Winners of 4th Apsara Film & Television Producers Guild Awards

Best Actor in a Leading Role
Hrithik Roshan - Jodhaa Akbar

Best Actress in a Leading Role
Priyanka Chopra - Fashion

Best Movie
Aamir Khan - Taare Zameen Par

Best Director
Aamir Khan - Taare Zameen Par

Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Jimmy Shergill - A Wednesday

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Kangna Ranaut - Fashion

Best Actor in a Comic Role
Anil Kapoor - Welcome

Best Actor in a Negative Role
Akshaye Khanna - Race

Best Debut (Male)
Imran Khan - Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na

Best Debut (Female)
Mugdha Godse - Fashion

Best Choreography
Chinni Prakash, Rekha Prakash - Jodhaa Akbar

Best Lyrics
Prasoon Joshi - Taare Zameen Par - Maa

Best Female Playback Singer
Shreya Ghoshal - Singh is King - Teri Ore

Best Male Playback Singer
Shankar Mahadaven - Taare Zameen Par - Maa

Best Music
A.R. Rahman - Jodhaa Akbar

Best Screenplay
Amole Gupte, Neeraj Pandey - Taare Zameen Par, A Wednesday

Best Dialogue
Neeraj Pandey - A Wednesday

Best Story
Amole Gupte - Taare Zameen Par

Best Cinematography
Kiran Deohans - Jodhaa Akbar

Best Costume Design
Neeta Lulla - Jodhaa Akbar

Best Editing
Shree Narayan Singh - A Wednesday

Best Special Effects
Vaibhav Kumaresh, Dhimant Vyas - Taare Zameen Par

Best Sound Recording
Baylon Fonseca - Rock On!!

Best Re-Recording
Hitendra Ghosh - Jodhaa Akbar

Best Art Director
Nitin Chandrakant Desai - Jodhaa Akbar

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South films score big at National Awards

SRK, Aamir win awards too

Filmmaker Priyadarshan's offbeat Tamil film Kanjeevaram has scored big at the 55th National Film Awards 2007, winning best feature film and best actor for Prakash Raj, while renowned Malayalam director Adoor Gopalakrishnan has been judged best director for Naalu Pennungal, it was announced in New Delhi today.

Kannada actress Uma Shri is best actress for Gulabi Talkies; Aamir Khan's directorial debut Taare Zameen Par gets best family welfare award.

Lyricist Prasoon Joshi gets the award for the best lyrics for Maa from Taare Zameen Par about a dyslexic child. The song also gets Shankar Mahadevan the National Award for best playback singer.

Shah Rukh Khan starrer Chak De! India, about a humiliated national level hockey player who steers the women's team to international victory, has been awarded best film in overall entertainment.

Anil Kapoor’s Gandhi My Father has won two awards - Feroz Abbas Khan, the director of the film, gets the National Award for best screenplay and Darshan Zariwala bags best supporting actor for portraying Gandhi, the father of the nation who strove for a normal relationship with his son.

Bhavna Talwar’s directorial debut Dharm, that explored religious undercurrents, has won best film for national integration award.

Set in the backdrop of Filmmaker Priyadarshan's offbeat Tamil film Kanjeevaram has scored big at the 55th National Film Awards 2007, winning best feature film and best actor for Prakash Raj, while renowned Malayalam director Adoor Gopalakrishnan has been judged best director for Naalu Pennungal, it was announced in New Delhi today.

Kannada actress Uma Shri is best actress for Gulabi Talkies; Aamir Khan's directorial debut Taare Zameen Par gets best family welfare award.

Lyricist Prasoon Joshi gets the award for the best lyrics for Maa from Taare Zameen Par about a dyslexic child. The song also gets Shankar Mahadevan the National Award for best playback singer.

Shah Rukh Khan starrer Chak De! India, about a humiliated national level hockey player who steers the women's team to international victory, has been awarded best film in overall entertainment.

Anil Kapoor’s Gandhi My Father has won two awards - Feroz Abbas Khan, the director of the film, gets the National Award for best screenplay and Darshan Zariwala bags best supporting actor for portraying Gandhi, the father of the nation who strove for a normal relationship with his son.

Bhavna Talwar’s directorial debut Dharm, that explored religious undercurrents, has won best film for national integration award.

Set in the backdrop of Kanjeevaram's handloom silk industry from the 1920s to 1948, Kanjeevaram is the story of a non-political weaver who leans towards communism and soon becomes a revolutionary leader and an advocate of the ideology, only to find himself caught between personal needs and his pursuit of social equality.'s handloom silk industry from the 1920s to 1948, Kanjeevaram is the story of a non-political weaver who leans towards communism and soon becomes a revolutionary leader and an advocate of the ideology, only to find himself caught between personal needs and his pursuit of social equality.

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Everyone seeks Aamir

Ever since he made Taare Zameen Par, Aamir Khan is the one person whose approval matters a lot to every director in B-Town.

