Sonakshi is the chosen one for item number in Joker

Makers of Joker won’t have to look anymore for Katrina Kaif or other A-league actresses for performing an item number in Joker. They have found one pretty much in-house, what with Sonakshi Sinha herself stepping in for a slot that was available for grabs. This well-thought of decision was taken last week by Shirish Kunder and Farah Khan who felt that there was no harm in getting their own leading lady gyrate to the tune of this ‘desi’ number that is expected to spice up the narrative of this Akshay Kumar starrer.

“This item number was recorded many months back but the hunt was on for the item girl. Though there was no one in particular who was sent any feelers since there are still a few more days to go before the song goes on floors, Shirish started looking at Sonakshi as a big option that was available right in front of them”, says a source from the film.

For the uninitiated, a few months back there were also talks of Katrina Kaif and Salman Khan being approached for the song. Since Katrina owes her biggest chartbuster ever, ‘Sheila Ki Jawaani’ (Tees Maar Khan) to Farah and Salman too has worked with Shirish in Jaan-E-Mann (and also done an item number ‘Wallah Wallah’ in Tees Maar Khan), everyone felt that this would be a cakewalk. However, once Katrina denied doing any such song, the hunt intensified to look for another big name.

“Yeah, everyone felt that Sonakshi herself could be groomed for this item number”, the source continues, “She has anyways done quite well in another song from the film, ‘Dance Kar Le English Mein’, where she has gyrated to a ‘desi’ tune and impressed everyone with her moves. Shirish and Farah felt that it would be good to continue the momentum by making their leading lady do the quintessential item number as well.”

On contacted, Shirish did confirm that Sonakshi was doing the item number. However he denied that this was an after thought and instead stated that options were always open for the coveted slot. “No one else had been approached and in any case this song was always supposed to be shot in our later schedules. Sonakshi is the best fit for the song and we would be beginning the shoot soon”, says Shirish.

There are some who are surprised though. After all, it wasn’t too long ago when he had supposedly asked Sonakshi to reduce weight for her further scenes in the film. One wonders what led to a change in mind.

“What change of mind”, Shirish gets a tad irritated here, “We took Sonakshi in the film for what she is. She looks absolutely fine and there is no change needed in her. Whatever you heard are just rumours.”

When told that this decision seemed impromptu and just a measure to soothe Ms. Sinha who is pretty peeved with the suggestions, Shirish responded stating, “That’s rubbish. People should stop imagining.”

Akshay Kumar to be brand ambassador for Canada Tourism

We have all heard of celebrities endorsing products, while a few have also been known to endorse a certain state or country. Well adding to this list is none other than Akshay Kumar. Akshay will soon be formally announced as the brand ambassador of Canada by the Canada Tourism Commission in Delhi. The announcement is scheduled to happen next Friday.

What’s more the high commissioner of Canada in India, Stewart Beck, will preside over the function that is scheduled to be held in the Capital, while the actor is currently busy shooting his next film Joker, in Chandigarh.

Sonakshi Sinha signed up as brand ambassador for Dyna Soaps

She came, she saw, she ‘Khan-querred’. We are indeed talking about the one and only Gen-Next dynamite Sonakshi Sinha, the very PYT who was one of the vital names instrumental in making her debut film Dabangg a mega success.

And once you are a top-notch heroine, it’s not just the films, but also the ad world starts beckoning you. After having signed Joker, Shirish Kunder’s 3-D bonanza, Sonakshi is now all set to enter the ad world with a bang! The pretty actress has now been signed up as the brand ambassador for ‘Dyna Soaps’, so reports Bollywood Hungama’s most trusted sources. When we tried calling up the company officials, they confirmed the news, but denied to reveal any further details. Readers may recall that Katrina Kaif was the previous brand ambassador for the said brand of soap.

Do watch this space for more details.

Sonakshi Sinha signed for Race 2

Post the release of Dabangg, Sonakshi Sinha’s career seems to have sky-rocketed. First the good looking actress bagged Joker opposite Akshay Kumar and now Sonakshi has been also finalised for Race 2.

