Chillar Party to kick off IIFA Film Festival in Ontario

Mumbai: Salman Khan Being Human (SKBH) Productions' first co-production, Chillar Party will be the opening film of the IIFA Film Festival to be held in Toronto, the International Indian.

Chillar Party, which is co-produced by UTV Spotboy along with Khan, is a light-hearted, but touching comedy that revolves around the lives of seven children each hailing from the various strata’s of society, typical of suburban Mumbai. The movie has been co-directed by Vikas Bahl and Nitesh Tiwari.

Khan said, “Chillar Party is very close to my heart, the concept appealed to me and the children’s performances were endearing. This is the first film under SKBH Productions and we felt there was no better place to screen the movie than at the IIFA Film Festival. For me, IIFA is home-grounds and it can’t get bigger than IIFA in Toronto.”

This year, the festival has been designed keeping in mind the Punjabi population across four cities, Toronto, Markham, Brampton and Mississuaga, where special movie screenings will take place. The assortment of films are a mix of classics and blockbusters from Bollywood, almost 20 of them based in and around Punjab.

This year, the Government of Ontario and Premier Dalton McGuinty have appointed the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Peel as the charity of choice for support throughout the IIFA Weekend in Toronto in 2011.

Delhi Belly to premiere at London Indian Film Festival

MUMBAI: Abhinay Deo directed Delhi Belly will be premiered at the second annual London Indian Film Festival, which runs from 30 June - 12 July.

Following the Opening Night World Premiere screening of Delhi Belly, produced by Aamir Khan Productions and UTV Motion Pictures, starring Imran Khan, the festival will go on to showcase the work of India’s new wave of independent filmmakers, including Anurag Kashyap and Rituparno Ghosh.

The festival will stretch city wide, opening in the West End at the Cineworld Haymarket and continuing at V&A, BFI Southbank, Nehru Centre, Watermans, Cineworld Trocadero, Feltham, Wood Green and Ilford and The University of Westminster.

On the heels of three Glastonbury performances and a stellar appearance on Later… with Jools Holland, singer and film composer Raghu Dixit will perform before the closing night film Autograph on 12 July.

Festival director Cary Rajinder Sawhney said, “In addition to showing great movies, we also aim to help get these films talked about and screened more broadly in cinemas in the UK, in the same way that Iranian cinema has been. London of course has a huge Asian audience for these movies, but many non-Asian Brits would also like to find out more about the 1.2 billion strong India of today, and cinema is a great way to do this.”
 
...............By...........Umair Ali Soomro 

Eros International inks deal with Mint Pod for in-flight entertainment

MUMBAI: Eros International Media has tied up with Mumbai–based technology company, IP Avenue for in-flight entertainment. Through this association, the Mint Pod, a 5.3” wireless interactive hand held TV developed by IP Avenue, will provide personalized entertainment to air travelers at a nominal fee.

Eros In-flight Entertainment Division, which provides Indian and international programs to over 35 international airlines flying to India and also specializes in entertaining discerning air travelers, will now entertain passengers on a whole new level with the Mint Pod.

The light-weight wireless device would dish out a host of entertainment programs such as movies, fashion shows, cartoons, travel shows, laughter shows, catering to all age groups. It has over 30 hours of content to keep passengers entertained and occupied during their journey. The Mint Pod allows easy browsing, fast forwards and rewinding facility.

Mint Pod is currently available for flights like Go Air where a traveler can conveniently rent them for a nominal fee. This feature will soon be made available in other Indian low cost carriers as well as a few international carriers. In terms of technology, the Mint Pod's content is encrypted, aviation copyrighted, with the ability to listen only with help of headphones thereby not disturbing fellow passengers.

Eros International Media vice president - in flight entertainment Prashant Gaonkar said, “Presently, we are one of the largest licensors of Indian film entertainment to a number of key airlines including Air India, Jet Airways, British Airways, Delta, Emirates, Kingfisher, Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa and Virgin Atlantic. We understand that the very business model of low cost carriers doesn’t allow personalized entertainment systems on board. Sensing opportunity in this space, we decided to tie-up with IP Avenue and provide personalized entertainment to passengers through their interactive Nano TV. With our library of over 1,100 film titles, we are well positioned to make low-cost air-travel a memorable and entertaining experience for passengers.”

