Asin’s secrecy to tick with the Khans

Actor Asin had a dream debut in Bollywood with AR Murugadoss's remake of a Tamil superhit film, Ghajini, where she was paired opposite Aamir Khan. It went on to become one of the highest grossing films of the year. Just when she had become hot property, Asin followed it up with another big banner film, London Dreams opposite Salman Khan. Her next release is also again with Salman.

The latest Khan, apparently, to co-star with her now is actor Shah Rukh Khan in a yet-to-be announced Chetan Bhagat's adaptation of his novel, Two States. While a lot of actresses spend years in this industry trying to get films opposite the three Khans, Asin seems to have done it within three years of her debut.

Though Asin is yet to make a mark for her acting abilities, she's still one of the names to reckon with today. Explaining why Asin is the preferred choice over other young actresses around today, Amod Mehra, trade analyst says, "Her biggest plus point is the fact that she looks Indian. The innocence clubbed with Indian looks is the perfect ingredient for a Hindi film actress. Besides, she's also one of the top names in the South which gives her a certain credibility. Katrina Kaif is a top heroine today, but she never looked Indian."

Harish Bijoor, brand specialist says Asin's bubbly image is what works best for her. "Most brand personifications of actors are not just about their roles. Asin has done young, bubbly, vivacious roles till date and so her ads too see her play similar characters. Her vibrant, irreverent image helps her. She is much more than just a beautiful face, and it also helps to be an established star in the South."

Dabangg bags best popular film at 58th National Film Awards

Chulbul Pandey and his belt grabbing moves that went on to become the most popular last year has now got an official recognition. Salman Khan-starrer Dabangg has got a National Film Award for being the year's most popular film. Vishal Bharadwaj's Ishqiya's music too were rated among the best for the 58th National Film Awards that were announced on Thursday.

Dabangg got the Best Popular Film providing Wholesome Entertainment. The film was seen as answering the need of cinegoers for entertainment rooted in Indian soil. However, it was Malyalam film Adaminte Makan Abu (Abu, son of Adam) which bagged the Best Film Award for the year 2010 indicated the awards trend shifting back from the popular to art-house cinema.

Known for playing comical roles Adaminte Makan Abu's actor Salim was impressive with his stunning serious role which established him as the best actor this year. Salim had a deep, restrained performance of a simple man with an unshakable belief in his quest for salvation. He shared the Best Actor award with Dhanush (Aadukalam), son-in-law of Rajinikanth, for his raw, nuanced portrayal of a cocky young man who learns lessons about life the hard way.

The best actress award too had two winners – Tamil actress Saranya Ponvannan (Thenmerkku Paruvakkatru) and Marathi heroine Mitalee Jagtap Varadkar (Baboo Band Baaja). Both women portrayeddd picture of two mothers whose concern for bettering the lives of their children in the face of untold hardship – Mitalee for her role as a mother who strives to realise through her son her dreams of a better future, and Saranya for performing as a fiercely combative single mother who shields her son to the point of sacrifice.

Three Marathi films were selected for awards in different categories. Marathi film Baboo Band Baaja bagged the Indira Gandhi Award for the best debut film of a director. Among other Marathi films, Champions was the best film on social issues, while Mee Sindhutai Sapkal got a special jury award for a powerful cinematic presentation of an epic journey of an abandoned woman who refused to become a victim and in the process not only transformed her own life but also the lives of many others.

The best music direction awards was shared between Vishal Bharadwaj (Ishqiya) and Issak Thomas Kottakapally (Adaminte Makan Abu). Ishqiya also won awards for best female playback singer (Rekha Bhardwaj) and for best audiography. Rishi Kapoor's Do Dooni Char was the best film in the Hindi language category.

The Feature Films jury was headed by J.P. Dutta, Non-Feature Films jury was headed by A.K. Bir and Best Writing on Cinema jury was headed by Ashok Vajpeyi. According to J.P. Dutta, 161 eligible entries were received in the feature film category, which was the highest received so far.

Indian film gains international distributor

TVF International has taken the worldwide distribution rights of Shrenik Rao’s 54-minute documentary Mugabe’s Zimbabwe, a path-breaking film on Robert Mugabe’s rule in Zimbabwe. The film has been featured as a hot pick of the year in the Factual Entertainment Section of the Cannes Film Festival.

