The main men in Mani Ratnam’s Raavan

Raavan has been shot extensively in jungles of many areas like Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and recently near Korea. As the team has been venturing into very dense parts of the forests to get the right spots, a few men with special duties have always traveled with the team. There is a special first aid team in case any wild insects or other creatures caused problems and there were also a few men who were experts at handling snakes who were kept with the team to avoid any serpent from getting dangerously close to anyone in the unit. One cannot be better prepared!

Courtesy: behindwoods.com

Jodhaa Akbar rocks music awards

Almost 80 years after W M Khan sang De de khuda ke naam pe for India's first talking picture Alam Ara in 1931, and made the lives of 

Bipasha sizzles to Jawani Jaane Mann. (TOI Photo) More Pictures

millions of Indians moremusical, a special award has been instituted for the Bollywood music industry by Radio Mirchi 98.3 FM. The first Tata Indicom Mirchi Music Awards were announced at Hotel Taj Lands End in Bandra on Saturday evening. (Watch )

Holding the golden trophy fashioned as female figurine, host Shaan emerged singing from amidst the audience, encouraged by co-host Tulip Joshi. As was the case at the Filmfare Awards, A R Rahman and Jodhaa Akbar swept the honours here too, bagging song of the year for Jashn-e-bahara and best male vocalist for Javed Ali for the same song.

Bela Shende, who was Shreya Ghoshal's rival at a talent hunt many years ago, came out tops with Manmohana for Jodhaa Akbar. A R Rahman struck gold with album of the year for Jaane Tu... and best music director for Kabhi Kabhi Aditi. Aptly, the lifetime achievement award was presented to singer Lata Mangeshkar for never having hit a wrong note in her life, as Bade Ghulam Ali Khan once said.

Interestingly, as many newcomers took the stage as veteran names in the business. Upcoming talents Dominique Cerejo and Benny Dayal shared space with veteran saxophonist and music arranger Manohari Singh. A spectacular lineup of performances by Bipasha Basu, Shreya Ghoshal, Genelia DSouza and Kunal Ganjawala punctuated the ceremony. In a spontaneous competition for music directors present at the awards, Javed Akhtar gave them an 'unmusical' verse to compose on IPL and the general elections.

Weeks before the actual awards ceremony, the jury met to deliberate the list of nominations and then the winners. Jury chairman Javed Akhtar along with Prasoon Joshi, Louis Banks, Shankar Mahadevan, Annu Malik, Lalit Pandit, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Sonu Nigam, Kailash Kher, Suresh Wadkar, Sadhana Sargam, Kunal Kohli, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and Ramesh Sippy listened to 400-500 songs as they shortlisted the nominees to the 17 categories.

One of the award categories was branded the Tata Indicom Talent Hunt for which aspiring singers from 23 locations in India had been invited to compete. Contest winner Prachi Shah from Ahmedabad performed at Saturday's awards ceremony.

The title sponsor of the Mirchi Music Awards is Tata Indicom. The channel partner is Star TV and the online partner is Apnacircle.com.

And the winners are... 

Song Of The Year
Jashn-e-Bahara | Jodhaa Akbar

Album Of The Year
A R Rahman | Jaane Tu...

Male Vocalist Of The Year
Javed Ali | Jashn-e-Bahara, Jodhaa Akbar

Female Vocalist Of The Year
Bela Shende | Manmohana, Jodhaa Akbar

Music Director Of The Year
A R Rahman | Jaane Tu...

Lyricist Of The Year
Javed Akhtar | Jashn-e-Bahara, Jodhaa Akbar

Upcoming Male Vocalist Of The Year

Benny Dayal | Kaise Mujhe, Ghajini

Upcoming Female Vocalist Of The Year
Dominique Cerejo | Ye Tumhari, Rock On!