Double Dhamaal to have world premiere at IIFA in Toronto

 

 

Box Office: Super Monday for Salman Khan's Ready

(07 June , 2011)

 

MUMBAI: There's no looking back for Salman Khan. With Ready, the actor has delivered a superhit yet again. The movie, which has seen the second highest opening weekend collections after Dabangg, stood super tall at the box office even on Monday.

As per information available with Businessofcinema.com, Ready's Monday net collections were approximately Rs 72.5 million (Rs 7.25 crore). With this, the movie's four days collections stands at Rs 479 million (Rs 47.9 crore).

As was reported by this website earlier, Ready's opening weekend collections were as follows: Friday: Rs 131.5 million (Rs 13.15 crore), Saturday: Rs 122.5 million (Rs 12.25 crore) and Sunday: Rs 152.5 million (Rs 15.25 crore).

Starring Asin opposite Salman Khan, Ready has been directed by Anees Bazmi.
 

 

Aamir Khan in Dhoom 3

Aamir Khan in Dhoom 3  

By: The Hitlist Team         Date: 2011-02-02         Place: Mumbai

It's finally official. After months of speculation, it's confirmed that Aamir Khan will be playing the villain in Dhoom 3.

The actor signed on the dotted line on Monday evening sealing the deal. This would be the star's third Yash Raj film after Parampara and Fanaa. Apart from playing the baddie, he will also master the art of physicality for the role.

There are lot of hypes and mysteries around for upcoming Dhoom sequel Dhoom 3. Dhoom 3 will be launched in December 2012. Director Vijay Krishna Acharya who is also director of previous Dhoom movies is working hard on this upcoming thriller. So far we don’t know the complete details about the movie or its story but one thing is sure that Dhoom 3 will be unstoppable action film. Plot of Dhoom 3 is same as of previous Dhoom movies in which Abhishek Bachchan and Uday Chopra will play role of police officers and this time Aamir Khan is their target.
Dhoom 3 has all the leading stars of Bollywood. I don’t known about any other upcoming movie then Dhoom 3 with such mega star cast. Dhoom 3 cast consists of Aamir Khan, Katrina Kaif, Abhishek Bachchan, Uday Chopra, Shahrukh Khan and Anuranjan Kumar. Abhishek Bachchan is playing role of ACP Jai Dixit along with Uday Chopra (Police officer Ali). Aamir Khan is playing role of thief in Dhoom 3. Gorgeous Katrina Kaif is also part of Dhoom 3. Although presence of Shah Rukh Khan is not confirmed in Dhoom 3 but there are rumors that he will play role of Babu Rao.

 

Overall Dhoom 3 will be a mega movie of year 2012 and I just can’t wait to see all such superstars in one movie.

Dhoom 3 Release Date: December 2012
Dhoom 3 Cast: Aamir Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, Katrina Kaif, Shah Rukh Khan
Dhoom 3 Director: Vijay Krishna Acharya
 

2nd 2011 Salman Khan fined once again for smoking in public places

JUNE 2nd 2011

Bollywood stars may be idols for millions of fans around the country, but they are definitely not without their flaws. Addiction to smoking is one such evil to which most actors in Bollywood give in. Actors like Ajay Devgan and Shahrukh Khan have earlier been fined for lighting up cigarettes in public places.

This time Salman Khan came under the clutches of law and was fined with Rs. 200 for smoking in a public place while shooting for his film Bodyguard in Patiala, Punjab. A photograph of Sallu Bhai was published in a news daily on Saturday which showed Salman smoking in the Hotel Neemrana where the shooting of the film is going on.

Smoking in public places is banned in Patiala. So, Salman was charged with Rs. 200 fine by the local district authorities on Tuesday, which incidentally was also World No Tobacco Day. The hotel authorities were also issued a challan.

It may be mentioned here that Salman Khan was fined twice for the same offence in 2009 by the authorities of Karali town near Mohali.
 

