Ali propogates for Ashmit at the cost of Sara.

Ali Merchant does campaigning for Ashmit Patel, and this happens a day after Ashmit had a fight with Sara

Last night Bigg Boss 4 saw another whole scale drama where Ashmit Patel was in full on fury with Sara Khan for nominating Veena Malik last week.

Ashmit was seen screaming at Sara because she was double faced when it came to seeing Veena Malik as friend. According to him Veena was very nice to Sara and has been a good friend who took care of her wedding preparations, even when she went thro' sleepless nights. However, Sara never did bother to return favours to Veena, and went a level ahead by nominating her. Ashmit was disgusted at Sara's actions and asked her to get away from him when she tried to justify.

Sara, being the cry baby, was really upset and was seen sharing the grievances with other inmates in the house saying that nominating an inmate is one's personal choice and that she could not understand why Ashmit was over reacting for the matter.

If you as a viewer thought Sara had a point there, and Ashmit did over react  here comes the usual dramatic twist of Bigg Boss 4.

Our close source informs us that, "Ali Merchant, Sara's husband is in full swing propagating forAshmit Patel by sending messages to all his friends to save him from being eliminated from the show".

Guess this speaks very high of Ali and Ashmit's new found friendship, but wonder how Sara would feel if she knew of this fact?

Guess the drama inside the Bigg Boss house as well as outside will never subside!

Dev Anand joins Twitter

MUMBAI: After Amitabh Bachchan, Shammi Kapoor, Asha Bhosale and Lata Mangeshkar, its Dev Anand who's now available on a micro blogging site.

Sticking to his tradition of moving ahead with times and keeping himself abreast with the latest, the veteran actor has become the senior most Bollywood actor to have joined a micro blogging site. We hope Dilip Kumar is listening!

Dev Sahab's fans couldn't be happier! The legendary actor who reigned the Hindi cinema for decades as a romantic hero and then as a visionary director and producer is planning to share his passion for filmmaking and life with his fans through the site.

After thanking 'Amit' (Amitabh Bachchan) for a warm welcome, Dev Sahab revealed, "This sudden tweeting is for my well wishers to know that release of my latest film "CHARGESHEET" is planned for early next year - To quickly follow an outstandingly colorized cinemascope version of my double role "HUM DONO" Rangeen releasing on Jan 28th 2010. Watch the guy you've enjoyed in all eras of this country, Dev Anand of 1961 & in CHARGESHEET celebrating 61st year of Navketan."

Dilip Kumar's coloured 'Naya Daur' was loved by his fans so the coloured remake of Hum Dono is bound to please Dev Anand fans.

Being his ardent fans ourselves we couldn't stop ourselves from asking Dev sahab which happens to be his favourite Dev Anand romantic song? To which he reverted, "Phoolon Ke Rang se from Prem Pujari'.

Dev Anand's Publicist since the past 15 years and former senior journalist Peter Martis revealed, "Dev Anand is one actor who can achieve anything in life. I have not seen an actor as passionate about life and cinema as him. Few days back he learnt all he wanted to know about emails and faxes! Age is just a number from him. I have known him for the past 40 years now! He is one man who moves with the times and knows that the only thing that remains constant is 'change'. I am glad he is on Twitter now!

We welcome you Dev Sahab and are sure you will rule the virtual world with your charm, just the way you have ruled the silver screen for so long.

Arora angry over Sonakshis performance on ‘Munni Badnam Hui

MUMBAI: Sonakshi Sinha performed on the song, 'Munni Badnam Hui' from the film 'Dabangg' at the recently held Sahara India Sports Awards 2010 and the very fact did not go well with the main performer Malaika Arora Khan.

Ever since the film hit the theatre and the song tops the chartbuster, Malaika has been performing on the popular track during all the events. But when Sonakshi performed the song at the Sahara awards with the same thrill, she was bit upset.

This was Sonakshi's first stage performance and so everyone applauded her. According to Malaika, Sonakshi could have performed on some other tracks rather than her's. However, the organizer did not approach Malaika for this event.

The award ceremony will see many top-notch actors performing on some chartbusters and Shahrukh Khan will be hosting the show.

Mickey Mouse becomes videogame hero

SAN FRANCISCO: Mickey Mouse makes his US debut as a videogame hero Tuesday in "Wasteland," featuring an alternate world that includes Walt Disney Company's long forgotten characters and attractions

"Disney Epic Mickey" for Wii consoles puts players into the large yellow shoes of the famous cartoon mouse and challenges them to use wits, paint, and paint thinner to defeat enemies, save old friends and restore a ruined land.

Mickey has the power to erase characters or restore them to glory, with his actions influencing the course of the game, according to Warren Spector of Junction Point Studio, which crafted the software. "Mickey hasn't been the videogame hero he was meant to be," Spector said of the character introduced in 1928 while providing a glimpse of the title at a conference in Los Angeles earlier this year. "That's about to change."

Mickey's foes in the game include "Oswald the Lucky Rabbit," a pioneering Disney cartoon figure turned bitter because the mouse soared to stardom while he sank into obscurity.

The game will mark the first time Oswald has appeared in a new Disney story since 1928.

Hollywood screenwriters seek muse in Paris

PARIS: Take four US scriptwriters, each with a story in mind, whisk them from Los Angeles to a Cistercian abbey near Paris, allow to simmer, and wait for their characters to step out on the big screen.

