Cameron Diaz to work in India's tinsel town

Cameron Diaz’s much appreciated performance in this summer’s raunchy comedy BAD TEACHER has proven that the gorgeous actress can do no wrong at the box office.

Cameron Diaz’s much appreciated performance in this summer’s raunchy comedy BAD TEACHER has proven that the gorgeous actress can do no wrong at the box office.

In the film, she plays an unapologetically amoral teacher, a far cry from her lovable roles in THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY, CHARLIE’S ANGELS and MY BEST FRIEND’S WEDDING. But unfortunately, the actress says that her scope of achievement will never be able to extend to Bollywood.

While she happily demonstrated some typical Bollywood moves in the studio, THE BAD TEACHER actress told one of the popular TV channels that she would never be able to work in India’s tinsel town.

"It’d be an amazing experience to be sure. It looks to me that the actors in Bollywood work harder than anyone else in the world and I can hardly speak English, let alone another language. But yes, I’d like to fully embrace the possibility. "

BAD TEACHER releases in India on 19 August.

Rs 1.5 Crore Casino Set For Movie Double Dhamaal

Filmmakers are known to shell out lots of money to shoot at actual or authentic locations to get the ambience and mood right. In the case of Double Dhamaal, producer Ashok Thakeria had to construct a set of a casino at Mehboob Studio in Bandra for a price of R 1.5 crore.

Mallika Sherawat’s item song ’Jalebi bai...’ and part of the climax of his forthcoming comedy, Double Dhamaal, which he’s making in association with Reliance Entertainment, will be shot here.

Though director Indra Kumar could have filmed the sequences in casinos in Goa or Macau, he didn’t think it would be feasible. "They would only let us shoot for a few hours in a day, and that too only at night. Since we required to shoot all day long, we had no option, but to build this set," says Thakeria. Major parts of the film’s climax have been shot in Macau as well. It was the pictures that the production team clicked on their trips to Macau that inspired the set design in Mumbai.

"Credit goes to art director Tanushree Sarkar for putting up such a brilliant set. Other actors and filmmakers would drop in to have a look around as they had heard a lot about it," he says, adding that it is worth the R 1.5 crore it cost to make in two-odd weeks. But he’s unperturbed about the expense, as he feels the song will go on to become a chartbuster.

Meanwhile, Sherawat was rubbing shoulders with US President, Barack Obama on Saturday night. The sex siren, whose film Politics Of Love is set against the 2008 Presidential election, was invited for the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

Sherawat’s item number, which has been composed by Anand Raj Anand and choreographed by Ganesh Acharya, also features Sanjay Dutt, Kangna Ranaut, Riteish Deshmukh, Arshad Warsi, Ashish Chowdry and Jaaved Jaffery.

The team became so attached to the casino that it broke their hearts to learn that after completing their 12-day shoot, the set would be dismantled. "We were telling each other that if we could manage a license, then the casino would continue to stand and actually function," he says, laughing.

However, the film’s promotion will not start with the ’Jalebi bai...’ number. "We’ll promote it somewhere in the middle of the campaign, closer to the film’s release on July 24," he adds.

-By Hindustan Times

India And France To Produce Films In Future

India’s song-and-dance routines will soon meet France’s scenic locales and production technology as the two countries have entered an agreement to co-produce films in future.

India’s Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni and French Culture and Information Minister Federic Mitter signed the agreement on behalf of the two governments at Hyderabad House Monday.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and French President Nicolas Sarkozy were present while the agreement was signed.

The agreement is expected to help the film industries of both the countries in gaining access to latest and better film production technology as well as shooting locations.

Sarkozy, accompanied by wife Carla Bruni and a large ministerial and business delegation, is on a three-day visit to India.

Charlie Chaplin High Definition Movies In India

Indian fans of Charlie Chaplin can rejoice as movies of the legendary English comic actor are being released here this Christmas in high definition (HD) on DVDs.

Eagle home entertainment in collaboration with the MK2 group is bringing out a compilation of the actor-filmmaker’s famous full-length feature films here like "The Kid", "Modern Times" and "The Circus", etc.

"Eagle home entertainment is making the collection of Chaplin movies available in Indian market... not only the collection is being available in DVDs but also is available in HD," read a statement by the company.

Remembered worldwide for his mime, slapstick and other visual comedy, Chaplin was one of the pioneers of the silent era.

Other names in the gift pack set include "A Woman of Paris", "The Gold Rush", "City Lights", "The Great Dictator", "Monsieur Verdoux", "Limelight", "A King in New York" and short film anthology "The Chaplin Revue".

