[ItzToday.com] Amitabh Bachchan, John Abraham in Madhya Pradesh to save tigers

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• Amitabh Bachchan, John Abraham in Madhya Pradesh to save tigers
• Hema, Helen to appear in 'Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa'
• Hollywood Actor Jeff Bridges says marriages get better with time
• 'Peepli Live' - will it make it to Oscars?
• Hollywood Actor Brad Pitt gets annoyed over family photos
• Lindsay Lohan's family in feud over child support

Amitabh Bachchan, John Abraham in Madhya Pradesh to save tigers Posted: 12 Dec 2010 10:13 PM PST Bhopal, Dec 12 (IANS) Bollyood megastar Amitabh Bachchan has taken time out of his busy schedule to visit Pench National Park in Madhya Pradesh to participate in the Save Our Tigers campaign. He feels the cause is more important than his films. "The tiger's cause is more important than my films. Kids should start tiger clubs and create awareness," Big B, 68, who is busy with a telethon for the Save Our Tigers campaign, told told a TV channel. Big B and Bollywood hunk John Abraham, who often associates himself with social causes, arrived Saturday evening and will stay in Pench till Dec 13. Pench Deputy Director O.P. Tiwari said the two will take part in the programmes related to Save Our Tiger projects. Spread over 758 square kilometers, Pench is among the six tiger Reserves in Madhya Pradesh and is the original setting of Rudyard Kipling's most famous work, "The Jungle Book". Talking about his participation, Amitabh said in a message on his blog: "Tomorrow (Sunday) starts the Telethon for the Save the Tiger campaign. There is a desire and hope to collect as much money as one can for the benefit of those that manage and look after these regal animals and prevent them from being poached and destroyed." John had stripped for a People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) ad to appeal against animal abuse.

Hema, Helen to appear in 'Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa' Posted: 12 Dec 2010 09:59 PM PST New Delhi, Dec 13 (IANS) From grandeur to glamour, beauty to elegance -- the launch of the fourth season of dance reality show "Jhalak Dikhla Jaa" had everything. Small screen Sunday night witnessed perhaps the first such mega opening show where Bollywood's "dreamgirl" Hema Malini, cabaret queen Helen and dancing star Govinda burnt the dance floor. Hindi film's original He-man Dharmendra's performance was the icing on the cake. The show that went on air on Sony channel has an interesting line-up of celebrity contestants, majority of whom are television actors. There was dance, drama and comedy in the over two-hour special episode, hosted by actors Mona Singh and Sumeet Raghavan, where 11 out of 12 contestants were introduced in a unique way. Each contestant was accompanied by either their friend or idol and all of them danced away, keeping the essence of the show alive. While actor and comedian Krushna Abhishek was introduced by a rocking performance on a medley of songs by his maternal uncle Govinda; his cousin sister, actress Ragini Khanna was joined on stage by her idol Helen. It was family time for Hema Malini, Dharmendra and Esha Deol as they came to encourage actress Mahii Vij, singer Anoushka Manchanda and boxer Akhil Kumar respectively. The lead pair of Zee TV's popular serial "Pavitra Rishta" -- Sushant Singh Rajput and Ankita Lokhande -- who will be on a face-off on the show, were introduced by Kinshuk Mahajan and Parul Chauhan of "Sapna Babul Ka…Bidaai" fame. Some star power was also added by actress Anoushka Sharma and her "Band Baaja Baraat" co-star Ranveer Singh, who came to show support for Meiyang Chang. Renuka Shahane and Shekhar Suman are among the older-aged contestants this time, but their energy levels and youthfulness seemed no less than the youngsters. In fact, 50-year-old Shekhar gave tough competition to his actor son Adhyayan Suman on the dance floor in the introductory episode. "Babuji…" girl Yana Gupta got a sizzling welcome from singer Mika, who couldn't help but mention how "hot" she is. But the temperature on the show went up when judge Malaika Arora Khan gave a scintillating performance on remixed versions of "Chhaiya chhaiya" and her latest chartbuster "Munni badnaam hui…". Malaika also danced with the choreographers, who are going to teach the contestants how to put on their dancing shoes right! But what turned out to be a delight was her impromptu dance with mother-in-law Helen, who was equally thrilled to be sharing the same stage with her. Choreographer Remo D'Souza, the second judge on the show, also displayed his prowess and moved impeccably much to the delight of the audience. As the best is often reserved for the last, Madhuri Dixit came in at the end, looking resplendent in a Sabyasachi Mukherjee suit. Though her dance sequence was the most awaited, she only gave a "jhalak" of her moves, leaving everyone asking for more.

Hollywood Actor Jeff Bridges says marriages get better with time Posted: 12 Dec 2010 09:48 PM PST London, Dec 13 (IANS) Oscar-award winning actor Jeff Bridges says marriages get better with time. The 61-year-old has revealed he thought his union with Susan Geston, whom he married in 1977, would grow less passionate as they got older but was pleasantly surprised to find their difficulties have only made them stronger, reports femalefirst.co.uk. "What I didn't count on with this whole marriage thing was that the passion, the sparks - it gets better! I was thinking it was going to go the other way, but it gets cooler and hotter all at the same time," he said. "I think one of the things about staying married is just not getting a divorce. To go through some of those difficult times and stay together, you've got to expand your concept of love. If you've been married a long time, you're going to get tested," he added.

