STARFRIDAY

Saturday 28 June 2014

'Fun Food Lifestyle' - Malaysian Palm Oil blends cricket, glamour and health

'Fun Food Lifestyle' - Malaysian Palm Oil blends cricket, glamour and health

Actress Huma Qureshi took on cricketer Irfan Pathan in an exciting cooking challenge held by the Malaysian Palm Oil Council

Mumbai, June 27, 2014: Former India speedster and current Delhi Daredevil Irfan shared a different pitch this morning with the vivacious actress Huma Qureshi, as they squared up in a cooking competition held by the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC). Held at the ITC Maratha, Sahar, the event was part of the Malaysian government’s initiative to promote Malaysian palm oil with urban Indians.

Titled ‘Fun, Food Lifestyle’, the event packed in quite a punch for its select guests, beginning with an electric Zumba performance. Then, it was time for Pathan and Qureshi to take centre-stage and test their culinary skills. In the few minutes amidst much cheering and hooting, the two celebs impressed equally well as the audience witnessed them in never-seen-before avatars. The cook-off was a tie between Irfan Pathan and Huma Qureshi.

The afternoon’s entertainment quotient had more in store as Chef Vijay Malhotra of ITC Maratha craftily demonstrated how Malaysian palm oil could be used creatively in routine and special dishes.

Amidst some serious scribbling on notepads, the audience was also treated to spot quizzes and prizes. The evening wound up with another exhilarating round of Zumba.

Having been actively involved in creating awareness about Malaysian palm oil and its various attributes including nutrition, cooking properties and affordability, MPOC helpspromote the market expansion of Malaysian palm oil and its products by enhancing the image of palm oil and creating better acceptance of palm oil through awareness of various technological and economic advantages (techno-economic advantages) and environmental sustainability.

Headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, MPOC India shifted its base from Delhi to Mumbai in 2004 and has brought about greater understanding between the vegetable oil industry and policy-makers from both Asian countries.

Exclusive: Ranbir Kapoor’s next BIG release. Ready for it?

It's official: Bollywood heartthrob Ranbir Kapoor is now all set to endorse the brand 'AskMe' His fans across the globe can now watch a sneak peek of his big release of 2014 right here: http://bit.ly/RanbirKapoorBigRelease.Although this is the making, the campaign unravels in the coming week. More updates coming your way soon.

Ranbir Kapoor on being a part of AskMe said, The idea of the advertisement was quite cutting edge, funny and different. As an actor, it's really interesting to do stuff like this.

Shraddha Kapoor thanks her director Mohit Suri

Shraddha Kapoor who rose to fame after Aashiqui 2 is both excited and nervous for her much awaited release, Ek Villain.

Aashiqui 2, a romantic musical drama that was a smashing success at the box office and soon to release Ek Villain, a romantic thriller, are both directed by Mohit Suri and have Shraddha Kapoor playing the lead.

Her characters in both the films are so endearing that they will be remembered for a long time. Shraddha essayed the role of Aarohi in Aashiqui 2, an innocent, middle class girl who won a million hearts. Post the release, people kept addressing her as Aarohi.

In Ek Villain she plays Aisha, a very positive, bubly and carefree girl. Her look is bohemian and she is the kind of girl who brightens up people’s lives.

So, the actress is very thankful to Mohit Suri for crafting such endearing and positive characters for her in both Aashiqui 2 and Ek Villain.

Shraddha also made her singing debut with Ek Villain’s Galliyan and has received a very positive response for the same.

Shraddha is on edge about her film Ek Villain and the first person she will celebrate with after the success of the film is Mohit.

Spokesperson of Shraddha says, "Fans had started addressing Shraddha by her screen name, Arohi from Aashiqui 2. Even her character in Ek Villain, Aisha is a very lovable, full of life and positive character. She has been getting a lot of positive feedback on it. As the film releases today, she is very nervous at the same time excited."

Sidharth Malhotra to host a party for friends

Sidharth Malhotra to host a party for friends

Sidharth Malhotra is usually shy and has not really seen hosting parties.