Mugabe’s Zimbabwe narrates a terrifying story, plotting Robert Mugabe’s three decades of bloodshed, terror and corruption and documents and how he turned hope into desolation. The documentary, made in English, will now be adapted in various languages across the world and be featured on multiple media platforms.

The film is thoroughly researched, with unprecedented access to Zimbabwe’s deputy prime minister, vice presidents, governor of Reserve Bank, former Archbishop of Bulawayo and UK’s former secretary of state for international development etc. Commenting on taking up the film for worldwide distribution, TVF International Director Leila Monks said, "TVF International is really pleased to be working with Dolsun Media distributing their film Mugabe's Zimbabwe."

Shot on location in Zimbabwe, England, Scotland and India, the film is an enquiry into how Zimbabwe collapsed dramatically after it gained independence 30 years ago.

More meta than ever in Scream 4 which is almost as much as fun

Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and Ghostface are back in a dizzyingly self-aware fourth entry to the horror franchise

Wes Craven totally gave at the office, when it comes to reinventing the horror genre. He's done it three times -- with the drive-in classics "The Hills Have Eyes" and "Last House on the Left" in the '70s, with the original "Nightmare on Elm Street" franchise in the '80s (and wasn't he smart to avoid the abysmal 2010 reboot?) and with the "Scream" trilogy in the '90s. Asking him to do it all over again, at age 71, in a movie that's a sequel to a sequel to a sequel and that's an exercise in not just postmodern nostalgia but nostalgia for postmodernism, well, that's just asking too much. I mean, isn't it?

The fact that Craven almost pulls it off in "Scream 4," a movie that's somewhat entertaining, occasionally scary and only sporadically migraine-inducing in its level of Jesuitical, self-referential cleverness is -- OK, no, not miraculous. That's a cliché. It's almost really cool, without quite being really cool. If you viewed the laffs and thrills of the original "Scream" series through a delighted scrim of adolescent self-awareness, then "Scream 4" will probably provide an enjoyable return visit to Woodsboro High, whose student body metastatically feeds on horror movies (thereby justifying all the clueless culture-trolls' concerns about their pernicious effects).

If, like me, you were not merely old enough to shave during the first round of "Scream" but old enough to date divorced people, then "Scream 4" is pretty much a minor diversion. Thing is, you can't push postmodern horror any further than Craven has pushed it already; the characters in "Scream 2" and "Scream 3" were as conscious of horror-movie conventions (and their reverses, twists and turns) as you can get, and Craven's 1994 "New Nightmare" capped the Freddy series triumphantly by melting the boundaries between fiction and reality and having Craven, Robert Englund, Heather Langenkamp, studio head Bob Shaye appear as "themselves."

Afridi – the diehard fan of Shah Rukh Khan

While the Indian team was playing against the Pakistan team on Wednesday at the World Cup semi – final, Pak captain Shahid Afridi's younger brother Javed Afridi was commentating live on a radio station in India.

As the two teams battled to reach the finals, Javed revealed some lesser known facts about brother Shahid. He said, "Shahid is a huge fan of Shah Rukh Khan. He never misses out on his films and has seen My Name Is Khan at least a dozen times."

Javed also revealed that Shahid's mood dropped when he learnt that SRK won't be making it to the stadium in Mohali. "Shahid was upset that he missed a chance of meeting SRK. They have met a couple of times before though and he becomes like a star-struck kid every time."

The two hot Pathans - Shahid Afridi and Shah Rukh have interacted at an event in Mumbai back in 2009. Back then, SRK had said, "No matter how big a star I become, all the girls keep telling me 'You are not like Shahid Afridi'."

Prasoon Joshi - National creative director

Five years back, this name would ring few bells. But as the Aamir Khan-starrer “Thanda matlab Coca Cola” ad campaign made the almost universal rural word for soft drinks a hot catchphrase, it brought the low-profile Prasoon Joshi, national creative director, McCann Erickson India, into the spotlight, a fact the the advertising awards for 2002 just reaffirmed. Yet for Joshi, advertising is just one passion. He is also a poet, lyricist, composer and a trained vocalist.

