Archive for January, 2010
Written by Deccan Herald - RSS on 25 January 2010
Justice V K Shali asked the actor, producer and director of the film to file their response on the allegation levelled by author Pavan Choudary, who has sought damages of Rs 20 lakh from them for alleged violation of his copyright and making illegal gains by lifting a portion from his book 'Trilogy of Wisdom'.The author also pleaded that the court should stay the screening of the film."The idea and concept that India should not be a 'Sone Ki Chidiya' (Golden bird) but 'BAAJ' (hawk) has almost been identically copied and adapted in the film. They have copied the idea/concept from my book and are using the same for their commercial gains," senior advocate Jayant Bhushan pleaded on behalf of the author."The producer, director and story writer are well aware... that use of idea and concept (that India should not be a 'Sone Ki Chidiya but BAAJ') in the film are violative of the Intellectual Property Rights," the petition, filed through advocates C S Yadav and Pandey Rajiv Rajhans, said.The Court, after hearing the arguments, issued notice to Salman Khan and others and listed the matter for further hearing on February 4. Choudary submitted in his petition that he had earlier sent a legal notice to them not to use his concept in the film but they went ahead with its release."The defendants threaten and intend to continue the aforesaid wrongful acts and thereby to infringe his copyrights and they would continue to do so unless restrained by this Court," the petition said.Choudary contended that the director and the producer of the film should be immediately restrained from screening of the movie.The court should pass a decree of permanent and prohibitory injunction restraining them or any person acting on their behalf from exhibiting the film to the public or in any form or manner with the dialogues based on the concept of his book, the petition said.
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Written by Deccan Herald - RSS on 25 January 2010
Pitt-Jolie have reportedly struggled during the last 12 months of their five-year relationship and the actor's brother Doug, 41, visited him in New York over Christmas urging him to pull the plug on the relationship because it was making his family unhappy, the Sun reported online."It's no secret they have been in a pretty loveless relationship for about a year. They barely spend time together and when they do it is very fraught. They want different things from life," a source said."Brad's family are being more vocal with their doubts over the relationship. The only thing they still have in common is their kids. That's keeping them together at the moment," the source added.Pitt and Jolie fell for each other while shooting 'Mr and Mrs Smith' in 2004 where they played a warring couple on screen while the actor was still married to Jennifer Aniston, whom he divorced in 2005 to be with the 'Changeling' star.Pitt, 45 recently spent the weekend taking part in George Clooney's Haiti telethon, while 34-year-old Angelina was doing a photoshoot for 'Vanity Fair' magazine.Earlier, it was reported that the couple has signed a 205 million pound split deal after meeting a top divorce lawyer. Jolie was also said to have become close with a Russian dialect teacher while filming her latest movie 'Salt' while Pitt's mother Jane continues to be in touch with ex-wife Aniston.Pitt and Jolie, who have not tied the knot yet, have three adopted children-- Maddox,eight, Pax, six, and Zahara, five and three biological kids, Shiloh, three, and 17- month-old twins Knox and Vivienne.The couple has not been photographed together in public in recent days. Pitt was last snapped at the Hope for Haiti concert on Friday without Jolie. His ex-wife Aniston was also there with her rumoured boyfriend Gerard Butler.However, a report by US tabloid has denied that the couple are on the verge of a split, with a source close to the couple calling the reports "totally false"."Everything is fine. It's business as usual," a source told People online.
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Written by Deccan Herald - RSS on 25 January 2010
“My film has become the soft target because of the IPL bid boycotting the Pakistani players. The timing has been unfortunate and a mere coincidence that our promo came out at this time and we are being targeted for that with hate mails in reaction,” an upset Chauhan told IANS on phone from Mumbai.“Pakistani people are thinking that it is a negative trailer. But ours is a very balanced promo and I don’t think it should raise so many negative remarks from them,” he added.Pakistanis are slamming the film promo and predicting the film will be a “super duper flop”.“I’ve just tried showing the sports rivalry and the condition of the players as in what they go through at that time. I hope their (Pakistanis') perception changes after they see the film,” said Chauhan.Set against the backdrop of competitive sports (kick-boxing) in the international arena, it stars Nafisa Ali, Farouque Shaikh, Ashish Vidyarthi, Nirmal Pandey, Sabyasachi Chakraborty, Saurabh Shukla, Sushant Singh, Kelly Dorji, Shraddha Das, Shraddha Nigam and Mukesh Rishi. Actor Aanaahad makes his debut with the film.Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures India, "Lahore" has been produced by Sai Om Films Pvt Ltd. Releasing commercially March 19, it has already an international award -- the jury award for the Best Feature Film at the 42nd WorldFest International Film Festival, Houston, Texas, where the world premiere was held on April 20 last year.Chauhan puts forth another reason for receiving the hate mails.“It’s been a tradition that we’ve made Pakistan bashing films and we completely set to ignore that they are very fond of our films and watch it very passionately."Despite the negative reaction, the director is looking forward to a Lahore premiere for his film.“We want to have the premiere of the film in Lahore because it is the title of the film and plays a crucial part in the movie. It shows India and Pakistan in a new light. Though the cast and crew are a bit concerned about security measures but we are still trying to get the visas etc,” he said.