However, the young actor who is currently nervous with his upcoming film, Ek Villian which releases today, has promised his friends that he will give them a party if the film fairs well.

Sidharth has had two back to back successes – Student of the year and Hasee Toh Phasee. While both his films have done extremely well at the box office and Sidharth has not celebrated in a grand fashion.

However with Ek Villian he will be seen in a very different avatar. He has ventured out and done hard core action and stunts. His role is very different from what he has done previously which is making Sidharth very nervous.

It is also very unlike what Sidharth is in real life.

He has been getting positive feedback for the trailer and the song, however he remains anxious.

Sidharth has been asking his friends, who are not from the industry on feedback.

He is born and bought up in Delhi and has friends back home who are not from the industry. He was keen to take their feedback as their opinions are non biased. Also as Sidharth has grown up with them they are critical of his work and give him honest feedback.

Sidharth has been all nerves. He has been regularly reaching out to his friends and has also promised them that he will celebrate and host a party for them if the film does well.

Spokesperson of Sidharth shares, "Sidharth will host a party and celebrate with his friends if the film get a good response."

Vidya Balan turns Narendra Modi

Vidya Balan turns Narendra Modi

Vidya Balan, who will be seen playing the role of a detective in her next “Bobby Jasoos” is currently covering an extensive promotion leg for the film.

She will be going to Varodara to promote her film Bobby Jasoos

The ace actor had decided to visit the tea stall which sold free tea during elections in support of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi

She will not only visit the stall, she will also get into Narendra Modi's look for the visit.

Vidya will be in Narendra Modi's shoes - in a sense.

It is more of an ode to the Prime minister.

She has been figuring the look - The styling and the make -up. The team has procured pictures of Narendra Modi from various political campaign outing and have been trying to piece the look together.

They have been doing trials to get the look right.

Vidya has worked with the same team to get into the various disguises in Bobby Jasoos (astrologer, peon, student, beggar) and is sure they will do justice to the look.

She is very particular and wants to get the look right to the tee.

Spokesperson confirms “Vidya will dress up as Narendra Modi and visit the tea stall.”

R-D-BURMAN-Infographic

Saregama India Ltd. will mark the celebrations for RD Burman’s 75^th Birth Anniversary all across the digital sphere in the last week of June. Burman, or Panchamda as he is fondly known to his fans, was one of the most trailblazing music composers in the Hindi film industry.

In keeping with the spirit of Panchamda’s innovative style, Saregama will honour him with an immersive infographic. Expected to be more than 10 feet long, it will cover various aspects of the man and his music in an exciting and never seen before manner. It will be accompanied by a weeklong series of interactive events on Facebook and Twitter. There have also been CD releases planned, as well as special YouTube videos in tribute to one of India’s best loved music composers.

The most high profile music release is a set of 5 CDs, which is a Tribute to RD Burman. Each of the 5 CDs will consist of songs composed by RD Burman in conjunction with legendary playback singers. The 5 singers are Mukesh, Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Mohd Rafi and last but certainly not the least, Kishore Kumar.

Mr. G. B. Aayeer, Director and CFO of Saregama India Ltd.,says Saregama has had the privilege of recording and archiving the legacy of Rahul Dev Burman. On the 75th birth anniversary of this great maestro we humbly present a 10 ft infographic for Pancham’s enthusiasts all over the world who swear by his work and his compositions. The journey of discovering Pancham is an experience that no one should miss. Saregama feels that this combination of word and image is the perfect way to connect with today's youth on platforms such as social media, mobile and the Web, and also gives us an opportunity to come out with printed collectors' editions. Starting now, we shall cover all the legends in our catalogue in the infographic format at timely intervals, on occasions such as anniversaries...”

