Friday saw the release of two of the most anticipated films, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (ZNMD) that had a high voltage star-cast like Hrithik Roshan, Farhan Akhtar, Abhay Deol, Katrina Kaif and Kalki Koechlin. Then there was the film from the Harry Potter franchise, which brings an end to its chapter, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2. With the Bollywood and a Hollywood film at the tug-of-war, this weekend, it was a nail-biting situation at the box- office, but the results clearly state that it was a win-win situation for both films.




“ It was the biggest weekend of the year for the multiplexes all over India with two of the most-awaited films that released, “Sunil Punjabi, CEO of Cinemax, stated. “While ZNMD had 90 per cent and above occupancy, Harry Potter received 80 per cent. But as compared to Potter’s previous film releases, this one took away all the cream as it created record at the opening weekend of the box-office, as compared to any other international releases.”   

At a promotional event for his to-be-released Aarakshan, Prakash Jha made it clear that he was not going to have any special screening for the National Commission Of Schedule Castes (NSCS), which has demanded a preview before its release on August 12 to make sure that the film which is based on caste-based reservation in colleges did not show them in a poor light.




“I am not required to respond to any board that wants to sit in judgment over my film. If the film censor board wants, they can invite a person from the Commission. As a filmmaker who has been making films for about 30 years, I am well aware of the procedure I have to follow to get the clearances for the release of the film and I will be following due procedure,” Jha said, adding that his film did not support or contradict any policies but was a contemporary social drama. 

This elephant is graceful, elegant and sparkling, costs more than an arm and a leg and does not weigh a ton. It is also a headline piece in the collection, Emerald for Elephants, created by Mumbai-based artist Arzan Khambatta and uses 638 carat Gemfields’ Zambian emeralds. The collection was unveiled by Madhuri Dixit in Mumbai on July 20. An auction, organised by Sotheby’s, will be held at Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai in October.




The World Land Trust and gemstones mining company, Gemfields, together with Jaguar Land Rover and the Gemological Institute of America, have collaborated with 10 of India’s top jewellery designers to create a collection using Zambian Emerald jewellery. On display are bangles, rings and necklaces, all shaped like an elephant. 

After the announcement of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's pregnancy, Madhur Bhandarkar had been endlessly searching for a new item girl to be cast in his dream project, Heroine. Bhandarkar can finally get back to business as Kareena Kapoor has agreed to step in to the role.

Earlier this week, it was reported that Siddharth Roy Kaur, CEO of UTV, and the film’s writer, Niranjan Iyengar, flew down to Hyderabad to meet Kareena and convince her to take part in the movie. Kareena Kapoor was visiting boyfriend Saif Ali Khan, who is shooting for his next film.


The meeting obviously went well as Kareena Kapoor agreed to take part in Heroine, but only under a few conditions. Kareena Kapoor is uncomfortable with the intense lovemaking scenes with Arjun Rampal and Arunoday Singh.

“Kareena has consented to the snorting, drinking and smoking scenes. Earlier, she had strong reservations against them. Now, she just doesn’t want to do the explicit lovemaking scenes with Arjun Rampal and Sudhir Mishra’s discovery Arunoday Singh. Those scenes are extremely sexy and Kareena is just not comfortable doing them,” a source told Mumbai Mirror.

The lure of a free 4 GB pen-drive and a dekko of Salman Khan saw the crowds queueing up for the blood donation camp organised on the occasion of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's 52nd birthday at the Sambhaji Garden on J M Road on Thursday.




As 10,000-odd blood donors and Salman Khan fans gathered in front of Sambhaji Park on J M road on Thursday morning, even the one-way traffic was blocked for about an hour despite huge police bandobast.




Police, however, claimed that there was no traffic jam but the traffic was moving slowly for some time. Asked about hundreds of fans running behind the Khan's car which in worst case could have resulted into a stampede, police said they could not control the crowd.  

Singer Elvis Presley has been immortalised into a comic book character.

The comic book will be called Graphic Elvis. It's a limited edition comic created by Liquid Comics and Elvis Presley Enterprises to commemorate the 35th death anniversary of the singer.

"Comics influenced so much of his life," contactmusic.com quoted Sharad Devarajan, the co-founder of Los Angeles-based Liquid Comics, as saying.

A number of Presley's handwritten notes, rarely seen by the public, will also be included in the cartoon creation. The book will hit the market in December.

Hindi GEC Colors has lined up some big plans for its marquee format show – ‘Bigg Boss’. This year, the channel has signed up Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt as hosts for ‘Bigg Boss Season-5’.

Commenting on the ‘Bigg Boss Season-5 plans’, Raj Nayak, CEO, Colors, said “‘Bigg Boss’ is one of our flagship shows, which has been successfully running on the channel over the last four seasons. It’s a unique format that provides brands an exciting and innovative platform, spread over more than three months. This year, with two of Bollywoods biggest super stars – Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt – as hosts, we’re confident of making ‘Bigg Boss’ even bigger and generating both higher revenues as well as stickier eye-balls.”

The first Indian transsexual model has arrived. Nikkiey Chawla, 26, who was born a man and underwent a sex change surgery to turn into a woman in 2009, is busy doing Indian and international ramp shows and will next be seen on a popular reality show.


“I was born a boy but I always
felt like a female trapped in a male body. That is why I decided to undergo a sex change. I always wanted to be part of the glamour world as a woman,” says Delhi-based Chawla, who will feature in an episode of UTV Bindass’s show Emotional Atyachaar.

Several well known artists showcased their talent at the event organised by The Oberoi group. Journeying into its fourteenth year of success, The Oberoi Art Camp is hosting creative geniuses of contemporary art, for all of this week at their Nariman Point property.

This event gives a platform to new talent and recognises established artists — many of who have grown with the camp from its nascent years.

Some of the artists featured in this event include Jayashree Chakravarty, Chandra Bhattacharjee, Preetha Kannan, Ashish Dubey, Binoy Varghese, Rajan Krishnan and many more.

A R Rahman, Gurinder Chadha and Paul Berges are coming together for director Kevin Lima's Bollywood-style animated musical adventure 'Monkeys of Mumbai'.


Lima, who directed Disney's animated 'Tarzan' before turning to the live-action hits like '102 Dalmations' and 'Enchanted', has signed on to helm Dream Works Animation's new project, whose story is somewhat similar to the great Indian epic the Ramayana.


The movie centers around a man whose wife is kidnapped by a demon king, the Hollywood Reporter said.


Lima will approach the story through the point of view of two common monkeys who become unlikely heroes.

Kajal Agarwal hopes that one day the barriers in the form of Kollywood, Bollywood, Tollywood etc should be demolished and it should be united as Indian cinema. The actress says that there is a possibility of this happening very soon because south Indian stars are working in Bollywood movies and Bollywood stars have no qualms over accepting south Indian movies.

The same thing is applicable to technicians like cinematographers, music directors and directors. Kajal says that cinema should not be segregated based on the regional barriers. She added that creativity is all that matters to sustain in the film industry.