 By........UMAIR ALI SOOMRO

Bollywood beauties oozing glamour at ‘Ready’ special screening

JUNE 3rd 2011

  With ‘Ready’ gearing up for its release, the excitement could be felt at its private screening where Bollywood beauties put on their best foot forward in glamour and glitter. Sonakshi Sinha, Zarine Khan, Malaika Arora and Amrita Arora- all looked as stylish and beautiful as ever at the screening.

Sonakshi Sinha opted for simple and casual yet evergreen blue denims teamed it up with a knotted blue check shirt. Salman Khan’s discovery and Katrina Kaif’s look alike, the Character Dheela girl Zarine Khan, too, went with a simple and comfortable tee.

Hot Malaika Arora Khan was spotted with her hubby Arbaaz Khan putting a finger to all baseless rumors about turmoil in their marriage. She matched up her simple outfit with a chic yellow designer bag. Equally vibrant was her sister Amrita Arora who opted for a cute outfit. Sexy Kagnana Ranaut opted for a off shoulder simple outfit.

Check out the beautiful ladies at the Ready special screening……

by.. Umair Ali Soomro

Protests against Richard Gere kissing Shilpa at a public event

 At ‘Seena Taan Ke’, an AIDS awareness function organised in Delhi on Sunday to bring about AIDS awarenewss among truckdrivers, dizzy looking Hollywood actor Richard Gere, to make it clear that HIV can’t be passed on through a kiss, kissed first Shilpa Shetty’s hand, then hugged her, kissed her cheek, and finally bent over the surprised actress to give her a big kiss, Hollywood-style.

While Shetty laughed it off with a poised ‘yeh thoda zyaada ho gaya’ (’this was a bit much’) to the truckdrivers, fans of the actress have expressed their ire over Hollywood actor kissing her at public event.

“It is vulgar. These things may happen in foreign countries, but not in India. He should apologise to Shilpa and the rest of the country as well,� said one of the fans.

Shilpa Shetty Richard Gere Hug N Kiss Video
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/pt23lqF-nM8" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
 

Celebden Style Check…

Priyanka Chopra arrived from Zurich, Switzerland, over the weekend.

Like her look??? It’s a BIG NO from me…

In technology, we can’t compete with foreign filmmakers – Shahrukh Khan

Mega-budget superhero movie “RA.One” is Shah Rukh Khan’s most ambitious project and he is trying to make it a world-class film, but at the same time he feels Indian filmmakers cannot compete with international moviemakers in the use of technology.

“I don’t think we are anywhere close to competing with international filmmakers. I don’t mean to offend anyone. We have great storytelling, good technology and do great stuff…we are the largest film producing nation in the world!

“But having said that, when it comes to technology in films like ‘Batman’, ‘Superman’ and ‘Spiderman’, I don’t think we should even try to compare ourselves to them as yet. They are way ahead. Their resources are really huge compared to what we can do,” Shah Rukh told reporters here.

“RA.One” is directed by Anubhav Sinha and the 45-year-old plays the superhero in the film. His costume, described as stiff and heavy, has been designed by a team of specialists in Los Angeles.

“It’s fortunate that I have the resource to take ‘RA.One’ to a certain level. I don’t have the resources to take it to a bigger level yet, but if the market for Indian films increases, of course we can do it. ‘RA.One’ is the first step towards that,” said the actor-producer who is co-producing it with Eros Entertainment.

The budget of “RA.One” is said to be over Rs.100 crore and Shah Rukh said he might have certain stunts in 3D to woo his younger audiences.

“RA.One”, which is replete with visual effects, also promises to change the movie-going experience for cinegoers here. For the first time, the Dolby surround 7.1 system is reportedly being installed in several multiplexes in the run-up to the film’s release.

The technical team of “RA.One”, including Oscar-winning sound engineer Resul Pookutty, headed by Shah Rukh will be in Los Angeles this month to work on the special sound effects.

Internationally acclaimed filmmaker Shekhar Kapur has already showered praise on the film after seeing its 30-second trailer, saying “RA.One” has raised bar on VFX technology in Indian cinema.