Soham Shah had a screening of Luck for Aamir, and two nights ago, Vishal Bhardwaj showed him Kaminey. What Aamir thought of their films is, of course, not public knowledge because the actor is very discreet when it comes to discussing other filmmakers’ work. What one hears though is that Vishal and Aamir were locked in conversation for an hour after the screening. Guess that could only mean the actor liked what he saw. Why else would he be wasting his precious time?

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International Dyslexia Association applauds Taare Zameen Par

For this golden-touch man, it was first wide appreciation from India and now the world. We are indeed talking about Aamir 'The Perfectionist' Khan and his masterwork, Taare Zameen Par. In his blog, he speaks about his 'date' on October 29, when he held a special screening of TZP in Seattle for the IDA (International Dyslexia Association). This was one mega event which was attended by more than 200 members who knew about Dyslexia and worked in the field of learning disabilities. And through this event, Aamir wanted to gauge the responses of the cinegoers from the foreign shores.

The 'screening' ('DVD projection', to be precise) was in a conference room and not in a cinema hall. Much to the surprise of Aamir, the film got itself an absolutely thunderous standing ovation, no sooner the lights were switched on! Not just that, after the screening there were many tear-filled eyes in the audiences. All this simply made Aamir glad that IDA had chosen to screen TZP at their annual conference. The ironical moment of the evening was the eagerness of the audience to know when the film would release in the US. And when they were told that the film has already seen a US release, they all insisted that the film be re-released in theatres, this time for the mainstream American audiences.

One of the important points that came out of the Q&A session was the request from the audience to dub the film in English when re-released in US, as they wanted their children to see the film, but were afraid that the smaller kids will not be able to read the subtitles. Aamir has taken keen interest into this matter with an assurance that 'at the very least, the DVD release in US can incorporate an English dubbed version'.

Aamir ends his blog saying that he didn't get much sleep that night (October 29), and that this time, it was him and not Tom Hanks, who was sleepless in Seattle! Well Aamir, with TZP being a front-runner at the Oscars, your fans (including us) will be totally sleepless till the results are announced!

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Aamir Khan speaks about TZP being sent as India's entry to the Oscars

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Taare Zameen Par is India's official entry to the Oscars

The verdict is finally out. Aamir Khan's directorial debut Taare Zameen Par, which won the hearts of audiences world over, has been selected as India's official entry to the Oscars.

The heartwarming story of a dyslexic child (portrayed by Darsheel Safary) and his supportive teacher (played by Aamir himself) was both a critical and commercial success. Taare Zameen Par edged out competition such as Jodhaa Akbar and A Wednesday to be chosen as India's official entry to the prestigious Academy awards.

Last time around Aamir Khan Productions' Lagaan made it to the Final 5 nominated films in the Best Foreign Film category. Now producer-director Aamir Khan would be hoping that Taare Zameen Par not just finds a nomination in the Top 5, but also bags the coveted trophy.

Here's wishing Aamir and the entire team of Taare Zameen Par heartiest congratulations and loads of luck for their Oscar campaign.

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Taare Zameen Par DVD launch in a complete Masti Ki Paathshala

Attending the DVD launch of Taare Zameen Par literally took me back to my school days. After all, I was seated in the midst of some 200 odd children dressed in their crisp white uniform at the Green Lawns High School, Mumbai. The school which has given India one of the youngest and brightest actors- Darsheel Safary surely was all set for the big day as the cast and crew of Taare Zameen Par arrived to launch the DVD this morning.

Even before the function actually commenced, Darsheel's class-mates and other students of the school were all excited waiting for the actors to arrive. Among the first to come were actors Tisca Chopra and Vipin Sharma (who played Darsheel's parents in the film). They were soon joined by young Sachet Engineer (who plays Darsheel's loving elder brother in the film). However, the kids in the audience went into frenzy when the bright shining star Darsheel Safary walked in wearing a blue T-shirt and a yellow and red jacket. Darsheel was his mischievous self and was seen enjoying himself signing autographs for his own school-mates. All eyes were now waiting for the man of the moment - Aamir Khan to make an appearance. The wait was not too long as Aamir arrived amidst a huge roar from the kids present. He was soon joined on the dais by the principal of the school Mrs. Bajaj and the cast and crew of the film including music composers Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and Bhushan Kumar of T-Series.



Speaking on the occasion, Aamir said, "It's a great feeling to have the whole Taare Zameen Par team here for the launch of the DVD. Usually, I am very famous for taking my own sweet time to do things. I released the DVD of Lagaan after 6 years; the Taare Zameen Par DVD has been launched in a little over 6 months, so I think that's an improvement." He even had special words of praise for main protagonist Darsheel Safary whom he called on the stage a vivacious brat, "Darsheel is a very happy child, full of life and vibrant. I am sure it's because of the way his parents and teachers have treated him. I must say Darsheel's principal Mrs. Bajaj has been extremely supportive and encouraging. The true test of any school is how happy the kids are and by the looks of it, the children here seem really happy", he said amidst a thunderous applause from the kids.

