Tuesday, August 31, 2010

"Angels» Victoria `s Secret in the new commercial laundry

Two of the hottest gadgets fashion business and Alessandra Ambrosio Doutzen Kroes withdrew for a new look-book mark Victoria `s Secret. Rasprekrasnye girl tried on a spectacular new collection of lingerie brand. It should be noted that in their perfect bodies all the models look fantastic - want to buy everything at once. What, Victoria `s Secret will know what women want, however, about men, they also do not forget, because look at these girls - a pleasure!

Anna Nicole was over-medicated

A prosecution expert at the trial of Anna Nicole Smith's former partner has testified that Smith should have been weaned off prescription drugs.

As Howard K. Stern's drug conspiracy trial continued on Monday, prosecution witness Dr James Gagne stated that the amount of opiates and sedatives that the model was taking prior to her death left her behaving like "a space cadet".

Two of Smith's physicians, Khristine Eroshevich and Sandeep Kapoor, are also facing charges in the case and were criticised by the addiction specialist.

The AP reports that Gagne asserted that Smith's own history with drugs should have tipped off Stern and the star's doctors that she could not handle such heavy medication.

"Three sedatives were prescribed at the same time, and one would expect she would abuse them based on her medical history," he explained.

Gagne added that a person taking such a heavy dose of prescription medicine would feel "out of it. Emotionally, they're up and down, not functioning cognitively."

Monday's expert testimony marked the end of the second month of proceedings against Eroshevich, Kapoor and Stern.

Rachel Uchitel In A Bikini

For those who have been living in a cave the last six months, Rachel Uchitel is one of Tiger Woods’ mistresses. She might have been the first girl he hooked up with, or maybe he was just one of his main bitches. Supposedly she got a pretty healthy payout to keep her mouth shut.

Here she is hanging out at the pool in a bikini and looking hot. I can see why Tiger wanted to tap that. She has a nice body and I get the feeling this babe is one of those girls that will do anything you want if you ask in the right tone of voice.

The Iranian newspaper dubbed Carla Bruni prostitute

The Iranian daily Kayhan called the first lady of France "prostitute." Edition afford such insolence, so that brighter disagree with the position of Carla Bruni, which actively protects Sakine Mohammadi Ashtiany - Iranian woman sentenced to death for treason and involvement in her husband's death. But the matter is not in the death penalty, but in its execution. By Iranian law for such a crime a woman publicly stoned to death. In general, it is barbarism, and this fact could not leave indifferent wife of French president. Armed with the support of international human rights organizations and the actress Isabelle Adjani, Charles signed the petition, which calls for an end to such cruelty.
In order to demonstrate the cruelty of this type of penalty, in Paris, made a real theatrical staging of this horrendous action.
Naturally, the Iranian government did not like the criticism of the First Lady, and in response to her in a local newspaper published an article by a very shocking headline "The French prostitutes joined the protest of human rights defenders" (appeal also applies to the Isabella Adjani). The publication in very rough form described model Carla Bruni past, her relationship with men and others, in the opinion of the editorial board, immoral aspects of her life.
Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni, had no immediate comment on the attacks by the Iranian media, but, I think, will soon be some sort of official response to this shocking articles.

Scissor Sisters, GaGa to collaborate?

Lady GaGa has reportedly agreed to collaborate with the Scissor Sisters on an upcoming song.

According to the Mail on Sunday, Scissor Sisters frontman Jake Shears met the 'Alejandro' singer at Sir Elton John's White Tie and Tiara Ball in June. The stars have been negotiating the details of the project since the meeting, and are in the final stages of reaching an agreement.

A source told the newspaper: "Jake has performed with huge stars like Kylie (Minogue). He is desperate for the union with Lady GaGa to go ahead.

"He was concerned Lady GaGa might decide against it but he has been reassured that the collaboration will happen in some way, shape or form."

Shears has previously said he is "proud" that the 24-year-old considers the Scissor Sisters to be a musical influence.

Indian film stars take salary cuts

The earnings of some of Bollywood's biggest stars are reported to have been hit by the recession.

According to The Hindu, many of the film industry's highest paid actors have been forced to take a salary cut in their recent projects.

Mr Jehil Thakkar, executive director of KPMG revealed: "During boom time, most of the studios paid stars astronomical amounts. In the past 12-18 months, the elevated prices of the stars have been rationalised due to the film industry's tightening budgets."

Inflated salaries were apparently seen as out of line with the true market value of many performers.

"Actors who just entered the industry had unrealistic pay packets," said an industry insider.

Leading figures Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan are confirmed to have paid less tax in the last financial year. Aamir Khan is reported to be the only actor to remain unaffected by the cuts, after a series of commercially successful global releases.

Nicolas Cage 'for Bollywood gangster film'


Nicolas Cage has reportedly been confirmed to play one of the main parts in Vidhu Vinod Chopra's next project Broken Horses.

Chopra is presently in Los Angeles casting for the Bollywood gangster film, which begins shooting in early 2011, the Hindustan Times reports.