Mr. Avinash Mudaliar – Saregama India Ltd states “Pancham Da’s tunes are download favorites, his songs are among the most remixed and jingled. Our 10 ft infographic is not only for the legion of fans who span across generations, but specifically for the youth who connect deeply to his music. We at Saregama wanted to salute one of the greatest innovators of Indian music R. D.Burman with a humble attempt at doing something innovative and succinct. Hence this idea of a Musicographic! Every generation has its visual leit motif. If the leitmotif was Bollywood posters in the 1970s and great artistic CD covers in the 1990s, today it is the infographic for every digital native in the present age, considering its huge popularity on social forums

The infographic, which is expected to break many records for size, will cover some major milestones in Panchamda’s life. It will also provide information about his favourite people to work with, such as playback singers and lyricists. A special yet lesser known part of his legacy, the infographic will include a section on personalities who got their start thanks to Panchamda, such as Kumar Sanu and Abhijeet. The list of movies for which he was honoured, or even nominated, with Filmfare Awards is also covered. It will then cover his most favourite directors, in terms of number of films worked. Finally, it will cover all the major milestones in Panchamda’s life. It is interspersed throughout with interesting and quirky facts about his life. This is accompanied by great visual design and pleasing image and text interface.

On social media, Panchamda will feature all week long in a series of posts celebrating some of his best songs, as well his greatest moments. A special jukebox has been created consisting of 75 of his Greatest Hits in a very interactive manner. Users can select and filter through the list to choose their favourite songs. A special video featuring various legends paying their tributes to the one and only Panchamda has been released. A special contest has been planned for this event as well.

Son of the legendary music composer Sachin Dev Burman, Panchamda started his career by contributing music to his father’s films. In 1961, he made his debut as an independent music director with the film Chhote Nawab. After a 4 year hiatus, he made it big with the 1966 Shammi Kapoor filmTeesri Manzil. His major collaborators include Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhosle and Lata Mangeshkar. Among lyricists, he worked with heavy hitting names such as Gulzar and Anand Bakshi. He collaborated with the former for the first time in the film Parichay. His musical journey lasted 4 decades, with 1942: A Love Story being his swansong effort. He became a household name thanks to his talent in combining terrific melody with incredible innovation, making use of unusual techniques to create his music. Even after his passing, he has been a source of inspiration to many composers and film personalities. He was honoured with a stamp in 2013.

The celebrations will culminate in a grand signing this Friday, when Panchamda turns 75. Gulzar is expected to attend and sign a large poster of the infographic. Other celebrities will sign this poster as well.

Female fans of Salman Khan call him Jaan

Salman Khan’s female fans call him Jaan..

For the first time ever, Salman Khan had only his female fans invited to be a part of his first song launch of Kick.

The song Jumme Ki Raat featuring the star Khan and Jacqueline Fernandes which was launched recently is a peppy romantic track.

So while the song was being launched, 80 – 100 girls got a chance to watch the song with him.

At the event, the girls refused to address him anything else other than Salman and pleased him by calling him Jaan.

People close to Salman know it very well that Salman doesn’t like being called a Bhai by everyone.

The girls in the auditorium could not stop calling out to him and kept yelling Sallu, Salman your’e the best, you are not our bhai, you are our jaan and you are the cutest.

While we see a majority of the boys thronging the Star Khan’s events usually, this time around it was a sweet gesture of having only girls that made them feel extremely special by Salman Khan.

Kick, which was the directorial debut of long time producer Sajid Nadiadwala is slated to release this Eid.

I Want My Wife To Be Home : Jay Bhanushali

I Want My Wife To Be Home : Jay Bhanushali

After winning Nach Baliye with her husband, Mahhi Vij did one episode of Encounter and disappeared from Television.

From recent interviews of Hate Story 2 we learnt that Jay prefers it that way. “During the recent promotions of Hate Story 2 Jay was heard saying he prefers Mahhi to stay at home and look after the family and home” says an insider source

When asked Mahhi, she says,”I’m glad Jay said that as he knows I have been working for a long time and I deserve to enjoy all comfort. As long as I am comfortable, Jay doesn’t have any issue with me working. ”

Abhay Deol- Manjot Singh team up on SNAFU after oye lucky lucky oye.

Abhay Deol- Manjot Singh team up on SNAFU after oye lucky lucky oye.

In a casting coup debutante director Sethu Sriram has managed to bring Abhay Deol and Manjot Singh together after their successful venture oye lucky lucky oye which released in 2008.