Predictably perhaps, the highly competitive ad industry was not charitable in its praise. Some believed that it was the Aamir Khan and film maker Ashutosh Gowariker connection that made the Thanda campaign work. Joshi himself hints that the magnitude of the brand Coke could also have made the campaign a huge success.

However, ad film maker Prahlad Kakkar asserts, “Prasoon is far beyond any singular campaign success. His writing and poetry will immortalise him in the years to come.” Says Shripad Nadkarni, vice-president, marketing, Coca Cola India, “What sets Prasoon apart in the make-believe world of advertising is his ability to connect to the masses through his understanding of the Indian psyche — he thinks Indian.”

This ability to think in Hindi has endeared him to the masses much like the other small-town admen — the Pandey brothers. Born in Lucknow, Joshi went on to earn his management degree from IMT Ghaziabad. His entree into advertising began when he worked, first, as a summer trainee and then as a client servicing executive at the ad agency Grey (then Trikaya Grey).

But copy-writing obviously suited his talents better so in 1992, he moved to Ogilvy & Mather (O&M), for what was to be a decade-long stint that saw him shift to Mumbai and rise up the ranks to become a creative director. However, in his own words, Joshi “had grown to reach a glass ceiling”. In 2002, Joshi shifted to McCann Erickson as the national creative director.

Joshi believes that creativity is an intangible energy that keeps reinventing itself in different forms. His career reflects that. A published poet at the age of 17, he has three collections of poems to his credit till date, and a fourth is in the pipeline. While Joshi the writer was creating copy at O&M, the narrator in him was also lending his voice to the commercials.

What followed were soulful voiceovers in the Nokia radio spots, the much-acclaimed cricket commentary in the “A day in a government office” campaign for the Times Of India, the erstwhile rain commercial for Asian Paints — “Chalak chalak jaaye mausam” — or the more recent campaign for Chlormint — “Dubaara mat poonchna”.

His identity as a lyricist won acclaim with his soul-stirring, feminist lyrics in Shubha Mudgal’s Mann ke Manjeere. Till then, he had penned lyrics for music albums like Silk Route’s debut album Boondein, Shubha Mudgal’s earthy Ab ke sawan. Inevitably, writing for Bollywood had to follow.

Joshi has penned lyrics for films like Lajja, Aankhen and Walt Disney’s Hindi Jungle Book III, which is in the making, among some others. And now he’s writing scripts for two forthcoming Bollywood films. “My interaction with the film industry helps me understand the masses better,” he quips.

Apart from films, Joshi is deeply involved in social awareness campaigns for foundations like the Cancer Patients Association and Amitasha (a foundation for the underprivileged girl child) and causes like polio awareness.

The print ad for awareness of child abuse for Amitasha, which shows a young, underprivileged girl and a possible victim with her mouth stitched, won industry acclaim. “Emotions cannot only build brands in India but can also awaken mass conscience,” he explains.

However, his advertising copy has shifted from its deep emotional tone to irreverent humour (Nokia, Asian Paints, Cadbury’s) to which the light-hearted “Thanda” Coke commercials, Alpenliebe and Chlormint commercials are testimony. “I think am travelling a full circle. In the end, advertising has to be entertaining and real to be liked,” he says.

Joshi seems to be irked by rumours of personal differences with mentor Piyush Pandey and is more wary of controversies. “According to the ancient Indian academic tradition, after the disciple grows, the teacher allows the disciple to go ahead and conduct his own concert,” he says. “That’s the best way to describe our equation. I am performing in my own concert now.”

PEEPLI LIVE receives the best music score trophy at Asian Film Awards

Indian Ocean, the well-known Indian band, won the Best Music Score trophy at the highly prestigious Asian Film Awards at Hong Kong for its score in PEEPLI LIVE, a film directed by Anusha Rizvi and produced by Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao. It was India's official Oscar entry. The film came into limelight after it was selected in the world cinema section of Sundance 2010.