A source revealed: "Cage has been confirmed for one of the leading roles just a few days ago."

Broken Horses is a remake of Chopra's earlier hit, the Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit starrer Parinda.

"Broken Horses keeps the soul of Parinda intact. But it explores the same genre in a diverse setup," added the source.

Chopra was recently honoured in a retrospective of his work at the First Indian Film Festival of London.

Snooki's boyfriend proposes in magazine

Jeff Miranda has reportedly proposed to girlfriend and Jersey Shore star Nicole 'Snooki' Polizzi.

According to Radar Online, Miranda popped the question with his appearance on the cover of the latest issue of Steppin' Out magazine.

The magazine cover features a shirtless Miranda on one knee alongside the words: "Jeff Miranda has a question for Snooki - WILL YOU MARRY ME?!"

"I want us to be together forever. I could see us having children," Miranda told the publication.

"I want to pop the question to her. If we got married we would be the best parents around. She's so loving and puts everyone else before her self. She'll be a great mother."

Miranda added that he thinks Snooki will say "yes" to his proposal once she "deals with the shock".

The 22-year-old said: “I will never break her heart. She's such a great girl. If people could see us together they would think we're a match made in heaven. People think I'm using her for fame. But that's bulls**t."

Paris Hilton 'thought cocaine was gum'

Paris Hilton has told police that she believed a vial of cocaine found in her purse was chewing gum.

The socialite was arrested in Las Vegas last weekend after her vehicle was stopped and she now faces felony drug possession charges.

According to documents obtained by US Weekly, the officer who stopped Hilton could smell "the strong odour of marijuana coming from the vehicle" and later allowed the 29-year-old to use the bathroom at a nearby hotel after she became "extremely embarrassed" by crowds gathering at the scene.

The policeman said that he discovered the cocaine - along with marijuana rolling papers and a broken tablet of Albuterol - when Hilton opened her purse to search for her chapstick.

"I saw a small bindle of what I believed to be cocaine in a clear baggie begin to fall from the purse and into my hand," he wrote.

Hilton is said to have admitted that the Albuterol and large amount of cash in the bag belonged to her but denied knowing about the origin of the cocaine.

A Magical Night At The Emmy Awards

Having the night of her life, Claire Danes was the belle of the ball at the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday evening (August 29).

Looking fabulous in a strapless, beaded Armani Privé frock, the lovely actress picked up Best Actress in a Miniseries/TV Movie for her work in the autism-based picture titled "Temple Grandin".

"Temple Grandin" also ended up winning for Best Director (Mick Jackson), Best Movie, Supporting Actor (David Strathairn) and Supporting Actress (Julia Ormond).

Making the night especially sweet, Temple, herself, was in attendance and happened to be celebrating her birthday on Emmy night.

After spending time with Miss Grandin, Miss Danes proceeded on to the party circuit - as she hit up the HBO bash before closing things out at Jimmy Fallon's Trousdale after party.

Post-Emmy Jet-Setter

Following her uber-fun night at the Emmy Awards, Tina Fey was spotted catching a flight to New York City at LAX International Airport on (August 30).

The “30 Rock” babe looked to be in good spirits as she strolled past the paparazzi, sporting sunglasses with a striped top and silver shoes.

Last evening, Ms. Fey was involved in all kinds of onstage action at the 2010 Primetime Emmys, beginning with the “Glee” style opening number.

Tina also joined Matthew Morrison to present actress Kyra Sedgwick with her very own Emmy trophy.

Taylor Lautner Lawsuit Leads To Push-Up Challenge

Getting quite the strange counteroffer while trying to settle a trailer lawsuit out of court, Taylor Lautner has been issued a push-up challenge by the defendant.

The muscle-dependent proposition stems from the "Twilight" hunk's recent court filings alleging that Brent McMahon, who owns McMahon's RV in Irvine, California, failed to complete a $300,000 custom trailer in time for him to use on the set of his movie.

According to NY Daily News, McMahon wants to face-off against Lautner in a push-up contest rather than pay the actor the $40,000 in which he's seeking.

Denying any wrongdoing and expressing plans to go to court if Taylor doesn't accept the push-up plan, McMahon, 47, has even said that he'll donate the $40,000 in question to Children's Hospital of Orange County if her ends up beating his younger counterpart.

Meanwhile, Lautner's attorney, Robert Barta, was unwilling to comment - seemingly not taking to kindly to the unusual offer.

Antardwand

Set in rural Bihar where nothing works except the law of the lawless, "Antardwand" takes the firm and gripping route to expose a hinterland-headline - the kidnapping of marriageable boys by desperate fathers of wannabe brides.

This was a prevalent malpractice in Bihar until some years ago. Not so much any more.

Debutant director Sushil Rajpal's film works more for its deeper resonances than just the surface sincerity. It is not so much the sensational value of the theme ('dulha uth gaya') that makes "Antardwand" watchable as the treatment of the layers of socio-political irregularities and caste aberrations that generate a society of anarchy where kidnapping an aspiring groom is serious business.

