MUMBAI: For all the film-buffs, here we bring some interesting updates from the tinsel town. Read on...

Film industry needs to pay more to writers: Aamir Khan

Actor-producer Aamir Khan feels the Hindi industry needs to pay more to writers, who are a fundamental part of the moviemaking process.

Aamir attended the grand finale of Cinestaan India's Storyteller Script Contest 2018, and said such competitions could bring out more talent. He was joined by writers Juhi Chaturvedi and Anjum Rajabali here on Monday.

"I felt really happy when I came to know that Anjum (Rajabali) is very keen to organise the screenwriting competition because India is a huge country. There are people who want to tell different kind of stories but they don't get the opportunity, so it's a good platform where people can send their stories," the PK actor said.

"The film industry also needs competitions like these as we need fresh writers with different perspectives so, when Anjum invited me, Juhi (Chaturvedi) and Rajuji (Hirani). We thought it is a really nice attempt and we should support it," the actor said.

Writers' remuneration has always been a talking point in the film industry.

Asked whether writers should be paid enough so that they can come up with good stories, Aamir said, "This script writing competition is an endeavour to encourage people to come and write and we shouldn't stop here. In the film industry as producers, we should be paying much more to the writers.

"I choose my film on the basis of scripts, so I think writers are the most important aspect of filmmaking because a story is the origin of a film. When a writer writes a good script, after that we all associate with that project. In that sense, a writer is actually the fundamental person in this whole process."

Aamir said he is trying to create a revenue model for writers in the industry, in collaboration with writers and producers.

"There is no doubt that a film is a director's medium because he becomes the narrator of the story and it's a team work where actors and technicians are also involved. But the writer is a person from whom a story originates, so I feel a writer should get revered position and the monetary compensation for a writer should definitely be higher in the industry.

"On that issue, we have discussed a lot and we are trying to create a revenue model also for that."

As part of Cinestaan India's Storytellers Script Contest, launched by Cinestaan Digital Pvt Ltd, winners were awarded cash prizes worth Rs 50 lakh.

While giving away the top award, Aamir said, "Without a good script, there can never be a good film. There are many good and deserving writers in our country. However, not all of them have the right platform or opportunities to showcase their talent. This platform aims at achieving precisely that."

Featuring in Guru Randhawa's song 'great opportunity' for Zaara Yesmin

Actress-model Zaara Yesmin says featuring in Guru Randhawa's song Tere Te, backed by music label T-Series, has been a great opportunity for her.

Zaara interacted with the media here to promote Tere Te on Tuesday. It is sung by Guru and features Zaara with Ikka. It has been composed by Vee and Abhijeet Vaghani.

"This is the first time that I am joining hands with Guru Randhawa as his actress in this song. It's a dance number and it's quite different from other songs of Guru. It has been choreographed by Melvin Louis and directed by Gifty. We all have worked really hard to create this song. It's a hot New Year anthem for all party people out there," Zaara said.

A few days back, Guru had shared the first look of the music video on social media. The poster looked all quirky.

Zaara, who has earlier worked with renowned singers like Darshan Raval and Falak Shabir, said, "Guru Randhawa is a great singer. In this song, he is shaking his legs like a pro to Melvin Louis' choreography. My experience of working with the entire team was quite amazing.

"They are very co-operative and they motivate new talent like me to give their best. I feel featuring in Tere Te was a great opportunity for me to work with the T-Series team. I hope that audience will appreciate the song once it releases."

The song is more special for T-Series as it has been released on Bhushan Kumar's birthday on Tuesday.

Big B pays off over 1,300 UP farmers' loans

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan has cleared the loans of over one thousand farmers in Uttar Pradesh.

"Cleared the loans of farmers from Uttar Pradesh... select few were booked by me on train from Varanasi, and given OTS ('OTS: One Time Settlement with Bank Of India')," Amitabh tweeted late on Monday.

He also personally met some of them to give them their bank letters.

"And then the meeting with the farmers from UP and the giving of the OTS certificates to a select few from the 1398.

"Let the Laxmi of the house, the daughter give them that. Laxmi the Goddess of wealth. Shweta, the daughter, the Laxmi of the house," he wrote.

He shared his photographs with Shweta on the blogpost.

Amitabh did the OTS and invited 70 farmers to Mumbai by blocking an entire train compartment for them to personally give away the bank letters.

Earlier in 2017, the Piku star helped over 350 farmers by paying off their debts and helping the families of 44 Maharashtra soldiers who died in combat.

