From billboards to Madhuri Husain's love affair with cinema

Indian artist M.F. Husain's undying passion for art was also manifest in a long love affair with cinema. From painting billboards to designing movie invitations to making films, he had a colourful tryst with Bollywood.
Husain, who died in London Thursday, came to Mumbai in 1935 in search of a career in art and ended up painting movie posters to earn livelihood. That was his first brush with cinema and the fascination was to last 75 years.

"He probably made the billboard for K.L. Saigal's (1935) 'Devdas'. After that he associated himself with New Talkies and then took off independently," K. Bikram Singh, who has written a book on the painter titled "Maqbool Fida Husain", told IANS.

"His experience in billboard-making art reflected in his later paintings. He used broad strokes and strong colours, usually used in hoarding paintings," he added.

Mumbai-based film historian S.M.M. Ausaja said, "MF designed invites for several movies. He designed it for 'Heena' and and his own films 'Gaja Gamini' and 'Meenaxi' and also the wedding invite of Juhi Babbar (the daughter of actor politician Raj Babbar and actress Nadira)."

After climbing the high ladder of the art world, Husain decided to show his creativity on silver screen and wielded the megaphone for his first film in 1967 for "Through the Eyes of a Painter".

Known for his cubist and abstract depiction of figures and animals in Indian art, he filmed the 15-minute long movie in Rajasthan which has shots of a goat, a hawk flying into the blue seas and women bathing.

His maiden work, sans dialogues, impressed the international film critics when screened at the Berlin Film Festival, walked away with a Golden Bear.

But it took him 33 years to make his next, a feature film titled "Gaja Gamini" featuring Bollwyood's dancing diva Madhuri Dixit who inspired him with her performance in the 1994 musical blockbuster "Hum Aapke Hain Koun".

Just like millions of Indians, Husain fell for her charm, not only watching "Hum Aapke...." 67 times but also making a series of paintings depicting the actress in various moods and roping her in to play the lead role in his film "Gaja Gamini".

The film projected the aesthetics of feminine beauty in different time periods. From the script, to production, Husain was involved in every aspect of the movie.

Unfortunately Husain, who co-scripted the film with Kamna Chandra, couldn't turn it into a commercial success.

Another Bollywood actress who caught his attention was Tabu and he made "Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities" with her in 2004.

Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap said: "The kind of work and the kind of films that he has made, only he could make them. He made them all by himself and funded them also, so nobody had the audacity to question his conviction."

Husain's fascination for Bollywood divas continued. When the film "Vivah" was released in 2006, he instantly liked lead actress Amrita Rao, portrayed as a demure small time girl, and decided to paint her. It was big moment for Amrita.

Later it was Vidya Balan who struck a chord with her sensuous portrayal of a rural woman in "Ishqiya". Husain expressed a desire to make film with the talented actress - but this wish will now remain unfulfilled.

He also expressed a desire to bring the vivacity of actress Anushka Sharma on canvas after watching her spirited performance in "Band Baaja Baraat".

Poster and Bollywood memorabilia collector Siddharth Tagore remembers attending Husain's exhibition dedicated to Oscar winning filmmaker Satyajit Ray and his movies.

"The exhibition featured Husain's works inspired by Ray and his movies. It was a
legacy of his movie years in Mumbai - the love for good and meaningful cinema," Tagore, also the owner of Art Konsult Gallery in the capital, told IANS.

At the time of his death, his autobiography was being made into a movie tentatively titled "The Making of the Painter" starring Shreyas Talpade as the young Husain.

"I am honoured to have known Husain saab since childhood. Very few people know that his father used to sell small earthen lamps in front of the Pandharpur temple in Maharashtra. He would have been a happier person had he been in India during his last days," said Nadira.

Talking about the Husain painting in her living room, she said: "The painting is a depiction of images of a couple a pigeon and a lion. Looking at the painting now gives mixed feeling.

"A happy feeling of being fortunate of such a great artist putting down his work on our wall and sad because we will no longer be able to interact with him."

Mallika Sherawat to perform at IIFA Rocks in Toronto

The International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) has announced that IIFA Rocks, to be held in Toronto later this month, to be presented by Grey Goose will feature performances by Bollywood bombshell Mallika Sherawat and the stunning Dia Mirza.
This will be Mallika Sherawat’s maiden performance at the Videocon d2h IIFA, Weekend. Her upcoming film Double Dhamaal, is being premiered at IIFA Toronto and she will perform to the hit song 'Jalebi' from the movie. Dia Mirza will perform on the IIFA stage again, having last performed at IIFA at Bangkok in 2008.

