Mexico hosts Latin America's largest balloon festival
Leon (Mexico), Nov 21 (IANS/EFE) The 10th International Balloon Festival, the largest such event in Latin America and one of the largest hot-air ballooning events in the world, started this weekend in Leon, a city in Mexico's Guanajuato state.
The festival, which features 200 pilots from 14 countries, is expected to draw about 300,000 visitors, including 162,000 foreigners, during its four-day run.
The International Balloon Festival is an example of the efforts being made by the federal government to promote events and attractions in Mexico, Tourism Secretary Gloria Guevara Manso said.
More than 2 million people have attended the festival since it started 10 years ago, Guanajuato Gov. Juan Manuel Oliva Ramirez said.
One of the festival's draws this year is nine-year-old Bobby Bradley, the world's youngest balloon pilot.
Bradley is from Albuquerque, New Mexico, a city known for hosting the world's largest balloon festival.
"I'm really excited," Bradley told EFE moments before taking off in his ultra-light balloon Saturday.
The boy hopes to earn his pilot's license at 16, the minimum age for flying a conventional balloon under international regulations.
The 200 balloons participating in the festival took off for their first flight at 7 a.m. Saturday, filling the sky with a variety of shapes and colors.
2011/10/21 5:50:05 On the eve of the Mumbai Film Festival, filmmaker Shyam Benegal had confidently said this is the best festival India has seen so far. As the festival came to a close amid the hits and the misses, the crowds cheering and hooting, his hyperbole became a fact.
Benegal, chairman of MAMI that organises the event, had reasoned that a festival is as big as its films. Showcasing the winners of the best festivals in the world, including Cannes, Berlin and Venice, if you couldn't go there, you could catch it here. And that was fair for Bolly-town. After all the biggest film-producing nation deserves one of the biggest festivals.
Yet, much to the delight of viewers, and often frustrations - after all, too many good films make you miss a few must-watch ones - the festival scored due to many other reasons as well.
The strongest were some stunning films in its International Competition section that carries a Rs.1 crore prize money, one of the biggest in the world. The mastery and control of the cinematic medium shown by these first timers challenges the dominance of masters. A few of them are bound to leave their stamp on world cinema in the next couple of decades. When they do, Mumbai viewers would proudly say they saw their films, and them, at MAMI.
Then there was the film mart, which is slowly becoming a very important event in the commercial cinematic calendar of the festival. There were people from non-traditional global markets, including Germany, South Korea, Japan and Latin America, scouting for the next Indian film to take back home.
'Rendezvous With French Cinema', a separate annual event for Mumbai, got clubbed to the festival, giving audiences not just a chance to see these films but also to interact with some French directors and actors who came to the country.
Having 20 percent films in the festival from India (besides the retrospectives), with none of them from the commercial filmmaking centres of India, the festival truly showed the storytelling prowess churning in this nation, which often does not get its due recognition.
The Open Forums every afternoon saw some cliche and a lot of fireworks. Veterans and newcomers to the mainstream commercial film industry debated the various aspects related to cinema. Is the art of Indian screenwriting dying, is there homophobia in Indian cinema, is taxation killing films? etc. Though a consensus could not be reached, laying down of the problems hopefully proved cathartic.
Not everything in the festival was rosy. The films that were expected to be popular often ended up being too popular to handle. People stood hours outside the halls for films like "Pina", "The Artist", "The Turin Horse", "Melancholia" and others. Taking a cue from previous editions, organisers held special screening for the leftover crowd every day at 10 o'clock. For a few films, even this wasn't enough.
Cinemax proved inefficient hosts for the prestigious festival as goof-ups in projections marred the the entire festival causing much screaming, heartburn and anger. Sadly, instead of Cinemax, it was often the festival organisers that received flak for the same.
Yet after everything was said and done, after the films were seen and many forgotten, what would perhaps be remembered is exactly what Benegal said. Film Festivals in India might just have come of age.(IANS)
In yet another achievement for Yash Raj Films, two of their films Chak De! India and Kabul Express will be creating waves across the borders. Kabul Express has been invited to be a part of the prestigious Cairo International Film Festival, which is the first ever film festival to be started in West Asia.
