Mumbai, June 18

In a series of tweets, the 70- year old said: “Attention! elephant ‘Bijlee’ lying collapsed in Mulund, suburb of Mumbai…she needs cure…will authorities please extend all help.”

He further tweeted: “There is an NGO AMTM (Animals Matter to Me) working on Bijlee, giving food etc, but she needs to get to a hospital. Authority help needed. Equipment to carry (sic).”

“A compassionate appeal to all animal lovers. Please come forward and extend all possible help. I just did. Will you,” he tweeted.

The actor also put up photographs of Bijlee on his blog with details of the NGO where one can contribute in whatever way possible.

“I am not in the habit of putting appeals on the social media, for reasons that concern me contractually. But I do believe in this unfortunate incident, and believe that if something can be done for this beleaguered elephant lying on the road in great misery, she will survive and flourish,” he said in his blog post.

“So let us do our best that we can, for those that suffer, that speak of their misery in a language that we cannot understand, but who we know would understand any help that can be extended to them,” he further added.
Bijlee, a 58-year-old female elephant, belongs to a couple who used her to beg for alms, marriages and other auspicious occasions.

ians

Mumbai, June 17

The three time National Award winning actor, known to have die-hard fans both outside and within the film industry, never celebrates his birthday. What’s more he doesn’t allow his family to celebrate either.

Mimoh seems dismayed by his father’s rigid decision to stay away from all birthday celebrations.

“We are never allowed to celebrate my father’s birthday,” said Mimoh. Mithun’s birthday was Sunday and he shot for the “Bigg Boss Bangla” on the day.

Apparently, the “Bigg Boss” team was very keen to do the cake-cutting and candle-blowing, but the “Mrigayaa” actor begged off.

ians

New Delhi, June 15

The results of the poll, conducted among over 11,000 Indian women, by matrimonial site Shaadi.com, were announced a day ahead of Father’s Day Sunday.

Shah Rukh received 34.83 percent votes while Amitabh was chosen by 31.58 percent of the women surveyed. Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar took the third spot with 18.61 percent.

“The poll showcases some of the most successful Indian men whose love and dedication also makes them popular fathers. This suggests that people are looking at celebrities as real people with real relationships,” Gourav Rakshit, COO, Shaadi.com, said.

The poll also posed other questions to the respondents.

In the survey for the country’s most popular father-daughter relationship, Big B took the top spot along with his daughter Shweta, who is married to businessman Nikhil Nanda.

Veteran actor Jeetendra and her film producer daughter Ekta Kapoor got 35.06 percent votes followed by father-daughter duo Anil Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor (22.42 percent).

Also, 44.85 percent Indian women voted for Shah Rukh and his son Aryan as India’s most popular father-son duo.

ians

Mumbai, June 14

Written and directed by Vijay Krishna Acharya, “Dhoom 3″ is said to be the first Bollywood movie to be released in the IMAX format.

“It’s great to see IMAX coming to India. It is really amazing, you are transported into a different world and that’s what you want as an audience,” Aamir said here Thursday at the launch of PVR IMAX theatre here.

With the IMAX format, one can record and display images of far greater size and resolution.

“Dhoom 3″, YRF’s third instalment of action-adventure “Dhoom” franchise, is set to hit the theatres Dec 25. It also features Abhishek Bachchan, Uday Chopra and Katrina Kaif.

Meanwhile, the actor shared his maiden experience at an IMAX theatre while shooting for his 2001 film “Dil Chahta Hai” in Sydney. He ended up watching about eight films in one go.

“I remember the first time when I saw the IMAX was when I was shooting for ‘Dil Chahta Hai’ in Sydney. In Sydney, there was an IMAX theatre about 15 minutes from where I was staying. When I saw my first IMAX film, I was just blown and was like, ‘Oh! my god’,” the 48-year-old Aamir said.

“There were I think eight or 10 films running over there (in the IMAX) and I saw all of them, sitting alone,” he added.

ians

Mumbai, June 12

Titled “Justice for Jiah Khan”, it was launched Monday on the socialnetworking site(URL: https://www.facebook.com/Justice.For.Jiah.Khan). An initiative by Newz66, news and content website, it is reportedly supported by several Bollywood artistes and media professionals.

