Anushka Sharma reveals her lil secret behind fuller lips....!

 

 

The Jab Tak Hain Jaan girl’s lips are being discussed by everyone and finally we get to hear it from the horse’s mouth, what went behind that enhanced pout

Ever since Anushka Sharma appeared on Karan Johar’s Koffee with Karan, she’s been making it to the headlines. This time around the Band Baaja Baaraat girl is in the news not for her remarks about her relationship status with Virat Kohli or her equation with ex-flame Ranveer Singh, but more so ‘coz of her fuller lips. While there have been speculations that Anushka has got some work done on her lips, she finally clears the air about her new pout. So did the pretty lady get her lips enhanced? And will we have to get used to this new not-so-great looking pout of Anushka’s? Well, Anushka answers it herself.
Anushka posted on Twitter, “Hellooooo everyone !! Today I am here to talk about my lips !! Yes ! There ! I said it .. My lips!” And then she went on to write a long story.
She wrote, “As a person I find it difficult to talk about my personal life and hence have always maintained a low profile choosing to interact with you all on twitter with my random -mostly illogical thoughts seeming like the only thing I feel ok about ..that’s just who I am .. But in today’s time where PR stories and feeding people with information constantly or making appearances is a fad somewhere people like me get lost in translation or in this case translations !
Lately there has been a LOT of talk about me in this particular episode of Koffee with Karan . Mainly regarding my lips . I am here to just convey what I have to say regarding the same . I am talking about it only because this story has taken a scary direction and things have been ‘blown out of proportion’

For a short while now I have been using a temporary lip enhancing tool and that along with make up techniques ( I have learnt over the years) is the reason why there might be a change in the appearance of my lips. Having stated this fact let me very vehemently assure everyone that I have by no means gone ‘under the knife ‘ or done any kind of ‘plastic surgery’ or undergone any intrusive procedure . This was my decision and was done for the sake of my look in my upcoming film Bombay velvet,a period drama where I play a jazz singer in the 1960′s – 70′s . And it was taken from the referencing of that time.
The drastic change in my appearance on KWK is due to lot of factors put together and not just my lips . Everyone goes through good and bad days. Did I think I looked good on the KWK episode ? NO . I do feel I could have done things differently .
To put the current conjectures and reportage straight once and for all from my end – I have said this before and am saying it again .. I do not believe in plastic surgery or any other means of unnatural permanent changes to the body . I do not support it or stand for it or recommend it .
Now if someday my legs appear different and sexy to you ! Please don’t say I’ve done ‘Something’ …
Oh ! And also … Some of the ‘joker’ jokes/memes doing the rounds though a bit mean did bring a smile to my lips.

Well, even while giving the story straight, Anushka seems to be quite witty. Great sense of humour, we must say. We’re glad that she hasn’t got a lip job done and hopefully we’ll get to see her original lovely smile again, just like her Band Baaja Baaraat days. So to those who want a bigger pout (not sexier), you can use Anushka’s lil secret. But don’t forget what results it had on Anushka, her smile looked anything but stunning. Beware!

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Beyonce's Surprise Album: What's The Verdict

 

 

 

On a single she previewed as part of a Pepsi ad earlier this year, Beyonce sang, "I'm a grown woman / I can do whatever I want."

The singer proved that on Friday when she released a surprise album with no fanfare.

Fans promptly lost it and the Internet was on the verge of exploding. Even fellow celebs seemed to have been left breathless.

Singer Katy Perry tweeted, "Don't talk to me today unless it's about @Beyonce THANX."

Added actress Abigail Breslin, "The new Beyonce album is so perfect wow."

The 14-track self-titled album was released exclusively on iTunes at midnight and had to be purchased in its totality. 

Singles will not be available for purchase until December 20. In addition to the songs, there are also 17 music videos.

Speaking to fans via a video on her official Facebook page, Beyonce called the project a "visual album" and said "I see music."