Cricket Is Set To Bring Together Bollywood

Celebrity Cricket League (CCL), an initiative combining the two most popular forms of entertainment - cinema and cricket - is set to bring together Bollywood and the southern film industry to play a game of cricket in January.

"This is the first year. We are just bringing it together. Once it takes off and this model works, we’ll make it more structured.

Once we get the support, we’ll make it a bigger model. We’ll do proper practice and we are taking this very seriously," Bollywood star Sohail Khan told reporters here.

The match, which will take place in the last week of January, 2011, will have many known names from the southern film industry. Sohail Khan, who has named the team Mumbai Heroes, is its owner.

Suniel Shetty is the captain of the team and Salman Khan, the icon player.

The team includes Riteish Deshmukh, Aftab Shivdasani, Kunal Khemu, Ashish Choudhary, Shabbir Ahluwalia, Makrand Deshpande, Kabir Sadanand, Apoorva Lakhia, Sonu Sood, Harman Baweja, Angad Bedi, Irrfan Khan, and Zayed Khan.

Abhijeet Sawant Making News For The Wrong Reasons

Wannabe singing sensations Prajakta Shukre and Abhijeet Sawant, their biggest claim to fame was as participants of ‘Indian Idol’ Season I, with the latter winning the crown, are now making news for all the wrong reasons.

In what seems like a case of a night out with friends going horribly wrong, Shukre and Abhijeet along with other friends were said to be returning together – in different vehicles – after partying at a Juhu restaurant on Tuesday night.

As per reports, on seeing an empty road in Daulat Nagar area of Sanatcruz, a western suburb of Mumbai, they decided to race their cars. Shukre, driving a Honda City, smashed into two teenagers on a motorcycle, grievously injuring them.

The report further says that Abhijeet, who was driving an Audi, got down from his car and defending his friend got into a tiff with the crowd, following which the crowd gave Abhijeet and his other friends a sound thrashing.

Prajakta on the other hand was arrested on charges of rash and negligent driving. As of now Prajakta has been granted bail and released on a bond of Rs 3000.

The police is said to be investigating whether they group comprising Prajakta and Abhijeet was in an inebriated condition.

FIR Has Been Registered Against Shekhar Suman

An FIR has been registered against Sony entertainment television, actor Shekhar Suman, comedienne Bharti Singh and a scriptwriter, for allegedly hurting religious sentiments of a community in a comedy show aired by the TV channel, police said today.

According to police, a representative from Raza Academy, a Muslims body, lodged the complaint alleging that a joke was cracked in the show `Comedy Circus` that was insulting towards the religion.

The FIR under IPC sections 295 (injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) was registered against the channel, Suman, Singh and the scriptwriter yesterday, Pydhonie Police Station Senior Inspector Pathan Samsher said.

Raza Academy`s representatives have also approached Maharashtra Home Minister R R Patil, who assured them to look into the issue. The recorded version of the joke was also shown to the minister.

Singh in an episode of Comedy Circus, aired last week allegedly took a dig at a Quranic verse, with Suman repeating the same, police said.

Police would see that recorded version and take appropriate action against the person or organisation concerned, said Pathan.

Shreyas Talpade Inspired By Twilight Star Robert Pattinson

Actor Shreyas Talpade will soon be seen sporting a new hair style that has been inspired by Twilight star Robert Pattinson’s hair do.

Shreyas, who is co-producing a film tiled Chemistry, has made it a point that he gets the best people for the job to give him an exact Robert Pattison look for the movie.

Since the movie is also youthful, for the first time the actor will only wear designer labelled, colourful funky clothes and a diamond stud in his ear for a few scenes.

Mumbai High Court Ruled In Favour Of Adnan Sami

On Thursday the high court in Mumbai ruled in favour of Adnan and his current wife Roya and denied his former wife Sabah Galadari possession and custody of the home that Adnan and Roya now occupy. The court also refused Sabah’s plea that Roya be evicted from the home.

After the ruling, Adnan said, "No, I don’t feel triumphant. Because the person who has lost the case happens to be someone who was once an integral part of my life. Once Sabah started a fight to throw me out of the house I had to fight back specially when my wife Roya moved in with me. To ask her to leave her husband’s home, that was the rock bottom of vindictive aspirations."