That is the gamble taken by a residency scheme hosted in France this autumn and attended by a quartet of Hollywood writers: Rusty Lemorande, John Brian King, Danielle Wolff and Cynthia Riddle.

By nurturing inspiration in its guest writers -- who all come to the project with the rough draft of a French-linked story in mind -- the French-US project aims to promote film shoots in France.

Chosen by the Writers Guild of America, the four were to flown to the country for a five-week residency at the Royaumont Abbey north of Paris before heading to the Sorbonne university for a final get-together.

"Working in an abbey," said Wolff, is a reminder that "film is an art, even if there is a lot of money involved."

The writer, whose two grandfathers took part in the Normandy landings in 1944, is retracing the life of the French resistance fighter Danielle Casanova, who died in the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz.

Lemorande is working on a script around the figure of Jean-Eugene Robert-Houdin, a 19th-century watchmaker turned magician who is widely considered the father of modern conjuring.

Riddle's project centres on the turn-of-the-century French actress Sarah Bernhardt and her friend and rival Marie Colombier.

And finally King plucks two young tourists from Arizona and spirits them to Paris where they succumb to Stendhal's Syndrome -- a psychosomatic illness caused by too much exposure to art and beauty -- in front of the Mona Lisa.

A longtime francophile, King fed his storyline with inspiration from the capital's best tables -- even if one of his American characters refuses to eat anything but McDonalds while in France for fear of catching mad cow's disease.

"Here there is still hope" for the art of filmmaking, said King.

For Lemorande, solid facts are at the heart of any good script.

"I want to be as precise as a surgeon," he said, having trekked from museum to museum to dig out real-life mechanical contraptions built in the day of his magician-inventor character.

Brainchild of the Paris region and the French-US cultural fund, which links up France's artists' copyright body and the major Hollywood guilds, the "Autumn Stories" scheme is now in its fifth year.

During their stay it put the writers in touch with local scriptwriters, producers and officials who explained the system of subsidies and tax breaks available to them in France.

"We try to facilitate production since the ultimate goal is for the films to be produced. And for them to be produced here," said Eglantine Langevin of the French-US fund.

For Lemorande, US movie houses are surviving only "because they are common meeting places for young people" with most of the films shot in Hollywood targeting the 18-25 age bracket.

"Thursday, Friday, Saturday they can go to the mall for the movies -- that's why grown-up movies in America have been pushed to the side," he says, predicting that "five years from now, 85 percent of movies in Hollywood will be science-fiction, action or slasher films."

"To come here is very refreshing," said the writer, for whom his French hosts still have "a lot of respect for the cinema.

JK Rowling may win Oscar

LOS ANGELES: Novelist J. K. Rowling has been credited for the first time as producer on the latest film adaptation of her Harry Potter series, which possibly leaves the author in line to win an Oscar. 

This means Rowling – worth an estimated 800 million pounds– could walk down the red carpet to collect an Oscar for 'Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1', should the film win the Best Picture category. 

Nominations for the 83rd Academy Awards will be announced in January, ahead of the ceremony in February. 

The film earned more than 210 million pounds when it opened last weekend, and is likely to be the highest earner in the seven-film series.

"Jo had the option of taking a producer credit as early as the fourth film, but she chose not to until the final two films," the Daily Mail quoted David Heyman, who has produced all the films, as saying. 

"Things were coming to an end and she wanted to put her stamp on it," he said. 

However, the mother of three has always influenced production, insisting that the films be shot in Britain with an all-British cast. 

Rowling, 45, who was once a struggling single mother, has sold more than 400 million books worldwide since the first Harry Potter was published in 1997. 

Harry Potter is the most successful film franchise in history, selling 3.7 billion pounds worth of tickets.

Madonna launches Hard Candy in Mexico City

MEXICO CITY: Madonna flew to Mexico City to open the first Hard Candy Fitness club, part of a global chain she and her business partners are unveiling around the world.

More than 700 guests, including most of the club's new members and Mexico City mayor Marcelo Ebrard, attended the opening, along with VIPs hand-picked by the 52-year-old pop music icon.

Named after her last album, the Hard Candy Fitness center is a partnership between Madonna, her manager Guy Oseary and Mark Mastrov, founder and CEO of 24 Hour Fitness -- the world's largest privately owned fitness center chain.

The Mexico City gym is set in a lavish, three-story, 3,000 square meter (32,000 square foot) space in the Mexican capital's exclusive Lomas Altas neighborhood.

It offers the latest in cardiovascular equipment and an array of classes including yoga and capoeira -- an Afro-Brazilian art form that combines elements of martial arts, music, and dance.

The complex also houses a juice bar-cafe as well as luxury locker, sauna and steam rooms.

"Our goal is to create an environment inspired by Madonna's vision and high standards of what the ideal gym would be," Mastrov said in a statement.

Madonna's group said it expects in the coming months to open more fitness centers in Argentina, Brazil, Russia and other unspecified countries in Europe and Asia.

Hard Candy Managing Director Chris Dedicik said Madonna had chosen the Mexican capital for the first gym after she visited the city on a musical tour in 2008 and was charmed by its surroundings and people.

