CELEBRITY HUB

Oct 31, 2013

Oct 4, 2013

Lalu Prasad Continue to Run Party

Lalu Prasad a hero, will continue to run party, wife Rabri Devi says

Lalu Prasad

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on Thursday accused Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and the BJP of framing its leader Lalu Prasad in the fodder scam. "Laluji became a victim of the conspiracy by Nitish Kumar, who wanted to silence the voice of dalits, poor, backwards and minorities," said RJD MP Ram Kripal Yadav. Lalu's son, Tejaswi Yadav, echoed him. "The principal conspirators are Nitish and the BJP as Laluji fought against them. The RJD rank and file is united like a rock. Those who received kickbacks are out and the person who filed 45 FIRs is in jail." Lalu's wife and former Bihar CM, Rabri Devi, described him a hero, who would remain so. She said he would continue to run the party and the RJD has convened a meeting of its office-bearers on October 6 to discuss his conviction.

RJD general secretary Vijay Krishna said the party workers were angry and not in despair. "Their anger is aimed towards those who conspired against Laluji." He said Lalu consulted senior party leaders, including MPs Prabhunath Singh, Jagdanad Singh and Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, about the future course of action in case he was jailed before leaving for Ranchi on Sunday. "He had delegated parliamentary business to Raghuvansh Babu." Krishna said the party ran the government when Lalu was in jail earlier and there will be no problem in running the party now. "Our MY (Muslim and Yadav) vote bank would further expand. There is no scope of rebellion as JD (U) leaders are hoping," he said. "We have senior minority community leaders like Abdul Bari Siddiqui, Taslimuddin, Mohammad Shahabuddin, MAM Fatmi, Akhlalq Ahmad and Ghulam Ghaus. They will mobilize people's support in different parts of the state."

He said the party would consult Lalu on important issues jail and Rabri Devi would be authorized to sign papers related to allotment of the symbol for elections. "Senior party leaders like Raghuvansh ji, Siddiqui ji, Ramkripal ji, will meet regularly under the guidance of the Madam (Rabri Devi) to take important decisions," he said. He said Tejaswi and his brother, Tej Pratap, will be part of the party's proposed collegium while Lalu would continue to remain its president. Krishna said the ties with the Congress may be reviewed next week. "There are differences with the Congress. The Congress itself is in the grip of inner contradictions," he said.

He said Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi denunciation of the ordinance aimed at allowing convicted lawmakers to continue in legislative bodies was an insult to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Krishna said the party's plans to hold constituency level meetings from October 30 will continue. Separately, RJD's Madhya Pradesh unit merged with the BJP at Bhopal.

[+/-]

Diana director 'devastated' by reviews

The director of Diana says he has "no regrets", despite the film's poor reception in the UK. Oliver Hirschbiegel told the BBC that the movie's critical mauling was "devastating, but when you make a film you don't think about the reactions". The Telegraph described the film "a special class of awful", while the Mirror called it "cheap and cheerless". Hirschbiegel admitted the reviews had put off audiences, but he still hoped people would "make their own minds up".

"In all the other places where it's opened - in Poland, the Czech Republic, Turkey and Slovakia - it's been very strong," he said. "I think for the British, Diana is still a trauma they haven't come to terms with." Starring Naomi Watts, the film depicts Princess Diana in the final years of her life, with a focus on her affair with heart surgeon Hasnat Khan, played by Lost's Naveen Andrews. Oliver Hirschbiegel says his depiction of Diana is "very un-British" It entered the UK chart at number five in its opening weekend, taking £623,000 at the box office. This week, it dropped to number nine.

Hirschbiegel, who previously made Downfall, a German-language film about the last days of Hitler, called his experiences with Diana "deja vu, because it has the same reactions in the UK as Downfall had in Germany on release". "I hope it is a matter of stepping back and looking at it afresh in a year or so, because it is a very British story and I am a very German director." He added that Diana "was the most complex character I have ever tried to depict - more complex than Hitler. The one thing they both had in common was they were born actors".

Earlier this week, at the Zurich Film Festival, Hirschbiegel described the film as "very un-British" and described the critical reaction as harking back "to what newspapers like the Daily Mail would write about her back then - really vile things. So I guess I succeeded." The film has been sold to distributors in more than 40 countries and will be released in the US on 1 November, 2013.

