Bollywood film in Tibet flag trouble

A new Bollywood film has cut a scene showing a "Free Tibet" flag on the orders of India's censor board, sparking protests from the exiled Tibetan community, a report said on Wednesday.

"Rockstar", directed by Imtiaz Ali, ran into trouble over the scene which shows fans waving the flag as the male lead, played by popular actor Ranbir Kapoor, sings the song "Saada Haq" (Our Right).

The song was shot at the Tibetan Norbulingka monastery in McLeod Ganj, a town in the foothills of the Himalayas that is home to the Tibet government in exile in India and the Dalai Lama.

"Ali has made the deletioSns, affording the film a U/A (under adult supervision) rating," the Times of India reported Wednesday quoting the chief executive of the Indian censor board, Pankaja Thakur.

Beijing is extremely sensitive to any activity seen as "anti-China" and the presence of the Dalai Lama and the large Tibetan exile community in India is a constant irritant in relations between Asia's future superpowers.

The red and blue flag featuring a rising sun is a symbol of Tibetan resistance to Chinese rule.

Angry Tibetan activists in India said they would stage rallies across the country to protest the censor's decision to cut the scene.

"It is extremely disturbing that such a grotesque violation of free speech is occurring in the world’s largest democracy," said Dorjee Tseten, the country director of Students for a Free Tibet, in a website post.

Tseten also accused the Indian government of "caving in" to Chinese pressure instead of promoting and protecting the Tibetan people's basic human rights.

Ali, regarded as one of the most talented Bollywood directors with two back-to-back hits under his belt, denied taking any political stand in the film.

"I don't see anything controversial in either the intention or portrayal of the scene," he told the national NDTV news channel, adding the song was more about personal freedom rather than any geographical or political issue.

Clips of the song showing the flag can still be viewed on You Tube.

The film's music, composed by the Oscar-winning A.R. Rahman, is already topping the charts.

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Bollywood star delays French award due to blasts (AFP)

NEW DELHI (AFP) – Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan asked for a delay in being honoured for her work promoting cinema ties between India and France because of the Mumbai blasts, the French embassy said Friday.

The actress, who is pregnant with her first child, had been due to be made a knight of France's order of arts and letters at a ceremony in New Delhi on Wednesday.

But the former Miss World asked for the event to be postponed after three explosions shook India's financial hub during earlier in the day, killing 17 people and injuring more than 130.

The 37-year-old actress, who lives in Mumbai, asked for the ceremony to be held at a later date out of "solidarity and sympathy" with the victims of the blast, an embassy official said.

The award was to have been presented in "recognition of her contribution to the world of cinema and to the development of Franco-Indian co-operation in the film industry", the embassy said.

Rai Bachchan, who won the Miss World title in 1994, has starred in more than 40 Hindi-language films and a number of English-language films, including the Steve Martin remake of the "Pink Panther".

She is married to leading actor and producer Abhishek Bachchan, 35, whose father Amitabh, is one of Bollywood's biggest stars.

Amitabh Bachchan was given France's highest civilian award, the Legion of Honour, in 2007.

No new date for the the ceremony for Rai Bachchan to receive the French honour has been announced.

Indian investigators are scrambling to identify who was behind the blasts which came just two-and-a-half years after Mumbai was still emerging from the 2008 attacks by Pakistani Islamist militants that killed 166 people in 2008.

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France honours Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai (AFP)

NEW DELHI (AFP) – Bollywood actress and former Miss World Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is to be honoured on Wednesday for her work promoting cinema links between India and France, the French embassy said.

The 37-year-old star, who is pregnant with her first child, will be made a knight of the order of arts and letters at a ceremony in New Delhi.

The award, on the eve of France's national day, was "a recognition of her contribution to the world of cinema and to the development of Franco-Indian co-operation in the film industry", the embassy said.

Rai Bachchan, who won the Miss World title in 1994, has starred in more than 40 Hindi-language films and a number of English-language films, including the Steve Martin remake of the "Pink Panther" classics.