IIFA Rocks presented by Grey Goose will also announce the 12th Floriana IIFA Technical Award winners and see several musical performances, an official statement of IIFA here today said.

The magical trio, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, will perform live as top supermodels from around the world sashay down the ramp in couture from India and Canada. It will also feature spectacular performances by top stars and international music artists.

The Videocon IIFA Weekend in Toronto would be held between June 23 and 25, which will culminate with the very extravagant Floriana IIFA Awards 2011. The Gitanjali Group, the Associate Sponsor of the IIFA Weekend, will be showcasing their jewellery at IIFA Rocks.

Sonam Kapoor turns 26, gets chocolate cake from sister

Actress Sonam Kapoor turned 26 Thursday. Her younger sister Rhea ordered her favourite chocolate cake to celebrate the occassion, while her friends from filmdom and the fashion industry sent their best wishes.
The celebs took to micro-blogging site Twitter to wish the actress.

Rhea tweeted: "Gearing up for @sonamakapoor's birthday. This means ordering the most indulgent chocolate cake ever and then convincing her that its 'diet' (sic)."

To which, Sonam added: Sitting with my family is the most special thing ever! Thank you @RheaKapoor @moh_m arjun, shehlu @anshulakapoor and kunal.. And mom! Love u."

Maheep Kapoor, who is married to Sonam's uncle Sanjay: Happy birthday to my stunning niece @sonamakapoor.

Neil Nitin Mukesh wished her singing the birthday, "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you dear sonam, happy birthday to you".

Celina Jaitly: Happy birthday@sonamakapoor big hug.

Madhur Bhandarkar: Many happy returns to @sonamakapoor God bless.

Designer Manish Malhotra posted: Wishing you a very happy birthday.

Designer Nachiket Barve: Wishing @sonamakapoor a sparkling birthday! Hope its super fun and the year ahead even better! Xx.

Sonam, eldest daughter of actor Anil Kapoor and designer Sunita Kapoor, made her acting debut alongside Ranbir Kapoor in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's "Saawariya" in 2007. After that, she featured in Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's "Delhi-6" with Abhishek Bachchan and later teamed up with Abhay Deol for the romantic comedy "Aisha", which was produced by her sister Rhea.

In 2010, she also appeared in Punit Malhotra's "I Hate Luv Storys" opposite Imran Khan.

Kapoor's forthcoming releases include "Mausam" with Shahid Kapoor and multi-starrer "Players" that stars Bobby Deol, Bipasha Basu, Abhishek, Neil, Omi Vaidya and Sikander Kher.

After Dabangg, Salman Khan's magic works again at the box office

Bollywood Super Star Salman's Action Movie Dabangg was broke the dry spell at the box office by earning 480 million Rupees in the opening weekend,This year Salman khan's Comedy Film Ready has brouhgt much needed respite by grossing 400 million rupees in realease of it's first week.The Corporate head of india's weve Cinema Yogesh Raizada Said,"Ready has had a good opening. The occupancy has been 90-95 per cent. It is more of a family entertainer. One would not see the kind of action that was in Dabangg and Wanted,"He also added "Salman is perfect in the film, he has done full justice to his character. Asin is also good in the film,"

In contrast to the Rs180 million Dabangg, a small-town cop drama shot in Wai in Maharashtra and partly in the UAE, Ready, shot entirely in Thailand, is expensive and is said to have cost Rs500 million."People are enjoying the film a lot, specially Salman Khan, although the shows have not been back-to-back houseful like Dabangg and Wanted,"

Just like Khan's 2008 hit Wanted, his Ready is performing much better in single screen theatres,their shows are going houseful. "The response to Ready is terrific. Till now, shows are going houseful. Everyone is appreciating Salman's acting. It is too early to say whether the film will be as big as Dabangg because today, every day counts because of the number of shows being played today,Trade experts, however, admitted that Ready will not enjoy a long stay at the box office like Dabangg.

Shilpa Shetty turns 36

Hot Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty turns 36 on Wednesday.

The gorgeous actress had made her debut opposite Shah Rukh Khan in 'Baazigar' in 1993 but her career never reached the height till she gained fame after participating in the British celebrity reality show Big Brother in 2007.