[+/-]

Besharam review

‘Besharam’, Ranbir Kapoor’s latest release has a basic problem - it does not live up to its name. When you watch Ranbir you do not expect an out and out ‘Besharam’ comedy. However you do expect some smart assery if that is what is projected in all its promos. Good performances, the Kapoor clan, and some good humour could not really create the magic that you expect from the entire crew. The young Kapoor is a teen heart throb, here he tries to be more, and doesn’t really do too well. ‘Dabbang’ was a great make of classic masala film making that came from Abhinav Kashyap, and was pulled off with élan by Salman Khan. Salman stood out in his archaic 1990s hero avatar, delivering loudmouthed-applause-inducing dialogues looking as if he spoke like this every day. Despite Ranbir’s refreshing acting skills, he falls short – probably because he looks just out of ‘Wake up Sid’ cuteness. Humour is just spattered insufficiently and inconsistently. The parts where you end up enjoying the most are Rishi and Neetu Kapoor’s sequences, and by the end you are disappointed that they did not have as much screen time as you would have liked. It looks like Abhinav wanted to work with a plot that involved all three, but his ambitions stopped short right there. He did not bother with a plot line which was fantastical enough to accommodate all three of them sharing the screen space and make a compelling must watch blockbuster.

The story revolves around a good hearted orphan, Babli (Ranbir), who has grown up to be a car thief. He falls for the ‘beauty’ Tara Sharma (Pallavi Sharda). Rishi and Neetu play a slightly corrupt, cop couple - Chulbul and Bulbul Chautala. The movie has a predictable plot, atypical of masala flicks, using stereotypes of every kind. The love story between Babli and Tara is unconvincing. Not that you need a why and a how, but it doesn’t build up at all. Also, one major grouse I had with the movie was that I was waiting to understand why Babli was called Besharam in the first place. By the standards of how Indian movie heroes are generally shown wooing ladies, Babli was quite a softy, giving flowers to the leading ladies mom, carrying her grocery. Apart from what you have seen in the promos, Ranbir never goes beyond pulling out socks from his pants.

The other two Kapoors are fantastic. Every time Rishi and Neetu appear on screen they manage to entertain. From the first chase sequence to the climax, the few minutes that they have, they have pulled off the chemistry that they were known for back in the 70s. Neetu Kapoor plays gutsy, stands on equal footing as Rishi, and has a good comic timing. She jibes and jokes with Rishi, who is equally cute with her whenever they are seen together. It’s like watching an old endearing couple still in love who have managed to keep the fire alive because of their romance infused in a sense of humour.The first half of the movie is rather floppy, but the second half of the movie picks up the plot. But the climax is worth watching. Rishi, Neetu and Ranbir fight side by side; Rishi Kapoor takes the centre stage and you realise Kashyap probably made the movie only for this scene.

The music of the movie comes from Lalit Pandit who is the part of the 90s famed Jatin-Lalit duo. ‘Dil Ka Joh Haal Hai’ which is filmed near the traditional lahlahate sarso ke khet sounds like a track straight out of that decade. Another refreshing track is ‘Love ki Ghanti’ which reminds you of Kishore Kumar’s fun songs from the 60s. It has a conversation structure and sounds really fun! The title track and the other tracks, even though nothing to write home about are more or less enjoyable. As Ranbir fan, one would not really mind the movie. But it does not make an impact as ‘Dabbang’ moment for the hero. The superstar in the making is probably is a much better actor than a masala entertainer and that’s something that he has proven in his previous movies. The filmmaker did not have a proper vision for an actor of Ranbir’s calibre and this one is certainly not the best for either of them!

Sep 16, 2013

[+/-]

Romanch Mehta Celebrates Birthday

[+/-]

Miss America, Nina Davuluri, has her roots in Vijayawada


	The 24-year-old Miss New York is the first contestant of Indian origin to become Miss America

VIJAYAWADA: Nina Davuluri was on Sunday night crowned Miss America-2013 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The 24-year-old Miss New York is the first contestant of Indian origin to become Miss America. Nina's family hails from Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh and the city is busy celebrating Nina's victory. Her maternal grandmother V Koteshwaramma, who runs the Montessori group of institutions was elated at her grand daughter's feat. Her mother Shiela Ranjani and her father Koteswara Chowdhary, both of whom are doctors, had migrated to the US in the early 80s and Nina was born and brought up in America.

