Zee Cine Awards to be held in Singapore

Zee Entertainment Enterprises will organize the Zee Cine Awards at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore on 14 January, 2011. The Zee Cine Awards which is considered as the grandest tribute paid to the world's largest film industry and has attracted the stalwarts of Indian cinema over the years.

Actors like Akshay Kumar, Shahrukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan amongst others are likely to attend the evening. Marina Bay Sands president and CEO Thomas Arasi said that the Indian market is extremely essential to them. The team believe that by hosting the Zee Cine Awards here at Singapore’s new iconic platform, the whole team is stepping forward to reach the world.

He further said that ‘The Zee Cine Awards’ is regarded as the most widely recognized and respected in the awards processes in India and abroad. The awards ceremony will be held at the Sands Expo and Convention Center in the Grand Ballroom with a simulcast to the Event Plaza. Zee Cinema business head Mohan Gopinath added, it is fitting that Zee Cine Awards 2011, which celebrates the emergence of Indian cinema on a global platform is partnering with the Marina Bay Sands. We wish that this time too, the award function proves to be successful in every means…

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4 National Film Awards for Paa, a morale booster for AB Corp.

The National Film Awards for the year 2009 were announced few days back. This time the Bachchans were lucky to bag several awards. AB Corporation’s movie “Paa”won four National Awards. Amitabh Bachchan who was quite happy with this achievement of the corporation was quoted saying that the 4 National Awards bagged by Paa have acted like a morale booster for AB Corp that has gone through bad times.


Amitabh also said that these awards have been godsend for AB Corp. and people from AB Corp are really, really happy for a company that has been through some terrible times. Not only the movie Paa won the National Film Awards but also the 67 year old actor Amitabh Bachchan won his fourth National Film Award this year. Earlier, the actor had won National Awards for the movies Saat Hindustani, Agneepath and Black.

The four National Film Awards 2009 won by “Paa” include those of the best actor (Amitabh Bachchan), best supporting actress (Arundhati Naag), best Hindi film and best make-up (Christein Tinsley

Ravaan will not be shown in IIFA function

Director Mani Rantam said that his upcoming movie Ravaan, starring by Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan will not be screened on 11th India International Film Academy (IIFA). He said as Ravaan shooting is incomplete so there is no use to show promos of movie in IIFA with is in Sri Lanka.

From the sources Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is not invited for IIFA, Mani Ratnam said he don’t have any news about this. This is not my job, who to know who all are coming or not. The film is still not ready, so we have decided not to show in IIFA.

Because of not having good relations with Sri Lanka, Tamil film actor has rejected film events in Sri Lanka, Rajnikanth, Kamal Hassan, Ajith and Surya. Bollywood super star Amitabh Bachchan is a brand ambassador of IIFA, so he will surly attend the ceremony.

12th London Asian Film Festivals.

Bollywood fans has a great opportunity to catch there stars in UK to interact with them, who they have seen on screen. From 5-14 March 2010 all the celebrities were available at the 12th London Asian Film Festival.

Including Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Jaya Bachchan, Soha Ali Khan and her mother Sharmila Tagore. The festival will give audiences the chance to see some of Bollywood's biggest hits of the last few years in London's West End, including Tarun Mansukhani's DOSTANA, Mani Ratnam's GURU and Shimit Amin's CHAK DE! INDIA.

Abhi and Aish waiting for IIFA Awards

Director Mani Ratnam is awaited for there film Raavan at this year’s International Indian Film Awards (IIFA).

The movie is about to complete and is going to release on 18th June, 2010. It may be remembered that Mani Ratnam’s Yuva , Hindi version of Tamil movie ‘Aayutha Ezhuthu’ was premiered at the IIFA Award in Singapore.


Indian star like Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai and Vikram are having huge expectation.

Best Villians at Filmfare Awards

Since this category at Filmfare Awards was instituted in 1992, it could not be bestowed upon some of the famous Bollywood villains of the preceding decades. Amjad Khan for his role of Gabbar Singh in
Sholay (1975), Amrish Puri for his role of Mogambo in Mr. India (1987), unfortunately never won. Even great actors like Pran, Prem
Chopra, Jeevan, Ajit and Ranjeet, who were known for their portrayal of negative roles in the 70s and 80s never got the honour.

But there are lucky ones too. Check out who they are.

Ashutosh Rana is the only actor to have won the award twice in a row, in 1999 and 2000. Amrish Puri was nominated consecutively for three years from 1992 to 1994. Also, Danny Dengzongpa is the only actor to have been nominated twice in the same year in 1995, although he failed to win.

Priyanka Chopra and Abhishek Bachchan are the only actors to have been
nominated in another acting category along with the Best Villain category for the same role. In the 2004, Abhishek Bachchan was nominated and eventually won the Best Supporting Actor award for his role in Yuva.

In 1998, Kajol became the first female actor to be nominated in this category and win the award for her role in Gupt. Priyanka Chopra was the last female actor to win in this category. She won it for Aitraaz in 2005.

Other actresses to have been nominated are Urmila Matondkar for Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya in 2002, Shabana Azmi for Makdee in 2003, Bipasha Basu for Jism in 2004, Preity Zinta for Armaan in 2004 and Amrita Singh for Kalyug in 2006.

The are some 14 actors who have received multiple Best Villain nominations and these include famous names as Shah Rukh Khan and Nana

The Grand IIFA 2009 in Macau

In an attempt to take Bollywood in the booming Chinese market and the rest of eastern Asia, an annual road show to China's coastal casino enclave of Macau is being taken up. Bollywood's first family,the Bachchan clan, led by millenium star Amitabh Bachchan, his son Abhishek, and daughter-in-law, former Miss World Aishwarya Rai, will walk the red carpet as the International Indian Film Academy hosts its 10th annual weekend conference from Thursday to Saturday.

