Maine to host mustache film festival

 

Move over, Cannes. Maine will be playing host to its first-ever international mustache film festival, part of its annual pageant that celebrates the bristly facial hair.

 

The festival set for March 30 in Portland will feature short films with storylines that involve mustaches or a main character who wears a mustache, said Nick Callanan, head of No Umbrella Media, a video production company organizing the event.

 

The idea for the mustache film festival, believed to be the first of its kind, grew out of an annual mustache pageant held locally to benefit arts and cancer research organizations, he said.

 

This year s 2012 Stache Pag will feature contestants wearing all manner of mustaches, from handlebars to horseshoes, Callanan said. There are also the walrus and Fu Manchu styles, he said.

 

“It s just about men expressing themselves,” he said.

 

To be considered for the festival, films must be eight minutes or less and have a mustache theme or a main character with a mustache. Callanan said he has received submissions from as far away as Norway.

 

The films will be screened ahead of the pageant, which has been held annually for five years at bars, bowling alleys and elsewhere, he said.

 

What began as a gathering of friends mushroomed into an event that attracted some 450 people last year, he said.
The pageant includes categories for various types of mustaches, including the “Magnum, P.I.,” named after the amply mustachioed television character played by actor Tom Selleck.

 

Popular Hollywood movies that would be considered “mustache films” might include “Smoky and the Bandit,” starring Burt Reynolds with a thick mustache, “Tombstone” with Val Kilmer or films featuring action star Chuck Norris.

 

Proceeds from the film festival will be donated to Northeast Historic Film, a film preservation organization, and those from the pageant will be given to an arts support organization called MENSK and a cancer research fundraising group called My Stache Fights Cancer.
 

President stresses more collaboration with China

 

Presnt Asif Ali Zardari has stressed the need for Pakistan and China to deal with the world economy together and act in accordance with the new global demands.

 

In an interview with China’s Peoples Daily Online, the President said as the world is settling in new situation, Pakistan and China need to find new comfort zone for further collaboration in all dimensions.

 

President Zardari termed growth of China as emergence of a new Japan, the largest economy in the world and added that all friends of China would be part of that rise.

 

Zardari said Pakistan established diplomatic relations with China at a time when the latter was not open in relations with the outside world.

 

Referring to the Karakorum Highway damaged by the floods, President Zardari said Pakistan and China were working on enhancing the road and railway connectivity.

 

He said the governments of both countries had the determination of increasing their bilateral trade by more than 10 billion US dollars.

 

President Zardari also extended new year greetings to China on start of its lunar year of Dragon.

 

Sanjay Dutt goes to Rishi Kapoors house for impromptu party

They play antagonistic villains in Agneepath. But in real life, Sanjay Dutt and Rishi Kapoor have discovered a new warmth and friendship that goes beyond the success of a collaborative film.

Sanjay Dutt’s fondness for Ranbir Kapoor is commonly known in the film industry. In fact as this is being written, at least three major filmmakers have been given the responsibility to devise a Dutt-Ranbir project to be produced by Sanjay Dutt Productions.

But Ranbir’s dad Rishi Kapoor and Dutt were until recently, at the most polite acquaintances. In fact the last film they had done together was Sahibaan 18 years ago. Now while working together in Agneepath, the two actors seem to have discovered a mutual fund of fondness.

Just how much the emotional Dutt appreciates his new friendship was evident when on Saturday night he simply walked into Rishi and Neetu Kapoor’s Pali Hill residence with his wife Maanyata and a bottle of wine for a celebration of their mutual success in Agneepath.

The on-the-spot party went on till the wee hours of Sunday morning with some of Rishi’s close friends joining in. At some point during the evening Ranbir also joined his Dad and mentor Dutt, though we hear, he desisted from drinking in front of the seniors.

The Dutts left only after extending an invitation to the Kapoors to join the Dutts at their party on Sunday evening.

Says a source, “Sanjay, Rishi and their two wives had themselves a ball on Saturday night at the Kapoors’ residence. Though Rishi likes to get to sleep by 10.30-11 pm, he was up with the Dutts till almost morning. Though Rishi and Sanjay both play arch-villains in Agneepath there is no sense of competition between them. They are baddies who are buddies.”

