For the second consecutive weekend, a major Hollywood film fell short of expectations at the box office on Sunday, providing a wobbly start for the lucrative summer moviegoing season in North America.

Walt Disney Co's "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian," the second film in a series based on the "Narnia" books by C.S. Lewis, opened at No. 1 with estimated three-day sales of $56.6 million, the company said.

Industry analysts had expected an opening in the $80 million range, and certainly a figure above the $65.6 million start for the film's 2005 predecessor, "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe."

The opening was nowhere near as disastrous as that for "Speed Racer" last weekend. Warner Bros. Pictures' $160 million kids flick crashed to a dismal $18.6 million during its first three days.

The summer season, which accounts for about 40 percent of the industry's annual sales, kicked off two weekends ago with Marvel Entertainment Inc's surprise smash "Iron Man," which has earned $222.5 million to date.

"Prince Caspian" stars newcomer Ben Barnes in the title role as a valiant warrior who joins forces with the four Pevensie children from the first film to battle an evil uncle. Both films were directed by New Zealander Andrew Adamson, a veteran of the "Shrek" series.

Critics were less enthused by the new film, with 66 percent of top reviewers giving their approval, according to Rotten Tomatoes (http://www.rottentomatoes.com), a Web site that collates reviews. The first one garnered a 78 percent rating.

The "Narnia" series is co-produced by Walden Media, a film company owned by Denver billionaire Philip Anschutz. Work is under way on a third film, "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader," with British documentary veteran Michael Apted stepping in for Adamson, who will serve as a producer.

Next up for moviegoers is director Steven Spielberg's high-wattage adventure "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," which opens on Thursday in time for the four-day U.S. Memorial Day holiday weekend. The film, long shrouded in secrecy, screened for excited journalists at the Cannes Film Festival on Sunday.

"Indiana Jones" will be distributed by Viacom Inc's Paramount Pictures, which is also handling "Iron Man" for Marvel. Warner Bros. is a unit of Time Warner Inc.

Source:yahoo news

Anil Ambani group firm Reliance Big Entertainment on Sunday made its foray into Hollywood, with the announcement of development deals with celebrities including Angelina Jolie, Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt and Nicolas Cage.

Reliance Big Entertainment, the media and entertainment company of the Reliance ADA Group, said that it will provide development funds to eight Hollywood production houses.

The company did not reveal the capital it plans to invest in this venture, but sources said the investment would be in the range of USD 500 million to USD one billion.

"We are pleased to have devised this method of investing, whereby Reliance Big Picture can help advance the goals of several of the most important creators in the global industry. I expect to have further such development deals in the near future," Reliance Big Entertainment Chairman Amit Khanna said.

The development funds would be provided to eight creative forces in Hollywood including Nicolas Cage's Saturn Productions, Jim Carrey's JC 23 Entertainment, George Clooney's Smokehouse Productions, Chris Columbus' 1492 Pictures, Tom Hanks' Playtone Productions, Brad Pitt's Plan B Entertainment and Jay Roach's Everyman Pictures.

Reliance Big Picture, the division of Reliance Big Entertainment that would focus on media investments outside of India, sees the development deals as the first major building block towards creation of a new-generation media company.

Elaborating further, the company said for any greenlit project, Reliance Big Entertainment would facilitate full creative and fiscal freedom for the filmmakers.

The deals would also attract suitable productions, with appropriate incentives to India, the company added.

Source: yahoo.com

Myanmar said on Friday it was not ready to let in foreign aid workers, rejecting international pressure to allow experts into the isolated nation where disease and starvation are stalking cyclone survivors.

One week after the devastating storm killed tens of thousands, Myanmar's ruling generals -- deeply suspicious of the outside world -- said the country needed outside aid for those still alive, but would deliver it themselves.

The foreign ministry announcement came as a top UN official warned time was running out to move in disaster experts and supplies to prevent diseases that could claim even more victims.

Instead, the ministry said some relief workers who arrived on an aid flight from Qatar on Wednesday had been deported.

''Currently Myanmar has prioritised receiving emergency relief provisions and is making strenuous efforts to transport those provisions without delay by its own labours to the affected areas,'' it said.

