Fans build temple for Amitabh, to erect 12-ft idol
After Madame Tussaud's celebrated wax museum, Amitabh Bachchan's 'larger-than-life' idol would soon grace a temple, to be erected by a bunch of starry-eyed fans in honour of the 'Big B' in Kolkata.
The 12-feet marble idol, to be carved by a city sculptor, is just part of the mega four-month-long 'Amitabh Utsav' planned by the Amitabh Bachchan Fans' Association (ABFA) being held from 'Guru Purnima' day on July 5.
The temple would have a Bachchan Museum annexed to it, storing rare memorabilia of the superstar -- photographs capturing him in private moods, little-found posters of blockbusters Deewar, Sholay and Silsila and first-day-first-show tickets of all his movies.
"He is our God, our Guru. What else do you call someone who has touched the lives of millions ?," ponders ABFA state secretary S P Kamat.
For Kamat and over 10,000 registered fans of the thespian, 'Amitji's' meaningful movies and rich dialogues in baritone voice have become a part of their lives.
"We are even recording Amitji's 'moral' utterances before the beginning of game sessions in Kaun Banega Crorepati. These snippets would be stored along with other cassettes and videos in the museum ," he says
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'Animals abused in Lagaan'
The makers of Lagaan may be in for trouble over certain scenes in the film
featuring animals. Apparently, this goes against the new set of rules issued
by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
Violation of the Performing Animals (Registration) Rules notified in March
could mean severe penalties for the film-maker for cruelty to animals.
According to Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Maneka
Gandhi, the rules empower the Animal Welfare Board to prevent cruelty to
animals in the making of films and other forms of public entertainment. She
said she might even consider turning the Animal Welfare Board into a
parallel censor board which would demand parallel clearance of films prior
to their release.
She said the rules were made due to the Censor Board's failure in screening
films for violation of animal protection rules encoded in the Board rules.
The offending scenes in Lagaan, include one involving a deer which is shown
as dead and another scene in which pigeons are used in a song sequence. Both
offences are serious, said Gandhi at a workshop organised for journalists by
the Animal Welfare Board. She said that she has also spoken to producer
Ashutosh Gowarikar about these scenes.
''If the deer is actually dead then the crime is as serious as murder and if
it has been sedated then it is still a serious crime, for the deer must have
been injected with sedatives day after day for it, which would anyway lead
to its death in a few days,'' she said.
Besides, it must have been transported from some place where it was kept in
captivity which again is illegal, she said. On the first count the Wildlife
Protection Act can be invoked and a minimum of five years of imprisonment
expected, she said.
Maneka said that she felt reluctant to sue a film-maker because of the
expenses involved in making a movie. ''But even if I don't sue him,
representatives of the Animal Welfare Board in other parts of the country
would do so as the rules have been clearly violated,'' she said.
She added that several TV advertisements, including the BPL ad with
elephants, Pepsi ad featuring Preiti Zinta and the monkey and the Coke ad
featuring a parrot besides Survivor serial on AXN, have been withdrawn after
the rules were notified.
According to the rules, film-makers have to inform the Board in a specific
format before using animals in films. They have to indicate the kind of
animal, its age, its health, the work it has to do, and details about its
training. The rules also prohibit film-makers or entertainers from forcing
animals into doing things that do not come naturally to it such as making an
elephant smoke or a monkey drink liquor, she said.
Indian films may also not be able to show horses falling while they gallop
as the rules ban use of any tripping device or wires or pitfalls for
animals. These break their legs and kill them, she said. Nor will films have
scenes showing fights where the villain is hurled into a full poultry area,
hurting hens. The rules also come down heavily on use of whips in horse
racing. Only light air cushioned whips are to be used.
She said the rules do not in any way come in the way of artistic licence.
''Would you murder or rape people to depict life in films? So why do you
have to be cruel and insensitive to animals in the name of artistic
licence?'' she asked.
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Shah hospitalised, court allows home food, calls for report
A special court today directed the dean of government-owned J.J hospital to submit a report by June 25 on the condition of film financier Bharat Shah, who is booked in a case of alleged nexus with the underworld.
Shah was admitted to hospital yesterday after he complained of uneasiness. The hospital dean Dr V R Bhutada said +Shah is under observation and fully conscious+. In keeping with court orders, he was brought from Thane jail to the hospital for medical check up.
On a plea made by Shah's counsel, the designated judge A P Bhangale also allowed him to take home food after the approval of the doctors and permitted his family physician Mahendra Thakar to visit him for consultation.
Shah moved a petition through his lawyers alleging that he was not given food yesterday and was made to wait for more than two hours in the hospital corridor yesterday without medical help resulting in deterioration of his health. He urged for home food and permission to meet relatives.
Special public prosecutor Rohini Salian denied Shah's allegations. She said Shah was examined by a panel of doctors formed essentially to examine him. Tests like X-Ray, ECG, MRI and ECHO were performed on him. He still has to undergo tests.
The prosecutor informed that Shah was given food by the hospital. He was also given tea and bread in the evening. She opposed his prayer for home food and meeting of relatives.
She also alleged that Shah's relatives had abused police when he was being taken from one ward to another for a test. They had even given interviews to mediapersons in hospital premises thereby spoiling the tranquility.
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Film star Sanjay Dutt exempted in blast case
Sanjay Dutt, film actor and accused in serial blast case, has been granted exemption from personal appearance until June 28 by a TADA court here.
Designated judge P D Kode, on June 20, exempted Sanjay as the court is engaged in recording statements of the co-accused in this case. The actor will be represented by his lawyer Farhana Shah in the court.
Early this month, the court had allowed Sanjay to visit foreign countries to fulfil his professional engagements. He returned on June 19.
