Sonam Kapoor celebrate India’s Independence Day

French philosopher Rousseau has said that "Man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains." To me, freedom is the natural state of a human being and an individual has every right to freedom of expression or opinion or action and by conforming to societal and political pressures and losing that freedom of expression that person is harming him or herself.

Today, I would hope that awareness in this country increases and that can only be done by educating our dominantly youthful nation. Illiteracy is the reason why any nation suffers and my wish would be for a literate nation. Better infrastructure and better roads is also something I would like to have for my country.

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Bollywood biggies celebrate India’s Independence Day

As India enters its 64th year of Independence, Renuka Vyavahare finds what ‘freedom’ means for Bollywood’s biggest stars. Is India shinning as we would like to believe?

Shah Rukh Khan

I said we were developing...now we are amongst the world leaders. Each nation has to go through stages. We went through ours. There's nothing wrong about celebrating our achievements, irrespective of the measure. We have a reason to celebrate in what we believe. So far, we have done very well. But we are not the leading light. We have lit a spark. But I am sure in another five to six years we will get brighter.

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Independence Day Special Photo

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I want to see Sonam's film: Shahid Kapoor

Shahid Kapoor, who is back in the city after a hectic schedule in Scotland for Mausam, wants to catch his co-star Sonam Kapoor's I Hate Luv Storys.

"Yeah I want to see Sonam's film and all the other films that I've missed while I was away," said Shahid.

Talking about

his two months in Edinburgh, he said: "Shooting in Edinburgh was like a dream. The place was so beautiful, I felt I was transported to paradise.

Shahid Kapoor"And then being directed by dad was a dream come true. He is like an encyclopaedia of acting. I've learnt so much in the last one month. I tried to absorb as much as I could," said Shahid.

He missed his mom and kid-brother like crazy during the shooting abroad.

"In fact, I wanted my brother to come over to Scotland. But kids that age have their own life and commitments," said Shahid sounding every inch the concerned big brother.

Now until the next schedule of Mausam, in Punjab, the actor will be with his mom and brother.

"Not just mom and my brother, but my closest friend Sri also. He stays in Bangalore. I've invited him over to Mumbai to spend time with me, my brother and mom. I'm now going to catch up on all the films that I missed while I was gone," said Shahid.

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‘Peepli Live’ shines at Box Office on Opening Day

Breaking News! Once again, the perfectionist in Bollywood, Aamir Khan got clicked with his own production venture 'Peepli Live'. The movie bagged Rs 70 million at the box office on its release day.

According to the Bollywood reports, 'Peepli Live' is sweeping all its contemporaries in a surprising way having no renowned stars except Naseeruddin Shah from single screens.

The movie based on simple solid story about farmer suicides, their humiliation by the politicians, bureaucrats, and media people, taking the actorAamir Khan without his on-screen presence in the movie to the top.

As Aamir revealed in an interview on yesterday that he was not fit for the role of Natha what Omkar Das Manikpuri plays, the artist really impressed Aamir with his mind-blowing and fantastic performance in the movie.

However, more reports are yet to be revealed for the box office condition of the film on the first week of its release. 'Peepli Live' is the fourth film fromAamir Khan Productions Ltd. after Lagaan (2001), Taare Zameen Par (2007) and Jaane Tu...Ya Jaane Na (2008).

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Khichdi - first Indian TV show to be made into feature film

In a significant development which is a first in the Indian entertainment space, a very popular television series is serving as an inspiration for a film backed by an international studio. Fox Star Studios that brought Slumdog Millionaire and My Name is Khan to audiences in India is presenting the feature film which takes off from the popular sitcom Khichdi . Bringing Hollywood practices to India where popular and successful television shows like Mr Bean, Batman, Simpsons, Mission Impossible, Star Wars and Sex and the City get made into films regularly, this would be the first time in India that a series will migrate onto the cinema platform. Given the challenge that Bollywood has to create new content – this could be a start of a new trend!

The film titled Khichdi – The Movie produced by Hats Off Productions, written and directed by Aatish Kapadia is an all out fun and crazy ride and is best described as “Comedy Family ki Family Comedy”. The film is freshly written and retains the humour and the eccentricities of the much loved characters that have made close to 50 million people laugh over the last 7 years whilst taking an updated view of today's times.

Khichdi is an immensely popular sitcom series that originated on Star Plus in 2002. The series produced by Hats Off Productions broke all records achieving the highest TVR for a comedy sitcom on Indian satellite television. In its first run the show reached out to 8.6 million viewers tickling households across the country via the power of television and stole the show at awards functions in India by winning the maximum number of awards for a comedy.

The unique flavor of the comedy and the characters made the series very popular among television audiences. In a recent research conducted in July 2010 – the characters of Hansa, Praful, Babuji, Himanshu and Jayshree have rated very high on recall and likeability amongst audiences.

Vijay Singh, CEO Fox Star Studios India said “We are very excited about the research feedback from the audiences that have seen Khichdi - The Movie. Audiences loved the ‘saaf suthri comedy’ and found it to be funnier than most recent comedy films. Audiences are looking for new experiences and lets face it, there are very few good clean comedy films that audiences can go and watch with the entire family ....that’s the promise of Khichdi-the Movie !.

Producer of the film Jamnadas Majethia (JD) of Hats Off Productions, came to us with his vision of taking the humour of the television characters to the big screen. Hats Off Production has an amazing track record and understand the comedy genre and were best placed to deliver a great comedy film for the entire family.” added Vijay Singh

“The TV serial changed the grammar of comedy when it came on television and viewers got addicted to the humour. They were enjoying watching it again and again and we are sure that Khichdi – the Movie will create the same magic on the big screen and hopefully redefine comedy in Indian cinema.” said JD Majethia.
In its new avatar – Khichdi, the Movie goes on a roller coaster ride where the ridiculous tasks that the Parekh family attempts to fulfill takes them through a tsunami of hilarious situations.

“Khichdi is and shall always remain closest to my heart as it is the first show produced by Hats Off Productions and thanks to JD’s insistence, I directed my own idea for the first time and Khichdi achieved cult status as it created a new genre of humour. Khichdi the Movie will now take the madness atleast 10 notches ahead. Watch out for this fun and craziness coming soon to a cinema Hall near you.” says writer- director Aatish Kapadia

With the focus on good content, especially good comedy for the whole family, Khichdi – The Movie is something to look forward to on October 1, 2010.

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Item girl Vidya Balan?

When Vidya Balan romanced two men in Ishqiya, it was seen as a rather bold role for the usually sober actress. Breaking the mould yet again, Vidya will soon be seen doing an item number in Santosh Sivan's next Urumi.

Incidentally, Vidya was never opposed to the idea of doing

an item number. Two years back in an interview she had clearly said that she would love to do one if she liked the song. Judging by that, Urumi must have some good tracks.

Apparently, post Ishqiya, Sivan was so impressed by Vidya's desi avatar that he immediately decided to use her for the item number.

VidyaWhile Genelia D'Souza has been chosen to the princess in the lead role, Vidya will be seen sizzling the screen in an item number.

Vidya will be seen performing traditional Mohiniattam dance form. A source told Mumbai Mirror, "It won't be a raunchy number but definitely a very sensuous one."

Santosh Sivan is known for his ability to portray women sensuously with his much appreciated cinematography. Remember Kareena Kapoor in Asoka!

Vidya is surely going to turn the heat on.

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