''As such, Myanmar is not ready to receive search and rescue teams as well as media teams from foreign countries.''

The military regime that rules this impoverished country, once known as Burma, has long been wary of any influences that could threaten the iron grip on power it has maintained for almost half a century.

Even with the country battered by tragedy, the generals insist they will hold a constitutional referendum on Saturday, brushing off criticism they are ignoring the plight of the homeless while devoting resources to the vote.

Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy said the junta should delay the vote on a document her party says will merely enshrine military rule.

''With this situation, it is not the appropriate time to hold the referendum,'' NLD spokesman Nyan Win told AFP.

The extent of the catastrophe unleashed by Cyclone Nargis has also put the regime under intense international pressure to postpone the vote and open up the country, where only a handful of outside aid groups are allowed to operate under strict controls.

The United Nations estimates more than one million people have been left homeless by the disaster and, as each hour passes without clean water and food, they are at ever greater risk of starvation and disease .

''The situation is getting critical and there is only a small window of opportunity if we are to avert the spread of diseases that could multiply the already tragic number of casualties,'' said Noeleen Heyzer, the top UN official for the Asia-Pacific.

Rotting bodies of people and animals are piled up in many places across the remote southern Irrawaddy delta, where the storm's high winds and waves washed entire villages away.

In many places, the stench of death is overwhelming. Houses have been demolished, roads and bridges are damaged and huge swathes of land are still underwater a week after the disaster hit.

The United States has said the death toll could be around 100,000, but the regime on Thursday increased its official death toll by 17. It gave figures of 22,997 dead, 1,430 injured and 42,119 missing.

Compounding the disaster, the worst-hit area was the major rice -growing region, wiping out the main local food source until the government is able to deliver supplies.

''Now I do not have money to buy essential food items,'' said 75-year-old Thant Aung, who said his whole village in the Kyaklate delta district was destroyed.

''We have less food to eat. I am borrowing money from my friends to keep my family going.''

The World Food Programme said another plane laden with energy biscuits, emergency medical tents and other gear landed Friday in Myanmar's main city Yangon, which is several hours' drive from the worst-hit areas.

In its statement, issued before the latest plane, the foreign ministry said 11 aid flights had landed so far and the world could help by sending cash and emergency supplies, rather than aid workers.

''The donors and the international community can be assured that Myanmar is doing its best,'' it added.

Other nations are divided on whether they have the right to force Myanmar, whose most powerful ally is China, to open up to humanitarian intervention.

Source: NDTV

An average voter has lost his confidence towards any political party as hardly any contestant has real concern for the common man.

Politicians spend crores of rupees, and if they win, all the efforts are made to make good the expenses during the elections.

The criteria for contesting is quite reverse of any government employment, no qualification is required to contest. If you can manage masses, that is it.

No intellectual in India has made any efforts to find a solution if there is hung Parliament, though it has happened several times.

Although we have made amendments to constitution several dozens of times, the real problems are not taken into consideration.

A government servant cannot have office of profit but it does not apply to a contestant, no candidate in India entirely dedicates his services to public.

Even the election procedures are followed for namesake, as a mere ritual like providing voter card and listing the names.

For whose sake after all, elections are conducted?

Cast: Jet Li, Jackie Chan, Michael Angarano
Director: Rob Minkoff
Writer: John Fusco
Genre: Action / Adventure
- Anupama Chopra, Consulting Editor, Films

A Kung-fu obsessed teenager in South Boston finds the magic staff of the Monkey King in a Chinese pawn shop, enters the gate that is not a gate and finds himself in ancient China, where he fights the Jade Warlord in The Forbidden Kingdom and rescues the Monkey King. Did you get that?

Don’t worry about it. This convoluted story is merely an excuse to team up the world’s two greatest martial arts superstars Jackie Chan and Jet Li. Chan plays a drunken Kung fu master and Li is a silent monk and when they fight it is pure magic.