It’s payback time for him, says Shah Rukh, who plans to cash in on the Diwali season by releasing the film, which also stars Arjun Rampal and Kareena Kapoor, Oct 26.

“I have worked for 20 years in this industry and I owe my life to it. I feel this is what I would like to give back – I give this technology to all new directors and actors so that they feel ‘Yes, we can do it’ and much cheaper than Hollywood. I hope the scope and audiences of Indian films increases and we get more money to make good films as wonderful as ‘Iron Man’ and ‘Spiderman’,” he added.

Shah Rukh is not hopeful of his film being picked as India’s official entry for the Oscars, but he will be content with a welcome response from the audiences and a Filmfare award or two!

“I don’t think it’s our choice that which film must go for the Oscars from our country. I don’t know the process…I don’t know if popular cinema should go for it, or our parallel cinema, like ‘Paheli’ was. But franky, I don’t think this film (‘RA.One’) will be chosen as an Oscar nomination from our country,” he said.

“I think I’ll be happy with one or two Filmfare awards for the VFX in my film,” he added in his trademark witty style.

Shah Rukh’s earlier production venture “Paheli” was short-listed as India’s official entry to Oscars by the Film Federation of India (FFI) in 2006.

“I was shocked when ‘Paheli’ was selected,” said SRK.

Ready’s performance at the Box Office….

Salman Khan’s latest film Ready, may have not got the best reviews from critics, but with cinemas packed the move is on its way to becoming a hit. The film may not be as big a hit as Dabangg was, it has managed to get the biggest opening of the year, with a projected total of 22 crores net in the firsttwo days of collections.

The Ready box office figures already have the distributors heaving a sigh of relief and eyeing a fat profit as well. Directed by Anees Bazmee, the comedy film starring Asin and Salman Khan opened to a rip-roaring start on Friday. It saw the occupancy of 60 to 80 percent at both multiplexes and single screen theatres. Some shows in the evening registered a house-full.

The takings on Saturday were lower than the first day, and that is a cause of concern. The coming week will tell how big a hit Ready actually is.

Ready – Movie Review

Film: “Ready”Starring: Salman Khan, Asin, Paresh RawalDirected by: Anees BazmiRating: 

She’s a runaway bride. He’s a runaway rogue, a little rough around the edges but a good hearted lovable soul. Salman Khan can play this character over and over again with his eyes closed. In “Ready” he is back to playing the lover-boy clown.

“Mr. Fix-it” and “Ms Hum Apke Hain Conwoman” flirt and get naughty in exotic locations. They don’t generate chemistry. They are just being around.

Jeez, these two never tire of saying cheese! And when the going gets cheesy there’s always the family to fall back on. There are three families, living in homes that appear to have been built to accommodate over-sized families. The setting is almost laughably anachronistic.

Salman Khan and his director Anees Bazmi pay a hefty comic homage to “Hum Aapke Hain Koun”. The Salman-Asin romance unfolds against the backdrop of a commodious joint family where every family-member seems determined to have a good time even at the expense of good taste.

True, Asin lacks the gamine charm of Madhuri Dixit. But then the Salman Khan in “Ready” is not quite the Salman Khan from “Hum Aaapke Hain Koun”. He hasn’t aged. He’s just become more smug and self-confident. Many times we catch him looking bored on camera. But that is this iconic star’s style statement.

When you are Salman Khan you can slip out of a character when you want. No one is complaining.

Bazmi’s script, a shoot off of a Telugu hit, accommodates more characters than Goa during the tourist season.

Every character is over-dressed and over-the-top. Then men are constantly looking for reasons to say goofy corny things to one another. That’s the required mood of this “panga-’mirth’-lena” comedy with an attitude that stretches from one end of the lengthy narration to the other with hardly a break for the plot to gather together its thoughts.

Bazmi keeps the proceedings neatly on the side of good taste. Innuendos are avoided, and partly so because Salman has an image of the good-bad boy. He never offends refined sensibilities with his wildly bratty antics, though he never shows any inclination to be one of those refined types himself.