The narrative is punctuated with bouts of savage humour. When the Delhi University civil service candidate Raghuveer (Raj Singh Choudhary) with a pregnant girlfriend (Himanshi), is kidnapped just yards away from his parents' home in rural Bihar, his confoundedness, and rage at the bizarre confinement is expressed in bouts and spasms of indignance.

The director knows the milieu well. He doesn't waste time exploring rural Bihar just because he has chosen to film his story on location.

The narrative never loses its momentum. Rather than opt for a dry docu-drama tone, director Sushil Rajpal has chosen to format the film as a thriller. The pace from the moment of Raghuveer's kidnapping to his escape is largely relentless.

The second-half of the plot gets more introspective as it becomes the story of the humiliated bride (newcomer Swati Sen, well cast) who finds herself with a man who has been forced to marry her. The rage of confinement and the anguish of rejection ooze out of the tense frames.

Sequences in the couple's bedroom with a gigantic tell-tale double-bed at its centre, capture the ironical nullity of a marriage based on bullying tactics. There is an element of naïve desperation in the couple's shared space.

The writing is hard-hitting but relentless, supple and slender. There is ample room for innuendoes in the dialogues and situations.

"Antardwand" avoids the easy road to realism. The ambience does not depend on how the actors pitch the accent in the spoken word or their body language. Though these are authentic, it's the deeper malaise of a society buried neck-deep in prejudices and superstition that the director focuses on.

The camera work by Malay Ray is exploratory but non-judgemental. Scenes of characters moving in and out of dark old-fashioned interiors are shot without wallowing in symbolism.

The performances are thoughtful. Akhilendra Mishra and Vinay Pathak pitch into the ambience of rousing realism as the father of the bride and the kidnapped groom, respectively. Raj Singh as the precious groom last seen in Anurag Kashyap's "Gulaal" again reveals an admirable ability to blend into the bleeding fabric of mofussil mayhem.

The film is suffused with sincerely sketched characters. Jaya Bhattacharya as the bride's far-from-persecuted bhabhi (sister-in-law) and for that matter the unknown actor Dadhi Raj Paney who plays Akhilendra Mishra's faithful servant, bring a kind of fringe fertility into the storytelling.

The finale is self indulgent in its idealism. A society so breached by gender and caste biases cannot be lit up by a sudden beam of optimistic light.

But no harm in trying.

Antardwand is a commendable attempt to examine the underbelly of rural Bihar. It doesn't purport to shake up the status quo. The film only wants to remind us that we need to heal our collective social conscience before curing the discrepancies that feed into our dream of emerging from the darkness into the light.

Madonna 'refuses Mercy's father access'

Madonna has refused to allow a man said to be the father of her adopted daughter to visit the 4-year-old, after questioning the legitimacy of his claims.

The 52-year-old singer adopted daughter Mercy from a Malawi orphanage last year. James Kambewa has since come forward and requested a meeting with the child, saying that he is her biological father.

However, Madonna's spokeswoman Barbara Charone told the South African Sunday Times: "The extended family members had no knowledge of a father. The village leadership had no knowledge of a father... the mother was raped and left."

Kambewa, a 26-year-old waiter from Durban, initially opposed the adoption, but has since told newspapers that he is happy that Mercy is living with the star.

Mercy is the second child Madonna has adopted from the African country, after adopting son David in 2006 with ex-husband Guy Ritchie.

Monday, August 30, 2010

Lily Allen blasts cricket fixing reports

Lily Allen has said that she is "heartbroken" by allegations of fixing in high-profile cricket Test matches.

This weekend, the News of the World ran an expose accusing two members of the Pakistan international cricket team of rigging matches for a betting syndicate.

It was claimed that the pair agreed to deliberately throw "no-balls" at set stages of the game during matches against England.

Allen, who has spoken of her love for the sport in the past, posted a series of messages on Twitter expressing her dismay at the allegations.

The 25-year-old wrote: "I am heartbroken. If these allegations are true this is terribly disappointing... It's the kids I feel sorry for."

Paris Hilton 'faces felony drug charges'

Paris Hilton will reportedly be charged with felony possession of a controlled substance, according to court documents.

Hilton and boyfriend Cy Waits were arrested during a traffic stop on Friday for possession of a controlled substance, which was later confirmed to be .8 grams of cocaine, reports TMZ.

The heiress could face up to four years in prison if convicted. The standard sentence for the felony is one to four years in jail and a possible fine of up to $5,000 (£3,214).

Hilton earlier claimed that she did not own the drugs and that the bag in which cocaine was allegedly found was not hers.

Moore, Kutcher join Snoop Dogg on stage

Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher joined Snoop Dogg on stage this weekend, as they attended a gig in Las Vegas.

The couple were reportedly in the audience as Snoop Dogg was performing at the Fantasy Football Superdraft Weekend concert at Rain nightclub in Palms casino.

They then appeared on stage after an invite from the rapper, and danced and rapped with the 'California Gurls' star.

Kutcher told his Twitter followers the next day: "I think I injured my brain last night and I can't seem to find my voice."