The ballet like, soaring action has been choreographed by Yuen Wo Ping who is also the executive producer on the film. Ping, who became an international action star with his work on The Matrix movies and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, creates some classic set piece sequences including one in which several dozen spears raise themselves and fly toward the Monkey King who expertly deflects each one. It’s absolutely smashing.

What’s also fun is the easy camaraderie between Li and Chan. This is the equivalent of Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan sparring against each other. But there is no sense of rivalry or scene stealing.
They are superbly comfortable and secure in their superstardom. The film’s American hero Michael Angarano is banal as is half-baked mysticism around his coming of age. But just ignore that.

The Forbidden Kingdom is comic-book fun. It’s a necessary diversion on a weekend when screens seem soaked with bad Hindi movies. Watch it.

Source: NDTV

Forget sex education in schools, as men and women in their mid 40s in Pune are throwing away their prudish inhibitions and taking sex tips to rejuvenate their lives.

A group of middle-aged people from Pune queued up to take lessons in sex education. And going by the numbers attending the presentation, conservative Pune definitely appears to be stepping out of the closet.

''There are so many misconceptions about sex even among women. It is good to clear all that to make life better and beautiful,'' said a woman attending the presentation.

Till just a few years back - this wouldn't have been possible but attitudes are changing and so is the profile of people seeking advice. Discussing sexual issues out in the open - clearly - the city seems willing to talk it out

It is something Dr Shashank Samak, a sexologist, does with practiced ease - lecture demonstrations and a slide show twice a week. Nothing new, he says, except that his most of his audience is over 40.

''I give them basic lessons on how to lead a better life after 40. I cover sex and relationship, misconceptions and how to increase sexual pleasures,'' said Dr Shashank.

It is a subject that has definitely caught the imagination of people in Pune, from couples to single men and women, they're all listening in rapt attention.

''I never knew about G spots and P spots, but hearing the lecture I have come to know so many things,'' said a participant of the presentation.

''Definitely women are getting more bold and it is a sign of changing times. It is informative and important to make life easier and clear doubts,'' said another participant.

So while the debate rages on whether or not to impart sex education in school, it is parents in Pune who are learning a lesson.

Source:NDTV

Cast: Arshad Warsi, Suniel Shetty Sandhya Mridul Upasna Singh Vrajesh Hirjee
Director: Deepak Shivdasani
Music: Shamir Tandon Tauseef Akhtar
- Anupama Chopra, Consulting Editor, Films

Bollywood trade pundits are fond of saying that the audience can smell a bad film. It must be true because I saw Mr White Mr Black at a multiplex with exactly 13 other people.

There were so few of us that the usher declared it free seating. Obviously viewers didn’t need to come into the theatre to discover that this one is a stinker.
Mr White Mr Black is one of those horrifically bad films, which feels as though it was cobbled together mostly according to the availability of the artists.

So, director Deepak Shivdasani basically shot scenes with whichever actor gave him dates and then strung it together and called it a film.

The happenings—to call it a plot would be a gross exaggeration—revolve around a village bumpkin from Hoshiyarpur, a small time conman, three hot-chicks who rob diamonds called Teenie, Meenie and Zeenie and Don Ladla who accidentally killed his mother and now watches classic Bollywood Ma scenes and weeps.

I think you're supposed to find this funny but I didn't crack a smile through the film. In addition to some awful acting, we also have to suffer dialogue like: 'Gopi you have such a nice body and such a desi smell. Give me a deep kiss. '

Mr White Mr Black is the kind of film in which you long for interval and develop a new found appreciation for the joys of popcorn. And just when you think it can't get any worse, Upasna Singh shows up in full-on hysterical mode.

The only question that begs an answer is: are actors like Sunil Shetty and Arshad Warsi so hard up that they need to do drivel like this. I know you know this already but don’t go near this one.

Source:NDTV

Actor Amitabh Bachchan has utilised the reinstatement of AIIMS Director P Venugopal to take another dig at Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss.

The veteran actor had been in a war of words over on-screen smoking issue with Ramadoss.

''Minister Ramadoss has had a bad day today,'' Bachchan said in his blog.