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Written by Deccan Herald - RSS on 25 January 2010
"I was one of the pioneers of satellite television in the United Kingdom and New York. We ran Asian television there. We were actually the first ones who did that many, many, many years ago before satellite television came here. So, yes, I know how it works and how it functions," Bachchan told IANS in an interview here."But now, of course, it has become a huge industry. It's a very intricate process, a very difficult task and extremely competitive. I have been to some of the (news) studios and I have seen how they function - (it's) a massive task," he added.Bachchan had endorsed one of the first satellite Asian TV channels in Britain in the early 1990s - TV Asia before it was taken over by ZEE Network.The megastar clarifies that "Rann", which releases Jan 29, is pro-media and not at all about media bashing as has been reported."It's a little premature for the media to think like this, but you know 'Rann' is a very pro-media film. In the film what I do as part of the media (industry) is nothing dishonourable. I (have been) put across as a very honourable person and whatever I do is very pro-media."Directed by Ram Gopal Varma, "Rann" is about business and consciousness in electronic media and the moot point of the film is what edges the other."Whether business wins over consciousness or otherwise, that would always depend upon the owner of the channel and that's the crux of the story. It's a battle between business and consciousness."Does Mr.Vijay Harshvardhan Malik (played by Amitabh in the film), who is a symbol of purity and integrity, succumb to things like 'I don't care about business, I want to keep my consciousness' or 'to hell with conscience, I will have to save my business'; that's what the story will be," said Amitabh.The actor also said that he didn't borrow any mannerisms from media personalities like Prannoy Roy or Rajdeep Sardesai."I don't try imitating any particular action of anybody. I try to be myself," said Amitabh, but added Ram Gopal Varma might have taken inspiration from the two while creating a character."These are elements which we see every day. Yes, when we are making a film on electronic media, it is very difficult to ignore them (Prannoy or Rajdeep) or not be inspired by them."While Amitabh appreciates the positive impact of the media, he maintains that it is not flawless."Media is a very powerful medium. It's the voice of the nation. It informs and also forms opinion. It has the power to be able to influence you in forming a decision. It has a power to change governments... Now, when one entity has so many powers, are there any drawbacks? Are there any loopholes there? Do people use them or misuse them? These are some of the issues that the film deals with," he said.The actor, who recently criticised the paid news syndrome in an interview, said the media is not solely responsible for such practice where the source of information is kept under wraps."Somebody has to bring the concept. You are the medium and they have to publish it or broadcast it. It is your decision whether you want to do it or not. One doesn't mind provided there is a disclosure. Disclose what you are doing, then it is fine. If it is made transparent, I don't see any harm. Let everybody have some kind of transparency."
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Written by Deccan Herald - RSS on 25 January 2010
Jha hopes to leverage the response to the film in a manner that will go beyond glamour and entertainment and proposes to hold world wide premieres of his upcoming film 'Raajneeti' in conjunction with benefit dinners in several cities across the world including New York, LA, San Francisco, Toronto, London, Singapore, HongKong, Durban, Dubai, Muscat, Mumbai and Delhi to support this initiative.Founded in 1991, 'Anubhooti' has worked to support cultural development, flood survivors, and health care.In 2008, the NGO raised several crores for 'Punarwaas' Flood Relief Mission, a project for relief and rehabilitation of people ravaged by 2008 Kosi river floods."Now, Anubhooti envisions building a multi-functional hospital--Anubhooti Medical Care--to provide quality health care to the needy. The last few years have seen a significant improvement in governance and basic facilities in Bihar, but a lot remains to be done. The region significantly lacks competent health care," Jha said.With a population of 83 million of which 40 per cent are below the poverty line, Bihar is the third most populous state in India, the filmmaker said. Bihar is able to provide only one bed for every 2,969 people, render one registered doctor per 3000 people, favor restricted ambulance services only in district headquarters which are equipped with only 20-25 qualified doctors each, he said.With an average of 1.5 lakh Nepali immigrants coming to the state for medical treatment per year, the expectations from Bihar's medical resources are significant. It is urgent that Bihar upgrades its health services to cater to people within the state and from neighbouring areas and this hospital would be a step towards fulfilling the need, Jha added.On his next release, 'Raajneeti', Jha said it was a study of the electoral politics in the world's largest democracy- India.The film boasts of a glittering starcast in Katrina Kaif, Ranbir Kapoor, Ajay Devgn, Arjun Rampal, Nana Patekar, Manoj Bajpai, and Naseeruddin Shah - all of whom will be supporting Anubhooti's efforts
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Written by Deccan Herald - RSS on 25 January 2010
The 'Toxic' hitmaker had worn a sparkly silver minidress to the awards night and had walked away with three awards for her video 'Piece of Me'. Spears had placed a request to be allowed to hold the auction during her conservatorship hearing in an Los Angeles courtroom on Friday, reported Radar online."Britney is very enthusiastic about making a donation to the cause," said her attorney Sam Ingham. To the 28-year-old pop star's delight, the judge granted her request. But her independence seems a far-off thing as the conservatorship is still in place with Spears' father Jamie remaining in charge of his daughter's financial and legal affairs, as he has done since it was started in early 2008.
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