"It's more than just what I hear," she said. "When I'm connected to something, I immediately see a visual or a series of images that are tied to a feeling or an emotion, a memory from my childhood, thoughts about life, my dreams or my fantasies. And they're all connected to the music."

Her fifth studio album has been eagerly awaited since the success of "4," which was released in 2011. Over the past year she has hinted that something new was in the works and previewed singles including "Grown Woman," "Bow Down/I Been On" and "Standing on the Sun," which served as the soundtrack for her H&M fashion campaign.

The new album - which quickly shot to No. 1 on iTunes Friday - features collaborations with rapper Drake, singer Frank Ocean and author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and, of course, her husband, rapper Jay Z. Daughter Blue Ivy also makes a cameo.

The bold and innovative move was hailed by critics and fans. USA Today 's Korina Lopez wrote "It's a fully baked album, no filler remixes and re-released greatest hits. By sidestepping promotional blitz and gimmicks, this album could be her most personal yet."

According to Gerrick D. Kennedy of the Los Angeles Times, Beyonce, her producers and writers began work on the project last summer while they were all together in the Hamptons. The end result, Kennedy said, "is a striking collection of work that shows her torching the veil of her carefully crafted image."

"Songs on the album jump and dive between genres and are woven together with everything from spoken word and trap raps to the coos of her daughter Blue Ivy and vintage Destiny's Child footage," Kennedy wrote. "It's a lot to consume, but a revelatory look at the singer who has tirelessly calculated what she chooses to share (and it's not always much)."

Miles Marshall Lewis, the Arts & Culture editor for Ebony.com, writes that Beyonce has overshadowed some other big-name singers who have recently released new projects.

"Where pop stars are concerned, Beyoncé easily bests the latest from both Lady Gaga and Britney Spears, rivaling Justin Timberlake with a fraction of the media blitz (so far)," Lewis said. "Now that's a superpower."

For her part, Beyonce said in her video to fans that she was inspired by the legendary Michael Jackson.

"I remember watching 'Thriller' on TV with my family. It was an event, we all sat around the TV and now looking back, I am so happy I was born around that time," she said. "I miss that immersive experience."

Source : CNN

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Christmas cheer for Bollywood stars

It was a traditional and tight- knit Christmas Eve celebration for Bollywood's swish set this year. While Kareena Kapoor was spotted at a midnight mass with mother Babita and sister Karisma Kapoor and her children on Tuesday, actor Salman Khan celebrated the Christmas spirit at sister Alvira Agnihotri's Xmas party.

The fashionista that she is, Kareena made quite the style statement as she arrived at a church in Bandra wearing a glitzy gown that she teamed with a blazer.

The blazer, we later realised, was meant to cover the plunging neckline of her stylish gown as she walked into the church past a huge crowd. Babita, a former actress herself, is a practising Christian.

It was a traditional and tight- knit Christmas Eve celebration for Bollywood's swish set this year. While Kareena Kapoor was spotted at a midnight mass with mother Babita and sister Karisma Kapoor and her children on Tuesday, actor Salman Khan celebrated the Christmas spirit at sister Alvira Agnihotri's Xmas party.

The fashionista that she is, Kareena made quite the style statement as she arrived at a church in Bandra wearing a glitzy gown that she teamed with a blazer.

The blazer, we later realised, was meant to cover the plunging neckline of her stylish gown as she walked into the church past a huge crowd. Babita, a former actress herself, is a practising Christian.

Kareena, though, hurried away with her mother.

After the mass, the party moved to Alvira's home in Bandra, with several celebrities in attendance.

Salman Khan arrived with Daisy Shah, his heroine in the upcoming Jai Ho. The guest-list also included Karan Johar, Ekta Kapoor, Bobby Deol, Chunky Pandey, Manish Malhotra, Ritesh and Dolly Sidhwani, and Sanjay and Maheep Kapoor.

Malaika and Amrita arrived at the party after the Bandra midnight mass. Others from the Khan clan, including Sohail, Arpita and Arbaaz Khan, attended as well.

Kareena made quite the style statement at mass, wearing a glitzy gown that she teamed with a blazer.