The Hard Candy club is the latest business venture by Madonna, who in recent months has been diversifying her Material Girl brand well beyond the realm of pop music.

Earlier this year, Madonna announced plans to launch, along with her teenage daughter Lourdes, a line of teen clothing called "Material Girl" to be sold at Macy's department stores.

Angelina, Brad at Paris film premiere

PARIS: It's one of the most romantic cities in the world. And judging by tonight, Paris has rubbed off on Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

The couple appeared smitten with each other as they appeared at the premiere of Brad's latest film Megamind in the French capital.

The couple arrived warmly dressed in black to keep out the Parisian cold, with Angelina sporting a velvet trouser suit and sparkling top. 

Brad, who provides the voice of Metroman in the animated film, wore leather trousers and a dark grey suit jacket. 

They appeared smitten on the blue carpet, with Brad at one point planting a kiss on a delighted Angelina's cheek and holding hands.

Brad also wrapped his arm around his partner as they chatted to the film's star Will Ferrell. 

Angelina also spent time with the waiting fans, signing autographs before she went inside.

The couple had spent the previous day with four of their six children as they celebrated their son Pax's seventh birthday by having a hot air balloon ride and riverboat cruise.

'They were like any other family,' the balloon's operator told People.'There was nothing out of the ordinary to tell you about them which made them any different from any other family.'

He added that the 'charming' couple had a 20 minute ride with the children who were 'excited but well-behaved. What I think they wanted was a little moment of peace.

SRK surrenders to Shiv Sena threats

MUMBAI: Shah Rukh Khan seems to have given in to the Shiv Sena. He cancelled a dinner with Pakistan's entertainment channel after facing opposition from the party.

Last week the Shiv Sena had targeted the actor for being a part of a Pakistani TV channel's event at a time when India was commemorating the 2nd anniversary of 26/11 Mumbai terror attack. 

On Friday, the organiser of the gala dinner and dance program was adamant that Shah Rukh Khan will be attending despite pressure from India, while later, their website said announced postponement of the Shahrukh Khan Gala Dinner to be held on Sunday 28th Nov in London due to unavoidable and untenable circumstances. 

It is not known yet whether the event was cancelled due to the Shiv Sena pressure alone, but Shah Rukh is likely to discuss the reasons for the cancellation later on Monday.

Chak Dhoom Dhoom Season 2 Coming Soon

Chak Dhoom Dhoom is back with a second season of fun. This time around CDD goes higher.Get ready to watch hugely talented GROUPS each with their own style, flavour and uniqueness.Get your dancing shoes ready for Team Dhamaal is all set to set the floor on fire.This dance extravaganza will be judged by some of India's respected and talented dancer in the business.

Harry Potter still king of the world

LOS ANGELES: Harry Potter led the worldwide box office for a second weekend on Sunday, but the heroic boy wizard had a close shave with a hairy princess in North America.

The seventh movie in the hit franchise, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1," sold $163.5 million worth of tickets globally, led by a $50.3 million haul in the United States and Canada, distributor Warner Bros. said.

Of the 62 foreign markets, the best score came from France, where the film opened at No. 1 with $19.1 million -- the country's best start of the year. After two weekends the worldwide total stands at about $610 million.

But the fearless schoolboy almost lost his North American crown to Rapunzel, the hirsute heroine in the new Walt Disney Co 3D cartoon "Tangled." The fairy tale earned $49.1 million for the three days, far exceeding industry forecasts.

Along with three other films, "Tangled" opened on Wednesday, one day ahead of the U.S. Thanksgiving Day holiday, giving it a five-day total of $69 million. Pundits had forecast a five-day haul of about $40 million.

Disney distribution president Chuck Viane said the film played strongly with families, and many little girls dressed up as princesses for the occasion.

Internationally, "Tangled" earned $13.8 million after opening at No. 1 in six of seven markets. Russia led the way with $7.5 million, a record for a Disney cartoon. It adds eight markets next weekend, including France and Italy. Pop singer/actress Mandy Moore voices the heroine.

The other three new releases all performed to the expectations of their respective studios.

Comic actor Leslie Nielsen dies, aged 84

LOS ANGELES: Canadian comic actor Leslie Nielsen, star of a string of madcap spoof movies including "Airplane!" and "The Naked Gun," died of complications from pneumonia in Florida on Sunday, a spokesman said. He was 84.

Nielsen is probably best known for playing the bumbling cop Lt. Frank Drebin in the "Naked Gun" franchise, but enjoyed a movie and television career spanning more than 60 years.

The spokesman said Nielsen died in a hospital near his home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, surrounded by his wife, Barbaree, and friends at 5:34 p.m. EST.

Born in Regina, Saskatchewan, the son of a Canadian mounted policeman, Nielsen served stints as an aerial gunner in the air force and as a radio disc jockey before studying acting in Toronto and then in New York City.

He got his first big break in 1950 with a "Studio One" television appearance, and came to Hollywood in 1954 to star in the film "The Vagabond King."

For the first 30 years of his career, he built his reputation playing authority figures such as the captain of the ill-fated cruise ship in "The Poseidon Adventure." But later generations got to know the silver-haired actor primarily for his deadpan performances in comedies such as 1980's "Airplane!" and the "Naked Gun" trilogy, which ran from 1988 to 1994.

