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Popularity In next August Michael Jackson could have become 51 years old.  He was very enthusiastic, full of energy and vital even in the last days of his youth and it is evident from the fact that he was preparing for his five concerts. He had also planned to perform from July 13, 2009 to March 6, 2010 in 50 concerts. One of the amazing facts is it that all the tickets of these 50 concerts had already been sold. It means that he could have earned fifty crore Ponds if he had performed in these concerts. These figures indicate that he had enough energy even in the last days of his youth with which he could stun his fans. It is the proven fact that all his concerts used to be surprising and problematic. His world tours always pulled record breaking crowds. From MTV to Bill Board all his albums remained on top for weeks. His album History remained on top for 80 consecutive weeks and 109 million copies of this album were sold over the entire world. All his single and group albums were praised and liked by the people.

Unique Style His unique style of presentation always impressed his fans and sometimes was also criticized. The video of one of his song was very interesting. In this video the communist flag was shown and also the march of the ‘Red Army’. Mao’s statue is pulled down in the video and Michael Jackson is shown going high and high in the sky in a military dress. Mao’s statue is brought down while Jackson’s statue takes its position. This song truly depicts the collective American point of view towards the communist China. But there is no doubt that he is king of pop. His song ‘the don’t care about us’ was filmed in the Brazilian city Rio de Janeiro in which we can see the streets and the poverty of the city suburbs. It also presents how the human rights are violated. He had to face a lot of criticism for the video of this song and it also coasted him his friendship with Hollywood director Steven Spielberg. It was also said that this song depicts his anti-Semitic views. But Michael Jackson never shirked from his responsibilities for the civilized society and had performed in many charity shows to help the poor and war affected people. He organized charity shows to collect funds for the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund. Here we can not ignore the fact that he used different dance styles. He had used so many dance styles in his shows that none of the other dancer could have ever used or using even today. Even Britney Spears and Beyonce Knowles walk on the same ground that Michael Jackson had made.

Bad Days It is the bitter truth that his childhood days were very ugly. He had to face violence and exploitation in the hands of his father. He also had fallen victim to bitter relations. During one of his interviews he had told that he is afraid of being kidnapped while sleeping. Child abuse cases affected his public image. During the trial of a case millions of his fans from thirty three countries had come to see him. It indicates that how much he was popular in the world. His relations with media were never at ease especially with the Tabloid newspaper. It is true that he underwent rhinoplasty to hide the aging effect. But it created some other problems for him He also underwent facelift surgery. Except it, to change his skin color he underwent Bleaching and nasal surgery. But these surgeries created more problems for him. Straight sunlight had also started to affect his skin. To maintain the physic of a dancer he used to do dieting. He had totally become a vegetarian but it affected his health adversely. Years long court cases had made him a mentally sick and physically weak person. He tried many times to settle these cases outside the court. In his autobiography ‘Moonwalk’ he had not accepted these charges. This amazing dancer had his own darks and lights but he will be remembered for his innovative dance forever.

 Slumdog Actor Danny Boyle’s Oskar winning film Slumdog Millionaire’s Indian child actor Azharudin Mohammad Ismail is not now a slumdog. Very soon he will be in his new flat he has got from the ‘Jai Ho Trust’. According to news the trust has fulfilled all the necessary guidelines and qualifications to buy a flat for Mohammad Azharudin and very soon he will be in his new flat. It must be learnt that Slumdog Millionaire child Actors’ makeshift homes had been demolished by the Mumbai Municipal Corporation a few days ago.

Hritik-Suzain Relations Though there are rumors in circulation of break-up between Hritik Roshan and his wife Suzain Khan but the truth is it that they are very happy with each other. Recently they were seen together in a hotel and were looking very happy. They talked about their marriage life and also about non-violence. They believe that marriage is one of the most beautiful relationships in the world. They said that if one gets married to whom he loves then it is incomparable to any other happiness of the world. Reminding his marriage, Hritik said that for him it is a memorable moment of his life. It must be learnt that Hritik is in headlines because of his affair with his co-star and Mexican girl Barbara Mori for some months and many rumors have been heard about their relationship. They both are working in a film named ‘Kites’ together. Recently they both had participated in Kahn Film Festival for the promotion of ‘Kites’.

Shooting in Australia according  to a news Indian film industry, bollywood’s biggest group Federation of Western Indian Cine Employees has decided to stop shooting in Australia in wake of the racial attacks on Indians in that country. Its chief Dinesh Chaturvedi said that they believe in non-cooperation and whatever is happening in Australia it is shameful. And the Australian government has not taken any step against the racial attackers. It must be learnt that some famous and hit Hindi films like ‘Salaam Namaste’, ‘Chak de India’, ‘Hey Baby’ and ‘Dil Chahta Hai’ were shot in Australia. But Indian film industry wants to get united against the racial attacks on the Indians in Australia. Super star Amitabh Bachchan has decided not to accept an award from an Australian university. Chaturvedi said that many directors and producers have decided to support the decision of FWICE. Some of them have decided to shoot after some time. But some of them believe that mutual relations between Indian entertainment industry and Australia should not be affected because of the racial attacks. But according to an Australian director no Indian director and producer have canceled the shootings of their films in Australia.

