Bollywood News: Week’s Best in Bollywood

The strike in Bollywood between producers and the multiplexes sent off rumours of a patch up between King Khan and Aamir Khan while we also ushered in the new Miss India.

Bollywood on strike:
Filmmaker-actor Shah Rukh Khan shared his views on the multiplex owners versus producers and distributors standoff. Speaking at a press conference, Khan said he agreed with Aamir Khan and why he felt equality is the best solution to the problem.

READ: SRK: We want fans to see our films!
ALSO READ: Aamir Khan SPEAKS out!
ALSO READ: SRK and Aamir put aside their differences to fight for Bollywood

Banoongi mein Miss India
The new beauty queens are here: Ekta Chaudhri from New Delhi is Miss India Universe, Pooja Chopra from Pune is Miss India World and Shriya Kishore from Mumbai is Miss India Earth. This year, the World and Universe title are at the same platform and have the same stature.

READ: The new Miss India is here!

Rocking Bollywood women!
Diamonds and gemstones are a girl’s best friends and the ladies of tinsel town are no exception. They have a weakness for the gorgeous precious stones. From diamond solitaires to sapphires and emeralds, they flaunt it all.

SEE: Lucky Ladies with big rocks

Barbara Mori is OK!
While Bollywood was abuzz with rumours that Hrithik Roshan and Susanne Roshan were heading to splitsville, Barbara Mori graced the cover of OK! Magazine in a completely Indian avatar.

SEE: Barbara Mori is OK!


SEE: Hrithik and Susanne are still the lovey-dovey jodi of Bollywood!
READ: Rakesh Roshan rubbishes rumours of Hrithik and Susanne split
READ: Sanjay Khan tells us why Susanne is in his home
ALSO READ: Hrithik Roshan: It’s too funny!

Shoe-story!
We all love shoes, whether they are stilettos, peep-toes, wedges, flats, pumps or booties. Gold, black, white, beige, red, yellow, pink and a whole array of colours are what we like them in. Some of the beauties in tinsel town have shoes that are absolutely drool-worthy.

SEE: Shoes to die for!


Source: starboxoffice.com

Tasveer 8x10 Movie Review - Akshay Kumar, Ayesha Takia

Tasveer 8x10 Movie Review:
Director: Nagesh Kukunoor.
Interestingly shot. - Thumbs UP
Half baked plot. - Thumbs Down
Number of weeks: New.
BO Verdict: Poor.

A Review, Written Eight By Ten

Eight by Ten. Eight lines, ten words apiece. Here we go: Once there was a man who through pictures could hop, step behind the subject's eyes and look into times past. Thus does Akshay Kumar [Images] investigate a major crime fast. (Though what would have been, had the killer used Photoshop?) A comicbooky premise is made into a thriller so confused, Tsk, from the Nagesh Kukunoor who once greatly Hyderabad Blues'd? Forget loopholes, this movie features too many half baked factors, Basically, this is just Aa Dekhen Zara with real actors.

Cast:
Akshay Kumar - Jai Puri
Ayesha Takia - Sheela Patel
Sharmila Tagore - Savitri Puri
Girish Karnad - Anil Sharma
Anant Mahadevan - Sundar Puri

From Slumdog to Bollywood

It’s goodbye Danny Boyle, hello Vashu Bhagnani for Slumdog Millionaire kids Rubina Ali and Azharuddin.

The Bollywood filmmaker quicker off the mark than all other producers, has signed on the child stars of the Oscar winning film for cameo roles in his next film. It’s called Kal Kisne Dekha and is meant to be a launch pad for his son Jacky. The film being directed by Vivek Sharma has eight-minute roles for Rubina and Azharuddin.

Late Tuesday night, they faced the camera for the first time in an outdoor shoot at Santacruz Airport. The scene had them returning to India after their moment of triumph and fame at the Oscars (clever, Vashu Bhagnani!) and being saved from a bomb blast by Jacky. The kids were mobbed by curious onlookers at the shoot and admitted, while signing autographs, that they wanted to be film stars. “Bada hoke main Salman Khan banna chahta hoon. He is very cool and my favourite star. But I will complete my college first before I become a big film star,” said Azhar, who secretly admires Katrina Kaif. The kid’s not affected a bit by the beating he got from his father. “When my dad slapped me, the media wrote bad things about him. He cried after that. So what if he slapped me? Baat nahin sunega toh maarenge na,” he explained. Like Azharuddin, Rubina too dreams of becoming a “big filmstar” like Preity Zinta someday. “I am enjoying every bit of the attention now,” she said.

Meanwhile, their co-star and hero of Kal Kisne Dekha, Jacky. is completely in awe of the kids. “They are examples of ingenuity. They have proved that you don’t have to polish and groom yourself to be a filmstar. You don’t need wealth and a star father to launch you. Be yourself and people will identify and love you,” he said.