Though largely ignored by the celebrity driven domestic awards, the film was nominated in four categories of the most important awards in the Asian region. It was nominated in the best film, the best newcomer (Omkar Das Manikpuri), the best music score (Indian Ocean), and the best editing (Hemanti Sarkar), and it competed with the best of Asian films of last year.

Apichatpong Weerasethakul's internationally acclaimed fairy tale UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES got the best film award. An exotic tale of death and reincarnation, the film was the toast of 2010 Cannes Film Festival, and was a hot favorite among international critics. It beat the two Chinese box office blockbusters of last year AFTERSHOCK and LET THE BULLETS FLY in the race. The South Korean film POETRY, another festival favorite, directed by Lee Chang-dong, won the best director and screenplay awards. It had also won the best screenplay award at Cannes last year. Ha Jung-Woo won the best acting award for his role as a contract killer in THE YELLOW SEA while AFTERSHOCK, a film based on 1976 Tangshan earthquake in China and its aftermath, brought its lead actress Xu Fan the best actress award. The long time producer of globally popular films like ENTER THE DRAGON, FISTS OF FURY, HAND OF DEATH and THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES, RAYMOND CHOW, was given away the Lifetime Achievement Award this year.

The effects of the events in Japan were clearly felt during the ceremony as winners kept their speeches short. The absence of nominees and winners from Japan was acutely felt. The event's hosts and many award recipients expressed sympathy and condolences to the people of Japan and some even made donations to the charities involved in rescue and rehabilitation mission. Tatsumi 'Tom' Yoda, the chairman of the Tokyo International Film Festival, was present and he thanked the Asian Film Industry for its support and sympathy.

Bollywood goes balle balle

It makes you dance, it makes you sing, and it makes a great business idea in Bollywood. Punjabi music has taken the Hindi film industry by storm and is a sure-shot way to recover costs, say industry experts.

Punjabi numbers like Sadi galli, Rola pe gaya, Laung da lashkara and Ainvayi Ainvayi are sitting pretty on Bollywood music charts and are also a rage at weddings and discotheques.

“The craze for Punjabi music has always been there because they are mostly foot-thumping and groovy. They catch up very fast with people of all age groups. Earlier Punjabi music was big on the pop scene, but gradually Bollywood also got a good taste of it,” Krsna, who composed Tanu Weds Manu music, told IANS.

The Punjabi flavour in songs – be it lyrics or beat or melody – has been around for as long as one can think, but lately there has been a rush of them in Bollywood.

Popular singer Mika said: “Punjabi songs have always ruled the roost in Punjab, the UK and Canada…and in India, my elder brother Daler paaji (Daler Mehndi) started the trend with Bolo ta ra ra ra. the rest, including me, followed him.”

“I have always given my songs a Punjabi touch because that’s where I come from. Punjabi songs are very catchy and Punjabi is a very sweet language; so, that is also one reason why Punjabi songs are so popular,” he added.

The music of Tanu Weds Manu has became a hot favourite with songs like Sadi galli and Jugni, while the Patiala House music won hearts with numbers like Rola pe gaya and Laung da lashkara.

Yash Raj Films’ Band Baaja Baaraat also managed to hook music buffs to its title song, as well as the funky number Ainvayi Ainvayi, which features lead actors Ranveer Singh and Anushka Sharma.

Much before the Dharmendra-starrer Yamla Pagla Deewana hit the screens, the title song was a hit and every radio and TV channel was beaming it. Charha de rang, another song from the comedy with Punjabi flavour, proved to be a slow winner.

“The trend has been there for a while. I have sung so many Punjabi hits for films even before… like the Oye lucky! lucky oye song and also Mauja hi mauja from Jab we Met. They were chart busters, and so were the songs from ‘Singh is Kinng’. the kind of energy a fast Punjabi song has is incredible.”

In 2010, songs like Gal meethi meethi bol from Aisha, Tujhe Bhula Diya from Anjaana Anjaani and Dhanno from Housefull had a Punjabi element in it.

With the penchant for Punjabi numbers in films on the rise, it is boom time for singers of the genre.

“The trend is slowly catching up and now we see all directors and music directors wanting to have at least one Punjabi number in their album, and so singers like me have a good chance to connect with our audiences in Punjab too,” said Mika.