Rekha and Lifetime Achievement Award According to news film actress Rekha has not accepted Maharashtra Government’s lifetime achievement award. Generally lifetime achievement awards are given to those old actors or those people who are associated with the entertainment industry in any way. For last some time we have noticed that veteran or old bollywood personalities are remembered by giving them lifetime achievement awards. This is done just to bring some seriousness in the award ceremonies. It looks as if these awards are just consolation for the veteran actor or actresses who are in their last stage of their life. But Rekha is not in such a pathetic condition and never will be. She does not want to cover-up her actual age. Everyone knows that she is of Amitabh Bachchan’s age. She is not afraid of disclosure of his actual age but wants to save her prestige and that is why she has not accept Maharashtra government’s Lifetime Achievement Award. If looks, as if she wants to say that I don’t want your help and kindness.

Small Screen At various times we have seen the production of big budgeted movies in Bollywood. From Mughal-e-Azam to to soon to be released ‘Kites’ hundreds of big budgeted movies have been released. But small screen had never thought about the production of such television serials on which crores of rupees will be spent. But now small screen, too, has changed its character. For some time we have seen the production of such kind of TV serials on which 15 to 30 crore rupees have been spent. Nowadays a serial is being telecasted on which more than 50 crore rupees have been spent. In the history of small screen it is the one of the costliest TV serial. It is an animated serial which is being made by the Pune based ‘Big Animation Studio’.

Little Krishna It is the time of summer vacations and Nick Channel has started the animated serial ‘Little Krishna’ that is based on the life of Lord Krishna. Almost 50 crores have been spent on the serial that will be telecasted in 13 parts. Bangalore based ‘The Indian Heritage Foundation’ is producing this serial. Big Animation CEO Ashish S K told that more than 45 thousand pictures have been made for this serial and 380 people have worked on them. They could make a film but the serial has its age. The famous TV serial ‘Tom and Jerry; has been made in 75 parts but the whole world sees it everyday. Like Nick’s ‘Little Krishna’, Sony TV channel is telecasting ‘Chittor Ki Rani Padmini Ka Johar’. For the production of this serial Nitin Desai has established a big set in his ND Studio that costs almost 25 to 30 crores. Sony has also started the second season of Salman Khan hosted ‘Dus Ka Dum’. Salman has been given crores of rupees for this serial and almost 3-5 have been spent on the set of this serial.

Big Budgeted Serials The production of big budgeted TV serials has not started in recent times. Before it, Zee TV, Sahara and Star had spent 30-40 lakhs of rupees on each part of some serials. Zee had telecasted ‘Mulak’ in 2003 that was based on story of India prior to the division of the country. For it the set of Lahore was established on which a very big amount had been spent. This serial was directed by Chandar Behl which was praised a lot by the viewers. Sony had produced TV serial ‘Kashmir’ that was costliest serial of its time. Sony had also made ‘Kis Me Kitna Hai Dum’ game show and had spent almost 25 lakh rupees on each of its part. The production of historic TV serials demands huge investments. From set establishment, Costume to thousands of extra actors, 5-10 lakh rupees are spent on each part of such TV serials. Sunjay Khan’s ‘Maharathi Karan’ and ‘1857 Krani’, Akbar Khan’s ‘Tipu Sultan’ and all the serial of BR Chopra and Ramanand Sagar were big budgeted TV serials. Amir Thakre had also made ‘Khel’ which was also costliest serial of its time. Star had produced Amitabh Bachchan hosted ‘Koun Bnega Krorepati’. Amitabh Bachchan had been given such a huge amount for his role in this serial that he had paid back all his debts. For some time, big budgeted TV serial have flooded the small screen. Colors’ ‘Big Bose’ and Real’s ‘Sarkar Ki Dunia’ are among such serials on which almost 10 crores have been spent. Ekra Kapoor’s ‘Kitni Mohhabat Hai’ is also a big budgeted serial. NDTV is going to spend a huge amount of money on ‘Rakhi Ka Swayamber’. For it, four different kind of sets will be established and on the day of marriage of Rakhi whole of the Bollywood we be invited. It is expected that 15 to 20 crores will be spent on this serial.

 The Legend Habib Tanvir was among those people who had his relationship not only with theatre but all the art fields and with many generations of people related to those art fields. It is an important feature of his character and can be imagined that there is a special class of musicians, filmmakers, dramatists, writers and poets. And many generations of those people will remember him for various reasons. Everyone knows that theatre has a relationship with all the art fields but all the people related to this field cannot meet the demands of this relationship but Habib Tanvir understood the demands of this relationship and met them without hesitation and with equal honesty. All the country has seen his work. He was not only a highly qualified actor and director but was as a head of all the art society and the art family of India. Everyone expected something from him and got that. People used to remember him for years for his performances but now he will be remembered more after his death. He gave a lot of contribution to the traditional Indian drama that is popularly known as Nat vidhya. He brought the folk and rural actors to the national and inter-national stage which is his one of the most significant contribution for the India drama.