''Dr Venugopal, the renowned and most qualified director who headed AIIMS, the national medical institute, and who was most unceremoniously removed from his post, is back after winning in the Honourable Supreme Court, his reinstatement,'' he added.

The Bollywood superstar had hit out at the Health Minister earlier in his blog also for advising filmstars and other celebrities to desist from enacting drinking and smoking scenes.

Bachchan went on to make another observation about the consumption of alchohol.

''The Times carried a bold review of some of our statements on the desirability of banning of drinking scenes in films. But on the very next page it carried an even bolder review of the massive increase in production of wine in the country, accompanied by glorified figures of past and present statistics,'' he wrote.

''Mr Ramadoss, the government is taking pride in the increased production of alcohol and you are wanting actors to stop drinking scenes because they encourage alcoholism. Tell me how are you expecting the consumption of this enhanced wine production in the land?'' he said.

Source:NDTV

Imran Khan would have been the ultimate Twenty20 hero, the embodiment of all that the briefest form of cricket stands for - allround cricketing abilities and a dash of glamour. Ironically, Imran doesn't look with favour at T20 cricket. He says it can destroy the skills that are essential to become a good cricketer.

Excerpts from an exclusive interview:

What sort of impact will the proliferation of T20 cricket would have on the game?

Imran: If it's restricted to just a month in a year, the effect would be very limited. But if it's overdone, it will definitely impact the standards of Test cricket, which are already declining.

Not enough T20 cricket has been played, but One-day cricket has already taken a toll on fast bowlers because of the stress it puts on them, and due to the frequency of One-day competitions. The playing spans of fast bowlers have shortened. You just look at the number of fast bowlers who regularly break down. That's the stress One-day cricket puts on the bowlers.

Then the travelling it involves, and there's not enough rest like there used to be in my time You end up playing with niggles, which get accentuated when you're playing if semi-fit. Now, if you increase T20, the quality will go down further.

And it will affect batting techniques too

Imran: Well, one impact is that the batsmen have greater number of strokes - the sort of shots they play, we never saw in my playing days. On the other hand, the defensive techniques have been (adversely) affected.

T20 cricket was invented just to make money, and with big businesses getting into it, can it have a negative effect?

Imran: Money is important in cricket, but unless there is a balance, the game is going to be affected and it already has been affected by One-day cricket, especially fast bowling. Their careers have been cut short. And on top of it, if you have T20 cricket, it won't help.

Basically, it's not much of a test of a player's skill and temperament. It's basically about talent with a big element of chance in it. While it's a spectacle, people enjoy it, it's not a great test of cricketing abilities.

Put it this way - if a team wins a T20 competition, I won't necessarily consider it as a quality team, because any team can win such a short competition. Test cricket remains the true test of a cricketer.

Unless a balance is struck, and if Test cricket gets affected, then standards of the sport all over are going to get affected.

What could be the role of T20 cricket, then?

Imran: In 1989, I had recommended that T20 cricket be taken to America, because I'd played a few exhibition matches there. I suggested to Kerry Packer that we should have T20 matches in the US, and on TV, to introduce cricket to American audiences.

I still think that this is the best way to introduce people to cricket in, say, China and the US. But if you play it too much in Test countries, Test cricket will be devalued.

Would you have enjoyed playing T20 cricket?

Imran: I think I would have enjoyed it in the middle; players are entertainers as well, and when you have huge crowds watching you, of course you get into it. But I really value only Test cricket. Players I value are the ones who perform in Test cricket.

If you want to make a list of great cricketers, you don't do that on the basis of their One-day performances, you do it on the basis of their Test performances.

But people do want to watch T20 cricket, how can it be denied to them?

Imran: You can't put more value on what people want than on the quality of cricket being played. If you do that, people won't watch even 50-over cricket, they'll watch only T20 matches!

Source: NDTV

Chasing a target of 141 runs, Rajasthan Royals have started their innings steadily against the Deccan Chargers in Jaipur.

Openers Graeme Smith and Yusuf Pathan have taken charge of the Chargers. Yusuf, in particular, is attacking the Deccan bowlers and has slammed his third IPL fifty. Smith is happy to play the second fiddle.

