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Rituparno Ghosh isn't only a film director. He has edited a widely-read Bengali magazine for a number of years. He has served as costume designer, art director and an all-purpose all-in-one man-on-the-spot on his sets. He has even dubbed some emotional dialogues for some of his superstar leading ladies from Mumbai when they've not been able to get their dramatic pitch right. But his latest role as a lyric writer for Deepa Mehta has taken everyone by surprise. The Toronto-based filmmaker has asked her prolific colleague from Kolkata to write a song, and that too in the Bihari Brij Bhasha , for her Amitabh Bachchan period epic Kamagata Maru to be filmed next year. Exults Deepa, "I think Rituparno is a wonderful human being and an astonishing filmmaker. But when I heard his songs in the Brij Bhasha sung by Shubha Mudgal for Raincoat which he had written I knew I had found my lyricist for Kamagata Maru . The song will be filmed on a homesick nostalgia-driven Bihari travel

The promotion of the Aamir Khan starrer TAARE ZAMEEN PAR has commenced. The interesting promo depicts a number of kids in various moods and you instantly know that [a] The film will have a riveting story to tell and [b] Besides grown-ups, the film will lure kids in hordes. Slated for release on 21st December, Aamir’s film will now clash with another film that’s targeted at all age groups, mainly children -- HANUMAN RETURNS. Initially slated for 28th December release, HANUMAN RETURNS has been preponed by one week, on 21st December now. Which means, this Christmas, the movieplexes will reverberate with sights and sounds of kids from 6 to 60.

While Jab We Met is the hottest film at the box office today, it's music has been one of the best sellers in the last one month. A mix of dance numbers and soft songs have been judiciously created by composer Pritam with director Imtiaz Ali being involved at all stages of the music creation. Says Imtiaz, "Music plays a very important part in Jab We Met since a lot is achieved through the tunes that play throughout the narrative. In fact, Aditya, the character played by Shahid, is shown to be a repressed musician. It is the journey he takes with Kareena and the events that unfold which brings out this musical aspect of his. He does what he probably hadn't done for quite some time. This is why music had to be special here." Talking fondly about Pritam, he continues, "I have known Pritam for quite some time but we are coming together for the first time in Jab We Met . Believe me, he has pumped the blood of his heart into the compositions. Do you know that he wa

No Smoking released yesterday with very high expectations. However, the film received lot of bad from the film critics, most of them rating the film with a single star (which obviously means bad). Anurag Kashyap, the director of No Smoking was not very happy looking at the way people bad mouthed his film in their reviews. Hence, he posted his response to the reviews and most importantly the “reviewers” in a very “colorful” language on his personal blog. Following are the excerpts of what Anurag had to say: “Sitting in rome reading the extreme reactions and reviews.. Khalid reviewed me and not the film and from his review all i can say is neither has he read “Quitter's inc” nor has he seen “cat's eye”.. he just read the comments on PFC.. and i will say to him is , “Ch**iye tu retire ho ja , tera time khatam.” Rajeev masand's POV is quite fair.. he expected a lot..probably another black friday but he is an honest man.. his review was more anger than criticism .. only th

I swear on my favourite noire film I tried very hard to like No Smoking. But at the end of the ordeal it seemed a nation of smokers was preferable to a film that preaches no smoking with such opaque wisdom. Initially, I giggled at the spousal banter between the chain smoker (John Abraham) and his rather disgruntled wife (Ayesha Takia). They made a kinetic pair. Director Anurag Kashyap is good at portraying spousal conflict. Scenes from his marriage (including an inventive bedroom interlude where we see the girl's hand and the guy coughing his way to sexual non-performance) reminds one of Basu Bhattacharya's Aavishkar . "What do you want for our anniversary?" asks the arrogant husband who looks at the mirror as though it was his crystal ball while she looks at him as though he was a self-absorbed oddball. "Divorce," she suggests. Cure to divorce? Quit smoking. So far, so tongue-in-cheek. But then the cheek goes into the shriek. The trick was to attire the

Gandhi-ji's favorite Vaishnav Jan To resounded through Harvard yard - the message of peace and love brought to life in Gujarati and English for all to understand. And thus, a new era was born at Harvard. It was the occasion of Harvard's 28th Presidential Installation, and in its nearly 400-year history, this ceremony was one of many first - the first Harvard President of the 21st century, the first woman President ever, and presidency aside, the first time this ceremony attempted to represent Harvard's diverse student body. President Drew Faust managed the first two, while Sonu Nigam and Harvard Sangeet became the face of the last transformation. Throughout his visit, Sonu-ji was stopped frequently by adoring South Asian fans wherever he went. By the end of his stay though, just hours after his performance, a palpable change had occurred. Now non-Indians and Indians alike, congratulated and gestured to him from afar. We at Sangeet noticed it, as did Sonu-ji and in that j