Early Life Habib was born on September 1, 1923 in Raipur of Chattisgarh. His father’s name was Hafiz Ahmed Khan who had his background of Peshawar. Habib Ahmed Khan completed his matriculation from his home town and got his graduation degree in 1944 from the Morris College of Nagpur. He also studied in Aligarh Muslim University for a year. For next ten years he worked as an actor in some Hindi films, wrote some songs and many plays out of which ‘Agra Bazar’ was one of his famous play lists. He had also become an integral part of the Progressive writer’s Association, Indian People’s Theatre Association, Children’s Theatre and Qudsia Zaidi’s Hindustani Theatre. His theatrical relations with actor-director Moneeka Mishra turned changed into permanent relationship when they got married. From 1955 to 1958 he stayed in Europe. During this period he got training from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in Acting and from Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in Direction. He was influenced by German poet, play write and theatre Director Bertolt Brecht’s works. From him he learnt the use of local idioms in his plays, which was later on called the ‘theatre of roots’.

Works When he returned in 1958 to India he remained busy for some time to discover the root elements of Indian Theatre that he could use in the establishment of his own theatre along with the use of new theatrical techniques he had learnt in England. This quest brought him into close contact with the folk actors of the Chattisgarh, the people of his birthplace. He understood the root elements of the folk art and the relationship between the ‘Shashtar’ (holy books) and the people. This led to the foundation of his own theatre named ‘Naya Theatre’ in 1959. Six folk actors from Chattisgarh were among the first members of his theatre. He kept on experimenting with Drama. He even started to use local language as most of his actors used to be folk actors. He gave more freedom to his folk actors and even used folk singing style of hymns in his plays. Among his famous plays, ‘Agra Bazar’ and ‘Mitti Ki Gaddi’ are the most significant plays. Expect it, ‘Charan Das Chor’ also drew large crowds. This play was turned into a full length feature film by Shyam Benegal under the same name. His play ‘Ponga Pandit’ turned out to be a big controversy when some saffron parties started to disrupt its shows. A few years ago when he had performed in Bhopal’s Ravinder Bhavan, people in large numbers used to come to see his ‘Charandas Chor’. People used to see this play while standing on their feet because of lack of seats. He himself used to play the role of a constable. Though his role used to very brief but people used to come especially to see him.

He was awarded by the Indian government many times for his contribution to the field of art. In 1969 he was awarded with Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, in 1983 with Padma Shri, in 1996 with Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship and in 2002 with Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship. He was also nominated as the member of Rajya Sabha (1972-1978). He was writing his biography which could not be completed because of his death on June8, 2009.

We all Indians are very proud of Slumdog Millionaire for what it has achieved. This was first time that an Oscar has come to India and we are so ga ga about it. In fact this was the first time that Oscar has been awarded from mainstream cinema. I do not feel bad about anything for this time Oscars. I only wanted to retrospect if the movie really showed the actual face of India. It is showing the truth which  a normal Indian ignores. There were some groups in India who infact wanted this word slumdog to be removed from the dictionary itself because they felt it is racist.

I do not see that movie was an effort to show the poverty of India. Many people have criticized that this movie is showing only the bad part of the nation. They feel that India is only those swanky buildings and glittering malls. I do not know how they can ignore the every day sight on traffice signals and road side scenes. Yes, irrespective of which city you live in.

Slumdog is a story of 2 brothers and a girl from the slums of india. The story takes them to different directions. The big brother of two turns into a gangster where as the yougner of two who infact is the hero of the movie is tea server in a call center. See call center. The true image of India in the west now a days. Oh, yes the girl ends up as a show girl with the gangsters. The film shows that the youger boy reaches the hot seat of a game show. Yes the most famous game show in India- “ kaun banega karorpati”.  There is an interesting host of the show which infact was unlike the real hosts of the show- Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan. The real hosts of the show wanted the contestants to win however the reel life  host did not want the hero to win the game show. This was one of the crucial aspect of the movie which made it interesting. The host calls the police to  get the hero arreseted on the charges of fraud at the end of the first day of the show. The police at the police station tortures him by giving him electric shocks just to know how a tea server slumdweller know all the correct answeres.

The answers to the questions were hidden in the dingy slums of Dharavi.  The heaps of garbage, dogs with flees, young hero jumping into a pit full of …., hindu  muslim roits  etc. it showed the rough langage of the few characteristics of the film which together with the superb cinematography by Anthony Dod Mantle makes it an ultra realistic movie. Kudos to the director Danny Boyle and co-director Loveleen Tandon for the impressive direction and superb camera takes which shows the minutest of the details of the dirty slum life. The screenplay was outstanding.

All the five  kids have acted great in the movie. Half of the movie revolves around them and they have managed the show very well. It was very natural and realistic. Dev Patel was fine. The actress Frieda Pinto had nothing much of the screen time but she delivered very good performance.  Anil Kapoor was cool. Irrfan Khan as the deadly cop together with Saurabh Shukla gave the top performances together with the child artists. Mahesh Manjrekar was looking a real gangster. He was rough, bad and whatever you may call a gangster. Madhur Mittal as the older brother Salim was quite good.

   The music of the movie is beyond any description. Reason? Well the music had so many nominations for Oscars so what more can be written here. The background score was awsome.  The song “ Jai Ho” is  the mobile caller tone of  50% of the populatino in India who have seen this movie. With a strong language, I must say abusive language, violence in roits, torture, a child being blinded with hot syrup (something), murder and other such things happening in the slums. These violent scenes are quite chilling and tense. 

