‘Hijack’ inspired by ‘Die hard’, says new director

Mumbai, July 18 (IANS) Adman turned filmmaker Kunal Shivdasani, who is debuting as a director with action thriller “Hijack”, admits that his film is inspired by the famous Hollywood flick “Die Hard”.

“In terms of treatment of the story and character development, it is inspired by ‘Die Hard’. But ‘Hijack’ is not a copy of ‘Die Hard’,” said Shivdasani.

Kunal, who has filmed more than 300 ads over a period of 10 years, said he will offer the audience a Hollywood looking film laced with Indian emotions.

After spat, Salman, Shah Rukh not in mood for compromise

Mumbai, July 20 (IANS) No one could anticipate that a star-studded birthday party of Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif would turn into a battle of the two Indian super stars – Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan – dividing the industry into two camps.

The two superstars were caught in a war of words on the July 16 party that Salman threw for current girlfriend Katrina, which later turned ugly.

Dhoni creates awareness about AIDS!

Ranchi, July 19 (IANS) India’s one day cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has taken on a different role here, recording a message as part of an AIDS awareness campaign.

Dhoni, popularly known as Mahi, spoke of the need to combat AIDS and to promote anti-polio programmes. In a short film, he also exhorted children to study and desist from leaving school.

Praising Dhoni’s work, Jharkhand Health Minister Bhanu Pratap Sahi told reporters Saturday: “Dhoni is getting his voice recorded free of cost when the ad people pay him millions of rupees”.

Aamir Khan’s Tata Sky Commercial

Indian Company Tata is known to produce good commercial, earlier they invited Ajay and Kajol for the commercial of the Tata Indicom. That commercial was a success among everyone and i think i watched it more than 100 times, yet it still excite.

This time they have come up with Aamir Khan, doing the double role of a punjabi woman and man. Both are battling for a tv connection from the same company, actually two company who have now come together as a unit in india. Sky is world leader in satelite tv connection and Tata is big indian company.

Though this is not the first time, few years back, Aamir had danced on a popular song of the film ‘Baazi’ wearing all the makeup and everything to look like a real girl.

When khan was approached to speak on this commercial, he said “It was bizarre because it is me as a woman and a man, just by turning around.”

Salman Khan will perform live

After Dus Ka Dum, Salman Khan is going to do another show but this time he won’t charge for it. This might not be as big as his earlier one but sure will give joy to many who would benefit from this. No, I am not talking about his film ‘Hello’ promo.

Congressman Sanjay Nirupam has approached him for a live show, for the relief of bihar flood victims.

It is not new for salman to do charity show, he has been actively helping the ones in need with his own charitable organization.

Although the details are not yet finalized, according to Sanjay “Yes, I did call Salman. He has a great human side to him and has always been there to help in every possible way. He couldn’t participate for the rally as he is busy with his shoots but he will be doing a live show. He sent his people to chalk out the dates and other prerequisites for the show.”

Amrita Rao says ‘welcome to sajjanpur’

Amrita Rao

Indian actress Amrita Rao who has often done well in comedy films, says she is super duper excited to be part of ‘welcome to sajjanpur’. The film she says, is about the people and their culture of an small town village.

Amrita who impressed many with her film Masti and Vivah, in both the films, she was paired with Shahid Kapoor. No doubt they make a good pair, although together they have no film, lined up in future. Some facts for producers to look into.

In WTS, she is paired with Shreyas Talpade who is the lead hero of the this and is the most educated person among them, he would often get intimated by the stupidity and innocence of the villagers. Although shown in a comical flavor, this is an effort by Shyam Benegal to bring up some genuine issue through this fictious film.

It will be released this week on the 19th, already the movie market is filled with many others, so it would be interesting to watch, how much attention, this manages to get.

Bachchans In a Big Deal With Reliance; Multi-Platform Deal

Forget its big deal in the works in Hollywood, Reliance Big Entertainment is spreading its already big wings in India: it has done a deal with Bachchans, and TOI says the deal could be worth Rs 1,000-1,500 crore and would include film production, television series, reality shows, internet and mobile content besides live shows. RBE will look into the managerial, marketing and distribution of the projects in the deal while the creative inputs would come from the Bachchans.

ET: A six film slate is already being executed…This will also provide RBE first right of refusal with the Bachchans for any project they wish to execute. Earlier this year, George Soros invested $100 million for a 3% stake in Reliance Big Entertainment, valuing the company at $3.3 billion

Bollywood keeps glamour quotient high at Lakme Fashion Week

Mumbai, Apr 2 (ANI): Bollywood actors and actresses kept glamour quotient high on the day four of Lakme Fashion as the designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee took the audience through an unforgettable fashion journey.