She is married to leading actor and producer Abhishek Bachchan, 35, whose father Amitabh, is one of Bollywood's biggest stars.

France's Ambassador to India Jerome Bonnafont will present the honour, with many of Rai Bachchan's family expected to be present.

Amitabh Bachchan was given France's highest civilian award, the Legion of Honour, in 2007.

In 2003, Rai Bachchan became the first Indian actress to be part of the jury at the Cannes film festival.

She was at Cannes this year promoting her upcoming film "Heroine", the shooting of which has since been postponed because of her pregnancy.

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Pregnant Bollywood star Rai puts film on hold (AFP)

MUMBAI (AFP) – Bollywood star and former Miss World Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has put her latest film on hold due to her pregnancy, its producers said on Tuesday.

"At this point nothing is more important than Aishwarya's well-being and good health," UTV Motion Pictures, which is making the drama "Heroine", said in an emailed statement.

"In that context, we have all mutually agreed that the best step would be to avoid shooting further, rather than proceeding with an incredibly demanding schedule over the coming months."

News of the 37-year-old's pregnancy was announced last week when the actress' father-in-law, Bollywood screen legend Amitabh Bachchan, expressed his excitement at becoming a grandfather on Twitter and his blog.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, who won the Miss World title in 1994, is married to Bachchan's 35-year-old actor son, Abhishek.

The former model, who has starred in more than 40 Indian movies, had been at the Cannes Film Festival with UTV chief executive Ronnie Screwvala in May to promote "Heroine".

Indian media reports had speculated that she might be replaced in the lead role after her pregnancy was revealed.

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'Dabangg' wins six awards at 'Bollywood Oscars' (AFP)

TORONTO (AFP) – Screen tough guy Salman Khan's corrupt cop romp "Dabangg" (Fearless) won a clutch of awards including best picture at the "Bollywood Oscars," held for the first time in North America.

The film directed by Abhinav Kashyap won in the hugely important music categories for best female playback singer, best male playback singer and best music direction, as well as best screenplay.

Actor Sonu Sood also picked up the award for best performance in a negative role as the evil head of a regional political party in the film. He thanked his mother when accepting the award.

"My Name is Khan" followed with four nods for best story, best lyrics, best director for Karan Johar and best actor for Shah Rukh Khan's portrayal of a Muslim suffering from Asperger's syndrome who is detained at a US airport after his disability is mistaken for suspicious behaviour.

The making of the film was "emotional and therapeutic," Johar said after the win, adding it taught him "restraint and love."

Tens of thousands of fans swarmed Toronto's Rogers' Centre stadium for the 12th annual Indian International Film Academy awards, and another 700 million were expected to have watched it on television.

Shah Rukh Khan, Anil Kapoor ("Slumdog Millionaire") and the Deol family were among the dozens of Bollywood superstars in attendance, along with Oscar-winners Hilary Swank and Cuba Gooding Jr.

Salman Khan, however, could not make it to Toronto as he was reportedly shooting his next film "Bodyguard," a romantic action movie with Kareena Kapoor.

"I love you so much," screamed Mamta Sharma over and over, after winning the award for best female playback singer for the song "Munni Badnam."

A tense moment followed when a fan grabbed Shah Rukh Khan onstage, leading the "King of Bollywood" to complain that the man was hurting his leg.

"This is the problem, only men grab my thighs," Khan joked as his assailant was escorted off stage.

Khan's return to the awards show after a six-year absence had earlier been put in doubt by a knee injury that had required being taped up at a hospital and "a couple of injections."

He said he had fractured a part of the bone and the ligament was "swollen to three times the size it should be."

He had vowed to perform at the IIFA show but in the end his dance steps were tremendously scaled back, and he urged the audience to fill in the rest by dancing in the aisles.

Khan last attended the IIFA in Amsterdam in 2005, and last performed at the show a year earlier in Singapore.

A three-day festival leading up to awards night saw flash mobs of Indian dancers, gala movie premieres, a fashion show and Indian cultural events.