Overall I would recommend this movie to every person who has a tag “Indian” attached to him/her. A detailed insight into the murky life of slumdwellers. Slumdog Millionaire is one of those movies which has a happy ending. And out of the 10 oscar nominations it would bag atleast three i.e in “cinematography”, “editing” & for the song “Jai Ho”. It is a perfect edge of the seat thriller wrapped in the ghostly realities of slums.

The movie starts with a struggling film actress who received an indecent proposal as is known in the film world as “casting couch”. Though it has humor attached to it. Ali khan, who is playing as the producer in this episode and Konkona Sen as struggling actress have performed remarkable well. Though the scene was lengthy enough to be disliked. Yes, she is ready to do it because she wants the job badly.

This movie will give you a deep inside look into Bollywood. You can see how big, how bad this world of showbiz is. Yes it is a bad world. In this world you will find that you have been used by your friend on whom you were counting. Your friends only will abuse you. You get your lover replaced overnight. Mothers are manipulating their daughters in this industry. Well.. well this is not what I m telling you. You will get to see all this in this movie. You will see that this is the industry where you are as important as your last hit was.

You will also get to see the love that the director of this movie has for this industry in this movie itself. A comic and lovable take on the business and its people as is observed by her as an insider. Film presents a sharp observation of the grime behind the glamour, the insecurities behind the smiling faces.

Farhan Akhtar and Konkona are the wannabe actors of the movie who are ready to do everything that it is going to take to get their dreams come true. Compromise on principles to get ahead of others. And when one has achieved something, the other is not going to stay behind. This film is written by Akhtar. A very insightful and funny film.

Oh yes .. Rishi Kapoor is also there. A con film producer. He is angry because the superstar he made is not returning his calls. Very funny. Dimple Kapadia is a star mum who confesses something you would like hear while watching movie itself.

 Akhtar also succeeds in keeping the mood light when necessary, packing a bagful of in-jokes, several delivered by the very characters they’re aimed at. It’s sporting of Sanjay Kapoor to play the failed actor brother of a big producer who turns his sights to direction, or Anurag Kashyap who’s cast as the writer-with-a-serious-bent bullied into plagiarizing a foreign film, or even Hrithik Roshan as the superstar heartthrob caught up in his own image.

  Dint I mention………yes we are talking about “Luck By Chance”.

Kareena to open a School

The dream was seen by the ‘showman’ Rajkapoor and his granddaughter has taken the responsibility of changing it into a reality. There is news that Bollywood hot actress Kareena is searching for a suitable plot to open a special school for the children in Mumbai. It is for the first time that a Bollywood star is going to open a school without the help of any Governmental or NGO’s help. Though she will consult the specialists regarding the establishment of the school but it is being said that she herself will spend the money on the project. It is being said that her elder sister Karishma is fully supporting her sister. She too will help her sister as for as the investment is concerned. According to some internal sourced the Kapoor sisters can change their family dream into a reality within a few coming years but it depends on the availability of a suitable plot. Kapoor sisters are finding a 2-3 acre plot at some good and suitable location in Mumbai and Bebo has not set any investment limit for the establishment of the project. It is being said that she has kept Rs.15 crore separately for the purchase of land. It is being said that Aamir’s ‘Taare Zameen Par’ is working as an inspiration for her and after watching it she has become very active to open a special school for the children. Kareena told that it is true that she is searching trying to buy a suitable plot to open a school. But she declined to tell something more about this project as a lot of work is required to be done.  But it is being said that school will be named after Bollywood showman Rajkapoor’s name.

Juhi Chawla’s New Look

There is news that Joya Akhtar’s directorial debut ‘Luck By Chance’ is packed with stars. It is also being said that Jhuhi Chawla, too, will play a short but an important role in the film. And for his role she has adopted a ‘blonde look’. It must be learnt that she never has adopted such kind of look in any of her previous films. She told that when Joya offered her this role she was very much excited to hear the story of the film. Though Joya already had told her about the ‘length’ of the role but she was very much excited to do this role as it was a significant role in the film. She told that the main reason behind accepting this role is that it is totally different from all her previous rolls played in various films. She is playing the role of the wife of a film director. The director’s role is being played by Rishi Kapoor. To give a realistic touch to her role she has adopted the ‘blonde girl’ look. It must be learnt that Farhan Akhtar, Kokana Sen, Isha, Sanjay Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor, Dimple and Juhi Chawla are the main characters in the film and it is ready to be released on 30^th January.

Sanjay Dutt in Politics

SP general secretary stunned everyone when he announced Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt’s entry into the politics. This has not ended here. He has been selected as party’s MP candidate from the Lukhnow Lok Sabha seat. It must be learnt that Lukhnow is the ‘pet’ seat of former PM and BJP veteran leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee. With this development SP has given big jolts to Congress and BJP. It must be learnt that Dutt family has always remained very near to the Congress. His father Suneel Dutt had won many Lok Sabha elections as a Congress candidate.  But for last some time Dutt family was not happy with the Congress leaders. It is being said that Bachchan famlily’s strong ties with SP have encouraged Sanju to join politics. Some differences had emerged in the Dutt family after the announcement but Sanjay Dutt has solved them as being the ‘eldest in the family’. In the initial stages it was being said that he can not fight the elections because of his ‘tainted past’ but all such voices were neutralized when court permitted him to contest the upcoming elections. Now the time has come for him to do Gandhigiri in real life.