He had then handed over the amount to the farmers and the soldier's families along with his wife Jaya.

‘2.0' delivers global message, says Akshay Kumar

Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar says his upcoming film 2.0 attempts to convey a global message on climate change.

"There is a moment in the story that emphasizes the other living creatures on planet earth. It says that the planet not only belongs to the human race but also to animals and birds," said the Padman actor during a media interaction on Monday.

"Though animals and plants cannot raise their voice against human beings, they have the right to live. So do not spoil the mother nature," he said.

The film is a sequel of Enthirana released in 2010 and written and directed by S Shankar. It featured Rajnikanth and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

Akshay is working with Shankar for the first time. "We used to speak in Marathi on the sets and we used to enjoy that. Shankar is a brilliant director to work with and he is a very humble man. It was so interesting to see how he would add a quirk of entertainment in any or every dialogue of our daily conversation."

"He is a very professional person. He narrated me the whole story, the screenplay and I knew each character of the film from the beginning. I was impressed by the concept and wondered why nobody has explored the subject so far," said Akshay

The film that reportedly had a budget of Rs 543 crore is considered the most expensive film of India made in 3D.

The actor urges the audience to watch the film in 3D at the theatre.

"This film is not converted into a 3D film after shooting, but originally shot in 3D format and therefore the whole experience was different for us. It will be a unique experience for the audience as well," said the actor.

The trailer of the film was released on 3 November.

Asked if the extensive use of technology would overpower the core story of the film, Akshay said, "I do not think so. I would rather say that the use of technology has enhanced the narration. The global message of the film comes across crystal clear."

2.0 is releasing on 29 November.

Bollywood accepting new talent: Akhil Sachdeva

Singer Akhil Sachdeva, who got instant fame with his song Humsafar from the film Badrinath Ki Dulhania, says though he is not getting the kind of songs he wants to do, but Bollywood has changed in terms of accepting new talent.

"Post Humsafar, it has been an amazing journey. I won't say that I am getting a lot of film songs as of now, because the kind of songs I am getting are not the ones that I really want to do," Sachdeva told leading publications when asked how his career has shaped up after the hit song.

"As I am not from the industry and Bollywood takes its own time to accept new talent and voice...plus I have been travelling a lot due to my shows, I haven't got a lot of time in Bombay (Mumbai). Now I have bought a house in Bombay and a lot of music composers and directors are approaching me for work. So in short, Humsafar has been an immense success and it remains in everybody's heart and mind which is helping me with all the luck and charm," he added.

Sachdeva feels that Bollywood is changing in terms of accepting new talent not only in the music industry but overall as well.

"I think it is every musician's dream to be a famous name in the industry. No matter it's your time or not, one should not lose their calm and get demotivated by any ups and downs. As an artiste, I feel one should continue creating new music and leave the rest to destiny. As for me, Humsafar was destined to be a super hit," he said.

Sachdeva performed at the ongoing The Funtastic Festival with a live performance on 23 November at DLF Mall of India. As part of the festival, the mall lined up a schedule of events which started from 14 November and will be on till 31 December for mall regulars to have a fun-filled year ender.

Is it difficult for Sachdeva to maintain a balance between films and albums, he said, "No, I don't think it is difficult to maintain this balance as its part of every musician's journey and I am an artist and most of the time goes into writing and composing new music."

Salim Khan to be feted at IFFI

Bollywood's popular scriptwriter Salim Khan will be presented with the IFFI Special Award at the closing ceremony of the 49th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) for his Lifetime Contribution to Cinema.

He will be awarded at the closing ceremony of the gala here on Wednesday, Minister of Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore announced on Monday.

"It's a privilege for IFFI to honour Salim Khan for his outstanding contribution to Indian cinema," Rathore tweeted.

As a master screenwriter, Salim is known for having penned the screenplay of several iconic films such Deewaar and Zanjeer. He had a formidable partnership with celebrated writer Javed Akhtar.

Akshay Kumar unveils '2.0' filter on Facebook

Ahead of the release of his forthcoming film 2.0, actor Akshay Kumar on Monday treated his fans by launching the film's special filter on Facebook.

Through the filter, one can try out Akshay's wrathful avatar look from the film.

"The new face of evil will unveil in three days, experience it yourself with the 2.0 Filter! Try now," the actor tweeted along with a video in which he can be seen using the filter.

Akshay essays the prime antagonist as an eccentric scientist named Richard in 2.0, releasing on Thursday.

The film will mark the Tamil debut of Akshay and is his first film with megastar.