According to Bhushan Kumar of T-Series, it is a wise business decision to add a Punjabi beat to at least one song in a music album.

“Adding a Punjabi beat means giving it a chance to be played in discotheques, clubs and weddings, where it catches people’s interest and they start liking the song. the more they dance to it, the more people like it,” Bhushan, son of late music baron Gulshan Kumar, told IANS.

DJ Suketu agrees, saying, “In today’s date, music composers are aware that youth, clubs, wedding and private parties are an important segment to make music for. It helps promote the film as well as the music.”

Punjabi numbers have even made it big internationally through crossover films like Balle Balle Amritsar to LA, Monsoon Wedding and Bend It like Beckham.

Singers like Sukhbir, Jazzy B, Hard Kaur, Punjabi MC and Jassi should also get the due for taking the genre across the shores. They are known to fuse bhangra music with rap and techno to woo international listeners.

Disc jockeys like Suketu, Akbar Sami and DJ Aqeel are also responsible for popularising dhol beats through their umpteen remixes of Indian as well as international songs.

“I use Indian instruments and dhol beats when I remix tracks for international artists like Sean Kingston, Iya, Tata Young and Flo Rida for whom I have done remixes,” he said.

With such a success story, Punjabi flavour is here to stay in Bollywood.

‘I’m writing a guide to the Indian male’ says Cyrus Broacha

MTV is taking a new avatar, with changes in its content, to break from gaali-ridden reality shows, Cyrus Broacha tells Shana Maria Verghis, adding that he survived 15 TV years, despite his laziness.

TV host and actor Cyrus Broacha said that a lot of time he is, “prostituting myself, to pay the bills,” with public appearances in different avatars. And sometimes not doing anything very major. Cyrus was the sole reason we managed to sit through much of the Golden Kela Awards organised by Random Magazine, which he hosted. He appears on a satirical show on CNN-IBN and is working on a second book. “It is a guide to the Indian male.” Shobhaa De beware of competition in days to come.

Cyrus was in a shiny, grey suit that we could have used to light a dark tunnel. And at that moment, he was a few minutes away from digging into snacky eatables for fuel, before compering the show. Broacha said the book, Kal, Aaj Kal, which came out sometime ago, had two guys in the lead, treading on their not so light fantastic feet, through a world of films and politics. The narrative he had used was apparently “semi-autobiographical.” He was, “Remembering some very strange people that I have met, whom fate had turned into actors or a twist of circumstance transformed into leaders.”

Cyrus will soon be hosting a new reality show on MTV which he said, “has taken back the old team, to create aspiration levels for youth as brand value.” Enlighten us further Cyrus. He explained, “There will be a change in the guard at MTV with more emphasis on things like fashion. Not the relationship episodes where people spend their time hurling gaalis at each other.” He added, “Unfortunately, we all wind up watching those kind of shows. They are the flavour of the moment, like them or not.”

Cyrus, who told us MTV Bakra began while he was having a proper newsy interview with Bobby Deol, which turned into a comic interlude, that became a new idea, said it was true most Indian reality shows rehash material from overseas. “It is safer to use tried and tested formulas. But that is the state of our programming. In fact, it does not say much for Indian TV, that someone like me, who has no interest in work, has survived nearly 15 years in this business.” He added, “But what went wrong with our programming, was that MTV began to behave like a GEC (general entertainment) channel, instead of sticking to youth topics. I was in Dubai a few days ago and watching MTV there. Overseas, the MTV has stuck to youth content and doesn’t have anything that is vulgar on the eye. I remember years back, when I was interviewing kids on campus, one Hindu College guy swore in ‘MCBC’ style and we tried to bleep it unsuccessfully. We’ve come a long way since then to people like Rakhi Sawant who comment on topics like infidelity, that would once have been viewed as dangerous to our moral values.” Since Cyrus is himself a dad now, we said maybe he was repeating a familiar pattern of one generation turning self-righteous, after it grew out of youthful iconoclasticism.

“It’s possible. But when I said the ‘old team’ is back, I meant they want to tighten things up. And not turn them straight-laced. We want to bring new VJs in for instance. We haven’t had any hot females like a Malaika Arora for a long time.”