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/kareena-kapoor-salman-khan-bollywood-christmas-cheers/1/332945.html

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/kareena-kapoor-salman-khan-bollywood-christmas-cheers/1/332945.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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'Dhoom: 3' on record breaking spree worldwide, collects Rs 233 crore in 5 days

Aamir Khan's latest release 'Dhoom: 3' has taken over the world by storm.

Bollywood icon Aamir Khan's latest release 'Dhoom: 3' has taken over the world by storm as the film has collected Rs. 233.57 crore worldwide as of Tuesday (december 24). Film critic Taran Adarsh tweeted: "Here's *Fri to Tue* total of #Dhoom3: India ₹ 149.46 cr + Overseas ₹ 84.11 cr [$ 13.11 mn +]. Worldwide total: ₹ 233.57 cr."

In India, Aamir Khan's 'Dhoom: 3', co-starring Katrina Kaif and Abhishek Bachchan, smashed the opening day and opening weekend collection records set by Shah Rukh Khan starrer 'Chennai Express' and Hrithik Roshan's 'Krrish 3'.

'Dhoom: 3' has also broken box office records in Pakistan. In the country's largest city of Karachi, 'Dhoom: 3's box office receipts from 56 screens on its opening day was around Rs 20 million shattering Pakistani film 'Waar's record of Rs 11.4 million on its opening day.

'Dhoom: 3' was released at a time when the screening of Indian movies has come under a cloud because of an order from the Lahore High Court barring the exhibition of "illegally" imported films.
The 'Dhoom: 3' craze in Karachi has reached such heights that multiplexes are running the film on all their screens and having five shows a day on one screen - something unheard of in the Pakistani film industry.

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Jimmy Carter calls for elections, peacekeepers in Syria

WASHINGTON: Former US president Jimmy Carter on Monday proposed three principles as a basis for Syria peace talks in Geneva: free elections, respect for their results and the deployment of peacekeepers.



Syria peace talks are set to begin in Switzerland on Jan 22, though the full list of participants is still unclear.
The talks have gone nowhere up to now because each belligerent “has been allowed to define the preconditions for negotiations,” Carter, who won the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, wrote in an opinion piece in the Washington Post.
While President Bashar al-Assad considers his opponents terrorists and will not talk until they lay down their arms, the fractured opposition is demanding a full regime change, giving Assad no incentive to bargain.
“No one can win this war,” argued Carter in an article co-written with American University professor Robert Pastor.
“It is clear that the parties think they cannot afford to lose because they fear annihilation and this explains why the war will keep going unless the international community imposes a legitimate alternative.”
UN envoys Kofi Annan and Lakhdar Brahimi “have not been permitted to use their negotiating skills because the principal actors insist on preconditions of victory rather than mutual accommodation essential to bringing the war to an end,” argued the authors.
“These preconditions aim to win an unwinnable war rather than to forge an imperfect peace.”
Carter and Pastor propose basing the Geneva talks on letting the Syrian people decide on their future government in a free election closely monitored by international observers; an assurance that the victors will respect sectarian and minority groups; and the deployment of “a robust peacekeeping force” to make sure those goals are achieved.
Russia and the United States would need to agree to this approach, Iran “and other regional powers” would have to stop supporting their proxies, and the United Nations would have to make peace in Syria “a top priority”.
Unless these “difficult steps” are taken, Carter and Pastor warned, “the war may very well go on for another decade and likely create a wider circle of destruction and death”.
Carter was US president from 1977 to 1981, and his Atlanta-based Carter Center focuses on human rights and democracy around the world. Pastor, who served on the National Security Council under Carter, is the senior Carter Center conflict resolution advisor.

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Justin Bieber announces he is officially retiring

Pop star Justin Bieber broke the heart of many of his fans by announcing on Christmas eve that he was officially retiring.
The 19-year-old singer, who has been at the centre of many controversies in the recent past, had recently hinted about a planned retirement and now he has gone ahead and spoken about it with his millions of followers on Twitter.