Race 2, directed by Abbas-Mustan and produced by Ramesh Taurani (Tips), stars big names such as Anil Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan, John Abraham and Deepika Padukone. With Sonakshi joining the cast of Race 2, things only get bigger and better.

Confirming the same, producer Ramesh Taurani says, “Yes we have finalised Sonakshi along with Deepika for the female lead and are now on the look out for one more actress to play the role of the female character.”

The film goes on floors next year.

"Joker will be India’s first Bollywood film in full 3D" – Shirish Kunder

Joker has been Shirish Kunder’s dream project and he makes no qualms in stating that. Not just that, the director is now working on making his project larger than life? A lot has been said and talked about in the media with rumours rife with talks about how Shirish has kept postponing the film for the right time. Bollywood Hungama caught up with the man who is by all means excited with his upcoming release Tees Maar Khan and his big dream project – Joker.

Talking about the film, Shirish says, “By now I guess its common knowledge that Joker has been my dream project, but the media and people keep saying that it’s a superhero film, however its not. In fact though it was earlier designed and scripted to be a superhero film I have changed it and reworked the entire story of the film. The new Joker, since I had the rights to the name, will be like any other commercial Bollywood pot boiler, but one thing for sure is that Joker will differ in terms of its innovation, unlike anything what we have seen till date.”

The biggest news of the hour is that Kunder plans to make Joker as a 3D film. Shirish reaons, “Coming to the whole 3D aspect of the film, if we look back it was always there, but seldom used for the sole reason that we didn’t have the right technology to screen and view the film. Simply put with the advancements today with LED 3D television, it becomes more effective and sensible to make a film in 3D.”

So does Shirish plan to go the James Cameron way for Joker? Shirish replies, “See Avatar was made on a whole new generation of camera techniques that captured live animation; however there was a major part of the film that was computer generated. Joker, on the other hand, will have hardly any computer generated graphics, so using the camera James Cameron developed will not be a suitable option. For my film, we will use the available stereoscopic camera since with that we can shoot the entire project in 3D, like shooting a normal film.”

Joker will be the first ever Indian 3D film that will feature a Bollywood superstar. So how did Shirish manage to get Akshay on board? “Initially, when I approached Akshay about the film and told him that I was planning it in 3D, he was a bit sceptical about it, but later that changed. The reason behind this change of mind was when I showed him a poster I had developed at home of Joker which was in full 3D. Akshay saw the poster with the 3D glasses and that was the turning point, he became a believer that we could actually pull off the entire film in 3D.”

Shirish jokes that he asked Farah to keep her hands off Joker. “For Tees Maar Khan, I showed Farah the script to read but she liked it so much that she hijacked the entire project. However, for Joker she knows how eagerly I have been wanting to make it so when I showed her the new script, she only got to read it and gave me some feedback.”

Coming to the music of the film Shirish says, “It will be a mix of various music directors, and yes since I have also started composing I will also pitch in with a few tracks.”

Talking about the technical side of things, Shirish states that he will be opting for Indian talent rather than getting western technicians for Joker. “We will be using most of our Indian technicians for the job. Now you may ask why, well it’s simply because we have a lot of talent here. With Joker, we will be pushing the limits in terms of talent. So, we are hoping to quite literally make a never seen before Bollywood film with Joker, making it Indian’s first Bollywood film in full 3D.”

Now comes the big question that has been doing rounds of the media for months now. Which actress will star opposite Akshay in Joker? Shirish reveals that he has locked on the actress but refuses to reveal the names at this stage. “Yes, we have already finalized the leading actress in the film; apart from that we also have an ensemble cast that will be announced. However, I would prefer not to talk about it as I don’t feel that I could announce it alone. Akshay and I will be making a formal announcement of the same in a few days.”

Joker goes on floors in January 2011 and will be shot mainly in India.