50 Cent 'banned from Twitterpic'

Rapper 50 Cent was banned from using Twitterpic this week, after posting a series of sexually explicit images and tweets.

The Sun reports that the 35-year-old went on a "bizarre Twitter blitz" which resulted in his account being blocked.

At one point, the rapper posted a video of a blonde woman simulating a sex act with a sex toy with the caption: "Now see why I be mad bitches be faking Ima find girl in this clip and Ima marry this bitch and by happy like swiss (sic)."

Another tweet said: "What the f**k is every body laughin at This s**t aint funny I don't think I can stop doing this s**t feel like a crack head (sic)."

Later, fans of the Before I Self Destruct artist suggested that the account had been hacked. However, 50 Cent later admitted that his account access had been restricted by the site. He said: "Twitpic just suspended my account damn. They got 30mns to get it back or ima go haywire..

The rapper has since been reinstated on the site.

I have compassion for Lohan

Jamie Lee Curtis has revealed that she feels compassion for her former Freaky Friday co-star Lindsay Lohan.

Speaking to OK, Curtis noted that she did not know the facts of the case that recently saw Lohan serve a jail sentence, but she offered her best wishes.

"I just have compassion. I don't know anything about the facts of any of the cases," she said.

The actress added that living one's life in the spotlight from such an early age could be the root of Lohan's problems.

"What I have is compassion that a young child is thrown into the public eye and then has the media onslaught attached to it. Now, she's made choices, I've made choices. We all have to live with our choices. But I feel empathy," she said.

Curtis stated that she believed the "media circus" is to blame for much of the drastic behaviour that celebrities sometimes exhibit.

"These young people are thrust into a 24-7 camera and the thing that makes the press is the most exaggerated behaviours," she explained.

"So then they're thrown out there in this media circus - and I can never judge one of them because I don't know them, but I feel tremendous empathy for this overwhelming set of circumstances. I couldn't handle having a camera on me 24 hours a day."

Alexandra Burke plays WAG birthday gig

Alexandra Burke reportedly earned over £10,000 for playing a surprise birthday gig for England footballer Jamie Carragher's wife Nicola.

The X Factor winner was booked by England and Liverpool defender Carragher to perform at a surprise party for Nicola's 30th birthday. Team mate Steven Gerrard and his wife Alex Curran were expected to attend the event, held at the Hilton Hotel in Liverpool.

A source told The Sun: "Nicola is a big X Factor fan so Jamie thought it would be fun to book Alex.

"He agreed to pay a five figure sum for her to perform a short set."

Nicole Richie vets dad Lionel's partners

Lionel Richie has revealed that his daughter Nicole has made him promise not to date younger women, and insists on 'vetting' his prospective partners.

The 61-year-old singer told The Sun that he struggles to recognise women's ages. As a result, he relies on his children to help him decide whether his new girlfriends are suitable.

He said: "I find it so hard to distinguish women's ages now. You see a girl walking down the street and Nicole will say, 'Dad! That girl's 18 years old!' and I think, 'No way.'

"My children have to vet (my girlfriends) now. Nicole said to me a long while ago, 'Dad I won't date anyone your age if you don't date anyone my age. Deal?'"

Lady GaGa 'terrified of mobile phones'

Lady GaGa is reportedly scared of using mobile phones because she is worried about getting a brain tumour.

According to Bang Showbiz, the singer insists that a member of her entourage holds the phone away from her head during conversations.

A source said: "There have been various reports suggesting mobile phone use can increase your risk of developing cancer and brain tumours and even though there's no firm evidence, it really freaked her out.

"She's now insisting that whenever she makes a call, one of her team keys the numbers into her phone, then holds it up to her face so when she speaks it isn't too close to her head.

"She then listens to her calls on the speakerphone."

It is claimed that the 'Telephone' star has a series of bizarre requests, such as asking her security team to carry her to various locations because she only designates a certain amount of time each day for walking.

The source added: "Everyone around GaGa tries to tolerate her annoying and weird behaviour because they know it's likely to be just another phase."

Abbey Clancy 'asked to pose for Playboy'

Abbey Clancy has reportedly been asked to pose naked for Playboy magazine.

The model has been offered £160,000 to strip for the publication after bosses were pleased with the success of fellow Brit Kelly Brook's recent shoot, according to the Daily Star.

However, sources said that Clancy is "disappointed" at the fee she has been offered and is expecting at least £250,000 for the job. It is also claimed that she will only do the shoot if the photographs are tasteful.

An insider said: "Negotiations are in the early stages but a deal would be great news," adding that bosses are considering increasing their original offer.

Lara Bingle signs with new celeb agent

Lara Bingle has found a new manager.

The Australian swimwear model, who lost some of her contracts earlier this year after her nude photograph scandal and her subsequent split from cricketer Michael Clarke, has signed with Sydney-based celebrity and music agent Titus Day.

Day told The Daily Telegraph: "I'm absolutely thrilled to be given the chance to work with Lara. We are already looking at some very exciting opportunities for her."