Upcoming Music Director Of The Year
Dhruv Ghanekar | Drona

Upcoming Lyricist Of The Year
Ashok Mishra | Welcome to Sajjanpur

Technical Award For Song Mixing
LATE H Shridhar | Jodhaa Akbar

Technical Award For Programming and Arranging
TR Krishna Chetan | Jashn-e-Bahara, Jodhaa Akbar

Technical Award For Film Background Score
AR Rahman | Jodhaa Akbar

Tata Indicom Mirchi Listeners Choice Song Of The Year

Kabhi kabhi aditi | Jaane Tu...

Tata Indicom Mirchi Listeners Choice Album Of The Year
Jaane Tu... YA Jaane NA

Jury's Salute For Memorable Contribution To Music
Manohari Singh | Saxophonist

Lifetime Achievement Award
Lata Mangeshkar

Courtesy:

A R Rahman is an Apple Logic Studio user

Apple has posted an interview with A R Rahman who has just won two Oscars for the music in the movie Slumdog Millionaire.


Rahman talks about his experience composing the music for this movie which dominated the recently held Oscar Awards.


He talks about how he came in contact with Danny Boyle who directed the movie and he talks about how the music was created.


The highlight of the interview was the tools used by Rahman for composing his music. Apparently, Rahman is a fan of Apple Logic Studio.


He said: “Yes, I’ve been working with Logic for almost 12 years. I use it as my writing tool because I can have it on a desktop or on a laptop. I can carry it all over.”


He spoke about other tools used along with Logic: “Yes, most of the processing was done with Logic plug-ins actually: Ring Shifter; Multipressor; Space Designer. I also really like EXS24, EVP88, and Sculpture, and I use them a lot.”


Finally, he concluded: “Well, since I work almost exclusively with Logic, it’s the only thing I know. Most of the songs were written in Logic. And Logic’s mixing features allowed us to meet a very tight deadline for “Mausam & Escape,” a track with lots of instruments such as sitar and guitar. I’ve looked at other programs but never cared to try them because the timing in Logic is the best. Friends used to ask, how do you get that timing? Most of them switched because of it. Songs are mostly about grooves, so when they hear something tight and nice, they want it, too. Logic becomes a part of your life. I have three or four programming rooms, and I exchange files across the Internet with London; it has become a whole philosophy of using the Logic tools.”




Courtesy: techwhack..com

Ravana Story line out in the open

The much-guarded story line of Mani Ratnam’s Ravana has been leaked to the press. Its plot has been doing the rounds already.

 

The story goes thus. The sister of Abhishek Bachchan gets humiliated publicly by character played by South Star Vikram.

As revenge, Abhshek kidnaps Aishwarya Rai, the wife of Vikram. Chased by the police, they hide in the jungle. And Mamma mia- the duo falls in Love!

What follows next makes up the rest of the film.

Ravana is supposed to be modern take on Ramayana with Abhishek in the role of Ravana. The Ash- Abhi romance is the twist in the tale.

Other characters include Suhasini , the wife of director Mani Ratnam who makes her Bolllywood debut. Also Govinda plays a modern version of Hanuman who takes Vikram to the place of Abhishek.

Ravi Kissen plays Abhishek’s trusted aide while Nikhil Dwivedi plays a cop. The film in its Tamil version will be called Ashokavanam with Prithviraj Sukumar playing Abhishek’s role.

Actress-dancer Shobana has done the choreography.

Courtesy: newsline365.com

Ghajini to re-release

Aamir Khan fans need not wait an entire year for their favourite star's next film. Taking advantage of the deadlock between producers and multiplexes, the makers of Ghajini are all set to re-release the film.

At a time when marketing strategy often translates into ticket sales, this strategy is being seen as coup of sorts. This time around the film will feature new footage. And two, with the proposed ban on new releases from April 4, the producers of Ghajini are hoping their brainwave will prove a breath of fresh air.

And that might not be a bad idea. The film had already grossed Rs 75 crore in India and Rs 200 crore worldwide.

"I am really happy everyone's liking Ghajini, and people have made it such a huge hit," said Aamir Khan, actor.

Wrapped in the new avtaar of the film, there's an upside for the producers as well. Madhu Matenu of India Films told NDTV that re-releasing the film is a good way to work around recession. Why make a new film when you can simply tinker with an old one, right?