Shetty was crowned the winner of the show after a racism controversy which involved her and fellow contestants Jade Goody, Jo O'Mearaand Danielle Lloyd.

She has charmed her audience not only by her electrifying figure but also her acting skills in films like 'Phir Milenge', 'Life in a Metro', ‘Dhadkan’.

The B-town diva also gained popularity via her item numbers in films like ‘Shool’, ‘Kushi’, ‘Dostana’.

Shetty, who co-owns the Indian Premiere League (IPL) team Rajasthan Royals, had a sad encounter in the cricketing field in 2011 as her team could not qualify to the semi-final stage of the cash-rich cricket league.

She married to businessman Raj Kundra in 2009.

It was rumored that Shetty and Kundra were expecting their first child, but the actress brushed off the reports.

"Sick and tired of all the congratulatory msgs and calls,so for the last time "I AM NOT PREGNANT".all this is so annoying..grrrrrrrrr," she posted on micro-blogging site Twitter.

Shetty, who released a DVD on yoga a couple of years back, runs a spa called Iosis in Mumbai with her friend Kiran Bawa.

Sonam Kapoor turns 26 on Thursday

Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor turns 26 on Thursday.
Sonam is planning to spend a quiet birthday this time in her house with her family, she told to a Mumbai daily on her birthday plans.

Sonam had a poor start to the year with her last released movie, 'Thank You', bombing at the box office.

The bubbly actress drew the attention of her fans with her gorgeous looks and at the same time with good acting skills in films like ‘Delhi 6’ and’ I Hate Luv Stories’.

She will be seen entertaining her fans in the upcoming films like ‘Mausam’ and ‘Players’.

Earlier this year, Sonam joined the list of Indian representatives at Cannes as she walked down the red carpet there.

She represented cosmetics brand L'Oréal, the brand she endorses in India at the 64th Cannes Film Festival.

Second wives club in Bollywood !!!!!

Shilpa Shetty :

Who After reviving her career with a win on UK reality TV show Big Brother back in 2007, this leggy beauty now spends her time setting up a range of beauty and cricket-based businesses.Married to Millionaire Raj Kundra, who parted ways with his wife of just three years, Kavita, for this B-town beauty.They've been married for two years,Shilpa first met Raj while launching her first fragrance in London, where he also happened to be on business - waiting to seal a deal. And a deal got made alright!

Kiran Rao :

Who A fairly unknown assistant director until she hooked up with Aamir and directed Dhobi Ghat.Married to Aamir Khan, who parted ways with first wife, Reena, after 15 years.They've been together almost six years now, with the lady finally warming up to Aamir's ex and his two kids, Junaid and Ira.Aamir is said to have pursued Kiran on the set of Lagaan, and apparently it was in the small town of Panchgani that their romance took off. A town they revisited for their intimate wedding ceremony.

Lara Dutta :

Who After winning the Miss Universe 2000 title, Lara took the stereotypical route to B-wood, but it was her love life that made more headlines than her acting career.Married to Tennis star Mahesh Bhupathi, who divorced his wife of seven years, Shvetha Jaishankar, to be with Lara.They're still in their honeymoon phase, with the two busy juggling romance and work.Despite Shvetha accusing Lara of being the deal breaker in her marriage, Lara sticks to her story that love blossomed only after he separated from his ex - more specifically, after their divorce.

Shah Rukh is set to release his 'funny' autobiography soon

Bollywood Super Star and The World Most Powerfull Person Shah Rukh Khan, has been writing his autobiography for many years now, has revealed that his book is almost near completion and he will be releasing it very soon.The book, Twenty Years In A Decade, will focus on the life of the 45-year-old actor from the year 1991 to 2001."It's a fun book and is about positivity and hope and it's funny, like I am. I've written things about my life in a fun way. Very personal things are there in it, selective memories though. There is a chapter on journalism too,"Shah Rukh Said.

He Said "I am writing this book since more than 10 years now. It is called Twenty Years In A Decade because I felt that in 10 years, I've lived a life of 20 years between 1991 to 2001. It's almost complete now and one of these days when I complete it, I will ask my writer friends to edit it and I'll release it,"Although the actor has written about various facets of his life in the book, his favourite chapter remains the one that mentions his parents, who passed away when he was quite young."