'Peepli Live' - will it make it to Oscars? Posted: 12 Dec 2010 09:41 PM PST New Delhi, Dec 13 (IANS) Will "Peepli Live" make it to the final Oscar nomination list? It's a bit early to start the debate, but the dark comedy about corruption and famers' suicides stands a chance, feel experts, who say it is an accomplished film. Aamir Khan's production venture is India's official entry for the Academy awards in the foreign film category for which the nomination list will be announced Jan 25 next year. Indian poverty was exploited to the hilt at the 2009 Oscars with director Danny Boyle going to the extremes in showing the miseries of the marginalised in "Slumdog Millionaire"; so did American documentary filmmaker Megan Mylan in "Smile Pinky". "The nomination depends as much on luck as excellence in cinema, and there is no denying the fact that it is world cinema. See, for them (the academy jury) the movie has to be culturally rooted in that country. It is not that they are fascinated by or sympathise with Indian poverty," film critic Anupama Chopra told IANS. "Peepli Live" was one of the few films that hit the jackpot. Made at a shoestring budget of Rs.7 crore sans stars and glamour, the satire grossed Rs.28 crore at the box office. Journalist-turned-director Anusha Rizvi combined the power of pen and camera to highlight issues like corruption and farmers' suicides and managed to impress both the classes and the masses with her black comedy. Film veteran Utpal Borpujari says the Oscar nomination will depend on what kind of films are coming from other countries. "Looking at 'Peepli Live', it is a very accomplished film. Going by its content and quality of cinema, it does stand a chance in the top five... It is one of the better entries in recent years from India," Borpujari told IANS. Despite being one of the largest film producing countries in the world, India has managed to get only three nominations for feature films so far in the Oscars list, which will see its 83rd year in 2011. The Oscar nomination summary of the three films shows that bosses at the Academy fancy stories from rural India with poverty as the sub-theme. In 1958, "Mother India", about a rural woman and her struggle to survive, became the first Indian movie to enter the prestigious list in the foreign film category. After that, India had to wait for three decades to make it to the list when Mira Nair's first feature film "Salaam Bombay", based on the lives of street children in Mumbai, was nominated in 1988. The common factor between the two nominations was "poverty". The third nomination didn't come soon either. It came 14 years later in the form of Ashutosh Gowariker's period drama "Lagaan" starring Aamir Khan. Set in pre-Independence rural India, it was about a bunch of poor villagers trying to get tax exemption from the British government by winning a cricket match. In 2004, "Little Terrorist", a short film directed, written and produced by Ashvin Kumar was nominated in the Live Action Short Film category. Unfortunately, none of them could win the coveted golden statuette. "You have to campaign if you want to win the Oscar. It is like a political campaign," said Mira Nair. Boyle's underdog drama "Slumdog Millionaire" was not the first film with India's poverty as theme to make it to the nomination list. In 2007, Cananda-based Deepa Mehta's "Water", about the plight of widows in pre-independent India, was Canada's official entry in the foreign film section. But Boyle was the first one to triumph with his poverty story and in the same year Megan Mylan too took home the golden statuette for "Smile Pinki", about a poor girl whose cleft lip made her a social outcast in her village in Uttar Pradesh. "The Final Inch", about Indian workers' fight against polio, was also nomimated with "Smile Pinki", but didn't win any award. American director Gregg Helvey's Hindi film "Kavi", about child labour, had been nominated in the Short Film (Live Action) section in this year's Academy event. With a population of over one billion, India is the world's largest democracy and the fourth largest economy in purchasing power parity terms. However, poverty remains a major challenge. According to the revised official poverty line, 37.2 percent of the population (about 410 million people) remains poor, making India home to one-third of the world's poor people, according to a World Bank report. Legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray, who was honoured with a Lifetime Oscar, was accused by commerical cinema of "selling Indian poverty" in his films. But Borpujari said: "The Academy doesn't look at the backdrop of a film - what matters is how strong it is as a piece of cinema and how powerfully has the story been told. The Academy members are very politically active. They often go for films based on current political issues like 'No Man's Land'."

Hollywood Actor Brad Pitt gets annoyed over family photos Posted: 12 Dec 2010 09:32 PM PST London, Dec 13 (IANS) Brad Pitt gets annoyed with partner Angelina Jolie for not taking any photographs as he is always left out clicking and missing out to be in any family snaps. The actress revealed her partner, with whom she raises six children, is a keen amateur photographer, but as a result is often left out of family portraits, reports contactmusic.com. "I actually never take pictures and I think it drives Brad a bit crazy because he's in no family photos - he takes them all, and so I need to start trying," she said.

Lindsay Lohan's family in feud over child support Posted: 12 Dec 2010 09:25 PM PST London, Dec 13 (IANS) Lindsay Lohan's family feud is raging again as her parents fight over child support payments as the actress' mother has filed papers demanding her ex-husband pays up. Dina Lohan has accused her ex-partner Michael of failing to hand over his monthly instalments for Lindsay's younger siblings Ali, 16, and Cody, 14, just months after the former couple settled a previous child support dispute in court, reports contactmusic.com. The Lohan matriarch has lodged a complaint with the Child Support Collection Unit in Nassau County, New York, alleging Michael owes her more than $30,000. Dina admits she's furious with her ex-husband for paying child support to a woman in Montana who won a default judgment against him because Michael never opposed her claims he fathered her young daughter. "It's completely ridiculous. When I heard that he was paying for this child in Montana, I just had to fight for my kids... This child in Montana gets more than Ali and Cody (get). Lindsay is so upset and disgusted with him. Last year, I went to court on Christmas Eve, and here I am this Christmas, going back to court," said Dina. Michael Lohan, however, retorted: "I never admitted it was my child. I'm paying to stay out of jail."

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