Well, not quite. Ghajini had run into trouble with the censors the first time around thanks to some heavy-duty action scenes. Now it will have to pass muster with the censor board once again.
If it does, remember to keep your date with Aamir Khan. Or you could tattoo it on just so you don't forget. 


Courtesy: ndtvmovies.com

A R Rahman to be new face of Star Aviation

Star Aviation, the Indian aviation wing of the Dubai-based conglomerate, ETA Star Holdings, is all set to sign up Oscar winner, A R Rahman as the brand ambassador for the soon-to-be-launched regional airline operations.
Star Aviation has already received the go ahead from the civil aviation ministry for operating its regional airlines service in the country. The airlines, which is scheduled to start its operations sometime next month, will initially operate brand new fleet of three Embraer 170 aircrafts.
“We are firming up our plans for the airlines and flight schedules. The launch of the service will happen in about a month’s time,” a senior Star Aviation official told Financial Chronicle.
“We have held discussions with Rahman. But, yet to sign a formal agreement with him,” he said, on A R Rahman becoming the Brand Ambassador for this fledgling airline. A formal agreement is likely to be signed over the next couple of days, it is learnt.
Star Aviation will be the first corporate to sign up A R Rahman as its brand ambassador, after he
won the Oscars. He had earlier represented a few brands, including Airtel, in the past.
The designated regional airline will initially cover seven cities, mostly in south India, from its Chennai hub. These are Bangalore, Kochi, Thiruva-nanthapuram, Madurai, Hyderabad, Vishakapat-nam and Ahmedabad.
The ‘full service carrier’ will offer a ‘single class configuration’ of seats, as already being successfully done by Paramount Airways, based out of Madurai. And it is also adopting a similar approach by opting for a mix of leased and owned aircrafts.
While the initial focus is expected to be south, Star Aviation will eventually spread to other Indian cities as well. Though regional airlines are not permitted fly between two major metros across regions, Star Aviation will still be able to connect Chennai with Bangalore and Hyderabad, besides operating flights to most tier-II cities in the region.
The multi-billion Dubai-based ETA Star Holdings has interests which pans across industries including real estate, hospitality, automobile, power sector and shipping services.
The group’s Indian operations are headquartered in Chennai and it has already forayed into real estate, shipping, insurance and power sectors in India, besides restaurants.


Courtesy: mydigitalfc.com

Abhishek-Aishwarya’s love-making session dropped from ‘Raavan’

It would have made nation wide headlines and guaranteed Mani Ratnam’s flick ‘Raavan’ immediate success, but the talented director has decided to drop the sizzling, hot, love-making scene between real life couple Abhishek and Aishwarya. Call it wisdom or playing safe, but Mani Ratnam is doing away with the couple’s first ever intimate scene in a bid to appease religious groups.


Ever since the film ‘Raavan’ got on floors, it has been causing curiosity over its plot line. The film that is a contemporary take on Ramayan is touted to present Raavan in a likeable avatar.

Buzz has it that Aishwarya plays the role of a married woman, who is kidnapped by Abhishek. Deriving the story line from Ramayan; the film takes a different route as it goes on to show a romantic relationship between Ash and Abhi, who in the modern day adaptation plays Raavan.

As their relationship progress, Ash gets carried away by her kidnapper and submits for some smoldering intimate session with him. And that’s where Ratnam decides to play safe and edit the scenes.

Confirming the news an insider said, “There was also a love-making scene between Ash and Abhishek in the script but Mani decided to do away with it after realising the sensitivity of the subject. Even though he may deny it, the fact remains that the film is a modern day adaptation of the epic, with the focus being on the Ravana-Sita chapter."

Looks like Ratnam just averted a crisis but not the danger that looms ahead.


Courtesy: spicezee.com

The signature Shankar song!

Shankar has a story board for his songs and normally sits with his music director, lyric writer, cameraman and art director discussing the song in detail.