Day's other clients include singer Guy Sebastian, Home and Away actor Axle Whitehead and television presenter Lyndsey Rodrigues.

Stepmothers are not always wicked

MUMBAI: Arjun Rampal, who plays a divorcee with three children in his upcoming film We Are Family, claims the film will break the image of the stepmom who is more often than not portrayed in a negative light in Indian productions.

Rampal comes from a broken home and declares from experience, “It’s the children who suffer. You will see what happens to children and that’s the message we are going to give through the film.”
“The film breaks the mould of the stereotype that stepmoms are like wicked witches, (which is) the way it has been portrayed on the silver screen so far. The film is not about that; it’s about the crisis (of divorce) and how love prevails over everything and finally, that new relationships can be made and I think that’s the beauty of the film.”

Produced by Karan Johar and directed by Siddharth Malhotra, We Are Family is a Hindi adaptation of the 1998 Hollywood hit Stepmom and Kareena Kapoor and Kajol reprise the roles of Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon respectively.

Johar went through the right channels to get the rights to make the film in Hindi, “The stories need to be told. It’s better to take it and be noble enough to say this is what we are adapting from, rather than calling it an original idea,” said Rampal.
The actor said it was not easy to act in an adaptation. “I think an adaptation is tougher because once you do it, comparisons are immediately drawn,” said Rampal. “This is not an easy film to act in. Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon hd given very strong performances, but it’s wonderful to see how Kajol and Kareena bring their own to their characters. They bring a lot more of themselves and change it around so much that it makes it so watchable, enduring and beautiful,” he said.

The 37-year-old actor, who recently starred in the political thriller Raajneeti, maintains men too have some responsibility in women-centric films. “There are some responsibilities on men in women-centric films; I hope I have fulfilled them. (Laughs) In the original Stepmom, Ed Harris played the character I am playing here and I think it was an older character and the way it was written, it had some restrictions. (However) the way Siddharth has interpreted characters in his film is a new part of the film and that is something which I really enjoyed doing,” said Rampal.
The National Award-winning actor, who has two daughters, found it easy to play a dad of three children. “It was really easy to play a father because I am a father myself. Karan, on seeing the film, said my body language with the children was fabulous,” said Rampal who teamed up with child actors Aanchal Munjal, Nominath Ginsburg and Diya Sonecha.

“I have seen how Kajol is with her daughter Nysa, very hands-on, very protective, she takes care of her every need and she is like that in the film as well. Kareena has no children (and so) her awkwardness in creating a relationship with kids came out very naturally.”

The film is scheduled to be released on September 2 and is the first film of director Siddharth Malhotra. “Siddharth was fantastic. He brought in so much dignity. This film could be very melodramatic (but) he has given it a lot of realism,” concluded Rampal. ians

Published in The Express Tribune, August 31st, 2010.

Celebrity Camp raises Rs300,000 for flood victims

PAKISTAN /LAHORE: Celebrity Camp at the Mall of Lahore collected Rs300,000 in some three hours for flood victims from the people who came to shop at the mall on Saturday night.

There was no entrance fee for the event and volunteers carried boxes to collect the donations. The organisers stood out dressed in white T-shirts urging people to donate for the flood victims.

The two-day camp was organised by a group of people from the fashion and entertainment world, who showed up at the event to ask shoppers to donate to the flood victims. Music bands including Lal, Roxen, Noori, Falak and singers Ali Sher, Noman Javed and Umer Nabeel performed on the occasion. Singer Ali Azmat and Fareeha Pervaiz also showed up at the event and asked people to donate money.

In addition to collecting funds, some celebrities also put on their belongings up for auction. A cricket ball belonging to Shoaib Akhtar was auctioned for Rs50,000, the highest bid among all things that went under the hammer. A shirt by the bowler was sold for Rs10,000. Outfits by Maria B went for around Rs40,000.
Designers Munib Nawaz, Khadija of Elan, Amna Haq, Ammar Belal and a few others also put their outfits on sale and donated the money for the flood victims.

Maria B, one of the main people behind the idea of the Celebrity Camp, told The Express Tribune that the idea to mobilise people to donate generously for the flood victims in such a way was ‘a novel concept’.
“This is a more of an awareness campaign rather than a fundraiser. We have been raising funds through different events, but this is a free event. The loss that we have sustained as a result of the floods is huge. We have to donate continuously till the people affected in the floods are rehabilitated. We will move to other cities and go to schools as well to raise funds for the flood victims,” she said.

Shoaib Akhter said that it was a difficult time for the country and added that people should donate generously. “I think this is a great idea to create awareness among the people to donate as much as they can. We should not just donate once and think we have played our role. We need to keep ourselves mobilised to deal with this natural calamity,” he added.
Singer Ali Sher who also performed at the event said that he had come to show his solidarity with the flood victims. “We should stand united and help our brothers and sisters who have lost their livelihoods in these floods,” he said.
“It is good to see a lot of celebrities here raising funds for the flood victims. We should all empathise with the pain of those who have suffered in the floods,” said Saira Ahmed, one of the shoppers.
Bilal Mukhtar of Bilal PR and Event Management said that the event was a success as a lot of people had shown up. “A good thing about this event is that it shows that we all stand together. Even though there wasn’t any ticket, considerable money has been raised from the shoppers,” he said.
Sarfaraz Niazi, of JBnJaws said that the camp aimed at raising awareness among the people to donate for the flood victims.

