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The Michael Jackson’s song 'We Are the World,' that raised over 30 millions US dollars for African humanitarian programs 25 years ago was redone by popular artistes of the world today including our own A R Rahman to raise funds for Haitian earthquake relief. The 25th Anniversary recording featured over 80 artists and performers. The new version embodied the same passion, determination and bigheartedness as the original recording 25 years ago. The song was recorded on February 1st, 2010, in the same studio as the original 25 years earlier. None of the singers from the original were included except for the late Michael Jackson joined by his sister Janet. The star-studded video was premiered on February 12 during the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics at Vancouver. Quincy Jones and Lionel Richie brought artists from different genre for this remake. "We Are the World 25 for Haiti" is one of the most diverse and successful charitable collaborations in history.

We have already reported that sensational Nayantara has signed a Kannada film to be directed by Upendra, who will also play the lead role. This film, titled Symbol, Nayantara's first in Kannada, was launched at the Mahalakshmi temple recently in Bangalore. After capturing the hearts of Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam audiences, this lissome lass is all set to make a mark in Sandalwood too. Symbol will be produced by Rockline Venkatesh. At present, Nayantara is busy with Boss Engira Baskaran in Tamil and Simha in Telugu. The latest we hear is that the film will be completed in 100 days in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai and some European Countries. Apart from the heroine Nayantara, another top actress is expected to make a special appearancein the movie that will also introduce 20 new faces. The film is also expected to be a pure entertainer with high class quality.

French veteran Gerard Depardieu charmed audiences in his latest film "Mammuth" with his depiction of a lumbering, hairy anti-hero who re-discovers the poetry in life after retiring. In the tragi-comic French movie, which premiered at the Berlin film festival on Friday, Mammuth retires from his job in a slaughterhouse but needs to gather the necessary paperwork from former employers to be able to claim his pension. A road trip with a bureaucratic mission soon turns into a spiritual journey, as he encounters former friends, managers and long-lost family members. Mammuth comes to realise that society has always regarded him as an uncultivated, bumbling idiot. An unexpected encounter with his wildly eccentric young niece however proves to be his redemption as she teaches him to be free, creative and careless of social judgment. "Gerard's character does not rebel violently," Benoit Delepine, who directed the film together with Gustave Kervern, said at a news conferen

A documentary that explores gaps in U.S. security from the point of view of a whistleblower who had spotted problems before the 9/11 attacks made its debut on Friday at the Berlin film festival. "S.O.S./State of Security" follows the travails of former White House security adviser Richard Clarke, depicted as a Kennedy-era idealist whose cries went unheeded. In the film, Clarke, who famously apologised to victims for government failure to prevent the 2001 attacks on New York and Washington attributed to Al Qaeda, criticises over-reliance by intelligence experts on technology. "Good security is all about having good people and good critical dialogue," he said following the screening. "The only way to make progress is to expose these problems as much as possible." Making its world premiere at the festival, the documentary takes potshots at the administration of former U.S. President George W. Bush and includes interviews filmed in close up with former and cur

Oscar-winner Sean Penn, as infamous for problems with paparazzi as he is famous for acting, has been charged with two crimes after a run-in with a photographer last year and could face jail time if convicted, Los Angeles prosecutors said on Friday. Penn, 49, was charged with misdemeanour battery and vandalism after allegedly kicking a photographer in the leg and breaking his camera last October at an upscale shopping centre in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles, the city attorney's office said. The incident was caught on video and shown on celebrity news website TMZ.com. Penn, who won Oscars for his roles in "Mystic River" and the 2008 movie "Milk," faces a maximum of 18 months behind bars if convicted, city attorney's office spokesman Frank Matelijan said. He is due to make a first court appearance on March 22. Los Angeles County prosecutors had earlier declined to file charges against Penn, saying they did not believe the case merited felony charges. Penn h