Sabyasachi ’s Autumn-Winter 2008 collection was called a Sanctuary. The designer took the audience on a journey into the realm of a fashion fantasy, that only he could create.

The collection had everything that fashion lovers could ask for. It had a bit of sportswear, a splash of couture with silhouettes, which were reminiscent of the 50’s and 70’s replete with colours.

The collection he showcased was heavily embellished, very ornate and with glitzy prints. The eye-catching hand embroidery, digital large prints depicting women in all their glory, along with artistic motifs gave the creations a fusion look.

The master stylist and creator of unusual fabric and style mixes, Sabyasachi used plastic, linen, snake and crocodile leather, chiffon, course cotton, hard painted satin, distressed leather and a lot of zippers to seam the garments.

The red sari with a black and cream pleated border was breathtaking while the embroidered coats were stylish.

Slim pencil skirts and dresses had a wild mix of fabric prints and colours, which are Sabyasachi’s signature style.

Speaking to the media after the show Sabyasachi, revealed that a lot of hard work had gone into conceiving and conceptualising the show.

“I knew when I was doing the collection we had worked everything from the music, to the set, to the runway, to the hair, to the no make-up look. It was like doing a motion picture. So somewhere down the line we knew that we were going in the right direction,” said Sabyasachi.

Host of Bollywood celebrities like Vidya Balan, Rani Mukherjee, Kahkashan Patel and Rahul Bose to name a few graced the show.

Bollywood actress Vidya Balan was highly appreciative of Sabyasachis effort.

“I have always liked his work. I have seen his work in the films and otherwise also. This is his first show that I’m attending. I’m so glad that I came here because he is some one I believe who really thinks out of the box,” said Vidya Balan.

Sabyasachi ’s Sanctuary collection was one of the most sensational showings of the Lakme Fashion Week once again the designer proved that that he is the master of styling and elegance. (ANI)

Ajay quits smoking

Admits Ajay Devgan, from the sets of Zee TV’s Rock N Roll Family, “Yes, I have completely quit smoking.” When quizzed about his inspiration, he replies tongue-in-cheek, “Well, the Health Minister has paid me more than the cigarette companies to quit smoking.”
Felt the urge
A source close to Devgan says, “Ajay quit smoking six days ago. He was down with fever and a bad cold last week and on an impulse, decided to kick the butt. Members of his family, wife Kajol and friends had been telling him to quit for years but Ajay’s logic was you-convince-me or I-convince-you, and he wasn’t convinced enough to quit smoking.”The source continues, “He loved smoking and health reasons weren’t enough to make him quit. Though he got a scare last year when Saif Ali Khan suffered a mini heart attack because of smoking, he didn’t stop but tried cutting down.But one day, Ajay felt the urge to quit, and he did. He hasn’t puffed even once in the last six days whereas earlier he would sneak off outside to his garden to smoke.”On-screen freedom, please!
Recently, in Bhopal, Devgan had joined Amitabh Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan and Sharmila Tagore in taking a dig at Health Minister Ambumani Ramadoss where he stressed that in a democracy everybody had the freedom of expression, so smoking or drinking on screen ought not be banned. Devgan says: “In the films, when we show someone smoking or drinking, it is for a reason. It is not to promote any cigarette brand or liquor.If we have to show some historical character; for instance, if I have to make a movie on Winston Churchill, what will I show? I can’t make the movie if there is a ban on showing cigarettes in the film. He used to always have a cigar in his hand. What do I show then? Should I show a lollipop in Churchill’s mouth? Everyone has his or her responsibilities in place. Everyone knows what is right and wrong for them.”

Ajay Devgan Floored by Rock On

Abhishek Kapoor’s Farhan Akhtar-starrer Rock On, has won a lot of admirers and fans. One of the fans of the movie is none other than actor Ajay Devgan. The latter, who is working in Vipul Shah’s London Dreams, now also wants the same kind of draw for his film. London Dreams is the story of two childhood friends who want to become rockstars. One of them succeeds in doing so, while the other fails to do so. The two friends will be played by Ajay and Salman Khan. The South Indian actress Asin is in the romantic lead opposite them. She plays a musician, who both the friends fall in love with. Post the release of Rock On, Ajay has been fired by the desire to make his film as big a draw among the youth as Kapoor’s movie. He is believed to be talking to director Shah about some changes which he thinks should be made in the film to ensure that it is huge hit with the young audience. It seems that initially when Salman and .he did a test shoot for the film, he was quite happy with the results. But post the release of Rock On, he is having second thoughts and is trying his best to persuade Shah to incorporate those changes. The film is expected to have musical tributes to the era of the Eighties and the Nineties. The music of the film will be composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, the composers for Rock On as well. But Shah has rubbished these reports, claiming that Ajay is too professional to indulge in such behaviour. He was, however, quick to clarify that London Dreams is not like Rock On.