“We didn’t make it look like some concert because of Ramazan. We are already receiving calls from other cities who want us to go there and arrange similar fundraising events.

Another benefit of this camp has been that we have formed a panel of celebrities who are willing to do a lot to raise funds for the flood victims. We are planning to visit other cities after Eid,” he said. The funds collected from this celebrity camp will be donated to the army’s relief camp, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 30th, 2010.

Al Pacino wins Emmy for best actor

Hollywood veteran Al Pacino bagged the outstanding lead actor in a mini series or movie award at the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards.

Directed by Barry Levinson, the miniseries is about the life and work of physician-assisted suicide advocate Jack Kevorkian, which is played by Pacino.

Mick Jackson won the outstanding directing for a miniseries, movie or a dramatic special award for making the biopic Temple Grandin, about a woman with autism who revolutionised practices for the humane handling of livestock on cattle ranches and slaughter houses.

Avatar re-release fails at US box office

Acclaimed Hollywood filmmaker James Cameron's re-release of sci-fi epic movie Avatar has been reported a flop at the US box office at the weekend.

The horror film The Last Exorcism topped the box office chart, debuting with $21.3 million in earnings, followed closely by Takers, the crime drama starring Chris Brown, Hayden Christensen and Matt Dillon opening with $21 million, reports contactmusic.com.

Meanwhile, Cameron's 3-D special edition of Avatar, which included an extra nine minutes of footage, failed to draw cinemagoers in droves as it did last year. The film pulled up merely $4 million.

Sylvester Stallone's action hit The Expendables slipped to third place with $9.5 million, raising its three-week total to $82 million.

Rounding out the top five were Julia Roberts' feel-good film Eat Pray Love and Samuel L. Jackson's action comedy The Other Guys, taking in $7 million and $6.6 million respectively.

Celebrity Women Who Are Bisexual.....

Sexuality is often treated oddly by the media. Lesbians are often ‘sexed up’ for films and magazines, but real lesbians can face a hostile reaction. And bisexuals? Well, the press are either fascinated or disgusted. Media aside, however, it’s about time we celebrated the female form…how many of us slave over our exercise regimes and diet plans to look great for the Summer?! And whether it’s a sexual attraction or just an admiration, here are the eight stars who’ve admitted to loving women too.

1. Fergie
Black eyed peas lead singer Fergie has revealed she is bisexual, and has enjoyed lesbian relationships in the past. She’s always been a huge admirer of the female form, and in their latest video she even shoots some girl-on-girl action for the camera. I love the way she’s bold! I love her stage outfits, too, and have you ever seen her looking anything less then perfect?!

2. Megan Fox
Megan sent the tabloids into overdrive when she admitted to having a lesbian relationship with a stripper when she was 18, but she also controversially admitted that she doesn’t like bisexual women. “I could never be with a woman who had been with a man.” Ah…well, never the less, the Transformers star says she is a man-only woman now anyway.

3. Nelly Furtado
The ‘Maneater’ and ‘Promiscuous’ singer has recently admitted she loves the female form just as much as the male, and says she believes everyone is inherently bisexual. It certainlt got the rumour mill going! And looking like she does, I bet she’ll have no shortage of female admirers, too. “I believe what Kurt Cobain said that in the end, everyone is gay. Everybody should have the freedom to experiment. Sexual experiment is part of human history!”

4.Drew Barrymore
I love Drew…she has such gorgeous features, and she’s so too the point! There was no does she/doesn’t she when she was questioned about her preferences, with Drew freely saying, “Do I like women sexually? Yes I do. Totally.” Bold AND beautiful, Drew’s fantastic! She went on to describe her feelings, “I think a woman and a woman together are beautiful, just as a man and woman together are beautiful.”

5.Lindsey Lohan
I think Lindsey’s a stunner, and she certainly set the tabloids alive when she started a relationship with DJ Samantha Ronson. The media were convinced it was a publicity stunt, but the two really did suit each other, and the break up clearly left Lohan broken. “I appreciate people, and it doesn’t matter who they are, and I feel blessed to be able to feel comfortable enough with myself to say that.” Go Lindsey!

6. Pink
I was surprised to hear Pink talking about her bisexuality, after her marriage to biker Carey broke down.. “I would also be just as happy with a new woman. I’m not complicated, I sing about love in all its shapes, forms and colours.” She revealed. Although rumour has it that she has recently renwed her vows, so she might me a one-man-only woman now!

7. Lady Gaga
A relatively new star, Lady Gaga has done an amazing job of making women feel sexually liberated, and showing it is acceptable.

She claimed her hit single Poker Face was about bisexuality, and said, “I’m girl-crazy too. It really depends on where I am. I love men, I love women and I love sex.” Well said!