India at Oscars At one hand when India is celebrating for A.R Rahmaan’s Golden Globe Award, the ouster of ‘Taare Zameen Par’ in the first round of Oscar race has distressed the Indians. Not only the Indian entertainment industry was shocked to hear the news but it has also disappointed the Indian fans. ‘Taare Zameen Par’ had been selected to represent India in the foreign language film category. It was the fourth Indian film that had been selected for the Oscar race. The first three were ‘Mother India’, ‘Salaam Bombay’ and ‘Lagaan’. It is for the fourth time that an Indian film had been selected for the Oscar race but could not succeed to win any award. Earlier famous Indian director Satyajit Ray had been awarded for his contribution for his work for the development and of Indian cinema. But some people have raised their fingers on Ray’s selection for the Oscars. According to them Oscar Committee had awarded him for his ‘special contribution’ in the field of cinema but this ‘special contribution’ has not been found in any of his films.

Questions Every year, 800 films are made in the Indian entertainment industry but at the other hand Hollywood makes around 100 films every year. But despite of this huge difference, no Indian film has succeeded in winning any of the Oscar Awards. International Film market is of 30 Billion while India’s entertainment industry’s business percentage in the International market is only 3.5 per cent. From this point of view we can make an estimate of the contribution of the western films in international film market. But there are many questions that rise in Indian minds. That are; what are those Oscar ‘measures’ according to which Indian films fail to stay in the race and win an award? At which levels Indian films fail to compete with the others? If there are any kind of short comings then Why Indians film makers don’t try honestly to remove those shortcomings to make best films?

Efforts There are many film makers who have presented true India through their picture. Some of them are Satyajit Ray, B. Santaram, Tapan Sinha and many more. They have presented various Indian classes with a great sensitivity in their films. There films can compete at the international level. Some Indian people have won Oscar Awards but no India film has succeeded to win an Oscar. But Taare Zameen Par’s ouster form the Oscar Awards’ race has satisfied the view of only those Indian film makers who say that ‘ India people like only the ‘masaaledar films that take them away’ to evade the harsh realities of the daily life. In recent times we have seen that Hollywood has made inroads into the Indian entertainment market through ‘dub’ or translated films. Today we can see many ‘Hollywood award winning films translated into various Indian languages’. This development has severely affected Bollywood’s home market. In recent years we had noted that many regional Indian films industries were at the brink of collapse. The Punjabi film industry is the exact example of it. But some people who had always remained connected with this regional industry made some ‘true’ efforts to revive the dying industry and this have got a lot in respect and support from the people to them. During these efforts many ‘world class’ Punjabi films were made and won many awards. ‘Waris Shah’ and ‘Shaheed-e-Azam Udham Singh’ are the examples of it. It is the story of a regional Industry but it also indicates that true efforts always return more than expected. Considering these facts Indian filmmakers should sensitively have a thorough thinking to improve the quality, better storyline, technique and sensitivity of the language. If it is done then there is no reason that can stop us from getting any achievement in this field.

Financial Problems The latest rumors that have emerged from the Indian entertainment industry indicate that international financial melt down has started to show its impacts on Bollywood. The time limit of many film projects has been increased. In December we have seen that release date of many films had been canceled or had been postponed and it was said that these steps have been taken in wake of the Mumbai attack. It was said that mood of the public was not good at that time as India was recovering from one of the worst terror attack. But it was not the real issue. The reality is that Indian corporate world that is also involved in the film production has been severely hit by the financial melt-down. And it has directly affected the under-production projects.

Deal A news has emerged, though there is no official confirmation, that Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan’s home banner A B Corp and Anil Ambani’s Reliance Entertainment have canceled their Rs. 1500-crore joint venture. Both these companies had entered into the deal in June last year and were to make films, reality shows, TV serials and internet and mobile content jointly. Both the companies were the equal partners in the deal. Reliance Entertainment was to handle the managerial, marketing and distribution work of the projects while Bachchan family had agreed to provide all kind of creative inputs.

Impact It is being said that ‘Reliance has been going through a major up and down for some time now’. Those filmmakers who are making films jointly with Reliance have been asked to cut the costs. Many projects that were yet to be started have been reworked on their budget. It has directly affected Vashu Bhagnani’s ‘Do Knot Disturb’, ‘Kal Kissne Dekha’, Ravi Chopra’s ‘Banda Yeh Bindaas Hai’ and many others under-production films. It is being said that Reliance has decided to reconsider these films. It is being said that amid the air of uncertainty AB Corps have joined hands with Studio 18 to complete some under-production projects.

Reasons According to some unofficial reports lack of communication between AB Corps and Reliance Entertainment is the reason behind the ‘fall out’. According to ToI, ‘The deal between AB Corp and Reliance has fallen through as Reliance was taking its own time and there was no clarity from their side as to when they wanted to start the film.’ But it will be too premature to say that the deal between both the partners has been called of because of ‘lack of clarity’ on part of Reliance. Any one who has a ‘sound mind‘ can reach the conclusion that it is the financial problems that have forced Reliance to back tract. Reliance Entertainment has not commented officially on this report and at the same time Big B, too, has not issued any statement regarding this matter. Even an official of TV 18 declined to comment on this issue. All this ‘talk’ indicates that everything is not well between the Ambanis and Bachchans.