"My beloved beliebers I'm officially retiring," he wrote.
The singer, however, followed the announcement with a confusing tweet about how he would never leave his fans.


"The media talks a lot about me. They make a up a lot of lies and want me to fail but I'm never leaving you, being a belieber is a lifestyle," he further wrote.
Bieber's another tweet read, "Be kind loving to each other, forgive each other as god forgave us through Christ Merry Christmas IM HERE FOREVER (sic)."
The singer's manager Scooter Braun had recently said that he wanted his protege to take a break from music after his new movie 'Believe' releases.

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Salman Khan wants his fans to appear on 'Jai Ho' poster with him

 Salman Khan Khnown As Chulbul Pandy Is Working On The JAi Ho Set.....

Bollywood superstar Salman Khan is leaving no stone unturned to promote his upcoming release 'Jai Ho' and the 'Dabangg' Khan has come with an innovative idea to engage with hundreds of fans.
Salman Khan is now giving his fans a chance to feature on the poster of 'Jai Ho' with him. 'Jai Ho' deals with the angst of the common man and he wants his fans inputs at every phase of the movie's promos.
The actor, who had earlier taken his fans inputs while making the first poster of the movie, wrote on his official Facebook page:
Maine paint kiya, aapne click kiya and we made the poster. Lekin poster main kuch missing tha … YOU !
So, I am giving you the chance to be a part of the #JaiHoFanPoster. Just send the answers to the questions below WITH YOUR PROFILE PICTURE to jaihofanposter@aol.com and your profile picture could be a part of the #JaiHoFanPoster.
Questions :
Q1: What is my name in the movie 'Jai Ho' ?
Q2 : Who is playing the role of my sister in the movie 'Jai Ho' ?
You have time only till Friday. So Bhejo email !!!
Salman Khan
The trailer of Salman Khan's trailer shows him in an action-packed avatar. The first rushes of the film suggest that it is geared up to encash on the 'Aam Aadmi' phenomenon, which is a rage these days. The trailer has been well received by the viewers getting more than 11 lakh hits in mere 10 days!
'Jai Ho' , a remake of Telugu film Stalin starring Chiranjeevi in the lead role, is Salman's first major release after a year.
The Sohail Khan directorial venture, which also stars Tabu, Sana Khan and Daisy Shah is all set to release on January 24.

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Veena Malik marries a businessman in Dubai

 New Pics Of Vena Malik

Controversy's favourite child Veena Malik is reportedly married to a Dubai based business man. The Pakistani model-actress tweeted a picture saying: "I have found my Soul mate.... my Friend...my Partner!!!

I have found my Soul mate.... my Friend...my Partner!!! pic.twitter.com/hCSLUfY0JL
— Veena Malik (@iVeenaMalik) December 25, 2013

The 29-year-old actress married businessman Asad Bashir Khan Khattak in Dubai court, a news channel reported and will soon have a full fledged celebration. Veena Malik has said that the new couple will perform Umrah soon. The reports suggest that her husband is the son of her father's friend.
The channel aired footage of the couple flashing their wedding rings and meeting relatives.
"I'm more than happy today, I think I'm the happiest girl in the world," Veena Malik told the channel outside the court.
She said it was an arranged marriage. "Destiny just plays its part, we were destined to be there on this particular day," she said.
Veena Malik refused to speak at length about the marriage and only said, "You will just get to know the details very soon." She added that her husband had promised her a "white wedding in the US".
Khattak said their parents had wanted them to get married as soon as possible. He added that functions would be held in Dubai, the US and Pakistan.
Veena Malik shot to fame after her participation in the controversial celebrity game show 'Bigg Boss' season 4. There she was linked to fellow contestant and Bollywood actor Ashmit Patel, with whom she had reportedly gotten very close and intimate.
However, after the show got over, problems surfaced in their relationship. Veena Malik and Ashmit Patel however, reunited on-screen for 'Supermodel'. The actress had said that it was difficult doing intimate scenes with him (Ashmit Patel) as they were not on talking terms during the shooting.

