the past two years he has played a superhero who glides over water in ``Krrish,'' and a smooth-talking thief in ``Dhoom 2.''

Courtesy:thehindu.com
Complete artical HERE

Box office 2007: Year of experiments

The year goes down in Bollywood history as the ‘Year of Living Dangerously'. Forget the regular hits like Om Shanti Om, Namastey London, Partner and Heyy Babyy .

These were the usual blockbusters that one finds in Bollywood's annual roster, year after year. What made 2007 special was the spirit of Bollywood. Like a new--age Columbus, it embarked boldly on a voyage into the unknown, caring little about the common concerns of cash inflows and revenue curves.

The idea was the lodestar which guided this doughty ship into unchartered terrain, choppy waters and swirling whirlpools. And the end result of all this experimentation was a 'neo--wave' cinema that boasted of films like Bheja Fry, Black Friday , Parzania, Johnny Gaddar, Manorama Six Feet Under and perhaps, the biggest venture of them all, Taare Zameen Par.

Think about it and you will realise that even the two biggies that charmed your heart Chak De India and Jab We Met were formula--busting films.

Chak De struck an instant chord and became the national slogan with its underplayed celebration of patriotism, only because this brand of desh--bhakti was so different from the chest--beating, flag--waving nationalism of films like Border , Gadar and even Lagaan .

Similarly, Jab We Met turned the Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge formula on its head, merely because its lead characters steered clear of the stereotype, as did the dhamakedar dialogues which crackled with the daily banter of today's youth.

Films like Dharm, Black Friday and Parzania displayed the power of docu--features and showed how cinema could still sell soul--stirring messages about peace, humanity, oneness and tolerance. Bheja Fry lead the bratpack with its attempts to redefine comedy completely and make the laugh act brain teasing rather than rib tickling.

Of course, India still laughed on the banana--peel skids ( Partner, Heyy Babby, Dhamaal and Dhol ). But the Rajat Kapoor--Vinay Pathak banter gave the comic a cutting edge of satire and black humour. But the real teasers of the maverick bunch were two films which made the criminal king.

Johnny Gaddar and Shootout at Lokhandwala stood out for their ekdum human insights into evil, making the anti--hero alluring, yet wicked.

Surely, Vivek Oberoi's crook act in Shootout at Lokhandwala and Neil Mukesh's Johnny Gaddar are the two most mesmerising characters of the year in the 'ignoble' class, even as Shah Rukh Khan's coach Kabir Khan in Chak De India and Aamir Khan's Nikumb Sir in Taare Zameen Par are the hottest characters in the 'noble' category.

The two managed to leave a lasting impact, despite doing away with the usual romantic track that Bollywood heroes can't seem to do without.

In the girlie category, our vote for hot and happening would go to the Chak De girls who showed what woman power was all about; and then for the two debutants, Deepika Padukone and Sonam Kapoor who matched dew fresh charisma with Ranbir Kapoor and Neil Mukesh, the male debutants of the year.

Courtesy:timesofindia.com
Complete artical HERE

Shilpa admits to dating London-based Indian millionaire

It seems that Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty knew what she did last summer in Britain and she has finally admitted her relationship with 32-year-old London born Indian millionaire Raj Kundra.

For the first time, in an interview to 'Daily Mail', Shetty has revealed that the new relationship brought a long period of loneliness to an end and transformed her life.

"I am dating somebody. I have known him for some time but I have only just started to know him better. I hope he will be the one but I don't want to say too much because it is still very early on in our relationship," she said.

Though she has not named her new love, the daily claimed that it's none other than the London-born entrepreneur of Indian origin whose former wife had blamed Shetty for wrecking their marriage.

"I'm not going to deny that it's him but please don't say it is because I don't want to frighten him off," she said.

"He respects and understands what I do and it is nice to be cared for. I have been very lonely for a very long time and it is nice to know I have somebody to look forward to seeing at the end of the day. At last I feel normal.

"It has been an incredible year for me but I have also been very lonely. I have been away from home, in a foreign country and I haven't had a boyfriend for a very long time.

