Kangna all set to break free post Rascals?

Kangna may well be counting days till the release of Rascals post which she would be glad to break free. The Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgn starrer hasn’t really left a good taste in her mouth

and with the makers clearly putting the film’s (distant) second lead Lisa Haydon much ahead of her; picture is quite clear on the wall. However, the end is

not as near as it seems. Reason being that Kangna still has one more film with Ajay Devgn – Tezz – up for release and there is still a sword hanging

on her neck, what with Sameera Reddy as another leading lady in the film, ready to hog all the limelight.

“Kangna has been quiet through all this mayhem and that has been with a reason. However, she would be on her toes when it comes to Tezz. No one can be

sure of how this Priyadarshan directed film works for her. Perhaps everyone would get an answer depending upon how she is treated in Rascals once the

film releases this weekend”, says a source who has been closely following Kangna’s career journey during last few months.

Though Ajay Devgn is hardly known for playing games when it comes to his films, one suspects if there would be other influences that may could be creating a

sense of apprehension for Kangna. In any case, she has competition in the form of Sameera Reddy who has worked with Priyadarshan before as a female lead in

De Dana Dana and an item girl in Aakrosh.

“Anything is possible”, the source continues, “Look at Lisa, she was a nobody when signed for Rascals and today she is almost being projected as the main

female lead. On the other hand, even though Kangna is a much bigger name and was signed for this very reason in Tezz, Sameera’s promotion for the film

has been on full swing for so many months. Makers have a ready female protagonist up there to be promoted as a main lead if the need arises. Obviously Kangna

can’t take it easy.”

For a multi starrer action thriller which in any case is testosterone driven with Anil Kapoor, Ajay Devgn and Zayed Khan arriving with a mighty punch,

Mohanlal along with Boman Irani expected to add on to the drama and Sameera Reddy turning a biker girl with quite a fare dare devil stunts to her name, one

just hopes that Kangna’s worst fears don’t really come true.

Once a hot favourite with Sanjay and Ajay, Kangna could well be looking forward to her newer bunch of films like Miley Naa Miley Hum, Dedh Ishqiya and

Tanu Weds Manu Season 2. And then there is Sunny Deol starrer I Love New Year that should be released soon and may just about begin a New Year,

professionally at least, for Kangna.

‘Dabangg’ wins four awards at ‘Bollywood Oscars’

TORONTO: Screen tough guy Salman Khan’s corrupt cop romp “Dabangg” (Fearless) led with four wins at the Indian International Film Academy awards, held on Saturday for the first time in North America.

The film won in the hugely important music categories for best female playback singer, best male playback singer and best music direction, as well as best screenplay.

“My Name is Khan,” starring Shah Rukh Khan as a Muslim suffering from Asperger’s syndrome who is detained at a US airport after his disability is mistaken for suspicious behaviour, followed with two nods for best story and best lyrics.

The award for best dialogue went to the thriller “Ishqiya.”

Shah Rukh Khan, Anil Kapoor (“Slumdog Millionaire”) and the Deol family were among the dozens of Bollywood superstars in attendance, along with Oscar-winners Hilary Swank and Cuba Gooding Jr.

Salman Khan, however, could not make it to Toronto as he was reportedly shooting his next film “Bodyguard,” a romantic action movie with Kareena Kapoor.

“I love you so much,” said Mamta Sharma over and over, after winning the award for best female playback singer for the song “Munni Badnam.”

A tense moment followed when a fan grabbed Shah Rukh Khan onstage, leading the “King of Bollywood” to complain that he was hurting his leg.

“This is the problem, only men grab my thighs,” Khan quipped as his assailant was escorted off stage.

Khan’s return to the awards show after a six year absence had earlier been put in doubt by a knee injury that had required “a couple of injections” and it being taped up at a hospital.

He said he had fractured a part of the bone and the ligament was swollen “to three times the size it should be,” but he vowed to perform a dance number at the IIFA show.

Khan last attended the IIFA in Amsterdam in 2005, and last performed at the show a year earlier in Singapore. He was nominated this year in the best actor category for his role in “My Name Is Khan.”

