Pakistan, Turkey sign 18 MoUs

ANKARA: Pakistan and Turkey agreed to further strengthen and take their existing close bilateral ties to ‘greater heights’ through enhanced cooperation in the range of areas including defence, with Turkey offering military hardware and assistance in infrastructure building.

Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan after co-chairing the first High Level Cooperation Council (HLCC) meeting here told a press conference that the inaugural session of HLCC remained very useful and would help to steer “our unique partnership to ever greater heights.”

The two sides on this occasion also signed 18 Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) and Protocols for increased cooperation in various fields including health, education, agriculture, infrastructure, housing, media etc.

The Turkish Prime Minister said

The Chronicles Of Narnia to create history in India

The year’s most eagerly awaited film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is releasing in the United States on the 10th of

December. However, Indian fans of this popular franchise will be ecstatic to know that the film is releasing a week earlier i.e. on the 3rd of December in

India!

Hollywood films are usually released in India either on the same day or a few days, even months after its release in The United States. This is the first

time that a Hollywood film will be released in India a week prior to its release in North America; and just a day after a Royal Premiere in the UK! Not only

this, but the film will also have the biggest ever release for a Hollywood film in India, with around 800 plus prints across multiple languages.

This revolutionary move by Fox Star Studios India comes after the tremendous success of the previous Narnia films in India and the massive fan

following of the series in India. Besides, cine goers will be delivered a whole new experience this time as the film will also be releasing in 3D across

theatres! And if this is not enough, Indian fans of this hugely successful franchise have even more reason to rejoice as for the first time ever for a film,

filmgoers will have an option of watching this film in 3D in 4 languages including Hindi, Tamil & Telugu.

Mr. Vijay Singh, CEO, Fox Star Studios India comments, “We are delighted to offer our Narnia fans this unique opportunity and that too in 3D and multiple

Indian languages! It’s great entertainment which will appeal to a wide cross-section of demographics across the country. The buzz that is building up for

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is very encouraging!”

Madhavan calls on KFC chief to stop abuse of chickens

R. Madhavan has been associated with PETA for a while now. For the uninitiated, the actor has been fighting for the cause of protecting animals for a long time. That explains the reason why he sent a letter on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India to David Novak, CEO of KFC parent company ‘Yum! Brands’, urging him to adopt PETA’s recommendations to stop the worst abuses of chickens that are killed for KFC.

Madhavan, in his letter to David, wrote “I am sure you’re a compassionate person who agrees that animals – whether they are dogs, cats or chickens – should not be abused and that working to stop this unnecessary cruelty should be a top priority. Please use your unique position to stop the worst abuses of these sensitive birds by making the improvements suggested by PETA and KFC’s own former animal welfare advisors.”

In the same letter, Madhavan also recounted the findings of a PETA undercover investigation into KFC’s main Indian supplier, Venky’s. PETA’s investigator documented birds who suffered broken limbs and organ failure because of the animals’ unnaturally large size. In the US and elsewhere, birds are bred and drugged to grow much faster than nature intended, and their bodies can’t keep up. The remains of dead birds littered the floor, and survivors were forced to live amidst the corpses. Madhavan also urged Novak to follow the example of KFC Canada, which has become a leader in animal welfare reforms.

Madhavan, apparently, has also appeared in a PETA ad to promote a compassionate vegetarian diet.

Malaika Arora Khan signed up as the brand ambassador for Pantene?

Malaika Arora Khan needs no introduction neither to Bollywood, nor to the world of brand endorsements. Right from her doing Chaiyaa Chaiyya atop a moving train to her current role of being a producer of Dabangg, one the most awaited films of recent times, this Lady Gorgeous has seen it all, done it all.

The good news is that this lady is now all set to swoon everyone with her free flowing and lustrous mane, as she is now all geared up to be the brand ambassador of Pantene, if Bollywood Hungama’s closest sources are to be believed. The source also added that, after the shampoo major chose the likes of Katrina Kaif, Shilpa Shetty and Neha Dhupia, they were looking for someone who is very identifiable with the masses, and Malaika Arora Khan was their obvious choice.

Repeated attempts to establish contacts with Malaika Arora Khan proved futile. As long as we get to see Malaika and her stress free tress, who’s complaining! At least, we are not! What say, Malaika!