One of my favourite chapters in the book is about my mother and father. Its eight pages long. Whoever writes a book for the first time, parents' mention is always there," he said.Asked if he would ever venture into writing a film, Khan said: "That's an expert thing to do. In every film I work, my inputs are always there but full script, I don't think I know the science or the mathematics behind it. Anyone can write a story but it's difficult to write a screenplay.

Celina Jaitley supports green initiative

Bollywood actress Celina Jaitley has pledged to support the "Plant a Tree" initiative to create awareness and educate society on the importance of a green nation.
The initiative is taken by diamond brand, Diya Diamond, for which the 29-year-old actress is the brand ambassador.

The former Miss India, who is also an active gay rights activist, feels the tree plantation initiative has the power to become an agent of change in support of sustainable and equitable development.

"The activity is the perfect platform to create awareness about our environmental issues and a step in the right direction. I hope everybody joins us and takes a pledge to give back to nature and become proactively environmentally friendly," said Celina who has worked in movies like "Golmaal Returns" and "Hello darling".

Katrina voted FHM's sexiest woman

Actress Katrina Kaif tops the Sexiest Women 2011 list of men's lifestyle magazine FHM, edging out Deepika Padukone who won the title last year. Katrina had won the title in 2008 and 2009 too.
The FHM 100 Sexiest Women list is based on online and SMS voting and saw a whopping 35,000 responses this year.

"We'd love to say 2011 was a close contest, only Sheila made sure it was far from. A feat that becomes even more significant because no woman in the world across all 28 editions of FHM has ever won the Sexiest Woman in the World title three times in the last 17 years that we've been making the list. Her average is higher than Sachin Tendulkar's and she replaces Deepika Padukone who won the crown in 2010," said Kabeer Sharma, executive editor FHM India, in a statement.

Katrina seems to be the toast of the season -- she was the only Bollywood actress to feature on the India Today's Elite Power list and is also the most Google-searched Indian celebrity.

Mallika Sherawat's brother detained at airport

After Minissha Lamba and Bipasha Basu, actor Mallika Sherawat brother Vikram Lamba was detained at the Mumbai airport on Tuesday for carrying foreign currency beyond permissible limit.
Deputy Commissioner of Customs, Sameer Wankhede, and his team detained Vikram at Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport after he boarded off an Emirates flight from London.

Vikram was reportedly carrying branded goods and foreign currencies worth approximately Rs 6 lakhs.

He has been booked under Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) is being questioned by Customs officials.

On May 26, actor Bipasha Basu was detained at Mumbai airport for not declaring jewellery she was carrying.

She had arrived from London on a British Airways flight.

She had to pay Rs 10,000 as tax for the gold and other jewellery she was carrying and let off.

Earlier, actor Minissha Lamba was detained for several hours by custom officials at the same airport while she was returning from the Cannes festival for jewellery not declared.

Jewellery still with customs, says Minissha Lamba

Though tight-lipped about the legal proceeding, actress Minissha Lamba, who was recently detained at Mumbai airport for carrying undeclared jewellery worth Rs.50 lakh, says the jewellery is still in the possession of the customs authorities.

It's still on. It's not over, unfortunately. Everything is still with customs. It's a legal matter, I am not supposed to speak about it," Minissha, 26, told IANS.

Lamba was intercepted by the customs officers May 18 while she was crossing the green channel at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai. She was apparently returning after attending the Cannes Films Festival in France.

Reportedly in her statement to the customs department, the actress had said that the jewels belonged to Anmol Jewellers and she carried them to Cannes for promotional purposes.

Shahrukh Khan Filmi career in 1990s.

Shahrukh studied acting under celebrated Theatre Director Barry John at Delhi's Theatre Action Group. In 2007, John commented thus on his former pupil that, "The credit for the phenomenally successful development and management of Shahrukh's career goes to the superstar himself.Shahrukh Khan made his acting debut in 1988 when he appeared in the television series, Fauji, playing the role of Commando Abhimanyu Rai.He went on to appear in several other television serials, most notably in the 1989 serial, Aziz Mirza's Circus, which depicted the life of circus performers.The same year, Khan also had a minor role in the made-for-television English-language film, In Which Annie Gives it Those Ones, which was based on life at Delhi University and was written by Arundhati Roy. When Khan appeared in those teleserials, people found in him some resemblance with legendary actor Dilip Kumar and also compared his acting style with the thespian.