Finally, it was time for the DVD to be launched and Aamir invited Darsheel's principal Mrs. Bajaj to do the honors. The DVD is a complete collector's delight and is a must have for every parent and child. After the official launch of the DVD, it was time for some fun and frolic as Aamir invited composers' Shankar- Ehsaan- Loy to sing a few songs. Shankar crooned the soulful number 'Maa' from TZP and Aamir along with Shankar later sang a few lines from 'Bum Bum Bole'. Aamir even invited 2 children from the audience who joined Shankar for a song. Finally just as Aamir was about to leave, the kids in the audience asked the 'Perfectionist' Khan to hum a few lines from the current smash hit 'Pappu Can't Dance Saala'. Aamir who initially was a little hesitant gave in to the kids demands and along with Shankar even crooned the hit number from 'Jaane Tu…Ya Jaane Na'.

As the event came to a close, a good time was had by one and all and the school kids surely wouldn't have felt like going back to their classrooms.

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Aamir Khan to launch TZP DVD at Darsheel Safary's school in Mumbai

Aamir Khan's blog is testimonial to the number of requests that he has been getting to launch the DVD of Taare Zameen Par soon. The DVD of Aamir Khan Productions' first film Lagaan was launched after almost six years; however with Taare Zameen Par, Aamir Khan was very keen to launch it immediately as it is an important film in respect of child education.

Aamir Khan has been working relentlessly for the last six months and has even added some interesting features to make the DVD a collector's delight.

Now for all you die-hard Taare Zameen Par fans, who have been waiting for the DVD since months, here is some good news. Aamir has decided to launch the DVD of Taare Zameen Par tomorrow (July 25) and that too in a function to be held at Darsheel Safary's school Green Lawns at Warden Road, Mumbai. Trust the Perfectionist Khan to do things differently and in grand style; the DVD would be launched by none other than Darsheel's school principal. Apparently, Aamir strongly feels that principals and school teachers play a key role in the education of a child. In fact Darsheel Safary's principal sets an example of how educators should allow a child to follow their dreams. She has been very important in giving Darsheel permission to shoot and adjusting his education on sets.

Hence, Aamir thought the she would be the right person to launch the DVD of this sensitive film. Well, with the DVD launch happening tomorrow, its time to rush to your nearest store to grab a copy of this landmark film.

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Winners of the Zee Cine Awards 2008

Best Film
Chak De! India - Aditya Chopra, Yash Raj Films

Best Director
Aamir Khan - Taare Zameen Par

Best Actor (Male)
Shah Rukh Khan - Chak De! India

Best Actor (Female)
Kareena Kapoor - Jab We Met

Most Popular Track Of The Year
Mauja Hi Mauja - Jab We Met

Best Actor In A Supporting Role (Male)
Govinda - Partner

Best Actor In A Supporting Role (Female)
Shilpa Shetty - Life In A.. Metro

Best Actor In A Comic Role (Male/Female)
Vinay Pathak - Bheja Fry

Best Actor In A Negative Role (Male/Female)
Arjun Rampal - Om Shanti Om

Best Playback Singer (Male)
Shaan - Jab Se Tere Naina (Saawariya)

Best Playback Singer (Female)
Shreya Ghosal - Barso Re Megha (Guru)

Best Lyrics
Prasoon Joshi - Maa (Taare Zameen Par)

Best Music
A R Rahman - Guru

Most Promising Debut Director
Aamir Khan - Taare Zameen Par

Most Promising Debut (Male)
Ranbir Kapoor - Saawariya

Most Promising Debut (Female)
Deepika Padukone - Om Shanti Om

Most Promising Debut (Child Artiste)
Darsheel Safary - Taare Zameen Par

Technical Awards
Best Choreographer - Farah Khan - Om Shanti Om
Best Costume – Manish Malhotra & Karan Johar - Om Shanti Om
Best Visual Effects - Red Chilli's Entertainment - Om Shanti Om
Best Editing – Amitabh Shukla - Chak de India
Best Cinematography - Sandip Chaterjee- Chak de India
Best Action - Parvez Khan - Jhonny Gaddar
Best Film Processing - ADLABS - Namastey London
Best Art Direction - Nitin Desai - Gandhi my Father
Best Sound recording – Baylon Ponseca - Shootout at lokhandwala
Best Background Music - AR Rahman - Guru
Best Screenplay - Imtiyaz Ali - Jab We Met
Best Dialogue - Jaideep Sahani - Chak De India
Best Story - Amol Gupte - Taare Zammen Par
Zee Icon award – Shah Rukh Khan
Zee Cinema Entertainer of the year – Ritesh Deshmukh
Lifetime Achievement – Zeenat Amaan
Lifetime Achievement – Feroz Khan
British Indian Actor Award – Katrina Kaif
Bollywod Queen Award - Gauri Khan

Critics Awards
Best Film – Gandhi My Father
Best Actress – Shifali Shah – Gandhi my Father
Best Actor – Darsheel Safary – Taare Zameen Par
Critics Special Awards - Neil Nitin Mukesh

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IIFA nominations out, Taare Zameen... misses out

New Delhi: Just as most things come full circle, so did this – the brand ambassador of the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA), Amitabh Bachchan had set in motion the voting process for IDEA-IIFA Awards 2008 by casting the first vote a few weeks ago. And today, at the IIFA meet in the Capital, the Big B was present when the nominees were announced.