I need someone to woo me. Magazines are always saying I am beautiful and millions of men want to woo me, but none has come forward because they are all so scared.

"I can go to a party and sense that men really like me but they are in awe of me and won't come and ask me for a date. Being an Indian actress is bad enough but now I'm a celebrity in the UK it's too much. It would take a really secure man to handle the media attention.

"I'm eulogised by a lot of men, but they wouldn't take me home to meet their mothers," she said.

Courtesy:thehindu.com
Complete articalHERE

I find Mallika's act a bit ungraceful:Sonali Kulkarni

t all began with Mallika taking an unusually long time to go up on stage, after her name was called. After this delay, it was time for the lamp to be lit. While Jiah and Sonali patiently waited for their turn, Mallika took the candle and lit all the wicks herself, much to the surprise of the stars and Yukta Mookhey, the anchor of the show. If this wasn't enough, Mallika did not even agree to speak when asked to. When goaded, she just said, 'I Love Delhi, Delhi rocks!' NT asks Sonali Kulkarni what she thought of this episode.

The vibes
Sonali Kulkarni, who is enjoying the attention she is getting post-Jhalak Dikhla Jaa says that the Delhi crowd has been good to her. "They not only voted for me in large numbers, but also gave me a huge ovation when I went up on stage. It feels very good," she says. And what about the Mallika episode? To this she says, "I found her act a bit ungraceful. I allow people to behave the way they want to, but since we all belong to the same fraternity, a little graciousness on her part wouldn't have hurt."

Controversial scene
Besides the Mallika controversy, Sonali, it seems has her hands full explaining the seminude scene in her recently released film. So how is she handling the flak? A very calm Sonali says, "I have enough tolerance and am taking it all in my stride. As far as my seminude scene goes, there's much hue and cry about nothing. In fact, I have a grouse against the people who handled publicity of this film. When I have only a guest appearance, they had no business to use that footage to promote their film."

Courtesy:timesofindia.com
Complete artical HERE

Diwali in jail was saddest moment of my life:Saju baba

Sanjay Dutt, in his first one-to-one interview after being released from Pune's Yerwada Jail has spoken out candidly about his experience in jail. Spending Diwali in jail, he says, was one of the saddest moments of his life.

“Diwali was a really sad moment of my life, that I couldn't be with the family and I was locked up and I could see crackers bursting. I prayed and I meditated. I thought of Dad and I thought of Mom,” Dutt recounted.

“Freedom is something everyone takes for granted. But it’s something which you can't buy, as much of money as you may have. So it’s great to be free,” he said.
On being in jail, he said it’s not a good place to be in, but if one looks at the positive side, that’s the only connection with God that is direct.

“When I first went there, you know you don’t feel hungry and they sat there and said 'You got to eat', and I said 'Is it because I am an actor?' They said, 'No, we do it with all the prisoners, everybody is the same here.' It really made me feel good,” he said.

“There is a good part and there is a bad part. The bad part is that you have to be locked up at a certain hour, so I mean you are locked up at 6 whether it is Diwali or Independence day - that time you are locked up at 3 in the afternoon till the next day.

Courtesy:ibnlive.com
Complete artical HERE

KING KHAN Teacher if not acting

In interview with CNN-IBN Delhi bureau Chief Bhupendra Chaubey Mr. Shah Rukh Khan said if he weren’t acting, he would be teaching it. Following are the excerpts:
Bhupendra Chaubey: I am going to do what your friend Karan Johar does on his show Koffee with Karan. I am going to throw some questions your way in what we have also called the “rapid fire” round. Here goes: If Shah Rukh Khan had an option, would he marry Karan Johar?
Shah Rukh Khan: Aah…No. (laughs)
Bhupendra Chaubey: Okay. If Salman Khan came to you looking for some advice for his broken heart, what would that advice be?
Shah Rukh Khan: I’ll say get a six pack like me, forget the broken heart.
Bhupendra Chaubey: May be you could also say ‘give up smoking’ too?
Shah Rukh Khan: No, he doesn’t smoke as much as I do

Courtesy:IBNLive
Complete artical HERE

Ashutosh Gowariker unveiled his film Jodhaa Akbar’s trailer

In much hype and hoopla, Ashutosh Gowariker unveiled his film Jodhaa Akbar’s trailer exclusively for the media on Oct 10. Why did Hrithik and Ash didn’t grace the occasion was the question on everyone’s mind. However the question which kept haunting more was the one about Hrithik Roshan and his Akbari-thaat !