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John Abraham Planning Film On Motorcycle Racing

John Abraham is known for his love for the mean machines.



 

Actor-producer John Abraham, known for his love for the mean machines, is currently planning a film on motorcycle racing. The actor, who made a whole new style statement in Bollywood with his biking acts in action movie 'Dhoom', took to Twitter to announce the same. "We need a serious film on motorcycle racing... Am planning one!!! Need feedback," he posted on Twitter. John, 41, had also suffered minor injuries following a motorbike accident in 2006.

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ABVP to protest outside Sanjay Dutt’s house

Dutt may be out on parole but that doesn’t stop him from getting into more trouble.....

Sanjay Dutt is certainly controversy’s favourite child, no? Only few days ago, the actor walked out of the Yerwada jail on a month long parole. Not so long time ago, Sanjay was out on furlough for a few days in October, which was extended due to his ill health. This time around, the actor has been granted parole due to his wife’s illness. The fact that Sanjay was granted parole twice in such a short gap of time gave rise to many controversies. And now we hear that Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) will be protesting outside Dutt’s Bandra residence today.


Well, there have been reports that higher-ups in the government have been showing favouritism towards Sanjay Dutt and are being too lenient in his case. Though the actor has rubbished all such rumours, ABVP certainly does not believe so which is why they will be protesting against his parole. BollywoodLifers, do you think ABVP’s protest is justified or shall they just leave Dutt and his family alone during the 30 days of his parole?

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Samsung's new Galaxy S4 hits supply snags in US

SAN FRANCISCO, Wed Apr 24, 2013 - Supply issues have snarled the US rollout of Samsung Electronics Co Ltd's latest flagship smartphone, which will go on sale at carriers Sprint and T-Mobile later than expected, the wireless service providers said on Wednesday.
Samsung attributed the disruption to unexpectedly strong demand for the Galaxy S4, the South Korean company's direct challenge to Apple Inc's iPhone.
"Due to overwhelming global demand of Galaxy S4, the initial supply may be limited. We expect to fulfill inventory to meet demands in the coming weeks," the company said in a statement.
At T-Mobile, online orders will now begin April 29 instead of Wednesday as initially planned because of "an unexpected delay with inventory deliveries." Sprint will take online orders starting Saturday as planned, but the phone will be sold at retail outlets only as it becomes available.
"We had planned to launch this next generation of the award-winning Samsung Galaxy line-up on Saturday," Sprint said in a statement. "Unfortunately, due to unexpected inventory challenges from Samsung, we will be slightly delayed with our full product launch."
AT&T, on the other hand, said everything was on track and the S4 would go on sale this Saturday as planned.
"Demand is far stronger than we had expected and as a result we are having difficulties in fully meeting initial supply requests," Lee Don-joo, head of sales and marketing at Samsung's mobile business, told reporters in Seoul.
He said the global launch would go ahead as planned on Saturday with carriers which had agreed to receive the initial supply. The phones would be shipped to other operators once network tests had been completed.
News of the patchy rollout came a day after Samsung, in one of its signature marketing strategies, took out an eight-page, full-color insert in the Wall Street Journal heralding the arrival of the device.
And by early summer, it will have set up Samsung "Experience" stores in about 1,400 Best Buy locations, designed to showcase its line-up of mobile and other electronics devices.
It was unclear what specific issues Samsung had encountered with the Galaxy S4 debut.
Supply shortages often plague the global launches of popular smartphones. iPhone buyers once routinely waited weeks or even months to receive their purchases.
Samsung's "S" line of smartphones spearheaded its assault against Apple in past years and was instrumental in helping the company claim top-spot in the global smartphone market.
The new S4, which sports a host of software-enabled features, is seen as stealing a headstart on what's widely expected to be an upgraded iPhone later this year. But the phone, which Samsung has said will be available in over 150 countries by the end of April, has drawn mixed reviews so far.
The Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg, a widely followed gadget impresario, said the S4 was a good phone, just not a great one.
Industry watchers have said the success of the S4 could hinge on a supply back-up plan aimed at preventing a repeat of costly problems encountered in the launch of its premium smartphone last year.
Some analysts predict the new Galaxy could top 10 million unit sales in the first month after its launch, so any hiccups in the smooth delivery of core components could be disastrous.
The risks are high. A simple manufacturing error involving unsatisfactory design of handset cases cost Samsung 2 million units of lost sales in just a month after it launched the S III in May last year.
Shares in Samsung fell 0.5 percent in early Asian trade, lagging a 0.4 percent gain in the wider market.