8. Angelina Jolie
“Can you imagine Lara Croft as a lesbian? At the end of the day, I really like women. I’d love it if the girls in the cinema watching Lara Croft find me just as hot as their boyfriends do.” So while she might be one half of one of the most famous couples in the world, Angelina certainly isn’t a man-only women, and has even admitted a fling with female co star Jenny Shimizu. So there’s hope for all of us Angelina admirers yet!

How empowering are these women?! Whether you are bisexual or straight, everyone can admire the female form, and having these women doing it in public is a great way to raise awareness and help women to feel sexually liberated. After all, this is the 21st Century, ladies! Can you think of a bisexual celebrity I’ve forgotten? I’d love to add them!

Shakira's Crack Exposed

Colombian born singer Shakira was photographed a few days ago while dancing at the beach and shaking her big round booty for one of her music videos.
That shouldn't be news, though. Except that during her butt quaking activities, she managed to expose her butt crack. Now that's something worth writing about!

There's been a lot of plumbing-like activity going on in the entertainment world lately, with lots of celebrities showing their ass cracks, but if you're to compare asses and asses, and cracks and cracks, Shakira's ass crack will definitely come on top.

Now that's one tight hard Latin ass and one sweet looking crack!

Hello Darling

A blatant copy of Hollywood film of the 80s, Nine To Five, Hello Darling is for those who enjoyed comedies like Kya Kool Hain Hum and Apna Sapna Money Money.

Sat (Eesha) comes to Mumbai for a job from Haryana. She joins a fashion house headed by Harddick Vasu (Javed Jaffrey), a lecherous boss who leaves no chance in sexually harassing his employees. Though married to a devoted wife Purvi (Divya Dutta) Vasu is philandering and harassing his female employees.

Also, working in his office are Candy (Celina) as his personal secretary and Manasi (Gul Panag) as a senior manager. They two are fed up of his constant passes. Sat joins Manasi and Candy to teach him a lesson.

Circumstances lead to Manasi accidentally pouring rat kill powder instead of coffee meant for Vasu. Vasu collapses but it is because of his chair falling down. But the three ladies mistook him for dead and the chaos that follows leads them to stealing a wrong dead body from the hospital thinking its Vasu's.

Meanwhile Vasu captures this all on his mobile video camera and blackmails them into spending a week with him at a hill station. The three ladies have no option but to say yes to him but with a condition that he will spend the seven days in Manasi's house instead.

What plan do the three ladies have in store for Vasu and what all it leads to forms the rest of the film.

The film is full of double intender jokes and one-liners that amuse you at times but don't really entertain. While the first half is quiet pacy and hilarious at places, the pace drops considerably after Vasu's visit to Manasi's house.

Nothing much happens in the second half and it simply drags. The climax too is unnecessarily stretched and the entry of Sunny Deol (in a cameo) doesn't add much.

One wonders why his voice appears dubbed by a mimicry artist. The whole section of Chunky Pandey being mistaken as Divya Dutta's hubby and kidnapped by Seema Biswas's hench men is howlarious at first but then gets repetitive.

While Javed Jaffrey enacts his part well he doesn't appear lecherous from any angle. He however gets his comic timing perfect. Gul Panag, Eesha and Celina all three have managed to do their job well.

Eesha especially displays a better comic timing than the rest two. Chunky Pandey as Celina's unfortunate boy friend in a desi Elvis avatar is first rate. Divya Dutta is endearing.

Music by Pritam is nothing worth to rave about and the only passable song being the redoux version of yesteryears super hit track Aa Jaane Jaa.

Hello Darling seems to be aimed completely at the front benchers. Watch it if you like corny humour.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Sherawat 'not interested in Dhamaal fee'

Mallika Sherawat does not care what fee she earns for the sequel to Dhamaal, according to reports.

The actress has apparently said that she is not interested in what she gets paid for Double Dhamaal because she gets to work with Sanjay Dutt.

It has been alleged that Sherawat normally requests a fee of around 10 million rupees (£140,000) per movie.

Real Bollywood claimed that the film's producer Ashok Thakeria asked Sherawat what fee she wanted and she said that "she is just delighted to be a part of such popular film like Dhamaal and that too with Sanjay Dutt".

Kagna Ranaut to play British detective

Kangna Ranaut has described playing a British girl in her forthcoming film as her hardest role yet.

The 23-year-old actress will be playing an Interpol officer in director Abhay Deol's The Game, the The Times of India has reported.

Ranaut told the paper: "It was challenging to prepare for this role of a British girl from London who is actually quite like a man in many ways."

According to the star, producers Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar were initially planning to cast a man in the role.

"I had to make sure that I got the body language perfect. There is nothing romantic or sensual about this Interpol officer. Yet my director didn't want to go overboard with the stiffness and appear like too masculine," she added.

Kate Moss ends Topshop partnership

Kate Moss has announced that she will no longer create clothes for Topshop.

The model has decided to end her partnership with the brand after three years of designing for the British retailer, reports Contactmusic.