When we contacted Rishi to confirm the impromptu party, he said, “On Saturday night Dalip Tahil who loved me in Agneepath came home. A few of my friends were already here. And lo and behold! In walks Sanju and Maanyata for an impromptu celebration. It was very sweet of him. We were two villains rejoicing our villainy together.”

Incidentally, Saturday night also saw Hrithik Roshan hosting a party to celebrate the success of Agneepath.

Fear fuels refugees Australia dreams

Now he dreams of a better future in Australia under a controversial refugee swap deal.

If that doesn t happen, he says, he is willing to risk death to sneak into Australia by boat.

Akhbar, 35, is among thousands of migrants here hoping they will be part of a scheme that would see Australia send 800 illegally arrived boatpeople to Malaysia in exchange for 4,000 registered refugees.

The plan was put on hold by the High Court in Canberra after human rights groups protested. But Akhbar, who is a registered refugee, is determined to make it to a developed country like Australia even if it means entering illegally via a dangerous sea voyage.

“If we die, no problem. If we arrive in Australia, it s so good. No more torture,” he said, referring to the precariousness of living illegally in exile.

Akhbar s dreams underline the desperation that motivates refugees from countries like Afghanistan, Iraq and Myanmar to attempt perilous journeys and live like fugitives in the distant hope of making it to Australia.

Speaking in the two-bedroom flat he shares with seven relatives in Malaysia s bustling capital Kuala Lumpur, Akhbar — who asked that a pseudonym be used because he feared discovery by authorities — said his family s difficult journey began four years ago.

Farmers from the Hazara minority, they fled their central Afghan town to escape harassment by armed nomads of the Pashtun majority who would graze their livestock in Akbhar s fields of wheat and vegetables.

“Every year when the land is growing, they bring their animals… They eat everything, then we have nothing,” said Akhbar, seated on a colourful Persian carpet.

“If we stay there, maybe we will be killed today or tomorrow,” he said, adding that many of his friends had died at the hands of brigands.

With the hired help of human-smugglers, he and his family snuck across the border to Pakistan and then Iran.

A friend there told them of work opportunities in fellow Muslim country Malaysia, which at the time offered a visa exemption — later scrapped due to abuse — to Afghans and other Asian tourists.

The family, including his parents, wife and daughter, soon arrived in Malaysia, after spending more than $6,500 — the bulk of the family savings — on smugglers and air tickets.

But to Akhbar, the odyssey is unfinished.

They were registered as bona fide refugees by a UN agency in Kuala Lumpur, but that is unrecognised by Malaysia, leaving them vulnerable to harassment and deprived of access to legal employment, education and health care.

Several jobs later, Akhbar now works illegally 12 hours a day as a chef s assistant in an Iranian restaurant, earning 1,200 ringgit ($400) per month, half of which is spent on rent. He has about two days off per month.

He and his brother were once detained for 17 days after they were caught working in a shop. His wife and two-year-old daughter rarely leave the flat, fearing harassment from authorities and thugs.

Malaysia has an estimated two million illegal migrants from around Asia. More than 94,000 are considered refugees — mostly from Myanmar — including about 500 Afghans.

Many of the Afghans spent years in exile in Iran before coming to Malaysia.

They suffer from a lack of support networks, said Sharuna Verghis of Health Equity Initiatives, which counsels refugees with mental health problems.

“It s generations being born and growing in exile without a legal identity… You can t live a whole life like that without identity, without meaning, without purpose,” she said.

“The sense of hopelessness is so deep and so pervasive.”

Activists in Australia and Malaysia have heavily criticised the swap agreement, citing Malaysia s track record of detaining refugees.

Under the deal, those transferred to Malaysia cannot be detained. The UN refugee agency will assess their situations and they will receive help with finding housing and other basic needs.

Those not deemed to be fleeing persecution face deportation.

Australian and Malaysian officials say the plan will deter boatpeople — but they have continued to arrive.

Akhbar knows many who have attempted the voyage to Australia, exasperated by a resettlement wait which can take years. Last year, just 8,000 of Malaysia s registered refugees were resettled elsewhere.