Agreement According to the agreement Bachchans were to work with four directors selected by Reliance Entertainment. These directors were Rohan Sippy, Sujoy Ghosh, Chandraprakash Dwivedi and Balki. It was decided that Abhishek Bachchan will work with Sippy while Amitabh was to work in Ghosh and Diwedi’s films. Abhishek and Amitabh both were to feature in R. Balakrishanan’s fims. With this development, it has become evident that in the coming months Indians will not be able to see big budgeted films as most of such projects have suffered because of financial problems. At the other end it is a good sign for the small scale films and regional film industries.

Death Veteran filmmaker Tapan Sinha, who was famous for his films based on Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagor’s novels, died on Thursday, January 15, in Kolkata. He was 84 years old and has been survived by a son and a daughter. He was ill from a long time and had been admitted at the Calcutta Medicla Research Institute in south Kolkata. He was suffering from pneumonia and septicaemia and had been kept on life support system. He had been admitted on December 6 with acute breathing problems. His wife Arundhuti Devi who was also an actress had died in 1990. During his long career in the film industry he has made many award winning films. He was basically based in the Tamil film industry but he also had made films in Hindi and Oriya. He is admired by not only the fans but also by the critics. Critic Shoma A. Chatterji said, ‘He was an unassuming gentleman who had a strong ear for music and great command over adaptation of famous literary works’.

Works During his long film career he had made 41 films, which had won many national and international awards for him. He had won 19 National Film Awards in various categories except winning laurels in international film festivals like those in Berlin, Venice, London, Moscow, San Francisco and Locarno. He had been awarded with India’s highest award for cinema- the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. He had been awarded with the lifetime achievement award also. He was famous for his ‘out-of-line’ films. In his films he always tried to touch the real life problems with a great sensitivity. He can be matched by only a Mrinal Sen or a Satyajit Ray. ‘Kabuliwala’, ‘Safed Hathi’ were some of his best films which also depicted his-child at heart personality. ‘Kabuliwala’ is based on Tagore’s novel that depicts the story of a sensitive relationship between an Afghan dry fruit seller and a small girl. It has won the Music Award at the Berlin Film Festival. He directed the ‘Safed Hathi’ with a great sensitivity. His first film Ankush was also dealt with a great sensitivity as it had an elephant as the central character. It was based Narayan Ganguly’ story ‘Sainik. ‘Ek Doctor Ki Maut’, Nirjan Saikate, Haate Bazare and Admi aur Aurat, were some of his other award winning films. ‘Ek Doctor Ki Maut’ depicts the story of a young doctor’s scholastic pursuits and invention and how the talent is responded by the society. This film had won him numerous national and international awards that include National Award for Second Best Film, Best Director, 1991’s Special Jury Award for Best Actor, 1991’s BFJA Awards for Best Film and Best Director, 37th Film Fare Award for Best Screenplay in 1991, Red Cross Film Festival, Sofia (Bulgaria), 1991. Made in 1957, ‘Kalamati’ was another remarkable film that depicted the real life problems faced by those people who live in coalmine areas.

Life Born in Kolkata on October, 1924, Sinha studied at the Presidency College Calcutta and got a degree in Physics. He was very much fascinated to see the cinematic version of Charles Dicken’s novel ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ and it inspired him to join the films. He started his career as a Sound Recordist and then shifted to Direction. In 1950s he went to London to sharpen his film making skills. He worked with British Director Charles Cryton’s unit as Sound Engineer for the film called ‘The Hunted’. He worked there for two years and returned with the purpose of filmmaking. His first film was released in 1957. And after that he produced some remarkable work that was very much near to the reality.

He also had made some documentaries and Biographical films. He also had made a biographical film on famous Indian scientist Jagdish Bose. 

Entrainment Industry Whether it is the peace or war Bollywood has always remained with the people of India. When there is peace in the region we see a series of ‘experiments in the entertainment industry and when there are natural calamities, war and terror attacks Bollywood people have always stood by their countrymen. We have seen this very recently during the terror attack on the financial capital and home of the entertainment industry, Mumbai on November 26. All this contributes to the popularity of the industry in India and all over the world where ever the Indians live. In recent years Bollywood has crossed all limits of popularity and has become very popular in Middle East and the western world. With this new change, a change has been also noted in Bollywood’s objectives. Earlier Bollywood directors used to make films only for those people who could understand the language of the land. But now they have started to make films even in foreign languages with the objective of targeting the western world. This new move have increased Indian entertainment industry’s popularity world wide. During the ‘Rajkapoor era’ Indian movies had become very much popular in the USSR. This has not ceased even after the collapse of the communist ruled USSR and with the demise of Rajkapoor. But it has crossed Russia and has reached the ‘other end of the earth’. With this change Bollywood actors, actresses and directors have become very much popular even in Europe. This change has brought Hollywood and Bollywood very close to each other. Now there are many projects in which Indian and western people all working together. But after actors and actresses the latest Bollywood personality, who has crossed all limits of popularity is, A.R Rehmaan.

