Nomination for oscar

 'Barfi' Nominated for oscars:

The magic of Anurag Basu's Barfi! has worked. The heartwarming movie, about love between a deaf and mute boy and an autistic girl, has been chosen as India's official entry for the Academy Awards in the best foreign language film category.
The decision was taken at a Film Federation of India (FFI) meeting in Hyderabad on Saturday night.
"Barfi! has indeed been chosen as the country's official entry this year," FFI secretary general Suparn Sen said.
The movie, starring Ranbir Kapoor as Murphy aka Barfi, and Priyanka Chopra as Jhilmil, has been lauded in film circles for its simplistic and moving narrative that has managed to tug at the heartstrings of audiences which equally enjoy commercial potboilers.
The makers are joyous about the news.
"We are honoured that Barfi! has been selected to represent India as its official entry to the Academy Awards 2013. Barfi! is very close to the hearts of all of us at UTV, and it gives us great satisfaction that a film we have developed and nurtured from its inception has met with so much love from audiences and critics worldwide," Siddharth Roy Kapur, managing director - Studios, Disney UTV, said in a statement.
"An added source of pride is that this is the fourth UTV film in the last seven years to have been selected to represent India at the Academy awards; our earlier selections being Rang De Basanti (2006), Harishchandrachi Factory (2009) and Peepli Live (2010)," he added.
Barfi! released September 14, and is still drawing full houses in theatres.

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/barfi-india-official-entry-foreign-film-category-oscars/1/221812.html

Dhola by jelly

SUPER SUNDAY

India to take on defending champions today at 7.30pm:  

 India's listless bowling attack will aim to put up an improved performance ahead of the Super Eight stage when the team takes on England in its final group league encounter in the ICC World Twenty20 here on Sunday.

Both India and England are through to the 'Super Eight' but the contrasting manner of their respective victories certainly makes Stuart Broad and Co favourites ahead of a clash that has gained marquee status over the years.

While the Indian team management will be looking to plug the loopholes that appeared in the match against Afghanistan, England, after a facile 116-run win, will look to repeat that performance against a much better team.

The cause of concern for India across all formats has been their bowlers and it is no different in Twenty20.

It is Zaheer's poor show that has led to the entire Indian attack looking ordinary.

Add to it, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's penchant for playing only four specialist bowlers always leaves the team in a high risk zone where it is expected that the part-timers need to perform above expectations.

The Mumbai-pacer has looked totally out of sorts in the net sessions so far.

Although it is too early to predict whether Zaheer will be benched considering that both Irfan Pathan and Laxmipathy Balaji have bowled better than him, but it can be said that he is playing the shortest format on borrowed time.

The 22-yard strip at the R Premadasa Stadium has been of great help for the pace bowlers but the 'Men in Blue' are more reliant on their spinners.

The big question, however, will be whether senior off-spinner Harbhajan Singh will get a chance in the playing XI. Knowing the perennial weakness of the English batsmen against spinners, Dhoni might just feel tempted to play the veteran of 98 Tests and 229 ODIs.

Drshan Kro Veshno Devi Bhavan De

What’s cooking between Salman Khan and his ex Sangeeta Bijlani?

Mumbai: You have got to give it to Salman Khan. The man surely knows how to keep his former flames happy and even be friends with them after breaking up. We all know that Katrina Kaif is a regular feature at the Khan household, but it seems even Sangeeta Bijlani is warmly welcomed to the Khan-daan.

For those who came in late, Sangeeta Bijlani and Salman Khan used to date in the early 1990s and had even plans to get married. Sangeeta, who is a former Miss India and appeared in the hit movie Tridev, then married cricketer Mohd Azharuddin while Salman Khan had high-profile romances with Pakistani starlet Somy Ali and then Miss World-turned-filmstar Aishwarya Rai.

At the recent Ganpati visarjan, the entire Khan family came together and so did some of Salman’s close friends. Sangeeta was spotted bonding with Salman’s sisters Alvira and Arpita along with actresses Preity Zinta and Sonakshi Sinha.

Bijlani even came for the special screening of ‘Heroine’ with the Khan family and happily posed with them for the shutterbugs post screening of the film.

The big question is, Is Sangeeta planning to make a comeback in films or in Salman’s life?

Oficial Trailer of upcoming pujabi movie: Burrraaahhhh

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9zOCvjvPE4

review

'Heroine': Kareena's bravest film till date

'Heroine' review: Commercial Kareena's bravest film till date

These are the main ingredients of each and every Madhur Bhandarkar film. And ‘Heroine’ is no different really. After giving an insight into the world of Fashion, Page 3 media and Corporate world, Bhandarkar delves into a territory which is perhaps the most familiar to him - Bollywood.

Bhandarkar narrates the story of a shining actress Mahi Arora (Kareena Kapoor) who seems to be slowly losing her sheen all thanks to her personal life and erratic mood swings. Even though Mahi is considered the best in the industry and is the reigning queen of Bollywood who everyone wants to compete with, Mahi seems to be more interested in getting married to her boyfriend, superstar Aryan Khanna (Arjun Rampal). Aryan, meanwhile, is going through a divorce and remains non-committal towards Mahi, which leads to her downfall.

Wronged by the people whom she is most close to, Mahi seeks psychiatric treatment and plans to resurrect her career and her life. While she manages to re build her image, get a new boyfriend (Randeep Hooda), sign some fabulous endorsements and also some films, Mahi realises that to be at the top of the game, she needs to compromise her own morals and ethics and leave behind people who probably care for her the most.

The premise of the film, like every other film of Bhandarkar's, remains the same. Lead protagonist who has negative shades goes through the highs and lows in her life, enjoys a period of success and then goes through a low phase only to reform and rebuild herself as a human being. What Bhandarkar shows is not new to most of us; it is just presented in a snazzy, glamorous way.

The film could easily be written off but for Kareena’s performance. As the bi-polar, erratic, insecure and vulnerable fading star, Kareena gives a superb performance. She looks beautiful, glamorous and makes Mahi her own. In fact, some of the incidents seem to be lifted straight out of Kareena’s life (yes, there is an MMS scandal as well). Kareena, who has for a long time been used as a glamour quotient in Rs 100 crore films, gets a meaty role and gives it her best shot. Some of the scenes in the film, although a bit unnecessary, need courage to be enacted and it comes as a surprise when a hard-core commercial actress like Kareena agrees to do such scenes. And then, does them so convincingly.

Arjun Rampal, as the confused, non-committal, playboy Aryan Khanna, gives a believable performance. It is also refreshing to see Randeep Hooda play a charming cricketer madly in love with Mahi, especially after doing a dark role in ‘Jism2’. The man though, is underused. In fact, Madhur manages to cast some very talented actors like Shahana Goswami, Ranvir Shorey and Sanjay Suri in walk away cameos who ably support the film’s narrative.

The film has a very linear narrative and for the greater part of the first half, one keeps wondering what exactly the plot is. A little bit of editing would also do a lot of good to the otherwise predictable storyline.
Does ‘Heroine’ work? Yes, but only because of Kareena Kapoor. From doing the raunchy act in ‘Halkat Jawaani’ to the scenes where she is battling depression and popping pills, to the I-don’t-care-attitude of a confident actress, Kareena makes Mahi memorable and lovable.