SHAH RUKH-KAJOL starrer confirmed

There was quite a bit of talk about bringing together legendary pair Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol together once more and this piece of good news has been confirmed today. Director Rohit Shetty's Dilwale will star the iconic jodi along fresh talents Varun Dhawan (Main Tera Hero, Badlapur)and Kriti Sanon (Heropanti).

The shoot will start in a couple of days but only with Dhawan and Kriti Sanon. Dilwale will be co-produced by Rohit Shetty, who celebrates his birthday today, and Red Chillies Entertainment. It has been described as a family friendly film slated for a Christmas 2015 release.

A.R. Rahman Turns Hindi Film Producer

Diwali has had its host of topics to write about, from news on a French film based on the Mumbai 2008 terrorist attacks to commenting on the Shah Rukh Khan - Deepika Padukone starrer Happy New Year or reviewing Katrina Kaif and Hrithik Roshan's Bang Bang... However, the following piece of news seems personally more noteworthy and therefore I will give all above-mentioned topics the skip.

After recently working for television with Ashutosh Gowariker, AR Rahman is looking forward to starting the production of his maiden film, following in the footsteps of celebrated Vishal Bhardwaj who successfully transitioned from the music industry into film making.

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BOLLYWOOD SINGERS for Women Internet Literacy

After a very long hiatus, here we are happy to bring you some fresh and useful news.

MARD (Men Against Rape and Discrimination), Farhan Akhtar's social campaign which had started in 2012, has joined hands this week with search engine giant Google to help increase internet literacy among women in India. The campaign is called "Reach For the Sky" and is quickly gathering visibility on Youtube and social media through a song video titled “Chulein Aasman” is a song about female emancipation and about freeing women from the roles that they have been coerced into playing for centuries. The music and video feature Salim-Sulaiman and Farhan Akhtar.

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Search giant Google on Tuesday launched a new social campaign in association with Bollywood actor-director Farhan Akhtar’s initiative MARD, to increase internet literacy among women in the country. Google India had first time launched a ‘digital literacy’ initiative campaign called ‘Helping Women Get Online’ (HWGO) in collaboration with Intel, HUL and Axis Bank late last year. “The first phase has been very successful. In the last 12 months, the number of women using the internet has grown 35 per cent as against 31 per cent by men. This for the first time that women have surpassed men in using internet. This is just the start of the programme as it’s only 10 months when we  launched it (the first phase),” Google India vice president and managing director Rajan Anandan said here. As the company ramps up its activities and takes many of them to the next level, it expects further acceleration in the campaign, Anandan said. The jointly-promoted campaign called ‘ReachForTheSky’ will look to generate awareness about the need to get women online. It will also encourage existing users to help get more  women online and spread awareness of gender equality and women empowerment. Despite India inching closer to become the second  largest internet users’ country, the number of women using internet is lower than most of the countries, he said adding, “empowering the young women population with information and internet related tools could transform India’s future.” We need to build on this start and join the campaign with MARD to encourage women to come online, he added. Google India head for marketing Sandeep Menon said the company’s aim is to help bring 50 million women online in the country. - See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/google-india-launches-new-campaign-with-farhan-akhtar-to-help-women-get-online/#sthash.JVPl646b.dpuf

Search giant Google on Tuesday launched a new social campaign in association with Bollywood actor-director Farhan Akhtar’s initiative MARD, to increase internet literacy among women in the country. Google India had first time launched a ‘digital literacy’ initiative campaign called ‘Helping Women Get Online’ (HWGO) in collaboration with Intel, HUL and Axis Bank late last year. “The first phase has been very successful. In the last 12 months, the number of women using the internet has grown 35 per cent as against 31 per cent by men. This for the first time that women have surpassed men in using internet. This is just the start of the programme as it’s only 10 months when we  launched it (the first phase),” Google India vice president and managing director Rajan Anandan said here. As the company ramps up its activities and takes many of them to the next level, it expects further acceleration in the campaign, Anandan said. The jointly-promoted campaign called ‘ReachForTheSky’ will look to generate awareness about the need to get women online. It will also encourage existing users to help get more  women online and spread awareness of gender equality and women empowerment. Despite India inching closer to become the second  largest internet users’ country, the number of women using internet is lower than most of the countries, he said adding, “empowering the young women population with information and internet related tools could transform India’s future.” We need to build on this start and join the campaign with MARD to encourage women to come online, he added. Google India head for marketing Sandeep Menon said the company’s aim is to help bring 50 million women online in the country. - See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/google-india-launches-new-campaign-with-farhan-akhtar-to-help-women-get-online/#sthash.JVPl646b.dpuf