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Google buys Wavii for $30 million, mirroring Yahoo's Deal

SAN FRANCISCO, Tue Apr 23, 2013 - Google Inc has acquired Wavii, the Seattle-based startup behind a news summarization app, for roughly $30 million in cash, a person with knowledge of the matter said Tuesday.
Google’s successful bid came after Apple Inc had expressed interest in buying Wavii to incorporate the startup’s natural language technology into Siri, Apple’s voice-activated personal assistant feature, said the person, who declined to be named because the deal has not been publicly announced.
Google and Wavii declined to comment.
Google’s purchase comes several weeks after Yahoo Inc paid a similar amount to acquire Summly, the news reader and Wavii competitor founded by 18-year-old Nick D’Aloisio in London.
The deals have taken out of play two small companies that sought to enhance how consumer experience news – a significant concern for Google and Yahoo, which both maintain highly trafficked news sites.
In separate interviews last year, Wavii founder Adrian Aoun and D’Aloisio acknowledged the competition between the two startups.
D’Aloisio touted Summly’s superior user interface, which condenses articles into several easy-to-read paragraphs. Aoun played up his app’s technology, including a proprietary algorithm that boiled down complex news stories into sentences of just a few words.
Wavii’s investors included Paypal co-founder Max Levchin, former Facebook executive Dave Morin, and Fritz Lanman, a former dealmaker at Microsoft Corp.
Most of the startup’s employees are expected to relocate to Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, California.
News of the acquisition was first reported by Techcrunch.

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‘Django Unchained’ gets May China release after ‘issues’ resolved

LOS ANGELES: Quentin Tarantino’s violent slavery revenge fantasy “Django Unchained” will be released in China in May, its US distributors said on Friday, and a Hollywood source said additional cuts had been made after Chinese authorities halted the film’s initial roll out this month.
The movie was pulled from theaters in China minutes into its debut screenings on April 11 for “technical reasons,” according to a Shanghai movie theater official.
The Chinese government censors all movies before they can be released. Scenes that contain nudity, politically sensitive issues, as well as extreme levels of violence, must be edited out before the film receives a go-ahead from the authorities.
“We are delighted that audiences throughout China will be able to experience ‘Django Unchained’ beginning Sunday, May 12th. There is tremendous excitement, anticipation and awareness for the film and we thank the local authorities for quickly resolving this issue,” Columbia Pictures said in a statement.
Columbia declined to comment on what changes, if any, had been made or why the movie, the first work by Tarantino to be shown in the increasingly important Chinese film market, was pulled from movie theaters in China earlier this month.
Anticipation was high for the April opening of “Django” because of reports that it would have only minor cuts by Chinese censors, despite Tarantino’s reputation for violence.
When its was pulled from movie theaters, Chinese media quoted industry insiders as saying the cancellation was probably due to some nudity that may have escaped initial attention.
A Hollywood source close to the film said on Friday that additional cuts had been made for the newly approved Chinese version but declined to elaborate on what they were.
The film stars Jamie Foxx as a slave-turned-bounty-hunter who wreaks revenge on slave plantation owners while on a mission to free his wife. It features Tarantino’s trademark style of extensive graphic violence, along with dark humor, and in one scene Foxx’s character is strung upside down wearing only a skimpy cloth.
China has become the largest international market for Hollywood films, with its box office takings for US films growing by 36 per cent in 2012, according to a Motion Picture Association of America report in March.
“Django Unchained” won two Oscars in February for Christoph Waltz’s supporting actor turn as a dentist who became a bounty hunter, and for Tarantino’s screenplay.