But isn’t the day of the VJ as an aspiration past its time? RJs are getting redundant too. “Overseas, VJs still have a role. Then they go into areas such as acting. Like Jessica Simpson. MTV US’ longest serving employee is Kurt Lorder. He was there for nearly 25 years, and he specialises in covering particular kinds of rock music.” Lorder was once editor at Rolling Stone. Cyrus continued, “But most of the veejays in US today work on a rotational basis.”

MTV will apparently have four or five new reality shows with some new content. Comedian Vir Das had said it was hilarious that participants put themselves through various forms of torture, only to get a bike in the end. Cyrus shared, “Sometimes you don’t even get a whole bike.” One show apparently had about “fifty bikes as gifts, but by the end, these were still lying around, because they had no engine! There were just shells. You were expected to take one to a factory and fix it up. I asked the producer, ‘Can I have a spare?’ When I heard about the process to go through, I said forget it.”

He wasn’t dropping names about forthcoming movie roles, but remarked, “I don’t know how the majority of people in films survive, because most of the time there is no work and you have to pay your bills. The top stars. A mere four or five, do things like cut ribbons at some public events. Then there are senior actors who have some bit roles. But what about those in-between? Life is hard. If you have a small family and you make two lakh for a film, what about the rest of the year? Sometimes you don’t even get paid when a film is made. Which reminds me that my book is coming out in a second edition, but Random House hasn’t paid me money for it yet!”

Malaika Arora Khan's 'Munni Badnaam' reaches Guinness Book of World Records

Malaika Arora Khan's hot number "Munni Badnaam" from Salman Khan's box-office smash Dabangg has entered the Guinness Book of World Records! The sultry item number was a hit with fans and helped create a lot of buzz about the flick.

In Dabangg, Salman plays police officer Chulbul Pandey, who is described as "fearless, corrupt, lovable and a bad-ass Robin Hood." The action movie is set in Uttar Pradesh and tells the story of Chulbul Pandey, a corrupt police inspector.

Aside from Sallu, Dabangg stars Arbaaz Khan, Sonakshi Sinha, Dimple Kapadia, Om Puri and Anupam Kher. But the real star is item number temptress Malaika Arora Khan who took the item number "Munni Badnaam" to a whole new level!

But how did it enter the Guinness Book of World Records? Well Malaika went to Melbourne in Australia where Indian Film Festival 2011 director Mitu Bhowmick Lange gathered 1200 people who danced to the track for three whole minutes! Considering the dance friendly beats of the tune, we are not surprised! Do you agree?

Mallika Sherawat, Preity Zinta - Bollywood’s Maverick Actresses

Mallika Sherawat
From the dusty streets of Haryana to the slick boulevards of Hollywood, Los Angeles, Mallika Sherawat has come a long way. She made her mark with her ‘hot’ act in Murder, opposite Emraan Hasmhi, quickly making a name for herself in the nook and crannies of India. With a past that was, for long, muddled in controversy and intrigue, Mallika soon gave it all up and moved from strength to strength (or some may say controversy to controversy) doing films that required her to shed more clothes and do little more. Interestingly, Mallika silenced her critics with good performances in Pyaar Ke Side Effects and Ugly Aur Pagli, where fans got a glimpse of her funny side. She also wowed us with her sexy dance moves in the Maiyya maiyya song in Mani Ratnam’s Guru. In the recent years, however, she has appeared in extremely forgettable films like The Myth (a small role opposite Jackie Chan) and Hisss (where she plays a nagin!) But Mallika makes it to this list because of her sheer grit (she has been camping in Los Angeles for at least a year now) and her easy love for the social media.

Preity Zinta
For an army kid who stumbled into movies, Preity Zinta has had a chequered career so far. While she delivered many good performances and even hits, the younger heroines who entered Bollywood at the turn of the new millennium overtook Preity. Be that as it may, this actress has always stood her own, be it while defending her Indian Premier League team, Kings XI Punjab, or gracefully handling her break-up with her former beau, industrialist Ness Wadia. The dimpled actress has not been seen in a leading role for quite some time, but is a regular on the Bollywood A-list. She is also one of the few conscientious actors around. Remember when Preity, against all the odds, stood in the witness box in the Bharat Shah case?