As Dr. Rumack in "Airplane!", Nielsen was won fans among the younger generation for inane non sequiturs delivered with a straight face. "Can you fly this plane, and land it?," he asks a passenger. "Surely, you can't be serious," is his answer.

"I am serious, and don't call me Shirley," Rumack replies.

Nielsen also appeared in the 1996 spy spoof "Spy Hard" as Agent WD-40, and in 1998's "Wrongfully Accused," a parody of "The Fugitive." More recent acting roles included the 2003 Hollywood parody "Scary Movie 3" and its 2006 sequel.

But Nielsen also had a serious side. During the 1990s, he took to the stage in "Darrow", a one-man drama about legendary "attorney for the damned" Clarence Darrow.

Harry Potter leads weekend with $50.3m

LOS ANGELES: Harry Potter has narrowly won a box-office tangle with a fairy-tale princess. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1" remained the No. 1 movie with $50.3 million over Thanksgiving weekend, closely followed by the animated musical "Tangled" with $49.1 million.
 

According to distributor Warner Bros., the next-to-last "Harry Potter" movie raised its domestic total to $220.4 million after just 10 days in theaters.
"Tangled" is the latest Disney cartoon musical, with Mandy Moore providing the voice of fairy-tale princess Rapunzel. The movie raised its total to $69 million since opening the day before Thanksgiving.

Abhishek, Deepika promote upcoming film

KOLKATA: Kolkata had a date with the Bollywood stars Abhishek Bachchan, Deepika Padukone and director Ashutosh Gowariker as they visited the city to promote their upcoming period movie 'Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey'.

The film is a period film based on the struggle of revolutionary Masterda Surjya Sen and 1930 Chittagong uprising against the British rule in India.

Abhishek Bachchan is playing the role of Surjya Sen in the movie.

"I do film on the theme and story that come to me, while doing this film my love towards history has increased, Malini Chatterjee's book has all the details. I decided to concentrate completely on Malini Chatterjee's book for Surjya Sen's reference," director Ashutosh Gowariker said about the film.

"I hardly knew much about Masterda, sadly, as Ashutosh told about the film, its story, I felt then would like doing it. I thought if I am not aware about, many people are not aware about him, this film gave me an opportunity to showcase him," Abhishek said, when asked about the film and his experience.

Deepika Padukone who will be seen portraying the character of 'Kalpana Datta' in the movie said: "I believe that saree is a sensual outfit that a women can wear, I feel that Kalpana's character was gorgeous and glamorous, for me the process as an actor is same, it has been a huge responsibility for me to portray such a character," when asked about her saree clad avatar, completely opposite to the roles she has been showcasing so far in her career.

The film is slated to release on Dec 3.

Book on Prince William & Kate published

LONDON: It's only been 10 days since Prince William and Kate Middleton announced their engagement, and already there's a book out about the future king and queen of England.

"William and Kate: A Royal Love Story" was published on Friday – the first of many anticipated books about the couple to hit the presses before their April 29 wedding at Westminster Abbey.

The book was written by James Clench, who covers the royal family for the British tabloid The Sun. The book features photos by Arthur Edwards, the newspaper's veteran royal photographer.

Clench's book will be published in the U.S. on Dec. 17. Several more books about England's favorite couple will come out before the royal wedding.

The list of planned books includes on by celebrity journalist Andrew Morton, who wrote the explosive, 1992 biography "Diana: Her True Story" about Prince William's mother. It shattered the image of Princess Diana's and Prince Charles' happy marriage with details of bulimia, depression and infidelity.

But "William and Kate: A Royal Love Story" is anticipated to be much less salacious, describing the prince as "the boy who would one day be king" Kate as "the middle-class girl who harbored a crush on him since her school days."

But the book does claim that Prince William's nickname for Middleton is "Babykins" while Kate calls her future husband "Big Willie.

Keys, Lady Gaga to sign off Twitter for charity

LOS ANGELES: Alicia Keys and Lady Gaga take charity work seriously, and they're going offline to prove it.

Gaga, Justin Timberlake, Usher and other celebrities have joined a new campaign called Digital Life Sacrifice on behalf of Keys' charity, Keep a Child Alive. The entertainers plan to sign off of social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter on Tuesday, which is World AIDS Day. The participants will sign back on when the charity raises $1 million.

"It's really important and super-cool to use mediums that we naturally are on," Keys said in a phone interview from New York last week.

For the campaign — which also includes Jennifer Hudson, Ryan Seacrest, Kim and Khloe Kardashian, Elijah Wood, Serena Williams, Janelle Monae and Keys' husband, Swizz Beatz — celebrities have filmed "last tweet and testament" videos and will appear in ads showing them lying in coffins to represent what the campaign calls their digital deaths.

"It's so important to shock you to the point of waking up," Keys said. "It's not that people don't care or it's not that people don't want to do something, it's that they never thought of it quite like that."

The campaign, she said, puts the disease in perspective.

"This is such a direct and instantly emotional way and a little sarcastic, you know, of a way to get people to pay attention," said Keys, who has more than 2.6 million followers on Twitter.

The foundation, which began in 2003, will accept donations through text messages and bar-code technology, which is featured in the charity's Buy Life campaign. Raised efforts support families affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa and India.