Some of Akhbar s acquaintances obtained asylum, but others — including several families — never made it as their rickety boats sank.

Akhbar stands ready to take that risk if his family is not resettled and if they can scrape up enough money for the illicit passage.

“I wish to go to a place with respect for humans. Then I will be there forever,” he said.

Prince Harry wants to visit space

Harry, 26, is “obsessed with space”, said his friends. They say he has asked Sir Richard Branson s son Sam for a seat on one of the first Virgin Galactic sub-orbital flights.

According to Britain’ media, Harry has already completed his studies of Land and Sea Surveillance and Oceanology-part of astro training – and can t wait to get into one of Nasa s T38 training jets.

The prince also harbours ambitions of joining the NASA space program when he returns from Afghanistan next year and needs 1000 hours of advanced jet engine flight time to be considered.

“It s his dream to be the first Royal in space,” a royal source said.

Ekta Kapoor will be hosting Threesome Party to promote Ragini MMS

Ekta Kapoor has undergone a complete transformation of personality. From her hair and clothes which have gone from casual and functional to ultra-chic and eye-catching, to her movies which unlike her domesticated soap operas on TV are now sharp, smart and sexy. Yup, the movies she makes also reflect her changed personality.

And now Ekta’s parties are also getting wilder by the month. When one heard that she was hosting a theme party where all the invitees have to come as a threesome instead of a conventional pair, the immediate reaction to the orgiastic concept was disbelief. Yup, the Balaji tycoon sure has come of age!

According to whispers around Balaji Films, Ekta plans to host a Three-Is-Cool party on May 7 where she will invite all her friends from the film and television industry to come as a threesome.

But the real excitement would come from Ekta’s actors and actresses from the film industry. Some of the Balaji leading men are so spoilt for choices that they are already calling up Ekta’s office asking if they could bring 4 and 5 girls instead of 2. The invitees also want to know how adventurous the party is going get after getting so innovative about the invites.

When contacted Ekta is at her naughtiest best. “No no no. They can’t come with four or five chicks. It’s got to be threesomes. The party is a Threesome Party. My film Ragini MMS has a catch line saying, ‘They didn’t know it but it was a threesome’. So I decided what the heck! Twosomes at parties are so boring. It’s time to move on to more exciting permutations. Hence the threesome theme.”

Significantly, the Threesome Party won’t be held at Ekta’s place where she hosts most of her parties.

Says Ekta with a wicked chuckle, “Noooo, not my place. This party cannot be accommodated there. We’re doing it in a sexy lounge with dimmed lights, loud music and loads and loads of fun.”

So how naughty is the party going to get?

Ekta sighs, “It gets as naughty as the guests want it to be. I am hosting an innocent party for threesome instead of the customary couples. Once the heat is on and the fun begins, who knows which way the mood would swing?”

Ekta herself is yet to select her two companions for the threesome party. “There are so many possibilities. I’m still trying to figure it out.”

Priyanka Chopra begins shooting for Anurag Basu’s Barfi

If anyone thought they could catch Priyanka Chopra playing a mentally challenged girl in Anurag Basu’s Barfi, they are in for a disappointment. Priyanka is much too nervous to perform in front of onlookers. She has made it clear she needs optimum privacy for this part. For an actress who has braved through the toughest sequences of love-making and violence in Saat Khoon Maaf in the presence of a full crew, this need for seclusion is a startling departure from the norm.

But this is no ordinary role of a mentally challenged girl. Priyanka took extra time to prepare. Those close to her say she has been withdrawn tense and edgy for the last two weeks.

Says Priyanka’s business manager, “She has been tense lately. She has not been going out or entertaining friends.”

The pall of silence apparently fell on Priyanka after she began meeting people suffering from the mental condition that her character in Barfi suffers from. Says a source from the team, “It freaked Priyanka out. She simply stopped meeting her friends. She first had to digest the enormity of the mental condition and then understand how to project it without seeming to act.”

Most of her recent roles have required Priyanka to get into an aggressively performing mould for the camera. For Barfi she needs to go the other way. Says the source from Burfi, “She needs to look like she is not acting. That is the brief from Anurag Basu.”