Search giant Google on Tuesday launched a new social campaign in association with Bollywood actor-director Farhan Akhtar’s initiative MARD, to increase internet literacy among women in the country. Google India had first time launched a ‘digital literacy’ initiative campaign called ‘Helping Women Get Online’ (HWGO) in collaboration with Intel, HUL and Axis Bank late last year. “The first phase has been very successful. In the last 12 months, the number of women using the internet has grown 35 per cent as against 31 per cent by men. This for the first time that women have surpassed men in using internet. This is just the start of the programme as it’s only 10 months when we  launched it (the first phase),” Google India vice president and managing director Rajan Anandan said here. As the company ramps up its activities and takes many of them to the next level, it expects further acceleration in the campaign, Anandan said. The jointly-promoted campaign called ‘ReachForTheSky’ will look to generate awareness about the need to get women online. It will also encourage existing users to help get more  women online and spread awareness of gender equality and women empowerment. Despite India inching closer to become the second  largest internet users’ country, the number of women using internet is lower than most of the countries, he said adding, “empowering the young women population with information and internet related tools could transform India’s future.” We need to build on this start and join the campaign with MARD to encourage women to come online, he added. Google India head for marketing Sandeep Menon said the company’s aim is to help bring 50 million women online in the country. - See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/google-india-launches-new-campaign-with-farhan-akhtar-to-help-women-get-online/#sthash.JVPl646b.dpuf

SHAH RUKH goes SLAM! in America

Following a long hiatus of 10 years, Shah Rukh Khan is ready to conquer Canadian and American shores this September with the SLAM! tour.

A star cast comprising Deepika Padukone, Abhishek Bachchan, Malaika Arora Khan, Farah Khan, Boman Irani, Sonu Sood, Vivaan Shah, Yo Yo Honey Singh and Kanika Kapoort will join the baadshah to entertain foreign audiences as well as the director and the cast of  Happy New Year, which is pending release in Diwali. The tour will start in Houston and will include New Jersey, Toronto, Chicago, San Jose and Vancouver.

Find an organizer near you and head to have a musical and exciting time at the SLAM! TOUR.

SHAH RUKH KHAN: #1 on FORBES Leadership List

“Forbes Middle-East made me feel special with their special edition cover story on my work in entertainment. Off to Dubai for the launch. Thank you all,” Shahrukh Khan recently tweeted, following the decision of Forbes Magazine to declare Shah Rukh Khan the top Indian leader in the Arab World after having topped Forbes' India Celebrity 100 List in 2013.

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YASH CHOPRA Rest in Peace

To most Bollywood viewers abroad, the name Yash Chopra conjures memories of discovering the world of Indian cinema, its emotions, its romance, its beauty and its music. 

The king of Bollywood romance passed away on October 21st following a multiple organ failure after succumbing to a serious strain of dengue fever. The film fraternity, friends and family have come to pay their homage at Studio 3 of Yash Raj studios before cremation took place. Colleagues from the film fraternity present at the studio were Shyam Benegal, Gulzar, Tabu, Shah Rukh Khan, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Rishi Kapoor, Vidya Balan, Ranbir Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor, Subhash Ghai and Ashutosh Gowariker among many others.

MADHURI DIXIT at Madame Tussaud's in London

 

Following in the steps of Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Hrithik Roshan, Salman Khan and cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, it is now the beautiful Madhuri Dixit who will soon be inaugurating her very own wax statue at Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum in London.

The versatile actress has flown to the English capital in company of her family and will unveil her statue this following week. Madame Tussaud's has a new quintessential beauty in its collection.

OPRAH IN BOLLYWOOD: The O Factor Charms Tinsel Town

Chat show host Oprah Winfrey had India in her "places to see" list for a long time and has finally flown over for a week-long visit in aims to shoot for her upcoming show "New Chapter".

While she has been scheduled to visit  Delhi, Agra, Jaipur and Rishikesh during her stay, her week started with a visit to the Bachchan family and with a highly attended bash hosted by Parmeshwar Godrej in Bombay, to which numerous stars flocked to meet the TV diva.

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PIRACY: A Crime in Controversy

When an anti-piracy law project was being introduced in France in 2009, police brigades took over a district in Paris that is well-known for its shops displaying heaps of pirate Indian DVDs for sale. Today it is the Protect IP Act's turn to be approved in the USA, an event that has been causing much virtual ink to be shed. Going with this sign of the times, the Hindi Cinema Blog cannot help but deeply ponder upon the issue of piracy with its different arguments and counter-arguments, which make it a profoundly complex issue that no one seems to have a current satisfactory solution to. Sadly indeed.