"We're trying to sort of make the remark: Why do we care so much about the death of one celebrity as opposed to millions and millions of people dying in the place that we're all from?" said Leigh Blake, the president and co-founder of Keep a Child Alive.

"It's about love and respect and human dignity," she added.

Keys said recruiting celebrities was difficult because of scheduling, but "once I got people on the phone and I was able to paint the concept for them, everybody was in."

Not one person said no, Keys recalled.

"I have a feeling that Gaga is going to raise it all by herself," Blake said. Lady Gaga has more than 7.2 million followers on Twitter, and nearly 24 million fans on Facebook.

"She's got a very, very mobilized fan base and that's beautiful to watch I think (and) she's able to draw their attention to these issues that are very important, you know, and that people follow it and act."

Keys is hoping more people — both famous folks and non-celebs — get involved once the new initiative launches: "It just doesn't have to be just because you're a celebrity or something like that. It can be anybody."

Keys, 29, married rapper-producer Swizz Beatz in July. The two had their first son, Egypt, last month. The Grammy winner said that though her life's getting busier, being a mother and wife makes her want to help others even more.

"As a human being, you deserve to have a chance at life," she said.

Abida Parveen at ICU for cardio attack

LAHORE: Great sufi singer Abida Parveen has been admitted to ICU after she received heart attack last night, Geo News reported Sunday.

According to doctors, she underwent angioplasty operation and is under observation at ICU for 24 hours, as this span has been termed vital for the singer.

The sufi singer received heart attack last night and later that night, she was admitted to a local hospital.

The doctors however said she is out of danger and would be shifted to room in the next 12 hours.

Abida Parveen was born in 1954. The singer is of Sindhi descent and one of the foremost exponents of Sufi music (Sufiana kalaam). She sings mainly ghazals, Urdu love songs, and her forte, Kafis, a solo genre accompanied by percussion and harmonium, using a repertoire of songs by Sufi poets.

Parveen sings in Urdu, Sindhi, Seraiki, Punjabi and Persian, and together with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan is considered one of the finest Sufi vocalists of the modern era.

A few years ago she has taken a Bay'ah, and formally entered into the tutelage of a spiritual master, Muhammad Najeeb Sultan. She has expressed Muhammad Najeeb Sultan as her spiritual master in many songs. In December 2009 she launched an album in his name.

Presenter Ross joins forces with Big Brother team

LONDON: British TV presenter Jonathan Ross has signed a deal with Endemol UK, the production team behind blockbuster reality show Big Brother, an Endemol spokesman said.

The Dutch television and digital production company announced the deal with Ross's own production firm Hotsauce TV to create entertainment programing for the British and global markets.

The deal is unrelated to Ross's scheduled ITV chat show which will air in 2011.

Salman's too old for Suraj

MUMBAI: There may be 20 leading ladies of industry who are dying to work with sallu, there is someone who thinks Salman is a bit old.

This someone is Suraj Barjatya who had given some superhits with Salman in lead roles.

When Suraj was asked whether he is writing script for Salman or not, his reply was simple,” There has to be a script which both of us like.”

Suraj further adds, “It's not necessary that we have to work together for the sake of it. However hard I try, I can't make Salman look 21 years old. It's a fact.”

It could be difficult to make Salman look like 21 years old but he is getting better with his age. He has worked with newest girl in B-town, Sonakshi Sinha in Dabangg. Ask the lovely ladies if you wish, Sooraj.

Bruce Lee biopic tracks action hero's early life

HONG KONG: Authenticity is the heart and soul of the new biopic "Bruce Lee, My Brother," the early life story of the man who put Hong Kong action films on the map, its director told The Hollywood Reporter.

As its title declares, the film pieces together the superstar's childhood -- Lee would have turned 70 on Sunday -- and young adulthood from the memories of his four surviving siblings, Phoebe, Agnes, Peter (who died in 2008) and Robert.

"The Lee family supplied us with all the details and the tidbits of their family life," director Raymond Yip said. "So we took great care to be loyal to the truth and avoid anything that felt fake, which made it rather difficult for us in terms of creating the structure of the script. But the Lee family was very pleased with the result, especially with how close it was to what actually happened."

The biopic took years to put on the screen, not least because of the difficult task of finding a young actor to play the role of the iconic megastar. "We've been on the lookout for a possible candidate all over China since 2008, but no one could capture the Hong Kong spirit of the young Bruce Lee," Yip explained.

But when writer-director team of Alex Law and Mabel Cheung, invited the film's producer, Manfred Wong, to a screening of their opus "Echoes of the Rainbow," the search was over. Aarif Rahman, a 23-year-old singer-songwriter who made his acting debut (and stole the show) in "Echoes," was locked in as the young Bruce Lee.

"Including Lee's brother Robert, we were quite amazed by how much Aarif resembles Bruce. No one can say for sure whether an actor really embodies Bruce's spirit except for his family. So it was a go from then on," Yip recalled.

The film began pre-production in March to push for a November 25 release in Hong Kong. The HK$36 million ($4.6 million) project has been snapped up by distributors in over 10 territories.

The Hong Kong-born Rahman, of Malay-Arab-Chinese ancestry, will have to shoulder any potential sequels for the Bruce Lee life story, said Yip.