Earlier, the Deccan Chargers lost their way after a good start provided by the satnd-in captain Adam Gilchrist and made 141 runs at the loss of eight wickets.

Rajasthan bowlers justified their skipper Warne's decision to bowl first and picked wickets regularly. Munaf Patel struck in the seventh over to remove Gibbs. From there on wickets kept tumbling.

A team that boasts of a formidable batting line failed to cash on the start given by Gilchrist. Shahid Afridi, Herschelle Gibbs, Scott Styris, all failed to stand up to the challenge.

Adam Gilchrist was the only player who showed some resilience and amassed 61 runs before falling prey to Siddharth Trivedi.

Chargers' in-form batsman Rohit Sharma was caught napping and was run out by Shane Warne. He could add only five runs.

Deccan Chargers: Adam Gilchrist (Captain), Herschelle Gibbs, Scott Styris, Rohit Sharma, Shahid Afridi, Venugopal Rao, Sanjay Bangar, Ravi Teja , RP Singh, P Vijaykumar, Pragyan Ojha

Rajasthan Royals: Shane Warne (Captain), Graeme Smith, Swapnil Asnodkar, Yusuf Pathan, Shane Watson, Mohammad Kaif, Ravindra Jadeja, Mahesh Rawat, Sohail Tanvir, Siddharth Trivedi, Munaf Patel.

Source: NDTV

The raising, or lowering, of expectations ahead of the news is an old political trick that is as right at home here as in the final days of the presidential primaries. It changes the way the facts are both presented and absorbed, a pre-spin spin.

Neither the NFL nor the New England Patriots had anything to do with a single anonymously sourced February story in the Boston Herald that claimed a former Patriots employee had a videotape of the St. Louis Rams’ walkthrough on the eve of Super Bowl XXXVI six years ago.

In fact, the Patriots not only denied it but also bristled at the suggestion. But now the Pats and the NFL, both of which would love this all to go away, can thank that story as they whistle by the graveyard.

By Tuesday, after former Patriots video assistant Matt Walsh and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell meet face to face, expect the Spygate investigation to be closed. The focus will remain on, of all things, the Patriots being cleared of a wild, flimsy allegation that probably never was true in the first place.

The walkthrough story may lack believability – Walsh turned over no such tape and his attorney told the New York Times he wasn’t the Herald’s source. It may make little sense – why would someone tape a walkthrough, where the action is so slow even a lowly video guy could decipher the play?

But it certainly packed spin on what otherwise would have been a bleak day for the franchise and the league.

Walsh sent eight tapes to Goodell on Thursday that showed both defensive and offensive signals of opposing coaches in six games from 2000 to 2002. The Patriots had not publicly admitted to recording offensive signals.

Rather than everyone focusing on the physical evidence that confirms the Patriots systematically, purposely and in violation of league rules taped signals – which calls into question the validity of three Super Bowls – the talk was how there wasn’t anything about the supposed walk through.

Whether you love or loathe the Patriots, this clearly was a fortuitous event.

Spygate fatigue long ago set in among fans. Thursday’s revelations may only confirm what Pats coach Bill Belichick previously admitted to Goodell about recording defensive signals – news that didn’t become public until after the season – and what most fans have suspected.

But Thursday’s news still was a smoking gun, one that eliminates both the Patriots’ plausible deniability and the ability to confuse that owner Robert Kraft clung to at this February’s Super Bowl.

The truth is the Patriots enjoyed a strategic, if stolen, advantage as they built an improbable dynasty, and their once-fired coach was reinvented as a football genius. Belichick and his players, unquestionably, were great. But would they have been that great without the video?

It’s difficult to comprehend a bigger or more explosive story, no matter how expected, hitting the NFL.

The tapes show the filming of coaches’ signals and either the actual ensuing play or the clock (to allow for a match later) for regular-season games in 2000, 2001 and 2002 against Miami, Buffalo, Cleveland and San Diego, plus the AFC championship game against the Pittsburgh Steelers that preceded the Super Bowl against the Rams.