The page states that Jiah’s suicide was completely sudden, unexpected and uncalled for. She was a strong, determined person and it is obvious there is much more than what meets the eye. LIKE this page and leave your comments to ensure that the truth prevails.

Jiah’s mother Rabiya Khan has alleged her late daughter was in a live-in relationship with Sooraj Pancholi, son of actor Aditya Pancholi and unrequited love killed her.

On June 10 Sooraj had been arrested by Mumbai police in connection with suicide of Jiah and he will remain in custody till Thursday. Police await Jiah’s medical reports to carry probe further.

So far the page has received 36 likes and few comments.

The Britain-born actress, who debuted opposite Amitabh Bachchan in “Nishabd”, was found hanging at her flat in Sagar Sangeet Building in the posh Juhu area of northwest Mumbai June 3. She was 25.

In 2008, she was seen along with Aamir Khan and Asin Thottumkal in the blockbuster “Ghajini”, a remake of A.R. Murugadoss’s Tamil film of the same title.

She was last seen in Sajid Khan’s “Housefull” with Akshay Kumar, Reiteish Deshmukh, Deepika Padukone and Lara Dutta.

ians

Mumbai, June 11

This would be the “Masoom” actress’s fourth honorary degree. Earlier, she has received the same honour from Leeds University in Britain, the Jamia Millia Islamia and the Jadavpur University.

“It’s good to be honoured in a domain away from my home ground. For the academic world to acknowledge my contribution is gratifying. Yes, this is my fourth doctorate,” said the actress known for her roles in “Junoon”, “Sparsh”, “Saaz” and “Earth”.

ians

Mumbai, June 9

The southwest monsoon hit the city Saturday night, a day before its scheduled arrival and cooled the city, allowing Mumbaikers to heave a sigh of relief.

It’s raining in the city and celebrities expressed their joy on Twitter:

Madhuri Dixit: Happy Monsoon guys! Finally it’s starting to rain in Mumbai!

Pooja Bhatt: A rain-washed Mumbai… trees sing, stray dogs huddle. Traffic snarls, umbrellas and hem-lines flutter. Gentle light, a spent sky, Sunday… Ah!Life!

Divya Dutt: N a very happy baarish wala Sunday! Happy relaxing, adrak chai and pakore! uffo! too much.

Manish Malhotra: Beautiful rains here in Mumbai this morning.

Kunal Kohli: Nothing better than waking up to a rainy Sunday. Garam Chai. Pakoras. Bhutta. Drive to Lonavala.

Ayushmann Khurrana: I somehow prefer sunny Sundays. Rain should be a Monday mandate. As it disrupts work and romanticizes the quintessential working day.

ians

Mumbai, June 8

In what must be regarded as a singular honour for an Indian artist, he has been appointed the vice president of the International Confederation Of Authors and Composers Society (CISAC).

CISAC, a foreign body, monitors, guards and checks copyright laws all over the world for every form of creative pursuit.

In principle, Akhtar will now be fighting for copyright laws for artists all over the world.

Talking from Washington, he said he was “pleasantly surprised by this honour”.

“I guess my battle for copyright and royalty for Indian musicians reached this very prestigious global forum. As you might be aware, the CISAC comprises 121 countries. The apex body looks out for copyright issues in all these countries. So I’d say it’s a very big responsibility,” he said.

How did he get selected for the role?

“Back in 2011, I was at the CISAC headquarters in Brussels to give the keynote address at their summit. There, I spoke about my fight against copyright violation in India. I think they were impressed enough to follow my fight in India. And when the Indian parliament passed a copyright bill in favour of writers and musicians, the CISAC must have taken a decision to invite me on board as vice president,” he said.

“It’s an honour, yes but, also a huge responsibility,” added the 68-year-old.

ians

Kolkata, May 30

Time and again he called Ray his mentor and inspiration, and the master and student had certain traits in common – they both moved into films from advertisements and almost every film they made picked up awards. The fact that Ghosh got 12 National Awards besides some from outside the country’s borders during a two-decade journey spanning 19 movies, is a testament to the quality of his offerings.

