By Jilawatan

2010 saw the Bollywood lose out Rs. 3 billion at the box-office in spite of the most hyped mega budget films with super stars in them. But 2011 kick started the year in a good way with Rani Mukherji and Vidya Balan and so far the films released have raked in good moolah for the industry and is showing good signs of profit with a mixed bag of releases so far.
‘No One Killed Jessica’: The hard hitting film on the murder of Jessica Lal was the first film to release this year on Jan 7th. Rani Mukherji was back in the big screen as the journalist hurling abuse and standing up for justice along with Viday Balan as Sabrina Lal. The film collected Rs. 389 so far and is still going quite strong at the theatres after two weeks.
‘Yamla Pagla Deewana’ and ‘Turning 30!!!’: Two films of different genre released on 14th Jan and both did well in the box office. While the first flick brought Dharmendra, Sunny and Bobby Deol on-screen again in a full out commercial laugh riot movie with emotion, drama, romance and thrill. On the other hand ‘Turning 30’ dealt with the real life crisis of women who turns 30 and how they deal with it, Gul Panag did justice to the role in the light-hearted yet a thoughtful flick. “YPD’ collected Rs. 350 over the week and ‘Turning 30’ also didn’t do bad as it has collected Rs. 50 million.
‘Dhobi Ghat’: The Aamir Khan venture released on 21st and has opened to the box-office collection of Rs.9.3 million. The film is different from any film that has released so far this year, it is the directorial debut of Kiran Rao and is heart wrenching in the way it has showed Mumbai. The city has become the character of a film and according to the critics she has done a commendable job.

One just hopes that as the month ends with the release of another comedy film ‘Dil Toh Bachcha Hai Ji’ featuring Ajay Devgan, Emraan Hashmi and Omi Vaidya and directed by Madhur Bhandarkar, the trend of profit continues. Also it follows throughout the year and Bollywood sees the face of profit in 2011 again with the long list of powerful releases.

By Jilawatan

Actor Vidya Balan has been repeatedly accused of being a style offender, but that hasn’t stopped her from doing it her way.

At the Star Screen Awards, the actress was again a fish out of water. She chose to wear a classic Kanjeevaram sari, with a traditional threequarter sleeve blouse and vintage style earrings, while others wore the sari in the modern “cocktail” form.

While the evening saw other actresses such as Aishwarya Rai, Gul Panag and Celina Jaitley opting for saris in contemporary fabrics to get a snug fit, Vidya dared to wear a heavy silk considered bulky.

Though Vidya did not manage to get the drape quite right and the saree looked clumsily wrapped around her, this new style statement by Vidya is not being panned across the board.

In fact, it has led to a debate in fashion circles on whether there is indeed a place for the traditional saree on modern red carpets.

Designer Rina Dhaka says, “It’s great to see someone bringing a classic style back in vogue. I am myself dying to rework tradition. However, I would like it with a modern balance. Kanjeevarams are great but I would like to see them today with a contemporary touch, with factors such as wearibility and comfort, while retaining their originality.” Designer Priya Kataria Puri says, “It is a good idea to promote our heritage weaves but the idea is to present them in a flattering way. The way Vidya wore it may only discourage the younger lot from trying the look. Since Kanjeevaram is heavy taffeta silk, it adds bulk to the body. You should try it only if you are tall and slim. Also, it’s important to team it with a sexy blouse. The threefourth sleeve look that Vidya promoted is very dated and lacks imagination.” She adds, “Kanjeevaram is a lovely fabric but it has its limitations, it is shapeless and hence needs clever styling. You can look striking if you wear a taffeta silk with a sexy faux fur blouse.”

By Jilawatan

Vidya Balan is the latest Bollywood celeb to sign up for Twitter. Though she admits she’s not deft in using social networking sites, she’s learning fast.

“Everybody was telling me about Twitter so I decided to join it. I have just started and I will soon learn it,” Vidya is quoted as saying by a website.

Incidentally, Vidya joins Twitter just 10 days after Shahid Kapoor too signed up. She’s yet to post her first tweet but has already got close to 100 followers.

Meanwhile, Shahid has been tweeting regularly and has already got more than 14,000 followers. In one of his recent tweets, he wrote: “MORNIN PEOPLE ….. Am up ….. Lotsa work today … Shootin in some warehouses … Trap still sore … But 1 day to go .. I’m extatic …”

Shahid is presently shooting director Parmeet Sethi’s first film in Bangkok with Anushka Sharma.

Among other Bollywood celebs who tweet regularly are Mallika Sherawat, Priyanka Chopra and Gul Panag.