Jermaine Jackson also performed his late brother Michael's hits with Indian pop singer Sonu Nigam at an IIFA concert on Friday to commemorate the second anniversary of Michael's death.

Launched in 2000 at the Millennium Dome in London, the annual IIFA awards have been held in 11 cities around the world, including Colombo, Macao, Bangkok, Dubai, Amsterdam and Johannesburg.

It is designed to celebrate the popular Hindi-language film industry and win new audiences abroad.

The award for best dialogue went to the thriller "Ishqiya" (Love).

Anushka Sharma won for best leading female role for the romantic comedy "Band Baaja Baaraat" (The Wedding Planners), which marked the directing debut of Maneesh Sharma.

Arjun Rampal and Prachi Desai won awards for best supporting roles in the thriller "Raajneeti" (Politics) and the gangster movie "Once Upon A Time In Mumbai," respectively.

Ritesh Deshmukh, who co-hosted the Indian film industry's glitziest awards show with Boman Irani, won best performance in a comic role in the Tamil film remake "Housefull."

"Who said award shows are not fixed?" he quipped. "If you host the awards show for four years, they give you an award."

The nominations came from more than 1,500 votes from the Indian film fraternity.

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Bollywood to pay tribute to Michael Jackson (AFP)

TORONTO (AFP) – Michael Jackson and his siblings watched Bollywood films every Saturday morning when they were young and were inspired by the glamour, Jermaine Jackson said Thursday.

"We were watching you from day one as we were on the journey to becoming The Jackson Five," he told a press conference at the opening of the Indian International Film Awards in Toronto.

"We loved the dance, the costumes, the entertainment, the set designs. That inspired us a great deal."

Jackson will perform his late brother's hits and sing with Indian pop singer Sonu Nigam at an IIFA concert on Friday to commemorate the second anniversary of Michael's death.

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Bollywood to pay tribute to Michael Jackson (AFP)

TORONTO (AFP) – Michael Jackson and his siblings watched Bollywood films every Saturday morning when they were young and were inspired by the glamour, Jermaine Jackson said Thursday.

"We were watching you from day one as we were on the journey to becoming The Jackson Five," he told a press conference at the opening of the Indian International Film Awards in Toronto.

"We loved the dance, the costumes, the entertainment, the set designs. That inspired us a great deal."

Jackson will perform his late brother's hits and sing with Indian pop singer Sonu Nigam at an IIFA concert on Friday to commemorate the second anniversary of Michael's death.

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Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai pregnant (AFP)

MUMBAI (AFP) – Former Miss World turned actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is pregnant, her father-in-law and veteran Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan has revealed.

"NEWS NEWS NEWS !! I AM GOING TO BECOME A GRANDFATHER .. AISHWARYA EXPECTING .. SO HAPPY AND THRILLED !!!," Bachchan wrote on his Twitter page late Tuesday.

Aishwarya Rai, 37, married Bachchan's actor son Abhishek, 35, in April 2007. The child will be their first and comes after weeks of speculation in Indian gossip columns about the actress' fluctuating weight.

Bachchan senior later said on the micro-blogging site that he was "overwhelmed" with the response to the news from followers and had received 2,843 tweets of congratulation in just half an hour.

Writing on his blog bigb.bigadda.com, he said: "There is joy and happiness around us."

There was no immediate indication when the baby was due.

The Bachchans -- Amitabh, his actress wife Jaya, Aishwarya and Abhishek -- are Bollywood's "first family" and have a fanatical following in India and around the world. His daughter, Shweta Nanda, has two children.

The family patriarch said he was particularly pleased with the news because "now cometh the progeny of my son that shall bear the surname Bachchan - the first in this generation...".

The family boycotted the annual Filmfare magazine awards in 2010 after a tabloid newspaper in Mumbai wrote that Rai could not have children, prompting a legal notice to be sent demanding a retraction and an apology.

Rai, who took the Miss World crown in 1994, made her debut in Hindi-language Bollywood in the late 1990s and has gone on to star in more than 40 Indian films.