What does one expect from a book that titles 'SRK - King Khan'? Something which is larger than size, justifies the 'baadshah' image of 'supreme Khan' through each of it's letters, carries a certain grandeur with itself, gives a reader more than what he/she would have probably 'wanted' to know, throw in a few surprises and turns out to be an 'I-can't-resist-to-see-what's-in-store-in-the-next-page' experience! Are these expectations justified? Certainly yes! After all nothing less can be bargained for when it comes to Shah Rukh Khan. To add to it, when the (oh-so-glossy and impressive) cover of a book shows Shah Rukh stationed on a couch and killing you with a stare even if it is concealed behind those dark shades and the writer is renowned journalist, critic, columnist, editor, author and screenwriter Deepa Gahlot, you don't wait for your coffee to be served before you dig your eyes into the first chapter. Surprisingly, the exper

Celebrity publicist Dale Bhagwagar answers your queries from a PR point of view. Send in your questions with your name and city to askdale@indiafm.com . SHEFALI TALUKDAR, MUMBAI: Om Shanti Om' and 'Saawariya' are heading for a much-hyped clash. Will their box-office collections match up to the magnanimity of their publicity campaigns? Or are we going to see a repeat of last years' 'Don' v/s 'Jaaneman' scenario? DALE: Very good question. Let's analyze from the track-record point of view first. Sanjay Leela Bhansali has given us 'Khamoshi - The Musical', 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam', 'Devdas' and 'Black' in the past… all films with superstars in the leading cast. This is the first time he has taken on the mantle of launching new faces. In that sense, 'Saawariya' is a true challenge for the maker. Coming to Farah Khan, she has the success of 'Main Hoon Na' behind her. But the m

Click to Listen to the audio Amitabh Bachchan exclusive interview He is known as the Big B of the Indian Cinema. If he was born before the invention of the alphabets ABCD, we are sure that the alphabets would have started with BACD…such is his impact not only on the Indian cinema, but also on the international scene. Bachchan was on BBC Radio recently, where has was interviewed and he spoke not just Bollywood, but, much beyond that! Presented here are the transcripts of this exiting in depth interview with none other than the Big B of Bollywood! Over to you Sir…. When will you be acting with Dharmendra again? You have some good movies together like Ram Balram and Chupke Chupke. That is an interesting question; we were neighbors, Dharamji and myself. And we are very close friends but we haven't had an opportunity for a very long time. And I would like to believe that this request goes out to many producers out in India, hopefully they would do something. I will be delighte

First week collections of Bhool Bhulaiyaa are out and the film has established it's status as a box office success. While the film is a definite hit, it has to be seen if it achieves the superhit status before Om Shanti Om and Saawariya strike on 9th November. Film has accumulated huge moolah from all major centers while doing good business across the A, B and C centers of the country. Mumbai has been terrific for this Akshay Kumar starrer with collections crossing the 4.5 crores mark. Even in Delhi, the film has broken the 2.5 crores barrier with NCR further contributing more than 1 crore. Even in Ahmedabad, another major center for Bollywood biggies, the film did very good business by netting more than 1 crore. With such tremendous collections to boast, this Priyadarshan directed flick has grossed 12 crores as per reported centres, just from the domestic market in it's opening week. Even overseas have great collections to show, hence re-establishing Akshay Kumar's ho

All actors do interviews to promote their films. The date and time is fixed, and then an hour before the appointment, the PR girl calls to say, “No personal questions please.” There is more torture ahead. As you turn the Dictaphone on, the actor will switch off. You have no option but to use third degree to get him to say anything. After that tiring endeavor, you return to your laptop and work hard to make him 'look good' to his eager fans out there. Shahrukh is probably the only actor in the country who makes you look good when you interview him. For weeks, people will call you to gush about what a great interview it was. However, you cannot take credit. It is all SRK. Here, King Khan talks about his upcoming film, about being pitted against Saawariya, about being apolitical and more… read on. Even before the release of Om Shanti Om ( OSO ), you have made a huge profit. We have made good money with OSO . Going by the reports, I have already made 85 crores for the film. If

She's made a dynamic leap from an assistant director to Bollywood's newest discovery - but for Sonam Kapoor, the sudden rise to fame and fortune hasn't come without a price. Right from her childhood, she was totally unaware of how the Indian Film Industry functions. Bollywood wasn't her cup of tea, she never attended parties with father Anil Kapoor and now her link up's with Ranbir are doing the rounds. Whatever it is, one thing is certain, this exquisitely beautiful Kapoor girl has learnt quite quickly how to deal with the intense interest surrounding her. Devansh Patel speaks to the fresh face that's about to blossom with her debut release Saawariya come November 9. The countdown of this year's most awaited film and the most awaited debutants have begun. How are you feeling at this present moment? I am feeling a riot of emotions. I'm excited, anxious, nervous, happy... too many things yaar! Don’t ask me. It's chaos in my system right now.