Shakira is looking forward to starting a family with her long-term fiance Antonio De La Rua. The singer is hoping to settle down but needs to fulfill her commitments first.
"Do I have any plans for children? Little wolves? Yeah, of course. I'd really like to have kids, but first I need to go on tour and release this new album - and then we can sit down and talk about it," Contactmusic quoted her as saying.
The 33-year-old star told the Big Issue magazine that even though she and Antonio got engaged over four years ago, marriage is no longer high on her list of priorities.
"Maybe 15 years ago, I'd dream about wearing a white gown, a wedding cake and a room full of guests and me feeding them canapés," she said.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Stars take the hit after films flopped
It’s official. With film producers pressing for a reduction in their movie’s budgets, many leading actors have taken a cut in their fees. In fact, the cut in salaries has percolated down to all levels including directors, technicians and even extras.
Shailendra Singh, managing director of Percept Pictures, says, “The fees of stars had reached unprecedented levels. In some cases, even 90% of a film’s budget went into paying the stars. We have been lobbying and pressing for a correction for a long time. So now I am glad that it is happening finally. The stars are finally getting to learn that a fee cut is the only option left for everybody to survive in this volatile market.”
Confirming the development, a senior official at IDBI Bank says, “The film fund size was Rs500 crore (last year) and we had increased it to Rs1,000 crore (for this financial year). Again, we are thinking of reducing it to the original size (Rs500 crore) as film budgets have shrunk. This is because around 80 per cent of the cost of making a movie is acting fees. We are hearing that these have come down to reasonable levels now.” IDBI is one of thebanks in India that maintains a substantial corpus of funds to be invested in Bollywood.
Producer Vipul Shah says, “Some corporations in their bid to nudge out the independent producers had made obscene payments to a few stars. The stars were obviously happy to take the money home. Now, after most of their films have flopped, they have been left with no other option but to reduce their fees drastically. I know this for a fact that Akshay Kumar, Salman Khan and Ajay Devgn have dropped their prices by several notches to help producers.”
During the course of an earlier interview, Salman had said, “I am always there for my friends. If I think that me doing something will help them then I am willing to go that extra mile. I always try to accommodate a request and I will not charge exorbitant prices ever.” Salman was speaking before his last film Veer’s release.
Shailendra Singh, managing director of Percept Pictures, says, “The fees of stars had reached unprecedented levels. In some cases, even 90% of a film’s budget went into paying the stars. We have been lobbying and pressing for a correction for a long time. So now I am glad that it is happening finally. The stars are finally getting to learn that a fee cut is the only option left for everybody to survive in this volatile market.”
Confirming the development, a senior official at IDBI Bank says, “The film fund size was Rs500 crore (last year) and we had increased it to Rs1,000 crore (for this financial year). Again, we are thinking of reducing it to the original size (Rs500 crore) as film budgets have shrunk. This is because around 80 per cent of the cost of making a movie is acting fees. We are hearing that these have come down to reasonable levels now.” IDBI is one of thebanks in India that maintains a substantial corpus of funds to be invested in Bollywood.
Producer Vipul Shah says, “Some corporations in their bid to nudge out the independent producers had made obscene payments to a few stars. The stars were obviously happy to take the money home. Now, after most of their films have flopped, they have been left with no other option but to reduce their fees drastically. I know this for a fact that Akshay Kumar, Salman Khan and Ajay Devgn have dropped their prices by several notches to help producers.”
During the course of an earlier interview, Salman had said, “I am always there for my friends. If I think that me doing something will help them then I am willing to go that extra mile. I always try to accommodate a request and I will not charge exorbitant prices ever.” Salman was speaking before his last film Veer’s release.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
MGR's birth anniversary celebrated in Chennai
Processions, garlanding of statues and distribution of sweets marked the 93rd birth anniversary of founder-leader of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and late Tamil Nadu chief minister MG Ramachandran (MGR), in the state today.
AIADMK general secretary Jayalalithaa garlanded MGR's statue and distributed sweets at the party headquarters.
Deputy chief minister MK Stalin paid floral tributes to the late leader.
MGR, who died 23 years ago, was born in Kandy, Sri Lanka in 1917, and his family moved to India a few years later. Poverty compelled him to join theatre at the early age of seven, and then enter the movie business as an actor.
Depicted in his films as saviour of the underprivileged which endeared him to the masses, MGR was the numero uno of Tamil cinema before he took the plunge into politics in 1953, joining the DMK.