Soon after the news of her being crowned broke early in the morning, the girl students at Montessori Mahila Kalasala celebrated her success. "I am not surprised. She is a dedicated person and I was always confident that she would go places," Koteswaramma said. The proud grandmother's residence at Moghalrajapuram wore a festive look on Monday morning as it was packed with visitors and family friends who had come to congratulate Nina's grandmother.

Nina grew up in a family of doctors. Apart from her parents, her maternal aunt and uncle are also doctors and so is her elder sister Meena, who is studying medicine in the US. Her paternal uncles are also doctors in the US. "In fact, Nina also wanted to pursue medicine and wanted to become a cardiologist. However, she has ended up winning the Miss America title," Koteswaramma said. According to her, Nina is a fan of Telugu films and Telugu culture and is trained in Kuchipudi and Bharatha Natyam.

Nina's father Koteswara Chowdary shifted to the US soon after his marriage in 1981 and went on to become a gynaecologist. Nina's mother Sheila Ranjani is continuing on the board of Montessori Kalasala as vice-president and visits the city at least once in two years. Nina herself came down to the city in 2007, soon after becoming first runners-up in Miss America's Miss Teen contest. However, except for Koteswaramma's close family circle, a very few in the city had heard of Nina till she was crowned Miss America. Recalling how her granddaughter struggled before achieving this success, Koteswaramma said Nina had to overcome two obstacles - asthma and obesity. "I can only say that Nina will not stop here," she said.

Nina was born at Syracuse in US but the family moved to Oklahoma when she was four and from there to Michigan in 2000. Nina's family is now residing in Fayetteville, where her father Koteswara Chowdary is a gynaecologist at St Joseph's Hospital. Nina is a graduate of brain behaviour and cognitive science from Michigan University. Earlier, a Vijayawada girl, Gadde Sindhoora had won the 'Femina Miss India' title and reached the Miss World semi-finals in 2005.

Abortion Bill Passed in Ireland

Historic abortion bill passed in Ireland; MPs vote 127 to 31 in favour

Ireland's Parliament has passed the historic and ground breaking pro-abortion bill. After 48 hours of negotiations, Irish MPs who spent all of Thursday and Friday night jostling over the highly controversial legislation finally pushed through the Protection of Life in Pregnancy Bill. Members of the Dail voted by 127 to 31 for the motion that will for the first time ever allow abortion in catholic Ireland.

Abortion services, however, will not be open for one and all. The bill allows abortions only when a pregnant woman's life is under threat due to the pregnancy or if she is suicidal. The bill was introduced after Indian dentist Savita Halappanavar died in hospital in Galway in 2012 after being denied a termination. An inquest was told that Savita was denied abortion twice because Ireland "is a catholic country."

Savita was 17 weeks pregnant when she was admitted to hospital in Ireland on October 21 and died later from septicaemia and a rare strain of E coli, four days after she lost her baby. An inquest revealed an abortion would have actually saved the 31-year-old Indian dentist. The victory is being attributed single handedly to Ireland's Prime Minister Enda Kenny who despite facing the biggest in-party revolt and threats of social ostracization by the Church went ahead with the legislation.

Ireland's European affairs minister Lucinda Creighton who is the most senior member of Kenny's party voiced concerns against the bill and voted against it. She now faces permanent expulsion from the Fine Gael parliamentary party. It has been 21 years since a judgement was passed in 1992 by the Supreme Court in Dublin - is now famously known as case X, which said abortion should be allowed if there was a threat to the mother's life, including suicide.

The case involved a 14-year-old rape victim who became pregnant and was refused permission by Irish authorities to travel to the UK for an abortion. However successive Irish governments have failed to garner courage to go ahead with the legislation due to strong protests from anti-abortion groups fearing a backlash. The Fine Gael-Labour coalition government is the first in over two decades to attempt to bring in a legislation introducing abortion. Catholic bishops have branded changes to Ireland's strict abortion regime as morally unacceptable saying "if approved would make the direct and intentional killing of unborn children lawful in Ireland."