The 31st edition of the festival, takes place from November 27 to December 7. Kabul Express will be screened in the "Festival of Festivals" section in the second half of the festival.
Chak De!... will be presented at the Cancun International Film Festival, that is being held in Mexico till November 18. The Cancun International Film Festival is renowned for showcasing alternative cinema from all corners of the globe. This year's edition features almost 60 films in the competitive and non-competitive sections.
2006/7/26 6:41:12 H Madhusudan directed a Kannada film " MISS CALIFORNIA". This film is being Dubbed by Mallika Dattatreya and Anil Kumar on Sri Mallikanjali Creations banner in Telugu as 'America America'. The dubbing work of this film is in progress.
Drug eluting balloon (DEB) technology is a relatively newer and simpler way to treat heart blockages and experts say it is more effective and cheaper than drug eluting stents (DES).
According to Praveen Chandra, head of interventional cardiology at Medanta Medicity hospital in Gurgaon, the DEB technique is also safer than DES.
"DEB is a relatively new treatment which is effective in treating blockages in blood vessels around the heart. It also proves to be useful in reducing blockages that might occur inside a stent," Chandra said.
A stent is a spring-like structure, usually of metal, that is inserted in a clogged blood vessel to create a passage for the smooth flow of blood.
"DEB is a balloon-like structure that is inserted in the blocked artery and then inflated for 30 seconds to administer an anti-proliferative drug. The balloon is withdrawn as the drug penetrates the artery wall," Chandra explained.
Introducing Biotronik's Pantera Lux Paclitaxel Releasing Balloon (PLPRB), an advanced DEB device at Medanta Medicity, Chandra pointed out that DEB is almost 40 percent cheaper compared to stents.
Unlike the balloon technology, DES carries with it life-threatening medical complications like in-stent blockages that can cause a heart attack and even death.
Elaborating, Ran Kornowski of Israel's Rabin Medical Center, said: "Drug eluting stents increase the risk of blood clotting which increases the blockages in arteries over the metal stents.
"When the blockage occurs, it is life threatening as the patient may suffer a heart attack or even die. In DEB, the balloon releases an anti-proliferative drug and is removed as the drug penetrates the artery wall."
Another problem with DES is patients have to continue with blood thinning medicine after angioplasty using stents to avoid blood clots. With DEB, the patient can even discontinue the medication as they are not using a stent to open up a blood vessel.
"There is an emergent need to address the in-stent restonsis (blockages inside the stent) in our country, with this new (DEB) treatment which is safe and cheap can be easily availed of by the common man," Naresh Trehan, managing director, Medanta Medicity, said. (IANS)
Pooja Bhatt hurt in car crash at Indian film festival
2006/12/2 10:28:32 PROMINENT Bollywood actress Pooja Bhatt was injured in a motoring accident Friday after attending India`s international film festival in the seaside resort state of Goa, police said.
Officials in the state capital Panaji said Bhatt`s car collided head-on with another vehicle while she was driving to Goa`s Dabolim airport to catch a flight home to Mumbai.
The actress-turned-producer was rushed to the city`s largest hospital with multiple injuries including fractures, doctors at Goa Medical College told sources.
The 34-year-old actress, a daughter of prominent film-maker Mahesh Bhatt, was one of the several Bollywood celebrities attending the 10-day film festival which is scheduled to end on Sunday.
A number of film-makers from Europe and Hollywood are also attending the beachside festival, aimed at promoting the country`s effort to become a global movie-making hub.
The Romanian winner of the Palme d'Or at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, will be the opening movie of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) which begins in Goa Nov 23.
Directorate of Film Festivals chief Neelam Kapur announced in New Delhi that the opening ceremony would be "simple and elegant" and in keeping with international standards. Ever since the venue of IFFI was shifted to Goa in 2004, the organisers have been criticised for attempting a distracting carnival, also lending to congestion in the state capital Panaji.
Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan will be the chief guest at the inaugural ceremony, which will be attended by politicians from New Delhi and Goa and other film personalities.
The director of the opening film Cristian Mungiu and the lead actress Anamaria Marinca are expected to be present at the inaugural ceremony. Besides, there will be delegates from Netherlands, China, Poland and Mexico.
The Indian Panorama section of IFFI 2007 will showcase 36 films, including 21 feature films. The section will have two works each of stalwarts Budhadeb Dasgupta and Adoor Gopalakrishnan.
The section will have the feature films Ami Iyasin Aar Amaar Madhubala (The Voyeurs) and Naalu Penunungal (Four Women) as well as non-feature films Naushad Ali - The Melody Continues and The Dance of the Enchantress.
Debut directors like Sameer Hanchante, Samir Chanda and Bhavna Talwar will present their films Gafla (Scam), Ek Nadir Galpo (Tale of a River), and Dharm respectively at the festival.
A specialised competition for feature films by Asian, African and Latin American directors is also being organized. Films produced after Sep 1, 2006 are eligible.
Fourteen films have been selected from 13 countries for the competition. Eminent Hungarian filmmaker Marta Mazaros heads the jury, which includes Turkish actress Meltem Cumbul, Kerala cinematographer, film director and script-writer Shaji N. Karun, Argentine film director Pablo Cesar and New Zealand film-maker Robert Sarkies.
The Kandasamy team- Producer Kalaipuli S.Thanu, director Susi Ganesan and hero Vikram held a press meet in Chennai to share experiences of their recent trip to Mexico for location hunting.
Thanu said that due to civil war conditions in Kenya, they could not shoot there as planned earlier and then switched over to Mexico as the new location. He also added that it will be the first time that an Indian film will be shot in Mexico, though it will be four times more costly than any other country!
Added Thanu : “When we showed the trailer of Kanthaswamy, they were mesmerized and immediately agreed to give all the support and help for our film to be shot there”. The Mexican government also made Kalaipuli.S Thanu, the Honorary council general of Mexico in Chennai.
Later they hosted a grand Mexican dinner and variety entertainments for the Tamil film unit. Susi gave an elaborate description about how they went as delegates of Tamil cinema and got a warm welcome from the Mexican government. They were provided with a chopper to find the right locations to shoot. The team also comprised of art director Thotta Tharani and cameraman Ekambaram.
The Mexicans officials including women found that Vikram “looked like a Hollywood star”. They were also impressed that he could speak some words in Spanish (the official language) which he picked up in 30 minutes from a “Learn Spanish” booklet and danced with professional Salsa dancers.
The Mexicans were bowled over by our team from Tamilnadu. It was also announced at the press meet that the Mexican government has agreed to make a film in Spanish which will be co-produced by Kalaipuli Thanu, directed by Susi Ganesan and in the male lead will be the Indian equivalent of Antonio Banderas- our own Chiyaan Vikram.
Not to forget- A video showing the memorable Mexico Payanam(trip) of the Kanthaswamy team was shown to the media. .
Kerala: Five french films dealing with the problems of youth and the fight against injustice in society would enliven the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK 2007) beginning here on December seven.
'When you come down from heaven' by Eric Guirado, `Nearby neighbours' (Malik Chibane), `Samia' (Philippe Faucon), `Zim and Co' (Pierre Jolivet), `Wesh Wesh Whats happening' (Rabah Amer Zaimech) and `Forgetting Cheyyene' (Valerie Mineno) are the films that are part of the section.
A total of 133 film personalities from across the world would be participating in the festival. Five major production and distsribution companies, Celluloid dream, Sony Pictures, Wild Bunch, Pioniwa Films and Fortissimo would also be part of the festival to fetch market for their films at the IFFK which had become a main event in the international calendar of the Federation of International Film Producers Association (FIAPF).
Latin American director Miguel Littin, Iranian film-maker Mania Akbari, Abdulla Oguz (Turkey) and Pavao Mrinkovic (Croatia) are among the eminent personalities attending the event.