No one will be allowed on the set when Priyanka Chopra starts shooting for Barfi in Mumbai. Only the skeletal crew will be present when she does her first scene with Ranbir for Barfi.

Known to play audacious never-done-before characters, Priyanka Chopra suddenly got cold feet about her role of a physically challenged woman in Barfi.

For the first time in her career Priyanka has cancelled shooting to give herself more time to prepare for the very complicated part. The shooting was to commence on March 11 but then got pushed to March 24.

Says a source, “No one except leading man Ranbir Kapoor, director Anurag Basu and the cameraman will be allowed to be around when Priyanka begins shooting on Thursday.

Says a source close to Barfi, “It’s very strange. But the first stint of Priyanka’s two new films Agneepath and now Barfi both got cancelled. In the case of Barfi, she personally asked director Anurag Basu to postpone the shooting. She was that nervous about it. She has never been this way about any of her roles before.”

Apparently, the shooting was to begin with a very complex sequence for Priyanka on March 11.

Priyanka just didn’t feel she was prepared for the part.

Says a source, “Priyanka just didn’t want to play the mentally challenged girl by using the normal tools of self-expression. As Anurag has written the part, the girl Priyanka plays suffers from a very subtle psychological disorder. It took Priyanka some time to understand her character’s mental disability. She needed more time to get into character. She asked for the shooting to be postponed.”

According to sources she still doesn’t feel she’s ready. But Barfi can’t wait any more.

After the first day’s shooting, Siddharth Roy Kapoor of UTV, who is producing the film exulted, “It was great, super-charged atmosphere. Both Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra were really enthusiastic. And Anurag Basu was happy to be back shooting. We all think we’re on to something special.”

A Minute With Bette Midler on New Year TV special

NEW YORK: She has received four Grammys, four Golden Globes, three Emmys, and a Tony Award, and even after selling more than 30 million records, singer Bette Midler is still going strong.

For over 40 years, Midler has delighted audiences with her bawdy live performances, and on Dec. 31, Midler will be ringing in the New Year on cable TV channel HBO with her special, “The Showgirl Must Go On,” which is the live stage show she has been performing in recent years at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

The special was taped in front of a packed house at Caesars. Midler, known as “The Divine Miss M,” dons elaborate costumes and sings some of her best-known hits including “Wind Beneath My Wings” and “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” with her back-up singers, The Harlettes, and a 13-piece band.

Midler asked about the TV special, why being environmentally green is common sense and her love of books.

Q: How did you get in such great shape for the show?
A: “A year before we even started rehearsals, I started doing my warm-ups, getting on the treadmill again and lifting weights. It”s fascinating to get on stage and run for an hour and a half, wringing wet at the end. And I loved every minute of it.”

Q: You”ve had such a long and successful career. What do you think is the key to your success?
A: “I don”t do everything that comes my way and I tend to do things in spurts. I”ll be really busy and then just collapse, take a break for a year or two and then come roaring back. I”m not sure if that”s how you achieve longevity, but I tend to sift through things and make sure they are things I really want to do.”

Q: You did over 200 performances of your Las Vegas show. How do you keep a song fresh that”s done night after night?
A: It”s not so easy, but the crowds are different every night and every crowd becomes a beast of its own — this huge monster that has to be wrangled and corralled. And you have to stay in tune with them. There”s an ebb and flow between the crowd and the entertainer that really keeps you on your toes, and this changes with every performance. I think that”s what keeps a song fresh.

Q: Are you working on any new projects?
A: No, this is one of the down times. Just looking around to see what”s out there. It”s a different world now, with the Internet, iTunes, YouTube, Twitter — all this stuff which is so different from what I do and I really don”t know where I fit in it. I feel if you can entertain a group of people live, you”re really going to be okay, and I”ve always been able to do that.

But I”m curious to see where I fit in in this new world, so I”m exploring my options.

Q: What”s on your iPod?
A: I just love Teddy Pendergrass. I”ve always been a big fan. Also, Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes, “The Sound of Philadelphia” and Harry Nielson, “A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night,” which is one of the most beautiful records ever made. And I listen to The Stones.