This includes details like camera angle and colour of the costumes worn by the lead artistes to match the background! In every Shankar film, there is a signature number which is a dream song showcasing a lot of splendor, glamour and glitz. The director has had classic hit numbers like Maya... in Indian, Randakka... in Anniyan or Vaaji Vaaji... in Sivaji. Something similar in style, with much more richness and grandeur, is being planned by the ace director for Endhiran where the lead pair (Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai) will be accompanied by nearly 1000 junior artistes, all of them wearing silvercoloured ‘Robo’ costumes with thongs.
The song, which was recorded recently by AR Rahman, was sung by Madhushree who also sang the popular Vaaji song in Sivaji. The song will soon be shot on a set created by art director Sabu Cyril in a Hyderabad studio.


Courtesy: indiatimes.com

A.R.Rahman-Airtel alliance continues

A.R.Rahman became Airtel’s brand ambassador in 2002. The brand campaign for Airtel in 2002 featuring AR Rahman was the first time he had appeared in a television commercial. When Rahman composed the tune, Airtel has two million customers. Today Airtel has over 90 million customers and the Airtel signature tune composed by A R Rahman is world’s most downloaded piece of mobile music in the world with over 60 million downloads.
Incidentally, this tune has made its appearance in several forms including car reverse music. A R Rahman also composed an exclusive soundtrack to commemorate the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon in 2008.
NCPA’s music festival in March
The National Centre for Performing Arts is presenting “An Evening of Classical Music & Dance” with Buddhadev Dasgupta (Sarod), Sunayana Hazarilal (Kathak), and Zakir Hussain (Tabla) at Tata Theatre on March 2 in collaboration with Natawari.
Barasat Rang, Dhrupad and Khayal Compositions on Holi sung by Ram Deshpande and Sanjeev Abhayankar will be presented at the Experimental Theatre on March 6. The concert celebrates Holi.
Nad Ninad: From Our Archives will be a Guided Listening Session on Vilayat Khan at the Experimental Theatre on March 13 in collaboration with the Indian Musicological Society.
This is a programme that makes available to lovers of Hindustani classical music some of NCPA’s archival recordings. This month, it’s the music of the late sitar maestro Ustad Vilayat Khan of the Imdadkhani-Etawah gharana. This session will be conducted by the sitar maestro Arvind Parikh.
The Vienna Chamber Orchestra with its Artistic Director Stefan Vladar and Conductor Joji Hattori will present a Western Music Concert at the Jamshed Bhabha Theatre on April 15 in collaboration with Embassy of Austria and Indian Council for Cultural Relations.
The Vienna Chamber Orchestra has performed earlier to rapturous acclaim at the NCPA under the baton of Associate Conductor Joji Hattori, who has held that position since 2003.
Living Traditions: A Rajasthani Extravaganza, a folk Dance and Music Performance will be held at the Experimental Theatre on March 20 and 2 in partnership with Jaipur Virasat Foundation.
Over two evenings, the best of the Rajasthan region in an explosion of performing arts forms will see over 60 artistes and a variety of folk dances, traditional musicians and instruments. On March 20, those featured will include Bhanwari Devi from Shekhawati who sings with strength and soul in the bhopa/ bhopi tradition, Suguna, a musician from the Kalbeliya community from Marwar-Jodhpur, Parveen Mirza from the Maand tradition of the royal house of Shahapura, Jaipur gharana; the colourful dances, the Tehra Taali of the Kamad ‘jaati’ of Pali and the Chakri dance of the Kanjar community from Chachhoda, Baran. These are among the best from a variety of traditional forms that are exclusively performed by women.On the 21st, an evening with Rajasthan’s best known traditional musicians and dancers. Padmaramji, one of the senior-most singers from the Meghwal community of Kundal, Jaisalmer, sings bhajans by poets in the Nirguna tradition, such as Ravidas, Surdas, Kabir and Meerabai. He will use the tandoora as accompaniment. There will also be featured the sons of the Langa and Manganiyar community elders from the villages near Barmer and Jodhpur, boys who have honed their own talent by accompanying their fathers to vocal performances for their patrons. Jumma Khan ‘jogi’ and his Bhapang party are from the Mev community from Alwar (Mewat region) who are a significant name in the Jogi (or Yogi) tradition of singers who still compose songs with a contemporary social and political relevance. The evening ends with two unusual dance forms of the state, one with a group of deru players and dancers from the Churu region in Shekhawati and a fast-paced finale by the traditional male dancers from Tonk, Jaipur, performed to the mellifluous notes of the traditional instrument, the algoza.
Arties Festival India - March 2009 will present a Chamber Music Festival at the Experimental Theatre on March 26 and at the Tata Theatre on March 28 and 29.


Courtesy: screenindia.com

Simbu desperate to please A R Rahman

Nowadays actor Simbu has been seen spending a lot of time at Oscar winner A R Rahman’s studio. The buzz is that he hopes to get a chance to sing a song or two in his upcoming Gautham Menon's Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaayaa. The highlight of the film will be, of course, the music by Rahman.


This will be Rahman's first film with Gautham to hit the stands after the director’s split with Harris Jayaraj.


Starring Simbu and Trisha in lead roles, the director has completed the first schedule in Chennai and will soon move to Kerala for some exotic outdoor locations. After this, the director will start shooting for the film in his favourite location — New York!


Work on Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaya will most likely finish by May and will release in July. Though the film had started out as a low-budget quickie, it is bound to become bigger as time progresses.


Courtesy: oneindia.in

What does Prabhu Deva have for Rajini?

It is a well known fact that Raju Sundaram has choreographed the Machu Pichu song which is salsa based and Lawrence, the robotic style song for Endhiran. Now it is the turn of Prabhu Deva who is working at Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad. The USP of this song is that Rajinikanth and his double will be shaking legs for the choreographer’s moves. Prabhu Deva known for his dancing style is the right choice to choreograph our very own style icon,

Rajinikanth. It will definitely be a treat to watch two superstars dancing on screen.

Courtesy: behindwoods.com

Ravan and Endhiran could be delayed

The accident of noted Hollywood stunt director Peter Hein has thrown two of the films that he has been working – Endhiran and Ravan – out of gear. Mr. Hein was involved in an accident while doing a stunt sequence for a Telugu film, Magadheera, which has Ram Charan Teja, son of Chiranjeevi in the lead. Peter Hein had been in the critical care unit in the Apollo Hospitals since February 18th nursing 19 fractures. Most of the fractures have been on the face, eleven to be precise.

Peter Hein has been signed up to do the stunt sequences in Mani Ratnam’s Ravan and the Shankar-directed Rajini-starrer Endhiran. With this accident, looks like both these projects could be delayed.

Courtesy: behindwoods.com

Dasavatharam inspires Endhiran

What if Shankar has tightened the security measures making Pentagon to look like an easy place to duck out secrets, news about his forthcoming sci-fi magnum opus Endhiran are dime a dozen. While recent news suggested that the famous Danny Denzongpa will play villain in Endhiran, there is also news that a fight sequence will be the highlight of the film. Not one of those scenes with Danny and Rajini, but with two Rajinis.

As is known, Rajini plays dual role in the movie of that of a scientist and a Robot, developed by the scientist. The action hair-strand-raising sequences were filmed recently with stunt director Peter Hein choreographing the scenes. The fight is said to happen inside an enclosed glass cabinet. Not long ago, if you might remember, one such two-some fight sequence of Kamal (Christian Fletcher) and Kamal (Shingenn Narahashi) for Dasavatharam evoked a stupendous response.

Courtesy: behindwoods.com

A.R. Rahman posing with models

Fans of Rahman got the shock of their lives on seeing Akon’s new hit ‘Beautiful’. The music video has a 3-second shot of A.R. Rahman smiling and posing in front of beautiful models who were dancing behind him. The video also features American pop singer Colby O'Donis and Canadian hip hop artist Kardinal Offishall. A.R. Rahman, after winning two Oscars, is in no mood to rest as he is already making his presence felt. With

the Oscars in the kitty, a Grammy is not far away. From behindwoods.com we would like to wish the Mozart of Madras all the very best and greedily ask him to go International and grab all the possible awards he can lay his hands on. Rahman makes an appearance at 2:28 minutes into the video.

Courtesy: behindwoods.com

Simple Silambarasan and traditional Trisha

Trisha will be seen in a new look in Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaaya, say the unit members. Well, they have not got any international make up man to get that perfect look; instead director Gautham Menon seems to have decided to do away with that post. Trisha will be wearing minimal or no make up in the movie. She plays a normal, simple city girl, will always be clad in a sari and will perfectly fit the bill as the average conservative woman of Chennai.

Trisha is not the only one who will be going in for no frills look, even hero Silambarasan will be looking like a real common man. He will cut down on the style quotient. All this fits the description of the movie, which according to Gautham will be a simple and cute love story, along the lines of Minnale. The simple looks of the leading actors of Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaaya will definitely be a pleasant change from the regular fare and let’s hope that it works well on screen.

Courtesy: behindwoods.com

Abhishek amazed by Vikram

Mani Ratnam is a busy man these days sweating it out in Kolkata, directing a host of well established actors and talents in the Indian film industry. The scenes that are being shot now are those of Vikram and Abishek Bachchan. Sources close to the film crew say that the two actors have bonded well during the shoots. Bachchan Jr., reportedly saw a few of the Kanthaswamy stills of Vikram and was amazed by the

two get-ups he had donned for the movie – a woman and old man. It is said that Abishek showered his praises on Vikram for the perfect look that he was able to bring out in the stills.

Courtesy: behindwoods.com

Why Rajini went to a hair dresser?

Robot, Shankar’s project with Rajinikanth is progressing at a steady pace. Media has been speculating about the story of the film in various formats. The recent one to do the round is that scientist Rajini has created the robot Rajini for good purposes. However the Robot Rajini has fallen head over heels in love with Aishwarya Rai who does not reciprocate his feelings. To impress her, Robot Rajini goes to the best saloons in town and gets his hair done. Later on the Robot even visits City Centre to buy

good dresses. Though he tries various means, he is not successful but earns the wrath of the beauty queen. That’s how the story goes. Let us wait and watch for some more time to see if this theory on Endhiran story becomes true.

Courtesy: behindwoods.com

'Slumdog' dance an online craze

The stunning success of the "Slumdog Millionaire" movie continues to echo across the Internet by spawning a dance craze that has millions downloading various versions of that high-energy "Jai Ho (You are My Destiny)" dance that ends the film.
More than 60 videos are on You Tube alone, some from the movie but most home made by fans who are posting their own versions.
The best quality one is this remix from the film:

Next to the film version, the slickest version of the dance was the one performed by some professionals on Jay Leno's show as Oscar winner composer A.R. Rahman performed the song. Here it is:

Ellen Degeneres had the Slumdog cast on her TV show and she got them to demo it and teach the whole audience how:

Here's a beginner-level line dance walk through:

A half-dozen people have their kids doing Jai Ho dances. I'll spare you the invariably poor results.
Same with a long list of videos of couples and individuals who mistakenly think they have rhythm.
A bunch of kids in a church confirmation class from England did a version.

You get the idea. The dance is huge and getting even bigger because of Internet video sharing

Courtesy: freep.com

Madhushree croons for Enthiran

Enthiran is reportedly progressing at a very rapid pace. Song recordings are completed, and the crew is working overtime to complete the movie on schedule. The latest news? Popular singer Madhushree has crooned a song for the movie. This famous singer, who is a hot favourite with music maestro A.R. Rahman, was recently at A.M. Studios in Chennai for recording a song for the movie.
Check out: Madhushree with Rajinikanth
The singer was at her cheerful best at the studio, posing for photos with the Superstar and director Shankar. Superstar Rajinikanth is also reported to have had a casual chat with the singer. The ace actor was hep and happening with a nice wig and a cool, clean-shaved look.
It was Madhushree who sang the chartbuster 'Vaaji Vaaji' in Rajinikanth's blockbuster Sivaji. Hailing from Bengal, Madhushree learned Tamil to get a better grasp on its diction.


