Bollywood Celebrity News

I'm fine now: Aishwarya Rai ...
By Subhash K. Jha, Indo-Asian News Service

Mumbai, (IANS) The humour is intact and Aishwarya Rai is very much back in action after injuring herself while rehearsing for the film "Guru".
"The saga isn't exactly the way it's made out to be," Ash says and laughs a little feebly about the accident that occurred Friday in Badami in Karnataka.
"But since I was filming in Badami where communication is low, the injury did become an event," Ash told IANS.
She narrates what happened. "It was after pack-up, and I was still in my ghagra-choli costume. I was riding around on a vintage wobbly bicycle in the hotel's uneven grounds for practice. I guess I was doing a bend when I encountered an unfriendly khadda (pothole), which was looking for action. I braked. But not in time.
"It all happened in seconds. Before I could get off, the cycle tipped over to the right and fell. In the process my right hand got injured. I guess it was an accident waiting to happen. It took the hotel guys forever to extricate me. The metal protrusion was like a knife. It made three deep gashes in my finger."
She laughs. "You know me. I didn't make much of it. But people around told me to stop. And told me to go to my room. The fingers bled a lot. And the visual was bloody. Hence the gory saga in parts of the media, I guess."
Ash gives the locals full marks for hospitality.
"Such sweet people, eager to help, both the civilians and docs made me forget my pain. But you've to give me credit for being brave. I had to take a tetanus shot and the wounds have to be dressed. They (the wounds) are now a character in 'Guru'."
This is Aishwarya's second injury and a far less serious one. She had been badly injured on the sets of Raj Kumar Santoshi's "Khakee" two years ago.
"I guess someone somewhere really likes me. I'm back to work. It's the love, care and concern of the people that did the healing so fast. It was overwhelming. I want to thank all my well wishers." Read More....

Hollywood Celebrity News

Bermuda Long and Shorts: Notes from the Bermuda International Film Festival
By Scott Huver, Hollywood.com Staff

With a full roster of intriguing films, a refreshing absence of the too-routine festival “swag” invasion and the presence of one bona fide superstar (namely Michael Douglas, who has a home in Bermuda with his wife Catherine Zeta-Jones and their children), the 9th Annual Bermuda International Film Festival continues to emerge as an intimate and increasingly significant launch pad for an array of movies audiences are sure to be talking about in the months to come, all set against a charming and incredibly hospitable island backdrop. Among the standouts were the Australian entry The Proposition–director John Hillcoat’s harrowing tale of a trio of outlaw brothers in the 1880s Outback in which the middle brother must track and kill his psychotic elder sibling in order to save the youngest from the gallows–which won the Mary-Jean Mitchell Green Award for Best Narrative Feature. Hillcoat took home a $5,000 cash prize. “We were impressed with the provocative portrait of The Proposition, of whether the human race can overcome its base need for violence,” said jury chair Peter Riegert, the veteran character actor seen in Local Hero and Traffic and perhaps best known for his iconic role as Boone in the comedy classic Animal House. “All the elements–cinematography, writing, acting and direction–made this a compelling and horrific look at that question.” Riegert’s fellow juror, actress Laura Harring (Mulholland Drive, TV’s The Shield) said the film’s “stillness and pacing made me feel that I was transported to the past,” while her the third jurist, Daily Variety film critic Robert Koehler said “the film has an elegant narrative structure and that, combined with its visceral quality, made it a complete experience. It is a classical western.” The festival’s Audience Choice Award went to the closing night film, the immensely crowd-pleasing British film Kinky Boots, first-time director Julian Jarrold’s uplifting comedy about the reluctant heir (Joel Edgerton) to a floundering Northampton shoe factory who sets out to save the family business by specializing in an unusual niche market: thigh-high stiletto heels designed especially for drag queens, thanks to the help of the flamboyant cross-dressing cabaret performer Lola, played with gusto by the astonishing Chiwetel Ejiofor. Read More....

Pakistan Entertainment News

Bollywood Fever in Pakistan- Despite 'Offical Ban'
Posted by hinna / 31. December 1969, 17:59

The debate is out on what really is going on in Pakistan with regards to the Hindi film ban. It is common knowledge that the Pakistani Government has imposed a ban on Hindi / Bollywood movies as it claims that they have a 'corrupting influence' on the Islamic culture and the local film industry. Cinema theatres are rapidly declining in Pakistan as films are not allowed to be imported or shown. But ask the real people, the audience, the common man, the children, the families and it is a very different story. When I was visiting Pakistan, Shah Rukh Khan was to the Pakistanis somewhat of a national icon! So what really is going on here? Well according to a leading Pakistani Movie critic Aijaz Gul he quotes as saying ' There is not a single town, a single village, a single 'mohalla' (Neighbourhood) where Indian Films and television are not been seen.' It is known that some one somewhere will always crack the system and it is well known, I for one have seen it myself that at times certain DVDS and Cds are available in Pakistan before release even in Mumbai! So now with the aid of cable operators how far can this ban really hold out? 300 Rs a month will get you a least a dozen Hindi movies over the period of a month, and now popular Indian soaps such as 'Kyun ke Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi' are shown via satellite. The subject remains diviided and in an unusual twist Pakistani actress Meera who has now moved over to Bollywood is supporting the ban. Surely she is contradicting herself in a big way? Well for someone who was highly involved in a joint Indo-Pak project namely the film 'Nazar' she has changed her mind and thinks that Indian movies reflect a culture and mindset that is different to Pakistani Cultures and Values. Many are shocked are by her recent opinions especially those from the Bhatt camp, who have worked extremely hard in sealing the gap between the two nations and its division via the film industry. Eyebrows are raised at the fact that could it be that Meera has to swallow her pride? Her second Bollywood movie 'Kasak' has failed miserably at the box office and was declared a flop, so maybe after all she has to back her country? She currently has a few more Bollywood movies in the pipeline lets and wait and see what the outcome is. It won't really end there, it can't the craze for Bollywood in Pakistan is much larger and apparent than any one really knows. Two Pakistani FM channels broadcast Hindi film songs everyday. For the older genration there is no mistaking that Amitabh Bachchan holds a special place in their hearts and for the younger generation it can be non other than Shah Rukh Khan. Other popular and favourite actors and actresses are : Aamir Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Rani Mukherjee, Juhi Chawla and Sunny Deol. The Bollywood craze is sweeping Pakistan slowly but surely it is creeping in, and yes both India and Pakistan are two different countries with diffferent opinions and views on things. Sameena Ahmed from the International Crisis group (Pakistan Chapter) explained 'India and Pakistan enjoy two distinct identites. There is no doubt about that. But it does not mean people cannot appreciate each other's culture . Indeed, this is a very healthy sign.' She quoted.