Abhishek Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and Shahid Kapoor were nominated in the best actor category while Aishwarya Rai, Kareena Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Tabu and Vidya Balan were nominated in the best actress catagory.

Nominees for the best director included Anurag Basu, David Dhawan, Imtiaz Ali, Mani Ratnam, Priyadarshan and Shimit Amin.

And Guru, Chak De India, Jab We Met, Om Shanti Om, Partner and Life in a Metro were nominated in the category for the best film.

Surprisingly, Taare Zameen Par did not receive any nominations as only those producers who had submitted their films to the IIFA panel were considered.

With a viewership of almost 600 million, the IIFA awards are among the world's most-watched entertainment events.

This year the prestigious awards will be held in Bangkok in June.

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Nominations for the Zee Cine Awards 2008

Best Film
Chak De India
Guru
Jab We Met
Life in a Metro
Om Shanti Om
Taare Zameen Par

Best Actor (Male)
Abhishek Bachchan - Guru
Akshay Kumar - Namastey London
Amitabh Bachchan - Cheeni Kum
Shah Rukh Khan - Chak De! India
Shah Rukh Khan - Om Shanti Om
Shahid Kapur - Jab We Met

Best Actor (Female)
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan- Guru
Deepika Padukone - Om Shanti Om
Kareena Kapoor - Jab We Met
Katrina Kaif - Namastey London
Tabu - Cheeni Kum
Vidya Balan - Bhool Bhulaiyaa

Best Director
Aamir Khan - Taare Zameen Par
Anurag Basu - Life in a Metro
Farah Khan - Om Shanti Om
Imtiaz Ali - Jab We Met
Mani Ratnam - Guru
Shamit Amin - Chak De! India

Best Actor In A Supporting Role (Male)
Aamir Khan - Taare Zameen Par
Bobby Deol - Naqaab
Irrfan Khan Life In A.. Metro
Mithun Chakraborty - Guru
Shreyas Talpade - Om Shanti Om

Best Actor In A Supporting Role (Female)
Chitrashi - Chak De! India
Konkona Sen Sharma - Life In A.. Metro
Lara Dutta - Jhoom Barabar Jhoom
Shilpa Shetty - Life In A.. Metro
Tisca Chopra - Taare Zameen Par

Best Actor In A Negative Role (Male/Female)
Arjun Rampal - Om Shanti Om
Neil Nitin Mukesh - Johnny Gaddar
Pawan Malhotra - Black Friday
Shilpa Shukla - Chak De! India
Viveik Oberoi - Shootout At Lokhandwala

Best Actor In A Comic Role (Male/Female)
Anil Kapoor - Welcome
Nana Patekar - Welcome
Riteish Deshmukh - Heyy Baby
Tusshar Kapoor - Dhol
Vinay Pathak - Bheja Fry

Most Popular Track Of The Year
Barso Re - Guru
Dard-E-Disco- Om Shanti Om
Do You Wanna Partner - Partner
Hare Ram Hare Krishna - Bhool Bhulaiya
In Dino - Life In A Metro
Mauja Hi Mauja - Jab We Met

Best Playback Singer (Male)
KK - Aankhon Mein Teri (Om Shanti Om)
Shaan - Jab Se Tere Naina (Saawariya)
Soham - In Dino (Life In A.. Metro)
Sukhwinder Singh, Salim Merchant & Marianna D'Cruz - Kuchh Kariye (Chak De India)
Sonu Nigam - Main Agar Kahoon (Om Shanti Om)

Best Playback Singer (Female)
Mahalaxmi Iyer - Bolna Halke (Jhoom Barabar Jhoom)
Mahalaxmi Iyer - Salaam-e-Ishq (Salaam-e-Ishq)
Shreya Ghosal - Barso Re Megha (Guru)
Shreya Ghosal - Yeh Ishq Haaye (Jab We Met)
Sunidhi Chauhan - Sajnaji Vaari Vaari (Honeymoon Travels P Ltd)

Best Lyrics
Gulzar - Tere Bina (Guru)
Javed Akhtar - Main Agar Kahoon (Om Shanti Om)
Prasoon Joshi - Maa (Taare Zameen Par)
Sameer - Jab Se Tere Naina (Saawariya)
Sayeed Quadri - In Dino (Life In A.. Metro)

Best Music
A R Rahman - Guru
Pritam - Life in a Metro
Pritam, Sandesh Shandilya - Jab We Met
Sajid-Wajid - Partner
Vishal-Shekhar - Om Shanti Om

Most Promising Debut Director
Aamir Khan - Taare Zameen Par
Feroz Abbas Khan - Gandhi My Father
R Balakrishna - Cheeni Kum
Reema Kagti - Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd
Sajid Khan - Heyy Babyy

Most Promising Debut (Male)
Himesh Reshammiya - Aap Ka Suroor
Neil Nitin Mukesh - Johnny Gaddar
Ranbir Kapoor - Saawariya

Most Promising Debut (Female)
Deepika Padukone - Om Shanti Om
Jiah Khan - Nishabd
Sonam Kapoor - Saawariya

Most Promising Debut (Child Artiste)
Darsheel Safary - Taare Zameen Par
Druv Piyush Panjuani - Apna Aasmaan
Swini Khera - Cheeni Kum

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Aamir Khan to attend an award function

Aamir Khan bagged the Gollapudi Srinivas Memorial foundation award as the Best Debut Director for Taare Zameen Par. The jury members included the likes of Kamal Hassan and director Singitam Srinivasa.

