Swinging sixties British film director dies

 LONDON: Clive Donner, the British film director whose movies helped set the tone for the swinging sixties, died Tuesday at the age of 84, his family said.

He had been suffering from Alzheimer's disease and died in London.

Donner's career began at Pinewood Studios outside London when he was 15, his cousin Gavin Asher said.

"One of the things he was most proud of was what he did for the careers of quite a lot of British actors including Alan Bates, David Hemmings and Ian McKellen," he said.

"A lot of them went on to eclipse his fame and success but he was very giving in that sense."

Donner directed "Nothing But The Best", a 1964 comedy featuring Bates and Denholm Elliott.

He directed 1965 comedy "What's New Pussycat?", starring Peter Sellers, Peter O'Toole, Woody Allen, and Ursula Andress, and "Luv" (1967), featuring Jack Lemmon and Peter Falk.

Coming of age film "Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush" (1968) captured the spirit of the times.

"He was a man of the sixties and those films were the very essence of swinging London," Asher said.

Donner later moved to Los Angeles to work in television.

He and his late wife had no children.

Swinging sixties British film director dies

 LONDON: Clive Donner, the British film director whose movies helped set the tone for the swinging sixties, died Tuesday at the age of 84, his family said.

He had been suffering from Alzheimer's disease and died in London.

Donner's career began at Pinewood Studios outside London when he was 15, his cousin Gavin Asher said.

"One of the things he was most proud of was what he did for the careers of quite a lot of British actors including Alan Bates, David Hemmings and Ian McKellen," he said.

"A lot of them went on to eclipse his fame and success but he was very giving in that sense."

Donner directed "Nothing But The Best", a 1964 comedy featuring Bates and Denholm Elliott.

He directed 1965 comedy "What's New Pussycat?", starring Peter Sellers, Peter O'Toole, Woody Allen, and Ursula Andress, and "Luv" (1967), featuring Jack Lemmon and Peter Falk.

Coming of age film "Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush" (1968) captured the spirit of the times.

"He was a man of the sixties and those films were the very essence of swinging London," Asher said.

Donner later moved to Los Angeles to work in television.

He and his late wife had no children.

Asha Bhosle turns 77 today

 MUMBAI: She has sung more than 12,000 songs in 18 languages, been honoured with the Padma Vibhushan and is still raring to go. Singing legend Asha Bhosle will celebrate her 77th birthday Wednesday with her position in Bollywood still strong and her legion of fans intact.

After for over six decades in the industry, her voice remains seamless. And as she rustles her beautiful silk saris, with jewellery to match, Asha’s style too makes a lasting statement.

The singer, who started singing at a very young age, is known for her versatality. After crooning a series of hits for the Hindi film industry’s dancing queen Helen, she was tagged as a cabaret singer.

But she dispelled that notion when she went behind the mike to croon “Maang ke saath tumhara” for Dilip Kumar-Vyjayantimala- starrer “Naya Daur” (1957). It established her as a singer to reckon with.

Since then, there has been no looking back.

She collaborated with renowned musicians of her time like Ravi, Khayyam and Shankar Jaikishan, but Asha’s real talent was exploited by composer R.D. Burman, who was instrumental in bringing her out of her elder sister and singing legend Lata Mangeshkar’s shadow. Asha and Burman later married.

Songs like “Dum maro dum” (”Hare Rama, Hare Krishna”, “Mehbooba mehbooba” (”Sholay”), “Mera kuch saaman” (”Ijaazat”), “Piya tu ab to aaja” (”Caravan”) and “Chura liya hai tum ne” (”Yaadon Ki Baraat”) bear testament to the amazing creativity of the Asha-Burman combination.

“Pancham (Burman) had this unique quality of bringing out the best in every artiste by making him or her feel comfortable. He knew how to make me sing to get the maximum effect in every situation,” Asha said.

Known for her voice range, Asha has sung in over 18 languages, including Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Malayalam, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, English, Russian, Czech, Nepali and Malay.

Adding to her list, recently she crooned her first Kannada song for composer Veera Samarth who was overwhelmed with her professionalism even at this age.

“Didi took just two-and-a-half hours to sing the song. And the rehearsal of the song was done a day earlier. Asha didi wrote the lyrics in Hindi in her own handwriting and what a song it was. I was in tears when she completed the song. I am sure it would be one of the most brilliant songs in Kannada,” Samarth told media.

Asha Bhosle turns 77 today

 MUMBAI: She has sung more than 12,000 songs in 18 languages, been honoured with the Padma Vibhushan and is still raring to go. Singing legend Asha Bhosle will celebrate her 77th birthday Wednesday with her position in Bollywood still strong and her legion of fans intact.

After for over six decades in the industry, her voice remains seamless. And as she rustles her beautiful silk saris, with jewellery to match, Asha’s style too makes a lasting statement.

The singer, who started singing at a very young age, is known for her versatality. After crooning a series of hits for the Hindi film industry’s dancing queen Helen, she was tagged as a cabaret singer.