A three-day festival leading up to awards night saw flash mobs of Indian dancers, gala movie premieres, a fashion show and Indian cultural events.

Jermaine Jackson performed his late brother Michael’s hits with Indian pop singer Sonu Nigam at an IIFA concert on Friday to commemorate the second anniversary of Michael’s death.

Ontario has the second-largest Indian diaspora in the world, topping 600,000 out of a total population of 13 million, “and their passion for Indian cinema has become ours (all Ontarians) too,” said Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty.

Launched in 2000 at the Millennium Dome in London, the annual IIFA awards have been held in 11 cities around the world, including Colombo, Macao, Bangkok, Dubai, Amsterdam and Johannesburg.

It is designed to celebrate the popular Hindi-language film industry and win new audiences abroad.

Bollywood gangster movie “Once Upon a Time in Mumbai” had led the field in the nominations with 12 in categories including best film and best male lead for Ajay Devgan, one of Bollywood’s leading actors.

“Dabangg” was close behind with 11 nominations.

Other movies still in the running for a clutch of awards include the drama “Ishqiya” (Love) with nine nominations. Romantic comedy “Band Baaja Baaraat” (The Wedding Planners) and the thriller “Rajneeti” (Politics) both had eight.

The nominations came from more than 1,500 votes from the Indian film fraternity.

Rajeev Khandelwal and Soha starrer Soundtrack to release in August 2011

Saregama Films announces an August 2011 release for their new motion picture Soundtrack, the official remake of the award-winning, cult film It’s All Gone Pete Tong.

The film being directed by debutant Neerav Ghosh unites Rajeev Khandelwal and Soha Ali Khan for the first time, in what could be their most challenging roles ever.

The film also stars Mrinalini Sharma, Mohan Kapur, Yateen Karyekar, musicians Sidd Coutto, Ankur Tewari, and Anurag Kashyap in a very special role.

Soundtrack is an edgy, modern day portrayal spanning the life story of India’s most prolific musician and DJ. It traces his alcohol, drug and sex fueled meteoric rise, as he battles his internal demons and a damaging handicap.

The film has already begun production and has completed its Bangkok schedule in December 2010.

Music for the film is scored by the ‘Midival Punditz’ & Karsh Kale musicians with a global following and huge worldwide appeal. The album will also feature a track by Pappon.

Bobby Deol missing from Yamla Pagla Deewana promotions

2010 was not an easy year for Bobby Deol. And it looks like 2011 too will be specially taxing, what with the family film Yamla Pagla Deewana’s promotions clashing with the schedules of Anees Bazmee’s Thank You.

The Deol family, Dharmendra and his two sons Sunny and Bobby Deol had vowed to give all their time to the marketing and promotion of their family film Yamla Pagla Deewana. Alas, the Deols proposed. But Anees Bazmee disposed.

Earlier this week Dharmendra and Sunny Deol had to go without Bobby for a promotional tour to Nagpur. Bobby was dragged away to Bangkok for the shooting of Bazmee’s Thank You.

But the schedule of Bazmee’s Thank You couldn’t be put off.

Says a source, “Anees’ schedule for Thank You had already been disrupted twice. Once because of Bobby’s father-in-law’s death, they had to abruptly end a schedule in Canada. Then during another schedule Sonam fell ill. There was no way Anees could postpone the schedule any more. He has to complete another schedule of his other film Ready with Salman in March.”

Emotional to the core, Dharmendra and Sunny Deol are apparently hurt by Bobby’s absence from what is being seen as a family affair.

Yamla Pagla Deewana director Samir Karnik confirms, “Yes Bobby couldn’t be here for the promotion of this week. Dharamji and Sunny had to go to Nagpur without him. Bobby had to be in Bangkok for Thank You. Parivar kuch adhura lag raha tha. But never mind. Bobby has other commitments.”

Hope the Deols would also come around to feeling the same way.

“Hangover 2″ crash lands stuntman in Thai hospital

We’re not going so far as to say the “Hangover 2” production is cursed – it’s certainly no “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” — but the sequel has had a fair share of problems since getting underway.

