'Kai Po Che' to be premiered at Berlin Film Festival

Abhishek Kapoor's upcoming film "Kai Po Che" will have a world premiere at the 63rd Berlin
International Film Festival beginning next month.

The film, based on Chetan Bhagat's novel 'The 3 Mistakes of My Life', will be shown at the film festival on February 7, over a fortnight ahead of its official release.

"'Kai Po Che' selected to premiere at the Berlin international film festival. Yea baby!!," posted Kapoor on Twitter.

The film, which stars newcomers Sushant Singh Rajput, Raj Kumar Yadav and Amit Sadh in the lead roles, portrays the journey of three friends as they discover cricket, religion and business in their respective fields.

It will hit screens in India on February 22.

Thirty-one fictional features from 23 countries will provide insights into contemporary world cinema production at the 10-day-long festival.

Salman rules the social media

With more and more celebs making their presence feel on the social media platforms like - Facebook, Twitter and Youtube, a channel recently decided to devise a special award to honour the star who enjoys maximum fan support on the web.

Social media has made world such a small place that now a fan can easily connect with his favourite star by following him/her on Twitter or by simply liking his Facebook page.

Social media has also given celebrities an easy way to communicate with their followers without leaving the comfort of their home. From promoting their films to supporting a cause, these platforms help create a buzz easily.

Now, to find out the most popular celebrity on the web space, the channel hired experts at Asterii Analytics and the results were not at all surprising. Bollywood's 'Dabangg' Khan came out as a clear winner for this category.

Salman Khan, whose last three releases - 'Dabangg 2', 'Ek Tha Tiger' and 'Bodyguard', easily made it to the 100 crore club, has 7,408,859 fans on Facebook, 3,188,226 followers on Twitter, 60,567 videos on Youtube, 577,919 followers on Twitter fan clubs, 757,057 fans on  Facebook  fan clubs and 2,774 followers on Google+. These figures clearly show how popular Salman is and how crazy people are to know each and every detail about the actor's life.

According to a source from the analytic company, "We used sophisticated web analysis tools to scan millions of pages on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Youtube, blogs and online forums to quantify the total volume of buzz and conversations on our stars. A specially designed four phase methodology was used. A shortlist of 30+ possible candidates was developed in the first phase. We developed 25 parameters to rank the candidates on the total volume of buzz. Using this 4 phase process we came to a single score and the top three candidates were Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and  Amitabh Bachchan . And Salman Khan emerged as the winner with a consistently high margin."

So it's clear, Salman is the king of the web space leaving behind the Badshah of Bollywood and even the 'Angry young man' Mr Bachchan.

HC refuses to hear Mahesh Bhatt's plea against notification

The Delhi High Court yesterday refused to hear film-maker Mahesh Bhatt's petition against a health ministry notification making it mandatory to show anti-tobacco messages in the beginning and middle of a film, saying that the apex court has already been seized with a similar plea.

"When the matter is pending before the Supreme Court, how can we also keep it pending? We are not inclined to entertain this petition," a bench of Chief Justice D Murugesan and Justice V K Jain said.

Bhatt had moved the court seeking quashing of the September 21, 2012 notification of Ministry of Health which said that an anti-tobacco health spots of minimum 30 seconds shall be displayed at the beginning and middle of the films displaying tobacco products or their use.

He, in the plea, said the notification, which came into force from October 2, is "irrational, unconstitutional and illegal and if permitted to be implemented shall result in serious miscarriage of justice."

The bench said it cannot entertain the plea as a similar matter is pending with the Supreme Court.

"An audio-visual disclaimer of minimum 20 seconds on the ill-effects of tobacco use shall be displayed at the beginning and middle of the films displaying tobacco products or their
use," the notification reads.

The notification also involves the requirement of strong editorial justification for any film displaying tobacco.

"....the health spots and disclaimers, the films showing use of the tobacco products shall also be required to display an anti-tobacco health warning in the form of a static message during the period of display of the tobacco products or their use in the films," the notification said.

Bollywood producers to meet today to discuss service tax issue

Several Bollywood producers will hold a meeting here today to discuss the issue of service tax levied by the Centre on artistes and take up the matter with the government.

The Centre's decision is effective from this month and film and TV actors will be charged 12.36 per cent service tax on their earnings on programmes and endorsements. Artistes are opposing the move, saying it would cast additional financial burden on them as they were already paying income tax.