Pop singer Remo Fernandes has inaugurated the Fontainhas Festival of the Arts here and used the forum to press for planned growth and need for preserving the old architectural structures in Goa. The internationally known singer also launched his new pop comeback album 'Muchacha Latina' (Latin girl) at the festival here last evening. .
The five-day annual event salutes the 18th century Indo-Portuguese architecture. 'I remember during my childhood days every house in the city had its own garden and architecture was typical to Goa,' Remo said during an informal chat with reporters.
The architect-turned-singer, who was on the forefront to oppose the controversial Regional Plan 2011, which envisaged using forest land for commercial activities, was disturbed with the unplanned growth and crumbling architectural wonders in the state capital.
'Be vigilant.. The politicians may tell you that they have scrapped the Regional Plan 2011 but dont believe them. They won't do so because huge money is involved in it,' he said while talking about the land use plan which saw public outrage in the tourist state.
The festival will see 65 artists displaying their creations along the roadside and in architecturally important houses at Fontainhas, an area fringing Panaji. Befitting the occasion, Remo, in a surprising gesture, invited Heta Pandit, President, Goa Heritage Action Group, the festival organiser, to launch his album.
The festival showcases various forms of art, including folklore, painting, installations and photographs. 'We expect more than 10,000 people to walk in the lanes of Fontainhas during the festival,' Pandit told reporters.
Asim Sarma and Nethra Raghuraman target Gadde Sindhura
2007/12/27 11:20:49 Asim Sarma was one of the hosts at the Femina Miss India South finals – 2008 in Hyderabad. He was one of the co-hosts along with Nethra Raguraman and Gadde Sindhura. Asim Sarma regaled the audience with his talk and mock anger. He said that he was deliberately being sidelined. Gadde Sindhura has been given a chance to hug all the beautiful girl present on stage. He even pretended to stage a walkout over this. He also said that Gadde was provided with cooling glasses even though it was dark but he has not be given sunglasses.
Asim Sarma’s light hearted banter and antics kept the audience rocking with laughter. Model and actress Nethra Raghuraman also gave Asim able company with her antics and comments directed at Gadde Sindhura. The two hosts made the evening a memorable one with their lighthearted banter.
By organising the annual Bollywood Masala Indian Film Festival for the second successive year in Brisbane, the capital of the Queensland state is showing symptoms of becoming the latest Australian city to catch Bollywood fever.
The Brisbane event is screening four of Festival patron Yash Chopra's movies.
"Indian films have come a long way with their technical advances, while retaining the core of Indian values and emotions which are the basic diet for viewers of Indian films," Indian film patriarch told the Courier Mail newspaper.
"What is gratifying is that while some of these films are different and made for mature audiences, they are all ingrained with human values and emotions. This is what makes the world go around," Yash Chopra added.
The Bollywood film festival in Brisbane is now considered an integral and important part of the local cinema calendar as it is being organised for the second year in running.
The timing of the aptly-named Masala Film Festival has coincided with the screening of the Hrithik Roshan starrer 'Krrish' in a number of Queensland cinemas.
Seven Indian films are to be shown in the festival being organised by Mitu Lange of MG Distribution.
Siddarth Anand's 'Salaam Namaste' is likely to attract largest chunk of Queenslanders. Others films being shown at the Brisbane festival include 'Parineeta', 'Swades', 'Bunty Aur Babli' and 'Veer Zaara'.
The Melbourne-based company has made name in the recent years for organising making of a number of Indian television serials, films and advertisements in Australia.
The Southern, and larger, counterparts of Brisbane - Melbourne and Sydney are already considered serious contenders for the unofficial title of overseas capital of spicy Indian movies.
While Melbourne, which hosted the making of 'Salaam Namaste', is the venue of an international photographic exhibition on Indian movies; Sydney would soon witness the making of the largest Indian film outside India.
The ongoing International Film festival in Hyderabad is coming to a close. While attendance to the festival is good, the actors and actresses seem to have ignored he festival. Not many stars have graced he occasion even though it has been nearly a week since the festival was inaugurated. Admitting that the festival lacked star presence, Tammareddy Bharadwaja said that some of the stars are expected to drop in the next couple of days.