Despite being awarded as 'The Best Director' in almost all the popular award ceremonies, Aamir never showed up for any of them. Interestingly, this time he would be in Chennai on August 12 to receive the Gollapudi Srinivas Memorial foundation award along with a cash prize of Rs. 1.5 lakh. Kamal Hassan all praises for Aamir and TZP as he declared the award on Sunday (March 16).

Apparently, it's for the first time that a film from Bollywood has been chosen for the award in the past 11 years since the inception of the foundation. The Gollapudi foundation which recognizes the directorial talent in India was founded in 1998 by well-known Telugu-writer Gollapudi Maruthi Rao in the memory of his late son Srinivasa, who died in an accident while making a film.

Taare Zameen Par has been selected among the 19 nominations across the country.

Bollywood Hungama

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Aamir’s dilemma on TZP continues

Aamir Khan just can’t get over with his directorial debut Taare Zameen Par. After the super success of his film Aamir is all set to release it on DVD. That’s not all... this talented director who believes in creativity has also been toying with the idea of having a director’s commentary to it.

It is believed that Aamir gets innumerable requests on his official blog about TZP’s DVD. Hence he has decided to release it and according to his fan’s request he is also contemplating with the thought of lending his voice for the feature of director’s commentary. Speaking about the same Aamir said, “Off late what has been really troubling me is the the director’s commentary that I need to record for the TZP DVD.”

Aamir is down with flu since the past 10 -12 days and feels that he has already conveyed what he wanted to. “Personally I feel that I have said what I had to through the film. Also, I think that films should be experienced; I shouldn’t need to explain stuff. So what I want to know from you all is do you all really want me to do a director’s commentary for the DVD release?”, he questions.

Aamir being very interactive with his fans asks for suggestion and sometimes provide guidelines too. He asks his fans “Is there something which you all would especially like in the DVD? I have already put in what I think will be great extras, but maybe I’ve missed out something.”

Let’s wait and watch if Aamir succumbs to his fans’ requests and lends his voice for the director’s commentary.

Reshma Kelkar, Indiatimes Movies

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Rashtrapathi beckons Aamir!

Look who received a call from the Rashtrapathi Bhavan! Aamir Khan indeed. No Aamir is not going to support anyone in the political front or is he going to join any party. So what is the 'asli' reason?

Our first lady Ms. Prathiba Patil had expressed a desire to watch the film 'Taare Zameen Par' directed by the perfectionist actor Aamir Khan. It happened on Sunday when Aamir Khan along with Darsheel was present at the Rashtrapathi Bhavan for a special screening of this film for our President.

Reports indicate that Madam President who was very particular to watch this film was lacking the time to do so for all these days. When she called on Aamir the actor, who was busy with his shooting for the Hindi remake of 'Ghajini' despite his busy schedule took his time off to screen the film to the President.

Reports suggest that Aamir was immensely happy that the president had all good things to say about the film, and she has also urged him to come out with films having a good message for the society. The president also hosted a party in praise of the actors for their excellent performance in this film.

Darsheel Safrey for his performance in 'Taare Zameen Par' walked away with the critics' award for the best actor in the film and Aamir Khan walked away with the Filmfare award for the best director for this film which is his very first.

IndiaGlitz

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Anil dines with Aamir

Anil Kapoor and his wife Sunita along with a few family members were guests of the reclusive Aamir Khan on Friday night. The evening began with a private screening of Taare Zameen Par at the Ketnav preview theatre, followed by dinner
at the Khan’s residence at Bandra.

Anil had been wanting to see Aamir’s directorial debut offering for a long time. More so, because whenever Khan invited him, he couldn’t go as he was shooting for Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire. Anil admits, “I even asked Aamir to hold a screening for the entire unit of Danny Boyle but that didn’t happen. Everything just kept getting postponed till my son Harsh saw the film and loved it.

He asked me, ‘what’s wrong with you dad? Why aren’t you watching the film’?” So last week, Anil called Aamir and requested him to hold a screening for him. Aamir did the needful and also extended a dinner invitation.

No tears

Anil adds that his daughter Sonal, too, hadn’t watched the film and was also present. Kapoor adds, “Sonal has just returned after the Jaipur schedule of Dilli 6 and she was also quite eager to see it. I was taken aback when I saw Taare Zameen Par.

I couldn’t believe Aamir could make such a beautiful film.” He says he didn’t shed tears during any scene. “I didn’t get emotional as I had already heard it was a very emotional film.”