Suriya learns circus tricks for his next titled The Seventh Sense

Tamil superstar Suriya could teach his Bollywood counterparts a thing or two about method acting. For a role that is a homage to Raj Kapoor in Mera Naam Joker, not only has the young actor spent a major part of this year preparing for his role as a circus artiste, but Suriya now intends to put up a public show of his newly-acquired skills to prove they are authentic.

For his Hindi-Tamil-Telugu tri-lingual film The Seventh Sense in which he plays a circus artiste, Suriya has been practising every conceivable circus stunt. He can now walk the trapeze, blow fire out of his mouth and juggle with six balls. In fact the ball-jugglery has been the favourite part of Suriya’s preparation for his role and he just can’t get enough of it.

Now to prove to his audience that the circus feats they will see him perform on the film are not doctored Suriya will go public with his skills. The film’s director Murugadoss who’s currently shooting with Suriya at a live circus on Coimbatore confirms the actor’s plans to hold a public performance of his skill.

Says the director who last worked with another method actor called Aamir Khan in Ghajini, “For the last six months Suriya has been trained by a circus veteran who came home to Suriya every day for a couple of hours of practice. Secretly, Suriya has been learning all the ropes of being a complete circus artiste. His character is not supposed to specialize in one skill alone. Suriya had to learn everything that a circus artiste does. He specially loves the ball juggling. He has mastered juggling six balls simultaneously. He loves performing for his kids and friends.”

Suriya’s mastery over the art of jugglery and other circus stunts will now be on public display. Says Murugadoss, “Suriya will perform all his circus tricks live on stage at the music-release function for our film. He doesn’t want his fans to think that the stunts they’d see him do in the film are special- effects. He has worked hard to learn the tricks and he wants the audience to appreciate it.”

Not only this. In Coimbatore during the current shooting at a real circus, Suriya spent non-shooting hours entertaining the circus artistes with his tricks.

Says Murugadoss, “Suriya is good enough to impress actual circus artistes who have spent all their life mastering the tricks.”

Adds the director, “It’s been decades since any film set in a circus was made. I can only think of Raj Kapoor Saab’s Mera Naam Joker and Kamal Haasan Sir’s Appu Raja. Suriya pays homage to both the actors. His commitment to the project is so complete, he not only looks his part, he feels as though he’s part of a circus.”

Having worked with two method actors, one wonders how Murugadoss would feel working with the spontaneous one-take Akshay Kumar next!

Adds Suriya, “I actually went and stayed with a circus, the Great Bombay Circus. Do you know there are only 7-8 circus companies remaining in the country? It’s frightening how popular entertainment like television has ousted its traditional counterpart. I loved learning circus tricks specially jugglery. I don’t want people to think it is special effects.”

Arkham Has Moved

Arkham Has Moved: Arkham Asylum rejoice as a sequel to Batman: Arkham Asylum has been announced. This was announced at the 2009 Spike Video Game Awards. No further information has been released, other then a trailer showing a sickly Joker terrorizing Gotham.

Batman: Arkham Asylum is an action-adventure stealth video game based on DC Comics’ Batman for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows. It was developed by Rocksteady Studios and published by Eidos Interactive in conjunction with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment andDC Comics.

Wiki reports that The game received extremely high praise from critics, earning a 92% average on GameRankings, a game aggregator. This also earned it a spot in the Guinness World Records for “Most Critically Acclaimed Superhero Game”. Sales were also high, selling over 2 million copies within its first two weeks of its console release.

---

Arkham Has Moved was first posted on December 13, 2009 at 9:19 am.

Dilshan Tillkaratne Set For Kiwis Series

GALLE: Tillakaratne Dilshan will add another feather to his all-rounder’s cap when he opens the batting for Sri Lanka in the first Test against New Zealand here from Tuesday.
WATCH LIVE CRICKET MATCH
Dilshan agreed to open to lend balance to the team despite playing all his 55 Tests so far in the middle-order where he has scored 3,166 runs at an average of 41.11 with eight centuries.

“Dilshan is the sort of bloke who would willingly do any job for the team,” Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara said ahead of the Test at the Galle International Stadium.

“He had himself made the suggestion after opening the batting in the World Twenty20 in June, so we decided to give it a go to maintain the balance of the side.”