"We certainly hope to continue telling Bruce Lee's story, but it depends on how this one is received, especially on the public reception of Aarif as Bruce Lee. Lee was a legendary figure. Who plays him in the film is the biggest issue for us as filmmakers. But I have faith in Aarif," Yip said.

Although the biopic tracks the early life of the kungfu master from his birth in San Francisco, old Hong Kong plays a key role. The film shows Lee and his friends as fixtures in the mid-century Hong Kong film industry, allowing the filmmakers to reenact scenes from famous movies of the age.

"Bruce Lee grew up on soundstages. But the films-within-a-film were also a way for us to recapture the collective memories of the Hong Kong people," Yip said.

Priyanka Chopra haunted by ghost!

BERLIN: Priyanka Chopra Is Haunted By A Ghost From Her Past!Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra may be having sleepless nights in Berlin where she is presently shooting for Don 2.

According to reports doing the rounds, the actress is being haunted by a ghost from her past. Well, not literally, but a certain Prakash Jaju has returned back to Priyanka Chopra’s life. For the uninitiated, Prakash Jaju was the actress’ secretary once upon a time. He was sacked by Priyanka Chopra when she caught him sending her lecherous text messages and was handed over to the police officials in Mumbai. But now that his arrest period is over, Prakash Jaju has resurfaced in Priyanka Chopra's life.

The ex-secretary is reportedly promoting the career of Meera Chopra, Priyanka Chopra’s distant cousin. And though the Bollywood actress is very disturbed over the fact, she cannot really do anything about it, because though the court orders Prakash Jaju to stay away from her family, nothing has been mentioned about her extended family in the legal notice.

What comes across as more troubling news to Priyanka Chopra is the fact that Meera has gone on record saying that she does not find anything wrong in Prakash Jaju’s character and she is prepared to work with him because the man may bring her some good offers from Bollywood.

Meera Chopra is all set to debut in Bollywood next year and it is to be seen whether Prakash Jaju can create the same magic with her as he did with Priyanka Chopra.

Break Ke Baad opens in Box office

MUMBAI: Imran Khan starrer Break Ke Baad has opened better at the US box office than his last release - I Hate Luv Storys.

In Break Ke Baad, Khan stars opposite Deepika Padukone, whereas in I Hate Luv Storys he had Sonam Kapoor as his co-star.

Both movies opened on Wednesday in the US. While Break Ke Baad collected approximately $39,742 across 73 screens on Wednesday, I Hate Luv Storys had collected $23,867 when it released earlier this year. On Thursday, Break Ke Baad collections in the US stood at $75,000, while that of I Hate Luv Storys were at $26,309. It must be kept in mind that Break Ke Baad and I Hate Luv Storys both opened during major holidays in the US - 4th of July weekend and Thanksgiving weekend respectively.

In the UAE, Break Ke Baad box office collections stood at $70,000 in its opening day (Thursday).

As per initial reports, the movie has seen average occupancy of approximately 60-65 per cent in Mumbai multiplexes, whereas the opening in cities like Hyderabad and Pune was also very good from the morning shows itself.

Rihanna returns to No 1 on singles chart

NEW YORK: Two weeks after topping the Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart with "What's My Name?", Rihanna reclaimed her crown Thursday with "Only Girl (In the World)," the debut single from her new album, "Loud."


It's the first time in the 52-year history of the Hot 100 that an album's debut single has reached No. 1 after the second single. "What's My Name?" slipped one place to No. 8, while "Loud" debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 album chart on Wednesday.

"Only Girl" is Rihanna's fourth single to ascend to No. 1 in 2010, making her the first woman, and first artist overall since Usher in 2004, to hit the top that many times in a calendar year. Her career tally of chart-toppers stands at nine.

Pink rose two places to No. 2 with "Raise Your Glass," while Far*East Movement's "Like a G6" fell to No. 3 after three non-consecutive weeks at the top. Ke$ha rebounded two places to No. 4 with "We R Who We R," which debuted at No. 1 three weeks ago. Nelly's "Just a Dream" held at No. 5.

Katy Perry's "Firework" jumped three to No. 6, Bruno Mars slid four to No. 7 with "Just The Way You Are." Just behind Rihanna's "What's My Name?", Cee-Lo Green's "F--- You (Forget You)" jumped 13 places to No. 9 on the wings of the "Glee" Cast's family-friendly cover at No. 11. Trey Songz' "Bottoms Up" was No. 10 for a second week.

Pinto look for work in Indian language film

MUMBAI: Slumdog Millionaire’ star Freida Pinto has ruled out starring in a Bollywood movie as she thinks many of the films are “churned out” by producers with no quality control.

The Mumbai-born actress, who shot to worldwide fame with the Oscar-winning movie, has been offered several “stereotypical” roles in India but is adamant not to star in an all-singing, all-dancing Bollywood movie, reported Contactmusic.

“I wouldn’t want to do a Bollywood film per se, but I would like to do an Indian-language film. For some reason I think Bollywood has become synonymous with commercial cinema, which is song and dance and everything that is larger than life, and I am interested in the reality… It is great to have entertainment, but I think there needs to be something that also makes you want to go back and think about what you’ve seen,” said Pinto.

