Saturday, August 7, 2010

[HindiLok.com] Priyanka Chopra: new Unicef national ambassador

[HindiLok.com] Priyanka Chopra: new Unicef national ambassador

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Priyanka Chopra: new Unicef national ambassador

Posted: 07 Aug 2010 03:56 AM PDT

Priyanka Chopra Unicef ambassadorBollywood actress Priyanka Chopra has been appointed the national ambassador of Unicef and she will support it in promoting child rights, officials said Saturday.

An agreement in this regard will be signed between the actress and Unicef representative to India, Karin Hulshof, Aug 10 here.

"Unicef ambassadors are celebrities with a demonstrated commitment to improving the lives of children. Highly talented in their individual right, they all share an ability to bring children's issues to attention and to raise urgently needed funds for vital Unicef programmes," said an official statement.

Akshay Kumar's "Singh is Kinng 2" next year

Posted: 07 Aug 2010 03:39 AM PDT

Akshay Kumar in Singh is KinngBollywood star Akshay Kumar, who is busy shooting romantic comedy "Thank You" here these days, says a sequel to his hit film "Singh is Kinng" would be out next year.

The 'khiladi,' who has been chosen as Canada's tourism brand ambassador in India till 2012, wants to shoot more movies in the country and even intends to spend more time in Canada after he retires.

He said he would also shoot his own production "Breakaway" in Canada next month. "It is a cross-cultural emotional family comedy with an ice-hockey background," the Bollywood hero said.

The 43-year-old actor, who has acted in over 120 films, said he would "split my time between India and Canada" once he retires from his acting career.

The action star was chosen for the brand ambassador's role at the instigation of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who met him in Mumbai during his visit to India last November, and Industry Minister Tony Clement.

Akshay said though he has been "a big friend of Canada for the past 15 years", he feels privileged to officially promote this country in India.

According to the actor, Indian tourists prefer destinations like New York, London, Bangkok or Los Angeles, but he will try to "put Canada on the map as a tourist destination for Indians" in his new role.

The Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC) has designed promotional campaigns for him to woo tourists from India, he said.

Akshay, who was also given the honour of carrying the Winter Olympic Torch here last December, said Canada is an amazing country.

"A bit cold at times, but very warm and friendly people. Add to this the natural beauty of Alberta, B.C., Halifax, the multiculturalism of Toronto and the unique culture of Montreal, and you have an ideal destination for vacation."

He said he was overwhelmed when thousands of people came out on the streets on Toronto to cheer him during his run with the Olympic Torch in December in minus 20 degrees.

Salman Khan: Shilpa Shetty, Malaika Arora best item girls

Posted: 07 Aug 2010 03:28 AM PDT

shilpa shetty best item girl
Bollywood star Salman Khan, who has gyrated to sizzling number "Munni Badnaam" with his sister-in-law Malaika Arora Khan in "Dabangg", says apart from her only actress Shilpa Shetty can be counted among the best item girls in the industry.

"Shilpa Shetty is very good in item numbers," Salman told reporters on being asked which actress according to him gives competition to Malaika as far as item numbers are concerned.

Shilpa is popular for her sensuous moves in the song "U.P., Bihar lootne", and "Chhaiya chhaiya" girl Malaika has featured in many item songs like "Hoth raseele", "Kaal kaal", and "Mahi ve".

While it took a little while for Salman to answer, his younger brother Arbaaz, who is married to Malaika, flattered his wife by saying: "Malaika gives competition to herself."

The actors, along with the cast and crew of "Dabangg", were in the capital for the music launch of the film late Friday.

Salman maintained his habit of coming late and appeared with his team two and a half hours later than the scheduled time. However, he infused energy into the event as soon as he took to the stage.

The 44-year-old actor has always been known for his unique dance steps in all his films. In "Dabangg" too, he has done some very catchy steps which are fast becoming a rage among youngsters.

But Salman gives little credit to his choreographer Farah Khan for his dance. "I have taken my steps from a doctor I once met in London. He had a different style of dancing, so I picked my belt step from him," he said.

