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Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Robin Williams


Robin Williams is Most Amused
By RHODRI PHILLIPS
Published: 01 Oct 2008

ROBIN WILLIAMS is returning to the British stage after 25 years — to celebrate the Prince of Wales’s 60th birthday.
The Hollywood actor, 57, appears along with comedy legends JOHN CLEESE and ROWAN ATKINSON.

The televised gala, entitled We Are Most Amused, will be staged for The Prince’s Trust charity at London’s New Wimbledon Theatre on November 12, two days before Charles’s birthday.

Monty Python star Cleese, 68, promises something “special”. source

Saturday, September 27, 2008

MediaWatch: M.F. Husain's Controversial Paintings

MediaWatch: M.F. Husain's Controversial Paintings

Actor Paul Newman dies at age 83

The Hollywood screen legend Paul Newman has died at age 83 after cancer battle.

Last Updated: 4:39PM BST 27 Sep 2008
Comments 11 | Comment on this article

The actor died Friday after a long battle with cancer at his farmhouse near Westport, his publicist Jeff Sanderson said. He was surrounded by his family and close friends.
In May, Newman he had dropped plans to direct a fall production of "Of Mice and Men," citing unspecified health issues.
Newman was nominated for Academy Awards 10 times. A screen legend by his mid-40s, he waited a long time for his first Oscar, winning in 1987 for The Color of Money, a reprise of the role of pool shark "Fast" Eddie Felson, whom Newman portrayed in the 1961 film The Hustler.
His most recent academy nod was a supporting actor nomination for the 2002 film Road to Perdition. One of Newman's nominations was as a producer; the other nine were in acting categories. He also won two honorary Oscars.
He was equally at home in comedies and dramas such as Hud.
He sometimes teamed with his wife, Joanne Woodward, also an Oscar winner, for the 1957 film Three Faces of Eve.
Newman appeared in about 60 movies, including Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Hustler, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Sting.
He worked with some of the greatest directors of the past half century, from Alfred Hitchcock and John Huston to Robert Altman, Martin Scorsese and the Coen brothers.
His co-stars included Elizabeth Taylor, Lauren Bacall, Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks and, most famously, Robert Redford, his sidekick in Butch Cassidy and The Sting.
With his strong, classically handsome face and piercing blue eyes, Newman was a heartthrob just as likely to play against his looks, becoming a favourite with critics for his convincing portrayals of rebels, tough guys and losers.
"I was always a character actor," he once said. "I just looked like Little Red Riding Hood."

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Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Frieda Pinto wins People’s Choice Award in Toronto for Slumdog Millionaire

‘I am on top of the world’
Prithwish Ganguly
Wednesday, September 24, 2008 23:59 IST


From the bylanes of Malad to accepting the People’s Choice Award in Toronto for Slumdog Millionaire, actor Frieda Pinto has leaped far, writes Prithwish Ganguly

Mumbai-based model Frieda Pinto is on cloud nine as her debut film, Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire, has won the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto film festival.

The film is also said to screen at the London Film Festival apart from perhaps making the cut to the Oscar nominations. “It is unbelievable. I never thought that a 23-year-old from a suburb (Malad) of Mumbai would experience something so huge. Toronto was very special for me. I accepted the award on behalf of the cast and crew since no one was present that day. I gave an acceptance speech in front of distinguished people. I’m on top of the world,” says Frieda, who plays the character of Latika in the film.

Frieda says Danny (has made films like The Beach, Trainspotting and 28 Days Later) is a fine teacher. “The most important thing that he taught me is ‘never to over express in front of camera’. We Indians are very expressive and we tend to do the same on camera, which is bad,” she says.

Frieda and Dev Patel, who plays the male lead Jamal in the film, received some wonderful compliments in Toronto. “In one of the after parties people were calling us by our screen names and even said, ‘You guys are the next Julia Roberts and Richard Gere’. Some even compared us to Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. It was nice hearing such statements,” she reveals.


Slumdog Millionaire is a Hollywood comedy that also stars Anil Kapoor and Irrfan Khan. It revolves around a teenager who desperately tries to become a contestant in Kaun Banega Crorepati (the Hindi version of Who Wants to be A Millionaire) in order to contact a girl, an ardent fan of the show. The movie will release in India in February 2009.

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The Godfather tops 500 Films

The Godfather is the don of Empire's top 500 film poll
Citizen Kane fails to make the top 10 while The Fountain and Superman Returns make surprise appearances further down the list

Ben Child
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday September 24 2008 11:30 BST
Article history

A big hit ... Marlon Brando in The Godfather

Well at least it wasn't Citizen Kane again. The Godfather has topped a list of the top 500 films of all time compiled by Empire magazine following a poll of readers and film industry luminaries.

The Godfather
Release: 1971
Country: USA
Cert (UK): 18
Runtime: 175 mins
Directors: Francis Ford Coppola
Cast: Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, James Caan, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall
More on this film
Francis Ford Coppola's 1972 tale of an American mafia clan beat off competition from two movies featuring Harrison Ford: Raiders of the Lost Ark, which presumably experienced a bump following the release of the latest sequel this summer, and The Empire Strikes Back. The Shawshank Redemption and Jaws were at four and five.

The rest of the top 10 was filled by Goodfellas, Apocalypse Now, Singin' in the Rain, Pulp Fiction and Fight Club, the success of the latter suggesting that David Fincher's 1999 film continues to grow in stature as the years go by.