Aamir has watched Anil’s first home production Gandhi My Father, which released last year and had called it ‘a perfect film’.

Tease him about the mutual admiration club he and Aamir have formed and the actor laughs, “It’s nothing like that. We’ve been in touch over the years. After the screening Aamir invited us all over to his home for dinner where we broke our diets and had lots of rice and dal.

Sunita kept on giving us dirty looks. We sat on the sofas gorging on the food discussing TZP. What Aamir and I didn’t realise that the next day we would both wake up with puffy faces. We have a problem if we eat too much rice our faces bloat due to water retention.”

Aamir’s wife Kiran couldn’t play hostess. “She didn’t join us as she wasn’t well and was sleeping inside,” informs Anil who is looking forward to his next, Subhash Ghai’s Black And White which releases this week.

Author: Upala KBR | Source: Mid-Day

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Time to get the black lady!

Welcome to the 53rd Fair One Filmfare Awards 2007 tonight.

A black tie-and-gown evening where the glitz and gloss will be provided by Bollywood’s top stars as they walk down the red carpet of the Yash Raj Studios in Andheri from 7 pm onwards. Inside, and leading a selected and invited audience through the awards ceremony, will be Bollywood Badshah Shah Rukh Khan and Chhote Nawab Saif Ali Khan. Emcee entertainment, naturally, is guaranteed to take on a whole new bold and exciting meaning with these two gentlemen on stage.

The lovely Vidya Balan is the third emcee of the evening. Then, of course, the show belongs to the stars who have been nominated for the prestigious black statuette. What names of winners the envelope reveals, who takes home the prestigious award, will be known only later tonight.

Meanwhile, to give you a peep behind the curtain, the awards ceremony this year has some real winners entertaining on stage. Like the sexy Kareena Kapoor and dazzling Deepika Padukone, watch them dance, and Khiladi Akshay Kumar, who turns out an outstanding performance, while there’s also Himesh Reshammiya, Vivek Oberoi and Neil Nitin Mukesh, all taking the razzmatazz a notch higher.

BT was privy to the rehearsals over the past few days at Yash Raj Studios. So was Karisma Kapoor who sat with Saif and watched kid sis Kareena swish through numbers like It’s Rocking and Mauja Re Mauja. Watching also from the wings, and staying back till a late hour, was young Ranbir Kapoor. His whole attention was on the ravishing Deepika Padukone who will dance to Dhun Tana Nana Dhun and Aankho Mein Teri from her debut film Om Shanti Om.

Akshay Kumar, a veteran at such things, will perform to the superhit numbers of 2007 Hey Babby, Hare Ram, Hare Ram and the title track from Welcome.

Neil Nitin Mukesh, excited to be at his first Filmfare Awards function, is doing the title track of his Johnny Gaddar and Move The Body from the same film. "I have always watched the Filmfare Awards from afar, to be a part of it now is an honour for me," he said. And, finally, Vivek Oberoi, who will remind the audience of Aye Ganpat from Shootout at Lokhandwala. "I’m excited, the song’s one of my favourites, but it’s done here in a very different and fantastic way," he revealed. As for Himeshbhai, he will say Aasalum Waleum, so be sure to reply Walekaum Salam!

The dances have been choreographed by Shiamak Davar while Manish Malhotra has designed the costumes worn by Kareena and Deepika and Narendra Kumar those for Neil and Vivek. Sabina Khan has dressed up Akshay.

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Aamir's virtual presence at Star Screen Awards

Aamir Khan is known for his firm beliefs as far as work is concerned and is also famous for not attending award functions because he feels that they're all rigged. At the recently held Nokia 14th Star Screen Awards, the organizers placed a huge cut-out of Aamir Khan's from his film, Taare Zameen Par, to make up for his absence at the function.

Host Sajid Khan also ended up making a dig at the actor's non-appearance during the award ceremony. In fact, when we spoke to Sajid about this, he said, "I only kept the cut-out of Aamir Khan amidst the audience" in his trademark humorous style. Aamir's latest release Taare Zameen Par bagged 17 nominations in the award function. Conspicuous by Aamir's absence, the organizers still wanted the audiences to feel his presence and hence each time his name was announced, the camera would move to Aamir's cut-out placed in the audience for his virtual presence.

The highlight of the evening was also the announcement of 'The Best Director Awards'. For the first time at an award function, 'The Best Director Award' went to not just one, but two well-deserving people, Aamir Khan for Taare Zameen Par and Shimit Amin for Chak De India. Well, one rare sight this must have been, what with a virtual Aamir Khan making his presence felt in the audience.

Bollywood Hungama

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Nokia 14th Annual Star Screen Awards 2008 - Winners

Aamir Khan's Taare Zameen Par bagged six key awards at the Nokia 14th Annual Star Screen Awards on Thursday, January 10, Mumbai.

Aamir Khan shared the best director award for the film with Shimit Amin for Chak De! India. He additionally won awards as Best Supporting Actor and for Best Dialogs.

