Paris Hilton has hit out at claims she leads a lazy life of luxury, insisting it’s hard work being the boss of Paris Hilton PLC. The socialite-turned-pop star insists she never stops working and is fully booked up for the next year promoting her music career, and lines of Paris Hilton-related merchandise.
The 25-year-old says, “I have so many projects – bags, fragrances, make-up. I go round the world every three days, designing and personally approving it all. “I’ve got movies to make, a tour, TV shows. Every day of my life is scheduled until the end of 2007. It’s Paris Hilton PLC!”
Day: July 18, 2006
-
Paris finds it tough being boss
-
Cruise stuns Spielberg
Tom Cruise thrilled pal Steven Spielberg at the weekend when he showed up unexpectedly to honour the movie mogul at the Chicago Film Festival.
Spielberg was momentarily left speechless when his War Of The Worlds star walked out on stage to present him with a Golden Hugo Lifetime Achievement Award.
Cruise told the stunned audience, “I had the great pleasure of meeting Steven. And you took me to dinner when I was a young actor.
“I’ve seen every one of his films many, many times. I actually study his films.” It wasn’t the only surprise for Spielberg at the event – celebrity friends like Harrison Ford, George Lucas and Catherine Zeta Jones all sent him celebratory video messages, which were beamed onto a big screen behind the director. -
Pfeiffer to use Hairspray
Michelle Pfeiffer has joined the cast of the forthcoming big screen version of Hairspray as villain Velma Von Tussel. The star joins John Travolta, Queen Latifah, Amanda Bynes and newcomer Nikki Blonsky, who’ll play Tracy Turnblad.
Pfeiffer will play the former Miss Baltimore Crabs beauty queen-turned-bitter Baltimore, Maryland TV station owner in the film based on the hit Broadway, New York City play.
Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman are writing new songs for their Tony-Award-winning score, including a new tune for Pfeiffer. She last sang in the film The Fabulous Bakre Boys, which earned her a Best Actress Academy Award nomination.
Plans to shoot the film in Baltimore have been scrapped – it will now be shot entirely in Toronto, Canada starting in September 2006. Director Adam Shakman says, “Not only do we have her singing, which she hasn’t done in a long time, but she’s been a delicious villain in roles like Catwoman. “Velma is this amazing mess of contradictions. I’m going to dress and wig Michelle to death on this one!” -
Justin’s a Brit too much
Trendy pop hunk Justin Timberlake has turned his back on American fashion and buys all his clothes on once-a-year trips to London.
The former ‘N SYNC star admits he hates shopping for clothes and only changes his wardrobe once a year when he hits the English capital’s top stores. The singer heads straight for the boutiques of New Bond Street when he arrives in the British capital and indulges himself during a monster shop-a-thon.
In an upcoming interview with London’s Capital Radio, the Cry Me A River singer says, “I love the fashion. You can find me in Gucci often, I spend entirely too much money.
“I don’t come here (London) often and when I do I get it in, so I don’t have to for the rest of the year. Its one big spending spree.
“I don’t like shopping but I like clothes.” London’s boutiques aren’t the only things that draw the pop superstar to England – he loves British girls. Timberlake made the startling revelation, which is sure to upset girlfriend Cameron Diaz, at an intimate gig in London last week. He said, “I love Britain. I want to buy a house in London, because I love British girls. -
From Brad Pitt to Dad Pitt
Hollywood new dad Brad Pitt is thrilled with his new life and insists having children is the best thing he has ever done. The Troy star, who is father to three children with partner Angelina Jolie Maddox, four, Zahara, one and six-week-old daughter Shiloh Nouvel, credits his children with completely changing his attitude towards life. The 42-year-old actor tells US morning show Today, “It really changes your perspective on the world.
“You know, I’ve had my day. I made some films, and I’ve really had a very fortunate life, and it’s time for me to share that a little bit.” He said having children “takes the focus off yourself, which I’m really grateful for. “I’m so tired of thinking about myself. I’m sick of myself.”
The star is excited by his new role as a parent saying, “You feel you want to be there and not miss out on anything. “It’s a true joy (and) a very profound love. You can write a book, you can make a movie, you can paint a painting, but having kids is the most extraordinary thing I’ve ever taken on.” -
Patrick Swazye considers adoption
Ghost Patrick Swazye and his wife Lisa Niemi are considering adoption after spending years trying to conceive naturally. The actor is bitterly disappointed he and Niemi – his wife of 31 years – have never been able to have their own kids. Now they are keen to explore other options before they are too old.
Swayze, 53, says, “I think I was born to be a father. I’ve designed the perfect life for kids and I believe I could prepare a child well.” Recently, Swazye was in the news when he hit out at claims he postponed his debut on London’s West End stage because of stage fright. The actor was due to take his bow as Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls on 10 July, but pushed the date back to 24 July (06) after coming down with a throat infection.