Galloping 'Veer' is gonna have the ride of his life. On a Hercules bicycle, if you please! Mumbai will host India's largest cycling event together with 'Being Human', Salman Khan's NGO which aims to elevate facilities in education and healthcare. The Mumbai chapter of the 'BSA Hercules India Cyclothon' (Feb 21,2010) is being touted as a "community ride which will promote the practice of cycling in the city." Cyclists, working professionals, house spouses and children too are expected to take part in the racy cyclothon, which will be kicked off with Khan's starry presence. "I loved to cycle as a child," revealed Khan at a Press con. "It was my dad who taught me cycling. In fact, even as I was learning to cycle with my dad holding my cycle, my mom called out to him. Absent mindedly, he let me go as he turned to answer her, but I went ahead… I had learnt to cycle! I used to cycle to the medical store to fetch medicines for dad.&

He's on a racy roll after 'Rock On!!'. Farhan Akhtar successfully toured many cities in India for his 'Rock On For Humanity' charity concerts. However, the second edition of the charity concerts will have to be put on hold… until 2011 end, as his directing and acting agenda will take up a huge chunk of Akhtar's time. New plans include taking the concerts to cities in the Middle East and Europe, to create awareness and raise funds for charity. And encouraging young talent is a top priority for Akhtar. "That is the call of the hour in Bollywood," asserts Akhtar in a tabloid talk. "Young filmmakers have a lot of talent which needs to be tapped. There is no safe formula for making a movie. Promoting fresh talent will make the industry a more lively and exuberant place."

Lucky Ali's tuneful turns may not have caused ripples lately. Though, the singer succeeded in fulfilling the wishes of many of his followers on the social networking site Twitter, when he met them in person recently, becoming the first Indian celebrity to do so. Lucky, who recently released his new album 'Xsuie' completely and exclusively online, discussed his musical journey and how he got hooked on to twitter. "I first used Twitter on my iPhone in Mauritius. And it soon became an addiction as the best way to reach out to my fans quickly. This is not a medium for me to sell my music, but to connect with my music lovers," he said. Lucky also narrated a few humourous anecdotes and jammed with his fans on one of his favourite songs 'Tu Kaun Hai', much to their delight.

This film is packed with involving performances, even though Jackson takes a bloated approach to what should be a quietly emotional drama. And in the end, the production design is so lush that it swamps the story's themes. In 1973, Susie (Ronan) is a happy 14-year-old just beginning to blossom. Her crush on a fellow student (Ritchie) is about to culminate in her first kiss, but she's instead brutally murdered by a creepy neighbour (Tucci). Her parents (Wahlberg and Weisz) are distraught, and Grandma (Sarandon) needs to come help care for Susie's younger siblings (McIver and Christian Thomas Ashdale). Susie watches all of this from "my heaven", longing for her parents to recover their balance and aching for some form of revenge. The central theme is that Susie's yearning for vengeance is preventing her parents from moving on, and it's also keeping her from resting in peace. As the months and years pass, she struggles to let go of her connections to her fami

A double love story based on real events from the life of Leo Tolstoy, this period film combines comedy and emotion in a way that's always entertaining, even if it sometimes feels camp and contrived. Valentin (McAvoy) is a young Tolstoyan in 1910 assigned by the movement's leader Chertkov (Giamatti) to keep an eye on Leo Tolstoy (Plummer) and his sceptical wife Sofya (Mirren). But what Valentin finds is a lively, loving marriage that's strong enough to include opposing views. This isn't good enough for Chertkov, who moves to get Leo to change his will to leave everything to the movement. Which of course enrages Sofya. Meanwhile, Valentin is experiencing his first flush of love with a Tolstoyan commune resident (Condon). The film often seems like a three-way acting smackdown between Mirren, Plummer and Giamatti. Mirren shreds every scene as the tightly wound Sofya, who erupts with hilariously raw rage at every perceived injustice. Fortunately, Mirren anchors this with vu

