My Little Princess Bags Top Honours At The 13th Mumbai Film Festival

The 13th Mumbai Film Festival, a Reliance entertainment initiative organized by Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI) that kick started on 13th October, concluded this evening, after showcasing over 200 films from 60 countries across various sections at its three venues- Cinemax Versova, Cinemax Sion and Metro Big Cinemas.

The gala eight day affair came to an end with its closing film Dolphin's Tale directed by Charles Martin Smith starring Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd amongst others which was followed by the closing night awards function event at 'Sun n Sand' hosted by actress Essha Koppikhar. The event witnessed numerous celebrities that include award winning International and Indian actors, directors and producers.

The International lifetime achievement award was given to Morgan Freeman and Indian lifetime achievement award was given to Gulzar.

In the International Competition category, The Golden Gateway Award and cash prize of US $ 100,000 for The Best Film was presented to French film My Little Princess directed by Eva Ionesco. The Silver Gateway Award for Jury Grand Prize and cash prize of US $ 50,000 was presented to Canadian film The Salesman (Le Vendeur) directed by Sebastien Pilote. The Silver Gateway Award for Best Director was presented to Eva Ionesco for the movie My Little Princess. The Silver Gateway Award for Best Actress was presented to Isabelle Huppert and Anamaria Vartolomei for their performance in the film My Little Princess. The Silver Gateway Award for Best Actor was presented to Gilbert Sicotte for his performance in The Salesman (Le Vendeur). The Silver Gateway Jury Award for Technical Excellence was presented to Diego Poleri for Las Acacias. The Silver Gateway Special Jury Award was presented to Markus Schleinzer for Michael.

In the Celebrate Age category, The Silver Gateway Award and cash prize of Rs. 50,000 for The Best Film was presented toGrandma, A Thousand Times (Teta, Alf Marra) directed by Mahmoud Kaabour. The Silver Gateway Award and cash prize of Rs. 25,000 for the Second Best Film was given to Fear of Falling directed by Bartosz Konopka. The Celebrate Age Jury Award Certificate of Special Mention was given to Zubin Sethna for The Usual (Wie Immer).

In the Dimensions Mumbai category, The Silver Gateway Award and cash prize of Rs. 100,000 for The Best Film was presented to Ameya Gore and Sunaina Mahadik for Facelift. The Silver Gateway Award and cash prize of Rs. 50,000 for The Second Best Film was presented to Abhay Kumar for Life is a Beach. The Jury Special Mention Award was given to Chinmaya Nagesh Dalvi for Bombay Snow and to Harshvir Oberai for The Circle Is Mine.

The Mumbai Young Critics Silver Gateway Award was presented to Markus Schleinzer for Michael.

Olivia Harrison attended the festival for two days to present George Harrison: Living In The Material World along with editor David Tedeschi. She was pleased to be in India and remarked that life has come a full circle for her because George loved India and she is in India showcasing this movie at the Mumbai Film Festival and this is actually the last festival screening for the movie.

The Festival this year also continued its endeavour to facilitate cinema business with the Mumbai Film Mart, created 'by' the industry, 'for' the industry, 'in' the industry hub - Mumbai, the Film Capital of India. The Mumbai Film Mart saw participation from the biggest Entertainment Industry players, both from India and abroad. In the three days, over 2,000 meeting requests were received, 400 meetings were carried out face to face, while an equal number took place among the senior decision makers from leading film production houses, buyers, sellers, festival programmers and independent filmmakers as they milled around and networked with each other.

Among the many firsts, the Mart attracted all the forthcoming big ticket films such as Ra.One, Don 2, Rockstar, Ladies v/s Ricky Bahl, The Dirty Picture, Desi Boyz, tabled for acquisition and distribution in the non-traditional markets for Indian Cinema in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, Germany, France and Latin America. The focus on these countries attracted leading buyers that included Huayi Brothers Media Corp. (China), NikkatsuCorp.(Japan), Happinet Corp.(Japan), Showbox (Korea), Apex Entertainment (Korea), CJ Entertainment (Korea), Top Films (Ukraine), Novo films (France), Rapid Eye (Germany), IM Global (USA), amongst many others.