The actor is furious at rumours he lied about the illness and insists has no reason to be fearful. He says, “Stage fright? I’ve been doing this since I was born. I was raised and born into musical theatre. Sure fear can be a good thing, but when you spend your life doing this, you find a way to use it, to make it work for you.
“Sick as I was, I’ve not stopped working. I kept coming into rehearsals. I’ve been like Marcel Marceau, learning the choreography and the staging even though I couldn’t speak.” -
Mischa Barton gets desperate
Mischa Barton is reportedly being lined up for a role in TV sensation Deperate Housewives. After quitting THE OC – the teen show that made her famous – the British-born star is rumoured to be discussing a new role with Desperate Housewives creator Marc Cherry.
Cherry’s spokesperson says, “He’s interviewing and auditioning all the time. I’m sure Mischa would be a welcome asset to the show but who knows what will happen?” -
DVD trading site Peerflix teams up with Community Foundation to help preserve local cinemas
Palo Alto, CA: Peerflix, the leading peer-to-peer (P2P) network that allows members to legally trade DVDs today announced its sponsorship of the San Francisco Neighborhood Theater Foundation’s (S.F.N.T.F.) summer series, Film Night in the Park. The series, which runs into October, teams the DVD trading site with the community organization in an effort to raise money for the preservation of community movie theaters in the Bay Area.
“We are extremely pleased to have Peerflix as a sponsor of Film Night,” said Alfonso Felder, President, of the San Francisco Neighborhood Theater Foundation. “Each of our organizations focus on providing movies to the viewing public, so there seemed to be a natural synergy in us working together.” Felder went on to highlight the important intersection of technology with the historic focus of the S.F.N.T.F. “It’s great to work with a young company that’s shaping the vision for what movie viewing will be in the future, while not abandoning the importance of giving back to help preserve the historic movie-going experience.”
Along with general sponsorship, Peerflix will help raise additional money for the organization by donating DVDs to be raffled off during the events. The raffle tickets will be sold for one dollar each and all proceeds will go to the Foundation to help in its efforts to preserve community movie theaters.
“Peerflix is much more than a place to get DVDs cheap,” said Dan Henig, a Senior Manager at Peerflix. “We are a community of people who love films of all kinds, so reaching out and teaming up with an organization like S.F.N.T.F was a natural extension for Peerflix.”
Peerflix offers a peer-to-peer online trading platform for physical media. In its first application, the system allows users to trade used DVDs across a large, distributed network, keeping their DVD collection dynamic and fresh. Peerflix itself carries no inventory and does not participate in the transaction: it simply matches people and products while optimizing for trade speed, frequency, and geography. The company transfers its low overhead directly to customers by only charging $0.99 for each trade facilitated by its system. Since its 2004 launch, Peerflix has been steadily building its customer base and site inventory and today is the leading online destination for DVD owners to trade their used DVDs.
-
Hilton towers for Justin
Justin Timerblake is a massive fan of Paris Hilton’s ‘infectious’ new single, and is convinced she has a great music career ahead of her. The pop heartthrob confesses he’s hooked on Stars Are Blind – the first single from Hilton’s debut album – and loves the video equally.
Timberlake tells London’s Capital Radio, “I’ve heard the song, I know Paris.
It gets in your skin doesn’t it? “The video is everything you would expect, its awesome. What do I want to see when I think of a Paris Video? “I want to see her running around on the beach and driving a car with the wind in her hair. That’s what I think of when I think of the Hilton girls.” -
Game it with Yun Hota Toh Kya Hota
MUMBAI :After creating games on Bappi Lahiri and Madhavan, Paradox is in news again. In an alliance with Shemaroo, they have created a mobile game for the promotion of Yun Hota Toh Kya Hota. This film is veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah’s directorial debut. The mobile game based on the movie will be released on the leading networks across India along with the movie on 21 July , 2006.
Producer Shabbir Boxwala says, “Yun Hota Toh Kya Hota is a concoction of four different stories about four different people with one destination – America. Capturing the flavour of the movie, Yun Hota Toh Kya Hota is a puzzle-based mobile game set in a maze where players can choose to play as any one of the movie’s leading stars – Konkona Sen (Tilottima), Paresh Rawal (Rajubhai Patel), Irfaan Khan (Salim Khan) and Ankur Khanna (Rahul Bhide). The game’s objective is to get to the centre of the maze by collecting all the scattered documents for the US trip and get to the exit in a limited amount of time.”
Did he get a chance to play the game? “No. Unfortunately not yet! But soon I will. Actually the promotion of the film is keeping me so busy now that I have no time.”
On the alliance, Salil Bhargava, CEO of Paradox said, “Movie-based games are catching up fast with the casual gaming audiences in India. Yun Hota Toh Kya Hota’s distinct storyline provides for an interesting premise for a mobile game.”