The reason for many stars keeping themselves away was that the festival is being held openly and not indoor and hence stars fear that there would be a mad scramble by the fans to get closer. However, the real reason is the bitter controversy surrounding the arrangements for the Diamond Jubilee that has left many stars thinking twice before attending the festival.
Why Sonam Kapoor turned down role opposite Hrithik Roshan
2008/3/10 8:01:59
Saawariya girl Sonam Kapoor reportedly turned down an offer to star opposite superstar Hrithik Roshan . Sonam turned down the role because it was too ‘bold’ for her.
Rakesh Roshan , who is very close to Anil Kapoor and quite fond of Anil’s daughter Sonam, wanted to cast her in his forthcoming project 'Kites'.
“The girl’s role is extremely bold,” Anurag Basu , who will direct the film, was quoted as saying. Sonam, who is very conscious of her conservative image, excused herself because the role requires the girl to get “seriously sexy” with Hrithik in the scenic locales of New Mexico, Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
Roshan has finally signed up top Latin actress Barbara Mori as his son’s leading lady, which we told you last Friday. 'Kites' will also have Kangana Ranaut in a significant role. Kangana has previously been directed by Basu in Gangster and Metro .
The Saif Ali Khan – Preity Zinta starrer Salaam Namaste is one of the major attractions at the annual Bollywood Masala Indian Film Festival for the second successive year in Brisbane, the capital of the Queensland state.
While 'Salaam Namaste' is likely to attract largest chunk of Queenslanders. Others films being shown at the Brisbane festival include Parineeta , Swades , Bunty Aur Babli and Veer Zaara .
By organising the annual Bollywood Masala Indian Film Festival for the second successive year in Brisbane, the capital of the Queensland state is showing symptoms of becoming the latest Australian city to catch Bollywood fever.
The Brisbane event is screening four of Festival patron Yash Chopra's movies.
"Indian films have come a long way with their technical advances, while retaining the core of Indian values and emotions which are the basic diet for viewers of Indian films," Indian film patriarch told the Courier Mail newspaper.
"What is gratifying is that while some of these films are different and made for mature audiences, they are all ingrained with human values and emotions. This is what makes the world go around," Yash Chopra added.
The Bollywood film festival in Brisbane is now considered an integral and important part of the local cinema calendar as it is being organised for the second year in running.
The timing of the aptly named Masala Film Festival has coincided with the screening of the Hrithik Roshan starrer Krrish in a number of Queensland cinemas.
Seven Indian films are to be shown in the festival being organised by Mitu Lange of MG Distribution.
The Melbourne-based company has made name in the recent years for organising making of a number of Indian television serials, films and advertisements in Australia.
The Southern, and larger, counterparts of Brisbane - Melbourne and Sydney are already considered serious contenders for the unofficial title of overseas capital of spicy Indian movies.
While Melbourne, which hosted the making of 'Salaam Namaste', is the venue of an international photographic exhibition on Indian movies; Sydney would soon witness the making of the largest Indian film outside India.
Ratan Thiyam's 'Prologue' kicks off national drama fest
2008/1/4 3:34:53
The staging of acclaimed theatre personality Ratan Thiyam's "Prologue" kicked off the 10th Bharat Rang Mahotsav organised here to mark the golden jubilee year of the National School of Drama.
The 18-day festival, inaugurated on Thursday, will feature 76 productions, of which 57 are from India and 19 foreign ones, including from Afghanistan, China, Japan, Poland and Switzerland.
Twenty-six plays will be staged in Mumbai for a satellite festival.
A total of 10 plays from the northeast will be staged at seven venues of the festival here.
"Prologue" (Wahoudok) is the first play of Thiyam's Manipur Trilogy -- "Nine Hills One Valley" (Chinglon Mapan Tampak Ama) and "My Earth, My Love" (Hey Nungshibi Prithibi) being the other two.