The latest involves stuntman Scott McLean, who currently is in a Thai hospital recovering from serious injuries after a high-speed stunt on the film’s set went wrong, according to the Daily Telegraph. Pop Eater goes one step further, reporting that McLean is “in a coma.”

The Telegraph reports that two cars “travelling at high speed crashed into each other in Bangkok as part of the stunt.”

“Hangover 2” made headlines earlier this year when Mel Gibson was tapped by director Todd Phillips to play a tattoo artist in a cameo, but an uproar from the cast and crew reportedly led to Gibson’s dismissal. He was replaced by Liam Neeson.

The “Hangover” sequel will continue filming. It is working toward a May 26, 2011 release date.

Thai PM Abhisit Faces Court

BANGKOK: Thailand’s prime minister is due in court on Monday as his party tries to fend off a possible ban that threatens to further shake the kingdom’s fractured political landscape.

Abhisit Vejjajiva, alongside other executives, faces a five-year ban from politics and the ruling Democrat Party could be dissolved if it is found guilty of corruption by the Constitutional Court.

The premier is set to be a witness for the defence in what could be the final hearing before judges rule on the case, which centres on claims of misuse of a 29-million-baht (900,000-dollar) state grant in 2005.

“We are satisfied with the facts we have presented to the court and confident our party has done nothing wrong,” Democrat lawyer Virat Kalayasiri said.

The party faces accusations that it paid 23 million baht to advertising firms, despite only having permission to spend 19 million on billboard marketing.

Thailand’s Election Commission (EC) in April called for the party to be abolished over the claims as well as a separate case alleging an undeclared political donation.

Abhisit on Sunday rejected accusations that a member of his party had attempted to influence the court’s decision.

“It is not necessary to do that. The Constitutional Court should be independent and we do not want to see any lobbying,” he said on his weekly television show.

The Prime Minister added that the court is likely to reach a verdict next month.

Judicial rulings have played a pivotal role in shaping the kingdom’s politics in the past.

The Democrats, Thailand’s oldest party, came to power two years ago after controversial court decisions ousted allies of fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was dislodged in a 2006 military coup.

Two premiers were deposed from office by the judiciary in 2008 — one of whom, Samak Sundaravej, was removed for taking payments for hosting TV cooking shows.

Uncertainty over the government comes at a difficult stage for the deeply divided country.

April’s EC intervention coincided with a tense standoff between troops and “Red Shirts”, which descended into violence that left over 90 people dead and almost 1,900 injured during two months of unrest.

Experts question whether powers thought to support Abhisit’s ruling coalition — including the military and Yellow Shirt movement, representing the Bangkok elite in palace circles — would allow the Democrats to be toppled.

Author and former Thai diplomat Pavin Chachavalpongpun said he does not believe the party will be disbanded.

“What is the point of staging a military coup in the first place when they know the party they rely on will have to be dissolved?” he said.

However, he said one potential motive would be as a gesture to the Red Shirts to rebuff allegations of double standards in the legal system.

Pavin said “even then, they will have a plan B”, with rumours that a new party would swiftly rise from the ashes of the old.

“They will still carry on the mission of maintaining the status quo but that is a deeper, more complicated game. I still don’t believe that the Democrat party will be dissolved,” he said.

Michael Montesano, of the Institute of South East Asia Studies in Singapore, said: “It is possible that there will be dissolution of the Democrat Party and it could happen for one of several reasons.”

He said it could be that the Yellows “decided that the Democrats and Abhisit had outlived their usefulness”, or the judge makes the decision on the basis of the law. Another reason would be as a concession to reconciliation efforts.

Montesano said it appears a new party — “Democrat in all but name” — would try to boost its electoral chances ahead of next year’s poll.

But Montesano said those involved still had not managed to reach out to the rural poor and working class.

“There is every indication that the Democrats and their allies do not really know what to do in order to reshape the political landscape so that they can win the next election.” he said.