"There is another step which I have picked from Arbaaz. It's his all-time favourite step and again there's one which is from my make-up man Raju," he added.

"My steps are a mix from all these people, and yes, there is one step by Farah Khan also. Out of four steps that she gave me, I picked one," Salman quipped.

"Dabangg", which is Arbaaz's first movie as a producer, has been directed by debutant Abhinav Kashyap, the younger brother of acclaimed director Anurag Kashyap.

The film is set in a small Uttar Pradesh town and has Salman in the role of a policeman. It is the launch vehicle for Shatrughan Sinha's daughter Sonakshi, and is slated for a September release.

Confident Aamir says, my films should win-win for all

Posted: 07 Aug 2010 12:43 AM PDT

Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan's last three films have raked in big money, proving that one doesn't need massive budgets to make a blockbuster and the ideology behind it is simple - he wants everyone associated with the movie to make money.

"It has to be win-win for everyone. My sense would be, as a creative person I would like to take that responsibility to make sure that the film is not top heavy and everyone earns," Aamir told NDTV in an interview.

"That's a policy I have followed all along is that when I do business with someone, so whether it's a distributor or whether I am an actor or it's the producer I am concerned with, whoever I deal with... should make money when they deal with me," he said.

Aamir, 45, is a filmmaker and has invested wisely in movies like "Lagaan", "Taare Zameen Par", "Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na". All of them went on to become hits at the box office.

Not just that, as an actor, his last three releases - "Taare Zameen Par", "Ghajini" and "3 Idiots" have made quite a bit of moolah at the box-office with "Ghajini" being sold at Rs.60 crore.

"I got very nervous when 'Ghajini' was sold at a very high price because I feel that we shouldn't go... This race is mad. I am basically a very middle class kind of person and I feel that so much money is at stake and people are going to lose money," said Aamir.

"I feel much stressed about that and I feel that there is no need to do that. When a film is good the upside will come to you," he added.

'Sholay' climax was to be re-shot: Amitabh Bachchan

Posted: 07 Aug 2010 12:41 AM PDT

"Sholay" retains its charisma even after 35 years but megastar Amitabh Bachchan reveals that the climax of the cult classic was to be re-shot with his character Jai being resurrected as the film was not doing good business in the initial days of its release.

"As things were not going right, we all - Salim Saab, Javed Saab and Rameshji - met in our house on Saturday, the next day of the release. All were thinking what we can do to improve it (film) or if we could do something to save the film," the 67-year-old star told reporters.

"I think 'Deewar' had just been released a couple of months before that and I had died in that film. And here I was dying again in this film. Lot of people felt that the audience might not have liked me dying. They thought may be they should get me alive again and within minutes we decided to make my character live.

"We thought of going back to Ram Nagar, shoot that sequence on Sunday, putting it out on Monday and see what happens. All units were called. I remember Rameshji was ringing up Madras and we were all set to leave and re-shoot the whole sequence. When Rameshji was leaving my place, he said 'Let's wait for another day before we leave for Bangalore'. And that was historic," Bachchan added.

This Aug 15, it will be 35 years since "Sholay" was released and Big B wonders how could a film have a life so long.

"I am quite surprised that 'Sholay' had a life so long. When we were making it, I don't think any of us realised that it was going to be that historic," he said.

The actor says his memories of the film are still fresh and it seems like only yesterday when the film's script was narrated to him.

"It seems like yesterday when Salim Saab and Javed Saab narrated the script to us. The film has a lot of memories for me particularly because I had just finished working in 'Zanjeer' by then. It was just fantastic to be working with Ramesh Sippy, Dharamji, Hemaji... the only newcomer was Amzad bhai," said Bachchan.

The senior Bachchan also reveals that during the shooting of 'Sholay', actress Jaya Bachchan was pregnant with her first child, Shweta.

"Jaya and I had been married just for a year and in fact she was expecting our first child during the making. There were some shots in 'Sholay', where you can actually see her working during the pregnancy," remembers Bachchan.
Posted by Suresh at 7:12 PM

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