Abhay Deol is on a roll. While its been speculated that Abhay Deol will feature in the first Indo-China co production Gold struck, its been confirmed that the star has signed a thriller as the lead which will go on floors early next month. The film has been titled SNAFU. SNAFU is term that has originated in the army, it means Situations Normal All F****ed Up. While Manjot was last seen in Fukrey and What the fish playing a sardar.

In oye lucky lucky oye Manjot and Abhay essay the same character, Manjot being the younger lucky and Abhay as the grown up one. SNAFU will see them together as parallel leads.

The film will be majorly shot in Pune and parts in Bombay. Sethu Sriram will make his directorial debut in Bollywood, having shot topline projects such as Wanted, Shakti, Tere Naam, Teree Sang, Milenge Milenge, OMG and Dusshera as DoP. Sriram has also directed a Kannada film titled Godfather.

Abhay will be essaying the character of Kabir Taneja, a young highflying corporate consultant in Mumbai mediating mega deals with most men with Big money and Manjot essays the character of Sunny Singh a meek and submissive slum dweller. SNAFU is a thriller around commonplace situations as the title suggests, its intense mind games.

The film also boasts of an ensemble cast which supports the plot. The casting of the film is still in progress. Pune based Dolly Gadhoke is the producer of the film. SNAFU will also see the launch of the production house Tanaria Stars.

Talking about the development Sriram said, “Yes Abhay and Manjot have been signed on for my project. Both the characters are absolute contrasts and I wanted strong actors to shoulder these two roles. Both Abhay and Manjot have very different styles and it will be great to see them paired up on screen. We have had reading sessions with both of them and we are all geared up to roll'..

Shoot of SNAFU begins in Pune in the first week of July.

Guddu ki Gun wraps up in Kolkata.

Guddu ki Gun wraps up in Kolkata.

Guddu ki Gun, written and directed by Shantanu and Sheershak, has completed shooting the entire film in Kolkata. The film was edited simultaneously.

With the entire movie wrapped up on time, only 2 days schedule for two songs remains to be shot in Mumbai. Post production for the film has started.

Directors had a tough time sticking to the schedule as the actors, crew and the onlookers kept bursting into laughter all the time. On top of that the rains played spoilsport for a few days but some innovative thinking has captured the rains beautifully and the schedule was completed as planned

Guddu ki Gun, produced by Emenox Media, is a Comedy that promises to be a crazy, mad, totally tripped out ride where Kunal Kemmu plays Guddu Bhaiya, a charming washing powder salesman in Kolkata with a midas touch and a soft corner for beautiful Bengali Housewives.

The other credits in the film includes Music is by various artists. Cinematographer - Keiko Nakahara, Sets- Nimish and Riyaz, Choreographer - Raju Khan, Muddasar and Amol, Editor-Cheragh Todiwala , EP - Umang Agarwal.

Shraddha hosted a special screening of Ek Villain

Shraddha Kapoor hosted a special screening of her upcoming next film, Ek Villain for her family and close friends.

Ek Villain is Shraddha’s second film with Mohit Suri after the super hit film, Aashiqui 2 which rose her to immense popularity and a huge fan following.

Shraddha is very nervous and anxious about this release as the film is very special for her.

The special screening that Shraddha hosted was attended by both the co-stars of her upcoming films, Haider and ABCD 2 (Shahid Kapoor and Varun Dhawan respectively)

Shraddha’s aunt and actress, Padmini Kolhapure was also among others who were present at the screening.

Shraddha has a very positive, endearing and lovable character in the film; Aisha.

The actress has been seen extensively promoting her upcoming film which is slated to release on 27th June 2014.

She visited Ahmedabad for promotions and then directly came to the screening from the airport.

Sidharth hosts a special screening of Ek Villain

Sidharth will be seen in a very different avatar in Ek Villan. The young actor is very nervous and is anxious for the film to release.

He hosted a screening of the film yesterday for industry friends. Present were Alia, Parineeti, Puneet Malhotra, Manish Malhotra, Karan Johar, Ayan Mukherjee to name a few.