Awards Rahman has become the first Indian to win the 66 years old prestigious Golden Globe Award. This Indian music composure is already very famous for his unique tunes in the Indian sub-continent. His film ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ has won four Golden Glone awards at the ceremony held at Beverly Hills. ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ has won Golden Globes for Best Music Composer for A.R Rahman, Best Director Award for Danny Boyle, Best Screenplay for Simon Beaufoy and Best Motion Picture (Drama). There are many reasons for the Indians to smile. First of all Rahman has become the first Indian to win the award, second most of the cast and crew of the film are Indians. The leading pair of Dev Patel and Freida Pinto both is of Indian origin while Anil Kapoor has played a supporting role in the movie.

Storyline The story of the film is based on an Indian diplomat Vikas Swarup’s novel Q and A. The story based on the life of an orphan who lives in a Mumbai Slum. The hero of the story, Jamal , wins the Indian version of ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire’. Hero is motivated by his love to win the award. This film also depicts the dark aspects of the Mumbai slum life. It has also thrown some light on communal riots, police torture, beggar trade, underworld connections and the flesh trade. It also depicts the story of honest hearts fighting with the odds and harsh realities of the slum life.

Cast and Crew Ironically, this film has not been released in India yet. But it is being said that Golden Globe awards have added a lot to its popularity and it is being expected that this film will attract thousands of Indians when it gets released on 23 January all over India. Anil Kapoor who found himself short of words said, ‘It’s unbelievable, I just can’t imagine what it means for Mumbai and India.’ While co-director of the film said that he is ‘waiting for India to give her verdict’ because ‘Slumdog is a very special film for India because the film’s heart is in India; and the world has appreciated it.’ Rahman, who celebrated his birthday on January 6 had said, ‘A win at the Golden Globes will be the best birthday gift I can receive.’ After winning the award he dedicated it to the ‘billion people of India.’ He also said, ‘I am so happy to have won this award not because I needed it but for the millions of music lovers in India who wanted me to bring home the Golden Globe.’

All-Out Performance Aamir Khan has a special status in the Indian entertainment industry called Bollywood. He is known for his ‘all-out’ performances in his films. In recent years we have witnessed that he has worked in a very few films but all those films have proved out to be grand successes on the board. Whether it was ‘Sarfarosh’, ‘Lagan’, ‘Rang De Basanti’ or is ‘Gajini’, he had adopted a unique style to fully suit his films. And all these films have proved his metal as a matured actor and as a successful experimentalist. He changes his personality according to the demand of the role. We have seen his ‘Mangal Pandey’ look and to prove his metal in that film he had worked for months.

Race To do justice to every role he ’surpasses all limits’. His Gajini look is the proven evidence. After Salman and Shahrukh he too, have joined the ‘Bollywood body builder actors’. He has not joined the race with Salman and Shahrukh but have even surpassed then. Sharukh had showed his ’six pack’ body in his recent flick but Aamir has surpassed him by his ‘eight pack’ body look in his latest flick ‘Gajini’. Once again Aamir has appeared in a new look but this time he is totally different-we haven’t seen him before. He has not only ‘worked on his body’ but went ‘all-out’ to promote his film. Whether it were print media, TV shows, hoardings and stage programs his tattooed his rippling musculature was could be seen anywhere.

Cast&Crew Aamir Khan, Asin, Jiah Khan and Pradeep Rawat starred ‘Gajini’ has been directed by A R Murugadoss a famous south Indian director. Originally it is the remake of the Tamil film ‘Gajini’ which was inspired by Christopher Nolan’s “Memento”. Except Aamir most of the crew and the director have worked in the Tamil ‘Gajini’ also. A.R. Rehman has given music to the film. In the starting of the film Sanjay Singhania (Aamir Khan) is introduced who is suffering from a anterograde amnesia, a short term memory loss which means that one forgets everything within a short span of time. The director has done a wonderful job even when the situation switches very fast because of hero’s ’short haul amnesia’.

Story Line The hero forgets every thing within the time of 15 minutes that is why everything is tattooed on his body that reminds him about his past. The film is simply a ‘live and revenge’ story but its different situations are interwoven in a very beautiful manner that keeps the ‘watcher’ glued to the screen. It has all the emotions of revenge, romance, action and thrill with a nice touch of humor present in it that reminds us about the films of 80’s.

Performance In the film Sanjay Singhania has been presented as a business tycoon who is the owner of a cellular company called Air Voice. He falls in love with a model turned social activists Kalpana (Asin) . But the underworld don Gajini (Pradeep Rawat) kills Kalpana in front of Sanjay and injures him that causes him to lose his memory. From this stage the course of the film turns and with every passing moment the ‘feelings’ reach their highest point. There are loopholes and some unanswered questions but they can be ignored in such a film that deals with psychology. Amir Khan has performed very well amid rapidly changing emotions. Asin, too, has looked awesome especially in the romantic scenes. Jiah Khan has also impresses as a medical student. But overall it is Aamir Khan who has pulled the crowds with his thundering performance.