Label boss Philip Green dismissed rumours that Moss's departure was caused by a rift between the two, stating: "There have been no dramas and we don't need a new muse. There is only one Kate and we are not looking for a replacement.

"Kate has done 14 collections with us. It has been fantastic for us and fantastic for her, but they take more and more time and she cannot do this full-time any more because she has other commitments."

Moss is due to unveil her final collection for Topshop in October.

Praying for hit film

Eesha Koppikhar has reportedly been showing more religious observance in order to make her next film a hit.

The Right Yaa Wrong actress is planning to spend the night at a temple sweeping the floor and cooking food for the poor, the Mumbai Mirror has reported.

According to the paper, she is hoping that divine intervention will make Hello, Darling a hit.

She has also been seen visiting the Golden Temple in Amritsar and the Kali Ghat in Kolkota.

The film, out this week and co-starring Celina Jaitley, will feature Koppikhar as an advertising executive keen to get her own back on her sleazy boss.

Aashayein

This is a film about coping with dying. But that’s not what makes it such a special experience. It’s the writer- director’s profound understanding of human nature that furnishes the simple story with a lucidity and coherence even when the protagonist’s mind is so numbed by physical pain he can barely think straight.

Aashayein is structured as a journey from a bright delusory light into a place where the radiance comes from a consciousness of why mortality is not to be feared.

In John Abraham’s eyes are mapped the entire history of the human heart, its follies and foibles as it struggles to make coherest the indecipherable logistics that define our journey across that bridge which everyone crosses from this world to the next.

As that very fine actress Prateeksha Lonkar (a Kukunoor favourite) says, “The only difference between the healthy and the ill is that the former don’t know when they are dying and the latter do.”

Between that state of blissful oblivion where we all think life is forever (and a day) and that one moment when our delusions come crashing down there resides some very fine cinema. Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Anand where Rajesh Khanna smiled his way though that wobbly bridge taking us to the next world, is an interesting reference point in Aashayein.

I also thought of the actress Supriya Choudhary shouting into the dispassionate mists in the mountains, “I want to live.”The echoes reverberate all the way to Kukunoor’s heartwarming funny and elegiac exposition on the truth that lies on the other side of that illusory mountain we call life. Kukunoor pays a homage to life per se, and life as we know in the movies about death.

Even in the most poignant places in the art Kukunoor ferrets out some humour.When John’s lovely girlfriend (Sonal Sehgal) hunts him down in his exilic place of the dying John quips, “So you are not going to behave like one of those heroines in films who dumps the dying hero?”

The fantasy element creeps into the hospice (yes, that’s the spotless space that the story inhabits unostentatiously) with the least amount of fuss. There’s a little boy (the bright and expressive Ashwin Chaitale) who weaves mystical tales borrowed from the comicbooks for the desperate and the dying. Here Kukunoor brings in an element of rakish adventure borrowed from the edgy hijinks of Indian Jones.

Who says money can’t buy love? John uses bundles of cash to bring a smile into these doomed lives. When he doubles up with pain in womb-like postures of helplessness we feel his pain.

John in Harrison Ford’s hat and whip cuts a starry figure. He has never been more fetchingly photographed. John’s smile reaches his eyes, makes its way to his heart and then to ours. This film opens new doors in John’s histrionic hospice.It’s a performance that heals and nurtures.

John’s finest moments are reserved for a hot-tempered sharp-tongued 17-year old girl on a wheelchair, played with intuitive warmth by Anaitha Nayar. He guides the relationship between these two unlikely comrades of unwellness with brilliant restrain and candour.She wants him to make love.He does with his eyes using his unshed tears as lyrical lubricant.

Here is a performance that defines the character through immense measures of unspoken anguish. Rajesh Khanna in Anand? Nope. John pitches his performance at a more wry and cynical world where true feelings are often smothered in worldly sprints across a wounded civilization.

This is unarguably Kukunoor’s most sensitive and moving work since Iqbal. We often find little sobs pounding at the base of our stomachs. Not all the characters or situations are fully formed and fructified.

But even the partly-realized truths in Aashayein convey more common sense and uncommon affection for life than the “entertainers” of today’s cinema where laughter is generated through cracks in places very far removed from the heart.

Robert Pattinson to play Angelina Jolie's son?

Twilight star Robert Pattinson might be seen playing actress Angelina Jolie's son in a new movie. Jolie is said to be in talks to star in the new Clint Eastwood-directed movie Unforgiven. The movie is about a woman's attempt to rejoin society after she serves a 15-year prison stretch for the murder of two policemen. The tragedy happened after the policemen came to evict her family from their farmhouse, Deadline Hollywood reported.

Her hope is to live quietly and reunite with her troubled younger sister, but the paroled woman is targeted for a revenge campaign by two sons of one of her victims.

The project is being developed with Jolie in mind; but she has not committed to it yet.

According to sources, Pattinson is in talks to play one of Jolie's vengeful sons.

The 24-year-old actor had also recently gone to see the actress' new film, Salt, with his agent.