Jokes Adnan, "I hate to say this. But I feel a kind of emptiness. Every day I’d wake up with the court cases weighing on my mind. I’d have to go through reams of legal paper with my lawyer. All that is over. But, no hard feelings for the lady who tried to throw me and my wife out of our home." The first thing Adnan intends to do is throw a party in his home.

Adnan’s lawyer Vibhav Krishna confirms that Sabah has been barred from visiting or fighting for the possession of the 13th and 14th floor of the building where Adnan and Roya reside. Adnan is however, willing to provide accommodation to Sabah on the 12th floor of the same building or in another building.

Bharatiya Janata Party To Ban Maoist Movie

The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Orissa Wednesday sought a ban on an Oriya film with a Maoist theme and accused its producer and actors of gloryfying the Left-wing extremists' ideology.

A delegation representing the state youth unit of the party met Governor M.C. Bhandare and submitted a memorandum demanding a ban on the release of "Swayamsidha" in which two leaders of the state's ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) would be seen in prominent roles.

"At a time when the country is struggling to fight Maoism, how could a movie like this be allowed to be screened? We want a ban on the release of the film," Bibhuti Jena, president of the BJP's state youth wing, told reporters.

However, the producer of the movie, Prabhat Ranjan Mallick, denied the charge and said "it (the movie) was an attempt to bring the so-called Naxals (Maoists) to the mainstream".

Sidhant Mohapatra, a BJD member of the Lok Sabha, will be seen in the role of a Maoist leader in the film.

Mohapatra has acted in over 100 films, mostly in Oriya. "Swayamsidha" would be his first release after entering the Lok Sabha last year.

Another BJD Lok Sabha member, Prasanna Patsani, will be seen in the movie in a special appearance.

"Mohapatra doing a role in the movie has gone to the extent of justifying Maoism and has glorified them. He has endorsed their activities," Jena said.

The movie was shot in the dense forests of Koraput district, which is considered a Maoist hotbed.

Jena suspects that Maoists have helped the actors and the producer, a charge they denied.

Indian Singer Awarded In British Parliament

Well-known Indian singer Anup Jalota has been awarded the British Parliament's Annual Globe Award for his contribution to the global music industry.

Speaker John Bercow gave away the award to Jalota at a function in the House of Commons.

Jalota, who sings ghazals and bhajans, also gave a special live recital on the occasion. Guests were invited to duet with him.

Keith Vaz, MP, who organised the function Thursday evening, said: "I am absolutely thrilled that Anup, as a celebrated Indian music superstar, was able to give a live performance for us at the House of Commons. I doubt the walls of the House of Commons have heard music of this type before: it was truly mesmerising."

Eminent painter M.F. Husain was the recipient of the award last year.

Bollywood Movie TBL Has Been Banned In Pakistan

Bollywood movie "Tere Bin Laden" has been banned in Pakistan over fears of a terrorist attack, a media report said Wednesday.

The Pakistani censor board took the decision Tuesday.

The film, which will launch Pakistani model and singer Ali Zafar, is scheduled for worldwide release Friday. The version to be released in Pakistan was titled "Tere Bin". The film has also been banned in the Middle East.

Ali Zafar has expressed his disappointment in Mumbai. He appealed to the authorities to review the decision, "as there is nothing controversial in the film", the report said.

"It's just a comedy accomplished with the cooperation of Salman Khan and Karan Johar," he said.

Masood Elahi, vice chairman of Pakistan's Film Censor Board, said: "There was no justification to release the film in Pakistan under the present circumstances.

However, the federal secretary is authorised to allow the screening under special powers bestowed on him."

Tere Bin Laden Movie Title Changed In Pakistan

Debutant director Abhishek Sharma has dropped the word "Laden" from his forthcoming film "Tere Bin Laden" for its Pakistan release as a "precautionary measure".

"Tere Bin Laden" is a tongue-in-cheek satire on Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

"The word has been dropped as a precautionary measure, owing to ongoing tensions in Pakistan. We have allowed the distributors to use "Tere Bin" as the title. But it's only in Pakistan, otherwise everywhere it's 'Tere Bin Laden," Abhishek.

Abhiskek has given full freedom to the Pakistani distributors about whether to use posters of the movie with or without Laden.

"The distributors will decide. We have sent all the options, posters with and without Laden. They have to take the final call as they know the situation better. We will completely respect their judgment."

"Tere Bin Laden" tells the story of an ambitious young reporter, played by Pakistani singer-turned-actor Ali Zafar, desperate to migrate to the US to pursue his dreams. Debutant actor Pradhuman Singh plays the role of Osama Bin Laden.