“It is not an easy job to open in Tests. We will see if it works out in the series, otherwise we will revert to a specialist.”

Dilshan, who turns 33 in October, is the joker in the Sri Lankan pack with his multi-dimensional talents that Sangakkara and other captains before him have gladly taken advantage of.

Dilshan also bowls off-spin — he has 11 Test wickets — and even kept wickets in the recent three home Tests against Pakistan after first-choice wicket-keeper Prasanna Jayawardene was ruled out with a knee injury.

It turned out to be a tough series for Dilshan, who fractured a finger in his right hand while keeping wickets and then took a blow over his left eye while batting which needed several stitches.

The injuries forced Dilshan to miss the subsequent One-day series against Pakistan, but signalled his comeback by making 68 in a tour game against New Zealand in Colombo last week.

“It will not be difficult for me to open in Tests,” he said. “I have done it in one-day and Twenty20 matches and the idea still is to hit the loose ball. I look forward to it.”

Dilshan’s excitement may be tempered by bad weather over this southern coastal town where heavy rain over the past two days denied the teams serious practice.

Seasonal monsoon thunder showers have been forecast over the next five days.

The tourists will rue a rain-affected match since their best chance in the two-Test series lies in Galle, where seam bowlers took 21 of the 40 wickets during the Pakistan match last month.

New Zealand last won a Test series in Sri Lanka in 1984, but managed to draw both matches on their last trip under Stephen Fleming in 2003.

Daniel Vettori’s team face a tough challenge against a home side fresh from a 2-0 win over Pakistan, but a personal milestone beckons the captain in the series.

Vettori needs seven more wickets with his left-arm spin to become only the ninth player in history to achieve the double of 3,000 runs and 300 wickets.

“I am very aware of it,” said the 92-Test veteran who has scored 3,220 runs and claimed 293 wickets since his debut against England in 1997.

“I am a statistically minded person so it is a real goal for me and hopefully I will have a lot more years in Test cricket.

“There are some stats I would like to achieve and hopefully I will join some pretty esteemed company.”

---

Dilshan Tillkaratne Set For Kiwis Series was first posted on August 17, 2009 at 5:25 pm.

Adventures in Babysitting

Adventures in Babysitting, Adventures in Babysitting is a 1987 comedy film written by David Simkins, directed by Chris Columbus, and starring Elisabeth Shue, Bradley Whitford, Maia Brewton, Anthony Rapp, Penelope Ann Miller, Keith Coogan, and a brief cameo by blues singer/guitarist Albert Collins. Although it is set in Oak Park, and Chicago, Illinois, with much of the action taking place in the city itself, the movie was filmed primarily in Toronto.

* Elisabeth Shue as Chris Parker, a high school senior whose boyfriend cancels their date, so she goes to babysit the Andersons. She has an upbeat though very mature personality, taking the responsibility thrust upon her being trapped in Chicago with her charges very seriously. She is compassionate and friendly, though naive when it comes to meeting the “right guy.”

* Penelope Ann Miller as Brenda, Chris’ best friend, terrified while in the bus station. A little neurotic, Brenda runs away from home due to unspecified stress and becomes trapped in the bus station downtown, prompting Chris to come pick her up. She is persistent, edgy and positively, blind without her glasses, which are stolen early on.

* Bradley Whitford as Mike Todwell, Chris’ boyfriend who canceled their anniversary date for another girl. He is obnoxious, chauvinistic, and only after a girl who puts out easily. He is regarded as a jerk and once beat Daryl up under suspicion that he touched his Camaro. His license plate is well-known as reading “SO COOL.”

* Maia Brewton as Sara Anderson, an 8-year-old girl who idolizes Thor. She is the youngest and most impressionable, Brad going to lengths to keep her from being exposed to Daryl’s overtly sexual personality. Sara is best known for wearing her Thor helmet and carrying around a plastic hammer. She is fun-loving and caring and attempts to offer her helmet for payment of a car tire when the mechanic has an uncanny likeness to the famed god Thor.