Made two years before the similarly themed Avatar, this original, vividly designed sci-fi animation makes an astute commentary on current issues. And this depth of feeling more than makes up for the relatively slack pace and thin characters. When a giant ship of humans arrives at an isolated planet, they don't really understand that the residents are living in peace with nature and others. So they launch an all-out attack on the world they have named Terra. But a feisty local named Mala (Wood) stands up to them, teaming up with crash-landed earthling Stanton (Wilson) and his robot sidekick (Cross). And earth's General Hemmer (Cox) is more than happy to indulge in annihilation top get his hands on this planet. There's a reason for this carnage: both species can't breathe the same air, so by "terraforming" the planet into an oxygen-based world, the inhabitants will die. The filmmakers actually grapple with this moral conundrum, even if they never get too deep ab

Like Tender Mercies, which won an Oscar for producer-costar Duvall, this film feels like the cherry on top of Jeff Bridges' fine career, giving him a terrific character who carries us through a fairly straightforward story of regret and redemption. Bad Blake (Bridges) is a successful 57-year-old musician whose career and personal life have been derailed by alcoholism. Playing to bowling alleys and bars across New Mexico, he's interviewed by a journalist Jean (Gyllenhaal) and is surprised when a spark of attraction develops between them. His next stop is Phoenix, where he plays a gig with former band member Tommy Sweet (Farrell), who's now a mega-star but hasn't forgotten the debt he owes to Bad. The question is whether Bad can get himself together long enough to make either relationship work. Bridges fully inhabits this character as he transforms himself into a Kris Kristofferson-like figure--wry and sardonic with a charming twinkle in his eye even as he's wondering

There's so much going on in between the lines of this film that it can seem almost overwhelming to watch. But gifted filmmaker Martel has crafted an unnervingly internalised thriller for adventurous moviegoers. When Veronica (Onetto), a respected wife and mother, hits something with her car, she starts to become disconnected from the bustling, well-heeled European society she lives in, haunted by the indigenous people living around the edges of her life. This is clearly caused by guilt, but is that due to her affair with an in-law (Genoud) or the fact that she may have killed someone. As her mental confusion grows, her husband (Bordon) and lover seem to close ranks around her to make everything right again. Every element in this film is carefully planted to leave us clues that help us understand what is really happening. This isn't particularly easy to know, since we are seeing everything through Veronica's muddled perspective. And even in the end, it will take a bit of th

Actress-turned-filmmaker Morton shows a remarkable confidence as director of this intensely personal drama, which is loosely based on her own experiences. And even though the story wobbles along the way, it's a vital, involving film. Lucy (Windsor) is an 11-year-old living with her father (Carlyle) in Nottingham. But when a schoolteacher discovers that she has been violently beaten, she's placed in a care home, sharing a room with 16-year-old tearaway Lauren (Socha). Lauren takes Lucy on several rather illicit outings, constantly landing the pair in trouble. And when Lucy wonders why she can't live with her mother (Lynch), her social worker (Stacey) only says that it's not possible. Surely someone somewhere must want her. Morton's directing approach is intensely visual, using angles, colour and light to throw us into the situation from Lucy's vulnerable perspective. For example, in the opening scene when her father stands up in anger, he appear

Bringing out a film is not a child’s game. To promote and release it in right way involves lot of, er, politics, we say… While some bank on the intimate scenes to create a hype around their film, Prakash Jha doesn’t think so. The filmmaker’s multi-starrer political saga ‘Rajneeti’ had been in the gossip circles for its sizzling scenes between Ranbir Kapoor and American co-star Sarah Thompson. However, the director prefers to keep them low and away from the promotional strategies. Sources who saw few cuts of ‘Rajneeti’ felt that the intimate scenes between the two actors are far more hot than the steamy scenes of Hrithik Roshan-Barbara Mori in ‘Kites’. While some aides of Jha had advised him to make use of the chemistry to promote ‘Rajneeti’, Jha rubbished them saying that such tactics are used by those who feel their films are weak in content. Even Ranbir said to have agreed on the same lines and felt that the love-making scenes shouldn’t be a bridge to attract the audi