However, it is still not clear whether the movie would release in Pakistan or not.

"All Bollywood films go to the Pakistani censor board only in the week of its release, it never happens in advance. It usually goes on Mondays or Tuesdays. We'll have to do the same. Until the censor board officially approves the film, you cannot say whether the film is releasing," Abhishek said.

To catch a wider spectrum of the audience, Abhishek plans to release the film in the US after a gap of few months.

"We are releasing the film in the US, only in Phase 2. We'll first release it in India, Pakistan, UK, Australia and other NRI markets and then go to America after a gap of few months. If we release it in the NRI markets now, it will get branded as a NRI film.

"We want to go as wide as possible in America, rather than limiting ourselves to NRI theatres. It's a different strategy. With this concept, we give the film a chance to reach the non-Indian audience," the director added.

Indian Censors Given The Green Signal For Maoist Films

Citing the growing Maoist violence in some states of India as the reason, authorities in New Delhi have refused to allow public screenings of a documentary on Nepal that depicts the Maoist insurgency in this country in a series of uprisings against dictatorship, finally ending in the abolition of monarchy.

New Delhi's Central Board of Film Certification, whose approval is mandatory to screen films in India, has denied permission to "Flames of the snow", a 125-minute documentary directed by New Delhi-based Ashish Srivastava, formerly associated with Discovery channel, and Anand Swaroop Verma, Indian activist and journalist who is close to the Nepal Maoists ideologically.

"The film tells about the Maoist movement in Nepal and justifies its ideology," the board informed Verma, explaining why it had decided to withhold permission.

"In the opinion of the examining committee, any justification or romanticisation of the ideology of extremism or of violence, coercion, intimidation in achieving its objectives would not be in the public interest, particularly keeping in view the recent Maoist violence in some parts of the country."

"It's a case of being more loyal than the masters," Verma told IANS. "The film is about the history of Nepal with Maoist movement being a part of it. It does not contain a single reference to the Maoist movement in India."

The film begins with the founding of the Shah dynasty in 1770 by the first powerful king of the clan, Prithvi Narayan Shah. It covers nearly 250 years of absolute rule, first by the kings and then by the Rana prime ministers, punctuated with people's rebellions and ending with the end of the royal line.

The first notable uprising occurred in 1876 when Lakhan Thapa, a peasant from Gorkha, the same district from where the Shah kings hailed, organised fellow peasants against the atrocities of the Rana rulers.

But the movement was put down with swift brutality and Thapa was hanged, in a move reminiscent of the peasant uprisings against British rule in India.

The pro-democracy movements were then spearheaded by the political parties in 1950 and 1990, finally leading to an armed movement by the Maoists for 10 years from 1996.

The film ends with the formal abolition of monarchy after a historic election in 2008 that also saw the Maoists emerge victorious to head the new government.

"Flames of the snow" produced by a Kathmandu-based human rights organisation, Group for International Solidarity, Nepal, was screened in Kathmandu in April 2008, during the last days of the Maoist government when it was watched by the Maoist top leadership.

It includes an interview with Maoist supremo Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda, describing the genesis of the armed movement.

"The Censor Board objection is absurd," Verma said. "It means the board will never give its certification to any political film made on Nepal since there can't be any political film on Nepal without mentioning the Maoists, who have now become part of the history of Nepal. When you acknowledge Nepal as a republic, you have to also acknowledge the Maoist movement that led to it."

Verma also says that Nepal's Maoists are no longer an armed party. They took part in the elections in 2008 and led the government till May 2009.

Verma has appealed against the board's decision to the Revising Committee of the board. "I am going to start a campaign and go to the tribunal," Verma told IANS.

The Indian censors' decision comes even as films made on the Maoist movement in India have been given the green signal.

Earlier this year, the Indian Cultural Centre in Kathmandu showed "Hazar chaurasi ki maa", the Govind Nihalani film that is sympathetic to the Naxalite movement of the 1970s, as part of the Indian film festival in Kathmandu.

Next month, Indian film director Ananth Mahadevan's "Red Alert: the War Within", a film focusing on the impact of the armed movement in rural India releases in India.

Actor Rituparna Sengupta To Pay Homage To Rabindranath Tagore

Actor Rituparna Sengupta is on a mission. To mark the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, she performed a dance ensemble on Tagore's verses with her troupe. Her aim: to take Tagore places and make people aware of the poet's works.

