Blue: Rahman composes, Kylie sings and Farah choreographs
MUMBAI- It's a lethal combination and a sure number one hit in international charts, predict Bollywood insiders. Pop star Kylie Minogue sings for Oscar-winning composer AR Rahman's while Bollywood's ace choreograpger Farah Khan makes Kylie dance a la Bollywood style in Indian film 'Blue' directed by Anthony D'Souza. Apart from Kylie and Akshay Kumar, the song and dance number also features Indian actors Zayed Khan, Lara Dutta and Sanjay Dutt. Read more »
Nepal issues new regulations after 'Chandni Chowk to China' protests
Kathmandu. Observers are concerned over the deteriorating Nepal-India relations as Nepal’s Ministry of Information and Communication issued new regulations for screening of national and international movies in the country, according to media reports Tuesday, Feb 3, 2009. The new regulations come after the country-wide protests against a Bollywood film ‘Chandni Chowk to China’ featuring Akshay Kumar and Deepika Padukone. In fact, the controversy marred the relations between India and Nepal. Read more »
Slumdog success divides Bollywood: Amitabh Bachchan vs Satyajit Ray
Bollywood actors as well as directors are confused whether they should shower words of praise on Danny Boyle's brilliant portrayal of Mumbai's underbelly in SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, or tear it apart for exposing India's struggle with its daily contradictions; good, bad and ugly. The controversy has begun to unravel following super star Amitabh Bachchan's criticism of the film for portraying India as a “Third World dirty underbelly developing nation”. Those who love Boyle’s film say “It also makes one wonder why some of our entirely over-rated, desi directors have failed so spectacularly in spelling out the ugly truth about Mumbai's dark world as transparently and convincingly?" Pervaiz Alam looks at the controversy. Read more »
Film 'Rab Ne...' tests India-Pakistan relations
The three-day siege of Mumbai, for which India blames a Pakistani extremist group, has derailed plans for increasing economic ties between the countries, says The New York Times, Monday, November 2008.“Four years of sincere and bold initiatives from both sides have been put on pause mode, The momentum is badly affected,” said Jairam Ramesh, India’s junior minister for commerce. Latest Bollywood movie 'Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi' featuring India's top film star Shah Rukh Khan has become the latest victim of the Indo-Pak tensions. Read more »
Dholakia's controversial film 'Lamha' on Kashmir in serious trouble
Srinagar (Kashmir)- The shooting of a controversial film on Indian Kashmir has led to a slanging match among Indian authorities, separatists and filmmakers. The trouble started after Bollywood filmmaker Rahul Dholakia's admission that his forthcoming movie "Lamha" would depict the pain and suffering of Kashmir even though it was essentially a love story. Bollywood's 'sex bomb' Bipasha Basu is portraying the character of an Islamic separatist (woman), Asiya. Read more »
Indian film industry will not grow in 2009: FICCI & KPMG
Mumbai- Finally, the international recession has hit the Indian Entertainment Industry, indicates a joint FICCI-KPMG report. However, there are indications of long-term growth. Following years of rapid growth, the combined revenues of the Indian film industry are expected to remain flat in 2009 at around $2.2bn (Rs109.2bn), says the report. Read more »
Akshay, Aamir, Advani and Accolades
Bollywood actors Akshay Kumar and Aamir Khan, after winning Indian National Award 'Padamshri' and NDTV's 'Best Entertainer of the year,' respectively, have been expressing their gratitude to the nation. And so is India's Leader of the Opposition who has been showing his admiration for Aamir's directorial debut 'Taare Zamin Par'. It's good to see politicians showing their interest in Indian cinema. Though, it's a bit ironical that it's the same Aamir Khan whose films for some time were banned by Mr. Advani's 'Taara Zamin Par'- Narendra Modi, Chief Minister of Gujarat. Read more »
Chandni Chowk To China: Biggest Bollywood release in the USA
LA- Indian star Akshay Kumar, it seems, has decided to to do better than all Khans in marketing his films. His latest film 'Chandni Chowk To China' is touted as the biggest screen presentation by its distributors. Warner Bros Worldwide Anti-Piracy Group will mount a targeted campaign to protect the worldwide release of its upcoming Bollywood kung-fu comedy Chandni Chowk To China, which will open day-and-date in more than 35 markets on January 16 as part of a 40-territory release. Read more »
'Ban all Indian movies in Pakistan'
LAHORE: Bollywood movie 'Dostana' has been banned in Pakistan and now the Lahore High Court of Pakistan is hearing a petition which says exhibition of all Indian films be declared unlawful, illegal and against the current Film Rules of Pakistan. Read more »
Roadside Romeo: Walt Disney’s First Hindi Animation
MUMBAI - For the first time Walt Disney has made a film in Hindi. The release of ‘Roadside Romeo,’ the animation tale of a dog finding true love after being abandoned in a Mumbai slum, Friday, October 24, 2008, has hit international headlines. Made in co-production with Yashraj Films, ‘Roadside Romeo’ casts Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Javed Jaffrey. Like a typical Bollywood film, it has songs and dances. Read more »