Like Danny, Vashu too intends to do his bit for the kids. “Being a builder I will speak to some friends in Azhar’s area and try to get him a free flat and if that doesn’t happen, I will ensure that his family gets a heavy discount. I will also arrange for the bank loan because I know if I give them the money, it will be spent,” said Vashu who is also getting roles and endorsements for Azhar. As for Rubina, he will work out a financial deal with her family and other requirements if there are any.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

'Slumdog Millionaire' movie on top at Oscar Awards

LOS ANGELES - The underdog won big at the 81st Oscars last night. In a David and Goliath struggle, the hungry little Slumdog Millionaire toppled the nominations leader, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Danny Boyle’s film about romance, class and smarts in the slums of Mumbai won eight of the glittering, golden statuettes — including best picture and best director. Slumdog lost in only one of its nominated categories in the early going, then swept through its final categories.

Slumdog producer Christian Colson, surrounded by nine of his actors, director Danny Boyle and other members of the film’s entourage, joyously announced: “As you can see, our film was a collaboration between hundreds of people. Together, we have been on an extraordinary journey!”

Boyle’s joyous film tied Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi for the most Academy Awards won by a British production.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was nominated 13 times but won just three Oscars — for visual effects, art direction and makeup.

After Slumdog and Button, Academy voters spread the riches far and wide. The Dark Knight and Milk were the only other multiple winners, with two apiece. Vicky Cristina Barcelona, The Reader, The Duchess, Departures and the animated Pixar film WALL-E each had one in the 20 feature-film categories. Frost/Nixon was the only best-picture nominee to be shut out.

Kate Winslet finally got her first Oscar with her sixth nomination, this time for playing an unrepentant German concentration camp worker during the Second World War in The Reader. Winslet made no political or social comments about the controversial film on stage, instead cheekily recounting how she dreamed of winning since she was 8 and the Oscar was represented by a shampoo bottle.

“It’s not a shampoo bottle now,” she said, near tears. Winslet, during a litany of thank-yous to various people, mentioned her father and shouted out for him to whistle so she could see him. He did, and she gleamed and squealed, thrusting her arm out to salute him.

Backstage, Winslet did address the controversy, saying that, “I can’t be responsible” when viewers feel a moral problem when they view The Reader. “It certainly was not my intention to make people sympathize with an SS guard!”

Sean Penn won his second Oscar as best actor, this time for playing the late gay crusader and San Francisco politician Harvey Milk, in the drama Milk. He got some of the biggest laughs of the night by shouting to the celebrity audience: “You Commie-homo loving sons of guns!”

Penn, acknowledging the obvious in an amusing way, admitted he has not always been popular: “I know how hard I make it for you to appreciate me.”

But Penn, being Penn, also spoke up for gay rights, calling the protesters outside the Kodak Theatre “cowards” for speaking against gay rights, with slogans he dismissed as “meaningless gibberish.” Penn said: “We’ve got to have equal rights for everyone.”

He then also paid tribute to America for electing “an elegant man” as president and for embracing artists, even ones as controversial as his “brother” and fellow nominee as best actor, Mickey Rourke.

As expected, the late Heath Ledger won the supporting-actor Oscar, only the second person ever to win posthumously in any acting category. The first was Peter Finch as best actor for Network (1976).

In a night with many bursts of silliness and frivolity, the Ledger moment was riveting and sad, as Ledger’s parents Sally and Kim, and older sister Kate, took the stage to accept the award on his behalf. It was dedicated to Heath’s daughter, Matilda.

“This is ever so humbling,” Kim Ledger said quietly. Sally Bell Ledger said their son was “a compassionate and generous soul” and they were overwhelmed to be accepting the Oscar for him. “Tonight we are choosing to be happy and celebrate,” she said.

Backstage, the family confirmed that the Oscar would be held in trust for their granddaughter. “Obviously it belongs to Matilda,” Kate Ledger said, “but whatever has to happen in the meantime ...”

The “meantime” period will last for years, Kim Ledger said. “We intend to keep it for Matilda, but she can’t sign for it until she is 18, so it will be kept in trust.” The family does not know if that means it will be kept in the U.S. by the Academy, or taken back to Australia.

While Ledger’s win was a lock, the surprises started early — with the first Oscar awarded. Contrary to predictions, Penelope Cruz grabbed the Oscar as supporting actress for playing a fiery Spanish temptress in Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

This was the first subtle indicator that The Curious Case of Benjamin Button would not succeed in defeating Slumdog Millionaire. Among others, Cruz beat highly touted Taraji B. Henson, nominated for playing the woman who adopts the Brad Pitt character as a wizened baby.