The three other awards won by Aamir’s film were - Best Story (Amol Gupte), Best Child Actor (Darsheel) and Best Lyricist (Prasoon Joshi).

Shah Rukh Khan was adjudged the best actor award for his performance in Chak De! India.

The best actress award went to Kareena Kapoor for her spirited performance as Geet in the Imtiaz Ali directed film Jab We Met.

AR Rahman's musical score for Guru earned him the award for the Best Music Director.

Shah Rukh and Deepika Padukone were named as the Best Pair onscreen in Om Shanti Om

Deepika was additionally adjudged the Best Newcomer (Female) beating Sonam Kapoor

More predictably Ranbir Kapoor walked away with the Best Newcomer (Male) Award.

Shah Rukh Khan performed the ‘Dard-e-Disco’ number from Om Shanti Om at the event.

Others who performed included Shahid Kapur, Katrina Kaif, Urmila Matondkar, Riteish Deshmukh and Dia Mirza.

Other winners at the awards were:
Irfan Khan Best Comedian Award for Life…In a Metro
Anurag Basu Best Screenplay Award for Life…In a Metro
Soham Best Playback Singer (Male) in the film Life…In a Metro
Priya Ghosal Best Playback Singer (female) for Guru
Pankaj Kapoor Best Negative Role
Chak De girls Best Supporting Role (female)
Manoj Kumar Star Screen Lifetime Achievement Award

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SRK and Aamir together!

Khans are well known for ruling the Tinsel-town since ages now. Any Bollywood celebration without their presence is incomplete. Of late, the three most celebrated Khans, Aamir, Shah Rukh and Salman were seen at the lavish 15th anniversary celebration of the Zee Network at Taj Lands End on Saturday, January 5. Also, present at the occasion was the ever sizzling Rekha.

The above picture shows the two Khans- Aamir and Shah Rukh- in a very cheerful mood, probably congratulating each other for the success of their respective films released last year. Apparently, Aamir Khan had messaged SRK to fix a date to watch Taare Zameen Par. Nevertheless, Shah Rukh has promised to watch the film with his kids, now is he a true star or what! Appreciating other’s work was a quality he always possessed.

With the presence of the biggies of Bollywood, the Zee Networks party surely turned out to be a big event.

Image Courtesy: Daily News and Analysis

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The best and worst of 2007

Rajiv Vijayakar does a recap of Bollywoods hits and flops and dazzling debuts by actors and directors in the year gone by.

Five biggest hits

Om Shanti Om- Director Farah Khan

Farah Khan set a world record of being the only woman director to have two global hits to her credit. OSO took the Indian filmgoers by storm, drove the NRIs crazy and proved that pure SRK entertainment with a dash of nostalgia was the best prescription for healthy revenues. It has netted over Rs 90 crore and still running.

Chak De! India- Director Shimit Amin

Shimit Amin made a film that transcended every kind of audience and made both India and the box-office counters proud. It was the biggest money-spinner at Rs 65-plus crore net profits till OSO took over, but may have bettered it if the overseas business had not been shockingly poor.

Partner- Director David Dhawan

Dhawan cast both his favourites Salman Khan and Govinda together and made his biggest hit since Aankhen 14 years earlier. At Rs 60-plus crore net it was Salman's saving grace and first hit after the 2005 No Entry.

Jab We Met- Director Imtiaz Ali

Whatever (low) expectations had been there had plunged after the Jab We Broke Up news of Shahid Kapoor-Kareena Kapoor. But the film, still running, has even surpassed OSO’s collections this week. Business-wise, it is at Rs 40-plus crore - and counting.

Heyy Babyy- Director Sajid Khan

It’s all in the family— Farah’s brother Sajid debuted as director with this not-so-impressive comedy, that closed its first run at a net Rs 55 crores, that JWM is expected to cross if it runs for a month more.

Important note: Welcome has taken a bigger opening than OSO and may make it to the Top Five. Bheja Fry in terms of the ratio (Rs 4 crore gross for a Rs 70 lakh film!) and Taare Zameen Par (which may end up with the same ratio as Jab We Met) might come in too!

Five biggest disasters

Ram Gopal Varma ki Aag- Director: Ram Gopal Varma

He remade, he bragged, he sank — this er..Sholay recycle is not the debacle of the year, but of the millennium.

Salaam-e-ishq- Director: Nikhil Advani

Seven stories, fourteen Indian stars and a firangi heroine - all for nothing in a blunder(buss) of a script, though Priyanka Chopra, Govinda and Ayesha Takia stood out.

Ekalavya-The Royal Guard- Director: Vinod Chopra

Before it was nominated for the Oscars, Vinod Chopra did not know what hit him. The taut thriller was not only a flop but critically ripped apart.

Cash- Director Anubhav Sinha
It was projected as Sinha’s superb Dus on steroids. Maybe that’s why it exited at top speed!

No Smoking- Director Anurag Kashyap

At a 18-crore budget, all profits were extinguished as the message spread: ‘No Smoking is injurious to health!’

Five most memorable films

Taare Zameen Par- Director: Aamir Khan

Simply it is the movie of the year. Indian cinema can hold its head high yet again.