But she dispelled that notion when she went behind the mike to croon “Maang ke saath tumhara” for Dilip Kumar-Vyjayantimala- starrer “Naya Daur” (1957). It established her as a singer to reckon with.

Since then, there has been no looking back.

She collaborated with renowned musicians of her time like Ravi, Khayyam and Shankar Jaikishan, but Asha’s real talent was exploited by composer R.D. Burman, who was instrumental in bringing her out of her elder sister and singing legend Lata Mangeshkar’s shadow. Asha and Burman later married.

Songs like “Dum maro dum” (”Hare Rama, Hare Krishna”, “Mehbooba mehbooba” (”Sholay”), “Mera kuch saaman” (”Ijaazat”), “Piya tu ab to aaja” (”Caravan”) and “Chura liya hai tum ne” (”Yaadon Ki Baraat”) bear testament to the amazing creativity of the Asha-Burman combination.

“Pancham (Burman) had this unique quality of bringing out the best in every artiste by making him or her feel comfortable. He knew how to make me sing to get the maximum effect in every situation,” Asha said.

Known for her voice range, Asha has sung in over 18 languages, including Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Malayalam, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, English, Russian, Czech, Nepali and Malay.

Adding to her list, recently she crooned her first Kannada song for composer Veera Samarth who was overwhelmed with her professionalism even at this age.

“Didi took just two-and-a-half hours to sing the song. And the rehearsal of the song was done a day earlier. Asha didi wrote the lyrics in Hindi in her own handwriting and what a song it was. I was in tears when she completed the song. I am sure it would be one of the most brilliant songs in Kannada,” Samarth told media.

Tabu, Vidya to do an item number

 MUMBAI: Santosh Sivan has started the shoot of his trilingual Urumi in the forest areas surrounding Malshej Ghat. The film has Prithviraj, Prabhu Deva and Genelia in the lead, with Deepak Dev providing music. Santosh has pulled off a coup by getting Tabu and Vidya Balan to do separate item songs.

He recently shot a rain song with Tabu, Prabhu Deva and Prithviraj. We hear that it was actually pouring cats and dogs on location in the forests of Malshej Ghat when he shot the song! Interestingly, a few months ago, Santosh shot in artificial rain for a song in Mani Ratnam's Raavan.

Now, in pouring rain, he shot the song choreographed by Bollywood's famous dance master Ahmed Khan. Prithviraj, who is also one of the producers of the film tweeted: "Santhosh is making Malshej look like another world as nature and the rains made it look terrific. We finished the song picturisation earlier than we thought, thanks to Ahmed Khan and others."

Later, speaking to a local newspaper from the location, Santosh said, "We are filming in a never-seen-before remote area near Malshej Ghat. It is quite hectic; the Tabu song is complete and choreographed by Ahmed Khan in a different way. The Vidya Balan song sequence is still in progress and we are also filming with Alex, who acted in Madraspattinam."

Meanwhile, the buzz is that Genelia — who plays a Portuguese princess — is learning horse riding and will be joining the unit later.

Tabu, Vidya to do an item number

 MUMBAI: Santosh Sivan has started the shoot of his trilingual Urumi in the forest areas surrounding Malshej Ghat. The film has Prithviraj, Prabhu Deva and Genelia in the lead, with Deepak Dev providing music. Santosh has pulled off a coup by getting Tabu and Vidya Balan to do separate item songs.

He recently shot a rain song with Tabu, Prabhu Deva and Prithviraj. We hear that it was actually pouring cats and dogs on location in the forests of Malshej Ghat when he shot the song! Interestingly, a few months ago, Santosh shot in artificial rain for a song in Mani Ratnam's Raavan.

Now, in pouring rain, he shot the song choreographed by Bollywood's famous dance master Ahmed Khan. Prithviraj, who is also one of the producers of the film tweeted: "Santhosh is making Malshej look like another world as nature and the rains made it look terrific. We finished the song picturisation earlier than we thought, thanks to Ahmed Khan and others."

Later, speaking to a local newspaper from the location, Santosh said, "We are filming in a never-seen-before remote area near Malshej Ghat. It is quite hectic; the Tabu song is complete and choreographed by Ahmed Khan in a different way. The Vidya Balan song sequence is still in progress and we are also filming with Alex, who acted in Madraspattinam."

Meanwhile, the buzz is that Genelia — who plays a Portuguese princess — is learning horse riding and will be joining the unit later.

Saif all set to become teacher

 MUMBAI: Kareena Kapoor's latest fascination for French language might land Saif into teacher's shoes. Bebo showed interest to learn the language while shooting for Agent Vinod in Morocco.

If sources are to be believed, no sooner Saif started conversing with one of the assistant directors of the film who also knew French that Bebo fell in love with the language. And now is all set to learn the same under Saif's guidance.

It will be interesting to see whether Saif will strike a balance and spare some time for his lady-love for French classes.