Belichick didn’t tape the signals for his health. If he had them, he used them. And they must have provided some kind of an advantage – either during the game or for future ones – or he wouldn’t have kept doing it.

One of those games the Patriots taped could include a Nov. 11, 2001, contest against St. Louis, which would have given the Patriots a significant advantage in the Super Bowl three months later. Forget the walkthrough. If it knew the signals, New England wouldn’t really need to record the walkthrough.

Coaches often say the game comes down to just five or six of its slightly more than 100 plays. The difference between victory and defeat is so minute that there are no small advantages in the NFL, just advantages. Having an idea of what might be coming for a key play certainly would qualify.

It’s why the NFL came down so significantly on the Patriots last September, with major fines and the loss of a first-round draft pick. And that was when the league thought New England was taping only defensive signals, which isn’t the case on the tapes.

While “win at all costs” generally is the accepted philosophy in the NFL, and New England surely isn’t the only team practicing some kind of subterfuge, the old “everyone else is doing it” defense isn’t much of a defense.

Certainly not for an organization run by Kraft, who long has basked in the idea that he does things the right way and all but dared Walsh to present his evidence.

“I’m looking forward to having him speak and hopefully clear this up and completely exonerating us,” Kraft said in March.

Forget exoneration. Historically, Thursday will be looked on as the day the nails slammed into the Patriots’ public perception coffin, fairly or not, leaving all three Super Bowl victories under a cloud of doubt.

But in the present, there was little talk of that and even less questioning of the NFL for its earlier decision to destroy evidence provided by the Patriots. Instead, the team and league were able to bask in the positive spin of what wasn’t proven, not what was.

Dan Wetzel is Yahoo! Sports' national columnist. Send Dan a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.

Source: Yahoo.com

LOS ANGELES: People magazine unveiled Kate Hudson as the cover girl for its list of the world's 100 most beautiful people.

People said Hudson was chosen to showcase the unranked list because the natural beauty she represents is now at the height of fashion.

Hudson "just embodies such an incredible natural beauty that is in vogue right now," People Senior Editor Galina Espinoza said on The Early Show Wednesday.

"We've gotten so accustomed to celebrities getting breast implants and nose jobs, and she will talk about being flat-chested and having a little bit of an offbeat look."

Hudson, 29, daughter of actress Goldie Hawn, told the magazine that she can't remember the last time she had a manicure or a facial. "I don't do those kinds of things. And when I do, I always think, 'I should do this more often'," she said.

Also on the list were teen pop idols Hannah Montana star Miley Cyrus and Vanessa Hudgens of High School Musical, both of whom have been criticised for appearing in racy photos.

Hudgens also promoted the natural look saying "just recently I've learned to be okay with myself without wearing make up".

Among others on the list were Halle Berry, who makes a record twelfth appearance, Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Lopez, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Matthew McConaughey, Johnny Depp, Alicia Keys and Beyonce.

Source:DNA

I write this week's column from Khajuraho where we are currently filming Sharpe's Peril, the 16th installment of the much beloved epic series that stars the internationally renowned actor Sean Bean.

It's 40 degrees out in the blistering countryside where we are filming. The actors are wearing thick woolen East India Company uniforms and ride at full gallop pillaging and burning a picturesque village as frightened natives run helter skelter. We set a thatched hut on fire, call for "action" and then watch as skillfully choreographed pandemonium ensues.

We then cut, douse the flames and then repeat the same routine over and over again all day long. Surely there must be a better way to earn a living? Unfortunately this is the only way I know how.

And it seems to me that there are different types of men in Mumbai, the film capital of India, who make movies for a multitude of reasons. Here then is my ready reckoner of the mad movie makers of Mumbai:

Moolah Rogues: These are wealthy financiers who have made their money outside of the film industry through various dubious activities- "import /export", construction, extortion, etc and have no real knowledge or passion for cinema. They have simply entered Bollywood as Producers, dazzled by its glamour and the vicarious thrill of being able to fraternise with film stars. Moolah Rogues are notoriously nefarious and their films fate at the box office wholly precarious.