Cruz was visibly shaken. “Has anybody ever fainted here?” she asked, trembling. “Because I might be the first one.” Cruz, dedicating her Oscar to family and friends, recounted how she watched the Oscars as a young girl growing up in Spain. “This ceremony was always a moment of unity in the world,” she said of paying homage to cinema.

Backstage, Cruz admitted that even winning an Oscar won’t lessen her insecurities as an actress. “I am always insecure on the set.”

Cruz promised to call Allen, who did not attend the Oscars, as soon as she could get free last night. “Of course I have to call Woody,” she said, citing his genius and the joy she felt working with him. Otherwise, she said, all she needed to do was party: “I want good music so I can dance.”

Openly gay screenwriter Dustin Lance Black used the podium to espouse gay rights after winning for best original screenplay for Milk. Black said the example of Harvey Milk, the subject of the film, “gave me the hope to live my life.” To cheers and applause, he predicted that gay rights would soon be a reality in America on “a federal basis.”

In the adapted screenplay category, Simon Beaufoy won for Millionaire. The cool and funny Beaufoy says he never dreamed of being on the moon, at the South Pole, on the podium of the Miss World pageant “and here,” referring to the Oscar stage.

Backstage, he described how the Slumdog express has caught up him and his fellow filmmakers in the excitement. That feeling did not start until the film appeared at the Toronto International Film Festival last September, Beaufoy said. “We suddenly realized we had a good film on our hands,” he said. “So we have Canada to thank for this!”

WALL-E won for best animated feature. That was expected, but the fate of the edgy Pixar film was a little in doubt recently because Kung Fu Panda had stolen the animated world’s own award, the Annie, as best picture earlier this month.

As another way of spreading the wealth around, the period costume drama The Duchess earned the award for best costume design.

bruce.kirkland@sunmedia.ca

Source: winnipegsun.com

Billu Barber Movie Reviews, Story, Trailers, Photos & Wallpapers Gallery

A Krishna-Sudama story in modern setting, ‘Billu Barber’ tells the tale of a village barber and his childhood friend, a superstar. Directed by Priyadarshan , the movie stars Irrfan Khan , Lara Dutta , Asrani , Rajpal Yadav , Om Puri supported by Shahrukh Khan in a brief role.

‘Billu Barber’ is a story of a simple ordinary man who led an extraordinary life. It’s a story set in today's day and age. Bilas Rao Pardesi was living in his village with his wife Bindiya (Lara Dutta) and two great kids. He is known as Billu (Irrfan Khan), a village barber. Life was bitter sweet...we can say more sweet than bitter.




But his business is running low because he has not been able to upgrade himself according to the changing trends. One day a superstar came into their lives and everything changed. A film unit visits his village to shoot a movie. It stars a superstar Sahir Khan (Shahrukh Khan), who was once Billu's school friend.

All at once, Billu's status in the village changes, and he becomes highly respected. Everyone wants him to meet the superstar. But Billu is unsure, as he feels he cannot match the superstar's status. Besides, he fears that the star may not recognize him. He makes many attempts to meet the star, but fails. After all these hardships, he gives up.

But people think that Billu lied about the relationship with the star and start insulting him. His family and children also gets upset.





Life changed, people changed, friends changed, the village changed but one man did not.... Billu Barber. Will this ordinary man redefine the word ordinary? Will the world see the greatness behind his small existence? And most of all, will life ever be the same for ‘Billu Barber’ again?

The movie has cameo appearances by Kareena Kapoor , Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra. ‘Billu Barber’ has music by Pritam and lyrics by Gulzar and Sayeed Quadri. A remake of the Malayalam film ‘Kadha Parayumbol’, this comic movie has been produced by SRK’s Red Chillies Entertainment.

The movie is set to release on 13th February.














Source: apunkachoice

Raaz - The Mystery Continues Movie Reviews, Story, Trailers, Photos & Wallpapers Gallery

A painter has haunting premonitions about a girl he’s never met. A girl whose hidden insecurities come to surface when she is faced with a deadly truth. And a lover who won’t let go of the woman he loves. A mysterious story unravels among these three characters in Raaz - The Mystery Continues . The movie, a Vishesh Films presentation, is not a sequel to Raaz but an entirely new suspense thriller directed by Mohit Suri.

Emraan Hashmi as Prithvi.
A silent brooding artist who expresses all his feelings through what he paints. He has a unique gift that goes beyond his talent as a painter. He can see future. And now he sees Nandita’s future – fearsome and deadly. Can he save her soul?

Kangana Ranaut as Nandita
She is a young, accomplished and independent model. She has found her life in Yash. Behind her self-confident façade lies a woman vulnerable to fear and insecurities. She is about to witness a terrifying struggle for survival. What will survive – she or her fear?