Thailand: Red shirts hold prison demonstration

Anti-government red-shirt activists gather outside a prison in Bangkok Tuesday to protest the detention of eleven of their leaders facing terrorism charges.
Officially called the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship, the red shirts movement is made up of mostly urban and rural working-class people. They believe the current government is illegitimate and that its royalist and military backers have undermined democracy. This red shirts leader expressed solidarity with the incarcerated leaders.
Red Shirts Leader from Northeastern Thailand, Vichien Sinthuprai said, I am here to represent our brothers in the northeastern provinces, and to convey their message of concern to our 11 leaders who are being detained here. We are still giving full support to our leaders and we are continuing our peaceful movement as we have been.
A paralysing 10-week red shirt protest from mid-March to May aimed to force an immediate election. That demand was not met and protests spiraled into bloody clashes with troops, leaving 91 people dead.
Last week, the Thai government extended a controversial security law, saying the country’s situation remains volatile. But the red-shirts activists have started gathering again despite the decree and some analysts believe anti-government sentiment could become even more entrenched as a result of the crackdowns.

Pentagon unhappy over leaked military documents

PENTAGON: U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates says he has asked the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or FBI, to assist in the probe into the leak and publication of classified military documents.

Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen spoke about the issue at a press conference at the Pentagon on Thursday, several days after the Internet website WikiLeaks posted tens of thousands of documents about the war in Afghanistan.

Defense Secretary Gates told reporters that problems highlighted in the leaked documents about the war in Afghanistan have been publicly known for some time.

But he did not downplay the possible damage caused by the release of what he called “a mountain of raw data and individual impressions” that is “devoid of context or analysis.”

“The battlefield consequences of the release of these documents are potentially severe and dangerous for our troops, our allies and Afghan partners, and may well damage our relationships and reputation in that key part of the world,” said Robert Gates.

Gates said intelligence sources and methods as well as military tactics will become known as a result of the leak.

Gates underscored that he believes the United States has a moral obligation to help Afghans whose security might have been jeopardized by the breach.

“That is one of the worst aspects of this, as far as I”m concerned,” he said. “Will people trust us? Will people whose lives are on the line trust us to keep their identities secret? Will other governments trust us to keep their documents and their intelligence secret?”

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen said he is appalled and outraged that the documents were leaked and published on the WikiLeaks website. He lashed out at WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange and anyone who provided that website with the classified information.

Taliban says Petraeus killing more civilians in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON: The Taliban has accused US General David Petraeus of killing more civilians and drawing more attacks on US and NATO troops since he took command in Afghanistan, the SITE monitoring group said Thursday.

Petraeus” “only accomplishment” since he took over US and NATO troop command three weeks ago, “is civilian casualties (mass murder), which has to be considered his new war strategy and tactics,” the Afghan Taliban said on its website, as quoted by SITE.

It claimed that “90 non-combatant defenseless civilians have been martyred in the US invaders” blind bombardments” across Afghanistan over the past two weeks, adding that such actions only “create growing resentment” by Afghans against foreign troops.

US forces have increased attacks with unmanned drone aircraft in Afghanistan since US President Barack Obama came to office a year and a half ago.

The Taliban also said attacks “of every type on US invading forces… have reached record levels since General Petraeus took charge.”

One hurt in Bangkok grenade blast: police

BANGKOK: A grenade exploded early Friday on a street in central Bangkok, leaving one person seriously hurt in the latest violence in the Thai capital, still recovering from deadly protests, officials said.

The grenade was put in a plastic rubbish bag and dropped in Rangnam road near a duty-free shopping centre, police said. The injured person was a Thai man in his 30s who was searching for scrap.

“It was a hand grenade… The pin was removed and a rubber band wrapped around it,” Police Major General Vichai Sangparpai told local television.

The unnamed victim was seriously hurt and still in hospital, according to Bangkok”s Erawan emergency centre.

“His condition is serious as he sustained wounds all over his body,” an Erawan official said.

The blast came less than a week after a small bomb exploded at a Bangkok bus stop, killing one person and injuring 10 in an attack that rekindled tensions in the capital two months after the end of bloody street protests.

No one has claimed responsibity for either blast.

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