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Bollywood celebrates 100 years

MUMBAI: One hundred years after the screening of a black-and-white silent film, India’s brash, song-and-dance-laden Bollywood film industry celebrates its centenary later this week.
The milestone will be marked with the release of “Bombay Talkies”, made up of short commemorative films by four leading directors, while India will be honoured as “guest country” at next month’s Cannes festival.
Exhibitions in the capital New Delhi are showcasing a century of cinema, including onscreen kissing scenes that originally fell foul of the censors.
It is also a time for reflection on how the industry has evolved, from its early screen adaptations of Hindu mythology to the garish romantic escapism of modern blockbusters.
Commercially, cinema is thriving: India produced almost 1,500 movies last year and the industry is expected to grow from $2 billion to $3.6 billion in the next five years, according to consultancy KPMG.
Leading the way is Hindi-language Bollywood, which took the “B” from its home in Bombay and won the hearts of movie-mad Indians. But old-timers complain that it has become superficial, neglecting to deal with pressing social concerns of the age.
“There’s a dumbing down that has taken place in the content. I think we are suffering from what is called the narrative crisis,” said veteran director and producer Mahesh Bhatt.
He contrasts modern filmmakers with Dhundiraj Govind Phalke, known as the “father of Indian cinema”, who brought the first all-Indian feature film to the silver screen in Bombay (now Mumbai) on May 3, 1913.
A tale from the Hindu epic Mahabharata, “Raja Harishchandra” quickly became a hit despite its female characters being played by men — women acting was still widely frowned upon.
Phalke made more than 100 films until his silent style fell victim to “talkies” in the 1930s, but the advent of sound technology allowed India cinema to flourish.
Bollywood plotlines today can involve stars breaking into song, often in picturesque far-flung locations, apropos of nothing — a style that may bemuse a Western audience, but one that helps to set Indian cinema apart.
“If it was exactly the same thing as Hollywood, Hollywood would have run us over. We don’t have that money,” said film critic Anupama Chopra.
For her and many others the “golden age” of cinema was the 1950s, when movie greats emerged such as Satyajit Ray, India’s most renowned filmmaker, who hailed from the alternative film hub of West Bengal.
It was the era of newly independent India, searching for an identity and producing films such as Mehboob Khan’s 1957 hit “Mother India”, which combined social concerns with popular appeal.
The 1970s and 80s saw a growing commercialism with the rise of the “masala”movie — a family entertainer that typically mixed up romance and action, songs and melodrama, a comedy touch and a happy ending.
Parallel Cinema continued to focus on realism, with films such as Mahesh Bhatt’s “Arth” (Meaning) in 1982, a gritty tale of an extramarital affair that presented strong female characters.
It was a path-breaker in a decade described as the “dark ages” of Hindi cinema, which struggled with the advent of colour television, rampant piracy and dependence on the Mumbai underworld for funding.
Things improved after India’s economy opened up in the early 1990s, and again a decade later when filmmaking won formal “industry” status. Both steps encouraged foreign firms, such as Fox and Disney, to invest in Bollywood.
But subsequent leaps in technology have not been matched by advances in storytelling, say critics, who lament the formulaic plots, passive roles for women and the copying of Hollywood.
Bollywood’s escapist fantasies have long held mass appeal because “there’s enough realism in the common man’s life”, said Bhatt.
But with ever more TV shows, the Internet and easily available global films, such movies may no longer meet the demands of the educated middle-class.
This expanding group “wants to see something better than trash which caters to the common man who drives auto-rickshaws. They want to see a different kind of cinema,” said veteran actor Rishi Kapoor.
A new crop of experimental filmmakers has started to appear, such as “Hindi indie” darling Anurag Kashyap who is a fixture on the global film festival circuit.
Trade analysts say the growth in multiplex cinemas has also encouraged mainstream films to diversify: a surprise hit last year was “Vicky Donor”, a romcom about sperm donation.
Raj Nidimoru is co-director of upcoming “Go Goa Gone”, one of India’s first zombie films, and he believes the move away from staple Bollywood is only just beginning.
“This is just a ripple right now, it’s going to become a wave.”