He floated the AIADMK in 1972, and became Tamil Nadu chief minister in 1977, defeating the Karunanidhi-led DMK, and continued in the post till he died following cardiac arrest in 1987.
The leader is remembered by people for many of his social welfare schemes, including the free mid-day meal scheme for school children.
MGR's death saw his party split into two factions, one led by his widow Janaki and another by Jayalalithaa, who had acted as his heroine in over 50 movies. After the 1989 assembly polls, both factions merged under Jayalalithaa's leadership.
AIADMK general secretary Jayalalithaa garlanded MGR's statue and distributed sweets at the party headquarters.
Deputy chief minister MK Stalin paid floral tributes to the late leader.
MGR, who died 23 years ago, was born in Kandy, Sri Lanka in 1917, and his family moved to India a few years later. Poverty compelled him to join theatre at the early age of seven, and then enter the movie business as an actor.
Depicted in his films as saviour of the underprivileged which endeared him to the masses, MGR was the numero uno of Tamil cinema before he took the plunge into politics in 1953, joining the DMK.
He floated the AIADMK in 1972, and became Tamil Nadu chief minister in 1977, defeating the Karunanidhi-led DMK, and continued in the post till he died following cardiac arrest in 1987.
The leader is remembered by people for many of his social welfare schemes, including the free mid-day meal scheme for school children.
MGR's death saw his party split into two factions, one led by his widow Janaki and another by Jayalalithaa, who had acted as his heroine in over 50 movies. After the 1989 assembly polls, both factions merged under Jayalalithaa's leadership.
James Cameron eyes Australia for next film
Hollywood director James Cameron is set to make Australia his next stop to oversee his ongoing film project after the phenomenal success of Avatar.
The Oscar-winner is presently involved with the $30-million psychological thriller Sanctum that is being shot in Gold Coast.
The Titanic filmmaker, serving as executive producer, praised Australian director Alister Grierson for his talent with the lens.
"I am actually coming down to the set in a couple of weeks, and I am going to stay there through the underwater shoot," Herald Sun quoted Cameron as saying.
"They are doing great. Alister Grierson is a really talented director – his first film was Kokoda. I would be proud if that was my third film," he added.
The Oscar-winner is presently involved with the $30-million psychological thriller Sanctum that is being shot in Gold Coast.
The Titanic filmmaker, serving as executive producer, praised Australian director Alister Grierson for his talent with the lens.
"I am actually coming down to the set in a couple of weeks, and I am going to stay there through the underwater shoot," Herald Sun quoted Cameron as saying.
"They are doing great. Alister Grierson is a really talented director – his first film was Kokoda. I would be proud if that was my third film," he added.
Satyajit Ray's private eye Feluda enters new arena
Satyajit Ray's super detective Feluda is going great guns.
Created in 1965, the Charminar cigarette-puffing private eye, whose real name is Prodosh Kumar Mitter, will now feature in an animated series.
This is another stint for Feluda, who has had a successful stint on the silver screen, besides being a novel and comic book hero.
Hyderabad-based production and distribution group DQE will produce an animated tele-movie and TV series based on the adventures of Feluda, who teams up with his cousin Topshe and friend Lalmohan Ganguli to capture devious culprits and solve puzzling mysteries.
According to DQE chairman and CEO Tapaas Chakravarti, "We have confirmed acquisition for Indian broadcasting in several languages from a leading global broadcaster, and this has been a huge affirmation that these stories will be received well by audiences."
The Kathmandu Caper is the first animated tele-movie being adapted and written for animation in London by famous children's writer, Charles Hodges.
The tele-film revolves around the kidnap of a stranger in the neighbourhood which leads Feluda, Topshe, his friend Jatayu and Bones, their wily dog, to Kathmandu.
Last year, publishers Penguin under its Puffin imprint brought out the exploits of Feluda in comic format.
The titles were A Bagful of Mystery, Beware in the Graveyard and Murder By the Sea.
The comic strips were scripted by Subhadra Sen Gupta with illustrations by Tapas Guha.
"These great stories deal with eternal themes – loyalty, greed and courage... all we did was make them visually contemporary, so that kids relate to them better. We have not touched the plots, they are all Ray's," says Subhadra.
According to her, beyond occasionally changing the location from inside to outside, no changes to the original scripts were made at all. "Ray being a filmmaker and artist wrote very visually, giving detailed descriptions and also taking the stories to all sorts of locations, and that made the stories ideal for a comic strip," she says.
"We grew up reading Feluda, and the miracle is that he is now a part of our lives, and he and the other characters feels very real to us."