Mandira Bedi signed up as the brand ambassador for Bodycare range of products

The very mention of Mandira Bedi evokes her unique reporting style of cricket during the World Cup matches, ‘Exxtra Innings’, as we know it better. It’s the same very Mandira Bedi, who has now been signed up as the brand ambassador of Bodycare range of products.

Sources close to Bollywood Hungama said that “Mandira has been offered the role of being their brand ambassador, because she totally reflects a modern day woman, who also is a very responsible individual.” The source also added that the said brand, which has a tagline ‘Comfort Forever’, offers a range of women products including bras, panties, tummy tucker panty, maternity range and sports range.

Repeated attempts to establish contact with Mandira Bedi proved futile.

Anifest India ’10 – High on Gyan and fun

India’s largest Animation festival Anifest India came to a fitting conclusion on 21st August and saw some of the best speaker’s lineup, a boasting crowd of close to 1500 on all the three days and many exciting sessions on animation, gaming and vfx.

Here is the coverage in a nutshell:

DAY 1

The first session of the event ‘Comics ke Baap Dada’ was taken by Aabid Surti, the legendary author and the pioneer of Indian comics, Manish Gupta and Sanjay Gupta, the founders of Raj comics. Surti shared how he started his first comic strip and comics ‘Bahadur’ which was a cult in late 70′s. He also shared his journey with film stars like Raj Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan, and Spiritual Gurus like Osho and remarked how they were a fan of his comics and were influenced by it.

Manish and Sanjay Gupta were throwing the light on how Raj comics started and the characters like Doga, Nagraj, Super Commando Dhruv and Bhokal took birth. “We have around 40 comic characters as we understood the readers’ choice and formed such characters. There are more such characters in the pipeline to be launched soon,” said Manish.

Mastered by Santosh Kale, an ace short film maker and creative genius who has designed a number of Channel Ids and promos, the session ‘Non linear approach to tele channel branding’ was completely focused on his experience, thought process and execution of small projects like channel Ids. Kale showcased some of his work which included the making of channel Ids and promos including MTV, Channel V, Pogo and Bindass amongst others.

The third session of the day, ‘Animating with Light’ was conducted by Virender S Rathore, one of the pioneers of clay animation and founder of an animation studio ‘The Animation Garage’. Virender showcased some of the experimental animation clips which included light animation and explained how they were made. He also showcased the process of light animation by creating a water fall with the help of the audience. This was certainly a session which led the audience to gape in awe.

The session Animation in games and simulation by Rajat Ojha of Hyderabad based Zen Technolgoies shed the light on history of game animation, where it is required and few examples of how the animation is used in games. Explaining about the gaming industry Ojha explained about the opportunities available, the growth and its pros and cons.

DAY 2

The session by award winning French animator Bastien Dubois, explained the film making process right from the pre-production to the final stage, by dissecting his film Madagascar – A Journal Diary (Madagascar, carnet de voyage). Made with a number of experimental animation techniques, the film gives a feel of hand drawn animation and traces several foreign culture.

Re-initiated by the TASI team, this years’ Anifest featured a panel discussion after almost four years on ‘Training/education and industry’ which comprised the speakers like Arena’s Puneet Sharma, MAAC’s Sanjiv Waeerkar, Bombay Arts Society’s Vijay Raut and several other experts. The session was an interactive one with an active participation from the audience, who raised several queries regarding the career, courses and placement. The speakers discussed the opportunities, the courses available and their future prospect.

The session by MAAC’s Sanjiv Waeerkar on the 3D animated feature film ‘Cric-x’ which is developed by the students of MAAC explained the making of the film. An in-depth analysis of the film told the audience about the production process and glitches which the film makers face during creating an animation film. The session also discussed about the production management as the film was made by MAAC students spread in different cities across India.

The session by Mehul Hirani on Stereoscopic Feature Animation discussed the experience, challenges and the process of making a stereoscopic animated film taking Crest Animation Studio’s ‘Alpha & Omega’ as an example. Pre-production, the process, post, were discussed in detail.

Day 3

Yet to release animated feature film Arjun’s director Arnab Chaudhuri and his team shed the light on the process of the film making, the unique animation style which is being used in their feature and covered the character and production design.

The session by Rob (The creative bug who hosts MAD on POGO) was certainly the most entertaining and interactive session in all the three days. Rob’s experience on creating his innovative TV shows like MAD, Big Picture were not only turned out to be a source of inspiration for the student community but also gave Rob a thunderous round of applauds for his creative work.

Mahesh and Samir from Prime Focus presented the case study on several Bollywood movies which the vfx house has executed. They explained how these projects were executed, shots requirement and challenges, amongst others.

At the end of the show, TASI Viewers Choice Awards were announced, which are as follow:

Student Film: Winner – Feel The Punch by Kasi Medidi/Madhu Dasyapu/Veera Bhadra Rao Parimi.

Runner up – Benigni by Pinja Partanen/Jasmiini Ottelin/Elli Vuorinen

Independent Professional Film: Winner – Shabdhane by Debjani Mukherjee

Runner up – Dracula 4D by Ben Smith

Commissioned Film: Winner – Electrolux Transformations

Runner up – Creamfills Alpenliebe Lions

Teachers’ film: Winner – Ramatiya by Pradeep Soni

Runner up – Talktime Unlimited by Saikat Majumdar & Somraj Chatterjee

US pledge every possible support for flood relief in Pakistan

WASHINGTON: Pledging continued support for Pakistan”s flood recovery effort, the United States has said the reconstruction phase following the current relief work will likely need more international aid overtime than committed to the key South Asian country after a deadly earthquake in 2005.

“What makes this unique is the scale of the disaster and its effect throughout the entire country,” U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, Anne Patterson, said.

“The (7.6-magnitude) earthquake and the displacement of 2 million people from the Swat Valley (in anti-militant operation last year) were more localized. So while the loss of life in this disaster may be less, the economic impact and the need for reconstruction assistance over time could well be greater,” the diplomat added, speaking from Islamabad via teleconference with American journalists.

The United States, she said, is working with the federal Pakistani government and established NGOs to provide immediate life-saving aid to the victims of the worst floods in Pakistan in 80 years.

The UN now estimates that nearly 1500 people were killed, a million people remain homeless, and 4.5 million people have been affected across the country as the initial flood waters moves through the Indus River system toward the Arabian Sea.

It would be as if the Missouri, Arkansas and Red Rivers all overflowed at once and then dumped huge amounts of water and debris into the Mississippi, Patterson said, explaining enormity of the disaster to Americans.

The ambassador estimated that the number of affected people is expected to rise to 6 million by the end of the week.

“Countrywide, 92 bridges have been destroyed, and more than 200 major roads have been damaged. There are four major dams at risk. Crop and livestock loss will affect long-term livelihood and food security.

International organizations believe that up to 2.5 million people will require food assistance. We anticipate that with additional rains this weekend, waters will still be high next week,” she informed.

The U.S. engagement with this flood crisis began last Friday when the Government of Pakistan asked that U.S. helicopters and aircraft, assigned to support the Pakistan interior ministry”s air wing, support flood relief, Patterson said.

“We agreed immediately and began to consider what other ways we could help. In the meantime, these U.S. aircraft have rescued over a thousand people and airlifted over 37,000 pounds of supplies.”

The U.S. has already committed $35 million in assistance to flood-affected populations. President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have vowed to stand by Pakistan in the hour of crisis.

“The money will be provided by USAID to international organizations and established Pakistani NGOs to provide food, health care, and shelter for those displaced by the floods. This is being supplemented by existing programs that we had in place to help many of these same people who were formerly displaced by fighting in Swat. And we are working now to identify gaps,” the dop U.S. diplomat in Islamabad said.

In response to a question, the ambassador underscored the United States” close working relationship with Pakistani government in the ongoing relief effort and praised the federal disaster management authority for doing a good job.

“There are always, in situations like this, NGOs that are associated with what we would call extremist groups who have been active delivering supplies. But they are totally, in my view, overcome by the enormous number of local and highly reputable NGOs and the international NGOs who have already mobilized for this crisis. We are working with already 13 international and local NGOs trying to get money to them as quickly as possible so they can provide services throughout the country. So we think the government is particularly the federal disaster management authority is doing a good job in delivering support to the people.”

Patterson also applauded her U.S. Department of Defense colleagues, who, recognizing the growing crisis, immediately went on a search for emergency meal and said U.S. aircrews aboard the U.S. Air Force C-130 and C-17 transport aircraft flew into Rawalpindi and delivered about 50,000 halal meals in support of a Pakistan Government request. That number grew through the week to nearly 436,000 meals.

The ambassador also visited the airbase where two of U.S. Chinook helicopters were loading up supplies for flood victims and paid tribute to the young American men and women for their service in partnership with their Pakistani counterparts.

“The U.S. Government has been working to support Pakistan”s Government as it struggles to save lives and property. Secretary Clinton, who has been deeply engaged in building a strong relationship between the United States and Pakistan, has made our support for Pakistan in this time of crisis a priority.

Our government is fortunate to have a number of people here and in Washington with substantial experience available to assist and support Pakistan, including several who were here during the earthquake. We are using the unique capabilities of our government to help save lives and to provide humanitarian assistance in full partnership with the Government of Pakistan.”

Salman Khan to host Bigg Boss 4

After Big B announced the commencement of the popular show Kaun Banega Crorepati, it’s now time for none other than Salman Khan. Sallu will soon be seen hosting season 4 of the popular reality show Bigg Boss.

For some time now, there has been quite a lot of speculation whether King Khan AKA Shahrukh Khan will be the host; however, all rumours have been put to rest with Sallu being nominated as the host for the show. Sallu even tweeted about the same stating, “Doing bigg bossssssssssssssssssssssss! boss .”

Though the dates of the show haven’t yet been finalized, it is said that Sallu and Big B will be pitting their with against each other as show hosts on two different shows with the latest season of Bigg Boss being said to start alongside KBC. On previous seasons other prominent Bollywood stars like Arshad Warsi, Shilpa Shetty and Amitabh himself have been hosts, so what’s left to be seen is how Sallu treats the show. But knowing his unique persona and charisma, as seen in his early show 10 Ka Dum, audiences can be rest assured that he will rock.

TASI’s Anifest India 2010 scheduled for August 19-21

Organized with the aim of spreading animation awareness, Indian Animation fraternity’s most loved animation festival ‘Anifest India’ is back with a bang. The Animation Society of India (TASI), organizers of Anifest India 2010 have announced that the festival is scheduled for August 19-21 at Fine Arts Cultural Centre, Mumbai this year.

Talking about the plans of Anifest India 2010, Ranjit Singh, Hon. Secretary of TASI, shared with Bollywood Hungama, “This year we are extending our range of focus to the unique topics like Game & Defense Animation, Medical Animation & Visualisation, Making of Stereoscopic feature animation amongst several other exciting sessions.”

“As we look at varied content and all round development of the artists, we want to focus on topics that are usually not discussed. As always, this year too we have speakers and experts from various disciplines,” he added.

As part of the festival, its animation contest – TASI Viewer’s Choice Awards (TVCA) has already started inviting entries for the festival. The categories under which the entries are accepted include Student films, Independent Professional short films, Commissioned films and Teachers films.

Explaining about the awards, Ranjit shared, “All entries received are previewed by a panel of eminent industry professionals at a special screening where the panel shortlists films for the final competition. The shortlisted films are screened at the festival for voting by the audience. Votes are counted on the spot and the entry receiving the most votes is declared the winner for that category.”

More information about the festival, TVCA and session can be obtained from

www.tasionline.org

Road, Movie screenplay goes to Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

The very name of the film Road, Movie raised many an eyebrow, thanks to the unique title that it enjoys. As you all know by now, that the film starred the suave dude Abhay Deol opposite the very talented Tannishtha Chatterjee alongwith the multitalented Satish Kaushik.

Sources close to Bollywood Hungama have said that the screenplay for Road, Movie has been selected by the permanent collection of The Margaret Herrick Library at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Speaking exclusively to Bollywood Hungama, Satish Kaushik confirmed the news and said, “It’s a great feeling that I experienced when Dev Benegal told me the script of the film has been selected by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. I am aware of the fact that this is a place that’s home to many big films. And with the inclusion of Road, Movie, our film has got an immense boost. Also, it’s a great opportunity that the film has been appreciated all over the world. Lastly, I would like to say that Dev has got a great thing going for him with this achievement.”

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