If things work out as planned then we will soon see this hot couple of B-town on screens, churning out some comedy… According to our birdies, director Anil Sharma, the man behind Veer, will next give out a comedy film, featuring Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif. It is heard that before staring on mega-budget period film, the director had plans to give a hilarious project. However, after Salman pressed on with ‘Veer’, Anil left behind his plans. Now that everything is well settled, the director is gearing to bring up the romantic-comedy film. And he seems to be confident that this project will be his one of the best. We really hope these rumours materialize… After all who wouldn’t want to see this real-life couple on screen…

And finally the news is out from the camp of this Boney Kapoor production… The hot jodi which grabbed the attention of one and all with smash hit ‘Jab We Met’ earlier, will be back on the screens soon. Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor starrer ‘Milenge Milenge’ which had been sitting on the shelf all these days, will finally see a worldwide release on 2nd April 2010. The film had been on a hold for long due to various reasons, and one of them being the couple’s break-up. ‘Milenge Milenge’ is directed by Satish Kaushik while the music is by Himmesh Reshammiya. Let’s wait to see how the ex-couple sets off the sparks now…

The sizzling chemistry between Hrithik Roshan and Barbara Mori which had leaked in the net circles was lapped in by several, making Rakesh Roshan’s ‘Kites’ the most awaited film. However here’s a buzz that will disappoint many... The intimate scenes might help to boost the film, but producer Rakesh Roshan doesn’t want to take any chances, especially with the Indian version. ‘Kites’ which has two versions – Hindi and English – won’t be carrying any of the hot scenes in the desi one, sources revealed. While the film was on the editing table, Roshan felt that it would be better to do away with the intimate scenes in the Hindi version. Brett Ratner, who is editing the English version, suggested that the scenes between Hrithik and Barbara are way too bold for the Indian audience and had asked Rakesh Roshan to either completely delete or at least water down the passionate scenes in the Hindi version. Also, they felt that the intimate scenes between the lead pair should not b

After all the hype and hoopla, Aamir Khan has finally withdrawn his resignation from the HRD ministry in lieu of the recent controversy regarding the altercation between him and renowned lyricist Javed Akhtar. Aamir reconsidered his decision only after the intervention of the HRD Minister Kapil Sibal. Aamir, in his letter to Sibal, said, "I have given a lot of thought to your request to take back my resignation and be a part of my committee. I have also read the letter of the other members have written to you reiterating their faith in me. The amendment to the Copyright Act (of 1957) is an extremely important process, indeed historic. In light of the above, I take back my resignation." Sibal had told Aamir to reconsider his decision after he quit from the panel earlier this week.

No sooner that the controversy around SRK's comments on Pakistani cricket players has settled down, the ac tor finds himself in yet another controversy related to the IPL. This time round, it's the courtesy of inner wear brand Lux Cozy, of which, SRK is the recently appointed brand ambassador. The story goes that, since SRK is the brand ambassador of the said brand, it was rest understood as to they will be sponsoring the uniforms for Khan's T-20 team Kolkata Knight Riders, besides a monetary angle of course. All was well so far. Now the twist in the tale is that the Lux Company is owned by the Todi brothers (Ashok and Pradip). They are the same Todi brothers who were charged with apparently leading to the suicide of computer graphics designer Rizwanur Rehman, a Muslim, after he married Ashok Todi's daughter Priyanka, who was a Hindu by religion. This news had made it to the national headlines and remained atop for quite sometime. This 'sponsorship'

Filmmaker Sangeeth Sivan is pleased that finally he has a horror film to his name. Though he has Sandhya (Jackie Shroff, Raveena Tandon and Ashutosh Rana) ready for close to a decade now, this horror flick has been lying in cans ever since then and never saw the light of the day. While Sangeeth did get recognition from successful films like Kya Kool Hain Hum and Apna Sapna Money Money , he decided to come out of his comfort zone and chose horror as the genre for his first production Click . "The idea was to jolt people at least twice in those two hours of Click ", says Sangeeth in his trademark animated tone a day after the release of the film, "I am told that people are reacting at just the right junctures and as long as that is happening, I am happy." The film hasn't opened on a positive note at the box office though the reviews have been mostly positive with word of mouth (from whatever number of people who are watching the flick) encouragi