Courtesy: galatta.com

A R Rahman to spend more time in Hollywood?

After winning two Oscars at this year’s Academy Awards, music composer A R Rahman is planning to take up more projects in Hollywood.

However, that doesn’t mean that the Mozart of Madras is saying goodbye to India. Rahman says he will now have to balance work in India with work in the US.

“50 per cent of the year I might be there (US), the rest over here,” Rahman recently told a tabloid.

The talented composer, who on Saturday won two Filmfare Awards for his compositions in Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na and his background score in Jodhaa Akbar , says he would have to say no to some projects in India to be able to take out time to “stay put in the US”.



Now that Rahman has become a known face in the West, he wants to spend some time in the US to be able to establish a base and make connections.

Meanwhile, back home in Chennai, Rahman was felicitated by Tamil Nadu Governor Surjit Singh Barnala for having made India proud with his double Oscar win.


Courtesy: apunkachoice.com

A. R. Rahman sweeps the music segment in Filmfare Awards

A R Rahman has bagged the Best Music Director’s award at Filmfare ceremony. Before this, Imran Khan and Ranbir Kapoor replaced Shah Rukh Khan as the host of the Filmfare awards, that’s going to be scheduled today in the night.

In the mean time, the Bollywoods’s red carpet has been rolled down for stars. Music trio Shankar Ehsaan and Loy in all black attires were first spotted on the red carpet. After that singer Shiamak Dawar moved on. The “Rock on” man Farhan Akhtar was also spotted in black dress at red carpet.

Very soon Shahid Kapoor and Abhishek Bachchan would be presenting their dance in the most awaited show.
The list of the award winners:
Critic Award for Best Actor: Manjot Singh(Oye Lucky..Lucky Oye)
Critic Award for Best Director: Nishikant Kamat Mumbai Meri jaan
Critic Award for Best Performance: Pratik Babbaar for Jaane tu ya jaane na and Poorab Kohli for Rock On

Best Music Director: A. R. Rahman(Jane tu ya jaane na)
Best Screenplay: Mumbai Meri Jaan
Best Dialogue: Manu Rishi for Oye Lucky..Lucky Oye
Best Supporting Actor: Arjun Rampal for Rock On
Best Supporting Actress: Kangna Ranaut for Fashion

Best Lyrics: Javed Akhtar (Kahne ko Jashne Bahara hai) Jodha Akbar
Best Editing: Amit Pawar for Mumbai Meri Jaan
Best Sound Design: Vinod Subramaniyam for Rock On
Best Choreography: Longines for Pappu Can’t Dance Saala(Jaane tu..)
Best Visual effects: John Deitz
Best Production Design: Oye Lucky-Lucy Oye
Best Action: Peter Hein for Ghajini
Best Cinematography: Jeson Best for Rock On
Best Background Score: A. R. Rahman for Jodha Akbar
Best Costumes: Manushi Sharma for Oye Lucky..Lucky Oye
Best male and female debutants: Asin and Farhan Akhtar and Imraan Khan
R.D. Burman upcoming talent: Beni Dayal for Ghajini

Best Female Playback singer: Shreya Ghoshal “Teri or, teri or..” for Singh is King
Best male Playback singer : Sukhvinder Singh “Haule-haule se hawa chalti hai” for Rab ne bana di jodi

Courtesy: desibollywood.in

Ajmer becomes second home for Rehman

This is a secret Oscar winner A R Rahman did not reveal until a few days after his historic feat. The town of Ajmer, famous worldwide for the dargah of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, has become the second home of Rahman and family after Chennai. A strict follower of Khwaja Garib Nawaz, Rahman had been visiting the holy city at least twice a year for the past more than two decades. 