Yun Hota Toh Kya Hota is scheduled for a release on 21 July. “The mahurat shot of the film was done on 20 July 2005 and this we are releasing just one day after his birthday. On 20 we will have a private screening of the film.” informed Shabbir.
The film will be premiered in Delhi on 19 July at the Osian Film Festival.
-
A film on Lalbaugcha Raja
Mumbai: In an attempt to make the idol of Lord Ganesh popularly known as Lalbaugcha Raja, reach a wider audience across the city, Marathi producer – director Vijay Khanvilkar has made a film on the much loved idol, with the same name which is to be released on August 18.
The movie was made with a budget of Rs 80 lakhs and will premiere at Bharatmata Theatre in Parel. The cast includes theatre personality Sunil Barve as the protagonist, Subodh Bhave and Gayatri Choudhary. There are five songs in the film and the music has been composed by Ashok Vayangankar. The film Lalbaugcha Raja will now be seen by people in the city as well as those around the world. -
The unstoppable Pirates on top of the world
Mumbai: Having broken many records already in its first weekend the unstoppable Pirates are invading new grounds every passing day. Already a record crushing blockbuster, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest has grossed $62.2 million in its second weekend, raising its 10-day total to 258.2 million. The film has comfortably positioned itself as the year’s top-grossing film, zooming ahead of X-Men: The Last Stand which has taken in $232 million in eight weeks. This is the largest ten-day start of any film in history and the fastest any movie has cracked the quarter-billion dollar mark thrashing the old records which were both set last summer by Star Wars Episode III. The final Jedi sequel amassed $236.9M in its first ten days and jumped to $255.6M in its eleventh day. It’s now almost certain that Pirates 2 is successfully on its route to become one of the biggest grossing films of all times. Following positive audience and critical response, an epic run is definitely ensured for the rest of the summer ahead.
The Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley starrer film has outperformed both of the two new releases in its second weekend by more than $40 million each, securing yet another record. The film’s second weekend gross was so strong that its Saturday night take of an estimated $24 million was actually bigger than the three-day totals for both Sony Pictures’ Little Man (debuting at $21.7 million) and Universal Pictures’ You, Me and Dupree (debuting at $21.3 million). Pirates caused Superman Returns to fall a huge 58.5% from its opening weekend and X-Men 3 lost 60% of its previous week gross. The US Boxoffice trade experts are left pondering whether Superman Returns can recover any ground after taking a drubbing from “Pirates” last weekend. The Warner Bros.’ revival of the 1970s and ’80s franchise has grossed $149.6 million till last weekend.
But despite the strength of this weekend’s top three pictures, the frame still paled in comparison to the comparable weekend last year. Though 2005 was mostly a down year at the US boxoffice, that weekend marked the debut of Warner Bros. Pictures’ Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and New Line Cinema’s Wedding Crashers . Those two films’ respective grosses of $56.2 million and $33.9 million, coupled with strong holds from other films in the top five, including Fantastic Four, War of the Worlds and Batman Begins saw a top 12 number of $155.7 million, compared with an estimated $148.2 million for this weekend.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest also managed to cake walk to the numero uno spot internationally for the second consecutive weekend. It now looks all set to surpassing Finding Nemo to become the biggest overseas smash in the Walt Disney Co. history. The weekend tally for Dead Man’s Chest was an estimated $58 million from 3,363 screens in 24 territories all across the globe. The total tally grossed overseas is now stands a cool $125 million in just two weeks.
Though the film faced a sizable 54% drop from its record-breaking opening weekend, it has still managed to hold its own when compared to major blockbusters. The second weekend declines for the summer’s other big-budget blockbuster hits were larger including 56% for The Da Vinci Code, 59% for Superman Returns , and 67% for X-Men: The Last Stand. In just ten days, Dead Man’s Chest has quickly become the top-grossing film of 2006 and now sits at number 34 on the list of all-time domestic blockbusters ahead of Monsters, Inc. which grossed $255.9M in 2001.
The Pirates are all set to unleash on Indian grounds on coming Friday, 21 July. Vikramjit Roy, PR & Acquisitions, Sony Pictures is very optimistic about the film’s mega success continuing in India. Sharing his excitement he says, “The buzz is increasing here day by day. Its release here is being widely anticipated by fans of all groups. It is going to have a much wider reach this time. Since we are releasing it in three other languages apart from the original English version, the fan following of the Pirates is definitely bound to multiply. The film is being dubbed into Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. The definite success here will surely add on to its worldwide dream run.”