Adhyayan as Yash
Yash is a charismatic and extremely ambitious man. A documentary filmmaker, he aims at dispelling and debunking religious superstitions and paranormal beliefs. His strong commitment to rationality and logic sometimes results in him challenging and taking a stand against existing age-old traditions and myths.

And yet when Nandita, who is closest to his heart, claims to be traumatized by supernatural occurrences, will his belief still hold true?

Synopsis:
A brooding artist Prithvi (Emraan) experiences mysterious and distressing visions about Nandita (Kangana), a woman he has never met, which he paints on a canvas. Intrigued by these visions, Prithvi tracks her down and warns her that these are not merely paintings of her, but accidents waiting to happen.

At first Nandita refuses to believe him and dismisses him as an eccentric stalker. However, the striking resemblance between Prithvi’s paintings and the near-death incidents in her life is hard to ignore. Haunted by a series of deadly and paranormal experiences, her reason crumbles in the face of fear.

Now, one of Prithvi’s paintings has revealed her as dead. The only way she can change her fate is to unravel this mystery with his help, at the risk of alienating herself from her boyfriend, Yash (Adhyayan), a rational and logical man who refuses to believe in Prithvi’s premonitions.

Will Natasha risk her love and her life to unravel this mystery? Is there no escape? Are some mysteries better left unsolved, some secrets left uncovered, and some questions left unanswered?

‘Raaz – The Mystery Continues’ is produced by Mukesh Bhatt . The film is set to hit the theatres on January 23, 2009.

Source: apunkachoice

Slumdog Millionaire bags 10 Oscar Nominations

Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire, has received 10 nominations for Oscars this year.

The film has been nominated in the following categories:
Achievement in Cinematography - Anthony Dod Mantle
Achievement in Direction - Danny Boyle
Achievement in Film Editing - Chris Dickens
Achievement in Music (Original Score) - A R Rahman
Achievement in Music (Original Song) (Two Nominations) - A R Rahman
Best Motion Picture - Christian Colson
Achievement in Sound Editing - Tom Sayers
Achievement in Sound Mixing - Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke, Resul Pookutty
Adapted Screenplay - Simon Beaufoy

Indian music composer AR Rahman has bagged three nominations for the Oscars for Slumdog Millionaire; one for Best Original Score and two for Best Song.

Slumdog Millionaire will be competing with the likes The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, Milk and The Reader that are vying for the Best Motion Picture award.

The cast and crew of Slumdog Millionaire were in Mumbai for the premiere of the film. They caught the nomination announcement at the premiere venue via a live video feed to LA. On hearing the announcement the cast and crew present including Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy were overjoyed.

Anil Kapoor, who plays game show host Prem Kumar in the film said, "It is unbelievable. We are so happy it feels like the entire country has been nominated. The film gave India the platform to show the kind of talent India has. Now we must grab the opportunity instead of getting petty and narrow minded."

According to Frieda Pinto, who plays the love interest of the lead protagonist in the film, "The feeling is beyond words. 10 Oscar nominations! It's unbelievable."

"It's unbeleivable...the result, 10 nominations for the film and specially the three for Rahman. He is not here because he is finishing work on his other film, he is working right now," said director Danny Boyle.

Co-director Loveleen Tandon said, "It has really opened new doors for us and I am happy that Slumdog... became the vehicle for it. It is high time that the West woke up to Indian talent."

Irrfan Khan, who plays a police inspector in the film, feels the 10 Oscar nominations the film earned were a like a lottery and exudes confidence in A R Rahman in notching a coveted Academy award. "I am elated. It is unbelievable. I don't know how to react. It is like we have won a lottery," he said.

Diplomat-turned-writer Vikas Swarup said, "I think my book which was adapted into screenplay was nominated for the Oscar because Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy had heightened sensibility as people who loved India and Mumbai and that sensibility also came to the project. Even if they viewed it through the eyes of a 'foreigner', if I may use that word they also viewed us as people who felt greatly connected to Mumbai, the great city and its people."

The film tells the story of a slum kid who participates in popular reality game show Kaun Banega Crorepati (Who Wants to be a Millionaire?) and wins Rs two crore in a bid to win his love interest back.

Slumdog... is based on a novel by Indian diplomat Vikash Swarup and stars Bollywood actors Anil Kapoor and Irrfan Khan in lead among others.

Recently, the film's protagonist Dev Patel won the most promising newcomer award at the British Independent Film Awards as well as the Best Young Actor Award at the Critics' Choice Awards.

Nominations for the 81st Academy Awards were announced by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Sid Ganis and actor Forest Whitaker.

The 81st Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2008 will be presented on 22 February, 2009, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood and Highland Center, and televised live by the ABC Television Network.

Hugh Jackman will be seen hosting the awards and the same will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.

Source: NDTV