Upon moving from New Delhi to Mumbai in 1991,Shahrukh Khan made his Bollywood movie debut in Deewana (1992). The movie became a box office hit, and launched his career in Bollywood.His performance won him a Filmfare Best Male Debut Award. He went on to star in Maya Memsaab, which generated some controversy because of his appearance in an "explicit" sex scene in the movie.In 1993, Khan won acclaim for his performances in villainous roles as an obsessive lover and a murderer, respectively, in the box office hits, Darr and Baazigar.In Khan's entry in Encyclopedia Britannica's "Encyclopedia of Hindi Cinema" it was stated that "he defied the image of the conventional hero in both these films and created his own version of the revisionist hero."Darr marked his first collaboration with renowned film-maker Yash Chopra and his banner Yash Raj Films, the largest production company in Bollywood. Baazigar, which saw Khan portraying an ambiguous avenger who murders his girlfriend, shocked its Indian audience with an unexpected violation of the standard Bollywood formula.His performance won him his first Filmfare Best Actor Award. In that same year, Khan played the role of a young musician in Kundan Shah's Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa, a performance that earned him a Filmfare Critics Award for Best Performance. Khan maintains that this is his all-time favourite among the movies he has acted in.In 1994, Khan once again played an obsessive psycho's role in Anjaam, co-starring alongside Madhuri Dixit. Though the movie was not a box office success, Khan's performance earned him the Filmfare Best Villain Award.

In 1995, Khan starred in the two biggest hits of the year in India. His first release was Rakesh Roshan's Karan Arjun. The film, which dealt with reincarnation, became the second-highest grossing film of the year.He followed it with Aditya Chopra's directorial debut, the romance Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. A major critical and commercial success, the movie became the year's top-grossing production in India.In 2007, it entered its twelfth year in Mumbai theaters. By then the movie had grossed over 12 billion rupees, making it one of India's biggest movie blockbusters.Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge won ten Filmfare Awards, and Khan's performance as a young NRI who falls for Kajol's character while on a college vacation, won him his second Best Actor Award. In 2005, Indiatimes Movies ranked the movie amongst the 25 Must See Bollywood Films, citing it as a "trendsetter of sorts".In that same year's retrospective review by Rediff, Raja Sen stated, "Khan gives a fabulous performance, redefining the Lover for the 1990s with great panache. He's cool and flippant, but sincere enough to appeal to the junta. The performance itself is, like the best in the business, played well enough to come across as effortless, as non-acting.

1996 was a disappointing year for Khan as all his movies released that year failed to do well at the box office.This was, however, followed by a comeback in 1997. He saw success with Subhash Ghai's social drama Pardes one of the biggest hits of the year and Aziz Mirza's comedy Yes Boss, a moderately successful feature.His second project with Yash Chopra as a director, Dil to Pagal Hai became that year's second highest grossing movie, and he won his third Filmfare Best Actor Award for his role as a stage director who falls in love with one of his new actresses.

In 1998, Khan starred in Karan Johar's directorial debut, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, which was the biggest hit of the year.His performance won him his fourth Best Actor award at the Filmfare. He won critical praise for his performance in Mani Ratnam's Dil Se. The movie did not do well at the Indian box office, though it was a commercial success overseas.Khan's only release in 1999, Baadshah, was an average grosser.

We should respect stuntmen for what they do Akshay Kumar

Akshay Kumar has high regards for stutmen who risk their lives for meagre amounts of money and says if he had not been an actor, he would have been a stuntman.

Stunt is an art. When we see stuntmen flying high and jumping from a highrise, we should respect that. And how much are they paid? Not more than Rs.6,000. Having high regards for them, I can proudly say that had I not been an actor, I would have been a stuntman. It's one of the best works," Akshay told reporters here.

The actor, who returns to the small screen as the host of the fourth season of adventure reality show "Khatron Ke Khiladi", performed a nerve-wracking stunt at Filmcity to show that the stunts in this season will be original and not camera gimmicks.

Akshay did the stunt after almost five years and said: "I did this stunt almost after five years. Ejecting the car almost 15 feet above the ground, bursting the oil tanker and crashing it on ground. It's one of the most difficult stunts. I had given all my experience to this stunt."

The show kicks off Friday on Colors.

Akshay had hosted the first two seasons, while the third one was done by Priyanka Chopra.