* Keith Coogan as Brad Anderson, a 15-year-old boy who has a crush on Chris. He is obsessed with becoming popular and more worthy in Chris’ eyes. He’s not afraid to speak his mind and often tries to be more mature than Daryl, but in his attempts to act cool he can tend to make some pretty big mistakes. His foot-in-mouth syndrome is solved at one point by having a knife thrown into his toe when trying to intervene in a gang fight.

* Anthony Rapp as Daryl Coopersmith, Brad’s sex-obsessed best friend. Daryl is a sex-crazed, ambitious, and fun-loving party animal, though he has never been to a party nor had sex. He thanks Chris for the best night of his life “so far” and is responsible for stealing a Playboy full of stolen car orders, sending a gang after them all to try and replace the one he stole from his dad to show Brad.

* Calvin Levels as Joe Gipp, a compassionate, streetwise criminal who helps Chris and the others on several occasions. He knocks out his boss as a sign of resignation and is known for telling Chris when seeing a Playboy centerfold who looks like her, “She don’t even compare to you.”

* Vincent D’Onofrio as Dawson/Thor, introduced as a hard-bargaining curmudgeon who is nobody’s friend. After having been given a gift from Sara, who claims him to be her hero, Dawson gives the repaired car back to the group after initially refusing, as Chris was $5 short.

* George Newbern as Dan Lynch, a college student who falls in love with Chris and refuses to believe she is merely a high school student. He finds Sara’s skates in the back of his Jeep after dropping the kids off at Dawson’s garage and returns them, revealing he actually wanted to see Chris again. He becomes her new boyfriend in the end.

* John Ford Noonan as John Pruitt or “Handsome” John Pruitt, a tow truck operator who picks Chris and her friends off the side of the highway and offers to pay for the tire. He is short-tempered, however, and immediately veers to his house to take care of the man with whom his wife is having an affair. He goes on the lamb after the assault charges catch up with him, but he gives them the directions to Dawson’s garage.

* John Davis Chandler as Bleak, the ringleader of a gang of car thieves that Chris and the others encounter. He is smarter, and more suave than Graydon, his counterpart but his ambition to meet his goals often leaves him blind sided.

* Ron Canada as Graydon, Bleak’s second in command. He has a short temper and is nervous when met with confrontation with his boss. He tends to leap before he looks and gets himself into some vary precarious positions.

* Albert Collins as Himself portrayed as a player in a Chicago Blues club, he insists on anyone who comes on his stage to “(not leave) this place without singin’ the Blues”

* Lolita Davidovich as Sue Ann, a lonely girl at a frat party whose dumb jock boyfriend attacks Darryl when she attempts to have sex with him for being compassionate to her needs.Adventures in Babysitting

Original post: 
Adventures in Babysitting

Batman Beyond Return of the joker

Batman Beyond Return of the joker, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (also known as Batman of the Future: Return of the Joker in Europe and Australia) is a direct-to-video animated film featuring the comic book superhero Batman and his archenemy, the Joker. It is set in the continuity of the animated series Batman Beyond, in which Bruce Wayne has retired from crimefighting and given the mantle of Batman to high school student Terry McGinnis. As in the TV series, Will Friedle and Kevin Conroy star as Terry McGinnis and Bruce Wayne, respectively. Mark Hamill, who played the Joker opposite Conroy in Batman: The Animated Series, returns in the title role.

Before its release, the movie was heavily edited to remove scenes of violence, and some dialogue was altered, thus creating the “Not-Rated” version of the movie. The original version was subsequently released on DVD following an online petition to have the original version released. It received a PG-13 rating from the MPAA for violence.

Mephisto Odyssey and Static-X contributed the song “Crash (The Humble Brothers Remix)” on the film’s soundtrack, along with a music video featured on the DVD.

The film is something of an unofficial finale to the series but many consider the Justice League Unlimited episode “Epilogue” as the ending of Batman Beyond.Batman Beyond – Return of the Joker (The Original Uncut Version)

More here:
Batman Beyond Return of the joker