Most recently she was in the blockbuster South Indian film "Endhiran" (Robot) alongside Tamil-language superstar Rajinikanth, which broke box office records in India.

She appeared as a jewel thief in Steve Martin's "The Pink Panther 2". Her other English-language films include "Bend It Like Beckham" director Gurinder Chadha's "Bride and Prejudice" in 2004 and "The Last Legion" in 2007.

She was recently seen at the Cannes film festival promoting her upcoming film "Heroine", which was due to begin shooting this year.

The chief executive of UTV Motion Pictures, Ronnie Screwvala, said at the time that Rai had star power.

"She is the brand ambassador for India and for Indian cinema when it comes to the French Riviera."

Rai also has a number of lucrative modelling contracts, including for French cosmetics firm L'Oreal.

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Bollywood actor to fight new drinking age laws (AFP)

MUMBAI (AFP) – Top Bollywood actor Imran Khan said on Friday that he will challenge in court a decision to raise the age for buying alcohol in India's entertainment capital, slamming the new law as double standards.

Khan, who is teetotal, said he planned to file a case in the Bombay High Court against the state government of Maharashtra, which earlier this month upped the minimum age for buying beer from 18 to 21 and spirits from 21 to 25.

The government has brought in the new law as part of moves to discourage under-age consumption and problem drinking across the state.

Khan, who is the nephew of the actor-producer-director Aamir Khan, told a news conference in Mumbai that the restrictions set a "very, very dangerous precedent" and were an infringement of constitutional rights.

Young people in India are classed as adults from the age of 18 and are able to vote and get married. As a result, banning the sale and consumption of alcohol until 21 and 25 was inconsistent and "arbitrary", he said.

"If you can set one double standard today, it's a very, very slippery slope," said the 28-year-old actor, whose new film, "Delhi Belly", is released next month.

"It's time for someone to stand up and say something. (Alcoholism and problem drinking are) not an age-specific problem. It's a problem that can affect anyone of any age."

The new law is the latest to hit cosmopolitan Mumbai, which has a vibrant nightlife centred around bars and nightclubs, most of which attract a younger, well-heeled crowd.

Last year, the state government hiked taxes on foreign-branded liquor and beer manufactured in India.

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Aishwarya Rai to play fictional Bollywood heroine (AP)

CANNES, France – It's a safe bet that Indian actress Aishwarya Rai won't have to do too much research for her latest role: Bollywood's biggest female star is playing, well, Bollywood's biggest female star, the movie's producers announced on Friday.

"Heroine," by director Madhur Bhandarkar, is billed in the production company's press release as an "entertaining, daring, emotional, shocking, glamorous, scandalous behind-the-scenes account of the reality behind the world of glitz and glamour that our stars inhabit."

Still, Rai — a former Miss World — stated that the film, which enters production in June, is "not an autobiography, for sure."

Rumors to the contrary are "to tickle your fantasy," she told reporters at a news conference at the Cannes Film Festival. "That's what the viewer will probably be searching for, but very honestly, as an actor, it's your professional responsibility to give to your characters with absolute commitment.

"It's not just about you going out there and doing your own thing and creating your own character. It's the director who wrote it and that's the way it gets read and that's the way it gets eventually brought to life," said the emerald-eyed actress, whose many appearances at Cannes and contracts with international luxury brands have placed her among the most international renowned faces of Indian cinema.

Rai first came to India's attention when she was crowned Miss World in 1994. She's since made dozens of movies, including "Devdas," the pathos-filled musical that became a crossover international blockbuster in 2002.

The 37-year-old actress's personal life has also had its share of drama. Over the years, she was romantically linked to some of Bollywood's most famous leading men before marrying Abhishek Bachchan, the son of Bollywood scion Amitabh Bachchan, in 2007. The pair has made a few films together, including last year's action-packed "Raavan."

Bhandarkar is best known for his films "Chandni Bar" (2001), "Page 3" (2005), "Traffic Signal" (2007) and "Fashion," a 2008 movie starring Priyanka Chopra about the Indian fashion industry.

A release date for "Heroine" is yet to be set.

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