He is happy being human in a way only Salman Khan can be. He gets able support from some solid performers like Akhilendra Mishra, Sharad Saxena, Manoj Pahwa, television comedian Sudesh Lehri and Mahesh Manjrekar whose hilarious act as Salman’s dad is lifted from Sanjay Chhel’s “Khubsoorat”.

Strangely the women performers are all vapid to the point of seeming sedated. This is a men’s comedy with women welcome to join the fun.

But nobody minds. And not because this is a mindless comedy. The quality of the gags is often higher than what we usually get in Bollywood comedies. But the film suffers from an overloaded narration.

There is too much effort to cram in “entertainment” at every possible level. There is also a rather lame attempt to define the status of women in feudal households. But the attempt is so hurried and cursory, it’s almost farcical.

Replete with tongue-in-cheek references to many earlier blockbusters including Sooraj Barjatya’s “Hum Aapke Hain Koun”, “Ready” is like one of those familiar tunes sung to a new set of lyrics that you may not approve of but you empathize with because it offers the comfort of the familiar.

Having said that, the film, it must be confessed, doesn’t really offer even diehard Salman fans the fun-quotient expected from the mega-star. Too many people colonise this domestic comedy. Boisterous uncles, over-dressed aunties, under-intellectualised gangsters and irksome henchmen are all greedy to be noticed. The trouble is, they aren’t doing anything that is terribly exciting or engaging, except playing the foil to the star of the show.

And we all know who that is.

Aamir Khan prepares, Salman Khan is spontaneous – Asin

Southern actress Asin Thottumkal describes Bollywood star Aamir Khan as an actor who believes in preparing for his scenes before facing the camera while she calls her “Ready” co-star Salman Khan as spontaneous.

“Salman is spontaneous. You have to be very alert while the camera is running because you don’t know what he will come up with and what you will have to do as an appropriate thing. There is not much of a discussion before the shot. So you have to be ready with whatever he throws at you during the shot,” Asin told IANS.

“Whereas Aamir is somebody who will sit with you and the director before the camera starts rolling. He discusses with you various ways of doing it (scenes) and finally decides on one. So here you are sure of what is going to happen in 

front of the camera,” added the 25-year-old.

Salman is known as much for his notoriety in the Hindi film industry as his films, but Asin says she has not seen that side of him and that they gel well.

“I have never personally experienced anything wrong with Salman. Whatever I’ve come across is that he is somebody who is really pure from his heart, so whatever emotions come out, it’s just that,” said Asin who has now worked with Salman in two films – “London Dreams” and forthcoming release “Ready”.

“He is direct and straight. He doesn’t put on a face for different groups of people. When he is angry, he’ll show that and when he is not, he’ll show that too. So basically, I have not seen that very notorious side of Salman that the media keeps talking about,” she added.

Talking about “Ready”, which is releasing June 3, Asin said: “We started working on ‘Ready’ right after ‘London Dreams’; so it’s like back-to-back movies with Salman. The interaction I had with him during ‘London Dreams’ kind of helped me to have a comfortable relationship in ‘Ready’ because a rapport was already created.”

“I think even he is quite comfortable working with me because somewhere I get his sense of humour. He has a very straight-faced sense of humour, so we pretty much gel well with each other on the sets,” she added.

The camaraderie between Asin and Salman has been so strong that many started seeing them as a couple. However, the actress denies any romantic relationship with her co-star.

“Everyone knows that the rumours had no truth in them. These rumours started during ‘London Dreams’. However, I want to maintain that I am quite single and not in a relationship and that’s why I think rumours like these get accentuated more,” explained the actress, who made her Bollywood debut opposite Aamir Khan in superhit film “Ghajini”.

Finally, when asked how difficult it is for her to get noticed while appearing with a star like Salman in the same frame, the actress answered, “That’s not in the hands of the actress.

“That would be in the hands of the scriptwriter or the director. We wouldn’t have much of a say in it. You just do the part that has been given to you to the best of your ability and that’s all. You don’t really worry about a superstar like Salman, who obviously deserves the kind of adoration or space that he gets because he is who he is.

“You can’t look up to that and say that I want to compete with him and nudge him and push him aside and show my face. I’m quite happy to be a part of this big project,”