"I think she (Priyanka) did a pretty good job. Last time the design of the show required a female host. I watched it and I saw that she was very true with what she had done in the show," said Akshay, known as the Khiladi of Bollywood.

"Khatron Ke Khiladi" is the Indian version of the internationally hit show "Fear Factor", and involves dangerous tasks.

Priyanka Chopra takes break for brother's graduation

Now this is called sisterly love! Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra, who has been busy shooting for filmmaker Kunal Kohli's next, has taken two days off to attend her younger brother Siddharth's graduation in Switzerland.
The 28-year-old, who flew to Switzerland Wednesday night, didn't want to miss out on her brother's special day at any cost, and had planned the break well in advance, says a source close to the actress.

"This was very important for her. Her parents have also gone," said the source.

Siddharth, who is seven years younger to Priyanka, was studying a culinary course in a university near Geneva. The actress will return to Mumbai Friday morning - in time to attend NDTV's Greenathon in the night.

She will also resume shooting for Kohli's film, which is yet to get a title. The movie also features Shahid Kapoor.

Akshay Kumar performs live stunt to promote 'Khatron Ke Khiladi

Actor Akshay Kumar, who returns as the host of adventure reality show "Khatron Ke Khiladi", performed a daredevil live stunt here at Filmcity to stress on the level of stunts in the show this time around.
Akshay, who was known as an action hero before he started doing comedies, first came on a bike wearing a fire-proof suit and said: "I'm doing a stunt like this after five years. I want to tell everyone who is present here that whatever you will see is very risky and it is all real."

Then the actor chanted the Gayatri Mantra and sped away only to return in a car that burst into flames after moving for some distance, but came out safely.

The show that kicks off Friday on Colors, is the fourth season of the show. While the first two seasons were hosted by Akshay, the third had seen Priyanka Chopra as the host.

For this season, the channel has chosen 13 female celebrity participants - each teamed up with a male partner.

The celebrity participants include former Indian women's cricket captain Anjum Chopra, models Diandra Soares, Alesia Raut and Poonam Pandey, actresses Aarti Chhabria, Smita Bansal and Aashka Goradia, item girls Sambhavna Seth and Kashmera Shah, two VJs - Bani and Mia Uyeda, singer Mauli Dave and Dina Singh who is actor Vindu Dara Singh's wife.

"Khatron Ke Khiladi" is the Indian version of the internationally hit show "Fear Factor", and involves dangerous tasks involving at heights and with creepy crawlies.

SRK takes on Ramdev, says fast politically motivated

Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan on Thursday said yoga guru Baba Ramdev's proposed hunger strike against corruption is politically motivated, and added that he would not support the agitation.
I do not know what his agenda is. As soon as somebody gets embroiled in politics and becomes a political leader, I think they develop their known way of thinking. I think what they are saying is very good, but if you have a political party, I am apolitical by nature. So I don't align myself. I think he has a political party now," Shah Rukh Khan told reporters here.

"This has been said for years, remove black money, corruption needs to be going out, and if this is one way of looking at it, wonderful, something is being done. But as far as I am concerned, I like to make an opinion through my work because everyone should do what they are supposed to do," he added.

Asserting that black money stashed abroad should be declared a national property, Ramdev earlier today remained firm on going ahead with his fast to demand urgent steps to curb corruption.


"The black money stashed abroad should be declared national property, and keeping black money should be considered a crime at par with sedition. We are not staging any protest or rebellion," he told reporters here.

Ramdev also rubbished reports of differences with veteran social activist Anna Hazare.

"I talked to Anna Saheb before coming here, there are no differences, we were together and we are together," he added.

Meanwhile, Anna Hazare announced that he will take part in Ramdev's movement against black money and corruption.


"I will join Baba Ramdev on June 5. I will sit with him on the dais and discuss many issues. If we all get together, then the government will have to concede to our demands,"
he told reporters in Ralegoan, Maharashtra.

Hazare made it clear that there is unity among civil society members and the perception that Ramdev is upset about the inclusion of father-son duo of Shanti and Prashant Bhushan in the Lokpal Bill drafting committee is in correct.

Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Wednesday said the next round of talks between the government and Baba Ramdev will be held on Friday to further discuss the latter's proposed hunger strike plan.

"I am told that they have agreed to meet again on June 3 to continue the discussions and I will advise everyone to observe restraint," said Chidambaram.

The government had earlier deputed Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath and Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairman Sudhir Chandra to persuade Baba Ramdev not to undertake the agitation, but the effort failed.