The 26-year-old actress, who has starred in Woody Allen’s latest film and has also signed a Hollywood sci-fi, said that she wants to act in films which carry some meaning. “Mindless cinema is not my cup of tea… I could get into trouble for saying that. I don’t think Bollywood is only mindless cinema, but a lot of films they churn out are not films that I completely enjoy watching,” said the actress.

“I say hats off to them for doing what they do, because it takes a lot of courage. It is easier to stand and deliver dialogue. Imagine dancing a song out and kind of expressing through it. I think it is a challenge and requires you to lose your inhibitions,” she added.

Baby boy for John Travolta after son's tragic death

LOS ANGELES: Actor John Travolta and his wife Kelly Preston announced the birth of their third child, a baby boy born nearly two years after the death of their 16-year-old son Jett.

The baby, named Benjamin, was born at a hospital in Florida on Tuesday evening weighing more than 8 lbs (3.6 kg), according to a statement from Travolta's publicist.

"John, Kelly and their daughter Ella Bleu are ecstatic and very happy about the newest member of the family. Both mother and baby are healthy and doing beautifully," the statement said.

Jett, the first child of Travolta, 56, and Preston, 48, died of a seizure in January 2009 while the family was on vacation in the Bahamas. Travolta confirmed after the death that Jett was autistic.

The "Pulp Fiction" and "Grease" star and his actress wife spent a year out of the public spotlight grieving for Jett. The family was also the victim of an alleged $25 million extortion plot over the death that ended in a mistrial for those accused.

Travolta was back on the red carpet in January to promote his comedy adventure movie "From Paris with Love" and Preston appeared in the Miley Cyrus movie "The Last Song" in April.

Asian Wedding Expo in UK a success

LONDON: Last weekend PureJewel’s sponsored Asian Wedding Exhibition saw in between 8 – 10,00 people pass through its doors with visitors from across the world.

Over the course of the weekend, 143 exhibitors showcased their work with exclusives from Pakistan and India. The exhibition’s Jaguar sponsored catwalk unveiled the latest in the new seasons couture collections for brides and grooms.

PureJewels took the opportunity to present their six engagement and wedding ring collections Passion, Honesty, Grace, Virtue, Honour, and Adoration and also welcomed the latest in diamond tension technology with collections from Christian Bauer.

Jayant Raniga, Brand Manager of PureJewels said, “PureJewels exhibited at the AWE last year and the response was fantastic. We knew right away that the quality and substance of this event would be key for us as a leading engagement and wedding ring retailer to be intrinsically involved in.

As key sponsors of the event this year, we showcased our six key collections and were inundated with a positive response”.

Marking a shift in the fusion of both eastern and western wedding trends, the event attracted a diverse mix of visitors from both south Asian and non-south Asian backgrounds all looking for the best in wedding services including award winning henna artist Ash Kumar who’s worked with Madonna and Julia Roberts.

Visitors expressed how ‘refreshing and informative’ it was to see and speak to a hand picked exhibitors without the distractions of celebrity and gimmicks.

Raj gifts Shilpa Burj Khalifa apartment

MUMBAI: On their first wedding anniversary, Raj Kundra gifts Shilpa Shetty an apartment in Burj Khalifa in Dubai. During a visit, Shilpa desires to have an apartment at the world’s tallest building and Raj fulfills her wish on their first anniversary as an anniversary gift.

Says a source close to the actress, "Shilpa was thrilled when Raj gifted her the luxury apartment. It's his wedding anniversary gift to her.

He gifted her the keys in Mumbai a week ago. She had visited Dubai a few months ago, had loved the building and expressed a wish of staying there.

The couple has taken a three-day break to celebrate their first wedding anniversary there. Raj also has something else planned for Shilpa - a lavish dinner with a few surprises thrown in."

Shilpa will design the interior after she returns from Bangkok where she will shoot a shampoo ad.

Unfortunately, the actress developed pharyngitis the day before she left for Dubai. Despite ill-health, she traveled to Dubai with Raj as Shilpa does not want to spill water on their wedding anniversary plans.

Taiwan film festival snubs S Koreans over taekwondo row

TAIPEI: Organisers of a Taiwanese film festival said South Korean pop groups will not be invited to perform amid anti-Korean sentiments on the island over a taekwondo row.

"We were considering inviting South Korean groups to perform but we decided to drop the idea as the atmosphere is wrong," Justin Chou, an organiser of the Asia Pacific Film Festival, told reporters.

South Korean pop groups, which have huge following in Taiwan, have frequently been invited to perform for the island's various entertainment awards and events.

But an official's decision last week to disqualify taekwondo star Yang Shu-chun for trying to wear extra scoring sensors in her socks at the Asian Games in southern China has set off a wave of anti-Korean ire in Taiwan.

Taekwondo events at the Games are held under the jurisdiction of the Seoul-based Asian Taekwondo Union (ATU), which was reported at the weekend to have apologised to Yang and the Taiwan union for branding her a cheat.

However, Yang's disqualification has now been referred the World Taekwondo Federation, the Korean martial art's international governing body, which is also based in Seoul.

In Taiwan, hackers launched cyber-attacks on the ATU as angry fans boycotted South Korean products. Some restaurants and shops even posted signs saying "Koreans are not welcome."

The island's education minister on Tuesday urged restraint as security was enhanced at a South Korean school in Taipei which was egg-washed several times in the past few days.