"Prologue" links myth with reality as it encompasses a wide spectrum of human evolution right from birth of the universe to the modern times.
According to NSD chairperson Amal Allana, the golden jubilee celebration is "both a proud and emotional moment for us. We have grown tremendously over the past many years and today our annual theatre festival is regarded as the largest theatre festival in Asia".
The Mahotsav will also include plays directed by the NSD alumni from Bangladesh, Nepal and Mauritius.
2011/11/20 20:47:39 Hyderabad, Nov 20 (IANS) The nation's biggest and one of the largest in the world, The Golden Elephant 17th International Children's Film Festival, came to a close Sunday amidst much fanfare in this historic city of Hyderabad.
Over six days, close to 154 films from 38 countries were screened across 13 theatres in the city. At the final count, over 175,000 children from the nooks and corners of India and hundreds from across the world watched films, attended workshops and interacted with filmmakers who had come from the world over.
The festival was organised by the Children's Film Society, India (CFSI) and the Andhra Pradesh government.
Speaking to IANS, CFSI chairperson Nandita Das said: "The festival has raised the bar when it comes to children's film festival anywhere in the world. It will be a tough act to follow even for us."
The festival was not bereft of its share of problems, mostly with the screenings.
"For the first time something so ambitious was pulled off. The concept of makeshift theatres to give a festival feel had never been done in India. The three theatres constructed at Shilparamam in merely 20 days time held up well," CFSI CEO Sushovan Banerjee told IANS.
"The only problem was the sound because some films have optical sound which the projectors could not read. This created a hissing sound. We scouted the country for a fix but couldn't find it.
"This has been the biggest children's film festival and the kids had a blast. The size and scope of the festival has left everyone surprised," Banerjee said.
Some of the most celebrated and awarded films were screened including French animation master Michel Ocelot's Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival nominee "Tales of the Night", celebrated Russian animator Garri Bardin's "The Ugly Duckling" and the multiple award winning "Eep", "Lost in Africa", "The Crocodiles Strike Back" and "David and Kamal", among others.
However, it was Iranian film "Meadows" that won the most coveted prize of Golden Elephant for Best Feature Film, International.
Among the Indian films, "Chillar Party" proved to be the hot favourite, winning not only the Golden Elephant for Best Film, India from the actual jury, but also the same prize from the children's jury.
Directors Nitesh Tiwari and Vikas Bahl were present to receive the awards. Among the other winners were "I Am Kalam", Umesh Kulkarni's feature "Vihir", "Lost in Africa" from Denmark, and "Crocodile Strikes Back" from Germany.
Short film "Nineandahalf's Goodbye" from Germany won award both from the adults and children's jury.
Among the who's who of the Indian film industry, who paid more than a flying visit to festival, included names like Shyam Benegal, Vishal Bharadwaj, Rahul Dholakia, Seema Biswas, Sarika and Shaad Ali Sahgal.
2011/6/9 6:34:13 The largest tribal festival in the country, which is part of Telangana culture, the Samakka Saralamma jathra, would be celebrated at Medaram in Tadvai mandal of Warangal district from February 8 to February 11 next year.
Announcing this before media persons on Thursday, Warangal district Collector Rahul Bojja, said that the tribal festival would see the Goddess Saralamma being taken out on a platform (Gadde) on February 9 from the forests and would be returned on February 11, a Saturday.
The devotees would be able to perform rituals on February 10, the Collector said. He added that the administrated expects about 70 to 80 lakh people, some from the neighbouring states, to turn up for the biggest tribal Jathra in the country.
The dates for the festival were decided on after the Collector met district officials and local leaders today as part of efforts to make arrangements for the jathra.
Mr Bojja further said that the arrangements for the jathra would be finalised after further discussions with the local leaders and district officials.
He said that people believe that Goddesses Sammakka Saralamma fulfils their desires with her divine and miraculous powers.
After defying gravity and defeating criminals, Bollywood’s first masked superhero Krrish faces the scrutiny of management students examining one of India’s most successful films of 2006.