This post is not a sermon to those who recur to purchasing pirate products nor is it our purpose to be the devil's advocate. It is indeed unfortunate but nevertheless true that despite a wide variety in tastes and incomes, most Indian cinema viewers have unfortunately been at some point in the position of supporting piracy through one of the following actions:

- purchasing a DVD at a shop, thinking it is an original copy only to open it at home and discover it is a pirate,

- knowingly buying a pirate DVD at the local video shop

- burning a DVD for another Indian cinema enthusiast

- downloading a film from the Internet for free (some people download films from supposedly law-abiding sites only to find out they have downloaded a pirate copy, while others don't bother with piracy concerns and just want to obtain the film for free).

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SHAH RUKH KHAN sweeps Berlin off its feet

Bollywood's Shah Rukh Khan reached Berlin this month, together with co-stars Priyanka Chopra and Lara Dutta as well as 70 of the film's co-actors and other film staff from India for the start of the shooting of their latest movie, the sequel "Don 2 - The Chase Continues", directed by Farhan Akhtar, who previously directed the remake of 1978 cult film 'Don' in 2006 (the original 70s film starred none other than Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan).

Producers have described 'Don' as a Hindi version of James Bond, in which the hero of the film is however a suave and smart criminal!

The sequel will star the original cast of  Farhan Akhtar's first 'Don': Priyanka Chopra and Boman Irani, but will also welcome new characters being played by Lara Dutta, Sameera Reddy and Kunal Kapoor.

Shah Rukh Khan, who plays the lead role mentioned that the inspiration to shoot 'Don' in Berlin came while he was visiting the German city during its 2008 film festival.

"I just love Berlin... It is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen. I have been here for two weeks and I don't feel I am working," Khan told reporters at a recent press conference. The 44-year-old actor enjoys a huge fan following in Germany, where his films are dubbed and sold to the general German-speaking public with huge success.

While the star might feel as if he is not working, he not only started filming but dove immediately into doing a difficult stunt consisting of  jumping from the roof of the Park Inn Hotel on the Alexanderplatz in Berlin for a scene in which several gangsters are chasing him.

Apart from this difficult  stunt, the actor has also been preparing for more action-packed scenes: "Learnt scuba diving...base flying...fast driving (crashed also once)...gyming...old songs...PS3 (Play Station 3) soccer...Beat Boman & Ritesh (Farhan & me)...happy," SRK tweeted this week.

'Don 2' is an Indo-German production that has Germany hoping to attract millions of Indian viewers to travel to the beautiful city of Berlin by showcasing some of the town's most famous tourist attractions. Shah Rukh Khan himself sees this opportunity as a "great way to showcase this city to an Indian audience".

The Hindi version of the film seems to be scheduled for release in December 2011. It is still being debated whether the dubbed German version will be released simultaneously or at the Berlin International Film Festival to be held in February 2012.

Visit the DON 2 website.

Watch NDTV's video of the press conference in Berlin.

Check out the picture gallery of the DON 2 press conference in Berlin.

SHAH RUKH KHAN: Living with a Superstar

The Discovery Travel and Living channel has been broadcasting the series 'Living with a Superstar' dedicated to Bollywood hero Shah Rukh Khan for the utmost delight of his huge fan following throughout the world. The lifestyle channel followed the star during an entire year and has launched the show last February, releasing several episodes for which we provide Youtube links. (A very special thanks to the dedicated Italian Cinema Hindi team for these updates). See the 1^st part of episode number 1 here as well as a list of subsequent episodes.

“Discovery Travel and Living is most certainly the definitive lifestyle channel on TV. The idea of the series format is both exhilarating and unique as it showcases aspects of my life that have seldom been seen in the public domain. I look forward to welcoming you all into my life.” Shah Rukh Khan expressed when asked about the series.

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Video 11 Part 1 of episode dedicated to 'My Name is Khan'
Video 12 Part 2 of episode dedicated to 'My Name is Khan'
Video 13
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Video 15 (in SRK's homes located in Mumbai and Dubai)
Video 16 (in SRK's homes located in Mumbai and Dubai)
Video 17 (the star introduces us to his staff)
Video 18 (the star introduces us to his staff)
Video 19 (MNIK sets)
Video 20 (MNIK sets)


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