"I am here to express my concerns. I hope Taiwan will provide a safe learning environment to all students. The (South Korean) students are innocent," said Wu Ching-ji after visiting the school.

Yang, who returned to Taiwan late Monday to receive a hero's welcome, has also called for calm over the controversy.

World taekwondo chiefs said a full inquiry would be held into the incident, although a final decision would only be made once the Games conclude on November 27.

Dwayne Johnson back to action-hero mode in Faster

LOS ANGELES: "Faster" is stripped for action without a moment wasted on unnecessary dialogue, exposition or nuances.

It starts the moment Dwayne Johnson's archetypical character Driver sprints out of prison after 10 years in stir and doesn't stop until a bullet penetrates the brainpan of the last bad guy. Directed by George Tillman Jr., "Faster" possesses the white-heat fervor of '70s exploitation movies with a refreshing emphasis on actual stunts involving cars, weapons and actors who buffed up in the gym for months. No sissy CGI stuff here. (Okay, it's minimal.)

This is a guy's movie, where the female characters are as tough as the men. One woman celebrates her wedding with target practice out in the desert. She hits everything she aims at and doesn't even bother to take off the wedding dress.

So while some family members may frolic Thanksgiving weekend with young wizards, a fairy-tale princess, a rom-com or a musical, guys will watch football -- or take in "Faster." This counter-programing might actually work. The CBS Films release gets a head start on the holiday by opening Wednesday.

Johnson, formerly The Rock, says goodbye to his Disney period to return to the kind of raw action that made his name. He plays a man so single-minded that a simple 'hello' would be a distraction.

When Driver races out of prison, he means to gun down one by one the men who killed his brother 10 years ago. That he and his brother had robbed a bank and were relaxing with their loot in what they believed was a safe house along with the rest of the gang is beside the point. In the moral universe of Faster, everyone is wretched and corrupt. Just some are more so.

Driver has something of a conscience. He refuses to pull a trigger when an innocent person gets between him and his target. Anyone not on his to-do list also fails to interest him. Only as time wears on -- the film spans five days -- he becomes aware that the list is incomplete.

Roaming the California desert from Bakersfield into Nevada and back, he attracts a following. A police detective, the Cop (Billy Bob Thornton), only days from retirement, draws the assignment after the first murder to the disgust of his partner (Carla Gugino). Little wonder: Cop is a junkie.

Then someone hires a professional assassin, the Killer (newcomer Oliver Jackson-Cohen), a Brit who sees hunting humans as a new kind of extreme sport where he might test himself physically and mentally.

Each suspense or action sequence in Joe and Tony Gayton's screenplay manages to fill a viewer in on motivations and back stories. These are all done with an economy of purpose. Childhood abuse, bad cops, drug addiction, wrong choices, wrong crowds, underachievement and, in one case, overachievement -- all these issues feed into the action on screen.

You wouldn't want to accuse "Faster" of having a sense of humor but it has enough a sly wit for a killer to be stalking another killer while talking to his therapist on a hands-free mobile. Then the therapist suddenly to ask: "Are you off your meds?"

The movie itself may be off its meds, but for all its mash-up of pulp-fiction types and situations, it never completely forsakes logic. A killing or confrontation may be outrageous but never implausible. Stunts with cars may be wild but never violate the laws of physics.

Tillman and his writers demonstrate that action can reveal character. These are rudimentary characters to be sure, but people who are completely understandable without long dialogue passages. There is one exception in Driver's confrontation with a reformed villain (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje).

Johnson has never had much range as an actor but here he deliberately narrows it even more. He keeps his responses short and his face nearly blank. He uses his tremendous bulk to intimidate and his eyes to hurl warnings. There's only one scene where his character is asked to demonstrate sentiment, and he looks like he can't wait for it to be over.

Thornton does suggest a tragic dimension to his junkie Cop. His back story is thinly sketched but his ruination may have come from a love for a woman (Moon Bloodgood) having as much trouble staying clean as he does.

The film was premiered at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles. Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson was in attendance at the Theatre for the Premiere of his new high octane action thriller Faster.

Justin scoops 4 awards at American Music Awards

LOS ANGELES: After weeks of suspense about the American Music Awards (AMA) 2010, the viewers have finally got to know the name of the winner.

And Justin Bieber fans will be the most enthusiastic lot as the 16-year-old singing sensation has won not only one but four prestigious awards at the event that took place at the Nokia Theatre L.A Live in Los Angeles.

The teen sensation received the Favorite Breakthrough Artist, Favorite Pop Album, Favorite Artist of the year and Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist. The teenager has given many other celebrity singers a run for their money. The night completely belonged to him as he bagged the majorawards of the event.

However, one more singer was in the limelight and that is none other than ‘Whip My Hair’ girl Willow Smith, the wonderful daughter of actor Will Smith. She was the centre of attraction because of her style statement. Willow put on bizarre yellow shoulder-sleeve with slouchy boots.

The ‘Fearless’ pop star Taylor Swift was honored to be the ‘Favorite Female Country Artist’ at her third American Music Award. She was seen in straighter looks.

Numerous stars including Rihanna, Katy Perry, Christina Aguilera and Kesha performed at the award event.

However, at the end of all, it was Bieber’s time this year and he went out happily with the much deserved accolades!