It's been a week since Karan Johar's My Name Is Khan released and while the film is breaking records and earning praise for the performance of its main protagonists played by Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol, three is yet another actor who is quietly basking in the adulation coming his way. We are talking about the talented and versatile Jimmy Sheirgill who once again excels in a strong character role playing SRK's younger brother. Bollywood Hungama 's Nikhil Ramsubramaniam got in touch with Jimmy and spoke to him about MNIK and his forthcoming films. Read on! When My Name Is Khan opened last Friday, a lot of people were surprised to see you in the film since you were not seen in the promos at all. What do you have to say about that? Well...these things do not bother me. The strategy of who should feature in the promos and who shouldn't is entirely the makers' prerogative. Everyone knew that SRK and Kajol are the main protagonists of the film. Having

Gone are the days when you had to slog and sweat yourself in the gym to get a dream body like your favorite film stars. These days, if you want to 'ape' your stars and acquire a chiseled body like them, do nothing but simply arm yourself with an internet connection and a 'twitter' account! Sounds crazy? Well, the fact is that the 'Brand Ambassador of Dream Physique' department aka Hrithik Roshan, has been tweeting these days sharing all about health and fitness tips. We are sure that after reading this, all of you are going to immediately jam up the twitter server by logging onto it. But for the impatient ones, here's what Hrithik has to say (an insight) which includes his favorite health supplements and a few exercises, that will keep your entire body in trim shape! If you are a regular on his tweets, you will not be surprised if we call him Dr. Hrithik! But for the uninitiated lot, Hrithik has been giving health and fitness tips on Twitter.

It's the other film this week Click that's meant to be a horror flick. But Toh Baat Pakki is a bigger horror than anything this week, or in any recent week. To think that the divine Tabu stars in it makes the blood boil. On paper the idea of playing the busybody housewife Rajeshwari who seems to have only one mission in life, namely to see her sister (newcomer Yuvika) married off, must have sounded like an exciting new character to explore for the brilliant actress. Alas, Tabu had not bargained for the mundane situations and the pedestrian dialogues that her character is put into. Baat Pakki is one of those tragic comedies that don't elicit a hint of humour. If Basu Chatterjee lost the plot, he would probably have turned up with this listless ode to the middle-of-the-road movies of the 1970s. This middle-of-the-roader gets stranded in the middle of nowhere. The plot is intrinsically bereft of ingenuity. The direction is plodding and strained most of t

It's been a hectic time for Hema Malini. She's been producing a film for her daughter Esha under impossible weather conditions and back-breaking schedules in different parts of the world. Last week she had to rush with her cast and crew to Goa to shoot the carnival there. Said Hema, "The Goa shoot was not supposed to happen now. But we needed to shoot the carnival which was held from February 13-16. So we preponed the schedule that was to happen later in the year and rushed to Goa last week. Now we'll have to go back to Goa later." On Saturday, Hema had to travel from Goa to Patna for a dance recital which she had committed to perform before the unscheduled Goan trip. However, she hadn't bargained for being put in what Shashi Tharoor so picturesquely described as the 'cattle classes'. Giggles the danseuse-actress, "There was no business class in the flight to Patna. I had to sit in economy. I didn't mind at all. But the people

While the Ministry of Human Resource & Development is working on the amendments to the Copyright Act 1957, several issues and concerns have been raised and discussed in print, media and on the Internet that is based on speculation and has created a cloud of uncertainty, anxiety and concern for people in the Media & Entertainment Industry and more particularly music companies and owners of copyright in music and films. Most concerning speculations that have spread in the industry are regarding amending the copyright laws to make them oriented selectively in line with certain (though not all) western jurisdictions and Bollywood Hungama believes that we as committed members of the Industry, must distinguish the Indian situation from that of other countries. Even within the developed world, there are very significant differences between the copyright laws and traditions of different countries. Creation, Production & Promotion of Music: The Indian Experience v