B'wood jazzes up the Pink Panther 2 Premiere in NY

Amitabh braved the snowstorms to be by Abhishek and Aishwarya's side at the Pink Panther 2 premiere in New York. Anil Kapoor walked the red carpet too - looks like all the Slumdog bashing has been forgotten. But we can't help but ask where is mummy Jaya?

Threesome: Aishwarya with hubby Abhi and Pa Amitabh. Don't they miss Jaya Bachchan?


Haath Na Chhodo: As usual, the madly-in-love couple is hand-in-hand. Looks like Abhi is dragging Ash off the pink carpet


Beauty in Black: Ash sparkles in her black gown which shows off her ample assets


Millionaire Man: Anil Kapoor is basking in the Slumdog Millionaire glory and the international media can't get enough of him.

Anil Kapoor to star in Boyle's next movie

After making the award-winning movie “Slumdog Millionaire”, British filmmaker Danny Boyle wants to shoot his next film in Mumbai as well.

He is now planning to make a movie based on the nightlife in Mumbai. It will be a thriller and will star none other than Boyle's favourite, Anil Kapoor.

Anil confirmed the news and said he is doing a thriller with Boyle. However, he refused to divulge further details about the movie.

The director is already on a high after winning several prestigious international awards and securing ten Oscar nominations for “Slumdog Millionaire”.

More honours for Slumdog Millionaire

Danny Boyle's acclaimed film "Slumdog Millionaire" has taken home two more major US film industry awards over the weekend, winning the top prizes from both the Screen Actors Guild and the Producers Guild of America.

Bollywood stars Anil Kapoor and Irrfan Khan, British Indian actor Dev Patel, and newcomer Freida Pinto received the overall cast prize for the Mumbai-set rags-to-riches saga at the Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday (January 25) night from Anthony Hopkins.

Anil Kapoor, accepting on behalf of the "Slumdog Millionaire" cast, dedicated the award to the slum children shown in the movie.

"They deserve this award. They set our performances," he said. "It's the children who've done it, not us."

The Oscar-nominated film tells the heart-warming story a young man from the slums of Mumbai who risks all for love and for a shot at instant wealth as a contestant on the Indian version of the TV game show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire".

Patel, who plays the protagonist, and Pinto, his ladylove, introduced the film clip at the event.

"Slumdog Millionaire" also won the top prize from the Producers Guild of America on Saturday (January 24), giving it another boost in the race for the Oscars next month.

The top award from the Producers Guild of America or PGA goes to the movie's producer, in this case Christian Colson, whose previous feature credits consist of three relatively obscure thrillers.

Meanwhile, following its 10 Oscar nominations and expansion into more theatres, "Slumdog Millionaire" has jumped into the North American Top Five for the first time in its 11-week run with its weekend gross soaring by 80 percent to $10.55 million.

Now running in 1,411 theatres across America, up 829 from last weekend, the film has to date grossed a total of $55.92 million, according to the movie website boxofficeguru.com.

The Producers Guild award is considered an important bellwether for Oscar success as its members make up an important constituency of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which votes on the Oscars.

In its first 19 years, 12 of the PGA's top film picks went on to win the Academy Award for best picture, including last year's champion "No Country for Old Men" although the producers missed the mark for three straight years starting in 2005.

Shah Rukh to recreate Mogambo

After his tremendous performance as a villain in “Baazigar” and “Darr”, Shah Rukh Khan may again be seen as a villain in a film.

SRK has reportedly been offered the role of Mogambo in the sequel to “Mr. India”.

Filmmaker Shekhar Kapur is presently working on the sequel, which is titled “Mr. India 2”. Shekhar, who is very close to Shah Rukh, is said to have made this offer to him.

It will be a role of a lifetime for Shah Rukh if he accepts the offer.

Mogambo was earlier played by the late Amrish Puri and to date remains one of the most iconic negative characters in a Bollywood film. Puri’s performance, especially the line “Mogambo khush hua”, is still remembered by the masses.

Shekhar short-listed Shah Rukh as the actor has given noteworthy performances as a villain and Shekhar feels no one can do better justice to Mogambo’s role than SRK.

Anil Kapoor and Sridevi will also be seen in “Mr. India 2”.

Now we are awaiting Shah Rukh's answer, which we hope be in the affirmative.