Post Dhoom2, Hrithik suddenly going the Mughal way was a little difficult to digest. From sporting low waist jeans and a bare chest to becoming the Mughal emperor Akbar... Hrithik’s transformation took us by surprise. Good he looked, which he always does... but would he be able to portray Akbar the emperor with the same panache the way Prithviraj Kapoor did in Mughal-E-Azam ?

The modest Ashutosh Gowariker gives a perfect reply. “I’ve not tried to outdo Mughal-E-Azam in this film. That film is a classic and is beyond compare. Also I regard Prithviraj Kapoor as the finest actors of Indian cinema and what he has done in Mughal-E-Azam will stay in our hearts forever. However Hrithik cannot be compared to Prithviraj Kapoor as he has played young Akbar in the film unlike Prithviraj Kapoor who played an ageing Akbar.”

Courtesy:movies.indiatimes.com
Complete artical HERE

Amitabh Bacchan turns 65 today

Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan turns 65 on Thursday.
The year 2007 has seen the highs and lows and all that lies in between for Big B

.His first release in 2007 was Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Eklavya. While the audiences were less than warm in their reception of the royal guard, the film is now westward bound, perhaps to the Oscar red carpet
.His romancing the very young Jiah Khan in Ram Gopal Varma's Nishabd was something Bachchan fans did not want to see. Silence, quite predictably, greeted the onscreen steam.

Happily things got a little better in the next film, Cheeni Kum, where he was again wooing someone much younger. The film was sweet enough for the audiences to swallow.Interestingly Cheeni Kum released alongside his other film- the multi starrer Shootout at Lokhandwala. While the film fared well, Big B shrugged off any credit since his was a very small role.

Then came Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, which was easily the biggest flop of the year.But everyone forgot Jhoom when Ram Gopal Varma's much talked about ode to Sholay hit the silver screen.

Far from bursting onto the screens, this was stamped out by the audience. Amitabh may have always wanted to play Gabbar, but Babban did not quite match up to either cinema's favourite villain or indeed his own role as Jai.

Courtesy:ndtvmove.com
Complete artical

Diana Hayden shifts base to London

After trying her luck in Bollywood for a couple of years with some insipid films like, Ab Bas, All alone, Tehzeeb, she realised that Mumbai wasn’t doing anything for her filmi career.

Diana Hayden has recently shifted base to London. The former model and Miss World (1997) is spending very little time in Mumbai these days. After trying her luck in Bollywood for a couple of years with some insipid films like, Ab Bas, All alone, Tehzeeb , she realised that Mumbai wasn’t doing anything for her filmi career. Says a source, “Diana has retained her Santacruz flat. But she hardly stays in Mumbai.”

Diana was unavailable for comment, but her ex-boyfriend Rajeev Singh (the first one to bag the Mr World title from Asia) confirmed that she is spending most of her time in London of late.
“Diana has a house in London. So, she is quite comfortable with the city,” he says.
He adds, “Diana has a clutch of good offers in London and America. She flies to the US quite often. She may host a show on TV very soon.”

Rajeev says, “Asian faces are very much in demand these days. It’s easy to get good offers from theatre and television. I recently did two plays — Other People's Money and Butterfly.”
Singh and Hayden have been in touch though they are officially not a couple anymore. They broke up about a year and a half back but have been good friends since then.

Courtesy:Times of India
Complete artical HERE

Juhi Bubber direct CRY street play

Not even three months into her marriage to filmmaker Bijoy Nambiar, theatre personality Juhi Babbar is back to where she truly belongs — on the stage.