The judge has allowed Yakub Memon, co-accused and brother of absconding accused Tiger Memon, to inspect the articles seized from his residential building Al-Husseni soon after the serial blasts shattered the metropolis on March 12, 1993.
Yakub had urged for inspection because his statement is expected to be recorded by the court shortly. He is preparing himself to answer the questions that may come from the judge.
The inspection commenced few days ago on a plea made by defence lawyer Subhash Kanse. Today, Yakub inspected jewellery seized by police from the flats owned by the Memon family.
According to prosecution, serial blasts were engineered by Tiger Memon. A day prior to the explosions, he flew to Dubai along with his family and thereafer went to Pakistan. His family members returned but Tiger preferred to stay back.
In order to compel the presence of Memon family before the court, police had raided Al-Husseini building at Mahim in Central Mumbai and seized a large number of articles. These are the same articles which Yakub is inspecting.
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Gadar: Review
Unconventional. That's the music of Gadar - Ek Prem Katha. But then again, the film isn't your regular 'commercial' fare in the first place.
A love story during the Partition, Gadar (mutiny), stars Sunny Deol and Amisha Patel. True to its setting, Punjab, much emphasis has been given to the Punjabi flavour. And Uttam Singh (Dil Toh Pagal Hai and Dushman) delivers, delightfully.
Gadar has nine tracks with stirring lyrics by Anand Bakshi.
The opening number, Udja kale kawan, has four versions. The basic folk number with minimal acoustics. The marriage one has some romance in it. The search version (as the cover says) is about lost love and misery. The fourth and the last interpretation is Victory.
Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik and Nihar S lend their voices perfectly, with just the right nuances for each mood.
Musafir jaane wale is another heart-warming track in the voices of Udit Narayan and Uttam Singh's talented daughter Preeti Uttam.
Remember Dharmendra prancing around fields singing Main jat yamla pagla deewana in Pratigya? Three- and-a-half decades later, eldest son Sunny laments, Main nikla gadi leke in similar vein. Nostalgia is the only noteworthy factor in this otherwise average track.
Hum judaa ho gaye is beset with melancholy. A rather half-baked track in the voices of Udit Narayan, Preeti and Rakesh Pandit.
Aan milo sajna is a classic. Ajoy Chakrabarty joins famous singer Parveen Sultana.
Those familiar with traditional Punjabi music are no strangers to tappas, which are basically wedding songs teasing the bride and the groom. There is one such enjoyable unnamed number by Preeti Uttam. (Rather similar to Yeh ladki hai ya shola from Silsila.)
All in all, if you're of the hip crowd, you might not hop for Gadar.
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Indian film, Dattak, is likely to win top laurels, says Hema Malini
Beijing : The chairperson of the National Film Development Corporation
(NFDC) and leading film personality, Hema Malini, said the Indian
film, Dattak (The Adopted) is likely to win top laurels in the
competition section
of the fifth Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF). The film was
produced by NFDC.
Dattak has been directed by Gul Bahar Singh. Its cast includes Rajit
Kapur, A
K Hangal, Anjan Srivastav and Kritika Desai. The film was screened on
Thursday at the SIFF. She said : "The Chinese people seemed to have
liked it and we received rave reviews." A four-member Indian
delegation led by Hema Malini is attending the SIFF and is keen to
promote Indian filin China.
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Can "Bollywood" go global?
A delegation of Indian film, television and music industry people is in the
United States this week to persuade American industry and investors it can.
The delegation, headed by Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma
Swaraj, has so far visited major studios in Los Angeles and Motion Pictures
Association of America President Jack Valenti in Washington with the message
that India wants to be an international player in entertainment.
In that effort, New Delhi will be hoping to replicate the same phenomenal
success it has enjoyed in global information technology, Indian business and
government leaders said.
"In the trinity of ICE, that is, Infotech Communication and Entertainment,
the last two, three years, especially in India, have seen considerable focus
on Information Technology (IT) and Communication," Swaraj said at the
two-day U.S.-India Business Council conference in the U.S. capital ending on
Wednesday.
"However the entertainment sector has an equally vast potential," she said.
India, and the Bombay movie industry popularly known as Bollywood, produces
some 800 films per year compared with the United States' 100, making it the
largest film-producing country in the world in numbers of films.
But its market share is $3.5 billion in a global $300 billion industry and
there are just 12 theaters per million people compared with 116 screens per
million Americans, industry executives said, indicating room for growth both
in global market share and in theater construction.
Some who spoke at the conference were quick to point out serious roadblocks
to India's aspirations, however.
Nishith Desai, founder of a legal and tax consulting firm that provided the
conference with an interim report from a study on "Bollywood vs Hollywood,"
summed it up by saying what Hollywood has that Bollywood does not -- respect
for legal agreements, standardization and funding mechanisms.
"The lack of written contracts is probably one of the foremost reasons why
Hollywood and Bollywood remain separated," said the interim report, the
final version of which is due out by September. Most agreements are made
verbally and even when written are short and often ambiguous, it said.
"Due to this informal practice, the players are often not conscious of their
commitments and obligations," it said.
Global consultancy firm Arthur Andersen has said the Indian entertainment
industry is poised for high growth if only its ride could be made smoother
by a government that has long ignored it and even stunted the sector's
growth by state control of the broadcast media.
India now allows 100 percent foreign investment in films and television
software and has formed a 45-member, multi-party standing committee to look
at the politically-sensitive issue of allowing such investment in the print
media, Swaraj said.
She maintained that Indian and U.S. industry can create "synergies" in the
entertainment sector just as they have in infotech, where Indian companies
work on inputting data or customer service for U.S. companies in the
American night.
"We can think of collaborations and FDI (foreign direct investment). We can
talk of co-productions. We can learn a lot from U.S. expertise in technology
and at the same time offer world-class trained personnel at very competitive
costs," she said.
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