Premiere of 'Slumdog Millionaire' - Video

Slumdog bags 10 Oscar Nominations, Rahman 3

As expected, Slumdog Millionaire has been nominated for 10 Academy Awards at the 81st Academy Awards. Rahman has bagged 3 nominations for his compositions in the film.

A. R. Rahman is nominated for Best Original Score category where he competes with Danny Elfman (Milk), James Newton Howard (Defiance), Thomas Newton (Wall E) and Alexandre Desplat (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button). And in the Best Song category, Rahman has been nominated not once but twice in the same category.

Director Danny Boyle is up against David Fincher (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Gus Van Sant (Milk), Stephen Daldry (The Reader) and Ron Howard (Frost/ Nixon) in the fight for Best Director.

In the Best Picture category, Slumdog Millionaire is up against The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Milk, Frost/Nixon and The Reader

Simon Beaufoy's adapted screenplay is up against those of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, Doubt and The Reader

Disappointingly Slumdog hasn't been nominated in any of the acting categories. But Dev Patel who plays Slumdog Jamal Malik is ecstatic. He says "Now that we have been nominated, I am sure we will win also. But every year so many good films are released and so I can just cross my fingers. Actually if Slumdog Millionaire has to win an Oscar then I think it should go to our directors Danny (Boyle) and Loveleen (Tandon) because Loveleen has only taught us about the culture."

Here is a list of all the categories Slumdog Millionaire has been nominated in:
Best Picture
Best Sound Mixing
Best Film Editing
Best Sound Editing
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Cinematography
Best Director
Best Original Score
Best Song: Jai Ho
Best Song: O Saya

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE - Movie Review

By Taran Adarsh

First things first! SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE deserves all the accolades and awards that it has been receiving of late and will continue receiving in the future. Also, in this writer's individualistic opinion, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE doesn't make a mockery or an attempt to sell the poverty of India to the West.

Sure, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE depicts life on the mean streets of Mumbai, so what? Doesn't it exist? Should we ridicule the effort it just because a gora has made it? We don't raise a noise when Indian film-makers do so, so why now? Double standards!

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE is, at heart, a love story and director Danny Boyle treats it like a Bollywood film. In fact, the screen writing [Simon Beaufoy] is so smart, so energetic [he must be a big fan of Bollywood] that everything is spoon-fed to the viewer, unlike most international films.

Sure, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE is dark and gory at places, but at the end of it all, it offers a ray of hope for those who've been plain unlucky when it comes to the materialistic things of life and most importantly, love.

So what's the final word? Jai Ho!

Accused of cheating and desperate to prove his innocence, an eighteen-year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai reflects back on his tumultuous life while competing to win the prized money on India's 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire'.

Jamal [Dev Patel] may not have a penny to his name, but that could all change in a matter of hours. He's one question away from taking the top prize on India's most popular television game show, but as with everything else in Jamal's life, it isn't going to be easy.

Arrested by police under suspicion of cheating, Jamal is interrogated by the authorities. The police simply can't believe that Jamal could possibly possess the knowledge to get this far in the game, and in order to convince them of how he gained such knowledge, Jamal begins reflecting back on his childhood.

As young boys, Jamal and his older brother Salim lived in squalor and lost their mother in a mob attack on Muslims. Subsequently forced to rely on their own wits to survive, the desperate siblings fell back on petty crime, eventually befriending adorable yet feisty young Latika as they sought out food and shelter on the unforgiving streets of Mumbai.

Though life on the streets was never easy, Jamal's experiences ultimately instilled in him the knowledge he needed to answer the tough questions posed to him on the show.

Danny Boyle and screenplay writer Simon Beaufoy join hands to create one of the most engaging rags-to-riches story of a boy raised in the slums of Mumbai. A few scenes may put you off completely, but if you're a Mumbaite, you must've surely encountered such characters on the back of your street.

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE keeps you hooked, there's not a single dull moment and most importantly, your heart pines for the lovers [Jamal and Latika] to unite, after all that they've gone through in life. That's one of the prime reasons why SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE works big time.

If Boyle's direction and Beaufoy's screen writing works, so does A.R. Rahman's exuberant musical score. The background score is eclectic, while the song 'Jai Ho' [at the conclusion of the film] is mesmeric. The camera [Anthony Dod Mantle] captures the streets of the metropolis remarkably. Note the chase at the very start, with a constable chasing the young Salim and Jamal in the slums. Brilliant!

Dev Patel is top notch, while Anil Kapoor is highly competent. Freida Pinto does very well. Irrfan Khan gives his individualistic style to his role. Mahesh Manjrekar and Saurabh Shukla are first-rate. Madhur Mittal [older Salim] is alright. Ankur Vikal spells terror. Special mention must be made of the young actors in the film; they are such fine actors. Especially the young Salim and Jamal.

On the whole, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE is a must-see! One of the finest films of our times, this one should not be missed for any reason.

Danny Boyle: Bollywood stars had no dates for me

Danny Boyle is the man of the moment. His film Slumdog Millionaire has wowed the West and won him countless awards – the most recent being the Golden Globe. The director behind Hollywood films like Trainspotting, The Beach, 28 Days Later, Millions and Sunshine says he had no choice but to take Anil kapoor as the rest of the so called A listers in Bollywood had no time for him.

“In Bollywood stars are so busy with their work that they don't have time. Even in Hollywood stars are not so busy which I found very strange,” says Danny whose first choice for the role of the quizmaster was Shah Rukh Khan and subsequently Amitabh Bachchan. However the director says that neither of the two biggest Bollywood stars had any time or dates for him.

“But later Lovleen introduced me to Anil Kapoor and he was the only actor who had the dates to do my film. Then I watched his films like Mr. India and Taal and I loved his performance so I signed him but afterwards I have realized that he is the only candidate who could do this role,” says Boyle.

One of the main concerns for the popular international director was the accent. Boyle was worried about the accent and the fluency in English as far as Anil was concerned.

“I thought we would have to work hard for dubbing but when I met Anil he could speak English and that also in an American accent. And not only with Anil… I enjoyed working with Lovleen also. I didnn't want a 20 year old boy or girl to play a character of 6 year old kid and so Lovlin suggested that we could take three different kids to play the same character and these kids were brilliant. Even for the characters of Jamal and Latika played by Freida … the casting was done by Lovleen. I remember we had taken so many auditions for Freida's role but just couldn’t find the right person and then Lovleen showed me Freida's audition and I was convinced,” says Danny.

The international director who is pegged to take home the awards on Oscar night next month says he has also become a fan of Bollywood actor Irrfan Khan who plays the cop in Slumdog Millionaire.

“I would love to say one thing... Irrfan Khan is one of the greatest actors in your industry. I have become a fan of him,” he says.

When asked about the criticism directed towards his film by some people including superstar Amitabh Bachchan, Danny seems unperturbed. “To get criticism is a part of making a film. It will only help me grow in my profession. And I guess every one has right to show their feelings especially in India because it is a democratic country!"

Hunt's on for Mogambo in Mr. India sequel

The hit 1987 film, Mr.India, was a huge hit at the box-office and now so after 21 years the makers have decided to make the sequel to the film. The original Arun (Anil Kapoor) and Seema(Sri Devi) have been finalized. But now the directors and producers are looking for their Mogambo which was originally played by the late Amrish Puri.

"The sequel is still in the scripting stage. This film will be heavily loaded by special effects. There are two couples – the older couple will be Anil Kapoor and Sri Devi and the young couple's casting process is on. We will have decided on them in the next three months or so once Anurag (Basu) completes Kites," says the source, "While the other casting is still not finalized as we are in talks with Aftab Shivdasani as he was a part of Mr. India as well."

However, the most difficulty the crew is having is in casting someone to replace Amrish Puri as Mogambo.

"Amrish Puri is still fresh in everyone's mind and so we need someone who can match up to him. We need someone who will be a lot more cunning and evil," says the source.

Buy a day with Anil Kapoor

Plan India, an NGO working for child rights, is auctioning, on Ebay India website, a chance to spend a day with Anil Kapoor. The proceeds from the auction will be spent on the NGO’s projects around India.

Anil supports the NGO and its causes, and is excited about spending a day with the highest bidder. He has been associated with Plan India since 2006 and has been actively involved in several of their events and projects.

The actor adds that by supporting the NGO's cause, he is doing his bit to make people aware about the rights of a child.

The auction began on January 2 and will go on till January 9, and Anil is hoping people will bid big.