But hang on! The actress isn’t going to be seen in a play, au contraire she will be wielding the director’s baton for a play that she has created for CRY (Child Rights and You) that is based on child labour. And interestingly, most of the cast members of the play are CRY volunteers!

“CRY came to me with an offer to develop a street play for them last year, but over the last few months the street play evolved into a full-fledged one-hour 10-minute play that will premiere on the 12th of this month,” says Juhi, who adds that it was quite a struggle getting the volunteers to grasp the nuances of acting.

“So to help them out I have three professional actors from my theatre group acting in it as well. I think that theatre is a great medium to get the message across that children have as much rights as adults.
”
The play titled Pukar will not only deal with issues arising from child labour like abuse and illiteracy, but will also delve deeper into aspects such as trafficking and forced labour that cause small children to be taken away from villages and brought to the city to work. “We hope to generate as much awareness about the cause as we possibly can,” says Juhi as she puts the finishing touches to her latest endeavour.

Courtesy:Timses of India
Complete artical HERE

Vividh Bharati gone down to memory lane

Bharati is celebrating its 50th anniversary and it has gone down memory lane and tuned in to Bollywood's most famous voices which have been featured on the radio channel. Amitabh Bachchan lent his voice to the channel during his struggling days as a radio broadcaster. In fact, he isn't the only Bollywood voice that comnemunicated to every nook and cranny of India through a radio programme.

Some other priceless anecdotes given out to listeners by our best-known baritones are Lata Mangeshkar and Raj Kumar. On their 50th year, Vividh Bharati revealed the changes in technology that time has brought in. Yet, one can't help but linger on the lissome voices of some of India's best-known radio hosts.As dust gathers on the first radio transmitting equipment, it makes one rewind to the good old days of the radio.


Yet the eye opener in this inconspicuous office is the fascinating music record library with its awe-inspiring collection. A record of Yehudi Ki Beti in 1933 is the first record to have entered the Vividh Bharati Library. Since then, it has stored 22,000 gazals, geets and Hindi film songs, that have entertained people in the remotest parts including reaching out to the soldiers stationed at the border areas.

Courtesy:IBNLive
Complete artical HERE

Kamal Hasan's Dasavatharam released in Oct

Kamal Hasan's Dasavatharam packs tremendous energy into a unique screenplay and visual imagery that has impressed not just the film industry, but Chief Minister M.Karunanidhi as well
.
The films publicists say Dasavatharam is so full of interesting themes that Mr.Karunanidhi apparently called up Vairamuthu who was in Australia and conveyed his enthusiasm.
"The fact that the Chief Minister enjoyed the pictures with youthful enthusiasm and pinched my cheek with affection as if I were a kid is equivalent to celebrating the success of Dasavatharam with a huge function," says Kamal.

Some of the thrills in Dasavatharam include a gripping fight sequence featuring Kamal Hasan in a face-off with himself. Hollywood action director Joop took 20 days to shoot this sequence. The other piece of action is Kamal in a chase sequence in Chidambaram. The adrenaline here flows thanks to Thyagarajan Master, an experienced associate of Kamal
.
If Rajnikan's Sivaji created a new standard for the grandeur of sets in the Chennai film industry, Dasavatharam may yet best it with two that are being built, again by Thotta Tharani. Sets are being created with 100 workers in Chennai for two songs, which cost close to Rs.three crores, according to the publicists
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Asin makes Dasavatharam unique not just with colour, but by giving her own voice to her character, which the producers say is her very first such move. She has a 'brahmin' accent to boot. Kamal has dubbed in 10 different voices for 10 characters and the subtleties of each character have been brought out without digital manipulation, according to the audiographer, Sridhar

Courtesy"The Hindu
Complete artical HERE.

Kareena Kapoor faith in Shahid Kapur

After lying low for a couple of months, actor Kareena Kapoor is back with a bang for some good and some bad reasons. On one hand the actor is all gung ho about her flick Jab We Met while on the other hand she has surprised everyone by hooking up and partying hard with none other than Saif Ali Khan.