Factory Mazdoors: These are assorted alumni from RGV’s fabled film factory who believed that his assembly line productions would catapult them to fame and fortune. They are all invariably earnest, talented students of cinema who wanted to establish another nouvelle vague but have ended up making nouveau vague films instead. Like the Mumbai mill mazdoors who faced factory lockouts in the seventies, here too we find hordes of disenfranchised angry young men that will have to find alternative means to make alternative cinema.

Filmi Fossils: These are older filmmakers who refuse to reinvent themselves and their movies to keep pace with changing tastes and times. As a result, they still foist 'ghasa pita' formula films on audiences who has wised up over the years and therefore deliver one box office dud after another. Filmi fossils not only squander celluloid but also public money they have raised through IPOs.

Youngistan in Filmistan: These are the hip, happening English speaking, Hindi film-making hot shots who are currently reinventing Indian cinema giving it both style and substance. Whether sons of big Bollywood guns or film school brat packers they are all young men on a movie making mission. They may know their Fellini from a Bellini and their truffles from Truffaut but they are staunchly Hindustani at heart and Bollywood, quite literally, is in their blood.

DVD Dhakkans: These are brazen plagiarists who believe it is their god given prerogative to filch foreign films and pass them off as their own creation. They have the audacity to actually play the DVD of the movie they are brazenly ripping off on their film sets so they can even copy the camera angles from the original. DVD dhakkans are unfortunately a dime a dozen in Bollywood and come in all sorts of shape, size and vintage.

Source:DNA

NEW DELHI: The last time Nirmala Deshpande was in the eye of a media buzz was when her name did the rounds for the highest post of the land. She finally lost out to Pratibha Patil. But this day when she is no more, friends and colleagues remember the tiny woman who often sent sparks flying within and outside the establishment with her gutsy and somewhat controversial remarks.

A Gandhian to the core, 79-year-old Deshpande declared herself a "friend" of Maoists in a media interview two months ago. That was when home ministry officials were frequently disappearing into huddles, trying to thrash out the best strategy for hemming in Maoists, who were making deadly forays deep in the countryside.

But the Nagpur-born Deshpande did not bother about the timing of her remark. Neither did she cringe from saying that the Maoist victory in neighbouring Nepal left her "impressed".

It was an odd cocktail - belief in non-violence and empathy for a political movement that swore by violence and armed insurrection. But Deshpande walked that thin line without fear or embarrassment. It was like she did not perceive an oddity in being flanked by Mahatma Gandhi on one side and Mao Zedong on the other.

"I am a friend of the Naxalites," Deshpande said, stunning even some of her friends who could barely trust their ears with that comment coming from a woman who had been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

In 1952, Deshpande walked with Vinoba Bhave when he launched his 'Bhoodan' (land distribution) movement. It was then that she saw up close the wretchedness of the landless. In Deshpande's own words, the Naxalites, she said, were "fighting for the rights of these people".

Walking through the corridors of power after she was elected a Rajya Sabha member made her an eyewitness to the wheels of power that keep the state and the government machinery churning.

Like many Gandhians, Deshpande at times agonised over the steady attrition of Gandhian values. But unlike many others who professed the Gandhian creed, Deshpande did not let go. She worked on many fronts - from dealing with the loopholes in the Right To Information Act (RTI) to campaigning for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, the leading light of freedom in Burma.

When Graham Staines, a Christian missionary, was brutally done to death, Deshpande organised a peace march in Orissa. When the Left Front government was accused of unleashing violence on protesters resisting land acquisition at Nandigram, Deshpande spoke out against the use of force.

Not many know that this daughter of theosophist-litterateur P.Y. Deshpande (recipient of Sahitya Academy award for his novel "Anamikachi Chintanika") and J. Krishnamurthy follower Vimalabai (who translated Krishnamurthy's "Commentaries on Life" into the Marathi "Jeevan Bhashye") was herself a novelist.

Two of her novels, "Seemant", on the theme of women's liberation, and "Chimlig", based on Chinese cultural ethos, are better known.

The Gandhian flame of peace has dimmed with the death of Nirmala Deshpande.

Source:http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1162223&pageid=2