The young actor has been in a hectic promotion schedule for the film. He visited Ahmedabad and then directly came to the airport from the screening.

Ek Villian will mark Sidharth's versatility as an actor. He made his debut with Student of the year and then did Hasee Toh Phasee. Both films earned him accolades and a huge fan following. However with Ek Villian he will be seen pushing the envelop as an actor.

Ek Villain Cast on Comedy Nights With Kapil

Tiger Shroff produces his tribute to Michael Jackson

Tiger Shroff, who is an ardent fan of Michael Jackson, has planned to pay a tribute to the King of Pop. After the massive success of his debut film, Heropanti, Tiger has been busy rehearsing for a music video that he will be shooting soon.

Tiger, along with his friends has remixed the song Whistle Baja from his film Heropanti and Billy Jean from MJ’s album Thriller.

The video will be directed by one of Tiger’s friends and will be released online in the first week of July for all his fans to watch.

Tiger will also be seen doing the famous MJ moonwalk in the video. Says Tiger “Of course, I've practiced it enough. I can never be as good as MJ but as a mimic I think I do a pretty good job of it,“ he laughs.

Tiger had been approached by many sponsors who wanted give their contribution for the video. But Tiger was keen to produce this video by himself. So he will be putting in his hard earned money for this tribute. Tiger added “I'm now putting my own money in it.“

Tiger is eager to see how his fans react to it. “A lot of them have written to me asking for something like this,“ he says.

Tiger confirmed the news saying, “MJ is my inspiration, he's the reason I started dancing. The idea has been with me for several years but it's only now that I feel ready to go ahead with it.“

Transformers: Age of Extinction review by ANIZ FILMVALA

Transformers: Age of Extinction

review by

ANIZ FILMVALA

*****

Transformers: Age of Extinction a state-of-the-art 3D mega adventure film is a 165 minutes mind blowing enterprise from Director Michael Bay and his team

With a completely new cast and mechanical combatant and partly shot in a never before seen Hong Kong locales makes this movie an extraordinary franchise.

Age of Extinction is a sci-fi action blockbuster and a technical marvel created by Bay.

Cade Yeager [Mark Wahlberg] is a small time inventor, as he lands into trouble when he buys a truck as he intends to make pieces and sell to pay the rent and college fees of his teenage daughter Tessa [Nicola Peltz]. To his horror the vehicle is none other than Optimus Prime [voiced by Peter Cullen] and he is the leader of the Autobots .In near past Optimus and his group have been shun by the elite force as considering them a threat.

CIA agent Harold Attinger [Kelsey Grammer] an obsessively paranoid by the threat of Prime gets Decepticon [Frank Welker voices] and his troupe to track down Prime. As a result Prime rearranges his old pals Bumblebee an Autobot scout and Hound [Goodman], Drift [Watanabe], Crosshairs [DiMaggio] to fight to finish the Deception warriors. A colossal combative fight starts between them, as the Autobots conquest on Deception warriors.

Wahlberg has less freedom to perform in whole as a troubled father and taunting interactions with her daughter’s boyfriend Shane [Jack Reynor] are cliché moments.

Though the movie is worth watching for its latest Effects and sound design which will give you believable experience of a vision which Director Bay has delivered in Transformers: Age of Extinction.

Thursday 26 June 2014

Bollywood celebrates Arjun Kapoor’s entry on Twitter

The entire Bollywood fraternity went abuzz when they saw Tweets from Arjun Kapoor yesterday. The actor received an overwhelming response from his family, peers, friends and fans.

His fans can now follow him on @arjunk26 (www.twitter.com/arjunk26). The actor is no time has more than 40,000 followers and he is following Bollywood celebrities such as Amitabh Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, Salman Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Karan Johar, Abhishek Bachchan, Alia Bhatt and more.

There have been about 17,000 Tweets about him joining Twitter, since he joined yesterday afternoon.

Priyanka Chopra's Tweet welcoming him was the most popular: https://twitter.com/priyankachopra/status/481461345473544193

The actor was being trained by his sister Anshula Kapoor on how to use Twitter and he tweeted about the same as well. Below are some of his initial tweets: