By Jilawatan

After the mega success of Race, filmmakers Abbas-Mastan have confirmed that they have retained Saif Ali Khan and Anil Kapoor for the sequel Race 2. However, the new additions to the cast will now include John Abrahams and Priyanka Chopra.

Vidya Balan is quickly becoming one of the most powerful actresses in Indian cinema. After winning loads of acclaim for Paa and Ishqiya, the talented actress has now been signed for a woman-centric project to be directed by Sujoy Ghosh of Aladdin fame. The movie has been titled as Kahani.
In a shocking twist to the rape drama surrounding Shiney Ahuja, his domestic worker, who claimed to have been raped by the actor in June last year, now says the alleged incident never took place. It is believed that the 20-year-old was coerced to make the statements at the insistence of the person who secured her the job at Ahuja’s house. The sudden turn of events has raised much suspicion as police officers once claimed that medical evidence proved the rape had occurred and now, suddenly, the maid has gone missing.

AAMIR Khan says his next movie, Dhobi Ghaat, will not arrive in December, breaking the tradition set with previous blockbusters Taare Zameen Par (2007), Ghajini (2008) and 3 Idiots (2009). Dhobi Ghaat, which marks the directorial debut of Khan’s wife, Kiran Rao, features the perfectionist actor together with Pratiek Babbar and has been scheduled to release in February next year.
There’s a new addition to Kajol’s family as the powerhouse actress and her husband, Ajay Devgan, became proud parents to a baby boy on Monday. The couple also have a seven-year-old daughter named Nysa. Perhaps they can now say We Are Family!

The sudden death of actor Muralli, 46, came as a shock to all who knew this humble, unassuming but talented actor. He succumbed to a heart attack in the early hours of September 8. Muralli made his film debut in 1984 in the Kannada film Prema Parva, which was directed by his father, Sidhalingaiyah. He shot to prominence through his second film, Poovilangu, and cemented his place in the industry with his third film, Pagal Nilavu, the film which introduced director Manirathinam to the Tamil film world. This was followed by a series of box-office failures, broken by the release of Pudhu Vasantham. The film was a huge hit and a trendsetter, firmly re-establishing Muralli as an actor of note in Kodambakkam. Others major hits to his name include Idhayam, Poomani, Pohrkalam, Vetri Kodu Kattu, Vetri Kodi Kattu, Anandham and Sundhara Travels. His last film was Baana Kaathaadi (still to release in South Africa) which launched his son, Adharva, as a lead actor. Muralli is survived by his wife, son and daughter.
Less than a week after Muralli’s death, Kodambakkam lost yet another talented artist with the demise of playback singer Swarnalatha last Sunday. Swarnalatha, 37, had been suffering from diminishing breathing ability for the last year and did not record during that period. Her singing debut was in 1987 under the music of MS Visvanathan when she sang the duet Chinnanjiru Killiye Kannamma from Needhikku Thandanai with KJ Yesudas. Swarnalatha enjoyed the most success with composers Illaiyaraja and AR Rahman. Her first hit song was the immortal Aaatamaa Therottamma for Illaiyaraja in Captain Prabhagaran. Other notable hits she enjoyed with Illaiyaraja were Pohvoma Oorkolam (Chinna Thambi), Maasi Maasam (Dharma Dhurai) Adi Raakamma Kaiyai Thatttu (Thallabadhi), Yen Ulle Yen Ulle (Valli) and Malai Kohyil Vaasalil (Veera).

With AR Rahman, she enjoyed hits such as Mukaala Mukaabala (Kaadhalan), Uyire (Bombay), Maya Machindhra and Akadaannu (Indian) and the song that won her the national award for best playback singer, Poraale Ponnuthaayi (Karuthamma). She was a spinster and lived alone.

Rajinikanth’s Endhiran continues to record more firsts for Tamil and Indian cinema. Last Saturday the film’s trailers were released at a function that brought together a host of actors, producers and directors. What stood out about Rajnikanth was the simplicity with which he arrived and his constant modesty about the extent of his role in the film. The trailer has been received with great excitement and enthusiasm as cinema halls begin to announce their showtimes for what is easily the biggest Indian film ever. At the Mayajaal complex in Chennai’s East Coast Road, Endhiran will have 60 shows a day, with the first fortnight expected to be booked out when the first day of bookings open. Endhiran is the first Indian film to cross the 1.3-billion rupee budget and is also the first Tamil film to be released internationally by HBO. It is also the first Indian film to have a day-and-date release in China. Endhiran is also the first Indian movie to have two Oscar winners in its team – music composer AR Rahman and sound engineer Ressul Pookutty.
Kamalhassan and Bollywood’s Anil Kapoor are to come together on screen in a dual-language production that will be made simultaneously in Tamil and Hindi. Kapoor has been very vocal in his admiration for Kamalhassan and approached him to do a joint venture. He was delighted when Kamalhassan agreed. Further details about this joint venture will be made later this week.

By Jilawatan

Vidya Balan is out of Inder Kumar’s next Dhamaal 2 . The buzz in the trade is that Vidya was neither too happy with the money she was being offered for her role, nor with the role per se. A source says, “Vidya asked for a price which she deserves after she catapulted to the top bracket of actors, post the success of Paa and Ishqiya . She asked for Rs 1.5 crore (approximately). Like any other actor would in her place, she too has hiked up her market price.”

According to the film industry standards, the market prices of Kareena Kapoor and Katrina Kaif are believed to be Rs 1.5 crore (approximately) and that of Priyanka Chopra’s around Rs 1 crore. Hence, given Vidya’s career graph in Bollywood, it is surprising that neither Inder Kumar nor Ashok Thakeria, the producer of the film, objected to Vidya’s exit from the film. “Inder and Ashok failed to understand the need of the hour. Despite discussions, the makers of the film and the actress could not meet at a common consensus,” adds the source.

Meanwhile, Vidya’s friend insists the actress quit the project for qualitative reasons. She stands up for Vidya and says, “Yes, the news is true. Vidya is definitely not doing Dhamaal 2. But that’s simply because she didn’t find any meat in the portrayal of her character. She would have loved to attempt comedy with this film but it’s okay. There is always a next time.”

Interestingly, Vidya has locked horns with her Dhamaal 2 co-star Kangna Ranaut in another film Bullet Train, which is to be directed by Priyadarshan. Bullet Train, which stars Anil Kapoor and Ajay Devgn, is largely going to be shot on a train from London to Glasgow.

Producer of Bullet Train, Ratan Jain has clearly worked out the economics of his film much in advance. He has no qualms in giving the lead role to the actress who is willing to settle for the price he has to offer. He confirms, “Between Vidya and Kangna, whoever agrees to do the role at a lesser price, will get to play the part in my film. The availability of dates will of course be another important factor.”

Despite repeated calls and text messages, Vidya remained unavailable for comment.

By Jilawatan

Vidya Balan is getting used to focused and sophisticated male attention. In Pennyslvania she was in the company of Anil Kapoor. They both shared the same forum at Wharton last month to lecture on the subject of the globalization of Indian cinema.

Buzz up!
Laughs Vidya, “Anil Kapoor was very charming and gracious. No doubt today he’s the global face of Bollywood. The others on the Bollywood panel were Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Shankar Mahadevan and Namit Malhotra(CEO Prime Focus). So I was quite happy getting all the attention.”

Vidya enjoyed the process of academic interaction. “It reminded me of my days in college at St Xaviers when we had endless discussions on books and social issues. But it was minus-2 degrees in Pennsylvania.”

At one point Vidya had to stop the discussion and ask for the temperature to be increased in the room. The next day she jetted drove down to New York to spend a day with a school friend. She laughs, “I won’t tell you who it was. But I had the most awesome day . It was one of the most memorable days of my life.”

After her lecture at the Wharton Business School in Pennyslvania for a day, then New York Vidya headed for Delhi for the second schedule of Rajkumar Gupta’s No One Killed Jessica.

By Jilawatan

Vidya Balan speaks on the Globalization of Mainstream Indian Cinema at the14th Wharton India Economic Forum (WIEF)

Vidya Balan who has never failed to deliver a brilliant performance one film at a time was recently invited to the prestigious Wharton School in Pennsylvania to be part of the 14th Wharton India Economic Forum (WIEF) to speak on the subject of Globalization of Mainstream Indian Cinema.

Vidya Balan spoke on moving beyond parallel and cross-over films, and how mainstream Indian films are now making their mark on international audiences.

Reveals a source “Vidya Balan spoke on how mainstream Indian Cinema is going global in every way possible as international production houses including Warner Brothers and Disney are producing Indian films, and how Indian movies are being watched by over 90 countries and are consistently recognized across international film festivals”

Vidya Balan was part of a panel that discussed the achievements, shortcomings, and future prospects of the Indian film industry as it scales new global heights. Others on the panel included Anil Kapoor, Rakeysh Omprakash Sharma, Shankar Mahadevan, and Namit Malhotra.

Vidya Balan career wise has her plate full, she wowed us with her performance in Vishal Bharadwaj’s Ishqiya and is currently working on Chenab Gandhi and No One Killed Jessica.

By Jilawatan

Vidya Balan spoke on the Globalization of Mainstream Indian Cinema at the14th Wharton India Economic Forum (WIEF). Balan, who has never failed to deliver a brilliant performance in her films, was recently invited to the prestigious Wharton School in Pennsylvania to be part of the 14th Wharton India Economic Forum (WIEF) to speak on the subject of Globalization of Mainstream.

The actress spoke on moving beyond parallel and cross-over films, and how mainstream Indian films are now making their mark on international audiences.

Reveals a source, “Vidya Balan spoke on how mainstream Indian Cinema is going global in every way possible as international production houses including Warner Bros and Disney are producing Indian films, and how Indian movies are being watched by over 90 countries and are consistently recognized across international film festivals.”

Vidya was part of a panel that discussed the achievements, shortcomings, and future prospects of the Indian film industry as it scales new global heights. Others on the panel included Anil Kapoor, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Shankar Mahadevan, and Namit Malhotra.

By Jilawatan

This talented breed of our film industry Vidya Balan is in the move to make Indian cinema go global and initially she has started up with Wharton where she is highlighting on it.

Excellently beautiful and highly talented actress like Vidya Balan is not limited to her job on the set but is more willingly to earn for Indian cinema a better place globally and to highlight upon it she will make her first move in Wharton India Economic Forum (WIEF).

Currently, the actress had the honor to attend the 14th Wharton India Economic Forum (WIEF) where she has been invited cordially and will have the privilege to highlight on Indian cinema.
After earning accolades and admiration for her stupendous job in ‘Paa’ and ‘Ishqiya’ the actress’s popularity has taken for a wider expansion in abroad where work is taken into a notice with appreciation.

She will be occupied for three days in this 14th WIEF event to be held at the Park Hyatt Bellevue Hotel in Philadelphia and will be back to India on 1st of April.

Along with her there will be other noted personality of small screen of India like Balaji Telefilms joint managing director Ekta Kapoor who will also reflect into the same topic of Balan.
Appointed with higher dignity as a panel member at the 14th Wharton India Economic Forum (WIFE) Vidya will be joined by other Bollywood personalities like actors Anil Kapoor, Kunal Kapoor, filmmaker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and musician Shankar Mahadevan who all had been invited.
Well with a strong persona like Vidya she can drive the world on her stride.

By Jilawatan

Vidya Balan is surely going places. The actress has been invited to Wharton to attend the 14th Wharton India Economic Forum (WIFE).

Balan, who is one of the panel member, will be speaking on Film: Globalization of Mainstream Indian Cinema, along with actors Anil Kapoor, Kunal Kapoor, filmmaker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Prime Focus CEO Namit Malhotra and musician Shankar Mahadevan.

The 14th WIEF will be held at the Park Hyatt at the Bellevue Hotel in Philadelphia on 27 March, 2010. Balaji Telefilms joint managing director Ekta Kapoor is also among the panel speakers and will be speaking on the topic: Women in India: Breaking the Glass Ceiling.

Balan has just completed one schedule for her forthcoming film No One Killed Jessica, where she plays the character of Jessica’s sister Sabrina Lall. According to information available with Businessofcinema.com, Balan will be at Wharton for the next three days after which she will be finishing some personal work there and will return to Mumbai on 1 April.

Balan has all the reasons to be elated, with critics raving about her roles in films like Paa and Ishqiya and forthcoming films like Chenab Gandhi and No One Killed Jessica to look forward to in 2010.

By Jilawatan

Vidya Balan has been invited to speak at the prestigious 14th Wharton India Economic Forum (WIEF), at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (USA).

The actress will share the stage at Wharton with the likes of Anil Kapoor, Shankar Mahadevan and Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra in a keynote session on ‘Film – Globalisation of Mainstream Indian Cinema’ today (March 27). The WIEF is an annual India-centric conference hosted by the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.