Hot Buzz: Latest gupshup from tinsel town

There are whispers that Kiran Rao is planning an international cut of DHOBI GHAT for countries/markets where Hindi films don’t get released, but the news is unfounded. Kiran has denied the rumors to this writer.

There’s tremendous speculation that Madhur Bhandarkar has approached Priyanka Chopra to essay the main role in HEROINE, after Kareena Kapoor decided against doing the film. However, the news is untrue.

Rumors are rife that UTV and Anees Bazmee’s THANK YOU, slated for release on 8 April, will not make it on that date. But UTV’s Siddharth Roy Kapur denies the news. “8 April is the date, no change of plans,” he says.

School Closings Michigan By Monday

School Closings Michigan. Worse weather conditions are threatening the opening of schools on Monday in the Michigan area. Temperatures are expected to drop by Sunday evening when wind speeds pick up. Later Sunday, bitter cold winds will howl into Michigan and change the weather into early next week.

By Monday, December 13, high temps will be stuck in the teens and wind chill factors will plunge to sub-zero readings. Winds will gust to near 35 mph late Sunday into Monday.

A list of school closings in Michigan can be obtained at the ABC News 12 website. Follow on Twitter, for continued updates on the winter storm and school closings in Michigan.

Polanski”s ‘Ghost Writer’ tops Europe film awards

LONDON: French-Polish director Roman Polanski”s political thriller “The Ghost Writer” swept the European Film Awards on Saturday, picking up six prizes including best movie, director, actor and screenplay.

The annual awards, held this year in the Estonian capital Tallinn, also honoured Israeli war drama “Lebanon”, shot almost entirely from inside a tank. Lebanon won the coveted Golden Lion at the Venice film festival in 2009.

Polanski, who spent several months this year under house arrest in Switzerland but avoided extradition to the United States in connection with a 1977 sex crime, did not attend the prize ceremony but appeared via Skype from his Paris home.

Polanski was named best director, the movie — with a lead role loosely based on former British prime minister Tony Blair — was best European film, its star Ewan McGregor picked up the best actor award and Polanski and Robert Harris won the best script writer category.

Following is a list of the main winners:

Best film – The Ghost Writer

Best director – Roman Polanski/The Ghost Writer

Best actress – Sylvie Testud/Lourdes

Best actor – Ewan McGregor/The Ghost Writer

Best screenwriter – Robert Harris and Roman Polanski/The Ghost Writer

Best cinematographer – Giora Bejach/Lebanon

Best editor – Luc Barnier and Marion Monnier/Carlos

Best production designer – Albrecht Konrad/The Ghost Writer

Best composer – Alexandre Desplat/The Ghost Writer

European discovery – Lebanon

Best documentary – Nostalgia de la Luz

Best animated feature – The Illusionist

Best short film – Hanoi – Warszawa

Lifetime achievement award – Bruno Ganz, actor

Achievement in world cinema – Gabriel Yared, composer

People choice – Mr. Nobody.

Deepika dying to work with Saif

MUMBAI: Deepika Padukone is eager for a repeat act with her Love Aaj Kal co-star. Keenly contests for all starring roles opposite the actor

Deepika Padukone may have pipped other actresses (Priyanka Chopra and Kareena Kapoor to name a few) to be the female lead in Race 2 but the real reason behind her saying a yes to the project is Saif Ali Khan.

The actress is keen to work with her Love Aaj Kal co-star yet again. As soon as she was offered Abbas-Mustan”s sequel, she gave her nod to the Tips Films project without any hesitation.

She wanted to beat other actresses under consideration in the race to sign on the dotted line.

This was also the reason Dippy had agreed to feature in Vishal Bhardwaj’s Dreams. But as soon as she learnt that Saif was re-thinking doing the Omkara director”s film, she too decided to back out from the project.

Says a source, “Saif had reservations about certain aspects of the script; especially, the second half of the story.

He expressed his opinions but the writer-director was in no mood to heed to his requests. As a result, he walked out.”

Buzz was also that the actor-turned-producer was keen that Vishal commit himself to direct a project for his banner.

New GoldenEye 007 screens released

Activision has released new screenshots for the Wii remake of GoldenEye 007. The game, which is being developed by Dead Space: Extraction team Eurocom, is a re-imagining of the classic Nintendo 64 first-person shooter.
Bruce Feirstein, the writer of the original GoldenEye, is returning to the story and bringing it up to date, complete with Daniel Craig’s more visceral Bond replacing Pierce Brosnan’s.
The screens show various different terrorist-types standing around menacingly or firing their weapons at some off-screen threat – we’re guessing it’s Bond.
Martin Hollis, the designer of the N64 version of GoldenEye 007, has attacked Activision bosses over the company’s decision to revive the game for Wii.

Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo wins Nobel Peace Prize

Jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo has been awarded Nobel Peace Prize for 2010.
Making the announcement in Oslo, Nobel Committee president Thorbjoern Jagland said Mr Liu was the foremost symbol of the wide-ranging struggle for human rights in China.Mr Liu’s wife hailed the award, calling on Beijing to release her husband. China said the award was contrary to Nobel principles and could damage relations with Norway. The Nobel Foundation citation read: Liu has consistently maintained that the sentence violates both China’s own constitution and fundamental human rights.
Ending the citation, Mr Jagland said: The campaign to establish universal human rights in China is being waged by many Chinese, both in China itself and abroad. Through the severe punishment meted out to him, Liu has become the foremost symbol of this wide-ranging struggle for human rights in China.
Meanwhile, Peruvian Mario Vargas Llosa has won Nobel Prize in literature.Previously, Vargas had written much acclaimed novels like The Green House and Conversation in the Cathedral and also many essays and plays. He was awarded the biggest literary honor for contribution in Spanish language Cervantes prize in 1995. He also contested in elections of Peru previously for the post of president.
After the announcement of the prize, congratulations started flowing to Vargas. Vargas himself described this as one of the most wonderful moments in his life and something he has been dreamt of since his childhood days. Nobel in literature was criticized to be much more Europe centric, but with a Peruvian writer getting the writer, the criticism should be put to rest.

‘Dhobi Ghat’ release fixed

Okay, it’s final and as always, the news is first on ‘Bollywood Hungama’. Aamir Khan has locked the release date of DHOBI GHAT. It’s not Christmas this year. It’s February next year. In fact, just last week, this writer had mentioned that Aamir has confirmed the month of release – February – and was likely to decide on the date shortly. It could be 18th or 25th. Well, the date is confirmed. It’s 25th February.

As of now, the month of February also seems to be packed with biggies: DUM MAARO DUM on 4th, PATIALA HOUSE on 11th and DHOBI GHAT on 25th.

Shirish Kunder turns music composer and lyricist for Tees Maar Khan

Shirish Kunder is one happy man these days. Besides writing and producing his wife Farah Khan’s directorial venture Tees Maar Khan, Shirish is also set to make his mark as a music composer and lyricist with this film! Shirish, who is the writer, producer and editor of Tees Maar Khan, will be making his debut as music composer and lyricist with this film! Kunder is also composing the background score for the film. Master of all trades, we must say.

Talking to Bollywood Hungama, an elated Shirish says, “There are 5 songs in all in Tees Maar Khan, four of which are composed by Vishal-Shekhar, while I have done the title track of the film, including the composing and the lyrics. I have also composed the film’s theme music.”

Shirish can’t stop praising Sonu Nigam, who sang the title track of TMK. Reveals the debutant music director, “Sonu Nigam, who has sung the title track, needs an exceptional mention and credit for the wonders that he has done to this track. He has sung the same song 50 times in 50 different voices! Of the 50 odd voices, there are male voices, female voices, the chorus and also Chinese girl’s voices. Sonu has sung all of these voices. And even in the male voice, there are 4 different voices. Each and every vocal that one hears is sung by Sonu Nigam! This is a song that tells us about all the characters in the film.”