Empire polled more than 150 directors, including Quentin Tarantino and Mike Leigh, as well as 50 film critics and more than 10,000 members of the public. This summer's biggest hit, The Dark Knight, unsurprisingly made the top 20 - the only film from the 21st century to do so - and there were places in the top 60 for all three Lord of the Rings films.

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Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Mangesh Hadawale's Marathi film Tingya sent to the Oscars

Marathi film Tingya sent to the Oscars
Daajiba Kondke
September 23, 2008 14:47 IST
Mera bachha daud sakta hai toh use daudnahi chahiye. Isliye mujhe jo karna hai woh toh main karunaga [If my child can run, I will see to it that he will be in a race]," says Ravi Rai, who produced the Marathi film, Tingya. The critically acclaimed film lost out to Aamir Khan's Taare Zameen Par, as India's official entry to the 81st Annual Academy Awards in the Foreign Films category.

Now, Rai has decided to enter Tingya in the Oscars race independently.

Tingya, a beautiful made film by first-time director Mangesh Hadawale, shows the emotional bond between a old, ill bull and a boy in rural India. Ravi Rai had faith in Mangesh's story and gave him complete freedom to make the film. This, at a time when no other producer was willing to finance the film. Mangesh had already faced rejection from 40 producers when he narrated the story to Rai.

"He was the 41st producer and the first one, who showed faith in my vision and supported me to realise my dream. I am with him all the way for the Oscars race," said Mangesh.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Supreme Court clears M.F. Husain of any Blasphemy




SC verdict a great gift: M F Husain

9 Sep 2008, 0534 hrs IST, Anubha Sawhney Joshi,TNN

NEW DELHI: It's probably the best birthday present he could have ever received and artist M F Husain is graciously thanking the country's highest court. "The Supreme Court has shown it is actually supreme... What a great gift" said Husain, who turns 93 on September 17.

Over the phone from Dubai the artist added, "At last they have understood the dignity of Indian contemporary art. This is not a victory for me only but one for the Indian contemporary art movement. In fact, it is the collective force of this movement that has finally been recognized by the SC."

Husain, who has been in self-imposed exile since January 2006 when right-wing groups threatened him with dire consequences, says he misses his country and can't wait to get back.

"I want to have khus chai at an Irani cafe in Mumbai and eat jalebi sitting in the CCI club lawns. I also miss having Dilli ka paan..." he said, promising to return soon.

India's artist community came together to congratulate the living legend. Friend and fellow-artist Tyeb Mehta, though hardly able to speak, insisted on coming on the phone after he was informed of the good news.

"The SC has lifted what was a national shame. I'm very happy for Husain and for the artist community. Please convey my good wishes to my friend," said Mehta.

Most artists, of course, welcomed the decision but said it should have come earlier. Said Delhi-based artist Ram Kumar, "This is good news but it should have happened much earlier."

Added Krishan Khanna, "I'm so thankful this decision has come in Husain's lifetime. This ridiculous state of affairs has gone on too long but better late than never." Gallery owner Arun Vadehra is ecstatic. "Husain has been a dear friend. My faith in the judiciary has been restored with this verdict."

Anjolie Ela Menon, who met Husain a few months ago in Dubai, is rejoicing. "He has the energy of a young man and his life is to paint everyday. I'm sure Husain never meant any insult to anybody. Which other Indian painter has made 300 paintings of the Mahabharat? I think this self-appointed moral police needs to stop. Husain is undoubtedly the grand old man of Indian contemporary art and we must get him back here."

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M. F. Husain - the grand old man of Indian contemporary art turns 93


The many hues of Husain
Riddhi Doshi
Tuesday, September 16, 2008 23:59 IST

Interesting nuggets about the maestro’s life.

He turns 93 today. One of the most popular and talented Indian masters is all set to have a small family dinner in Dubai, to celebrate the occasion. He will also unveil one of his large works that he has made for a bank there. Why such a low key birthday and he says, “It’s not for me to celebrate the birthday with a bang. It is the time for my grandchildren to have a big birthday party.”

Akbar Padamsee, Husain’s junior in the Progressive Art Group, who calls him a ‘miraculous artist’, narrates a story that very few know. Akbar says, “Husain was just about 20 years old when he came to Mumbai from Indore. He used to live on the pavements of the Badar Baugh area near Grant Road, as he didn’t have a house to live in then. A few hoarding artists worked there. Once they had left their work to go for lunch, Husain drew the entire sketch without using the grids. The hoarding artists immediately hired him. On his second day in Mumbai, Husain had a job and right opposite was his future wife. The girl living in the opposite building invited him for dinner; her father liked Husain and got the daughter married to him. Husain soon moved to his wife’s place and in a room of 10 by 12, he made a loft which became his first art studio. When I had met him on one occasion in his house, he had narrated the story to me.” Akbar adds, “On his birthday, I hope that the miraculous artists always stay miraculous.
Ram Rahman, renowned lensman who has shot Husain many times, narrates one of his fondest memories of time spent with the maverick artist. “He asked me to come to Dubai last December. His old Czechoslovakian girlfriend, Maria, had returned to him about 90 paintings that Husain had given her in the early 1960s. Husain was very excited as he believes that those were a few of his best works—the works of his younger days. He had carefully displayed all the drawings and paintings in one of the rooms of his house. He expressed a desire to open a museum in India, where he wanted to show these works. And, while I was there, he insisted that I see Madhuri Dixit’s Aaja Nachle. If I remember correctly, when he saw it with me, it was his fifth viewing!

He admitted that though the movie was not very well ‘nevertheless she was on the screen’. Everyone can learn from him how to keep young at heart. His zest for life is admirable.

d_riddhi@dnaindia.net

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