The Festival strengthened and consolidated its academic activities with an Indo-German Script Development Workshop scheduled from 11th to the 13th of October just ahead of the festival opening. Speakers at the workshop include the renowned directors Dani Levy, Thorsten Schulz, Screenwriters Anjum Rajabali and Sooni Taraporevala amongst others. For the Young creative minds selected for the Mumbai Young Critics initiative, they were mentored by film maker Vikramaditya Motwane and leading Indian film critics over a two day long session. Furthermore, Master classes on advertising by Jury President Hugh Hudson and daily Open Forums with noted industry speakers discussing various topics ranging from were scheduled around the Film Festival screenings.

Over a lakh of people watched the films making it the largest festival held in India so far. Regular attendees of the festival included Yash Chopra, Pamela Chopra, Shyam Benegal, Ramesh Sippy, Kiran Juneja, Rohan Sippy, Kiran Rao, Anurag Kashyap, Vikramadiya Motwane, Onir, Sanjay Suri, Ranvir Shorey, Shahana Goswami, Satish Kaushik, Rakesh Bedi, Kanwaljit Singh Brijesh Hirjee, Rajat Barmecha, Meiyang Chang, Pravesh Rana, Sharbani Mukherjee amongst many others.


Source: http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/news/2011/10/21/16525/index.html

Veena Malik Plays Sex Worker In Zindagi 50-50

Veena Malik, who is this time in Mumbai for a very secret project, is uncharacteristically tight lipped. After all the controversial activities on Bigg Boss and shooting an item song for a film, Veena has bagged the biographical role a sex worker from Mumbai named Madhuri who has been moonlighting as a sex worker for years to support her family. The actress has been in Mumbai very quietly meeting sex workers; particularly Madhuri on whom her character in a film called Zindagi 50-50 is based.

Veena has been visiting Mumbai to prepare and shoot for her part. "Main sach boloon aapko? This film has changed my life and my attitude to women and sex workers in particular. When director Sanjay Ruia came to me, he wanted me to play another role in Zindagi 50-50. I insisted on playing Madhuri. Koi connect hai. Koi link…I don't know what it was. But I instantly empathized with Madhuri's responsibilities towards her large family. Maybe because I come from a family of five daughters and one son. But I understand what it feels like to be a woman in a male-dominated society. I've always supported myself, been on my own."

Veena spent hours with Madhuri, got to know about her dual life. "In the daytime, she's a normal middleclass girl. In the night, she puts on her burqa and goes to work in the red-light area, just like any normal working-girl. I loved the dignity that Madhuri brings to her life and her work. I hope I am able to convey the same dignity in my performance."

The role has encouraged Veena to work towards the betterment of the lives of sex workers. "We've rules, laws, organizations and activists fighting for animal welfare. But who cares about the sex workers? I am appalled by the way they live in the red-light areas, not just in India but across Asia. These women deserve a much better life."


Source: http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/news/2011/10/21/16527/index.html

Anil Kapoor To Be Seen In The New Theatrical Trailer Of MI-4

Anil Kapoor's absence from the first teaser of Mission Impoosible-4 had broken hearts of many fans in India. However, the makers had strategized in a manner that the first teaser would only be about Tom Cruise and Anil Kapoor would be introduced at a later stage.

Now fans of Anil Kapoor can rejoice as the actor will be seen in the official worldwide theatrical trailer launching on Oct 23 across the globe.

The makers have been working for last 30 days to fine tune and crystallize the theatrical trailer since it's a much awaited promo.

Anil's official spokesperson confirms the same, "Yes Anil is in theatrical trailer to be launched on Oct 23. No one has seen the theatrical yet as it is kept completely under wraps. However, the internal marketing team have been calling Anil sir and telling how good the theatrical is looking."


Source: http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/news/2011/10/21/16526/index.html

Amitabh Bachchan Is The Only Don Says SRK!!

For the Badshah Khan, Bollywood’s Shahenshah, Amitabh Bachchan is the one and only real superstar. SRK was in complete awe of Big B. He says Amit ji is the only superstar of the industry.

Talking about his upcoming film Don 2, SRK says, “Our intention of doing Don was to pay tribute to Amitabh ji.” He also specifies on the fact that there can be no other Don greater than Amitabh Bachchan.
“I hope Amit ji likes Don 2. I am blessed to be born in the period of Amit ji. I want to experience all his great works. I am a huge fan of his masterpieces such as Don, Sholay and Namak Halaal,” He added.

Kaun Banega Crorepati’ fans are in for a treat, when they get to see two superstars of Bollywood, Amitabh Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan, share screen space.

Source: http://bollywood.celebden.com/

Rani Finally Finds The Man With Whom She Can Spend Her Entire Life

Rani Mukherjee speaks out her heart on Simi Garewal’s show, India’s Most Desirable and the actress reveals some of her deepest secrets. She even confesses to the world that yes she is in love.

Did Rani experience romantic love? Rani Mukherjee said, “Yes, I have”. The actress has found the love of her life and is very sure to spend the rest of her life with him. However, she refuses to reveal the name and has asked all her eager fans to wait and watch.

She also says among all her co stars like Kamal Haasan, Saif Ali Khan, Aamir Khan, etc, she shared the best on screen kiss with Abhishek Bachchan. She wasn’t hesitant to admit to the fact that Shahrukh Khan is the only actor she was physically attracted to.

Wah Rani! you’ve vomited quite a few secretive secrets to your fans.

Source: http://bollywood.celebden.com/

Ranbir Cares A Lot For Deepika

Former flames Deepika Padukone and Ranbir Kapoor are quite comfortable with each other even post break up. The duo will be working together in Ayan Mukherjee’s film Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani. The most amazing part is that RK is not reluctant about romancing DP on big screen.

Talking to a daily, Ranbir Kapoor reveals about his relationship with Deepika, before and after their breakup.

Ranbir puts it in this way: “Never harbour negativity.” Ranbir still cares for his ex .“I’ve grown up as a person with her, which is why I never share intimate details of our relationship with anyone. I have to ensure her future doesn’t get into trouble because of our past. I’d be really happy to see her settled some day.”

Ayan Mukherjee’s movie Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani is about age romance. It’s about how urban youngsters treat love nowadays, the crazy things they do when they fall for each other, etc, etc. Katrina Kaif was Ayan’s first choice. However now, Deepika is confirmed to be playing the leading lady in the film.

Source: http://bollywood.celebden.com/

Sonam Kapoor Fires Back At Ranbir Kapoor And Abhay Deol!!

Looks like Sonam Kapoor is yet to settle scores with Ranbir Kapoor and Abhay Deol.

In one of the chat shows, the actress openly said that she did not find Ranbir Kapoor sexy. To this, Ranbir recently replied, “I didn’t feel that bad. I know Sonam since childhood and I will always be fond of her. She is a bit of a drama queen but I like her. If she doesn’t find me sexy it is okay, she has the courage to say that on a public platform.”

The fact that RK called Sonam a “drama queen”, did not go down well with the actress. She immediately got back at Ranbir saying, “I am an actress, darling. If I don’t do drama, who else will? It’s good to be a drama queen. Most of the biggest actresses have done a lot of drama.”

Now, coming to Abhay Deol, the spat between Sonam, Abhay and Anil Kapoor, during the shooting of Aisha is very well known to all. In an interview with a magazine, when Sonam was asked who her favourite co-star till date was, Sonam sarcastically, replied Abhay is the best actor she has worked with!

Well, was it for real Sonam???

Source: http://bollywood.celebden.com/