In A Bagful of Mystery, Feluda's client Dinanath Lahiri has a strange problem. On a train from Delhi to Kolkata, someone has taken his bag and replaced it with an identical one. The action-packed search by Feluda and his sidekicks take them through the busy streets of Kolkata and Delhi and into the final dangerous climax on the snowy slopes of the Simla hills.
Created in 1965, the Charminar cigarette-puffing private eye, whose real name is Prodosh Kumar Mitter, will now feature in an animated series.
This is another stint for Feluda, who has had a successful stint on the silver screen, besides being a novel and comic book hero.
Hyderabad-based production and distribution group DQE will produce an animated tele-movie and TV series based on the adventures of Feluda, who teams up with his cousin Topshe and friend Lalmohan Ganguli to capture devious culprits and solve puzzling mysteries.
According to DQE chairman and CEO Tapaas Chakravarti, "We have confirmed acquisition for Indian broadcasting in several languages from a leading global broadcaster, and this has been a huge affirmation that these stories will be received well by audiences."
The Kathmandu Caper is the first animated tele-movie being adapted and written for animation in London by famous children's writer, Charles Hodges.
The tele-film revolves around the kidnap of a stranger in the neighbourhood which leads Feluda, Topshe, his friend Jatayu and Bones, their wily dog, to Kathmandu.
Last year, publishers Penguin under its Puffin imprint brought out the exploits of Feluda in comic format.
The titles were A Bagful of Mystery, Beware in the Graveyard and Murder By the Sea.
The comic strips were scripted by Subhadra Sen Gupta with illustrations by Tapas Guha.
"These great stories deal with eternal themes – loyalty, greed and courage... all we did was make them visually contemporary, so that kids relate to them better. We have not touched the plots, they are all Ray's," says Subhadra.
According to her, beyond occasionally changing the location from inside to outside, no changes to the original scripts were made at all. "Ray being a filmmaker and artist wrote very visually, giving detailed descriptions and also taking the stories to all sorts of locations, and that made the stories ideal for a comic strip," she says.
"We grew up reading Feluda, and the miracle is that he is now a part of our lives, and he and the other characters feels very real to us."
In A Bagful of Mystery, Feluda's client Dinanath Lahiri has a strange problem. On a train from Delhi to Kolkata, someone has taken his bag and replaced it with an identical one. The action-packed search by Feluda and his sidekicks take them through the busy streets of Kolkata and Delhi and into the final dangerous climax on the snowy slopes of the Simla hills.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Haunting music for Celina Jaitley's upcoming thriller
The eerie sound of rushes of water amidst the melody and haunting music is the stamp of genius of Magna Film’s midas composer Raju Singh. Who developed the sound, music, mood, backdrop and energetic harmony in Magna Film’s latest release Accident on Hill Road. The latest Magna Films production, promises to entertain, thrill and ignite emotions of passion, danger and lust in this fast-paced murder scenerio.
The music for the film composed by Raju Singh is energetic, emotional and supremely melodious.The music is composed by Raju Singh (who has done most of the background scores for Mahesh Bhatt's productions as well as Anurag Basu's films).
“There is only one song in the film — ‘Nasha Nasha', sung by Sonu Nigam, with lyrics by Sandeep Nath. The song is integral to the storyline — it is played in a lounge club where Celina and Abhimanyu are drinking and dancing. It is the drinking that causes the accident,” says Mahesh.
The music for the film composed by Raju Singh is energetic, emotional and supremely melodious.The music is composed by Raju Singh (who has done most of the background scores for Mahesh Bhatt's productions as well as Anurag Basu's films).
“There is only one song in the film — ‘Nasha Nasha', sung by Sonu Nigam, with lyrics by Sandeep Nath. The song is integral to the storyline — it is played in a lounge club where Celina and Abhimanyu are drinking and dancing. It is the drinking that causes the accident,” says Mahesh.
Celina to perform at Country Club on New Year's Eve
Bollywood actress Celina Jaitley will be performing at Country Club here on New Year's Eve, and not at JW Marriott as per earlier reports.
As per Celina's representative there was some mis-communication about the venue.
"There have been confusing reports recently about my performance on Dec 31. I would therefore like to clarify that I will be performing at Country club and not JW Marriot,"
As per Celina's representative there was some mis-communication about the venue.
"There have been confusing reports recently about my performance on Dec 31. I would therefore like to clarify that I will be performing at Country club and not JW Marriot,"
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