The meeting has been called by the Association of Motion Pictures and Television Program Producers (AMPTPP).

"We have called a meeting tomorrow (Jan 16) evening regarding service tax. We would discuss how we can resolve the issue and what should be done. A collective decision will be taken in
this regard," AMPTPP President Sajid Nadiadwala told PTI here.

Asked whether filmmakers would go on a strike if the service tax is not scrapped for entertainment industry, he said, "It's too early to talk about it."

"We would meet and then decide what should be done. Service tax is a burden on the industry and we have to resolve the matter. We have to convey our point of view to the government. The issue needs to be tackled. Whether we will go on strike or not that has not been decided yet," AMPTPP's Vice-President said.

On January 7, actors, directors, theatre owners and others in the South went on a hunger-strike in Chennai demanding that the service tax be scrapped.

Asha Bhosale is a surprise package in 'Mai': Padmini

Actress Padmini Kolhapure, who has teamed up with singer Asha Bhosale for a movie titled 'Mai', says the legendary singer's dedication and energy in the film moved her.

The film, directed by debutant Mahesh Kodiyal, tells the story of a woman abandoned by her only son and who then goes to live with her daughter and son-in-law.

"I think Ashaji is a surprise package in the film. Looking at her energy and enthusiasm at this age, we all were surprised. We were moved and became more energetic. Her love and dedication for cinema is commendable," Kolhapure said.

"She is a great singer and actress. I am sure everyone will like her. I feel if I would not have worked in this film, then I would have lost out an important opportunity," she said.

Bhosale will essay the role of a mother while Kolhapure is her daughter in the film.

"For me she is like a mother. I am happy she has lent her voice and even got to act with her. It was a great feeling to work with her. She is brilliant," Kolhapure said.

The film is set to release on February 1

Amitabh Bachchan regrets being old

Amitabh Bachchan will soon team up with celebrated director Anurag Kashyap for a short film and later in the year, he will shoot for a featured film with the same director.

Excited to be a part of Anurag’s film, Big B wishes he was young as he feels the present generation is “this most interesting period in the life of our film world, riding high on confidence of the youngsters

The 70-year-old posted on his blog srbachchan.tumblr.com, “I work with Anurag Kashyap tomorrow for a short film that he makes, as part of a compilation of short stories being put together as an experiment.”

However, he didn’t reveal the title of the project.

“And later in the year to start a complete film, which he has narrated to me, and which sounds innovative and exciting. The young generation that has found its place in the industry is most commendable. I just love their enthusiasm and drive, their thought process, the confidence that they exude and their absolute faith in the medium which they are associated with,” he posted.

Big B also says, “I can safely say that this period in the history of cinema in India, shall pave the way for a kind of recognition that may never have been witnessed before.”

Amitabh Bachchan wants to be a part of this change, but his age doesn’t permit.

“And as I sit with jaw wide open in adulation and surprise, I regret the fact of not having been young enough to take on and be a part of this most interesting period in the life of our film world. I wish and want to be with all, in all their thinking and endeavour, in their desires and accomplishments … but I do feel that that time has long since passed,” he said.

Arjun Kapoor thanks Salman Khan for his first award!

Arjun Kapoor was ecstatic when he received his first award for the Best Debut Actor at the recently held Zee Cine Awards in Mumbai. The actor couldn’t control his emotions and dedicated the award to his mentor Salman Khan.

Arjun came on stage and said:“Dad, this one’s for you!” looking at his father, filmmaker Boney Kapoor, who was sitting in the front row with his wife, actress Sridevi.

Arjun further added: “I would like to thank my family, my friends who have supported me unconditionally and loved throughout this journey. And my parents, who gave me this opportunity to pursue my dream.”

“It’s very rare to get a chance. Thank you dad & this one is for you mom… I hope, wherever you are, you must be very very happy. My journey wouldn’t be complete without of course my mother but most importantly, I want to dedicate this award to Salman Khan.”

“I was not exactly ready to be an actor or anywhere close to it, he saw something in me and till today I wonder what & he has never told me what he saw in me ….but I am ever so grateful to him for all that he has done for me… and I just want to thank him! If this is anybody’s award first it’s Salman Bhai’s award… thank you Salman Bhai,” added Arjun Kapoor.

Arjun shared the award for the Best Debut Actor with Ayushman Khurrana, who also won for his debut film Vicky Donor.