Well, it seems like Shirish and Sonu are all set to surprise the audiences with the title track of Tees Maar Khan.

Vimanika Comics unveil first look of Pushpak Viman

Vimanika Comics showcased the first look of Aarya Babbar’s 1st graphic novel ‘Pushpak Viman’ from the serene ambience of the Granth Book Store, Santa Cruz. The look was unveiled by Shirish Kunder a close friend of Aarya Babbar.

The graphic novel is the journey of a mythological demon and the son of Drona ‘Ashwathaama’. Post Kurukshetra which we in current day call Mahabharata, Ashwathaama was cursed by Lord Krishna for the sins he did to be stranded on earth forever craving for Salvation. The fact that he shall not attain salvation is not acceptable by him and thus the journey of his endless life of pain and power with only one desire to defeat Krishna starts. The fact that the key to his salvation is Pushpak Viman is unknown to him.

Karan Vir Arora says, “Pushpak Viman, which is the forthcoming graphic novel from our stable, is a perfect blend of mythology and contemporary settings. The series is penned and conceptualized by the talented actor and now the writer, Aarya Babbar. The fact that it took him 3 yrs to jot down all 12 volumes of it speaks a lot about his dedication and passion!”

Says an excited Aarya Babbar, “After 3 years of sheer hard work, it’s a delight watching my entire story transpire into a graphic novel. Pushpak Viman is the first graphic novel of the twelve series. The premise is mythology but based on current date scenario and we are very confident that this would definitely be a page-turner. It’s a pleasure working with Karan and his entire team of people. We are making an effort to rekindle the magic and love for comic series in our country and with the marketing and distribution strategies that we are planning we are sure that we can to a greater extend revive the market for comic book lovers.”

The series boasts of larger than life contemporary characters along with mysterious gods coming from the past. It shall send your adrenalin pumping and you can’t afford to miss a single issue. Pushpak Viman is one of the most ancient lost aircraft in our Vedic India. So brace yourself; for the Pushpak Viman is ready to land!

Vimanika Comics unveil first look of Pushpak Viman

Vimanika Comics showcased the first look of Aarya Babbar’s 1st graphic novel ‘Pushpak Viman’ from the serene ambience of the Granth Book Store, Santa Cruz. The look was unveiled by Shirish Kunder a close friend of Aarya Babbar.

The graphic novel is the journey of a mythological demon and the son of Drona ‘Ashwathaama’. Post Kurukshetra which we in current day call Mahabharata, Ashwathaama was cursed by Lord Krishna for the sins he did to be stranded on earth forever craving for Salvation. The fact that he shall not attain salvation is not acceptable by him and thus the journey of his endless life of pain and power with only one desire to defeat Krishna starts. The fact that the key to his salvation is Pushpak Viman is unknown to him.

Karan Vir Arora says, “Pushpak Viman, which is the forthcoming graphic novel from our stable, is a perfect blend of mythology and contemporary settings. The series is penned and conceptualized by the talented actor and now the writer, Aarya Babbar. The fact that it took him 3 yrs to jot down all 12 volumes of it speaks a lot about his dedication and passion!”

Says an excited Aarya Babbar, “After 3 years of sheer hard work, it’s a delight watching my entire story transpire into a graphic novel. Pushpak Viman is the first graphic novel of the twelve series. The premise is mythology but based on current date scenario and we are very confident that this would definitely be a page-turner. It’s a pleasure working with Karan and his entire team of people. We are making an effort to rekindle the magic and love for comic series in our country and with the marketing and distribution strategies that we are planning we are sure that we can to a greater extend revive the market for comic book lovers.”

The series boasts of larger than life contemporary characters along with mysterious gods coming from the past. It shall send your adrenalin pumping and you can’t afford to miss a single issue. Pushpak Viman is one of the most ancient lost aircraft in our Vedic India. So brace yourself; for the Pushpak Viman is ready to land!

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