Chak De! India- Director Shimit Amin

As an aspirational, inspirational movie, it involved you even more than Lagaan, Iqbal and Dor.

Johnny Gaddaar- Director Sriram Raghavan

Original, concise, with twists galore and the master-stroke at the end, Johnny Gaddaar combined the best of both contemporary and retro Indian cinema with James Hadley Chase.

Bheja Fry- Director Sagar Ballary

An adaptation of a French film, this was the most side-splitting comedy of the year - minus a multi-star cast or conventional masala.

Dus Kahaniyaan- Directors: Sanjay Gupta and others

The experiment that went right - six directors spun out ten stories from which six were better than good - check Strangers In The Night, Matrimony, Zahir and Lovedale in particular.

Five most forgettable films

Ram Gopal Varma ki Aag

No explanations needed.

Fool’n’final- Director: Ahmed Khan

Was this a film? Even Sunny Deol and Shahid Kapoor failed to salvage the complete full-and-final mess!

Cash- Director Anubhav Sinha

What a disastrous Anubhav (experience) - no story, weird action and weirder animation. Saving grace: A few songs.

Marigold- Director Willard Carroll

This one proved that while we can make decent or better Hollywood spin-offs, the filmmakers there (like the arty ones here) cannot cope with mainstream cinema. Cheers!

Kaafila- Director Ammtoje Mann

No film must have gripped completely in the first 20 minutes and lost it completely later. We too lost - count of the people butchered.

Five best performances:

Harsheel Safary (Taare Zameen Par)

Shah Rukh Khan (Chak De! India)

Neil Nitin Mukesh (Johnny Gaddaar)

Tabu (Cheeni Kum)

Vinay Pathak (Bheja Fry)

Five worst performances

Amitabh Bachchan (RGV Ki Aag)

He growled, he hammed, and he repulsed. What was the Big B thinking of when he accepted this one?

Shiney Ahuja (Khoya Khoya Chand)

Cast opposite Soha Ali Khan was a wooden block loaded with a narcotic! Was this the Shiney of Gangster and Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi?

Konkona Sensharma (Aaja Nachle)

Can Konkona stop being the monotonous Konkona please and get into the innards of her role?

Bobby Deol (Shakalaka Boom Boom)

Weird. We can't say more.

Juhi Chawla and Vidya Balan (Salaam-e-Ishq)

Bad though the film was, it could have done without their cloyingly irritant performances.

Five best things that happened in/to Hindi cinema

Aamir Khan debuted as director with Taare Zameen Par.

Om Shanti Om did better business than a Hollywood blockbuster in UK.

Sonu Niigaam was invited to sing Mahatma Gandhi’s Vaishnav jana to in Gujarati and English at the 28th Harvard Presidential Installation.

Shah Rukh Khan’s waxwork was installed in Madame Tussaud's, while Salman Khan was signed up.

Sonu Niigaam also recorded for a tribute project (by the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra!) for the latter’s 18-track album of songs by the legendary Mohammed Rafi.

Five hypes of the year

Dharm by Bhavna Talwar: Sure, a thought-provoking film, but no classic. And it could have been made mass-friendly.

Gandhi- My Father: Where was the emotional connect?

Saawariya: Why did Sanjay Leela Bhansali of all people choose form over content?

Aaja Nachle: Too much expectations from too little content, starting with the poor music. What could Madhuri do?
Himesh Reshammiya: He was hyped for his acting debut but in a twist this time the hype was justified - and worked!

Five Box Office toppers

Shah Rukh Khan (Om Shanti Om, Chak De! India - the two biggest hits of the year - and no flop)
Akshay Kumar (Namastey London, Heyy Babyy, Bhool Bhulaiyaa, Welcome and no flop)
Salman Khan (Partner and 3 flops)

Despite this record, Salman Khan has reportedly signed two films at Rs 24 crore and Rs 35 crore respectively.
Kareena Kapoor (Jab We Met)

This one hit and terrific performance has put her right at the top.

Katrina Kaif (Namastey London, Partner, Apne, Welcome and no flop) It's been a meteoric rise both as star and actress for someone who was largely known only as Salman Khan’s girl.

Five BO.bottom of the heap

Ajay Devgan: Ruled the flop roost with Cash and Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag

Rani Mukherji: Despite an average Ta Ra Rum Pum, Rani Mukerji, till last year the Numero Uno, has lost her position even in the Top Five!

Preity Zinta: Jhoom Barabar Jhoom was yet another downer for a star who was in the Top Three.

Esha Deol: Lost gained ground completely with Darling, Just Married and Cash.

Vidya Balan: Both her hits (Heyy Babyy and Bhool Bhulaiyaa) are credited to other factors, including Akshay Kumar. The rest was a flop show in every way.

Best-selling music albums

Aap Kaa Surroor- The Moviee at no.1 has sold almost twice as much as Om Shanti Om at number two! Jab We Met (phenomenal in the North), Partner and Saawariya (the only non-T-Series album here) completed the top five selling soundtracks.

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