Rahman bought the bungalow in Ajmer's satellite area, Kundan Nagar, last November in his mother's name. Even some local residents spoke to Rahman, his mother and sister when they stayed there in November last year for a few days for registering the house, but they didn't recognise him.

It's only after Rahman's Oscar triumph that the people of the area came to know about the owner of the bungalow. Rahman, even otherwise, prefers to keep his identity a secret and prefers to sit with devotees on his visit to the dargah, says Pyare Mohan Tripathi, the district public relations officer.

"Rahman had come here five months back with two women. We came to know that he bought the bungalow, in the name of his mother, Kareema Begum,'' says C D Joshi, Rehman's neighbour. He says, "They stayed there for a couple of days and were busy visiting the dargah. One of the women spoke to me for a few minutes. It was then we came to know a south Indian family had come to live here. She was soft spoken and religious. We never expected she could be the sister of Rahman,'' said 60-year-old Sunita Goyal, a resident of Kundan Nagar.

The three-storeyed bungalow No 16 bought by Rahman has a big porch and a garden. It is surrounded by a 10-foot wall with a big iron gate. "People who live in this area are peace-loving and confined to themselves. Therefore, quite often people do not know who is living three doors away from them,'' says Laxmi Devi, who runs a laundry in the area. The colony is just 5 km from the dargah.

The bungalow originally belonged to S K Dalmiya, a resident of Aurangabad in Maharashtra. "Dalmiya met Rahman some time back and told him that he has a house at Ajmer. He even arranged the accommodation for Rahman and his family members when they visited Ajmer in November. Just after a day's stay, they decided to buy it,'' says Joshi.

The bungalow has two well-furnished bedrooms, a dining room and drawing room. The housekeeper Shanker says, "Rahman Saheb and his mother and sister have come here twice.'' He says he was engaged by Dalmiya to take care of the house. There are two chowkidars.
Courtesy: indiatimes.com

'Endhiran' releasing only in 2011?

The much-awaited Rajnikanth film, 'Endhiran, the Robot', will be releasing only in 2011, it is rumoured. The film, directed by Shankar, also starsAishwarya Rai Bachchan.

The film, touted to be the costliest Indian fim ever made, with a budget exceeding Rs. 150 crore, is currently being produced by Sun Pictures. The original producers,Ayngaran International, backed out of the project citing recession and the high costs involved.

Oscar winner AR Rahman scores music for the film. The film reportedly has the superstar in a double role: As a scientist and as a robot created by him. The film has some of the best technicians in the industry working in it.

Courtesy: msn.com

Slumdog quarter billionaire

Slumdog millionaire has been topping the news for quite some time and to add a cherry on the icing, Rahman and Resul Pookutty brought India the Oscars. When we are wondering why this movie has become so close to Americans as the movie has crossed $125 million in domestic circuit alone we come across a report which makes our research much more complicated. A movie which was made at a nominal budget of $15 million and a movie whose producer was unable to find a distributor and decided

to release it straight to DVD has collected a whopping $250 million worldwide(almost Rs. 1250 crores). Slumdog millionaire just became quarter billionaire and still showing no signs of coming down the box-office charts in both US and UK. Slumdog became the biggest movie for Fox searchlight worldwide and will soon become its highest grossing movie in the US markets too by beating the Teen pregnant saga Juno which accumulated $140 million. By the end of its theatrical run this rags to riches story will come close to the magical $300 million mark. It is also the biggest movie based on India, beating Gandhi which has an adjusted worldwide gross coming very close to $200 million. Bend it like bekham, which made $72 million worldwide, Monsoon wedding with a total close to $31 million and Bride and Prejudice which made almost $25 million worldwide takes the next three positions. We do have come up with lot of theories of a movie instilling hope in these troubled recession time is the reason for its thunderous behavior at the ticket window or the sheer energy of this musical treat which was much needed for the audience who were offered more blood and gore to quench their thirst. Film analysts are still at bay in this area of research and maybe we will never be able to find the proper answer and the age old sentence still holds true, Audience are unpredictable.

Courtesy: behindwoods.com