But it was the arrival of television in Kolkata in 1975 and a retrospective of Ritwik Ghatak a year later that hooked Ghosh to the celluloid world as a teenager.

“I stood in the queue for hours to watch Ghatak’s movies. Watching so many good movies together had a great impact on me,” Ghosh later said in an interview.

Born Aug 31, 1963, in a South Kolkata household, Ghosh was brought up in an atmosphere which shaped his future career. He was greatly influenced by his father – documentary filmmaker Sunil Ghosh.

He had his schooling at South Point and later pursued economics from Jadavpur University.

It was his years in the advertising world that taught Ghosh the art of innovation, experimentation, precision, communication and detailing within a short time and space – qualities which helped him when he ventured into films.

In 1992, Ghosh made his first film — “Hirer Angti” – a movie for children — but it never got released.

However, he shot into prominence two years later with “Unishe April”, which was inspired by Ray’s “Jalsaghar” (The Music Room). “Unishe April” – based on the tensions in the relationship between a dancer mother and her doctor daughter – bagged the national award for best feature film and won Debashree Roy the honours in the best actress category.

Three years later came another acclaimed film “Dahan” showing the trials and tribulations of two contemporary women – one of them molested by goons, and another who had rushed to help her.

Other award-winning Bengali movies from Ghosh’s stable included “Bariwali”, “Asukh”, “Utsab”, “Shubho Mahurat”, “Chokher Bali”, “Dosar”, “Shob Charitro Kalponik” and “Abohoman”.

“Bariwali” also took away the NETPAC award at the Berlin International film Festival in 2000.

Ghosh’s last released film was Chitrangada (2012), while a few days before his death, Ghosh finished shooting a crime thriller “Satyanveshi”.

In 2007, Ghosh made his only English movie “The Last Lear”. Starring Amitabh Bachchan, it revolved around a retired Shakespearean theatre actor.

He directed two Hindi movies – “Raincoat” (2004) – that got a National Award and “Sunglass” (2012).

Unlike some celebrated filmmakers, who chose to work with newcomers rather than established stars, Ghosh had a great ability to get the best out of matinee idols like Bachchan, Sharmila Tagore, and Rakhee Gulzar. A case in point was how he handled Sharmila in “Shubho Maharat”.

“You have to refer to sequences from other films she has acted in, in order to draw an emotion in a given scene,” he had said.

The unpretentious portrayal of physical relationships played a major role in Ghosh’s films like “Chokher Bali”, based on Tagore’s novel, and “Antarmahal”. In “Antarmahal”, a period piece, the explicit and crudity of sexual scenes “shocked” a section of the middle-class.

He also boldly portrayed women’s desires in almost all his films, but chose to call himself a “Womanist and not a feminist”.

Ghosh had battled his sexuality and identity – somewhat of a woman wrapped in a man’s body – through his life, but chose to get frank towards the end after his parents died.

He also acted in queer characters in three movies – “Chitrangada”, “Arekti Premer Golpo” and “Memories in March”.

A learned man, Ghosh for years edited the popular Bengali film magazine Anandalok, worked at a senior position in a television channel and conducted popular talk shows. He wrote lucid and fluent prose, and his Bengali column in a local daily was widely read.

ians

Kolkata, May 25

“I am completely supporting Mumbai Indians,” Kapoor told a television channel while promoting his forthcoming film “Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani”.

Directed by Ayan Mukerji, the movie, coming out May 31, is produced by Dharma Productions and stars Ranbir’s former girlfriend Deepika Padukone along with Kalki Koechlin and Aditya Roy Kapur.

The disco track “Badtameez Dil” that sees Kapoor grooving with pelvic thrusts has topped charts across the country and is already a hit among youngsters.

“In my case, I didn’t get to dance in the last two years… in ‘Rockstarr’ I was a singer, and in ‘Barfi!’ I was of course deaf and mute. So I completely went out and expressed my dancing in this film,” said Kapoor.

ians