Ramdev announced his decision to go on a fast over the black money issue last month. He is demanding that black money stashed away in safe havens abroad be brought back to India.

Sonakshi Sinha turns 24

Bollywood actor Sonakshi Sinha turns 24 on Thursday.
Happy Birthday Sonakshi Sinha. Have a great day and fantastic year ahead. Wishing the Dabangg girl super success in life," tweeted actor-producer Arbaaz Khan.

"Here's wishing @sonakshisinha a very happy birthday ! GOD bless you," actor Neil Nitin Mukesh posted on micro-blogging site Twitter.

The gorgeous actor, who attracted the attention of Indians by her wonderful performance as a village girl in 'Dabangg', is all set to appear on the small screen with her father actor Shatrughan Sinha.

She will seen on the hot seat in the game show 'Ke Bani Crorepati' (Bhojpuri version of Kaun Banega Crorepati) to be hosted by her father.

"Sonakshi will be on the hot seat before me. Audiences will finally get to see baap-beti together first time on the small screen," Sinha said.

Her forthcoming films are 'Joker', 'Race 2', 'Kick' and 'Viswaroopam'.

Court complaint against 'Dum Maro Dum' song

A complaint has been filed in a court in Rajasthan's Jodhpur city against Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone and makers of "Dum Maaro Dum" for an alleged indecent and obscene dance number in the Hindi film.
The movie's director Rohan Sippy, producer Ramesh Sippy and music director Pritam Chakraborty have been named in the complaint.

The complainant, Mukesh Kumar, a resident of Pal Road area in Jodhpur, some 330 km from state capital Jaipur, approached a metropolitan magistrate's court and filed the complaint against a song in the film Wednesday.

Kumar has alleged that his religious sentiments were hurt by mention of some Hindu deities in the song.

"The court is to record my statement June 6," said Kumar.

"Dum Maaro Dum" is a crime thriller film starring Abhishek Bachchan, Rana Daggubati, Bipasha Basu and Prateik Babbar. Deepika has done an item number in the movie. The film was released April 11.

Zayed had to scold me on the sets to calm me down Dia Mirza

She swept floors and brought things from her home on the sets of her maiden production venture. Actress-turned-producer Dia Mirza got so involved in the production of "Love, Breakups, Zindagi" that her partner Zayed Khan had to actually scold her to calm her down.
I swept floors. I brought half of the things from my own house. For me, producing a film was not just about bringing in funds, making schedules and dealing with numbers, it was about realizing the imagery that we all had in our mind. There is a certain level of involvement that I feel a producer needs to have to give the film that push it needs," Dia told IANS.

Dia and Zayed, along with Sahil Sangha, have launched the production house Bornfree and are currently in the process of finishing their first film under the banner.

It is being directed by Sangha and stars Dia and Zayed.

"Zayed scolded me once on the sets. I was behaving as if guests have come to my house. So I was taking care of smallest of things myself. Zayed was like you are an actor also, so you just need to calm down and relax and take a seat when your shot is over," said the 29-year-old.

"It was a healthy fight and I'm glad that we had it. He was scolding me because he was looking out for me and that's what you expect from your partner, to care for you, to account for you," she added.

"Love, Breakups, Zindagi" is a romantic comedy and is slated to release in August. The film also stars Cyrus Sahukar, Tisca Chopra, Satyadeep Misra, Pallavi, Vaibhav Talwar and newcomer Auritra Ghosh and Umang in lead roles.

Although Dia is enjoying her newfound role of a producer, she finds it extremely exhausting.

"I've been asked what am I doing to lose weight, I said, I turned producer. With Sahil, Zayed and me, our day after pack up didn't end. It's been long hours, but it is just such an overwhelming experience to see what you thought to do," she said.

"I didn't have any clue that it will be so enormous a task. I think you have an inclination, but you don't realize how much you have to put into it to make it happen everyday. I think you really need to love it passionately to give it all of yourself," she added.

Now that she has tried production, Dia, who has acted in films like "Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein", "Tehzeeb", "Lage Raho Munna Bhai", "Shootout at Lokhandwala" and "Hum Tum Aur Ghost", is keen on donning the director's hat.

"Direction is something I have always consciously thought about even when I was acting. I think it was my level of interest in the technicalities of making a film and how it all comes together. Soon I will direct a film," she revealed.