Staff at an Indian management school are preparing a case study of the film for students at 16 universities around the world to examine how its mixture of marketing and box office success has netted more than $35mn since its release last month.
Krrish broke Indian movie industry norms with lavish special effects and dramatic stunts along with new marketing techniques for India that ensured it easily surpassed its 10mn-dollar shooting cost, academics said.
A strong merchandising plan and simultaneous release at cinemas across the world to prevent piracy set new management standards in the increasingly professional Indian movie industry, said Prashant Salwan, a professor at the Indian Institute of Management in the central city of Indore.
Bollywood star Hrithik Roshan plays a superhero who inherited supernatural powers from an alien visitor which allow him to fight crime in Singapore where 60% of the film was shot.
“It’s a very big example of the corporatisation of the Indian film industry,” said Salwan. “Nobody ever did market research like this before. This was scientifically done.”
The Indian movie industry is the world’s largest movie producer by volume but earns just 1% of box office revenues, partly blamed on the chaotic nature of funding and film production.
But India’s major business houses are making growing inroads into the industry, edging out underworld financiers.
The case study will be ready by January 2007 and available to students in Latin America, China and Australia as well as India
Bollywood’s latest ‘voice’ Madhushree Bhattacharya is indebted to her mentor
From West Bengal, South America, Holland to amchi Mumbai. Her voice has literally taken her places; add to the fact that she has been a part of some of the most coveted, recent Bollywood films. Looks like, Madhushree Bhattacharya with her melodious rendition of ‘Kabhi Neem Neem’ from ‘Yuva’, is the latest singing sensation.
Elating music lovers with her unconventional sound she says, “I have often been mistaken for a classical singer only, but I have always been into soft music. Bollywood has truly given me a chance to explore my interest in film music,” adds Madhushree who is currently singing for Mani Ratnam’s ‘Guru’.
Originally from Kolkata, Madhushree who has trained in Hindustani classical music since the age of five began her music career in South America where she taught at the Indian Council of Cultural Relations for four years. “I taught as well as gave live performances in South America and Holland. I tried and built my expertise with Western classical and Latin music during that span which has helped me a lot,” she says.
Madhushree whose career graph includes acclaimed films like ‘Saathiya’, ‘Yuva’, ‘Kisna’, ‘Kal Ho Naa Ho’ and ‘Rang De Basanti’, has interestingly been a part of many films with AR Rahman’s music. It can be said that she was discovered by the maestro. “I sang a song for a Tamil film called ‘The Best Friend’ with Rahman giving the music for it. Almost a year later he called me to sing a thumri in Shaad Ali’s ‘Saathiya’. He is the one who recommended me to Mani Ratnam for ‘Yuva’ and now ‘Guru’. He has always encouraged newcomers and I am very grateful to him,” she says.
After building a substantial platform for herself abroad, she was obviously sceptical of starting from scratch in the very unpredictable Bollywood music industry. Ask her about her journey till date and she says, “Fortunately all my songs have been well-accepted. Working for ‘Guru’ has been very challenging because Maniji is a perfectionist. He might want things done a certain way but he never exerts pressure.”
Filmmaker Rakesh Roshan, who was looking for an international face to cast opposite his son Hrithik in his next film Kites, has signed top Latin actress Barbara Mori as the leading lady.
"The girl's role is extremely bold. Actually, we've decided to cast someone international because that's the personality and profile of the leading lady in my film," Anurag Basu, who will direct the film, was quoted as saying.
Several names had been put forward for the leading lady's role. Apparently, Rakesh Roshan, who is very close to Anil Kapoor and quite fond of Anil's daughter Sonam, wanted to cast her.
Sonam, who is conscious of her conservative image, excused herself because the role required the girl to get `seriously sexy' with Hrithik.
The film is also starring Kangana Ranaut while Rajesh Roshan will score the music for it. The remaining cast and credits are currently being finalised in Mumbai and Los Angeles.
Kites is to be shot in New Mexico, Las Vegas and Los Angeles in the US. The film is another Film Kraft Production's presentation and is scheduled to go into production by the end of July this year.
