Shahrukh Khan speaks to the media on the sets of his forthcoming tv-quiz show "Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hain?" (Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?) in Mumbai. Khan will host the show and the prize money will be $1.25 million.
> Reuters Pictures
Aamir Khan’s directorial debut Taare Zameen Par swept the 53rd annual Filmfare awards. The movie won the award for best film.That’s not all. It also got Aamir Khan the best director trophy. Amol Gupte won the award for best storyline for the critically acclaimed project and child actor Darsheel Safary – nominated in the best actor category – won the critics award.
Via CNN-IBN
Walt-Disney has reached a deal to more than double its stake in Indian TV and movie content maker UTV, the two firms said, underscoring the U.S. entertainment firm's efforts to expand globally.
Disney will raise its holding in UTV Software Communication to 32.1 percent, the same level as UTV's founders, from 14.9 percent, by acquiring 9.35 million shares for 8.05 billion rupees ($203 million), at 860.79 rupees a share.
"This investment further underlines our commitment to international growth," Walt Disney International Chairman Andy Bird told reporters.
India has the world's third-largest cable TV market, which is forecast to become Asia's most lucrative pay TV market by 2015.
Via Reuters
The Filmfare nominations for the year 2007 are out but it's the Best Actor category is attracting a lot of attention. For the first time ever, a child actor, that is nine-year-old Darsheel-Safary, has been nominated for the Best Actor award.
Darsheel has been nominated for his portrayal of a dyslexic child in Aamir Khan's directorial debut Taare Zameen Par. Aamir has also been nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role category.
Darsheel will be competing with biggies like Shahrukh Khan, Akshay Kumar, Abhishek Bachchan and Shahid Kapur for the best actor title.
Darsheel was nominated for and won the Screen-Award for Best Child Actor in January this year. However, the award upset the young actor who said that the Best Actor Award should be his and he won't settle for a child actor award.
"I am playing the lead role, so I should get the Best Actor Award," says Darsheel.
Via CNN-IBN
Scottish actor Atta-Yaqub, star of the controversial film Fond Kiss..., Ae, goes on a journey to discover the cosmopolitan city of Karachi in Pakistan.
> Karachi Uncovered: Part one - Part two
NDTV-Imagine is a Hindi entertainment-channel by news-major NDTV-Group, led by former STAR-India CEO Sameer-Nair. The channel, which launches in India on January 21, 2008, promises to entertain viewers with its creative-content.
Scottish actor Atta-Yaqub, star of the controversial film Fond Kiss..., Ae, goes on a journey to discover the cosmopolitan city of Karachi in Pakistan.
> Karachi Uncovered: Part one - Part three
Scottish actor Atta-Yaqub, star of the controversial film Fond Kiss..., Ae, goes on a journey to discover the cosmopolitan city of Karachi in Pakistan.
> Karachi Uncovered: Part two - Part three
The dramas have won thousands of devotees in Afghanistan who enjoy the escapist world of the fictional Bombay rich. They have, however, offended the country's new moral-enforcers, who fear that the soaps will fuel a craze of "stone-worship".The Minister of Information and Culture has written to television executives to threaten prosecution if they show footage that offends morality. He is particularly concerned about Indian soaps.
Tolo TV shows three dramas, Story of Every House; Trials of Life; and Because a Mother-in-Law Was Once a Daughter-Law Too.Saad Mohseni, the director of Tolo TV, said:"We have so many problems in this country - kidnapping, terrorism, inflation - so why is the Government making a deal about something which is pleasing to the eyes and ears of Afghans?"
The Asiana Bridal Show 2008 will be a blend of western & eastern influence, helping the desi-bride to plan her perfect desi-wedding.
This is a one-day spectacular, which is likely to receive positive-media coverage from the ethnic-media, as well as the influential mainstream-media.Event info: Sunday, January 27, 2008
- Time: 11:00am - 11:00pm
- Location: Park Plaza Riverbank Hotel
- Street: 18 Albert Embankment, SE1 7TJ
- City/Town: London, UK
Once upon a time in a land far, far away, a boy, brown of skin and dark of hair, decided to become an actor. Our hero, a big believer in the equality of the land, took on a new name.
It would be a mistake to look only at the photographs in this new picture-book on Bollywood.
The real eye candy is not the photographs but the writing. In Bollywood Today, Kaveree Bamzai entertainingly combines good-prose with insightful-analysis.
Details are contemporary enough to include, “Om Shanti Om” & “Saawariya”.
Written largely for a foreign-audience, the book covers ground that is familiar to the desi movie buff. Yet, Bamzai manages to give us some rare glimpses.
Via The Hindu
Last month it was rap sensation 50 Cent using DesiHits.com to break into the lucrative worldwide Desi market-this month it's R&B megastar Akon.
For one week starting December 18, DesiHits will be the only place to hear the genre-bending sounds of Indian-Mexican rapper Kidd Skilly's new track "Ni Sohniye" (Hey Pretty Girl), which features Akon.
PRWeb - Eros International, a leading Indian media & entertainment company, announced today that its official Bollywood channel launched recently on YouTube has received over 1 million views. It offers customers a wide range of premium content such as a 'first-look' at films, events and happenings from Bollywood; such as the latest IIFA Awards, music videos, interviews, exclusive upcoming film trailers and much more.
Manu Kaushish, SVP New Media, Eros International, commented: "We are extremely pleased with the initial success of the channel; this has helped us validate the demand for our exclusive content library.