Bollywood Mumbai terror attack once again has displayed Indian ‘unity in integrity’ as people from all the sections of the society condemned these attacks in one unified voice. It is the proven fact that whenever the nation faced any threat internal or external threat or natural calamity bollywood has always come forward and taken the lead to meet the challenge. Whenever there was an attack on the country bollywood actors gave their full support to the brave soldier defending the country and even had reached to meet them at the front to show them that ‘whole of the nation is with them’. Whenever there was any natural calamity bollywood always have tried to help the affected people by organizing charity shows and various other means. Now when Mumbai has been struck by one of the worst terror attack of the world after 9/11, the Indian entertainment industry once again has stood with the country.

Reaction Various bollywood actors have condemned the Mumbai terror attack in the strongest words. Whether their was a public procession or some TV debate shows Bollywood personalities were seen leading every where. Some bollywood actors and actresses had taken part in some public processions without any security to protest the killing of innocent people. Bollywood is in itself a different world, a world of celebrations, entertainment, intrigues, suspenses and cut-throat competition. But this time almost all of the bollywood personalities have canceled their new year celebrations to show solidarity with the Mumbai terror victims. On the new year eve dance parties are organized in almost every where in Mumbai in which bollywood personalities take part and perform. But this time in Mumbai no one is in party mood and most of the parties have been canceled in wake of the terror attack. There are some reports that say that Bipasha Basu has canceled off her performance at the Sahara Star.

Saif&Kareena All the bollywood personalities have spoken over the Mumbai terror attack and condemned the politicians and the terrorists. Many stars have written in their blogs or organized special media conferences to condemn the militants and the behavior of the Indian political after the attack. Bollywood’s hottest pair Saif and Kareena are one of those who have condemned the most heinous terror act and government’s failure to protect the citizens. Saif has condemned the Indian politicians in a written statement saying that ‘political parties are advertising for votes while the bodies of the dead have not yet been cremated. Politicians are offering money to the family of the slain officers in a bid to get votes’. He has written that ‘as the Indian and the Muslim’ he feels ‘a little scared as a Muslim’ after the Mumbai attack.

Khans In an interview to a private channel Shahrukh Khan said that he tried to to keep himself away from commenting on the Mumbai carnage because he could not find most strongest words to condemn such a heinous act as he had the mixed feeling of anger, disbelief and sadness. He appealed the youngsters to ‘understand Islam and respect the religion in the right way’. Another bollywood super star Amir Khan addressed a press meeting and appealed the youth of the country to start a new political party to give a ’strong, clean, honest and fresh leadership’ to the country. He wore a black dress on Eid to denounce the terror act. Actress Preity Zinta also condemned the terror attack. She had took part in the candle light vigil held in Mumbai after a week of the attack. She also appeared in some live TV debate shows and criticised the ‘cowardly act’.

Black Bands Many bollywood personalities who belong to the Muslim community showed their solidarity with the affected people and wore black bands to show the terrorists that their ill motifs to divide the Indian in the name of religion can never succeed. Actress Dia Mirza wore a black band and urged the Muslim community to speak against the acts of terror. Budding actor Irrfan wore a black band to send out a message to the terrorists that they ‘are the enemies of Islam’. Farhan Akhtar appealed all the Indians to wear a black band, regardless of their religion, to send a message to the terrorists and the politicians that ‘their tactics to divide us will no longer work’.

Ban It is not only north Indian migrants that are facing problems in Mumbai but now the Bhojpuri film industry too has faced the music. A recently released Bhojpuri film named ‘Deshdrohi’ has been banned in Maharashtra. This all happened because of the political crisis that has been created by the MNS led anti-north campaign. This film has been directed by Kamaal Khan. He also has acted in the film. This film revolves around the idea of problems faced by the migrant laborers especially Biharies in Maharashtra. Through in his film he has tried to convey the message that ‘Indians are a big family and there is no you and me’. Some Mumbai policemen had seen the special screening of the film and had even appreciated Kamaal Khan for his unique effort. They all had approved the film and had submitted ‘no-objection’ report to the home minister. Later on the censor board also had passed the film without any cut.

Objection According to a Maharashtra state government rule every industry should appoint 80 per cent local people as its employees. But a few days ago a report that was based on a survey had published in all the major news papers of the state that claimed that more than 95 per cent employees in private and public sector of the state are Marathi people and the rest are the migrant workers including the Biharis. Though, to some extent MNS’ anti-north campaign is based on legitimate grounds but it can not be denied that their method of objection is not the write one. There is nothing wrong as for as the film is concerned as it is very near to the reality. If someone tries to object it then we can say that he does not want to accept the problem and he, himself is, to some extent, responsible for the creation of the problems that are being faced by the migrant laborers. It is not good on the part of Marathi people to object anything that is associated with the Biharies.

Advertisement It is the social and political crisis in the state that ‘Deshdrohi’ has been banned. Now there are rumors that Bhojpuri film industry will shift from Mumbai to Bihar. If it happens then it will be a big loss for the Maharashtra state and it will be difficult to determine that, which the real ‘deshdrohi’ is. Though by banning this film the Maharashtra government has tried to keep the ‘law and order’ maintained in the state but at the same time the ban has worked in favor of the film as it has become an ‘issue of prestige’ between people of two states and it has got a lot of ‘advertisement’ also.