Q: You”ve been a pioneer in the now popular green movement, founding the nonprofit New York Restoration Project (www.nyrp.org). Why are you so passionate about it?
A: I feel our city has the right to be a beautiful, clean and green city. When I came back to New York City from California in 1995, I felt the city wasn”t living up to its potential. So I started the New York Restoration Project with my own funds, surrounded myself with very good people and staff and we”ve been going strong for 15 years. We”ve been very lucky.

We”ve had a tremendous outpouring of support from New Yorkers of all stripes, all colors and all ages.

Of all the things I”ve done, I have to say I”m proudest of the fact that we”ve raised awareness of people that live in the city. Mostly what I am doing is common sense. All green thought is based on common sense. If you want to survive then you have to make sure that the planet in which you live is healthy.

Q: If you weren”t an actor, singer you”d be
A: I think would probably own a bookstore. I really love books. They”ve been my friends my whole life. To be surrounded by wonderful books is a real treat every day.

Esha Deol learns direction and editing on sets of Tell Me Oh Khuda

By the end of her re-launch film Tell Me Oh Khuda, Esha Deol is a skilled film technician. Says Esha, “Throughout the making of Tell Me Oh Khuda, I was learning on the job. Today I am ready to direct. But I first need to build my position as an actress.”
Says Esha, “I’ve learnt plenty on the technical side of filmmaking during Tell Me Of Khuda. But it’s a bit early for me to change lanes.”
Esha who become a bit of recluse, is ready to strike back. Her home production Tell Me Oh Khuda is being put together by Esha’s mom Hema Malini and Esha frame by frame to make sure the re-launch is just right.
While Hema confirms that Esha is indeed sitting on the film’s editing, Esha admits, “I’m helping mom out. Yeah I am sitting on the editing. Throughout Tell Me Oh Khuda, I was an assistant. I’ve learnt so much from behind the camera. Now I’m learning how to edit. So this film has been a perfect training ground for me.”
Esha doesn’t rule out the possibility of direction.
One advantage of a home production is, you can learn on the job. Esha Deol is not just the leading lady of her mother Hema Malini’s production Tell Me Oh Khuda, she’s also the assistant director and her mother’s chief technical advisor.
“I know I can direct a film anytime,” says Esha who celebrated her birthday in November with a theme party.
Says Esha, “Everyone was supposed to dress up in the 1980s style. It was great fun. Usually I am not the party-party kind. But for the last year because of my involvement with our home production, I’ve been so cut off from all my friends I just decided to re-connect with them for my birthday.”

Esha Deol learns direction and editing on sets of Tell Me Oh Khuda

By the end of her re-launch film Tell Me Oh Khuda, Esha Deol is a skilled film technician. Says Esha, “Throughout the making of Tell Me Oh Khuda, I was learning on the job. Today I am ready to direct. But I first need to build my position as an actress.”
Says Esha, “I’ve learnt plenty on the technical side of filmmaking during Tell Me Of Khuda. But it’s a bit early for me to change lanes.”
Esha who become a bit of recluse, is ready to strike back. Her home production Tell Me Oh Khuda is being put together by Esha’s mom Hema Malini and Esha frame by frame to make sure the re-launch is just right.
While Hema confirms that Esha is indeed sitting on the film’s editing, Esha admits, “I’m helping mom out. Yeah I am sitting on the editing. Throughout Tell Me Oh Khuda, I was an assistant. I’ve learnt so much from behind the camera. Now I’m learning how to edit. So this film has been a perfect training ground for me.”
Esha doesn’t rule out the possibility of direction.
One advantage of a home production is, you can learn on the job. Esha Deol is not just the leading lady of her mother Hema Malini’s production Tell Me Oh Khuda, she’s also the assistant director and her mother’s chief technical advisor.
“I know I can direct a film anytime,” says Esha who celebrated her birthday in November with a theme party.
Says Esha, “Everyone was supposed to dress up in the 1980s style. It was great fun. Usually I am not the party-party kind. But for the last year because of my involvement with our home production, I’ve been so cut off from all my friends I just decided to re-connect with them for my birthday.”

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