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YouTube to showcase a week of comedy

NEW YORK: For a week in May, YouTube will turn into the biggest open mic on the planet. On Thursday, the Google Inc.-owned site announced the YouTube Comedy Week, a seven-day cyber extravaganza designed to showcase some of the best comedy across its expansive video platform.
From May 19-25, YouTube will be overrun with punch lines, sketches, stand-up routines and — hopefully — a lot of laughs. It’s the largest-scale attempt yet by YouTube to program its billions of hours of video and lead viewers to its growing channels of original programming.
The video site is planning more event weeks around various themes to be held later this year and beyond. ”This has never been done before on YouTube,” Danielle Tiedt, YouTube’s vice president of marketing, said in an interview Wednesday ahead of the announcement. ”I’m sure we’ll learn a lot.”
Comedy Week will kick off with a global live stream from Los Angeles’ Culver Studios. Throughout the week, new episodes will debut from some of YouTube’s most popular channels, comedians will perform and comics will curate lists of their favorite videos. Among those participating are Sarah Silverman, Rainn Wilson, Michael Cera, Vince Vaughn and Seth Rogen. There will be new videos from Andy Samberg’s Lonely Island troupe.
Popular comedy destinations with channels on YouTube like The Onion, Nerdist, College Humor and Funny or Die will join in. And YouTube hopes its less famous users will also get in on the act. The event is just the start of a new approach by YouTube to congregate its disparate stars — from Hollywood professionals to Internet upstarts — and to present a unified viewing experience for users.
YouTube hopes the theme weeks will spotlight the original programming the site has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in to grow its platform as a kind of next-generation TV. ”We’re hoping to do this in a pretty regular rhythm,” said Tiedt. ”You’ll see several of these coming from us, for sure, as we highlight really big areas that we think are amazing areas of strength for YouTube.”
The undertaking is months in the works. To executive-produce the weeklong event, YouTube brought in former ”Jimmy Kimmel Live!” producer Daniel Kellison, whose production company, HaChaCha, recently launched two comedy YouTube channels: Jash and the Video Podcast Network. The kickoff live stream will be directed and produced by Joel Gallen, a veteran of the MTV Movie Awards.
Kellison says a staff of 40 has been assembled to help in what he calls the ”tremendously daunting” task of organizing a sizable portion of the sprawling YouTube realm. ”It’s a massive undertaking,” he says. ”If you try to organize it all and figure it all out, you’ll drown. It’s not possible. We’re just doing the best we can in trying to produce this.” A few missteps are inevitable, Kellison says. But the plan isn’t to put on a slickly produced show, but something more relaxed. ”We’ve been able to go to all these comedians and say, ‘Hey, we can do whatever we want and have fun doing it,”’ says Kellison. ”It’s taken on this sort of comedy Woodstock type of vibe.”
The duo of Eric Wareheim and Tim Heidecker, known as Tim & Eric, will be performing in the festivities. Wareheim, among the founders of Jash, believes Comedy Week will help raise the bar for comedy on YouTube. ”Tim and I have been using YouTube for our TV shows, our movies — for everything — to kind of promote stuff. Now instead of just as a promotional tool, we’re using it to really distribute content.”
Getting even a segment of YouTube to synchronize would seem a tall order. But marshaling together Comedy Week reminds Kellison of the chaotic first night of ”Jimmy Kimmel Live!” ”We had Coldplay on the outdoor stage; Warren Sapp coming in after he won the Super Bowl on a helicopter; Jon Gruden canceling; the fire marshal trying to shut us down; Snoop Dogg with the death threats; and a buzzed George Clooney,” he recalls. ”I imagine this will be very similar.”

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