Katha Group, in association with Shomu Mitra, the programme designer and director, organised the musical extravaganza, Homage to Tagore, at Ravindra Natya Mandir, Prabhadevi. Sengupta asserts that this "wasn't a one-off event.

Tagore is a very versatile, international figure in literary history. We wanted to pay homage to the master. I was always interested in doing something on Tagore. I had composed a lot of his dance dramas such as Chandalika, Shaap Mochon, Chitrangada earlier. But most people in Mumbai are not aware of these works. So we thought it would be a nice opening here".

Monsoon songs

The theme was monsoon and pieces performed reflected the season well. "Tagore wrote beautiful poems on the moosoons, there couldn't have been a better time to hold this event," she exclaims. The poet's verse translations were recited with sarod playing in the background.

Sengupta's dance troupe, Bhabna Aaj O Kal, performed an ensemble on Tagore's monsoon collection of songs, choreographed by the actor herself. True to the traditional style, her dance recital impressed everyone present.

Talk about Tagore's influence on cinema and she's quick to reply, "I'd love to do a film based on Tagore in Bollywood... a film like Chokher Bali. There's this Bengali film script on another Tagore novel called Jogajog that I'm considering at the moment. But it'd be great if I get an offer in B-town too. People need to know more about Tagore. I think his female characters are bold and contemporary."

The event witnessed Sengupta's husband, Sanjay Mukherjee, playing the sarod; tabla player Bickram Ghosh, anchor-singer-actress Madhumati Maitra; actor Srila Majumdar; dancer-actor Sudha Chandran and renowned Bangladeshi singer Shakila Zafar among others.

A Pakistani Music Revolution In Bollywood

Their claim to fame, at the beginning of the century, heralded a new era in Bollywood music - the Pakistani song. Jal, the neighbouring nation's biggest pop act, made their debut in Indian cinema in 2004. Their song Aadat, from the movie Kalyug, topped charts in all countdowns and India also got a new playback artist, in former band member, Atif Aslam.

Nearly half a decade later, the now disbanded and reformed Jal is creating its own gateway into Bollywood with two movies in the pipeline, Kaizad Gustad's and Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's next flicks.

Founder member Goher Mumtaz, is grinning. "We are working on some Bollywood projects and would love to do more," says the lead guitarist and songwriter.

Making an entry into Bollywood has been fairly easy for the band as composers, since their original melodies found an easy audience. Which is why, the band is also planning on coming down this July to release their third album in India.

"We will be coming to India soon for the last round up tour and a few meetings, tie ups for our next album and then head to the studios to concentrate and finalise the next album, which also is almost ready. But what we are excited about is shooting our videos here," adds Mumtaz, who explains how the new line-up of him, vocalist Farhan Saeed and Aamis Sheraz on bass has allowed him to explore a more mature sound than the songs they made until three years ago.

New sound

"Boondh was our last album in 2007. Since then, the band has been busy touring different parts of the world. In the meantime, we have been working on new material. Jal has a new sound. The Sufi pop is done and now we are exploring a new sound," says Mumtaz promising a Pakistani music revolution in Bollywood.

"Before making the third album, I have specially designed and set up the studio called GM studios and bought equipment that is required by the band to achieve the best production quality. Plus we have all the liberty and freedom to record and mix it to perfection without time limitations, so now we really know what sound we need after seven years," finishes Mumtaz.

Bollywood's Fake Osama Bin Laden To Join Twitterville

Here to provide us with his regular updates and opinions, the fake Osama Bin Laden is the newest to join Twitterville.

Going by the name of "FakeBinLaden", the man in demand already has a plethora of fans on social networking site FaceBook. Reveals an inside source "Following in the footsteps of our many celebrities - the fake Bin Laden is here to entertain us with his thoughts and opinions. He already has created a stir on FB and is now here to take micro blogging site Twitter by storm"

You can find this fake Osama Bin Laden on http://twitter.com/FakeBinLaden

The identity of the face behind the "FakeBinLaden" is kept under wraps but he will regularly tweet his opinions and other news on an upcoming film also inspired by him

The movie in question is Walkwater's and Abhishek Sharma's TERE BIN LADEN.

TERE BIN LADEN releasing 16th July 2010 is a tongue-in-cheek comedy about an ambitious young news reporter from Pakistan played by Ali Zafar who is desperate to migrate to the US in pursuit of the American dream. His repeated attempts to immigrate are shot down as his visa is always rejected. But when things couldn't look worse he comes across an Osama Bin Laden look alike. And that's when chaos strikes!