Katrina and Ranbir to pair in Ayan’s next film

Rumours suggest that Ayan Mukerji has signed Katrina Kaif opposite his best friend Ranbir Kapoor in his next film under Dharma Productions.

According to a source, Katrina and Ranbir have been frequenting Ayan's residence in Santacruz. Even as Ranbir got busy shooting in Kashmir for Imtiaz Ali's Rockstar, the source says that Katrina has been catching up with Ayan quite regularly.

So, don't be surprised if this hot couple features in yet another film together.

Salman Khan and Asin refuses hot and steamy intimate scene shooting

Mar 2, Mumbai: Beautiful lass, Asin Thottumkal shot to fame, by making a dream debut in Bollywood, opposite Aamir Khan in “Ghajini”. She was already a craze in the south Indian film industry, and “Ghajini” made her popular in Bollywood too. Keralite Asin started acting when she was just 14 years old.

After the release of her second Hindi film “London Dreams” where she was paired opposite Salman Khan, news of Salman and Asin’s affair surfaced, but a while later this news fell flat. Now, that this hot onscreen pair is again working together for an upcoming film “Ready”, grapevine has it that both of them have got some steamy hot scenes together. But when Anees Bazmee was questioned about this, he commented “Ready” is a comedy film with no vulgarity. He makes such films that can be watched with whole family.

Bazmee included that there is an intimate song of Salman and Asin, but there is nothing raunchy in it.

“Ready” is being shot in Sri Lanka, although it was previously scheduled to be shot in Mauritius. The first schedule of the movie is 10 to 15 days long. The movie is produced by T-Series.

It seems media has goofed up the news of the duo doing hot scenes, which is nothing else than a rumour.

Rahman loses out on Oscars for '127 Hours'

A R Rahman failed to recreate his 'Slumdog Millionaire' Oscar magic this year, losing out in the Best Original Score and Best Song categories at the 83rd Academy Awards here today.

Indian hopes were further dashed when NRI editor Tariq Anwar failed to bag the Best Film Editing trophy for the British drama 'The King's Speech', which went to Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter of 'The Social Network'.

Rahman, dressed in a black sherwani, performed his nominated track 'If I Rise' from the the Danny Boyle film '127 Hours' with British popstar Florence Welch to much applause.

But the 45-year-old lost the Best Song trophy to Randy Newman who won for his composition 'We Belong Together' from 'Toy Story' 3.

The golden statuette for the Best Original Score went to composer duo Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross who won for their soundtrack in the fantasy blockbuster 'The Social Network'.

Rahman was hoping to repeat his golden run at the 2009 Oscars, where he won two statuettes for his music in another of Boyle's film, the Mumbai based potboiler 'Slumdog Millionaire'.

The 'Mozart of Madras' missed the golden trophy last year too, after his song 'Na Na' (from 'Couple's Retreat') failed to get a nomination despite being in the long list for the 'Best Song' category.

Earlier this year, the 'Jai Ho' hitmaker had lost out on a Golden Globe for Best Score to Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, but won a Critics Choice award for the "haunting tracks" and "wonderful crescendos" of '127 Hours'.

Rahman had won a BAFTA nomination for the same, but had lost the trophy to Alexandre Desplat, who won for his score in 'The King's Speech'.

Rahman, who was honoured with a Padma Bhushan last year, had also enjoyed a golden run at the 52nd Grammy Awards, where he had again bagged two gramophones for his music in 'Slumdog Millionaire'.

'127 Hours', starring James Franco as real-life mountain climber Aron Ralston, who cut off his arm to escape from beneath a boulder after being trapped for more than five days, had won six nominations including Best Film, but returned empty handed just like Rahman.

Earlier 'Peepli Live', India's official entry to the Oscars had failed to make it to the final nine films which
were nominated in the Best Foreign Film category, which was finally won by Danish film 'In a Better World'.

Prithiviraj Anwar Speaks Tamil

The film has taken the best ever one day opening of 2010 in Kerala theatres.