Top Grossing Movies for 2006 till date
1. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest – $256m
2. X Men 3 – $231.3m
3. The Da Vinci Code – $213.3m
4. Cars – $205.5m
5. Ice Age: The Meltdown – $194.1m
6. Over the Hedge – $149.8m
7. Superman Returns – $149.7m
8. Mission Impossible III – $133m
9. The Break Up – $114.3m
10. Click – $105.9m -
Sopori baaj resonates on US Independence Day
Close on the heels of captivating crowds in the valley, renowned music composer and legendary santoor maestro Pandit Bhajan Sopori enthralled audiences at Chicago City (USA) to celebrate the US Independence day in the Indian Style. The programme organized by Kashmir Overseas Association had specially invited Pandit Bhajan Sopori for a santoor recital. Panditji is on a month long tour to perform at various States of USA. Pandit Bhajan Sopori has been playing the instrument for more than 50 years since he sowed the seeds for the greatness of the instrument and what is today known as the Sopori Baaj (style), the only style that formally incorporates the essential stylistic nuances of Indian classical music required for the rendition of raagas in their purest form as per the shastras (grammar).
Pandit Bhajan Sopori began his concert with a detailed alaap, jod, vilambit teenttaal, madhyalaya ektaal and drutlaya teentaal in raag Kaunsi Kanadha and followed this up with his own composition in the
same raaga. The sounds of the santoor were suave and soothing, and his treatment resplendent of being a class apart from other exponents. He even made the audience sing with him the bandishes compositions).
Elusive and reticent, Pandit Bhajan Sopori, has given the Santoor the honour and prestige of a complete instrument, bringing it at par with Sitar and Sarod. So much so that he has gone ahead and rendered the
esoteric and erudite ‘ Dhrupad Ang’ on the Santoor with the accompaniment of the Pakhawaj. This has been enabled by a host of notable innovations like attaching of the ‘Tumba’ (gourd) and the ‘Tarab’ (sympathetic strings) , introducing Meend and glides, Gamak, balancing of the ‘Kalam’ (strikers) with ‘boles’, etc. He has thereby expanded the scope of the Santoor as a classical instrument and
formally established the Sopori Baaj in the realm of Indian Classical Music for which he has been crowned as the “King of Strings”. A highly learned person, Pandit Bhajan Sopori, combines a profound
knowledge of music and musicology that has helped him emerge as a versatile musician and a composer par excellence. To his credit he is the only classical musician in the country to have composed music for
more than 4000 songs in almost all the languages of the country and even foreign languages like Persian, Arabic, etc. He has also been the youngest ever composer of the National Orchestra (Vadya Vrinda).
Steeped deeply in the Sufi Parampara and Kashmiri Shaivite thought, by way of his Gharana, and also his own spiritual leanings, he started performing for Sufi Pirs and saints in Kashmir at a tender age. He has since composed the works of most of the Sufi saints like Lalded, Sheikh-ul-Aalam, Amir Khusrau, Kabir, Hafiz Sherazi, Ghani Kashmiri, Bulle Shah, Baba Farid, etc. along with Guru Baani, Shabads, Naats, and also Vedic chants and Sanskrit mantras such as Mahamrityunjaya and Surya Upasna. Many of these Persian, Arabic and Sanskrit phrases have been set to music for the first time. A true son of the soil, he is the very embodiment of all that is Kashmir, and a living example of the true spirit of Kashmiriyat and is hailed as the “Saint of the Santoor”.
For further Information
Sudarshan.S
5 – 2nd Floor, Durga Villa, Lalitha Socy,
Gokhale Rd, Vile Parle (East), Mumbai 400 057
Ph: 65257241 / 26174511
Mobile: 9892036272 -
Sooraj Barjatya’s Vivah to hit the marquee on Nov 10
Come November 10, and one of the most awaited films of the year, Vivah will hit the marquee. A classic love story, Vivah traces the relationship between the couple Shahid Kapoor and Amrita Rao from arrangement to marriage.
Rajshri Productions Pvt Ltd, the pioneer of Indianness in Bollywood, is behind unforgettable movies like Maine Pyar Kiya and Hum Aapke Hain Kaun and has over 50 films to its credit thus far.
Vivah is produced by Kamal Kumar Barjatya, Rajkumar Barjatya and Ajit Kumar Barjatya, story-screenplay-direction: Sooraj R Barjatya, lyrics and music: Ravindra Jain, Associate Producers: Sooraj R Barjatya, Rajjat A Barjatya, Dialogues: Aash Karan Atal, Cinematography: Harish Joshi, Editing: V N Mayekar, Audiography: Jitendra Choudhary, Art: Sanjay Dabhade, Costumes: Anna Singh, Shahid Kapur Costumes; Shabina Khan, Cinematography: Jay Borade and Thrilling Moments: Kaushal-Moses.
The film has Shahid Kapur and Amrita Rao with Anupam Kher, Alok Nath, Seema Biswas Samir Soni, Lata Sabharwal, Manoj Joshi, Amrita Prakash among others.