CNN-IBN Entertainment Rajeev Masand chats with Kareena Kapoor on her life and movies with Shahid Kapur.

Rajeev Masand: At a time like this when publicity plays such an important role in a film’s marketing do you think the news that you and Shahid are not together anymore likely to positively or negatively affect the film’s box office figures?

Kareena Kapoor: Nothing affects a film’s box office except its script. If a movie is good people will walk out saying it’s great, whether it’s 10 or 100 people. It’s just the script and the way promos are being projected and that’s about it. That is how people are going to judge a movie. I don’t think anything else really matters. You can trust me on that.
Rajeev Masand: This is your fourth film with Shahid. You two have really grown up doing movies together, haven’t you

Courtesy:IBNLive
Complete artical HERE

Former boyfriend and husband are face to face

The atmosphere was pretty tense at filmmaker Apoorva Lakhia’s 40th birthday party recently. Aishwarya’s former boyfriend Vivek Oberoi and husband Abhishek Bachchan were coming face-to-face, after all. Lakhia had thrown the arty at his new-found friend Zayed Khan’s pad.
Vivek Oberoi headed straight to the bar where Abhishek was holding on to his drink. Both exchanged greetings, much to the disappointment of the Bollywood janta.
An eyewitness recounts, “We never expected the two of them to have a conversation. While Vivek was forthcoming, Abhishek was extremely cordial too. They were very friendly to each other but Vivek didn’t dare to ask Abhishek about Ash.”


Courtesy:Times of India
Complete aratical HERE

Sherlyn on Mallika Sherawat

Ask Sherlyn what comes to her mind when we talk about Mallika and she says, “Two things come to my mind: Fire in the belly, and gut instinct.
She’s a fiery girl all right. And she knows what she wants.Go-getter Sherlyn Chopra may not have the big banners in her kitty, but she’s sure managed to be in the limelight with her hard-hitting quotes and daring photo-sessions. In fact, you can’t help but compare her to another firebrand, Mallika Sherawat. Ask Sherlyn what comes to her mind when we talk about Mallika and she says, “Two things come to my mind: Fire in the belly, and gut instinct.


Courtesy:Times of India
Complete artical HERE

Sallu Khan in Madame Tussauds museum

After Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai, it’s now Salman Khan who is set to make his presence felt at Madame Tussauds, London’s most popular tourist destination. Salman will be the latest star from Bollyland to have a wax statue unveiled at the prestigious museum.
According to sources, the wax statue will be viewed by audiences after Salman Khan himself will travel to London to do the honour of unveiling it. Bobby Khan who heads the Bollywood gallery at Madame Tussauds has had talks with Salman who happens to be very excited with the idea. Salman Khan is extremely popular outside India and will only be the fourth celebrity from India to have a statue which was to happen at some point of time.


Courtesy:Times of India
Complete artical HERE

Indian idol fans clash

A bandh has been called for in Darjeeling on Saturday after fans of Indian Idol Prashant Tamang went on rampage in Siliguri.

They claim that they were upset with alleged derogatory comments made by a Delhi based radio jockey, but the real picture seems to be one of local vandalism. Now the West Bengal Chief Minister has called for action against the radio channel.

At least eight people were injured in clashes between fans of Tamang, who was recently crowned the winner of the third edition of Indian Idol, and a group of locals in West Bengal's Siliguri district.

About 5000 fans were carrying out a rally to protest against the alleged derogatory comments made against Tamang by the radio jockey.
The protesters entered into a scuffle with some patients and their relatives at the Siliguri District Hospital while on their way to lodge a complaint to the district administration.

The protesters have demanded that the FM broadcaster be arrested immediately and brought to Darjeeling hills for a trial within three days, failing which the Gorkhas would take ‘appropriate’ measures.
A curfew has also been imposed in the Siliguri sub-division. The West Bengal government has said that it will take legal action against the concerned FM station and the radio jockey

News Courtesy: Ibnlive