The film has popular actors of Kollywood like Prakash Raj, Mamta as heroine along with Prithviraj who rocked in Mani Ratnam's Raavanan, and was also appreciated in Radhamohan's  Mozhi. Maruti service stations in India

Anwar has also got hit songs and has potential to click with Tamil audiences.

The dubbed Anwar is releasing on February 25 all over Tamil NaduEBikes in India

Navneet Kaur Marriage With MLA

Popular South Indian actress Navneet Kaur marriage is fixed on February 2nd. She is tying the knot with an MLA from Badnera, Ravi Rana. Navneet made her debut with Seenu Vasanthi Lakshmi and went on to star in more than dozen films. She tried her best at item songs and special roles but really didn’t get that desired break.cars for sale in india

Navneet Kaur tested her luck in Tamil and other South Indian film industries too but in vain. So finally the hot actress has decided to call it quits and tie the knot and settle down in life.

The marriage of Navneet Kaur and Ravi Rana is going to be done on a grand scale to which at least five lakh guests are expected to be at the venue to greet the newly wedded couple. Wow, it is grand indeed.maruti showroom in india

Canada will be next hot spot for Bollywood

'Of course, Bollywood films have been shot here since the late 1980s. We did some big films - at the rate of one or two a year - from the mid-90s to 2001. Among the major films shot here were 'Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi' in 1995, and 'Mr and Mrs Khiladi' and 'Shabash Daddy' in 1997,' Finestone told IANS in an interview.

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'Then there was a decline, but Bollywood came back. In 2010, we did two films, one of which was a crossover.'

Anees Bazmee's upcoming 'Thank You' has also been shot in Canada.

Explaining why Toronto was attracting film productions from Bollywood and other places, he said: 'We deliver first-class facilities and support and cast staff. We have every kind of studio and equipment that film production needs. Bollywood shooting here is fun as production companies can tap into the talent of a huge Indian diaspora.

'Then Bollywood loves the kind of shooting spots we offer - the Niagara Falls, fabulous lakes, wildness, vistas and everything.'

He added, 'Since Bollywood is trying to make more and more crossover (cross-cultural)films like 'Bend It Like Beckham', increasingly non-Indians are flocking to them. I think these kind of films (cross-over) will also help Bollywood stay connected with second- and third-generation Indian diaspora.'

Finestone feels Bollywood offers a unique genre of films.

'These films are different. They are predictable - you know what you will get when you go to see a Bollywood film. That's why they are liked by non-Indians.'

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Indian films, which already enjoy a huge popularity here, will become even more popular as Bollywood also brings its International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards show here and India holds a year-long cultural festival in the city.

'As India has come of age, Indian culture (like other things) has taken new dimensions. Indian culture is a big export, and it will pick up (here) this year,' Finestone told IANS.

With India announcing a cultural centre and plans to hold its next mini-Pravasi Bharatiya Divas here in June after the signing of a cultural MoU with Canada last year, cultural collaboration between the two countries is set to get a big boost.

Since Toronto is the world's major film production centre, Finestone said: 'The Canada-India cultural MoU may lead to a film co-production agreement, which will bring more Bollywood work here. We have 50 such agreements with foreign countries.

"Ready" is Ready

Starring Salman Khan and Asin in lead roles, Ready directed by Anees Bazmee is ready to be released on May 27, this year. This upcoming Bollywood comedy has all the masala to make the audience happy. However, it is a remake of the 2008 Telegu film bearing the same title that was directed by Sreenu Vaitala, the lead roles being played by Ram and Genelia. Since the Tamil film reportedly had enjoyed very good box office, Salman was confident that this Bollywood version would enjoy similar success, although the production had its own share of misfortunes. To begin with, Salman’s decision for changing the location of the film from Mauritius to Sri. Lanka was not welcomed by the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce (SIFCC). “Bollywood directors can not direct remake movies from Tamil and Telegu”, they chorused. Some of them even went one step forward by declaring, “The original directors from the South should do it”, while most of them argued that “Music directors also should be from South, as the background music should be different for mass movies”. Needless to say, good old Salman never paid much attention to such namby-pamby and continued with the filming, though the shooting was eventually completed in Mumbai.