Acting cannot be learnt in classrooms: Sunny Deol

National Award-winning actor Sunny Deol says the art of acting cannot be learnt in classrooms and that it comes from observations in real life.

Known for his performance in iconic films like Border, Gadar - Ek Prem Katha, The Hero: Love Story of a Spy, Yamla Pagla Deewanaand Ghayal, Sunny told a publication, "You cannot learn acting... The core of it, cannot be learnt in a classroom. You learn acting from observation, from exploration as you progress in life."

"Of course when it comes to staging a performance, there are certain technicalities that can be taught, but one has to articulate and use their voice and body in a manner to perform because stage performance is live. When it comes to cinema, a camera can capture the finest movement of your eyes through close-ups. So as a film actor, one has to internalise the character to deliver it on-screen," added Sunny, who went to a film school in London in his younger days and attended classes in theatre and performing arts.

Asked if being the son of yesteryear superstar Dharmendra, acting was a natural choice for him, Sunny said, "As a child, I had problems in reading and writing. But my IQ and reflex was very good. Therefore, though in the class I was not a great student, I used to score pass marks. I was rather very good at sports and other co-curricular activities."

"After a certain age, of course, we all had to decide on our career and that is when I realised that acting and performance is my true calling. More than attending an acting class, I went abroad for my self-discovery which was not possible otherwise in India."

"It is only natural for people to find a shadow of my father in me... But as an individual, to find my own self I had to go away from all these," he added.

Having started his career in 1983 with Betaab, Sunny won National Awards for films like Ghayal in 1990 and Damini - Lightning in 1993. Known primarily for his action-oriented performances, he also bagged several awards for films.

Sunny's younger brother Bobby Deol and cousin Abhay Deol too are actors.

Asked that being the elder in the family, how did he deal with the pressure as a youngster initially, Sunny said, "Of course I was aware of the pressure being the son of a superstar like my dad, but I never let the pressure pounce on me to find my signature as an actor.

"One cannot grow under pressure, so I was never a youngster who was bothered about how the world is going to perceive me. My theory is, 'I want to present myself the way I am, then let the world decide how they what to take it.'"

So, is he now teaching the same to his elder son Karan, who is gearing up to make his Bollywood debut with Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas?

"Look, I know that he is going to face the same pressure... The expectation is high from him and that is again, very natural. But the best way to grow in life is keeping the pressure and others' expectation aside and focus on skill," said the 62-year-old actor.

Mani Ratnam is an enigma: Sreekar Prasad

National Award-winning film editor Sreekar Prasad has worked with Mani Ratnam for two decades. He says the popular filmmaker is an enigma as it's not easy to "predict him".

They had teamed up for hit movies like O Kadhal Kanmani, Guru, Yuva and most recently for the Tamil film Chekka Chivantha Vaanam.

"Mani Ratnam is an enigma as you cannot predict him. He always continues to surprise and that is the factor which excites me to work with him. Working with him for two decades has been a learning and 'unlearning' experience. Hopefully, I have contributed to his vision and filmmaking in all the films that we have been associated together," Prasad told leading publications.

"He is a huge taskmaster, but the best part is that he values his technicians and gets the best out of them. He does it in his own way...not complimenting too much so that you are on your toes all the time and you try to do something even better than what he wanted," he added.

Prasad has had lots of good experiences while working on Ratnam's films.

"But I like 'Kannathil Muthamittal' more because it was a very delicate story to tell amidst a war-like situation. I thought it was a very genuine and difficult film to do," he said.

(SOURCE: IANS)

Irrfan Khan spent quality time with family on Diwali

We all know about Irrfan Khan getting treated for Neuroendocrine tumour in US. But media reports revealed that he was here in India for seven days to celebrate the festival with his family, but was missing at the time of pooja.  

Shah Rukh Khan feels that Gauri is most powerful

Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri are the inspirational couple of Bollywood as these two don't really indulge in much PDA and yet are the power couple. When they turn up at events together, they just oblige photographers with customary poses and nothing much. Shah Rukh posted about where he called Gauri as most powerful for her achievements.

Here is a glimpse of his post:

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Ranveer Singh’s first cover after marriage

Ranveer Singh tied the knot with Deepika Padukone at Lake Como, Italy on November 14-15, and they both posted the pictures as Mr. and Mrs. Singh. After his wedding, Ranveer appeared on the cover of a popular magazine in a black net shirt with some embroidery on it along with a long black coat with add-ons and a pair of black trousers.

Take a look below:

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