The world's most prolific film industry is hoping to translate its large output into bigger revenue by widening its viewership beyond native Indians.

Overseas income is already contributing more to the $2.3 billion Indian movie industry, with foreign box office revenues jumping from 5.3 percent of total revenue in 2005 to 9.8 percent in 2008, according to a report commissioned by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. With their large ethnic Indian populations, the U.S. and Britain are now Bollywood's two biggest foreign markets.

"The success and popularity of 'Slumdog Millionaire,' with its Indian locales, artists and music, underscores the growing influence of Indian cinema and augurs well for Bollywood movie markets targeting global audiences," the FICCI report said.

Amitabh Bachchan told a recent media briefing promoting the International Indian Film Academy weekend that the Indian film industry needs to do a better job of selling itself. Indian films typically devote 10 percent to 15 percent of their budget to marketing, compared to 30 percent in Hollywood, according to the FICCI report.

"Hollywood has greater marketing skills. We don't know how to market our product because we don't have the funds," the 66-year-old actor said, adding that, "we are trying."

The film academy has held previous overseas events in London, Dubai, Johannesburg, Amsterdam and Bangkok.

In addition to showcasing several new Indian films, this year's event in Macau will include a conference of business executives from India and China on Friday that will focus on collaboration between the two countries, with Indian Ambassador to China Nirupama Rao making the
pitch for her home country.

Famed Bollywood composer A.R. Rahman, an Oscar winner for his "Slumdog Millionaire" score, will hold a workshop on Friday. Heartthrob Hrithik Roshan and wife Suzanne will model for Indian designers at a fashion show Thursday night.

The three-day program culminates Saturday night, 13 June, with the annual IIFA Awards, where Abhishek Bachchan, his wife Aishwarya Rai, Roshan and fellow stars Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra and Katrina Kaif will compete for top acting honors.

Amitabh discloses nominations for IIFA awards

The countdown for the much awaited, fun-filled and exciting tenth IIFA Weekend at The Venetian Macau has begun.

Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan revealed the names of films nominated in the Best Film category for IIFA awards 2009 while addressing a press conference here on Tuesday.

Amitabh Bachchan was here to promote International Indian Film Awards which will be organized at the Venetian, Macau (China).

Big B told that amongst the films released in the year 2008, ‘A Wednesday', ‘Dostana', ‘Ghajini', 'Race', ‘Jodha Akbar' and ‘Rock On' have been nominated for the Best Film award.
Amitabh Bachchan, the brand ambassador of IIFA confirmed that his daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai Bachchan will perform at the event. Sonam Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor, Riteish Deshmukh, Lara Dutta, Sushmita Sen, Bipasha Basu and Boman Irani will be the other star attractions performing in the event.
Amitabh Bachchan said, ‘My conscience does not permit me to accept the award under the present circumstances when the citizens ofour country are subjected to such acts of inhuman horror.' With categories like the Star of the Decade – Male and Female, Movie of the Decade, Music of the Decade and Director of the Decade, the IDEA IIFA Awards will honour the best of Indian cinema.

Also setting the stage alight once more, will be the dynamic Abhishek Bachchan who has performed twice before on the IIFA stage. Bachchan planted a tree after the press conference at a mall here. It is worth mentioning here that IIFA weekend will take place on June 11-13 this year.

54th Idea Filmfare Awards

It was a night to forget differences and bond together to celebrate and reward a year of hard work as the who’s who of the film industry – including Shahrukh Khan , who still has his arm in a sling – gathered together at Mumbai’s Yashraj Studios. Interestingly, SRK and Gauri Khan took seat next to the Bachchans . Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor sat with Rekha .

THE HOSTS:



Hosts Ranbir Kapoor and Imran Khan rocked the night with their wit, humour and chutzpah. Imran mimicked mamu Aamir Khan by going bare-chest in the Ghajini style and writing the awards on his chest. Ranbir spoofed SRK’s act from Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.

The two young hosts also argued about who among them would be the next superstar. Ranbir told Imran: “Bura mat manna, lekin log tera naam sun kar Aamir Khan ke baare mein sochte hain”. To which Imran replied: “aur tera naam soch kar Sonam Kapoor ke baare mein sochte hain”. Even as the two stars argued, Darsheel Safary ( Taare Zameen Par ) emerged on stage and proclaimed himself as the next superstar.

Segments of the show were also hosted by Karan Johar , Konkona Sen Sharma and Deepika Padukone .


PERFORMANCES:



The most sterling performance of the evening came from Farhan Akhtar , who sang rock numbers from his film Rock On . Katrina Kaif performed to a medley of her songs while Neil Nitin Mukesh took the stage with Bipasha Basu. Shahid Kapur impressed with his energetic dance performance; Abhishek Bachchan was cool-as-a-cucumber as he got jiggy with a bunch of babes on the tunes of “Maa Da Ladla”.

EMOTIONAL MOMENTS:

The most emotional moment of the night was when Arjun Rampal accepted the award for the Best Supporting actor for his performance in ‘Rock On’. Overwhelmed by emotion, the actor choked on his words and broke down.

Another charged up moment was when Shahrukh Khan took the stage and raved about the success of Slumdog Millionaire and particularly of A R Rahman and Resul Pookutty at the Oscars. Rahman was present at the function with a few kid stars of ‘Slumdog’.

The evening itself began on a patriotic note with the playing of the National Anthem.